Bringing home a little bit of France

While I was in France, I was particularly impressed with the some of the ways the French seem to just enjoy life. 

I was also smitten with their approach to food as well as their style. 

Here are some of my favorites:

• Their coffee was amazing.  Every afternoon, we enjoyed a cup of espresso.  I've never had espresso like this in the United States.  It was so rich and smooth and really makes me want to get an espresso machine.

 

• Their food was delicious.  Honestly, we did not have a bad meal, and I  really love their focus on eating fresh.  Their streets are lined with bakeries, produce stands, butchers, and cheese shops.  They shop almost daily and prepare their meals with all fresh ingredients. The food is rich, but the portions are reasonable.  They definitely prefer quality over quantity. 

 

 

• Have I talked about the chocolate?  Yum.  I had chocolate mousse for dessert multiple times.  So so good.  I may have come home with a slight chocolate addiction and have since been enjoying some good, dark chocolate on a daily basis. 

 

• I loved just sitting in the cafes that line the streets and people watching.  Something that was very noticeable was the lack of technology in these cafes.  I never saw anyone on their cell phone during a meal, or even while having coffee.  From what I understand, they really value being present when they are with other people.  It was refreshing and makes me realize just how plugged in we Americans are. 

• Paris is known for it's fashion.  And now I know why.   I never knew you could tie a scarf in so many different ways.  And I saw some amazing handbags. Everyone looks fashionable, but in a very natural way.  It's like they aren't even trying.  I definitely came home inspired.  

 

 

• Perhaps most inspiring was the fact that the Parisians just seemed to enjoy their leisure time.  In the late afternoons and evenings, the cafes were packed.  They really seem to prioritize taking some time to relax during their day.  Since I've been home, I find myself taking the time to enjoy an afternoon cup of tea.  I also have been working more from cafes rather than just sitting in my office. I've noticed that even these simple, small things can make a big difference in how I feel.  Even just a few moments of leisurely, intentional time can go a long way.

 

I continue to hold onto a little bit of Paris. The trip was a good reminder to focus a little more on enjoying the present, soaking up the good things in life, each and every day.

Paris - Part deux

I wrapped up my last post about the Paris trip with our visit to the Eiffel Tower.  

The following day, we headed to the Louvre, which was just a short walk from our apartment. 

Going to the Louvre has been on my life list since I took French classes in high school!  And I must say, it did not disappoint.  However, I wasn't quite prepared for the size of this place. It used to be palace and it's massive.  I actually got lost at one point.  
  

I didn't bring my big camera on this day because my shoulder was aching from lugging my bag around, and I definitely regret it.  My pictures would have been much better with my SLR.  So excusing the quality of my pictures, here are a few of my highlights:

The Venus de Milo was probably my favorite piece.  In fact, this wing, that was full of ancient Greek and Roman sculptures, was my favorite part of the museum.  I couldn't believe both the size and the detail of these pieces. 

I knew the Mona Lisa was going to be smaller than expected, but she was still impressive to view and her eyes definitely follow you!

 Of course there were numerous beautiful paintings, too many to post.  One of my favorite parts of this experience, however, was just walking through this beautiful palace.  It was gorgeous!

That afternoon, after we had lunch, we headed back to our apartment to relax and work on our presentation, which was the following day.  

On Friday, we spent most of the day at the conference.  Our presentation went very well, and to celebrate we decided to take a cruise along the Seine that evening.  The weather wasn't the best, but I got some really good shots of the city.  I just loved seeing these beautiful old buildings along the river. 

The Louvre

Notre Dame

On Saturday, we awoke and had our standard chocolate croissant.  Then we headed out to do some shopping.  I had decided that I wanted to bring home some pottery to display in our house.  I read about a pottery shop La Maison Ivre and so we headed that way.  And this store was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

I would have bought half of the things on display if I could.  It was full of beautiful linens and pottery. 

I came home with this beautiful piece which is displayed on one of our shelves. 

I love that every time I look at it, it reminds me of this fabulous trip.

After buying our trinkets, we went to a delicious crepery for lunch.  After that, Angela and her mom headed to Sacre Coeur.  I was kind of tired of the tourist scene and really just wanted to soak up my last day in Paris.  So I wandered the streets, popping into various boutiques and finally landed at a cafe where I sat and people watched and wrote in my journal.  

Our trip ended that night with a fabulous French meal where I had the most delicious risotto and chocolate mousse for dessert, of course. 

I feel so very grateful and so very blessed to have had this experience.  It was a wonderful trip, and I will cherish the memory.  The French definitely enjoy life, and since I've been home, I've been inspired to slow down a bit, savoring a few special moments of each and every day. 

My hope is that one day, I can return to France and explore the countryside.  I would love to see more of this beautiful country. 

Paris - Part 1

I finally found the time to go through all of my pictures from my trip to Paris.

I traveled there with my friend Angela, who is a professor at another university.  She used to be a fellow graduate student, and we've worked together for the past few years.  We submitted a proposal to present at the Writing Across Borders Conference about a year ago.  We submitted it, kind of on a whim, not really expecting to make the trip.  When our symposium got accepted, we still didn't think we'd go, but then my dear PhD advisor stepped in and insisted that we make the trip.  Have I mentioned how blessed I am to have her?!

Angela's mom also joined us.  We were there for a week and stayed in a lovely apartment that I found on Airbnb.  We could not have asked for a better location.  And it was so nice to have an apartment with a kitchen so we didn't have to rush out in the mornings to get our coffee!

We arrived mid-morning on Monday.  After flying all night, we forced ourselves to stay awake for the rest of the day.  We started out with lunch at a cafe near our apartment and then headed to see Notre Dame, which was only about a 15 minute walk.  

Having never been to Europe before, I've never seen buildings this old.  I couldn't quite wrap my head around the fact that Notre Dame dates back to the 1100's.  I also found it interesting that the building marks the very center of Paris. 

That evening, we stumbled upon a little market street only a few blocks from our apartment.  This little street was one of my favorite parts of the trip.  We spent a lot of time here at the cafes and hit up the little bakery each morning for a delicious chocolate croissant. We learned later in the week that this little market street is one of the more famous ones in the city.

 On Tuesday, we took a day trip to see Versailles.  I knew going in that the palace was going to be lavish, but I wasn't quite prepared for the size of the estate and just how opulent it is. 

Below is the hall of mirrors, which was one of my favorite parts of the interior.  The picture definitely doesn't do it justice!

While the palace was beautiful, the gardens were my favorite. I can only imagine how beautiful these are during the spring and summer.

 

After Versailles, we headed back into the city to the Arc de Triomphe.  Unfortunately, it was partially under scaffolding, but the view from the top was beautiful. 

On Wednesday, Angela and I headed out to the university to the conference to get our bearings and registration materials.  Later that afternoon, we went to see the Eiffel Tower. We timed it so we could be there during the day, but also see it lit up at night.

I know it sounds so cliche, but seeing the Eiffel Tower was truly amazing.  I got goose bumps when I saw it for the first time!

This was my first full view of it. 

It was much larger and actually much prettier than I expected.  Once again, I can only imagine how pretty this is in the spring when all of these trees are in bloom.

We climbed up to first and second levels and got some good views of the city.  I'm not a fan of crowded elevators so I happily passed on going all the way to the top! 

And my favorite part was seeing it lit up at night.  Beautiful.

I can tell how excited I am in this picture.  My smile is so genuine. 

Somehow, we timed it perfectly so we could see the sparkle.  

It was lovely.  And really blew my expectations away.  I will never look at pictures of the Eiffel Tower in the same way again.  It really is a work of art.

And here is one last picture, captured from the other side. 

Lusk Creek Backpacking Trip

We went on a quick backpacking trip in early November, and I'm just now getting the time to blog about it!  Fall is our absolute favorite time of year to backpack.  The weather is usually ideal, and it's a great chance to see the beautiful fall colors.

I love all outdoor activities, but backpacking may very well be my favorite.  I get such satisfaction from carrying everything I need on my back.  I also love a good physical challenge and backpacking is a pretty good workout.  Most of all, I love to camp in the backcountry.  It's so much better than camping at a campground!  

I love the quiet and peacefulness that comes with backcountry camping.  I also love seeing the beauty of natural structures that you have to walk to get to.  

For this trip, we headed to the Lusk Creek Wilderness in the Shawnee National Forest.  I've been to most places in the Shawnee but had never been to Lusk Creek.  Andrew had planned a relatively easy 11 mile hike for us.  Somehow, we timed it perfectly.  We had the most perfect weather and the fall colors were definitely at their peak.  On Saturday night, we camped at the Secret Canyon, surrounded by beautiful sandstone bluffs, probably one of my favorite places I've ever camped!  

We were joined by our good friends and backpacking buddies, Justin and Mylisa.  My sister-in-law and her husband also joined us for the first time.  We had such a good time.  It was truly the perfect autumn backpacking trip! 

Once again, I'm reminded just how truly spectacular nature is.  I'm also reminded of why I love the Shawnee so much.   

Here are some pics from our trip.  My friend Mylisa showed me how to take pictures in the dark by adjusting the shutter speed with a remote control.  Aren't they awesome?!  I especially love the pictures that she took with the tents lit up!

Enjoy!

Friday night enjoying the fire

Tent glow on Saturday night -- courtesy of Mylisa

Saturday night fire at the Secret Canyon

The group

My favorite hiking buddy

Hiking

Pretty fall colors

The Secret Canyon

Finding Some Confidence

With the semester ending and the holiday season beginning, I've not had much time to blog recently. 

I'm currently stuck in Dallas because of the winter storm and find myself with some unexpected free time.  This is the view from my hotel window.  It doesn't look too bad from here but there's a lot of ice.

My flight home today was cancelled and I'm on hold, at this very moment, trying to talk to the airline.  The airport here is basically shut down, and  I don't really expect to get out of Texas anytime soon.  I'm a little frustrated....and super bummed that I won't get home to see my boys today.  I've been away for four days, and I miss them terribly. But I'm trying to be positive.  I'm definitely grateful that I'm still at the hotel and not stuck at the airport sleeping on a cot, but I'm ready to be home.

I'm here for a literacy conference and yesterday I presented a paper.  This was my first time presenting at a conference of this size and status.  Needless to say, I was a little nervous and certainly felt out of my league.  However, the presentation went beautifully, and I received some very positive, encouraging feedback about my study.  In fact, multiple people asked to read my paper! 

Academia can be an intimidating field, and I'm often haunted by feelings of insecurity.  I doubt myself and my abilities, but with each success, those self-depleting voices are slowly becoming silenced.  After seeing several other presentations and getting such positive feedback yesterday, I have a renewed sense of belief in myself. 

I also feel re-inspired to get this paper done and put it out there for publication, something I've been avoiding because of my fears that it wasn't good enough.  I'm reminded of a quote I once heard:

“If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.” ~John Irving

I am finally starting to feel like I can play in this playground and do so with some confidence. It feels good....really, good.

Joshua Tree

Last month Andrew and I spent a few days visiting Joshua Tree National Park.  Since we were headed to San Diego for a wedding, we decided to tack on a few extra days and hit up a national park.  

It was an awesome trip!  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  And as much as I missed Liam, I must admit that it was very nice to spend several days alone with my husband, just the two of us.  

Since it was August, in the desert, we decided to stay in a cabin.  Our cabin was adorable, comfortable, and well-equipped.  It sat adjacent to the park, and it was so nice to come in midday to nap and relax in the air conditioning.  At night, it was cool enough for us to sit in the hot tub while watching for shooting stars in the desert sky.

View from our front porch into Joshua Tree National Park

I'm fascinated by the flora and fauna of the desert.  Here are some of the various cacti we saw.  I need to give credit to my husband for taking these pictures.  He was up at sunrise exploring on our first morning while I cozily slept in!

On our first day, we took a late morning hike up Ryan Mountain.  It was quite hot but the view from the top was worth it.

View from the top of Ryan Mountain

These dead trees were everywhere and looked like sculptures

After an afternoon nap, we returned to the park that evening to catch the sunset.

The next morning, we were up early for a sunrise hike to Willow Hole.  We had 7.5 miles to cover so we hit the trail early.

Cool enough for long sleeves at dawn

Beautiful Joshua Tree

Willow Hole

Wonderland of Rocks

This hike was my favorite part of our trip.  As we hiked to Willow Hole, we came upon the Wonderland of Rocks. For miles all we could see were beautiful mountains of rocks and boulders piled on top of one another.  It looked like something out of a science fiction movie.

After our hike to Willow Hole, we drove to the southern end of the park and hiked a 3 mile loop up Mastodon Peak.  At the start of the hike is a palm oasis. It was so bizarre to see these huge palms in the middle of the desert.  They housed quite an ecosystem. 

Palm Oasis 

This portion of the park is in the Colorado desert which looks quite different than the Mojave desert, which has the Joshua Trees.  This section was rocky and barren.  If you look closely at this picture, you can see the Salton Sea in the distance. 

View from the top of Mastodon Peak looking at the Salton Sea

My favorite hiking buddy

He's more adventurous than I am!

The old Mastodon Mine is also on this trail. I still can't quite wrap my head around how they built this mine on a mountain in the middle of this harsh desert. 

Mastodon Mine

Later that evening we returned to the park to visit the Arch.

The Arch

View from the White Tank campground

As far as national parks go, Joshua Tree is pretty small so we really got to see most of it in just a few days.  It was a great trip.  We spent some quality time together, did some challenging hiking, and got to explore a really unique landscape.  And, we got to check another national park off our list!  

I just love that Andrew and I share the same love for the outdoors.  It's so nice to journey on these adventures together!