Béni soit le nom du Seigneur!

This weekend has been the biggest blessing. No, I haven't finished all of my homework, dishes, or cleaning that I had planned to do, but I spent some quality time with my friends from church and my roommate! Friday, Jenna and I finalized our plans to go to Annecy and Chamonix in the alps for a few days during fall break! We had a great time booking tickets and a hostel together. Only a week or so until we'll be at Mont Blanc!

Yesterday, I woke up and went into town to get breakfast with some of the undergrad students from my university. We got some chouquettes and a pain aux raisins from my favorite stand at the markets, and I had to get my fruits and vegetables for the week. Good news, the first clementines of the season came in yesterday. I bought a bunch and have already had three! So so good:) Anyway, we had a great time wandering around together and I showed them some of my favorite spots to go.

Then in the afternoon, I took a much needed nap and then met up with our "youth group" from church. We went to a few different forests nearby looking to collect chestnuts.....but alas, they were already mostly taken. All around there were round bright green thorny shells, but we think that too many people had already come through because they were all open and empty. Oh well, we had a great time and good weather! And there were even little goats and what my friends called "Bambis" to pet at one park! So cute.

When I got back, I was freezing so I had some soup for dinner and then some tea and a cookie for dessert! Not just any cookie, but a sablé nature from the bakery! You should probably be jealous!

And finally we come to today! This morning I wasn't feeling super great but I knew that if I skipped church I would really regret it. After all, it's my favorite part of being here and it only comes but once a week. So, I pulled myself out of bed and took a hot shower and already I felt much better. And wow am I glad that I made it to church today! Worshiping God and knowing that He is just as present in France as He is in the US really struck me today. He is a great God and such a personal God. Il est le pain de chaque jour et sa présence vit en moi!
The sermon was so convicting today too. We looked at Jacques 3 (james 3) and how the tongue is more powerful than we realize. It was interesting because we also looked at the first chapter and saw how listening is sometimes more important than speaking but both are useless without action. The pastor depicted it much more elegantly, but that was the essence:) And finally, this week was their welcome week for the new people in the church so we each got to introduce ourselves in front of the church and tell a bit about what we are doing in Tours! Then we all ate some "apéritifs" together and chatted a bit. I really feel at home in this church and am so thankful for the friendships God has provided.

Well, I just finished eating lunch (a baguette from the bakery down the road that was still warm and some tomato soup!) so I better get a little homework done! Hope you are all having a great weekend. I'd love to hear what you're up to if you feel like emailing me:)

Dinner in the park and out past dark....

First of all, happy birthday dad! I know you had to work and teach today, but I hope you found time to celebrate. October is quite the birthday month in our family!

Secondly...WHAT A FANTASTIC DAY!!! This morning I had time to organize my room and clean the apartment a little and then i was off to school. The weather was so beautiful and has been for the past couple of weeks that I almost wondered if I was really still in Tours. Normally it rains constantly, but not this week:) I'll take what I can get.

I'm not sure my brain was fully functioning in class today, but after class I went to the library to study a bit. Wow did I get more accomplished than imagined!

Today was market day in town so instead of going home before bible study tonight; I just stayed in town and got the most amazing pizza and flan for dinner. The people that own that stand (that I frequent) are the kindest. They always include a few warm chouquettes to munch on with whatever I happen to order:) Scrumptious. Well, I devoured that while watching the little French children running around in the park. It's amazing how much I learn just by sitting on a park bench listening to all of the conversations around me! Oh, and to complete the atmosphere there was a guy playing some sort of oddly shaped harp and singing. So very French and I kind of fell in love. Ha!

After that I went to prayer meeting/bible study. The group is intended for anyone between 18-30 so we have a great time together. It's so encouraging and uplifting in the middle of the week, and I'm really happy to have some friends in Tours!

So that was my day. Nothing really striking I guess, but wonderful none the less.

Birthdays Galore!

Before things get too busy this week, I just wanted to give a quick shout out to Michelle and Mom...Happy Birthday week!!!! Don't forget to take advantage of all that birthday week entails: eating what you want for dinner, listening to your music in the car, and of course multiple flavors of ice cream! Hope you have great birthdays:)

As for me, i'll be taking tests and giving a presentation...blah. But no worries, this is how one becomes a "master of French," ha! Well, I had a great morning at church and have been preparing for the week most of the day. Yesterday, I got to visit my host parents from a couple of years ago and it was such a comfort. I'm glad to have friends around and "parents" looking out for me:)

Better get back to practicing my presentation! Bonne Semaine à Tous!

Chocolate with kidney beans!

The other day I went to the store strictly to buy milk and eggs and of course a baguette...and somehow some chocolate hopped in my basket when I wasn't looking! I decided it wouldn't be right for me to abandon it so now it has a home next to my sugar cubes on my shelf:) Okay, so this chocolate has something special. It's not your ordinary (but extrodinary) French dark chocolate. No, it has tiny pieces of kidney beans mingling inside. Your probably thinking "that's just wrong" like my roommate Jenna informed me...but don't judge until you try it! To me it's perfect...just a little square of chocolate with my tea in the evening and all the worries in the world just dissapear. Is that what they mean by food-therapy? Maybe I'll switch to retail therapy tomorrow! At least for the afternoon.

Tonight, I got the best news! Emily is coming to stay for Christmas!!!!! Do you know how much that makes me just want to sing? Like tons. My roommates were studying when she told me and I didn't want to disturb them, so I just did my happy dance! No doubt about it, my siter is the best!

Guess what? Tomorrow I don't have any classes! Another great thing...today couldn't be any better. I'm really glad to have a long weekend so I can have a little fun and still get my presentation ready to go for Tuesday. God is good.

Well, I think I'll share this last little thing just as a bit of encouragement. A few months ago, I was in a bible study by Beth Moore and she was talking about trusting God in everything and she made a little side point that has kind of stuck with me. She talked about playing the "worst case senario" game when problems arise. My first reaction was "what, that seems kind of backwards" but now I do it all the time without even realizing it. Okay, this is what you do. When a worry pops into your head take it to the extreme and see how even if the very worst were to happen, God is still in control. For example, lets say I'm worring about a test in school (totally hypothetical) I say to myself...what if I get a C on this test. Quelle horreur! Then I say, no, what if I fail then I'm kicked out of school next semester and I have to go home and clean scum off of the toilets in some reandom restaurant because I can't find a job. (I come from a long line of worriers so this comes pretty natural to me) Even if I "lose" everything, I've still gained everything. I still got to spend a semester in France, live in an apartment with its own set of challenges, meet new people at church, and hopefully grown in some aspect. And as if all of that were not enought, I still have Christ! And in Christ we can find joy in any circumstance. How could we not?

Sorry to go on and on...I don't want to preach to you but I do think it's really cool how God can make something you heard months ago just pop into your head to comfort you. Not that I'm really worring about school this point, but like I said I'm a natural.

Well, time for me to go to bed. This has been such a great day and I don't want to it to end, but if I want tomorrow to be equally as enjoyable I should probably get some sleep. Night everybody!

So much time and so little to do....scratch that, reverse it!

It seems I have just enough time to write a quick note before going to bed! As you can probably tell, the pace is starting to pick up. School is in full swing now and some days I feel like it's the best thing ever, and others I have no idea what we were talking about for the last hour! Funny how that goes. Next week, I have my first presentation so I've been trying to prepare for that. Fortunately, the university library is packed with interesting material and reading about Rousseau and his works has been facinating. We'll see if I can explain any of it next week in front of the class:) At least I get to give my presentation first and then it's over no matter the outcome.
Alright, I know this is just mean but here is a picture of my latest yummy treat...millefeuille. Also known as the best dessert known to man. If you come to France to visit me, I'll totally buy you one:)



Well, the things that are really on my mind right now are probably not worth writing and giving more attention. So, I'm just going to take some time to do some reading and then sleep. I can't wait for tomorrow morning....markets!!!! I'm in desparte need of some veggies:)

Hope you are all doing well. I'm praying for you as I walk over this bridge every morning....it's a long bridge:)

Avant d'oublier

Last week was a whirlwind, and I'm glad I'm keeping a journal because otherwise I would have nothing interesting to write. My brain must be too busy right now to keep up.

To start off the week, we had our first class (linguistics) and things went pretty smoothly. After class, we all just kind of wandered about town. It's funny how many things I totally missed last time. For example, we went to one of the gardens and there were wallabies, bunnies, weird chickens, ostrages,goats, and some others that I don't recall.



Tuesday was crazy long. It started with a meeting at the bank to open an account....let's just say that about 100 signatures later, I think I have one. They litterally have an inch thick file on me now. Crazy.

After that, the rest of the day was spent in class. Since we aren't really "in the know" about what is good to take or not, we just tried everything that seemed okay. It's a good thing we did that too because we sat through one course that we thought would be perfect and it turned out that we needed a base in latin to follow along at all. Scary stuff. Everything is working out school wise though. It's going to be a challenge, but that's exactly what I signed up for:)

As far as fun things go, this week I cooked a lot more and got inventive. One night I needed to use up several tomatoes from the market (mostly so I could buy more...so yummy and like 6 for a euro) so I made tomates au four. I'm guessing we just call them baked tomatoes in english...sounds weird??? Yes, it was a lot of tomatoes but oh so delicious. I also toasted some baguette with fresh chevre on top!

Tonight, I made a yummy soupe aux lentilles:) Delicious yet again...and pretty healthy too! Oh, I forgot to tell about the amazing student price we found at a local sandwich stand. For three euro, a student gets a sandwich (on a baguette), two pain au chocolats, and a can of pop! What a deal. Or i can go to the cafeteria and have a full meal for the same price....but I prefer taking my lunch to the park to eat and people watch when it's nice out.



Friday night I went out with a few of the other students and we had a great time. First, Jenna and I went to take pics of the cathedral at night, and then we went down to the river where there was a jazz band playing and people line dancing! It was fantastic and so very French. Loved it.


Yesterday passed without much to note...a bit of shopping, organizing, homework, and cleaning.

And finally, that brings us to today...what a wonderful day!!!!! This morning I went to church and we had communion, sangs songs I new, and listend to a sermon that was like many I've heard before about "l'amour de Dieu" but in French it really comes across better:) Then, this afternoon I was invited to have lunch with some of the people in the church...and they also invited some others that were my age. Finally, I got to know a few young adults and learned that they actually have a Bible study each week together and they invited me!!!! Yay. Needless to say we had a great afternoon eating, laughing, and strangely enough playing Wii!

Just last night before I went to bed, I prayed asking God to make a way for me to meet some French Christians my age to help me grow and become a part of this society. Wow, He answered my prayer quickly! Anyway, I'm just so thankful to have met some new people.

After a wonderful lunch and dessert (yum) we went to the ruins near their house and also to the flee markets. Here's some pictures. And also the family that organised this afternoon.




Well, I better get to bed. Class in the morning and then the rest of the day in the library preparing for my first presentation in a couple of weeks. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for me. As you can tell, God is good and faithful in all things:)

Tranquille en Ville

While wandering the streets this morning, I couldn't think of a single thing I'd rather be doing. The markets were full of people making careful selections of exotic vegetables and the most beautiful fruits imaginable...that are actually ripe! In my attmept to buy only what I could use and keep in my tiny fridge, I came out with clementines(yes dad, I'm keeping up my vitamin C), haricots verts, onions both red and white, an avocado, a few tomatoes, some tender lettuce, and some flowers of course! Luckily, I made it to the markets just before they closed ! While walking to the bus stop with my arms full, there was a guy playing some sort of strange instrument and he was dressed up in a costume of sorts singing folk songs. I couldn't help but set down my bags and take a quick photo! Anybody know what this is?

I love walking through town...couples walking home together after shopping each holding one handle of a shopping bag, little French kids begging their parents for sweets, and the sounds of tiny French cars whizzing by!

Yesterday morning I had the chance to clean the apartment and finally take some pics. The people who lived here before us left so much stuff behind, some of it useful but there are some things that just should have been thrown away years ago...so we are still in the process of getting things cleared out.


Okay pics... This is our tiny fridge and sink..but functional since we buy most everything fresh from the markets.

Here we have our "dining room" and our toaster oven...i'm still learning how to use it! There are four girls living in the apartment and we have two bathrooms and two mini kitchens so it works out fine.


So this is our bathroom shower/sinks and the toilet is in it's own little closet(i thought i would spare you that picture.) Yes,I know the curtain is dreadful...who would ever choose dolphins? It must have been cheep, at least let's hope



This is my closet, or half of it. It really is a decent size in my opinion especially since I don't have that much to put in it:)


And finally we come to my bedroom. This afternoon I think I'm going to go get some posters and hang them up just so the walls aren't so bare. I totally forgot to bring pictures of everybody to pin up, but I'll figure something out.



Oh,I almost forgot. Last night my roommates and I went out to eat and we went to this great pizzeria that was built in the 14th century...but somehow i forgot to really look at the menu before the waiteress came to take our order so I just quickly picked something without really reading what it was. I figured, it's pizza...you can't mess that up right? Wrong...it totally came and was covered in anchovies. I ate it anyway, but I've learned my lesson...read first. Ha.


(me and a roommate,Jenna,at the restaurant)

Okay, I'll leave you with this...a picutre of my lovely salad from lunch:) All from the markets this morning.