Falling in Love all over again

Ok,


So I know that sometimes I really like to complain about my job (well it does get old and I do get lonely without my husband with me), but I have to rave about it today.


I was doing my regular Paris trip and I had in my head that I was actually going to get out of the 15th arrondisement this time! Believe it or not, I have not been very ambitious during my layovers since I returned in March and I have stayed very local! I guess it is hard since I have been to Paris so many times (too many to ever try and count) and from studying there, I feel that I have seen it all (but can that really be possible). Anyway a flight attendant on my trip had suggested going on the Fat Tire Night Bike Tour. This is a very popular tour among crew members, but I have never gone...have always been too tired to wake up in time for the day tour and was just never inclined to do the night tour. Well this time I said yes.

I rode a bike through the streets of Paris the other day and it was the most freeing experience. Yes the roads are crowded, but I couldn't believe the feeling I had....just like being a little kid on a bike. It had been a while since I rode a bike and I loved going down the hills (there aren't too many where we rode) and standing up to go up the hill! We rode from the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame and the Ile St. Louis where we stopped for an ice cream cone. We then rode over to the Louvre passing by the Jardin de Tuileries and then down the right bank to the Eiffel Tower for our boat cruise. We rode around the courtyard of the Louvre which was so amazing and beautiful. It was great just looking at the full moon (well almost full) from a palace that amazing and just thinking how many people had stood in that spot.....surreal.

It was a magical night and I will be forever grateful to my fellow crewmember Barbara for suggesting that I take the tour in the first place. Paris is a city that will always be special to me....even though I have lived there and spent most of my work time there, it is a city that I have vacationed in many times as well. This was just a reminder of why the city is so special and just shows there is still more to do!!!

New Goals

Well....I certainly must thank Julia for putting the simplemom.net on her website. I think that this woman has some wonderful ideas and it has been an inspiration for me! As most people know Rob and I really want to move back to NYC. We said that we would move next year, but now we have decided that it might not be the best decision financially. We have decided that we will stay here (and yes in our apartment) until we have paid off school loans and the one car loan that we have. Once we free up that money then we will feel a weight lifted off our shoulders and be able to live comfortably in NYC. I don't really know how long that will take....hopefully by the time Reese is school age-yes our student loans are huge!!! Rob's alma mater for grad school is Yale and it wasn't cheap!!! haha

At least now that I have made the goal we can settle into life a little more comfortably. It was hard always being up the air with buying a house, deciding what to do next, and of course answering all the questions about our life. I guess that might be one of the hardest things for me because many people think that the dream in life is to buy a home, have a family, etc. What is funny for me is that I never dreamed of owning a home....I always loved living in apartments in NYC and Boston and of course here in ATL. I know that I am not a lawn/garden person and I don't want to keep up with that maintenance...I seriously can only imagine what our house in Centennial would have looked like if we lived there. I am not a decorator person (although I absolutely love seeing how people do it and watching those shows). I am just not creative that way. Accepting it makes it a lot easier...now if other people could realize that their dreams don't have to be mine....but maybe that is really how I perceive things and not really reality....your thoughts????