Snapshots from 2018

Hello from Austin, and (a belated) happy new year!

Since my last post the hubs and I hosted two more sets of visitors in Paris, took Heidi on her first train ride to spend a weekend in the French countryside with friends,  visited many of our favorite spots in Paris one last time (and discovered some new favorites along the way), and then tearfully said goodbye to the city we so fondly called home. Leaving with just two more suitcases than we arrived with, on the last day of November, we boarded a plane to Chicago, road tripped to Arkansas the next day, and have been going nonstop since then.

After landing stateside we happily met our new niece and nephew (who were born just weeks apart while we were away), as well as the daughter of some of our very best friends, traveled to Austin to find a new home, took a mini, trout fishing vacation, celebrated the holidays with family, moved back to Austin, started a new job, and resumed my French lessons.  Now, nearly a month after the turn of the year, I am finally getting a chance to reflect on 2018, and all that it was.

2018 was easily one of my favorite years yet. I traveled to seven countries, visited countless new cities, and got to really, truly explore a place I have always loved. I took language classes, read around 30 new books, celebrated my 30th birthday, and learned more about myself in a year’s time than I really ever had before.

I journaled like crazy, something I have always wanted to do, though i’ve never been quite disciplined enough before, stepped out of my comfort zone and overcame fears, pushed myself mentally and physically in new and exciting ways, and fulfilled a near lifelong dream, with my best friends by my side.

From frolicking through tulip fields in Holland, drinking beer in Belgium, showing friends and family around Paris, relaxing in the sun-soaked vineyards of Provence, Friday night Louvre dates with the hubs, hiking in Ireland and Scotland, lazy picnics, strolls along the Seine, seeing Paris covered in snow, and taking a solo trip to Spain, I have more favorite memories from 2018 than I can count. Instead of trying to sum them all up in one place, I will leave you with this… a (large) handful of some of the top moments; snapshots from 2018.