The Last Part of my Succes :-)

Ok...I have taken a few days away from the computer but I am back!! I thought I would post a few pictures of the reception so you could all see what it was like. I was really worried because I thought it would be too small, but our friends really stepped up. My table of friends and family all made sure to dance and have fun, Cyr's tables all made an effort as well. The food was fantastic and the music was great. We had a combination of classic American hits, French classics plus even a little country!!

Above is a picture of me and my family and friends going into the Chateau where we had the vin d'honnour. We were so lucky with the weather!! We took pictures with the photographer during the vin d'honnour and I regret that we didn't spend much time with out guests. I would have liked to talk to them a little more. It seemed like the night passed so quickly!!

There was dancing...

By the time we ended the vin d'honnour my feet were killing me. So I had to bring in a little Texas...

Cyr and I danced our first dance to Anne Murray, "May I have this dance". Nothing like a waltz in a big ivory colored dress while wearing a tiara. Ahhh...

I don't have those pictures yet, but here are Cyr and I in the background after a dance. The handsome fella in the forefront of the picture is Cyr's brother. A real "Beau-Frere" eh?! He's only 18 ladies...no phone numbers!

I still think I got the best one though!

Here is our fire-hazard-dessert-buffet. It was awesome!! There were about 6 or 8 of those things all over the table!!

Then the toast...

Ok...now I am sure you are completely weddinged out! I think I am done here. I might send out a link to folks once we get the professional ones back. I will for sure send it to family (don't worry Dad and Sandy...you will get more!!).

Tomorrow is my first day of teaching. Woohoo! I have a fairly solid plan though I'm sure something will go wrong and make it exciting. At least now I will have something to blog about other than wedding plans and photos. :-)

Really quick though...thanks to all the folks that came over. Lori, Lori, Tracy, Melinda and Ann; I will never forget you all for being here to support me. Ari and Betrand; you guys are great, I can't wait to see you again! All of Cyr's friends; Kate, Alex, Marc and all the rest. Thank you!! You are now my friends too! Aunt Helen, Sally, Kathy and Joyce; you are all family. Really great family. I know it was not easy to come over, thank you so much. Mom...what can I say...there are not words that can tell you how much I appreciate you always being there for me when things are hard, or listening to me when times are good. I could not have a better Mom, I hope I can return all the kind things you have done for me. I love you.

Ok, enough mushy stuff. Let's move on to real life eh? The one without tiaras, fluffy ivory dresses or great champagne. Well, maybe with great Champagne...and maybe I can wear that tiara sometimes too. And maybe I can dye that dress...I love that dress... ;-)

Wedding Success (Part 1)!!

WOOHOO!!! It's over!!

Well folks...the weekend was a great success. Even the weather cooperated! It was a beautiful sunny day and crisp, clear evening. I could not have imagined it going any better. Well, maybe a little, the only snaffu was that the bus that was supposed to pick the guests up from the church was 15 minutes late, and then it had a problem getting out of the neighborhood because the streets are so narrow. I was worried it was going to get stuck, but after what seemed like a very long time, many horn honks and frustrated French people later, they were off to Belgium!! Where, by the way, the Champagne was excellent, the food amazing and the Chateau a perfect romantic setting for our little party. (Pictures to come later as our photographer left on a two week vacation yesterday...damn it...)

I only have the pictures from my camera, and as I was the bride, I don't actually have any of myself to post yet, but those will come soon!! So here is a photo parade of the beginning of my week last week. It started in Paris, where I met my friends Lori B., Tracy and Melinda. After heaving our luggage up 5 flights of stairs we went out an enjoyed the town.

My family came in the next day (Monday) and we went on a fantastic tour that included dinner at the Eiffel Tower, a river cruise on the Seine and a show at the Moulin Rouge with Champagne.

Above you can see my friends and family that came in to help us celebrate. From left to right we have Cousin Sally, Mom, Aunt Helen, Joyce and Kathy. The Eiffel Tower is gorgeous right now with the blue lights and the stars representing the European Union. During dinner the lights went off and twinkled brightly as if to sign out "Welcome Everyone! Congratulations Susan and Cyriaque!" It was really the highlight of my trip to Paris. Although the after affects of the Champagne the next day were pretty rough. I have realized that it's not a good idea to drink Champagne in the dark. You don't count your glasses and then before you know it, it's too late...I tried to hang in the next day but I was feeling about a 3 on a scale of 1 to 10.

I also had a great treat in getting to meet Leesa the Cupcake Princess!! If you don't know Leesa, go check out her blog. She is an American who has been in Paris for quite a while and has really been a source of moral support for me in my effort to try to fit in this strange land they call France. Here is Leesa and I right before breakfast.


We had a girls night out the Friday before the wedding in Lille as well. But this time I paid attention, I was not about to have a bad day on my Big Day. Her is the crew from Houston that came to see me (missing is Ann, not sure where she sneaked off to, she will show up in later pictures though!)

There is Lori, Lori, Tracy and Melinda. They all brought awful things they make me wear...someone better put an APB out on Big Bird...I think he is missing...

That is me with Alina, she is married to Cyr's best friend and lives in Romania. She is the bride we went to see in Munich a few weeks ago. After this we all went out salsa dancing and had a great time. More photos to come!!

PS - Thank you so much for all the kind emails and posts!!

Egypt will have to wait...

...for a little while at least.

Oh the joys of trying to be legal in France! So...I won't bore you all with the details of trying to gain a long stay marriage visa thingy in France. It takes quite a large amount of paperwork for a French person to marry a person who is not French in France. One would hope that by completing this task you would then be able to stay in this wonderful country. Oh contraire mon frere! I knew most of this going into this thing so it was no surprise that after you are married in the Marie (town hall) you have to then take your Livre de Famille (proof of marriage) to your home country to get your long stay visa stamped. Once you have done this then you need to return to France and schedule a meeting with the prefecture.

Our meeting is scheduled for November 12th. During this meeting I am supposed to get a temporary something that will allow me to work, but it's not my actual carte de sejour (work permit if you will). That will arrive in about 3 months after that. During the time I am waiting for my CDS to arrive I am not allowed to leave France except for one visit to any other schengen country . I'm not sure why they allow you one visit, and if you drive or take a train they don't check at the boarders any longer so there is no one to stamp the passport. Anyway, all this adds up to no Egypt in November. I was a little upset about this at first, but I know that we will go eventually, just not now. I think I am mostly upset because we used TravelersJoy.com as a wedding site and many people have donated to our honeymoon. We still get to use this for our trip next year, it's not like we loose anything, I just really wanted to be able to post a followup web site to everyone who gave. Guess that can wait until next year when I can legally leave and return. Thank goodness TravelersJoy has no expiration date! (I highly recomend this site to anyone getting married, very easy to use and a great deal when compared to similar sites.)

This also means that I am not allowed to make a trip home for Thanksgiving which makes me a little sad. I have a friend who is about a month ahead of me in this process, that really helps. She also told me that the government will grant each person one emergency trip home if needed. So if something happens and I need to leave I can, but only to my home country. Now I'm getting a little frustrated because I want to plan our trip and book things and I can't because I don't friggin know when I will get this stuff. I am hoping I will know more after November 12th, but that's just a hope...after that meeting I will most likely just start planning for March I guess. Oh well, c'est la vie.

I actually wrote this post prior to leaving for Paris and scheduled it to post on Tuesday. I feel so techie...

Off To Paris!!

Well...my train takes out from Lille in about 8 hours and I am headed to Paris to pick up my friends at CDG. I am so excited to see them! Then my family (Mom, Aunt, Cousin, and two friends that are like family) comes in Monday. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and trying to show them just a little of why I love France so much.

I often worry that if I try to show people around I will forget something big, or waste a day by getting lost and not seeing the real sites. But the thing about Paris is that even just getting lost is an adventure. You see beautiful things everywhere, not just the well known spots. I also really want them to see Lille. I know the north doesn't get that good of a wrap here, but I really like it. I'm also a bit nervous because the weather has been really great here for quite a while and this can't hold out much longer! I was actually hoping it would rain all last week so that maybe the week I had visitors it would be nice. Seems like every time someone comes to see me we have freakishly bad weather. Maybe it's a ploy...every time visitors come to Lille it rains, that way no one will actually know how great it is here. Man...Mama Nature...that's mean lady.

I won't be blogging until about Thursday, but I have scheduled a few things to pop up over the next day or two. Very techie of me eh? I got the idea from Susan and thought I would try it out. Of course I have had weeks to get ready and I am scurrying around right now looking for battery chargers and hair things.

Wish me luck on being a good tour guide and I hope to meet up with Leesa and Ksam too! I have yet to ever try a rhumrhum, and I think it's time I do...

A few good things...

I went to order the flowers yesterday for the wedding. I'm not putting them in the church or anything, I just need a bouquet and some boutonnieres for the people in the wedding and the mothers. I waited until 2:00pm (14h for those French folks) to walk down because I figured they would be closed for lunch. As guessed; they did have a lunch break, but apparently florists are extra hungry folk and they need more than the normal 2 hour lunch break. They take 3 hours and 20 minutes for lunch. So alas I would have to return at 3:20pm (15h20) if I wanted flowers.

I was really glad I returned because I just love the florist! He is a slight man with kind smile that is a bit lopsided, olive skin, dark hair and brown eyes who had no problem with my child-like French. I told him what I liked and didn't like, "S'il vous plait, pas des roses rouge" (please, no red roses). He immediately began briskly walking around the small shop and grabbing things, making a bouquet right then and there to show me what it would look like. I love the colors (will post pictures after the fact) and the fact that they will be made by kind hands also makes me feel good. A little good karma on the day would do me fine. Ahh...the sweet smell of success! I pick them up the day before the wedding. I thought I would pick them up the day of, but he said they would still be fresh for Saturday. I'm sure they will, he seems to know what he is doing. I also have no idea what it is going to cost, probably a car payment...oh well...at least I have flowers! Plus we have even more money to spend because another person is having to cancel the visit. She is sick though, I can't blame her, the flight is hard enough when you feel good. Guess we can put her meal money to the flowers. Ha...

I'm having my British friend (who will be on vacation and won't make the wedding) over this evening for dinner. She has cooked a few times for me and I'm trying to return the favor. I'm planning chicken breasts stuffed with dried figs and blue cheese. Just some simple sides and some sorbet for desert I think. Not getting very fancy, but it will do along with some wine of course. Not too much though, I have a coffee thing tomorrow morning I am planning on going to. I realize I am really going to have to find some sort of work after I get my CDS (November 12 here I come) and so I'm going to bump up my networking attempts. I don't really care what I do here, just a job...

I also got to see Cyr this morning via web cam. Ha...I love those things. He had to make a trip to the Middle East and will be back Sunday. The same day I leave to pick up my friends in Paris...he promises to meet me at the alter though.

Actually we will be back Wednesday so I will get time with him for a few days prior. Plus we have to have dance lesson number 2! Cyr...the waltzing Frenchman...

Wedding Plans

Well there is less than two weeks until the big church wedding!

Things are falling into place and I am fairly sure it will all go off alright. The only things I still have left to do are the flowers, pick the menu, sort some music out and confirm the number of guests. The last one is something that has been bothering me for a few weeks to be honest. I know it shouldn't, I know I am asking too much of my family and friends to come all the way to France for a wedding. The thing that actually bothers me is that there were a large amount of people saying they would be here and of course the number is (literally) now less than half of what I expected from my side. Yes, I know the economy is not well right now. Maybe I'm just a selfish brat. But I had people telling me all summer how they would see me at the wedding. Oh well, I know my Mom will be here, an Aunt, a cousin and handful of friends.

No matter how many times I read and retype this post I just sound like a whiny bitch. I am very excited about the day and the people that are coming. The truth is that most of my best friends and family can't make it for real reasons. One just had a baby less than a month ago, another has two kids she needs to take care of, my Dad is sick and can't make it, and some people just plain don't have the money. It's ok, I understand. Truth is that it's going to be just about the perfect size. With all of Cyr's family and friends coming I think there will be about 45 people total for the dinner and reception with a few more at the ceremony.

I'm also really excited about the people that are coming. I have some friends arriving this weekend in Paris and I'm going to meet them and have a great time. My family (Mom, Aunt, cousin and family friend who is like family) comes in on Monday and we are also going to spend a few days in Paris too. I think I am actually more excited about this than anything else! They have even booked a tour with a chance to see a show at the Moulin Rouge! Ha! I can't wait! Next week is going to be one of the best weeks ever, I can feel it. I have two more friends coming in next week the Thursday before the wedding and will get to spend time with them too. Then there will be the wedding, where the most important person of all will be; Cyr. Now that I think about it, I guess it is the perfect size. Just enough folks to really be able to share something special, not just have a huge show. I guess I can say that it may sound super dorky, but the wedding will actually be "intimate" which is usually code for "small" but the more I think about it, the more I like it. It's a special day for a small special group of people.

Plans are next year to have a big "not-so-intimate" party in the states so that we can celebrate with all the people that can't make it this time. And you can bet your ass I am going to wear my dress again. ;-)

Computer Germs

Oh man!! So my computer was acting a bit funny, not letting me get to some sites, redirecting me when I did searches to sales or porn sites. This bug is super smart. It also blocks access to any anti-virus pages, so you can't get to NOD32, Norton, Symantec or anything out there that can help. Then my little guy went into a coma. Just a frozen screen with no movement. I would have to force her off by holding the power button and then the screen would go black and a noise similar to static would be heard as she painfully powered down.

Lucky for me (right now) my computer completely freaked out two days before I was to move to France. I went to Micro Center and bought new memory and a new hard drive because I thought it was fried then. When I got to France and ran some add-ware program it went back to normal so my memory and hard drive have been sitting in the closet up until now. Plus, computer items are WAY more expensive here, so I now have a better set up for much less than I would have had to spend here.

A second lucky thing; Cyr is a brain and can actually replace these items, get my computer up and running and is going to somehow get the files off my old hard drive. The only pain in the butt is that all my docs and things I am going to need for the wedding including budget, guest list, addresses and old pictures are now sitting on my sick hard drive here on the table. I can feel the files looking at me, wanting to be part of my day, almost pleading to be placed back in their natural habitat on my little Dell here. I hope my hero Cyr can save them!!

So watch out people! I have no idea how I got this. But it's bad news...I'm not opening any attachments until my anti-virus, anti-spam and anti-whatever else is out there is fixed.

Good news - we booked our photographer for the wedding!! His name is Luc and he is great. I can't find his link right now...but I will update this post later and include it so you can check him out. I think he is fantastic, he really takes very unique pictures. Plus we actually saved money with him because the one we were going to use was referred to us by the Chateau (reception site)and they really mark up the prices. Woohoo! No mark up for us, we will just pay the already a bit high regular price thank you!

Busy or Not Busy?

Well we had a great weekend. Cyriaque's friend from London, Alex and Kate, are just great. We showed them around Lille and then went to Brugges for a day. It's so close, it's the easiest place to show folks once they have been around Lille. Although you could spend a few days in Lille and it would not be a problem there is so much to see. The only problem is that France is closed on Sunday, but Belgium is open! Not all, but most of the shops in Belgium are open Sunday so you can walk around and see things, go into museums and things of that nature. We actually just walked along the canals and ate and drank all day. It was quite lovely really...

Yesterday Cyr thought he was going to have to go to Libya but the trip was canceled so we were able to spend the afternoon together at the house. Last night I remembered that I really needed to get the hotel information together to send out to all the people that are invited to the wedding. So although all day I didn't do much, I started working around 8pm and was up until midnight. Then when I went to bed my mind would not turn off and all I could do was lie there and think about all the other things I need to get done this week. It so odd, sometimes I feel like I have too much to do, then a few hours later I will feel like I can't wait to be able to work because I don't have enough to do. What is that? How can I have to completely opposing thoughts within hours of each other? I think I am in denial about how much I have to do actually. The big thing is that I want to try to have my invitations in the mail on September 1st. I have them all stuffed and ready to go in the US, I just need to make an insert with hotel info/directions and things.

I'm just not feeling very entertaining the last few days. I have lost my wit somewhere. I'm just not feeling at all witty or funny and nothing interesting is happening right now. I'm sure it will pass. I have been wanting to post, but everything I think of just sounds so boring. I just typed this up because I wanted you all to know I'm still alive over here.

Oh - I did find the beginners workbook to the series I have that is Intermediate French. I'm doing to do a few lessons a day and try to really learn the basics. I jumped in so fast I missed some of the simple things. But I can now talk in the past tense! Woohoo!

Here is a picture of my best friend in Lille; Olga. She moved back to Canada. Damn it...

I miss you Olga!!

Weathering the Storm

Well the hurricane, or tropical storm as it turned out to be, was a complete dud. There was a little rain, but that was about it. All the news stations were extremely excited about this potential threat and canceled all the programming and would show different newbie meteorologists around town who would give reports. Most went like this:

This is (whoever) reporting from north Houston and as you can see...it's raining. I want you to look at the water gathering here so you can get an idea of how much is coming down. (Camera then focuses on a water puddle no more than half an inch deep.) As you can see, there is water gathering here, it's even running through the streets into the storm gutters. Back to you guys in the station.

Since the whole Catrina/Rita thing no one wants to be caught underestimating any sort of disaster I guess. Most businesses were closed, many of them closed the day before to let people get their homes prepared for the storm. The signs on the freeway blinked "Storm forming in Gulf, fill your gas tanks". It was all very exciting for a while! Having been through a few big storms I'm glad it fell apart and turned out to be only a light rain, but I wish the media would have stopped trying to sensationalize the day of not-so-bad effects.

Today I'm going to try to find wedding invitations. I found some that I love, but when they told me they would be $700 for 100 of them I had to laugh. People...really...it's paper. What a racket this wedding thing is! Everything is crazy expensive. So I'm off to find some acceptable invitations today (if such a thing does in fact exist). Is it tacky to send an evite?

Showers, Wedding and Tropical Storm

I had my first wedding shower!! I know these things are totally dorky, that they are typically only fun for the bride, but hey, I'm the bride! It was mostly family there, but my Mom and cousins who threw the shower know some friends of mine so a few friends were invited as well. It was so interesting to see all these people mix together.

So in case you don't know, I have a very eclectic group of friends and family. Many people may say this, but I'm actually serious. Many of my friends are not friends with each other, and many of my family members don't really talk to each other. Time goes by and you build your life around a few people and before you know it, you have not spoken to someone in three years. It happens. You don't mean it to, but it happens. Maybe this is why I was so touched that all these people from different parts of my life showed up.

I had childhood friends like Brandy, my high school representative Missy, college was Amanda then came present day with Lori and Shari. Family was represented from not only my mother's side, but from cousins on my Dad's side like Pam and Cheryl. Friends I have known my whole life like Courtney and Susan B. Most of these people don't know each other, some of them came alone, not knowing who would be there. But they were there. They came to this strange place to sit around and talk to people they don't know because they care about me. Or at least that is what I like to think. It doesn't sound like much, but maybe if you take in the whole thing it really was. They did this little thing for me, just for me. It wasn't convenient, it wasn't a promise of fun, just a promise that it would mean something to me. And it did. Thank you all that came. Sorry to all that my family didn't know to invite. There will be other times for you to sacrifice and show your love to me! Just kidding...I hope...

I can't help but reflect on family and friends right now. To think of all the things that I know I have been upset about in the past and to I know that most of those things are trivial. Maybe someone made a bad decision in the past, but today, right now, if they are here for me, how can I fault them? Maybe some things can not be forgiven, but maybe some can. As I have all these sentimental thoughts of how I love all my family and friends, I am watching the news off an on.

"Welcome Home Susan!" screams every channel. There is a hurricane set to hit Houston tomorrow morning and all you hear about on tv or radio is about Hurricane Edouard. Nice spelling eh? Must be some weather guy's relative. The channel we are watching now is running an "Eye on the Gulf" all night. How exciting. Yeah, I pick a week to come home, and it's a good one eh? Well at least I got to know again that feeling of walking into a store and having all the water and batteries gone. The comradery of those walking the aisles with glances that say; "Hey man, I'm with you. I ain't leaving town. We can't take this storm. I'm on your team." So here I sit with my Mom, a few gallons of water in the other room, a few snacks just in case. Hoping that my little pink house doesn't blow away. I may not be able to blog tomorrow as we might loose power, but hey, at least when I can, it will probably be a good one. With the temperature right now at about 100-102 F (37-38) it's going to be a fun time if we loose electricity. No AC, don't mess with me...

Cross your fingers and hope it (Edouard) dies out. Ever since Rita it just seems that people freak out when the wind picks up, so I don't know if I should be worried or not. They are not evacuating, so I guess we are ok. The latest says that Houston should get the brunt of the storm about 7pm Tuesday night. So maybe I should cancel that dinner and drinks at 5:30 eh?

Damn VAT, Yeah Egypt!!

So I loved my French school, and I am sooooo glad I took it. But it was pretty expensive. One of the ways I was able to talk myself into taking the class was that 150 euro of the price was a VAT tax which is like the national tax here. If you spend a certain about of money and are not a resident you can get the tax back. No problem right?

I go to the secretary at the French school and ask her for a receipt (all this is done in horrible French as they won't speak to you in English). She tells me they will mail me one. Of course it is not this easy, this is after I mime "should I call you next week" and "do I need to write a letter" and then I am able to translate the answer. Well class has ended, I get an envelope from them, and it's not a money receipt, it's a stupid letter saying I took a B1 level French class. UH!! I am so pissed! I want to yell SPEAK ENGLISH LADY!! But I know this is unreasonable, I should be speaking French. I know this, I am trying.

This really would not be such a big deal if I wasn't leaving next Wednesday to go back to the states for a family wedding shower and to pick up my dress for the wedding. I mean, I'm going to be in the airport, right there...and I probably won't be able to do it. 150 euro, that's like $500 American or something right now!! I could be making money on this deal! Well hell, maybe if I keep it a few months the dollar will raise even more and I can profit on this thing even more.

So yes, I will be in the US for a week starting next Wednesday. I plan to keep up my blog this time though. At least a few times a week. I'm having my last fitting for my dress and will pick that up. The wedding isn't until October and of course I am hoping that I will loose so much weight that I will have to find a seamstress here in Lille to take it in because my butt has shrunk to Jennifer Lopez size and firmness, but we will see. It could happen right? I think now I'm more Jennifer Hudson than Lopez, but Cyr seems to like it so I can't complain too much I guess. I love how he tells me "don't loose weight, I love your curves." As if this is really a concern eh? Seriously honey...no need to worry about that. Just show me a Leffe Brune, some L'Os a Moelle (not sure of the spelling) and Maroille and BAM! Curves are back babe...

My family has also planned a wedding shower for me which I think is kind of cool, but I don't live in the US so it might be weird. I'm excited to have the sherbet punch and to see the parts of my family that only come out of the woods for weddings and funerals, but it's not like I can get a toaster as a gift. I can't plug it in here guys, it won't work. So...I registered our honeymoon. Maybe this is tacky, but people keep asking me where I am registered and so now I have an answer. I researched a few places and decided on Travelersjoy.com I set up a site for Cyr and I and I think it's the most practical thing we can do. This way if people feel like they need to give us a gift they can, and it's something that we really want. We are going to Egypt and plan to stay two weeks. YEAH!! I can't wait!! Beach for the first week, desert for the second. Whoohoo!! I hope someone buys the upgrade to the Oberoi Resort....if anyone has any suggestions for Egypt feel free to email or post a comment. Thanks!

Weekend in Dunkerque and Reception Site Found!

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted. We have been really busy!! Today I will post about the wedding we went to last weekend in Dunkerque. It was so much fun, but we were so tired afterwards. We went to Dunkerque on Friday and had dinner with the groom's family. He comes from a very large family so it was really great, there were over 20 people there for the dinner at his parent's house. We had raclette. I love raclette. Each person gets a little baby frying pan that you put cheese, mushrooms, quail eggs (yes, little quail eggs) in and then you put it in a thing that looks like an adult Easy Bake Oven. The cheese melts, the eggs cook or what ever you put in there gets hot! Then you scoop out the gooey cheese or whatever onto a boiled potato or ham or something. Oh...so good! Here is a pic of what small ones look like:


Then we decided, in all of our well intentioned state of minds, to go to a bar and have a sort of bachelorette/bachelor party for both the bride and groom. Interesting fact: in French the term is "enterrement de vie de garcon/fille" which directly translates into "Burial of life of boy/girl". Nice eh? Well, I tell you, the next day I WISH they could have buried me. We had to be at breakfast at 8:30, we were only 10 minutes late. Actually here is what the day looked like;

8:30am - Breakfast with family
9:15am - Walk to the Marie (city hall) for ceremony)
9:30am - Marriage Ceremony
11:00am - We have walked back to the home of the groom's parents and prepare and have lunch
3:00pm - Vin d'honour (drinks and hors d'oeuvres)
7:00pm - Dinner
8:45ish - We eat dinner
no clue what happened to this time
12:00am - The couple presents the typical French desert for weddings, the Piece Monte or Croquembouche for desert. See picture here:
It was such a great weekend, but it was very busy. All totally worth it though, his friends M and A are great people and they are very happy. I can't wait for our big day! Plus we can sleep another day I guess. Maybe this weekend??

On Sunday when we woke up we had to drive to Belgium to look at a place for our reception. We ended up loving it...you can check out the website of the place here, though I don't have pictures yet. We are going to have the vin d'honneur in a beautiful chateau then walk to a larger club house type thing next to it for the dinner. I'm so excited. They have shuttles to take people to and from Lille and everything. It's a one stop shop. They even do the photography at the wedding all the way until the end of the reception!! It's about 20-25 minutes from Lille but we had to book out of town because within the city limits you have to stop at 11pm because of noise. Unless you are a club of course. But all of the hotels that were available said they would have to stop at 11 and we didn't want that.

So since then I have been going to class and all kinds of things. I called last night to catch up with my Dad and it turns out he was walking around the pool and he fell and broke his arm...hope you feel better soon Dad!! I love you!!
Oh - and check this out Dad (and Sandy and Mom); at the wedding I tried out my new French skills with the folks and Cyriaque was amazed! I didn't think I had made that much progress but he said he could not believe how much French I could speak. It really made me feel good how he kept telling people that I could speak that much French after only two weeks of classes and how proud he was of me. You would think I was a child who just learned how to ride a bike. I think I was even proud! Awe...he's such a nice man. I should marry that one...

Crudoodle...

Well...I walked all over town again today looking at potential sites for a wedding reception. I found some great places, the problem is they don't allow music at all or you have to stop it at 11pm. Uhh...really?

I'm guessing that is because although all the buildings here are old and beautiful, because of this same fact they are not at all soundproof. They kept telling me that because there were hotel rooms they could not play music. Seriously? You mean you have hotel rooms in this hotel? Why that's outrageous. So I have great ideas for the rehearsal dinner, but I'm at nada for the reception. I think we are going to have to go a little out of Lille, which means we will also need shuttles. Maybe places can supply those things...who knows. I'm going to conquer this thing as much as possible this week.

Right now I'm going to visit my only friend here in Lille. She owns a jewelry shop and I am going to swing by for coffee. I'll call her Friend A. So I'm going to hit Friend A up for some advice on this. Maybe she knows of a place. I'm also excited just to go to coffee with someone. I feel like I'm on a date, I think I'm nervous! Seriously, anyone who has been (or is in) my expat-in-France shoes knows it's hard to make female friends here. Friend A is French but speaks good English. Even if she doesn't have advise I think I have an advert that one of my other friends sent me of a place her cousin got married at that is just outside of Lille. Uh - I hope I can find it...

Oh - I also studied last night for first time since 1993 (sophomore/junior year at UH, Algebra). Thank goodness for Jennie!! I went over her tutorials and I think I might be able to squeak by so that I'm not too, too beginner. I wish it was a conversational placement exam. Actually...I bet part of it is conversation. That would be good for me. Last night I watched an episode of Grey's Anatomy in French and understood a fairly good amount. Of course I don't get ANY medical terms, but I don't get those in English. :-) Plus it helps that they are two seasons behind so I know what is going on. I mean, Dr. Burke is still on the show here! It's like I'm in Back to the Future but instead of having an old sports book from the future it's tv shows. I should make some bets with the locals about the characters and what their futures hold...

A Wedding in France

Today I received an email from one of my cousins, Cheryl. Cheryl is great, she lives in Houston and is also engaged to be married. She's actually doing a small wedding, just the two of them. I like the way that is sounding. She asked how my wedding plans are going.

Uhh...

They are going about the pace of traffic on 610 and Westeimer at 5pm on the Friday before Christmas in Houston. It feels like I'm actually going backwards but I know that can't be possible. My French sucks and the customs seem very different here from the people I talk to. I actually went to a hotel when my friend Stephen was in town to just see if they had small to medium rooms to reserve for a reception. The one we went to was a big French non. As Stephen pointed out "I think they think you want to party in one of their hotel rooms." They totally thought that actually. They kept telling me "You can reserve a room for four people, or you could reserve many rooms." I can picture it now...

"Ok people, listen up! Please don't spill the red wine on the carpets and do not look through other people's luggage. Keep the children off the stairs, out of the elevators and please do not invite people from rooms 213 and higher because they are not part of the guest list. Just be polite and ask them to move on. You can sit anywhere from room 140 - 211 and cake is in 212. Bon appetite and merci for coming! "

I think I am going to send an email to Cyr's Mom and ask for help. If she is anything like an American future in-law she should have a little part of her that wants to help, right? She's actually been fantastic to me and I really like her so I'm hoping that will work. I'm also going to give some of my French friends a call. Get ready for me Marine and Jeanne...I'm stalking you next week.

I do have one thing done; we have the church!! Oh, plus a dress and we picked out rings. I keep getting people calling and emailing asking about hotels and travel and all kinds of stuff. Damn, when did people start planning for things at the end of October in June!! That's like 5 months away! I know, people with families need time and all that stuff. Yes, I get it. I know. I promise I will take my broken-ass-French-speaking self to hotels next week so that I can at least recommend something that doesn't have a strange oder when you walk into the lobby. I seriously doubt I will be able to find a reception place, I think we will probably end up doing a restaurant for dinner and drinks afterwards. You might have to come to Houston for the late night dancing scene.

So, goals for next week;

1. Find two hotels to recommend to people. One 3/4 star and one economical choice.
   
1. Yes...I KNOW it needs to be easily accessible to the train station or found by taxi.
   
2. Email future mother-in-law for advice
3. Call French friends for help/advice

Man, I think this would actually be fun if it were being done in Houston. I feel like I could plan the Houston one in a week. As a matter of fact I will probably have that puppy done by Thanksgiving and it will be in March. I already know a place I want to book...

Houston and a dress

I have been back in Houston for a week now. So far most of my time has been spent with Cyr and friends going to dinner and catching up. I have not really spent a lot of time with my family, but since I am going to be here until June 2nd I still have time.

It's funny, I used to hear people talk about how cheap things are in the US, now I am one of those people. I just a conversion of what gas costs in Lille versus Houston. Gas/diesel fuel is sold by the liter and if you convert it to US dollars and gallons it comes out to...uh...$8.20 a gallon for gas in France right now. That is why they all walk and take public transportation! It's also why most of the cars are small and get like 50 miles to the gallon I guess. I also think clothes are cheaper here too.

Speaking of clothes...I bought a wedding dress!! Once again I have confirmed that I am buyer. I typically know what I want and then just buy it when I find it. I don't take 2 months to research things and compare the best price. I can't believe people will spend 3 months buying a car only to save $300. That's like 50 cents a month or something. So I went to Ventura's in the Heights thinking it would be super tacky but I wanted to take a look anyway. I walked in and sure enough, loud dresses and a few wedding dresses. Then a woman says; "oh no, our wedding section is in the back!" She takes me into this HUGE room with nothing but wedding dresses. It was really strange to pick through them. I pulled 6 and tried them on. I narrowed it down to 2 and held them so my Mom could help me choose. Both were beautiful, but I went with the first dress I tried on which was also the first one I pulled. The second was gorgeous and was beautiful on, but I felt like I was playing dress up. I'm not a princessy type of girl, so the beading and shiny things looked like it was made for someone else. Both my Mom and my Aunt Mary (who cried, awe!) agreed; the dress I chose looks like it was made for me. I also bought my veil. There were a few other girls there trying on dresses when I was there. They all looked like they should have been dressing for prom as opposed to a wedding. So young!! It was so fun trying on dresses. Makes you want to get married more than once. To the same person of course. :-)

This weekend I am going to visit my cousin in Kerrville and get some good Texas time in. I'm also going to try to find shoes and am hoping to visit my new cousin Colton as well. I was so sick I didn't want to expose him to the petri dish of germs I probably had all over me last week.

Cyr left on Saturday to head back to Lille. Sunday I went with a friend to an Astros game and had a great time. I cried during the National Anthem, ate a hot dog and sang during the 7th inning stretch. It all felt so American. In a fantastic way. Being back makes me miss Houston a little. It really is a great city, you just have to work a little harder to find things to do here. Not like Austin where fun is right in your face and you just stumble over great things to do. I'm not ready to come back just yet though, I'm really looking forward to getting back to Lille and speaking more French.

UPDATE ON V'S FAMILY
My friend V's house was struck by lightening and the house along with both of their cars were completely destroyed. Currently the family is in the process of moving into a rent house and trying to buy clothes and things for the kids (two boys age 3 and 5) to wear to school and other items needed for everyday life. Thank you to all that have emailed me to ask about how to help out. Right now they said the easiest way to help would be in the form of a gift card. If you would like to help, just email me or post and I can send you an address you can send a gift card to. Anything from groceries, clothing, home depot or even gas cards I'm sure would be welcomed. Thanks to everyone for offering help. I hope none of you are ever in her position, but if you are just know that people do come together to help.