I Swear I Lived

My friend Karia took this photo for me
the day he summited Mt. Kilimanjaro. 

A lot can happen in one year. I'd like to say that I am 365 days stronger, but that would be a lie. If I've learned anything during this past year, it's that life is too short not to be completely honest with yourself.

I started this blog when I was in the process of leaving DC to move to Paris. I fully intended on it being something I updated on a regular basis, but keeping true to what I just said above, after losing Shea last July, I just couldn't. Blogging has always been a very personal thing for me. I try to be very honest in my writing, and because I am a private person I feel like I give up a piece of myself whenever I blog. After I lost Shea, I just couldn't do that. I had to close off from everything and everyone and try to repair myself.

Shea passed away on July 22^nd.  We held her memorial service on July 27^th, and I returned to my world in Paris on July 28^th. I was certainly happy to get back to my apartment and to see Lilly, but the days, weeks and months after returning to Paris were incredibly difficult. I felt like I was living in a haze. I was completely numb to everyone and everything. I was the worst version of myself. Nothing and no one mattered to me because I was so consumed by my grief.

I was blessed to have wonderful family and friends that made the long flight to visit and others that would call, email, message and text. You all know who you are, and I hope you know how much your love and support meant and continues to mean to me! I thought this was something I wanted to do and could do alone, but I know now that it's not. Without the love and support of those closest to me, I wouldn't be where I am now. I work hard to find strength within myself, but I have learned that I absolutely cannot discount the strength I gain from those I love.

Most importantly, I had Mark and Lilly. They were always there for me through the good, bad and often ugly. I don’t know how or why they stuck around, but they did. There were days when I had so much anxiety that I felt like I couldn’t even leave my apartment, but Lilly made me do it. There were days where I just wanted to stay in bed, but Mark would always come home from work happy to see me with a fresh baguette and bottle of wine.

I pushed myself to continue going, to find happiness in the midst of all of my despair. I was in a constant battle with myself – I knew what I needed to do, but I had no desire to do it. I definitely had dark moments. The darkest actually came during my birthday weekend in October while visiting Venice. I have never been one to love birthdays like some of my friends – I’m talking about you, Bree. But since Shea and I were both October babies, we always celebrated together. When Todd came into our lives, also an October baby, we started our annual birthday celebration that we called the Trifecta. It was always so much fun! I think my mom loved it the most because we always had three different types of birthday cake. I usually wanted a cheesecake, Shea wanted Granny’s caramel cake and then Todd would end up with a regular birthday cake because, in my mom’s mind, no birthday is complete without some buttercream frosting.

Because of this special tradition, celebrating my first birthday without Shea was incredibly difficult. Knowing ahead of time that it would be hard, Mark and I planned to go away to Venice for a long weekend. As I said, I was in a dark place…I actually ended up walking around the streets of Venice kicking pigeons...yikes!

For so long I had just been totally numb, but somehow in Venice, on my birthday, I found my anger. I was so mad, and I hated anything and anyone that resembled happiness. I remember yelling at people taking photos on a bridge. I believe my basic message was…life sucks. I felt that everything in life was just total and utter bullshit. Nothing seemed fair, nothing seemed just, nothing, absolutely nothing, made sense.

I know saying these things on my blog is probably going to make some people concerned about me, but I promise, finally finding my anger was awesome. I needed that! Once I found my anger, I was able to FINALLY let it go! Go go go go go go go away all of this anger that had been building up inside of me and consuming every aspect of my life for so long, longer than I could have imagined.

Once I finally let go of all of it, I was able to start having fun, and I became a little bit more pleasant to be around.  

So what have I been up to over the past year? Well that's interesting and boring all at the same time. I have visited 13 countries, spanning 4 continents. Basically my time in France, after returning in July, consisted of lots and lots of traveling. I returned to the US in December and then embarked on a new adventure to Tanzania in January.

Since visiting South Africa in 2011, I fell in love with the entire continent of Africa. For the past three years I have wanted to go back and volunteer. This was always something I thought wouldn’t happen until retirement. I really want to move to one of the many beautiful countries within my favorite continent and put down roots. But for the moment, moving to Africa isn’t an option, so I decided to go and spend almost two months in Moshi, Tanzania volunteering with women and children. This was a dream come true for me. I didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into, but I was lucky to love my volunteer assignment and also be surrounded by a ton of fabulous people. I stepped off the airplane into the dark African night around 2:30 am not knowing ANYONE in Tanzania, and now I have some of the most amazing friends that have forever changed my life.

While my time in Venice was where I found my anger, my time in Tanzania was where I found strength and happiness. I didn’t know if I could ever be 100% happy again, but it happened there. I am so blessed to have had that experience because it opened up my heart to so many new and wonderful possibilities.

The boring part of my life is what I’m doing now, and in the grand scheme of things, it really isn’t that boring. I am trying to settle down and find some sense of normalcy. I’m back in the US fulltime, so my days consist of job hunting and looking for an apartment. While my day-to-day life isn’t as exciting as traveling the world, I know that when I finally find a place I can call home and a job I enjoy, all of the craziness will be worth it!

No, I am not 365 days stronger, but I am not the same person I was last July. My whole world has changed, and while I don’t have my life together the way I would prefer, I feel like I am in a better place today than I was a year ago. I have found strength within myself and within other people. And I have learned that…

Being laid back is much more fun than being uptight.

It’s important to cut people some slack from time to time. Not everyone is going to do things the way I would do them and that’s ok.

Living for now rather than waiting for tomorrow is mandatory – always, always, always love the moment  - even the moments you want to hate!

The relationships we build are important - most of the time people will surprise you.

Age, race, religion and geographic location don’t matter when it comes to finding true friendships – it’s all about the person and a real connection.

And most importantly…things don’t matter…people matter, time matters, and we should all appreciate how blessed we are to spend time with the people we love.

When I was telling Shea goodbye, I told her that I would do my best to be more like her. I looked at her and said, “You’ve always been a diva and I’ve just been a bitch.” I promised her that I would try my best to learn to be more like her because she was amazing. I will never be the same person I was before I lost Shea, but I think that’s ok.

As I am sure most people reading this also feel…I miss Shea! I miss her every single day! I wish she was still here. There have been so many things I have wanted to discuss with her this year. So many times I needed a little Shea advice or to just hear her beautiful laugh. I can’t believe she is gone; sometimes I still think it’s just a bad dream. But like I said in the eulogy I wrote for her service, the impact Shea made on my life and the love and admiration I have for my sister is something that will never leave me. Shea will always be a part of my life…past, present and future.

So today - on the one year anniversary of her death - as I celebrate Shea, I will wear my navy blue shirt and crazy socks proudly. I’ll make sure my outfit isn’t too matchy matchy. I’ll apply an extra coat of mascara. I will use copious amounts of lip gloss. I’ll choose a Swiss Cake Roll for dessert. I’ll drink delicious French champagne, and I will do something today that scares me…and even in fear, I will love the moment!

And as Shea used to include in her blog posts, my song for the day is I Lived by One Republic. That’s where the title for this blog comes from and it’s been my theme song over the past year.

Shea, I’ll love you forever and I’ll miss you always mon petit pois! 

Faith Without Understanding

It’s hard to believe that it has been almost a month since Shea went to heaven. I think of her every day - probably more like every hour - just as I knew I would. I started working on this blog post in early July and didn’t finish it until I got home. I wrote this more for myself than for anything else but I wanted to share in hope that it might help anyone else dealing with similar feelings.

I feel like I have been in complete and utter denial for over a year. What I find so amazing is how well I can lie to myself. When people would ask me how I was doing, which they did often, I would answer that I was doing ok. The scary part is, I actually believed myself.

In recent weeks I changed my response to, "I think I'm ok" because I started to realize there was no possible way that I could actually be doing as ok as I felt.

I am not sure why I didn't realize I was going to lose my sister sooner. In all honesty, I didn't actually get it until I saw her miserably sick and finally realized there was no fixing this situation. Finally accepting that a terrible situation can't be fixed is really difficult, especially for someone with my type of personality. I don't admit this often, but I am stubborn as hell. I don't believe something until I want to believe it, and the last thing I wanted to believe was that cancer was going to take my sister away from me.

I think one huge contributing factor to my denial was my faith in God. For as long as I can remember, I have always believed in the amazing healing power of God. I truly believed he would fix this situation, and by some miracle that can only be described as a “God thing,” Shea's cancer would be taken away. I have said before that this whole situation has been a huge test of my faith. I am not ashamed to admit that at times I found myself utterly pissed at God. I still don't know why he would let this happen, but as some friends reminded me, true faith is about finding peace without understanding, which is what I am trying to do. (Thank you Robert and Kristen!)

I landed in Atlanta on June 5^th not exactly knowing what to expect. At this point I was still in my fight with God. I cried during the plane ride – thank goodness for sleeping masks. I wasn’t able to find any peace in the situation until one Sunday at the end of June. Shea had been admitted into an inpatient hospice facility for a few days to control a high fever. That Sunday morning I was sleeping in the hospital bed with her and she was talking – not to me but to someone, somewhere that I couldn’t see. It was a happy conversation. She was talking about the things she was going to be able to do when she got there. It was at that point, right there that I was able to find my peace because I realized how excited I was for her.

Shea would get to go to heaven. She would be able to do all of the things she wanted to do again with no limitations and no pain. She would spend time with family and friends that had gone on before her. She would be made new. Her smile would shine brighter than ever. This is what was best for my sister whom I loved dearly, and this is where I found my peace.

Shea and Todd’s minister, Brother Bobby, spent a lot of time with our family. On this very particular Sunday night, he shared with us that while it is hard to understand why things like this happen – especially to someone so young – he has never seen someone pass away and it not strengthen his faith even more. I didn’t admit it then, but I knew exactly what he was talking about. This is probably going to sound crazy, but I don’t think I have ever felt so close to heaven as I have when I have been by the side of someone passing.

You see, I had spent so much time for the past almost 3 years being sad for my sister. My heart broke when she was diagnosed in 2010, when the cancer returned in 2012, when we learned her tumors couldn’t be removed in March, and after every single trial along the way. BUT, then it finally hit me, when Shea went to heaven my sadness would no longer be for her. Shea was going to the best place anyone could ever imagine. 

I never lost my faith through all of this. I just think my anger and misunderstanding clouded things. Shea always said she never wanted to be anyone’s excuse, and I will not let her be my excuse for not believing in what I have always believed and always will.

There were two songs that have really spoken to my heart over the past month. They are both Chris Tomlin songs. One we played at Shea’s service – Whom Shall I Fear and the other, I Will Rise, has very special meaning because my Aunt Alice heard it and called me immediately and told me I had to download it. I did what she said and played it for Shea and Mom. We were all three piled into the bedroom together and listened to it the night before Shea passed away. Thank you Aunt Alice!

Whom Shall I Fear – (The chorus is my favorite part) “I know who goes before me, I know who stands behind. The God of angel armies is always by my side. The one who reigns forever, he is a friend of mine, the God of angel armies is always by my side.”

I Will Rise – (This is my favorite line) “There’s a day that’s drawing near when this darkness breaks to light and the shadows disappear and my faith shall be my eyes.”

C’est la vie, y’all! Thanks for reading!

Barcelona

I wrote this blog post back in May. Things have obviously been a bit crazy in my life for the past two months and I am just getting around to posting it.

For the last couple of weeks I have been thinking about how life is never exactly what you thought it was going to be. I don’t really consider myself a dreamer but I am really bad about visualizing something before it happens. And you know what? It is never what I imagined. Sometimes that is a good thing and other times it’s not so great. I always like to be pleasantly surprised, doesn’t everyone?

So it’s usually a unique situation when I have no preconceived expectations about something, someone or some place. This happened to me recently when Mark and I traveled to Barcelona for the weekend. I have always wanted to go to Spain but since I did not take Spanish in high school or college, I really didn’t have too much knowledge on what we should do. Thank goodness for recommendations from close friends, Trip Advisor and Yelp! (Side note, I am starting to believe that Mark and I couldn’t function without Yelp. We use it religiously. “Yelp it” is a term used way too frequently in our household.) I also have to say a special thank you to Tim Friend, our friend from Mark’s MBA program.  He helped us pick out a hotel location, gave us advice on the sites, and I’m pretty sure we ate at every restaurant he recommended.  He really helped make our trip awesome.

Anyways…Spain was great and I think going into the weekend with an open mind made it even more exciting. The only thing I really had high expectations for was the sangria and it DID NOT disappoint. So here is the point where I help out the Spanish tourism office – Barcelona is fabulous, go there! The food is delicious, the people are very nice, the city is clean and beautiful, if you love architecture it’s a must see, it’s a lot cheaper than Paris and the sangria and cava are AWESOME!

I will say that as an American living in Paris trying my best to speak French, landing in a Spanish speaking country was interesting to say the least. My knowledge of Spanish is VERY LIMITED. Other than being able to count from one to seven, these are the words I know:

 

Hola

Gracias

Tu madre

Muy caliente

Cerveza

Bano

So basically I can say this: “Hola, cerveza muy caliente. Tu madre bano, gracias.” Makes sense? No? I didn’t think so either.

The first time I tried to say hola or gracias I actually laughed while I said it because I realized how funny I sounded. What I did not expect was when I was forced to speak Spanish and I didn’t know what to say, I would revert to French instead of English. That was odd.

I do have to call out Mark just a little here, he was as bad at speaking Spanish as me. I thought since he had taken about 4-5 years of it he would be better off, NOPE! Don’t worry, I made sure to tell him regularly how disappointed I was. His response was that he could understand it better through reading but I didn’t see any of that put into action. He relies on me to help teach him French, the least he could do was return the favor. Right?

So here is a spot where I get a little political but hold tight, if you have ever traveled to a non-English speaking country you will know what I am saying. When I was still living in Alabama there was some discussion/controversy over whether directional signs such as a bathroom sign in an airport should be listed in both English and Spanish. At the time I didn’t really think too much about it. However, I have changed my tune. I believe that anyone who has ever been in a country where they don’t speak the language can agree with me on how thankful they are to see multiple languages on signs. I would not survive.

Ok that’s enough political mumbo jumbo, that’s not what this blog is about.

One of Mark’s coworkers at GE and his wife were also in Barcelona so we were able to spend the day with them on Saturday touring the Costa Brava. Meeting Robert and Kristen was a lot of fun and added so much to the trip. Now I just have to convince them to visit Paris!

I could try to explain how beautiful Spain is but I think photos will do it better justice. So here are some photos from our trip. I am also including some photos of Lilly. When Mark and I go out of town – which happens quite often – she goes to the French countryside to stay with Gabi. Lilly gets to run around in the forest off leash and go swimming, she LOVES it!

 

View of Barcelona from Castell de Montjuic

Casa Batlló

Castell Tossa de Mar

Castell Tossa de Mar



Vila Vella



Vila Vella - Thanks to Robert and Kristen for inviting us on such a fun adventure!
  

Jardins de Santa Clotilde

Jardins de Santa Clotilde

Jardins de Santa Clotilde

Jardins de Santa Clotilde

Costa Brava

Costa Brava

Sagrat Cor on Mount Tibidabo

Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia

Sagrada Familia

Park Güell

Park Güell

And here are some of Lilly's vacation in the French countryside.

 

 

 

C'est la vie, y'all! Thanks for reading! 

My Hero, My Sister

Since beginning my blog in February, I have written about my sister Shea several times. Over the last few months I have been overwhelmed by the love and support from those who have reached out to me with their kind words, prayers and memories of Shea. Last Monday Shea went to be with the Lord she loved and will never have to feel the pain of cancer again. I was blessed to be with her when she passed. 

On Saturday we held a memorial service for Shea. I wanted to share the remarks I made about my sister with those of you who couldn't attend. 

_____________________________________________

Sydney Shea Harden Bamberg

October 9, 1982 - July 22, 2013

At different points in my life I have been asked to define someone that I admire most or list my "hero." Up until a couple of years ago I never really had a definitive answer. I would answer with some random celebrity, historical or political figure. From here on out when I am asked those two questions I will say this:

My hero is my sister. Who couldn't admire someone who has more strength than all of her friends and family combined. A person that has the courage to make the tough choices when the easy ones would be so much simpler. The kind of Christian that has faith even when God’s plan doesn’t seem to make any sense. Someone who fights to the VERY end and absolutely never gives up.

My sister Shea Bamberg is the person that I admire most in this world. Shea was a good and kind person. For goodness sakes, she and Todd recycle so much that the city of Sugar Hill had to give them a larger recycling bin. When I visited and didn't recycle a can of soda she would quickly ask me why I hated the earth.

Shea and I were born just 2 years and 11 days apart so growing up I always wanted to do everything like my big sister which annoyed her but I didn't care. I thought she was so cool!

Looking back on it now, I couldn't have asked for a better role model. Shea has always been the kind of person that anyone would want to have in their life. She is loyal, thoughtful, creative, caring and quirky in her own way. There is no one else like Shea and if you need proof of that just look at her handwriting.

I will say, all of these fabulous Shea traits would go out the window when she got behind the wheel of a car. It was amazing...sweet Shea turned into this speed racer with a case of road rage but it was always entertaining. I used to ride with Shea to school and every morning I had to fasten my seatbelt and hold on tight. Shea taught me that tailgating was something more than just what people do at football games. She also could drive in reverse faster and with more precision than any other person I know. I will never forget watching her back down my parents driveway in what felt like 5th gear.

Aside from terrorizing people on the road, Shea also loved to sing. The songs in this service are ones she specifically chose. My mom always wanted one of us to inherit her love of music. She first tried with the piano but after 4 years of begging us to practice she moved on. Then she and Shea began singing together. Shea had a beautiful voice and also shared mom's love of hymns. As most of you know, Shea was a very smart girl.  She knew how much my mom enjoyed singing with her, and she would use this to get out of household chores like cleaning the kitchen. So there I was - the person with a horrible singing voice - in the kitchen cleaning alone while mom and Shea stood around the piano singing.

Some of my favorite memories of my big sister are from Friday nights at Granny's watching movies our parents wouldn't let us watch at home.  Every Friday Mom and Dad would go on date night and Granny would pick us up. We would get our favorite McDonald’s hamburgers, wrap our hair in toilet paper just like Granny did, and watch the latest PG-13 flick. 

And then there were summers spent at the cabin. Shea and I spent hours upon hours tanning to see who could get the darkest. Finally we realized our skin-tones were different, and we declared we couldn't compete any longer. I turned brown and, of course, Shea turned golden like the diva she was.  Luckily we stopped the competitive tanning – our skin thanks us for that!

Shea is known as a diva - which she declared herself. Growing up I never thought of her as a diva but my Dad reminded me that when Shea was little she would spend hours looking at herself in the mirror. She loved to put on performances and pretend she was Cinderella. She also had that "I can't be bothered with this" kind of attitude - which is probably why when asked to watch me for a few minutes when we were small, she let me eat a roly-poly.  

Now I'm not going to get into how Shea met Todd.  All I will say is that some very smart person introduced them. Todd was Shea's Prince Charming. He was the love of her life and could make her smile like no one else.  Until Ellis…Ellis is the blessing that keeps on giving.  Watching Ellis and Shea interact was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.  No amount of pain could stop her from beaming at even the opportunity to hold him.  They would both light up in each other’s presence.  They had a special bond from day one that I know will remain.

Over the past few months I have had the pleasure to spend time with Shea and Todd's wonderful friends. It has blessed my heart to hear stories of how Shea has impacted other people's lives. Two things I heard over and over again were how wonderful of a listener Shea was and how great of advice she could give. This did not come as a shock to me. Shea has always been a great voice of reason. She was never a talkative person which meant when she did talk, people listened. Her motto growing up was, “make sure that you know all that you tell, but never tell all that you know.”  This is something that I will miss most – I valued her insights above all others because she knew me so well.

Over the past 28 years I learned a lot from Shea. As a child, I watched her take on the world and I tried to emulate her strength.  Most importantly I have learned to face every challenge with a smile on my face and a snickers in my hand, live life to the fullest, and never give in to fear.

The other day after a very hard week for Shea we were talking and I told her how much I was going to miss her. It was something I wanted her to know, and I didn't want to miss the chance to tell her.  She looked at me and said, "Erin, where are you going?  Don't leave." I assured her I wouldn't leave and she made me promise I would never leave her and she promised me she would never leave me. While I stood there and made that vow as she laid in a hospital bed, I knew her time on earth would soon come to an end. Shea would leave me in the physical sense. But, the impact she has made on my life and the love and admiration I have for my sister is something that will never leave me. Shea will always be a part of my life…past, present and future. We will keep that promise to each other.

Shea, je t’aime mon petit pois.  I love you my little pea and will miss you every day.

Sweet Home Paris

It has been nearly 2 months since Mark and I moved to Paris. The process of moving – as I have said before – is never fun but those trials and frustrations make it all the more sweeter when you finally can settle into your new home.

We moved into our “permanent” apartment on May 7th and we have really enjoyed getting settled and exploring our new neighborhood. We chose to live in the 5th arrondissement which is on the left bank of the River Seine. (An arrondissement is like a neighborhood within a city, like Georgetown in DC or Cloverdale in Montgomery.) We are just two blocks from Luxembourg Gardens and we live on a quintessential French street adorned with a butcher, farmers market for produce, fromagerie (cheese), patisserie (desserts), boulangerie (bread) and wine store. We also have several clothing shops, restaurants, cafes and bars all along the street. When it is time to cook dinner, Mark and I just walk down the street and pick up the ingredients for our meal. It is so much fun!

For everything else, we walk to one of the other nearby markets. It is quite a change from what we were accustomed to in DC, especially since we no longer own a car. Mark and I often have to remind each other that whatever we buy at the supermarché must be carried back to the apartment building AND up 4 flights of stairs. So, only as much wine and Coke Light as we can carry.

We are very pleased with the apartment itself. It has a very Parisian feel to it with the wood beams on the ceilings, hardwood floors and large windows. However, I am happy to say that other than its compact size, our kitchen is not very Parisian. We have an American style kitchen with a 4 burner stove and regular oven, dishwasher and almost standard refrigerator.

Getting accustomed to the 4th floor walk-up was fun, especially when we had to move in our 9 bags of luggage. Lilly hasn’t been too keen on the stairs so I have started a little game with her. Whenever we are coming back from a walk, I race her up the stairs. So far Lilly hasn’t beaten me – even when I take the occasional fall (at which Mark always laughs) - but she gets really excited about the competition. 

The adjustment to living here took longer than I initially expected, but I feel like Paris is starting to feel more and more like home. I really do think living where we do within the city has made a huge difference. The people at the butcher and the farmers market are getting to know us since we come in nearly every day. It is nice feeling like locals in a city we don’t know too well. Mark is even learning more French so he can order the right kind of meat from the butcher, and we are learning to convert our pounds into kilograms. Baby steps...old habits die HARD! Luckily they are all very patient with us.

I really enjoy going to buy produce. Not only is it so nice to finally find good tomatoes but there is an old man that works in the store that always asks in French how I am doing. And if I respond with anything other than très bien, he seems concerned. He is so sweet, and even though I don’t understand him half the time, he makes me feel special.

As far as our adjustment to the new language, I think Mark and I are doing okay. We have learned what we like to call “menu French.” This means we are able to order food and have some idea of what will be served. Earlier this week I enrolled in an intensive French language course that begins on Monday. I will be taking classes Monday through Friday - 20 hours a week of nothing but French – should be fun!

 

Paris is such a special place, and living here is a great experience for us both. Now that we are feeling more and more like locals, we are able to see the quirks of the city. So just for fun, I started compiling a list of things that someone visiting or living in Paris would never say. I hope this doesn’t offend anyone. It might only make sense to a few people, but I had fun compiling it so I wanted to share.

 

Things you would NEVER say in Paris:

I’d like less ice with my soda.

There isn’t enough cheese on my meal.

Parisians don’t smoke enough.

This kitchen is too large.

The drivers here are very courteous to pedestrians.

This phone network works too well.

Man, wifi is abundant here!

I can’t believe how cheap it is to live here.

Could these prices get any lower?

What a bargain!

There just aren’t enough wine choices on this menu.

Why isn’t there any outdoor seating?

I wish there were more tourists.

They really need more museums.

Napoleon was from France, I had no idea!

These buildings don’t have enough character.

Where’s the culture?

The shopping choices are so limited.

This city needs more bridges and lights.  

I have noticed a severe lack of gardens.

Where are all the high carb options?

I’m concerned I don’t have enough fat in my normal diet.

Why are there so many gyms?

This coffee is too weak.

Why can’t I find a good dessert anywhere?

 

I also wanted to share some photos. Please ignore the random pieces of luggage and lack of décor. It is a work in progress.

 

 

 

Looking from the master bedroom to the den. Bathroom is on the left.

 

Master bedroom, I love the built-ins!
 

 

 

View from the den.

View from the den (looking toward our shops).

AND a little Lilly in the city action!

 

  

 

C’est la vie, yall! Thanks for reading!

 

 

Au Revoir DC

Saying goodbye is never easy even when you know it's coming. When Mark and I moved from Montgomery, Alabama to Washington, DC in 2010 I was so excited about our new adventure that I didn't fully understand exactly how difficult the move would be. It's not just the process of moving all of your stuff that is hard but also being in a new place that you don't know.

For our move from DC to Paris, I was determined to approach it differently this time. I mentally prepared myself for 3 months. I took time to really appreciate the city that I love, made sure to see it's beauty. Enjoyed time with friends. Visited some of my favorite restaurants. Got one last haircut with Michael. Worked out a lot with Lana and Juliet. Spent plenty of time at Whole Foods.

When we moved to DC, Mark and I were blessed to both have a best friend in the city (shout out to Josh Knight and Bree Beckham Straessle), and we are even more blessed to leave with many more friends.

When we arrived Mark was beginning business school at GWU, and I was newly unemployed after leaving my job due to the move. Our lives have changed so much since that day in August 2010 when we drove into the city with Lilly for the first time.

I am not going to lie and say everything in DC was perfect; life just doesn't work that way. We experienced many low times, like the loss of family members and one very unexpected diagnosis. But at the end of the day, when I look back on our time in DC, I won't see the sad moments. Sure I will remember those important lessons learned, but that isn't what represents our time there.

These are the things I will think about:

Our first night in DC with Lilly at the Westin

Lots of job interviews (too many at the Chamber of Commerce)

Job offers

Mark's graduation on the National Mall

Meeting Anna Schmidt for the first time

Yoga and Pilates

Bree and Brian's engagement at the Lincoln Memorial

Girls Brunches

Über - I like to ride in style

My special salad at Chop't

Huge purses and walking shoes

Karaoke

Ben's Chili Bowl

The best sandwich in DC - Nobadeer at Jetties

Valentine’s dinners from Dupont Italian Kitchen

Eastern Market

Rock Creek Park with Mark and Lilly

DCA - such an easy and convenient airport

Lincoln - you are the only man I can tell Mark I love and I know he doesn't judge me because he loves you too!

MLK Memorial Dedication on the Mall with Mark, Bree and Brian

Slumber parties with Bree, Brian and Cafe Romeo

Drinking Pink Panthers with Whitney Miller and Anna Schmidt

Being a Juliette Stovall groupie with Lana

Touring the West Wing with Shannon as our guide

Driving back into DC any time I left - such a beautiful city

A Dog's Day Out - They loved Lils!

Rooftop grilling and pool time

Dinner parties with friends

Cocktails at POV and Off the Record

Cookouts at Leigh's

Weekend road trips with best friends

Spading that ace with Josh and Anna

Fist pumping with Todd Stacy – well, this happens anywhere with Todd

Many, many birthday parties illuminated by glow bracelets

Number 9 with Matt, Rick and Harry

Healthy bite (ACC)

Nat's baseball with Audrey and Caroline

Learning the importance of a down coat and UGGs

Hosting our wonderful family and great friends

Granny visiting DC for my 27th birthday

Monday night dinners in Del Ray

Watching Lilly play in the snow

Driving 45 mins for BBQ with Mark, Josh and Anna

Couples tennis matches

Taste of the South

Gold Cup

Lots of shopping

Picnics

Jazz in the Garden

Pole Pressure

Georgetown Cupcakes

And many many more great memories!


I also wanted to include some photos from our time in the District. Before we moved, we did a photo shoot with Deb Lindsey on the National Mall to commemorate our time in the city. This was also an attempt to capture some pics of Lilly. Here are some of those pictures and many others of fun times with friends and family.

The Mark Dixon laugh, you know what I'm talking about! Photo by Deb Lindsey

Photo by Deb Lindsey

If you wonder what Lilly is looking at, its water - she is obsessed! Photo by Deb Lindsey

This is us telling her she can't jump in the reflecting pool. Photo by Deb Lindsey

Photo by Deb Lindsey

Still staring at the water but I love this picture! Photo by Deb Lindsey

MBA Graduation Gala

Every now and then you have to Jolie your leg!

WE DID IT!!

Friends and family, always a good combination!

Best friends brave the crowds and hot sun to attend your husband's graduation so you don't have to sit alone.

After what was a very successful picnic!

Easter in DC - croquet anyone?

Memorial Day pool party

 Welcome to DC Todd Stacy!

 Gold Cup

 Open bar, enough said!

Hey Girl, it's Paul Ryan!

After the cocktail competition where Josh became an internationally recognized mixologist!

 

New Years eve moped wreck in Bermuda. Matching hospital gowns. Pain killers already consumed!

My hair looks AWESOME!

 

Donating my hair in 2011

In honor of my amazing big sister Shea

 

MLK Memorial Dedication

 

Great mom and a great view!

 

Sister time at the Newseum!

Mom, Dad and Granny came for my 27th Bday!

You can't see it, but she loves me more!

My boo!

I learned so much about myself in DC. Because of great travel opportunities I was able to realize long term goals for my life. They might not happen until retirement but at least I know where my passions lie.

Dear Washington, DC:

I want you to know that I had a blast. I learned a lot and know... we ARE NOT finished! If it is up to me, the Dixons will be back! DC is the first city I actually felt like I belonged and was understood. I hope our story will have another chapter or two!

Lana - get ready because when I do return, I will need lots of spin class, Vida RX and Body. You're coming with me!

Love ya!

EEHD

C'est la vie y'all! Thanks for reading.