Old Sayings, New City

You know the old saying “We plan, God laughs,” well God made a plan and I can’t stop laughing…moving to Paris, really? What kind of joke is that?

The reason I think it's so funny is because one year ago I thought I finally had my life figured out for the next two years at least. I was starting a new job, a job that I REALLY wanted at a great company, working for a boss that I think is FABULOUS and Mark was finishing his last semester of business school with an awesome job lined up at GE. Our life was coming together nicely, I was happy in my new job and the days of only having one pay check were coming to an end…AHHHHH sweet sweet bliss!

Needless to say, that didn’t last long. Mark graduated from GWU and began his job at GE in June, based in DC! WOO HOO!! In July, I went on vacation to France and during that much needed break from reality Mark learned that his team at GE would begin traveling internationally to work on global projects with different GE business.  Great…but wait….he is going to be gone 5-6 weeks at a time. No biggie, I’m a strong, independent woman. I can handle living in DC alone just as long as I have my sweet pup Lilly Ears Dixon.

Funny thing is, Lilly and I are great together when Mark is around. I am Lilly’s cuddle buddy and Mark is her playmate. Well, when I have to be cuddle buddy, playmate and disciplinarian, things don’t mesh too well with Lils and me. We can make it about 2 weeks happy as clams but give us 6 weeks alone together and things start to unravel. I am not ashamed to admit it, Lilly and I get into fights. Mark recently came home and Lilly and I weren’t speaking to each other…she had pushed me too far!

Anyways…back to my story, Mark has been traveling non-stop for the last 7 months, he has been all over the world, Brazil, Turkey, Algeria, England, Italy, Dubai, Singapore, South Korea – in November he actually circumnavigated the world…I would probably hate him if I actually thought he was having fun doing all of this without me. After being apart so much and it feeling like SUCH a luxury to actually spend one weekend together, Mark and I decided that as much as I love my job, life is just too short to spend so much time apart. In December, I decided I would leave my job.  I say “I” because as I told Mark – and he agreed, if I am going to leave my job, it is going to be my decision and only my decision. We were going to move to Connecticut (which is where Mark was being relocated – GE’s corporate headquarters) and I would travel with him fulltime. I wasn’t too excited about the possibility but I was determined to make it work and THEN just before Christmas we were told that Mark was being relocated – not to Connecticut but to Europe…to which I cannot post my exact response but let’s just say it was something like this…holy &*$#!

So here we are, Mark and I are moving to Europe…to the City of Light – PARIS!

As I said, everyone tells you “We plan, God laughs,” but you rarely hear people talk about the other side of it all, I NEVER would have planned that I would be in a job that I love (too many people are never in a job they love), living in a great city, surrounded by wonderful friends and then God would have this plan that Mark and I would relocate to Paris and I would have to leave the life that I love to go live in one of the most glorious cities in the world. God is quite the comedian! Who would ever say no to moving to Paris and not having to work…you’d have to be crazy but so much of me is sad to move further away from my family, leave my job, my career and my friends but I have to keep my faith and know that God has a plan and he will keep me busy so I don’t get bored and drive Mark and Lilly crazy.

And on that note, this blog is going to be one of my new hobbies. I plan to write about our impending move and my fun adventures while visiting different locations around the city! Some days will undoubtedly be more entertaining than others depending on the amount of wine I have consumed while relaxing at a cozy café. 

I can't close this first post without giving a big shout out to my good friend and former work wife Audrey Anderson who named my blog. Thanks Audrey, you're awesome!!

So, through all of the craziness that will surely come my way during the next month or two, I just have to remember, c’est la vie (that's life) y’all!