93 days...

Until I arrive in Paris and a whole new adventure begins. At the encouragement of one of my best friends I am creating this blog. The goal is for it to be a personal journal of sorts of all the excitement and joy that is overflowing in my life right now. My amazing group of friends insist that I will need to "keep them posted" while in Paris and so here begins the story.

Seven years ago I was fortunate enough to travel to France with a few people very near and dear to my heart. This individual has been instrumental in my life and has had a part in shaping me into the person I am today. This person has an AMAZING story of their own which brought us to France so that she could visit her brothers. So here I am in France, a beautiful country that mesmerized me from the start. I mean who isn't in awe at seeing the Eiffel Tower in person and all the beauty that it holds?! I had an wonderful time seeing some of the sights in France and spending time with her family. Upon my return to the states I stayed connected for a while to her brother, James, via phone and email. Then things somehow dwindled off.

Over the last 7 years there have been the occasional, "James says hi" or "tell James hi for me when you talk to him next." Hearing that he had said hi or to hear how he was doing always brought a smile to my face. While I only spent weeks with him in person there was something about him...he was kind, friendly, an amazing tour guide/interpreter, funny, and let's not forget handsome!!

So fast forward to the summer of 2009. I once again was able to spend some time with some of the family from France while they were here in MN for a month. The first day of hanging out and Elly says "James says hi!" The next weekend of hanging out Milan says "Lynn, do you remember my uncle James?" I replied with a "yeeeessss." To which he replied with some giggling and speaking to his family in French.

So about this same time I am telling this story to another friend and sharing how I was curious about what the giggling was about and how more than once his name was brought to my attention. Within ONE hour of this conversation James had contacted me! He asked me to be "friends" on Facebook. We spent the next day talking for hours and hours. Then we discovered how to use Skype. For anyone who is not technologically inclined, this is an amazing way to have video conversations for FREE. The endless hours of talking continued...for days and days. Who needs sleep when you can't stop smiling?

As the days go on I find myself more and more attracted to this person before me. Everything that he stands for and believes in, the person he has become after an unfortunate start in this world, how damn funny he is, how I blush when he tells me how beautiful I am, how he tells me that he knows I am an amazing person. The list goes on and on...

I begin to share this story with those close to me. This included some dear friends who have known me for almost half of my life. At hearing how excited I was about this person they were overjoyed for me. So what amazing act of generosity happens? I am given a plane ticket to travel to France and see James...and today marks the "93 days to Paris."