The day has arrived

Again it seems that so much has happened since I last sat down to write a blog entry.
Here is a quick summary as to what has transpired in the last month or so.
-I went to Chicago and applied for my visa
-Less than 2 weeks later my passport arrived back in the mail with the visa in it!!
-I turned in my notice at work and had my last day 1 month later
-I said many, many goodbyes to family and friends
-I took a flight from Minneapolis to Iceland to...PARIS and arrived here yesterday!

Yes, can you believe it? James and I are in some disbelief too!! I told him last night to pinch me to make sure I was really sitting next to him in France instead of talking with him over skype, sure enough, it was real. The day has finally arrived that we are together without a countdown in place of having to say goodbye again anytime in the near future.

It has been an emotional rollercoaster for me the last 2 weeks or so as this day was approaching. I was so excited to be next to James and start the next chapter of our life TOGETHER but also had a difficult time leaving all of my family and friends in the States. I know that there are going to be days that I miss them all terribly and wonder what I am doing on this side of the pond but today I am excited and going to enjoy it. I am looking forward to so many new adventures. Some of the things that are coming up on our path are:
-We will be moving to a different city (Chartres) than the one James has been living in
-I am job hunting and will hopefully find a job in the near future
-I am immersed in the language and culture and hope to be speaking enough French to survive soon
-I have visitors that have plans to be in France in October and more people in November

I also plan to use the blog to update friends and family in the States so that they can get a glimpse of my new life here in France with James. I hope that everyone knows how much their love and support has meant to get us to this point. I had an amazing send off from MN the last 2 weeks and definitely could feel the love! So for all of you in the States...Merci beaucoup et a bientôt!!!!!