I L♥VE my Life

I was kinda forced to go back to work. The day after we arrived home from Paris, I went back to work at US AIRWAYS. I am exhausted from the mental stimulation. The 1st day back I had a panic attack on my way to the office, I had to pull over and breath, oh how I wished Tamy would of been with me she always knows how to help. I had to quickly go to my "happy place" remember bicycling with Frenchie in the hills of France, it made me smile and got me through the night. I definitely have CHEMO BRAIN, which I have been told is very common with patients, I have lost a lot of short term memory and eyesight. Trying to remember all that I have been trained to do over and over again for the past 6 years is not coming easy for me. Luckily US AIRWAYS is kind enough to put me through some training before getting me back on the phones with people. I worry about only working for a few weeks before I will take another medical leave when I have surgery, but I have been reassured by US AIRWAYS that they will train me again if needed when I return.
One of the things I have noticed about being back in the WORLD is how negative people can be, I don't think they even realize it. I am so grateful for my job, never before would I have said that. I have a different perspective now. When I think about where my life was a year ago and that I am alive and can go to work, it makes me happy. I get to be with Recker all day then go for a few hours to work at night a couple days a week. I love my life !!!

Recker and Eric

These are the men in my life that make me smile......

Back to Reality

WOW, how do people recover from such romantic, exotic vacations? For me the flight home was bitter sweet, I loved the time that Frenchie and I spent together in France, it was like a dream that I didn't want to wake up from, not just because it was a life long dream of mine to go to Paris with Eric and that he planned all of it on his own .... who does that? but also because life in Gilbert is not life in Paris... I didn't think of the VILLAIN or its consequences, I didn't constantly have to think of what I am eating and if I was feeding the VILLAIN with sugar, flour or anything that touched my lips. It was so nice for 10 days to fully enjoy, let myself go, to re-kindle those feelings of young love and the romantic notions of life in a different place, with no worries at all.
Just as our plane was descending into Phoenix I looked out the window and heard the pilot say "Welcome to Phoenix" tears ran down my face, I could not control the emotions, how do I return from such a Heavenly experience to "my life, for real?" suddenly the thoughts of Mayo Clinic, Doctor's appointments and medications flooded my brain.
Now that I have had a few days home, I realize just what an amazing opportunity my husband gave to me, what a blessing it was for me to let go, I had forgotten what it was like to be care-free and completely 100% in the moment.
The truth is, we all have to face hard times in our lives but once in awhile its nice to check out.

Last Day in Paris

I am sitting in the Hotel for the last night in Paris, happy, oh so happy that I have been living in this dream fantasy world of mine for 9 days, but now it's time to go back to reality, tomorrow is the day we will do that, but before we do I just wanted to say ...

This is the man who can frustrate me more than anyone else can, the man who can make me laugh more than anyone else can, the one who puts up with me and my imperfections, he is the man who has stood by me through the years, this is the man I choose to be with for Eternity.... I love You Frenchie !!!



If I stood in the city of Paris what would I see? Well at any given corner, at any given time in the city of Paris these are a few things I saw today...

tons of places to shop, fashion is everywhere you look



People drinking COKE, someone drinking a BEER and lovers holding hands




double decker busses


Museums or Castles


police cars and their cute European sirens going off


Frenchie was so excited when it rained today, he had to have a picture with the umbrellas open and jackets on



This is what Frenchie looked like ......


this is what he was trying to look like...... with the hat on backwards ......note to Frenchie: You look much better


Me and Frenchie, people watching at Notre Dame


Salad, bruschetta, and Spaghetti for dinner




Incredible Chocolate Mousse for dessert

after we finished eating, Frenchie did not want to ask for the check yet, he had told me before we went to dinner that the European culture makes their dinners last 2 hours (at least) this is true, Frenchie and I went to dinner one night and sat next to this couple, we finished, went shopping and walked back by an hour or so later and there they were sitting and drinking a cup or coffee or wine whatever it was.....seriously? So tonight I told Frenchie I was just going to sit and take pictures of him until he got the check... it didn't take too long after that. I said " why not walk, talk and eat at the same time?" Americans are much better at multi-tasking




maybe he should lick his bowl, that could take up some time


or I could lick my bowl


Dinner should not last 2 hours, do ya think? I can sit here all night taking pictures of Frenchie





Frenchie and I at dinner on our last night in Paris


Frenchie sportin' the Sperry's ..... me well I'm just glad I don't have blisters after this week of walkin'


I told Frenchie a few days ago I wanted to take some pictures of people's shoes.... he looked at me like I was from another Plantet..he said I am a creeper, stalker kinda girl. I told him I can tell alot about a person by looking at their shoes...








The lady in the blue pumps made me follow her into a creperie, (who knows how many blocks) just so I could get a picture of her shoes, well actually she has no idea I took the picture... I wonder why Frenchie thinks I'm a stalker?



Frenchie and the French Maid


I don't know what these are called, but they are really cool, 2 wheels in the front and one in the back


Some window displays I liked

Catacombs, Castles and Crepes

Favorite smell today: McDonald's hamburger and I don't even like McDonalds
least favorite smell today: BO, from the dancers in the street

Favorite sight: all the families together in the Park
Least Favorite sight: ..... ok don't freak out.... a child around the age of 4 pooping on the train while his parents helped him, then cleaned it up. I mean he pulled his pants down squatted and pooped, then they wiped it up with a napkin. It's going to take a long time to get that image out of my mind.

Favorite taste: Tomato and Mozzarella Panini
least favorite taste: Frenchie had a chocolate baguette, not so good to me

My pick for unique person of the day, I'm not sure who she thinks she is, but she was signing this bench with PINK lipstick


Eric's unique person of the day, her shoes, hair and skirt all match


At the entrance of the Catacombes there is a sign that says if you have a heart condition or anxiety this may be disturbing to you. I read that and thought to myself "I can handle this, what a few bones?" 1st we walked for about 2 miles underground, beneath the city of Paris before we even got to the bones. It was cold and eerie down there, the bones are from the 1500's when they decided to move all the dead bodies to a tomb underground, I told Eric come to think of it I have not seen one cemetary since we have been here.... this was really disturbing, but I just kept making jokes while we were in there so I could get through it.... I started singing ♬ them bones, them bones ♬ then I told Eric that some of them resembled some of my relatives ha ha, it was really freaky down there.












Luxemburg Castle and beautiful gardens. We tried to find a church to go to today, something I really wanted to do, but we had no luck. In Paris on Sunday's grocery stores are closed, department stores are closed, the only thing open are restaurants. Frenchie and I loved walking through the parks and seeing all the families spending time together.




More Doors, I need to learn from someone how to turn them




Inside the beautiful Panthenon




Looking out at the very top of the Pathenon, Frenchie thought is would be fun to latch on to this tour group who was going to the top....not such a great idea, it was boring and long and hot.



Frenchie and I had lunch in the park, paninis and I even drank a coke... I know girls don't faint .... I can drink something other than water



The making of a fantastic crepe... my choice for today... nutella, banana and coconut... manifique my favorite so far




NO we did not eat here, however we did get big cups of crunchy ice, this is the only place we could find that had ice


Love this old car, Frenchie said when he was on his mission here in France....100 years ago this is what they drove. They are called Deux Cheauveau


I have fallen in love with all the old doors here in Paris




Frenchie asked me today if his pants look european....I said "yeah it looks like your wearing man capris" I'm not sure if that was the look he was going for or not... who cares? I love Frenchie and the fact that he has never cared about what's the newest fashion, he just wears what he likes



This is the elevator in our hotel it's the smallest one i have ever seen in my life, I usually take the stairs
and the 2nd picture is of our room at the Hotel, this is considered a BIG room, and that is the bed where I sit and blog every night



Dinner for two, very romantic .... well when is it not romantic with Frenchie?


Warm crusty bread with butter


Appetizers: For Frenchie snails..... disgusting....but he loved it
for Me: French Onion soup .... yummy



Main Dish: For Frenchie Veal with french fries
For me: roasted chicken with herbs and french fries...I didn't eat them Frenchie did



Desserts: Frenchie had crepe with nutella, whip cream and vanilla ice cream
I had Creme Brulee' .... so french and so my favorite dessert ever