A month in...

It is really hard to believe that we have been here a month already. We feel settled into our new home and are getting adjusted to the new routine out here. For the most part, the past month went better than I expected, although not without a few obstacles!

There have been some challenges for me adapting to this new life out here. There are so many days that I can't believe that this is my life and and I actually live in France. There have also been some days that I just wanted to cry and go back home. Not many, but a few. So, here are some of my challenges.

- I thought that I would love not having a car. When we had originally talked about this, it was summer, so I pictured myself in shorts and flip-flops, biking with the kids all over Strasbourg. I was so excited to walk to the park and have picnics. Sounds great, right? Well, the past 2 weeks have been really cold here and not having a car stinks. On Tuesday when I walked Ava to school in the morning it was 8 degrees and when I picked her up at noon it was only up to 12.  It takes less than 10 minutes to walk to school, but it can seem like an eternity with Ava complaining and Beckett sobbing because they are so cold. I also have to walk to the grocery store. There is a small supermarket between Ava's school and our house that I have been stopping at with Beckett on our way home from dropping her off. There is no way to fit groceries for a family of 4 for the week in a stroller. I usually have bags tipping over and things falling out, plus Beckett usually starts crying once we get out in the cold again. There have been numerous times I wished for my big SUV (with heated seats!)  that I could just pile the kids and groceries into.

- Our apartment here is much smaller than our house in Grand Rapids. For the most part, I love it. We made good use of the space and everything fits. There is also a lot less to clean than our other house! The downside is that we have gone from 3 bathrooms to 1. Having little kids, I usually have company in the bathroom with me anyways, but in our house in Grand Rapids, I could at least sneak upstairs for 2 seconds. Ken and I also had our own shower in Grand Rapids that was only ours. Before we left, I bought Ava letters for the bathtub because we had them at home and she loves them. Dumb idea! Now we have to shower with them too.

- I have never spent so much time on grocery shopping, meal planning and cooking. In Grand Rapids I would try to cook a couple of times a week, but we would always go out to eat on the weekends and usually something like Chipotle 1 or 2 times a week. Restaurants don't open until 7 pm here and most aren't kid friendly. Take-out is also not very common here. So, I have been forced to learn how to cook. I took my cookbook from home and I am not able to make a single recipe from it because they don't sell those ingredients here. No cream of ... soup, no chicken stock, no taco seasoning, no brownie mixes, no ranch dressing!! I have spent ALOT of time on pinterest looking for new recipes. I feel like we eat better out here because everything is fresh, but it also takes more time. The first couple of times I went to the grocery store I wrote out my list in English and in French. I still do it with some things, but things are starting to get easier. 

Helping me cook. Her new picture face with no teeth showing. 



- I miss my friends and family at home. I really don't know how people did these assignments before facebook and skype. It makes us feel not so far away. Thankfully I also have a great cell phone plan (for the first time in my life I don't have to worry about going over my minutes) and a home phone that I can call the States whenever I want. This morning Ava got up and told me she dreamed of going back to Michigan so that she could see Grandma and Jack.  Things like that make me so sad, but I know we are where we are supposed to be. Thankfully, she was able to skype with Jack this afternoon and all is well with Ava again.

Watching a show (totally spaced out) after a long day at school. Beckett still doesn't watch tv - he got up right after the picture was taken.

Beckett loves watching the washing machine.

My poor pink-eye buddy. Thanks to the meds, he is doing much better.