I never thought I would call Florida home. As a kid, Florida was just a weird hot place with big theme parks. Not my dream world in any sense. But I don’t know many people who have lives that turned out just the way they expected, so I guess I shouldn’t have been quite so … More Florida Fall and Other Boundaries
We hadn’t had a car to get around in since it time in Spain… It was a new sensation to just get in the car and go. The van at rented ended up being perfect for our family, and the only way we could realistically get way back in the country. We decided to finish … More Giverny
In the middle of August, Vance’s parents arrived in Paris. We arranged to meet them there, spend a few days in the city, and then take a trip to Normandy before bringing them back home with us to Bordeaux. It was no small feat to find a place in Paris for 7 people for less … More Paris with Family
Vance’s colleague in France is a complete sweetheart–so warm and welcoming to us. She has three older boys, and their family took a sabbatical to Israel many years ago, so she knows what this family time means for us. Her husband also has ALS, so she is very sympathetic to health issues. She has been … More Une Petite Vacance
Having friends in town is always a great excuse to see more of your own surroundings. I’m embarrassed by how many things we still haven’t done in the state of Florida, but somehow the dailyness of life takes over. We’d seen a good bit of Bordeaux on our own, of course, but we had more … More In and Around Bordeaux with Friends
We knew from the get go that although lots of people we loved would want to come see us, not very many would actually be able to pull it off. We felt so spoiled to get to meet Ellen and David in Rome, and I was thrilled when my friend Victoria said that she could … More Paris With Friends!
In the long distant past, when we were planning our sabbatical, we checked out church options in Bordeaux. The search was short… there was really only one English-language international church in the city. Once we were local, we discovered that the church met just a 15-minute walk from our house.It had been three months since … More Heat Wave
As we adjusted to normal life, we learned some new French habits. Le pain quotidien is a real thing here–baguette is really only fresh for about 6 hours, so we got in the French habit of running down to the local bakery before just about every meal. I thought I would be swooning over croissants … More The Dating Game
We had been on the road for a month…Naples, Rome, Tuscany, Florence, a little town in Switzerland, and now Bremen. Each place was unique, wonderful, and intentional, true gifts to us. But I was feeling ready to settle down and actually live somewhere. I might have been the only one, but I was craving a … More Bordeaux: the Beginning
It was hard to say goodbye to our friends in Germany, old and new. However, we were all excited about finally getting to the country where we would be spending fully half of our sabbatical: France. We decided to take a little stop in Paris to kick off our time. Accommodations in Paris are breathtakingly … More Paris, Take 1
Wonder and Wander 