Girl Meets Paris...

A Little Update...

2011-12-05T16:28:00.001-05:00

Ok...this is crazy. I haven't blogged in awhile...one month to be exact. I clicked on here just now, and the whole posting platform looks totally different! Something happened while I was MIA from blogland. I have posted a few You Tubes though. So fun.

The reason I haven't blogged is because I haven't had time to READ blogs, and I feel funny sending stuff out there into space, when I'm not responding much to any of you. I do read when I can, but usually I'm on my iPad, and when I try to comment, sometimes it gives me fits, and I just skip it.

Not much has been going on. On the one hand, Scott is doing so much better. We have decked out the house and yard, we fried turkeys and hosted Thanksgiving here at our house.

We strung new lights in the pool room in preparation for New Years Eve. We haven't had a party here in years, but Scott goes off of 8 of his 10 Rx's on Dec. 31...so we are celebrating with family and friends. Actually, I don't think I've even let my family know yet :). I will tell you more about the menu we planned on another post...so fun!

On the other hand, every 10 days or so, Scott has a minor setback. We are out of the woods with the cancer, but the side effects of the radiation are slowly taking effect. The first year is the worst...so we are hopeful. His energy is returning though, and that's a huge bonus! We put on some Christmas music yesterday, made some fresh iced tea, opened all the sliding doors, and wrapped presents together for 2 1/2 hours. Tiring, but feels so good to have all that done. I would say I'm 75% finished with shopping.

The weather has been to die for the past month. Everyday is an absolute beauty. The next 7 months are what make living in Florida so desirable. We spent the day after Thanksgiving at the beach...so nice for a change of scenery. We are so blessed to live near one of the top ten beaches in the country...Siesta Key in Sarasota. If you're ever in our neck of the woods, it's a must do :)

So...let's see...my grandkids continue to grow...

We had a ridiculous party for Twilight-Breaking Dawn and I went to the midnight showing with my daughters and friends. Don't ask me anything about it, I hid my eyes through most of it :).

Through some weird twist of fate, I am the party giver for each time a new Twilight movie premiers, and also when a new DVD comes out. I told the girls it was almost over, and they told me I have to do the Hunger Games Trilogy parties too!!! Seriously???

So that's my update! I will check back again before Christmas.

~Teri

2011-11-05T13:05:00.000-04:00

Temporarily Going Backwards...

Thought I'd write a quick post. Scott and I had an experience two weeks ago that was so awful, I thought I would share...LOL.

Cancer's gone...happy dance. It's taken weeks for this news to really, really sink in. I can't tell you why, but it didn't seem real. I felt so guilty.
Why was I not happier? I think I had my happiness in reserve...secretly waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Well, last weekend it did.

Without going into ANY detail...I ended up rushing Scott to the emergency room on a Saturday night. It was your typical Saturday night ER scene...not pretty. It took FOREVER to be seen, and Scott was in excruciating pain! They finally did one procedure to help him, and immediately, a different pain (worse) set in. The morphine was ordered, but it took forever to show up.
It was the worst.

The ER doctor came in to tell us it was not at all what we thought (the thing he had been diagnosed with twice at the walk-in clinic). He started talking about the effects of the radiation, the long term possibilities, etc. I'm telling you, the entire room literally began to spin out of control in my mind, and a migraine simultaneously set in as well. Just the word cancer took my breath away, and my peace. The doctor was not in any way saying the cancer was back, but it was the main subject of our discussion.

We came home late that night...problem totally unresolved. Pain, pain, pain. We couldn't get into another doctor until 3 days later. He couldn't even go to work. FINALLY, we saw the doctor, (no help) and FINALLY I talked Scott into calling the cancer doctor (I think he was reluctant to open that can of worms back up). He did... they had the remedy... they had a protocol for this exact thing! Within 48 hours...huge improvement! He's fine now. Back to work.

What's my reason for sharing this story? Because after this experience (which felt like a huge flashback to last summer) our whole attitude has changed. We are finally SO HAPPY, SO THANKFUL, to have a clean bill of health. Seeing how quickly it was snatched away, made us realize once again to count each and every day as a huge gift. It's been a matter of readjusting our brain to normalcy. Normal is good...boring is wonderful. We ran errands last weekend, enjoying each and every moment. We spontaneously decided up jump up and go to the movies Saturday night. After church Sunday, we lounged around reading and napping.

We feel like we got a new lease on life...and we LOVE it :)

So enjoy your day...enjoy your health... enjoy the world around you...and never, ever knock boring.

~Teri

French Market Bag/Paris Flea Market

2011-10-25T08:25:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone! I told you in my last post that I would put up a few of my latest YouTubes on here for those of you that asked to see them, that don't have a YT account. Some of this is repetitive, but different people watch my YouTubes than read my blog.

I posted three of them. It's just a mixed bag. Hope you enjoy!

~Teri

Fall is Here! Candle Haul

2011-10-25T08:24:00.001-04:00

Travel Tip Extraordinaire!

2011-10-25T08:24:00.000-04:00

Starting Over

2011-10-20T08:15:00.000-04:00

So..... it's been 5 weeks today since we found out Scott is healed. It's amazing and unexpected, but we are starting to feel "normal" again. I had my doubts, but life does feel a little lighter. I will say Scott's energy is back some. A few Saturdays we had our first 'cool' front. It was absolutely beautiful around here, so we spontaneously jumped in the car and drove to one of our favorite beach restaurants with our 2 daughters and 2 grandkids and ate a nice lunch.

Here is the view from our table....so pretty :)

Anywho... I told you I would update you on my summer goals I listed on May 24. I think I did okay. Accountability is everything in my world. Knowing I had listed these goals on my blog, made me think about them much more. I've never kept a New Year's resolution for more than a few weeks, so I usually fail at things like this, but here goes. I'm just going to give a brief description of how I did on each one...

Soul Restoration II online class/Do Art... I loved taking this class, however, I still have a bit to do on it. Here is one thing I did in the class. It won't make sense to you, but it does to me...this board is actually covered in glitter and quite sparkly.

One great part of the class was setting goals, and writing a plan of how you were going to accomplish that goal. One I wrote down, was to clean my closet. As I was thinking how to accomplish this, guess what??? I went directly into my closet, and cleaned it out! It only took about 30 minutes and it was all done! So much procrastination had been going on about that, and it was so quick and easy. That same scenario happened a few times with my goals as long as they were small.

I have yet to set the BIG ONES.

Writing Class...I took the writing class. It was a 6 week beginner course, and I learned so much. I still have my final exam to write. Here I go again, procrastinating!

Fun with grandkids/Time with youngest daughter Lexi... I didn't do this as much as I would've liked, but we did have some special moments...

A project my granddaughter and I made... so fun.

We also took some impromptu trips to the beach and did lots of shopping at Lexi's favorite hang out...The Mall!

Scott and I also had some fun on our 30th anniversary.

This is titled, The Way We Were.

Meet with the Lord daily... I failed at this in the way I was imagining. Of course there was daily prayer, but not daily devotions. Still working on the 'daily' aspect of that goal.

Homemaking...I am so sorry to say, I did not get my Book Nook done yet. We are in the process of gathering what we want for it, so when we get in there and do it, it will be a simple day's project. Can't wait to show you.

Eat better...For the most part, we are eating much better, but I will admit we got into a bad habit of eating out over the summer...a lot. I did lose 4 of the 5 pounds. That last pound is here to stay unless I starve myself...not doing it. I also said I wanted to get a menu plan of 15 go-to meals. Ten down, five to go.

I also said I was breaking away from blogging and Facebook. Breaking away from blogging was fine, but I replaced it with making YouTubes. That is really fun. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that, or my blog. We'll see. YouTubes are so quick and easy, although I've quit posting them here on my blog... maybe I'll pop a few of them on here over the weekend.

As far as Facebook, I only joined in the first place, because Lexi wanted to join. Getting off Facebook cold turkey was the BEST thing I ever did. For me, it is SO fun, but a huge time sucker. I started back recently. I 'dislike' the new format, and I hate the way every company and product wants you to go through facebook to join or like them or get coupons or whatever. This is SO calcualted...so forced. I hope companies figure out how annoying this is to some people. Do I want everyone to know I 'like' certain things? The whole thing has gotten WAY out of control. I went to join Pinterest, and it wanted me to go through Facebook or Twitter.

WHY MUST I GO THROUGH THESE APPS???

Ok, enough of my rant. I am trying to decide what to do about this... I fear Facebook is going to really, truly becoming one of those things you almost can't live without...like a computer is now. I see so many potential problems for the future...it blows the mind, especially for my kids...did I say enough of my rant??? So that's it folks, it's an optional, free, service, yes, but don't be so sure it's as harmless as it seems. I'm still on it and I love it, but...

So that's it. I had to tweak this post a bit because it was written 2 weeks ago. My new goal is to clean up our diet around here, even more than we have... this is phase 2. Phase 1 wasn't that bad, so onto the next!

Scott is able to go off all his prescriptions (except one) in January (happy dance). We got them all out last night, and counted out each pill, so we would know if he had enough to finish out Dec, so we could cancel all refills. As we went through each Rx one by one, I would google it to remind us what it was for, and the side effects. I was once again overwhelmed by what's been going into his body (you know they say if the cancer doesn't kill you, the treatment will). No less than 4 of the pills cause weight gain and insomnia... I was wondering why he doesn't sleep! All this to say, we are going even further into healthy eating. I watched a few documentaries on Netflix the other day on the American diet... scared me to death! So as he goes off each pill, and replaces it with tons of fruits and veggies, we hope his body heals itself the rest of the way. Cancer was NOT fun, and we hope to never go down this road again... and I believe 100% what we put in our mouths can help/hurt your chances of disease. As we incorporate/eliminate different things from our diet, I'll let you know how it goes. Years of eating habits are hard to break, but not impossible :) We are doing this in increments...it's the only way. A few steps at a time I think works better than full-on overnight change.

So that's it for today. Watch for a couple of fun YouTubes over the weekend, if you are interested.

~Teri

P.S. Thank you a zillion times for all the wonderful, heartfelt comments from my last post! It meant a lot.

Hello Out There!!!

2011-09-28T08:44:00.001-04:00

Good morning! I doubt anyone is checking my blog anymore, but for the few that do, here goes...

This post is long, so grab a cup of coffee or tea.

It's been a long, long, time since I blogged... May 24 to be exact. To refresh your memory, I explained that I wouldn't be blogging again until sometime in September. I had decided to take a break. Today's post will be about Scott, and my next post will be about the list of goals I set for myself to accomplish over the summer...we'll see how I did! If you are new to this blog, my husband has been fighting prostate cancer. The first time we got wind that there might be a problem was Sept. 10, 2007. We had it treated, and the treatment didn't work. The cancer returned, or actually, never fully went away. We changed doctors, and had it retreated last spring.

So here's the latest... last time I posted, we had just finished 50 radiation treatments. While we were in the middle of all that, it was just go, go, go. It was a little over an hour drive to get to the clinic, and at first, we actually had a good time, but as time wore on, it was extremely hard. I'm not going to try and be all brave and upbeat... towards the end, we were down for the count. I felt a cloud of depression cover me like nothing else. Luckily, we still had a teenager in the house, so that made me snap myself out of it, and I've learned that even faking being upbeat, makes you feel a bit better. I know this whole thing was hard on her. For her entire life I've always been the one to pick her up from school and she would talk ninety miles an hour about her day. Now suddenly, she came home to an empty house, and we didn't get home most nights until 6pm. Now before you tell me most kids today have moms that work and they always come home to an empty house, it's all in what you're used to. She did admit to me once it was all over, that she loved it. She loved coming in and doing whatever she wanted for 2½ hours. I wish she had told me that earlier :).

So Monday-Friday, Scott would go to work at 6am, leave work around 1:30 and come home. We would eat a quick lunch, be out the door by 2:15, at the clinic by 3:30, and back home by 6:00. Scott was usually in bed by 6:30, and asleep by 7:00. Crazy, huh? We kept telling everyone he was working half days, until one day I looked at him and said, "You are actually working about 7 hours...that is NOT a half day!". No wonder he was tired. The radiation and the drugs (he was up to 20 pills a day) took a big toll. I wanted to crawl into bed too, but I had to stay up and try to maintain some sense of normalcy for our daughter.

During all this, our daughter went on a mission trip to Brazil, and Scott took that week off. It was an extremely difficult week. We tried to do some fun things, but nothing was fun because we were too tired. We did manage to get up and watch the entire Royal Wedding from start to finish... that was great! We finished treatments in late May, and they told us they'd see us in September! Wow, three months off sounded great.

We had an uneventful summer. Scott was, and continues to be really tired all the time. There are also side effects from the drugs to contend with, but overall he got better and better over the summer. We had to hire our yard mowed. I think we were the only ones left in the neighborhood that did it ourselves. Scott tried, but if he got hot, which he always did, (it's summer in Florida after-all) he would be down and sick for a day or two. As September approached, it was like a big, black, cloud on the horizon. I hate to sound over dramatic, but that's how it felt. We tried not to tell anyone which day the appointment was scheduled, because we wanted to deal with whatever news we got on our own terms. This treatment really, really needed to work. If your initial treatment fails (his did) the next round must, must work. Scott's cancer had spread too, which made it worse, the odds of a cure had dropped. As the doctor told us, "We are going to throw everything we've got at this, plus the kitchen sink."

So, we went to the appointment 2 weeks ago Friday. I won't go into the nitty gritty of how it felt, but it was really tough waiting for the doctor. I was almost in a panic mode. I thought I would have an anxiety attack, but luckily I didn't. The doctor seemed nonchalant as he delivered the news we had been waiting on... NO EVIDENCE OF CANCER. None, nada, zip. Scott's PSA levels are undetectable (that's a good thing, something we've been waiting to hear for four years). The doctor said the scans could not have looked better! We both just stared at him. We didn't really react. It was too good to be true. Then he said the magic words...We'll see you in a year!!!!!! It was like being released from a weird prison.

We met the doctor in the hallway for more prescriptions, and I knew I had to say something, but words seemed so inadequate...plus, I wasn't even sure I could talk. I weakly shook his hand and said, "Thank you, we really appreciate it." How lame! (I do plan to send him a card). This particular doctor is on the cutting edge of treatment. Men come from all over the U.S. and the world to see him. He is so sweet and confident, with just the right amount of seriousness to keep you from all out panic in the beginning. He did not give Scott a reprieve from the meds, but that will come after Christmas, hopefully.

So the ride home was almost silent. It was too much to take in. It was hard to wrap our minds around it. We did make a couple quick phone calls, and that was it. I don't really know what I expected, but I thought I would feel happier, excited, elated. But instead I just felt shell-shocked. We've lived with this a long time, and to think you can let go of it in a few minutes is unrealistic... it has become a part of us, changed us. I really hate that. I looked at Scott a week later and said, "Will we ever be those people we used to be?" He said he had no idea, but probably not.

Cell phone picture taken the night after we found out.

Don't get me wrong, we are SO happy, but it's a cautious happy. If he had been cured the first time, I think we would have gone on, unchanged, never looked back. But this was different. We have learned to depend on God in a different way than before...that's a good thing. Not that our life was all peaches and cream before, but this experience was on a different level. I wish I could tell you we threw a big party to celebrate, but again, too tired. I'm thinking maybe Halloween :).

This post sounds so depressing... I do not mean it to! I would like once again to thank all of you for your well wishes and prayers over the past year. It meant a lot to have complete strangers praying, and it's something we will never, ever, forget. We felt it... for sure!

We will not be going to Paris this fall. It feels weird, Paris has become a habit. We hope to return next fall, and get our mojo back:

mojo Self-confidence, Self-assuredness. ability to bounce back from a debilitating trauma and negative attitude)

In fact, Scott found $850 round-trip tickets, and our old apartment is available in Oct, but alas, no vacation time left...too much time taken off for cancer...darn that cancer!

But we will return, it's as much a part of us as the cancer is... a much better part :).

If you're still with me, leave a comment, so I'll know someone read this post.

Thanks!

Teri

P.S. As I wrote this, I looked at my blogroll, and oh how I've missed reading all your blogs! I smiled as I saw all of the names I've come to know and love so much. I hope to read and comment on each and every one this week!

Finding Your "Happy" Weight

2011-09-12T13:41:00.000-04:00

3 Things I Wouldn't Want to be Without!

2011-09-02T07:32:00.000-04:00

Purses, Purses, Purses

2011-08-25T09:08:00.000-04:00

Hi Blog Friends!

I realize a lot of these videos have stuff in them I've already written about on my blog. This is one of those. Sorry for the repeat, but I have totally different subscribers on my YouTube than my blog.

Still working on my list from my last real blog post (here). I will be updating in September. Can't wait to tell you about my successes and failures of my long list of summer goals.

Scott is doing well. More on that later.

~Teri

Happy 30th Anniversary

2011-08-21T16:49:00.000-04:00

Hits and Misses

2011-08-15T09:33:00.000-04:00

New Dramatic Haircut/Color

2011-08-10T14:11:00.000-04:00

Music, Books, Movies, etc.

2011-07-29T11:40:00.000-04:00

A Few Favorite Things

2011-07-26T15:15:00.000-04:00

Yogi Tea Review (Appetite Suppressant/Energy Boost :)

2011-07-20T17:29:00.000-04:00

Fun, Inexpensive Jewelry Craft Project!

2011-07-13T09:59:00.000-04:00

Having a productive, fun summer :)

Haul and Review....Lush

2011-07-08T09:12:00.000-04:00

Louis Vuitton Purse Video-2

2011-06-24T16:01:00.000-04:00

Hi friends!

I've already told this story in a previous blog, but I thought I would share anyway.

Hope everyone is having a great summer. I am :)

~Teri

Summer Besties Tag

2011-06-15T11:58:00.001-04:00

These are some favorite summer products...enjoy!

Lip Product...ELF Baby Lips Lipgloss
Blush...Happy Booster in Rose...Physician's Formula
Nail Polish...Revlon Scene Stealer
Liquid Face Product...Almay Smart Shade Makeup
Powder Face Product... n/a
Hair Product...CHI Silk Infusion
Eye Product...Jordana Eyeliner Pencil in Onyx
Self Tanner...Jergen's Natural Glow Foaming Daily Moisturizer
Fashon Accessory... Purses
Clothing Piece... Jeans/Jean Shorts

Dry Shampoo Review

2011-06-13T19:17:00.000-04:00

What's In My Purse/ Louis Vuitton

2011-06-06T13:55:00.001-04:00

This is a popular YouTube video to do... crazy... I know!

You have already seen some of this in the past on my blog.

Below is the info that I posted with this video.

Thanks for watching...

Louis Vuitton...Batignolles Horizontal.

Kwiki Purse Insert...medium/$19.99...Amazon
Pink calendar...$8 /set of pencils...$1 both from Target
The black flat wallet came from Stein Mart 2 yrs. ago but I do not know the price. Someone said they just saw them again, so there you go :)

Birthday Haul! Sephora & Lush

2011-06-01T19:45:00.001-04:00

All products from Sephora and Lush.
Lush Products:
The Scared Truth... $5.95 (face mask)
Mange Too... $9.95 (massage bar)
Aqua Mirablis Butter... $12.95 (shower bar)
Think Pink...$3.95 (bath bomb)
Square Body Butter Tin...$3.95
Sephora:
Benefit Ten...$28.00 (bronzer/highlighter)
Philosophy Happy Birthday Beautiful (vanilla birthday cake) 6 oz...FREE on my birthday (shampoo/bath gel/bubble bath)

Sonia Kashuk Product Reviews

2011-05-29T08:13:00.002-04:00

I've decided to share my You Tubes here during the summer for those of you that don't want to subscribe to You Tube, but still want to watch my videos.

Thanks...and I am SO enjoying my break...especially from Facebook!!!

By the way, when I say I remove makeup with a sponge, I meant to say cotton ball :)

Crossing the Finish Line!

2011-05-24T12:11:00.001-04:00

So I've been in the weird holding pattern for months now...on some level for three years, since Scott was first diagnosed with cancer. How many times have I put something off "until Scott gets better"...a lot! Not my chores, my day to day parenting, travel, or having a good laugh. It's my inner self... I have so many things I want to do... so many dreams tugging at my heart. It's like they've been in incubation...and it's time they came out.

We all know we can fill our day with nonsense. My brain has indeed felt foggy and groggy, and I've found it increasingly easy to waste time. Don't get me wrong...I think I've been doing exactly what I've been called to do...stand by Scott's side during the past 9 months or so. It's been great and very fulfilling. But I've come to recognize that I've begun to look to him for my affirmation, my self-worth, my "okayness." No one needs that kind of pressure! No human being can give you those things anyway. They should come from the inside, from our creator. If Scott was having an 'off' day, I had an 'off' day. If he was happy, I was happy. If he was sad, I was sad. This was a strange phenomenon, one I've never experienced before. I find I can't just let him "be" which is exactly what he needs to "do". He shouldn't feel like he has to perform for me, or do anything specific because I'm acting so needy, so weird. We have always been 2 really separate people. Our day to day lives couldn't be more different. There is no criss-cross from 6am-6pm, other than a quick phone call or text. Now we are criss-crossing all the time.

As I'm typing this I realize it's making NO SENSE, but maybe you can glean some sort of understanding of what I'm trying to say.

Today is Scott's last radiation treatment...an even 50. He is very worn out, and dealing with some side-effects, but overall doing well. Throughout the summer, he will have blood-work done, but no more trips to the clinic. We go back in September for scans, x-rays, tests, and drumroll...results. In December he can go off all the medicine...that will be the best present of all!

So here's the deal... I have chosen this summer to really get back in touch with 'me'... trust me when I tell you Scott will be relived when I quit trying to read his every thought, feeling, and emotion. I am going to try and get some results with the hours in my day... take some action steps to achieve some of my goals and stop wasting time. So in the spirit of accountability, I'm going to put out there some of the things I will do, hope to do, and dream to do. I feel like if one person reads these things, I am honor bound to achieve them... that's just how I am...

so here's the list:

I am taking Soul Restoration II online (Brave Girls Club) in June. It's a class about moving forward and getting in touch with your dreams and goals. Not in a weird new-age way but in a personal "listening to your heart" kind of way.

I am taking an online writing class. I really want to write, but I am not motivated. If someone gives me an assignment though, I will complete it or die trying. Some of you remember I wrote a novel in November, 2009. I accomplished the 50,000 word requirement, but the novel is so poorly written, even I can't read it through. For this reason, the online class I have chosen is Beginning Writing. I want to start at the beginning and get a good foundation and see where it takes me.

I am not artistic, but I want to "do" art. Don't ask me what this means. I'm not sure yet.

I want to have fun times with my grandkids swimming, beaching, and having Leila over for sleepovers so we can cook and do crafts and snuggle down for Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. My daughter is jumping for joy right now... I've been so busy lately!

I want to hang with my youngest that's still home. Lexi and I have a blast together. We will also beach it, lay out by the pool, and Lexi's favorite... go shopping.

I want to start homemaking again. I want to update my home, and create some special areas. One of the first will be my sitting room, a tiny room connected to my bedroom. Right now it has an UNUSED treadmill, an armoire full of junk, a huge dresser, and a Barbie tent. I am going to clean it out, get some comfy chairs and ottomans, a cute sidetable, a chandelier, a tabletop fountain, and some bookshelves. It's going to be our new Book Nook. Scott is super excited. He loves to sit in the quiet and read.

I want to meet with the Lord (not the computer) everyday...

I want to eat better, lose 5 pounds, and get about 15 simple, healthy go-to meals under my belt that we all like. Right now our favorite word is "takeout"... that has got to stop.

As you can see... this is quite an ambitious list. I will be hard pressed to achieve it all. Once I take SR II, I might tweak some of these. But did you notice something??? Three things are missing. Blogging, Facebooking, and YouTubing. I LOVE all three of these things, but I'm considering a summer break. I will not take down or delete my blog. I might, however, have to delete my Facebook... the temptation will be too great to sit and veg reading all the fabulous things others are doing rather than do them myself. But if my oldest calls and says something awesome is online, I want the ability to go check. Obviously I haven't thought this through. It's a fluid decision! FB has become my biggest time

waster... that, I know for sure. I will still be visiting some of your blogs. There are certain ones I need to read because they've come to mean so much to me.. and if you are interested, I will most definitely do a post in September with Scott's results...good or not so good. As far as YouTube, I haven't decided. It is really fun, but I'm not sure what my goals are there. Do I need a goal? Not sure...still thinking on that one.

Before I sign out for awhile, I wanted to once again thank you all so, so much for your good wishes, thoughts, comments, and prayers. They really made a huge difference in our lives during this trying time. Some of you email me occasionally and I look forward to continuing that.... reynolds9@mac.com.

So... since this blog is called GirlMeetsParis, I have to leave you with a little bit of France. Here's a slideshow I made Scott...just to let him know how much I love him. These photos are from Paris and Marseilles, over the past five years. Hope you enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb74aM6EtNA

Love you all,
~Teri

Brazil!

2011-05-21T17:28:00.000-04:00

My youngest daughter recently went on a mission trip to Brazil. She had a blast, and has changed her life's goal from moving to Laguna Beach to moving to Brazil...it's always changing because she loves an adventure, and rarely backs down from a challenge.

She went with a large group of high school students from our church. She made a lot of new friends...the Brazilian team they were working with along with some translators. What is so cool, is that they are all friends now on Facebook. I think Facebook will allow some friendships to last a lifetime, that would otherwise have been forgotten.

Here are just a few snapshots of her trip. The bonus was she personally prayed with a Brazilian woman, who came to know Christ as her personal savior! That's an experience Lexi will never forget!

Some of the group at the airport.

I think this is in Miami...pretending to be Harry Potter. (going through the wall to catch the train to Hogwarts)

Her team

Lexi and Lucas, one of the translators.

Precious child

Doing a skit for the children in a school.

School children.

It's photos like these that remind a mom that her prayers for safety were not wasted!

Near the camp where they stayed.

A few days after getting home, she got her braces off, got her hair highlighted, and came home from Walmart with a fish and named him Frank. It never gets dull at our house.

Update soon...

Love as always!

~Teri

...and on a lighter note...

2011-05-11T08:08:00.000-04:00

Having a little fun on YouTube.

Hope you enjoy~
Teri

P.S. We are in single digits...only NINE more treatments. By the time we are finished, we will have made the drive 61 times since Dec. When we are finsihed, we will celebrate by... SLEEPING!

Hello out There...

2011-05-04T12:01:00.001-04:00

I haven't officially blogged in awhile, so I thought today I'd write about something a few people asked about, and a very important subject I think in general. I mentioned a few posts ago, that I would give my personal thoughts on how to deal with cancer in a family member, a close friend, or an acquaintance. Take this for what it's worth...it's only one person's opinion. I am certainly not an expert, although I have been going through it for a few years. I have talked to a few other cancer victims, and spouses of cancer victims just to make sure my feelings aren't completely weird or unusual.

I have been assured I'm normal...sorta!

This is all from my perspective as an outsider...I have not experienced cancer myself, but I am about as close as one can get (unless it's your child...to me, that would be a whole different ballgame. I can't even begin to speak to that, and wouldn't even try.)

When we very first found out, we took time to digest the news before we called and told anyone. This is needed. We were so shell shocked, and in hindsight, I don't think we waited near long enough to tell people. I ended up being the spokesman for the two of us, which was fine. I gave a general amount of details, but again in hindsight, this was not necessary, and details probably got on people's nerves. I tend to chatter when I'm not sure what to say or do.

Details, I've decided, are only for a few, select people close to you.

If you hear someones been diagnosed with cancer, you might be tempted to Google it. That is fine, and no one can stop you, but do not repeat or believe everything you read. Each type of cancer is so specific to the individual. What might be true for one person, may not be anywhere near the facts for another person with the "same" type of cancer. I know a lot of people assume they know exactly what Scott and I have gone through... they do not. I know for certain that some people think we made the wrong choice of treatment. What they don't understand, is a ton of thought, research, and prayer went into our decision, and it was made in conjunction with specific information and diagnosis that they are not privy to. Just because a treatment worked or failed for one person doesn't mean the exact same treatment will work or fail in another person.

Ultimately, God is in control.

Do not assume the doctor is telling you everything good, or bad. It has been our experience at two totally different clinics, that sometimes they tend to trickle out information. I don't think they do this on purpose. I think they talk to people all day long, and forget whether they told you something or not. When it's someone really close to you, and you will be accompanying them to appointments, then I do suggest you Google reputable sites, in order to get a working knowledge of the vocabulary so you can ask pertinent questions. Write questions down as you read, and have them in front of you when you call or go to the doctor. Do not let the information panic you. When Scott was diagnosed a second time, we read on the Internet on many different sites, that his cancer was now considered Stage IV. That was a horrible couple of days, until we finally called the doctor and asked. He totally disagreed with that assessment. Again, each person is an individual, and even if you can check every box on the checklist, it still doesn't necessarily make it true.

When you ask someone about their treatment, or appointments, only ask if you are really interested and paying attention. I can't tell you how many times friends act annoyed at ME when they find out we had been to the doctor, or had an important appointment or a hospital stay, and they didn't know. In most cases, I had told them specifically, they just weren't listening, they didn't write it down or make a mental note...and even if I hadn't told them, they should not act annoyed. It is almost impossible to remember who you've told what, and to have to apologize, well, it's just silly. Always, always, always cut the person with cancer and those close to them,

major slack.

Do not ask children of the cancer victim questions all the time. My 16 yr. old does NOT want to talk about it... neither does my 23 yr. old, or my 26 yr. old for that matter. It's perfectly acceptable to say, "How's your dad doing?" If they say fine, leave it at that. If they want to talk, they will continue the conversation. Let it be their choice.

So what's been one of the hardest things about going through cancer together? Somedays Scott and I are going along fine, happy, content. We will walk in church, a party, a wedding, or otherwise happy event, and we are BOMBARDED with questions. It's like we've become "the couple with cancer"... that is not a title I want to carry. People tend to do this to me, not Scott, which is understandable. Sometimes I'm cornered, and I have to answer the exact same questions from 10 different people in a matter of 15 minutes... I am in tears by the time it's over. I feel sometimes like going underground, and reemerging at a later date. I do not want to talk about it all the time. What bothers me most about this, is I THINK I'VE DONE IT TOO! Well, no more. In the future, when I hear someone's been diagnosed with cancer or some other sickness, I will send a card, stating how sorry I am, that I care about them, and I am thinking and praying for them. Then I will tell them that I'm not going to ask about it every single time I see them. A smile or a hug conveys the same message, without putting the person on the spot. Emails and private inbox messages on Facebook work as well. Sometimes I get text messages while we are at an appointment or whatever. Those are great...it shows the person really knows what's going on, and they are thinking about you, without you having the burden of having to answer your phone.

Trust me, if someone needs or wants to talk, it's better over lunch or in private, NOT at a party or public gathering.

So what does help, in my humble opinion? Cards do mean a lot. They are a breath of fresh air. For years people have sincerely asked what they can do... number one, prayer. Number two, if you think of something that you think would be nice, just do it! Most people feel silly asking for help. We have not really needed 'help' so to speak, but one afternoon a friend called, and told me she had dinner ready, and could she drop it off at the door in 15 minutes (she did this again the following week). She said she would not need to come in, and that the dinner could be eaten tonight, tomorrow, or frozen for later. It meant SO MUCH. Not long after that, we started accepting meals (or restaurant giftcards) twice a week from friends from church, while we are traveling daily for radiation. It has been a great help, more than I ever realized. Without that first person doing it though, without asking, I would have never realized what a burden lifter that would be. Another tremendous help are friends and family offering to bring my daughter home from school. We are gone everyday when she gets out, so having a ride for her, has allowed me to accompany Scott.

There are probably other things I could say, but I've rambled long enough. I hope this is read in the spirit intended...just sharing my heart. I know at the heart of it, people mean well, and I'm not angry or upset with anyone. I hope this post helps if you, or someone close to you, ever goes through this. I know this experience has helped me, and has caused me to rethink how I will react to people in future if they get sick. I am not saying everyone feels this way, but I bet a lot of people do. Everyone is different, that's for sure. Some are talkers, some are not, some are private, some are not... no matter how someone reacts, absolutely forgive them, understand them, and try and not take it personally on any level.

They are in a really tough spot :).

Thanks for reading... and if you have any personal insight, or suggestions, please leave a comment. I'm sure we could all learn from each other.

Love, Teri

P.S. On a side note, one evening Scott and I happened on a documentary called Crazy Sexy Cancer. It was the story of one woman's journey. Although totally irreverent, and not for children, we learned a lot from it. I also checked out her Crazy Sexy Cancer book. Her name is Kris Carr, and her website is here if you are interested.
It is not for the faint of heart :)

Two new You Tubes up over the past week. Sunless tanning and Brow & Lash Enhancer.
Check it out here.

Look Like a Fresh Faced Bride!

2011-04-27T11:42:00.000-04:00

In honor of Royal Wedding Week... an Anti-age set made in the UK, that is sure to put that 'Just Married' look to your skin. After all, who doesn't want to look like a

bride every day???

I will get back to regular blogging in a few weeks. Please be patient with me... things around here are...

how shall I say... not normal :)

~Teri

Romantic Tip of the Day

2011-04-21T09:11:00.000-04:00

At our wedding reception.

I have found that with all the stress and pressure of what Scott and I are going through right now, I have to be very deliberate about our day to day relationship, or it's really going to suffer. Starting with our first trip to Paris, we have become much more romantic in our lives. This has continued for the past five years, and it really, truly makes life sweet. Here's just a small romantic tip I think you might enjoy. Let me know if you have any great romantic tips...I am on the lookout ;)

I also did a Perfect Nude Lipstick Review on my channel...click here if you are interested.

Have an awesome Easter! Our daughter leaves on a mission trip to Brazil TONIGHT, and Scott took next week off, so we are going to have a lazy week of laying by the pool and eating out... sounds like a winner to me!

~Teri

Lorac Eye Shadow Review

2011-04-16T09:02:00.000-04:00

Hey friends... I did another video for my You Tube channel. If you're confused, read the post right before this one...enjoy! Although this video is not perfect, I had fun doing it. Since I don't know how to edit, and frankly don't have the time to, I have to do them in one take with no practice, so take that into consideration while watching. Doesn't matter...I'm having a blast :)

Scott and I are doing well...counting down the days.

Two weeks down, six to go!

~Teri

Product Review/Olay

2011-04-14T10:24:00.002-04:00

WOW... I decided as a creative outlet, and kind of as a dare with my 26 yr. old daughter Meagan, (mother of the famous Leila...Disney Princess extraordinaire) that I would post some videos on You Tube.

As you know, I have some time to kill each day while Scott is receiving treatments, so I sit in the Dr. office with my iPad and headphones, and watch Beauty Guru You Tubes. I am completely obsessed. These girls know their stuff...problem is, most of them are in their teens or twenties, so while I've learned a LOT, some of their makeup choices won't work for skin that's been around as long as mine has. I searched the internet for women in their 40's or 50's doing these same videos, and I haven't found any. What's the deal? Have women my age given up? No... I think it's because women my age aren't watching You Tube so there is a lack of women my age making videos.

As you've noticed, and may not even like, I LOVE doing short little videos on my blog. I love posting videos on product reviews and Paris. So that's what my You Tube channel is going to be all about... but as my blog has expanded, so might my channel... I have no idea where this is going, or even if it will go.

I need a creative outlet, so this is it. I started it yesterday, and I will be posting videos at random, and always let you know here when I've put a new one up. The bonus for me is, it usually takes FOREVER to download a video on blogger...drives me crazy. I posted this video on You Tube...only a couple minutes and it's all done. I click share, and instantly it posted to my blog...GOTTA LOVE THAT!

I will still be blogging about normal stuff as well. If you could do me a huge favor, click over to YouTube from this video (at the bottom where it says YouTube) and it will take you to the site. When you get there, you can watch the video, and if you want to see what else I've uploaded, click where it says TeriGigi and it will be on my official channel page. I would LOVE it if you would subscribe. I'm not sure how to get subscribers and I only have ONE... my daughter who got me into this in the first place! This all started yesterday, so I've only uploaded a few videos, some of which you've seen if you've been reading my blog awhile. You can always watch the video here by just hitting the play arrow.

So this is my new adventure. Kinda silly, but kinda fun as well. It may last a week, a month, or longer. I have no idea...that's what makes it an adventure ;)

P.S. If you are reading/watching on a mobile device, the video box will look different than I've described. Also, I realized after I posted this, that I do have other videos on my channel that I have not put on my blog. If you want to go there and check it out, click here.

Gator Hunt

2011-04-10T14:51:00.000-04:00

There is excitement in the air around here... my son who moved to Hollywood last April is coming home for a visit tomorrow for the first time since he left! We are killing the fatted calf that's for sure. He also gets to meet his 9 mo. old nephew for the first time :)

So as I shared, Scott and I drive everyday to Sarasota for treatments. We leave the house at 2:30 and arrive back home at 6:00. I've always heard you can tell the health of your marriage if you have things to talk about. We are putting that to the test, spending two and a half hours in the car with no distractions, Monday-Friday! The scenery on this particular drive is... how shall I say... BORING BEYOND BELIEF... but more on that later.

We do pass over the Little Manatee River and the Big Manatee River going and coming, and the other day we reminisced about one fateful night, years ago. Here's how it went down...

Phone rings...

Scott: "Hey Teri, a buddy of mine from work drew a tag this year so we are going gator hunting tonight."

Me: "Why do you have to go at night?"

Scott: "It's the best time to catch them." (said with authority... like he's been doing this his whole life)

Me: "Uhhh... ok. Have fun."

(this was of course said without having any clue to what this actually meant, and of course I thought the chances of them getting a gator were nil)

About midnight the phone woke me up out of a sound sleep. Scott's end of the conversation was said with major excitement and breathlessness...

Scott: "Teri!! WE GOT A GATOR!!!! It's huge! It almost got us. It drug us around the lake for an hour with the boat in reverse!!!"

Me: (yawn) "That's nice honey. When will you be home?"

Scott: "I have no idea. We are taking it back to the house to take pictures. We still have to skin it and cut up the meat. We are having the head mounted. He's big!

He weighs over 800 lbs. and is 13 ft. long."

Me: (yawn) "Great honey. Don't wake me up when you come in."

We lost the other photos which show the size better, but imagine the head was 2 feet long by itself. See how small Scott's hand looks on his back.

As you can tell by my reaction... the size and weight of the gator did not register in my sleepy head. Here's what I found out... He and 2 friends were in a 15 foot boat. They drove around in the complete dark with a spotlight, looking for glowing eyes. When they spotted the gator, they noticed how far apart his eyes were... they knew he was big. They got up to him and hit him with a spear with a removable head connected to a rope and a float. Scott was leaning over the side of the boat, and his buddy yelled at him not to do that... the gator could have easily jumped up and took his head off. Obviously angry, the gator drug the boat around while they had it in reverse for over an hour. He would not give up so easily. Finally he tired out and they killed it with a "bang" stick right on top of his head.
Now it was time to load it in the boat.

Did you note the gator is 800 lbs... and 13 feet long??? They were trying to haul it up and over the side of a

15 foot boat!!!!!

My question is, where did they stand/sit once this monster was in???? Scott told me the boat had a center console, so the three men had to stay on the opposite side of the boat to try and balance the weight so the boat wouldn't tip over.

I did not in anyway appreciate the whole thing, until the next day, when in my den I stepped off 13 feet. I was in shock! A few days later the pictures came in... more shock. I can't believe they made it out alive. They had the head mounted, but luckily, it only stayed at our house a few days, and went to the boat owners home to live :).

They were such heros. One photo even made it into Scott's company national magazine. And oh joy... we had gator tail for dinner. Taste like chicken!

Something is Missing...

2011-03-30T13:56:00.000-04:00

Ever feel like something is missing...

something's not quite right?

You wake up in the morning with a general feeling that something is off...

then it hits you again...

whatever the problem is.

Could be a wayward child...

unpaid bills...

a loss of some kind...

or a loved one in pain...

could even be you are the one in pain.

I wake up like this sometimes, well, most times lately.

I simply get up, shake it off, and go on about my day.

Everyone seems to think I'm holding all my feelings inside.

A friend even told me I was being mysterious...

obviously she doesn't read my blog...

out there for the world...

or at least for the ones that read regularly.

What do people want me to do?

Talk about cancer 24/7?

Tell them I'm afraid?

Tell them I cry myself to sleep every night?

Even if these things were true...

why in a million years would I burden them with it?

Doesn't seem right, or productive.

We've been going through this on some level for three years, and someday I'm going to do a post about what I've learned from this experience...on how really to help someone going through a difficult time. It's taught me what really matters when people reach out to you...

what really helps.

Truth is... even with all that's going on with us,

I still feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

I found my soulmate...

My best friend...

When I think about that...

there's nothing much else to say.

Is it really that simple?

Probably not...

So anyway,

here's the update I promised a few posts ago.
I think I've told you most of this, but I honestly can't remember.

Thanks friends!

~Teri

Praise God!

2011-03-24T08:50:00.001-04:00

Even when life has difficulties... there are always

silver linings.

Here's our youngest daughter. Last night she was baptized in the Youth building of our church. They built this baptismal on wheels. Students can be baptized here or in the sanctuary of the main building.

PRAISE GOD... HE IS GOOD... ALL THE TIME!

It's a Good Thing...

2011-03-21T15:03:00.000-04:00

From my heart to yours...

There is a Brave Girls Camp you can attend in Idaho, which is sold out for the next year. However, you can do the online class... click here, and look to the right where there is a big blue/green box that says

Soul Restoration I and II.

There are also random videos on You Tube if you type in Brave Girls Club.

Be brave!

Take a chance!

You won't regret it :)

~Teri
Update on Scott...next post.

A Princess Is Born

2011-03-09T10:29:00.000-05:00

Things are a little crazy around our house. We have started daily radiation for Scott, and in the middle of it, he gets the flu! When it rains it pours.

Here are the promised photos from my granddaughter's birthday. We took her to Downtown Disney to the

Bibbidi, Bobbidi, Boutique.

Hope you enjoy!

Her birthday dinner the night before...Fairyland.

Even a princess can love Buzz Lightyear!

The Paris dress...

The next day...

Before...

Leila was chosen to be made up in the front window!

The transformation begins...

Here comes the hairpiece...

Make-up, sparkles, and fairy dust...

Here's my mom and I watching through the window. Lexi is watching from inside. Little brother Luke is in the stroller.

Almost finished...she has not seen herself yet...

Seeing herself for the first time... how precious when a little girl figures out that they really are a princess and that dreams really do come true!

Taking part in the Princess Parade...

The king and queen with their princess...

The cover of the next Disney Magazine! Yea...I think so!

Have an especially princess-y day!

~Teri

Fashion Week

2011-02-24T12:38:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd do a quick post while my coffee pot descales itself and my oven cleans itself

(don't you just love modern appliances?).

I noticed somewhere on TV yesterday that it's fashion week in Milan and soon to be fashion week in Paris. I thought this a perfect time to share with you our experiences with Paris fashion week in October.

I had heard it was going to be fashion week when we were in town, and as our week progressed, big white tents were being set up all over the city. At night if we had the TV on, the only mildly interesting channel was the fashion channel...all in French of course...but you could tell by their enthusiasm, that something big was going down. As we walked though the city, we began seeing other clues that the fashion gurus were upon us.

I knew we couldn't get tickets to any of the events, but we could see a lot of tents were being set up in the Tuileries Gardens. I made Scott go there on a spy mission one day, and look what we found...

I had already looked up the time for the show, so we went for a quick lunch, and headed back to rubberneck the whole event from behind the security fence. At first I will admit that Scott thought this the dumbest thing he had ever seen, but soon he got into it, for reasons I will share in a bit... here are a few photos we took watching from the sidelines.

Our favorite outfit of the entire day...

A huge, giant celebrity couple arrived, but we never got to see who it was... the cameras were going crazy and they practically tackled the couple. We found out later it was the CEO of Dior and Kate Moss.

We watched all of the arrivals, and soon you could hear music booming from inside the tent... the show had started. While the show went on, we walked around with all the other nobodies without tickets. We wanted to wait until the show was over and see the beautiful people (?) exit. I had on my new leopard coat, so in my mind I could easily have been mistaken for a model...

oh how soon my bubble was burst!!!!

We were standing by the fence, and I saw this man approaching us with his camera and microphone. I was so excited... I was going to be INTERVIEWED!!!

This man walked straight up to SCOTT, and began asking him questions in English, but with a very heavy French accent. The camera was pointed directly at Scott, and he could not understand a word the man said. Finally, in my desperation to get into the shot, I began interpreting his questions to Scott... Let me give you a rundown of how it went...

Scott's words and actions are in blue...

mine in red...

interviewer in black.

"Hello sir. How are you today?"

(Scott gives him a blank stare...)

"Where are you from?"

"Florida."

"Could you tell me sir, do you know the new color for spring?"

(this was all said with such a heavy accent, I had to interpret all further questions)

"No."

"Well sir, could you tell me what you think of beige as the new color for spring?"

(Beige was said with such an accent...you have no idea...)

(Scott continues to stare... )

"Honey, he wants to know what you think of beige?"

"Well...it's kinda like brown isn't it?"

(Blank stare from interviewer...)

"Well... yes, it's kinda like brown... but what do you think of it?"

"I guess brown is okay."

"Do you think it's the hot new color for spring?"

"I guess..."

"Well, your jacket is beige."

"Oh, I thought it was brown..."

This exchange continued until the guy gave up. He never for one second pointed the camera at me. Depressed does not even begin to express to you my feelings!

A few minutes later... this woman walked up to ME with her camera crew...

OK... so she was 100 yrs old, but here was my chance to be interviewed. I smiled at her and waited for my first question... however, she never got around to asking me anything. Instead, she put her hand into a claw like position, and began scratching at my arm... as she scratched over and over, she GROWLED at me (was it my leopard coat?). It was beyond bizarre, and let me tell you, Scott thought this whole scene HILARIOUS. Finally, I had to walk away. So much for my 15 seconds of fame.

Why couldn't this girl from MTV interview me???

Soon, hangers on and freak shows arrived...

At the very end, we actually saw two of the models leaving. We later saw other models on the metro. I thought their life was way more glamorous than riding a subway!!!

For the next two days, whenever we were in the apartment, we had the fashion channel on religiously, but never saw Scott's interview, or thankfully, MY sort-of interview.

All in all it was a crazy-fun experience, one we will not soon forget!

Great Deals!

2011-02-14T17:00:00.000-05:00

Self explanatory...
(these are all very short...promise!)

And of course...a touch of Paris...

Oh...and Happy Valentines Day!!!

P.S. Forgot to mention... the jeans were only $32.99!

California Bound

2011-02-04T10:58:00.001-05:00

Wow... an entire week has past since my last post. Doesn't seem possible.

I have been quite busy. I'm in the middle of a 6 week online class which has

rocked my world... but more on that in another post.

For now... I will tell you... I am CALIFORNIA bound. Scott has a business trip, and Lexi and I decided to tag along. The hotel is in Laguna Beach. I've been there a few times, and it never disappoints. The biggest excitement revolves around the fact that I will get to see my son, who I haven't seen since last March... almost a year! He moved out there last spring, and with all we have going on here, I haven't made it for a visit.

Get ready Wes... HERE WE COME. I know he is excited to show us the sights of North Hollywood where he lives, and the other hot spots in L.A. Believe me when I tell you I will post pics when we get back. For now, I will share some pics of Laguna Beach taken last time I was there.

Our Hotel... The Montage

Hanging around town...

I have been reading all your blogs, but haven't been commenting much...

I'll get back to it soon!

Love you all so much,

~Teri

Il Dolce far Niete

2011-01-27T10:26:00.000-05:00

One of our favorite places in Paris is Luxembourg Gardens. The first time we went there, we walked around the big lake where the children sail the boats, sat in some chairs, and thought the whole place wonderful.

A few years later, we rented an apartment one block from Luxembourg, and as we entered the closest gate, we didn't recognize anything we saw. We literally spent the entire day wandering around, and never even found the original lake we remembered. We were awed not only by the sheer size of the park, but the many, many, intimate settings you could find to sit and relax, and feel like the park was there just for you.

There's a huge children's area, along with basketball and tennis courts, and pony rides,

a puppet theater,

food areas,

huge green spaces,

(stay off the grass, s'il vous plait)

an art museum, numerous statues,

even a pavilion for concerts,

other lakes and fountains, unbelievable trees and vegetation, fruit trees, and even an area full of tiny, adorable bee hives, occupied by french bees!

I could go on and on. We ended up going to the garden every single day for the entire week. The weather was perfect that year, and we fell in love with

il dolce far niete

(Italian for 'the sweetness of doing nothing').

I have never done anything like that on a vacation.

It was heavenly.

A favorite of Scott's, was sitting by the Boules Court, and watching the men play boules. They take it very seriously. If you've ever seen Samantha Brown on the travel channel when she goes to Paris, on one episode, she plays boules with some really cute, elderly men...I hope you've seen the episode, it will make this clip a lot better if you have...

We spent a lot of time watching them...free entertainment... and I could tell, Scott was imagining himself doing exactly this, in this exact spot, in his old age. I had to video on the side, and talk super softly, because they were really serious about the whole thing.

Here's another clip. I won't point out the obviously hilarious double meaning in this clip... I think you'll get it all by yourself...it was accidental... I PROMISE! But later that evening, I showed it to Scott, and as we listened to it, we went into hysterical fits of laughter.
Hope you get a laugh too!

~Teri

Speaking French

2011-01-19T09:14:00.001-05:00

As you all know... when you go to Paris, it is imperative that you go there with a working knowledge of at least 5 phrases in French. Before our first trip, I bought the CD's and practiced in my car. I knew how to say the basics, tell the weather (incase anyone asked) and could count to 100. Yes, I had French in the palm of my hand.

The reality hit me like a ton of bricks once I stepped onto French soil. I felt like a fake... anytime I opened my mouth, I knew they knew that I wasn't one of "them"... still, somehow, whenever I tried, I got a smile.

I've heard the French are rude my entire life. I did not find this to be true at all. As long as I played by the rules and spoke French, things were fabulous. I expected Scott to feel the same way, and jump right in and try... but there is one huge, colossal difference between he and I. I am perfectly willing to jump in with both feet and make a fool of myself, if needed. Scott does not in any way feel the need or desire to jump into ANYTHING, until he's sure he will not embarrass himself. So... I did ALL the talking on that first trip...all the ordering... all the question asking... everything. I was annoyed at first, but adjusted quickly. Necessity was my motivation.

I had also heard that French people will not talk to you, or answer you on the street. I read they are actually shy, not rude, and most of them are just as uncomfortable speaking English, as we are French... and bonus, we usually massacre the pronunciation, so most times, they honestly don't know what we are trying to say.

Once (well, one time of many) we were hopelessly lost... I got up my nerve, and walked right up to a frenchman on the street. I said (in French) with my best Texas accent... "So sorry to bother you, but could you tell me where Rue Cler is?" I knew I was saying it correctly... I practiced it in my mind over and over before I said it. The reaction? He stared at me... blankly! I was not to be deterred... I repeated the question THREE times! Finally, a light seemed to go off in his head, he smiled ever so slightly, and pointed to the street sign on the side of the building. WE WERE STANDING ON RUE CLER!!!

It was so worth it... we saw this man walking up and down the street, greeting every single shop keeper. I couldn't help it... I walked right up to him, and asked if I could take a picture with him.

He began telling us his life story, in French, and even pulled papers out of his pocket, showing when he arrived in France from Italy, 50 years ago. When he finally took a breath, he realized we didn't understand. He said, "No French??? No Italian???" When I shook my head he said, "Hello....goodbye." Cute!

Now for the greatest thing that happened on trip one. By day two we were both hopelessly in love with Paris, and by day 8, we were the two saddest people you've ever seen, loading up in the taxi to head to the airport. Scott had watched me all week, muddle through. He finally decided to give French a go. The taxi pulled up to CDG, and the driver unloaded our bags. Scott paid the fare, and as the driver was getting back in his car, Scott said rather loudly, while waving, "Bonjour, bonjour!" The driver gave him a blank stare, and half waved back. I held my laughter... until we got inside. I looked at Scott and said, "Bonjour means hello... au revoir means goodbye." Scott looked a little deflated... and then we had a good laugh together.

Such great memories...

~Teri

Invalides

2011-01-16T12:04:00.000-05:00

Napoleon I is buried in SIX coffins. Really, it's true... and whenever I hear that statement, I crack up...

On our first trip to Paris, we went totally blind. No guide, no help, no group tour, nothing. It was the biggest blessing to tour Paris this way... it's the only way in my opinion, as long as you have tons of patience. We were constantly lost, tired, and hungry. How our marriage survived and thrived during that first trip remains a mystery.

So one day we ventured out, and for the very first time during that trip, we went exactly right to the spot we needed... no back tracking... no deer-in-the-headlights look... we walked right up to the Rodin museum. See how proud I look???

This photo was taken about 30 seconds before I read the sign... CLOSED on Mondays! I thought I would cry. We slowly walked away, and came upon this magnificent building.

I said to Scott, "Hey... I've seen this building in the book...I think we are supposed to see this, I think it's important." (That's how clueless we were). We crossed the street, and realized it was Invalides... I quickly scanned the guidebook, and explained to Scott that it's a war museum, and where Napoleon is "buried"... (well... sort of). Inside we were not disappointed. It is a beautiful building full of war memorabilia... Scott's favorite.

I read in the guidebook that Napoleon is entombed in six coffins. As we wandered the museum, I looked around, confused. Everything was in French, of course, and for the life of me, I couldn't grasp the six coffin concept. I saw lots of coffins...his brother, other military leaders, etc. In the center of the building, is one huge beautiful casket...

All I could think was...

"This must be where his head is. It's the biggest, most elaborate one... but I wonder where the other five caskets are??? What is the reason... did they put the legs in one, the arms in one, the torso..."

I thought the whole thing a little macabre! Finally, I mentioned this to Scott, and well... he stared at me a moment, and started laughing. I hate not to be in on the joke, but instinctively, I started laughing too, a nervous laughter. He said, and I quote, "The coffins are inside one another you idiot." This was said with love and care of course.

Here's the explanation, that I guess should have been obvious:

The first coffin is tin, the second mahogany, the third and fourth lead, the fifth ebony, and the sixth porphyry. Porphyry simply means stone. (answers.com)

We still laugh about this! I wonder... has anyone else thought what I thought???

~Teri

Very Unscientific Drawing

2011-01-11T08:56:00.000-05:00

Good Morning!

It's time for the giveaway drawing.

Here is my very unscientific hopper for the names:

Here is the winner...

Incase you can't read that... it's Cathi!

You must, must, must click over to her blog, Everyday Adventures of a Curious Gal. She loves to travel, and has fabulous pictures and great posts. She has a second blog, Everyday Matinees for Seniors that is tied to a non-profit organization she started in memory of her father. Read her profile...she is an amazing gal, and truly gives of herself.

I actually prayed before I drew a name, that the person that most needed a "happy" surprise, be chosen... so Cathi... I am sending you an email requesting your address. As soon as I get it, I will send the package your way.

Thanks for all who entered. Next post... back to Paris!

~Teri

Giveaway Day!

2011-01-07T16:05:00.000-05:00

Giveaway!

Here are the details...

Just for fun!

Good Luck... Your chances of winning are really, really, good!

~Teri

Hello 2011

2011-01-03T15:01:00.002-05:00

It's a New Year... hummmmm...usually I am SO into January. It's almost as good as September with the feeling of a fresh start. Sometimes I wonder when I don't have any more kids in the house, if September will have the same feel... I tend to think so... old habits die hard.

This is the first beginning to a new year, that I don't feel the love of moving forward. You see, Scott's cancer has spread. Not hugely, but even a tiny bit is too much in my estimation. Luckily, we didn't find out until Dec. 27, so Christmas was wonderful. I will admit though, that a big, dark cloud feels like it's hanging on the horizon. I WILL get past this feeling I know... but I feel compelled to be honest here, and not tell you what I think you want to hear... but to tell you the truth. This is hard.

Now...moving on.

Scott has asked me to start blogging again. He says he misses Paris so much, and would I please get back to it. So here's a short video. It's our very last night in Paris this past September. We had walked through the COLD and RAIN to our favorite place, and it was CLOSED. We were devastated. We had saved it for our last night. We walked back towards the apartment, and ducked into this tiny restaurant that we have eaten at before. Not the best food in the world, but passable, and cheap! I just love the atmosphere.

You know when you are doing something, and at that moment, you realize you will never forget it? This is one of those moments. We were having such a great time laughing at nothing, even though the return to the U.S. was hanging heavily over our heads. We didn't get in until after 11pm. It was a great night.

So signing off today with some giggles. Hope you giggled too! OH... and Happy New Year!

Teri
P.S. Please don't feel like you have to comment or respond to my news on Scott. You have ALL shown your kindness and thoughtfulness in numerous comments. I hate to think anyone is sitting there trying to think of what to say. I understand... and I know each and every one of you is sending thoughts our way.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-22T14:21:00.000-05:00

To all my fabulous, wonderful, blog friends...

Have a wonderful, merry, heartfelt Christmas, and a wonderful start to the New Year.

On behalf of Scott, he would like to say Thank You for all the incredible comments, prayers, and thoughts that have been sent his way. They mean a lot.

Check you next year!

~Teri

Almost forgot... wanted to send a few snowy pictures a friend of ours took while in Paris 2 weeks ago.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

2010-12-15T09:06:00.001-05:00

This week Scott and I had to go to Orlando for two days of tests. We thought about driving back and forth, but the first appt was at 6:45am, so instead of driving and hour and a half, my thought was "HOTEL"... so we booked a room near the medical center for two nights, and decided to turn it into a mini-vacation.

Orlando... sometimes I don't give that town any credit other than a town built around Disney. We rarely drive past the Disney exits... we enter that magical area... and as they so cleverly designed it, we never have to leave. The memories of my kids growing up going there year after year, many times a year (season pass) have made life all the richer.

So... now we were venturing into Orlando, the city. Our hotel, of course, was near another theme park... Sea World. All the hotels are so themed, so we were treated to a 1950's style hotel with aquas and yellows and polka dots. It was really cute. Big flatscreen TV's were everywhere, with very calming videos of sea creatures swimming slowly by. Here is the pool area... told you everything in this town is themed...

The first night, as we parked in the lot, we were treated to the Sea World nightly fireworks show just over the fence.

I did some research before we left, and did I have a surprise for Scott. The first night we drove to Winter Park (a suburb) and went to a restaurant called The Paris Bistro on Park Avenue.... need I say more? It was FABULOUS. I ordered Bistro Salad and Cunard Aux Peches (although I chose the cherry sauce), and Scott ordered Onion Soup and Lapin Aux Pruneaux. Both dishes were fantastic. I was too embarrassed to take a picture of our food like I do in Paris, but I have to say, the meal was as good as anything we've had there. Here are a few shots I took from outside the restaurant...

You walked along here to the restaurant entrance.

If you look closely, you can see the red velvet banquets, and the gold and red toile wall paper... tres chic! If you are ever in Orlando... be sure to give this place a try. It is in the middle of a very upscale shopping area.

Speaking of shopping... it's not my favorite thing to do, especially malls... but the following day, it was so blasted cold (seriously...it was 25 degrees that morning) that we decided to try out Mall of Millenia after his appt that morning.

As far as malls go, this one is TOPS. It's really open and airy and beautiful... pristine bathrooms and public areas, and the most whimsical Christmas decorations I've ever seen. Scott allowed me to shop for my Christmas presents from him, so that did make it a little tolerable. Yes, there was a Louis Vuitton store, and I swear that man would have sprung for one, but I had set a budget for Christmas, which was light years from the price of that purse, but it was absolutely gorgeous in person and so sleek to the hand!

Even though Scott would have bought it, I am the sensible one, and instead chose this little number...

The Cuisinart Griddler. As you can see, it can be a panini press, a half grill/half griddle, or full grill/full griddle... and bonus, the heating plates go in the dishwasher!

We leisurely walked the mall, stopped for coffee and walked again. For dinner we went to Brio Tuscan Grille... we weren't expecting much for a mall restaurant, but we were blown away by the food. Again, a meal we will remember. I had crab and shrimp cakes, and Scott had grilled salmon over angel hair pasta. YUM.

So we had a wonderful few days of eating and shopping. A time that could have been depressing and ugly, was actually a lot of fun. Hope you've enjoyed this impromptu tour of Orlando.

To coin a phrase... when Life Gives you Lemons...

Oh, that Blue Box!

2010-12-09T09:09:00.001-05:00

Hope this finds everyone having a wonderful Christmas season.... I know I am! I felt the need this year to keep it simple, plan ahead, and get it all done early. As of today, I am totally finished shopping, wrapping, and decorating. I've never been this organized, and I have to say, it has really made this time of year more fun. Almost all the gifts I bought are in a particular theme, which has made it so creative. I have not agonized this year over the "perfect gift" but instead, bought what I liked, with the person in mind, and moved on from there. Simple, easy, stress free.

Now speaking of gifts... I told you all a few posts ago, that I would share my Tiffany moment with you... so here we go...

Back in the summer, I went to the beach with a group of girls that I hang with. We all frequent the same beach, about an hour from where we all live, where a friend has a beach house she rents out. This particular week, we all had kids and husbands in tow. Fun, but... well... we all decided to plan a girl's weekend for the end of October... no kids, no husbands.

About two weeks before the weekend, is when we found out that Scott's cancer was back. At this point, I considered canceling, but decided just to show up if I could. As I shared before, this was really hard news to take. This is the time which I was Googling every minute of everyday, spending time on the phone, and in the library. I had massive headaches everyday as well. Scott knew this was stressing me out, but that's just life sometimes. He insisted I go to the beach, and not Google or read anything about cancer while I was there. I went, planning to come home after two days. I felt bad leaving him.

Well... once I was at the beach, it was SO relaxing, and beautiful, and fun. On the third day, I knew I should head home, but as sunset was imminent, and I was sitting in my beach chair with sand between my toes, sans headache, I called Scott from my cell, and told him I was staying until Sunday... was that okay???? "Sure" he said, but deep down, I knew he wanted me HOME.

An hour or so later, I got a text from my oldest daughter, that said, "Why is there a blue Tiffany bag hanging from the light in the breakfast room?"

WHAT??????? I read this text to my friends, and we had no idea what to make of it. I didn't dare mention it to Scott, because if there really was a bag there, he would kill my daughter for telling me!

I stewed about this all evening and night and into the next day. I felt TERRIBLE that I didn't go home as planned, especially since there was obviously a gift waiting for me.

So Sunday afternoon, I walked in to a perfectly clean house, lunch ready and waiting, and a Tiffany bag hanging right over the table. I "acted" surprised... and let me tell you, I'm a terrible actor.

The bag was empty!!! Well... it had a card inside with a clue to the blue box... like a scavenger hunt. From that box, was another clue, to another blue box. I know he really wanted to show me how much he appreciated all the support. SO sweet!

Later, I of course had to admit that I knew about the bag. He said, "I know... I told Meagan to text you that, just so you'd worry about it all night!" Can you even believe that???? I knew he wanted me home :).

Inside the first box was a sterling silver band, that had I Love You printed all the way around. The second box had the matching bracelet. I wear them both every, single day. Simple, elegant, perfect!

***************************************

One of my goals during this whole ordeal, has been to de-stress Scott's life as much as possible. Last night was perfect. He came home to cajun bean soup in the crock pot, an open bottle of red wine, (Dr. orders...did I mention Scott loves his new Dr ;), candles lit, and music playing... it was wonderful.

Take time this season to be intentional...if you don't, the season will pass you by, and you'll wonder where the magic went. In our family, we are all getting together on Thursday nights throughout the holidays, and having game night. I have also planned a Christmas Tea for my daughters, granddaughter, and mom. I am even going to decorate cookies, something I usually decide is too much trouble, and too messy. This year, I feel free to do this, because I am not stressed.

Now finish up your shopping, keep it simple, and enjoy...

Teri's orders!

The Best Things In Life Are Free!

2010-11-26T15:43:00.001-05:00

Hope you are all having a wonderful Thanksgiving...

Indulge me for a moment please...

just a few :)

The newest grandchild... Luke, 5 months old, with Poppy.

Leila came over to cook with Gigi... I wonder where her apron came from????

Concentration!

This photo explains so much...

Oh no... like father, like daughter!

Cute smiles!

Here is most of the gang playing Bananagrams...we give Leila a few tiles, and as soon as she gets them in a perfect line...well, she wins!

Hope you had an awesome time of food and family this Thanksgiving!

~Teri

Update

2010-11-18T14:29:00.002-05:00

So... I'm finally ready to give you all an update on our lives. It's so weird how life can change so quickly. I'm breaking my 2 min. post rule... you've been warned.

I decided when I started this blog it was just to talk about Paris, and to hopefully be uplifting and inspiring in whatever way comes out. I also decided I would stay away from the big two... R and P (religion and politics). I promise I won't get into politics... there's enough of that on TV already... and I won't get into religion. Religion is just a preference... as in "what religion are you?" But what I cannot even begin to get away from is telling you how God has worked in our lives thus far... with this very unexpected turn of events. Talk about inspiring!!!!!!

Scott was diagnosed over 2 years ago with prostate cancer... did the treatment... done deal... glad that's over.

But here we sit, with a reoccurrence. Hold on there missy... this is not the special club I wanted an invitation to. I wanted to be in the "I beat cancer and never heard another peep from it again" club! But that was not to be.

So we decided to go the second opinion route, after all, the first treatment certainly didn't cure him. We had a long phone consultation with a new doctor Monday night, after he reviewed all of Scott's records, biopsies, tests, labs, etc. The news was not good. In his exact words...

"This is Scott's last ditch effort. We need to throw everything we've got at this."

Oh, and how about this one,

"I feel certain this cancer has spread in microscopic amounts."

HOW'S THAT???? What do you even do with that? He wasn't alarming in his presentation, just honest. Well... you can only imagine the conversation we had that night! It was more than upsetting. I went to bed in a fog and woke up in a fog. I couldn't pray at all, and hadn't been able to in a couple weeks really. There were just no words, and I felt like my Heavenly Father was a million miles away. Feelings can be quite deceiving! It wasn't that I thought He really abandoned me, my faith told me that would never happen, but it FELT like I couldn't communicate like I always had. I wasn't angry or mad... just confused and sad beyond anything I had ever experienced.

For the past few weeks, I have been the absolute Google queen. Ask me anything about P. cancer... I got my PhD by way of computer (and yes, I only stuck to reputable sites). Some people told me to stop, but for some reason, I couldn't. I also checked out books from the library. I was a walking talking encyclopedia of information. I guess it was my way of coping.

This is the binder I made for all the paperwork...there's another, thicker one for bills and insurance stuff...every cancer patient needs a secretary. My children will laugh at this because I never allowed 'that word' to be said in my house... times change :)

So Tuesday was spent setting up new appointments, verifying insurance, blah, blah, blah. I was mentally exhausted. I woke up Wednesday, still in the fog, and decided to just stop all the research until we see the new Dr. in person.

But... there was still more to know... there was mention of a couple drugs Scott might have to go on... must Google side effects... then I'll stop. "Something" told me to also write down any questions I might have. If they are down on paper, I wouldn't forget them, and I can sorta quit thinking about them. So I spent one more hour at the computer. I wrote down all I found about the drugs and side-effects, wrote down my questions, and closed the notebook. This would all have to wait until December.

THEN... miracle... the phone rang. It was the nurse practitioner at the new office... "Hi Mrs. _______ do you have any questions about anything???" I had to LAUGH. Little did she know! I opened my notebook, and fired away. By the time we were finished, I felt the weight of the world was off my shoulders. Seriously... it was amazing. Can't even describe the timing... how God comes through when you are at such a low point to say,

"I'm HERE, and I HEAR you."

I called Scott, shared all the concerns we had along with answers, and of course we had to meet for lunch to celebrate. The cancer was still there, but the road map was set. We felt so much better.

But there's more... last night Scott went out to get the mail, and there was a package from a complete stranger (sent via a great new friend I have that is going through cancer as we speak). It was the sweetest thing ever!!!

I haven't even had time to write her a note, but I wanted to share what she sent Scott and I...

I just looked up her blog... she's a blogger of course! Please go by and visit her @

ruthiesgift.blogspot.com

I will be sitting in bed with my Scott's iPad tonight, reading every word.

So... there's my long update. I have a few blogposts in waiting, and will send them along once or twice a week. I miss reading your blogs... I'm sure they are much more fun than what I've been reading. I will get back to commenting soon!

~Teri

P.S. I did not go into specifics about what treatments Scott did or did not do. Everyone is an individual, and unique. I never want to influence anyone in what they, or someone they know, should or should not do. If anyone wants to ask any specific questions, my email is always open!

Paris...Where Did You Go?

2010-11-10T09:33:00.000-05:00

Paris seems a millions miles away. We were just there 5 weeks ago, but it seems like it was five years ago. I looked at a few of our videos today, and decided to share one quick one with you.

Paris is a romantic city, and I wanted to leave our mark there during this trip, because for many reasons, I think it might be awhile before we return. I had read there are 2 bridges that "lovers" put a lock on, as a symbol of their love, and a symbol that they will return to Paris someday. I hid the lock in my luggage, and explained this to Scott when we got there. He went along with it... but I could tell his heart wasn't in it... until we got to the bridge.

I think he enjoyed doing it. You should have seen us picking out the perfect spot. As you can see, many people don't know about the locks, and they tie whatever they have on hand on the bridge. I'm not sure how long the locks stay before they are cut off, but we did it!

No news on Scott yet. Waiting on more tests, and now a second opinion. All is as it's always been... no symptoms, just an invisible enemy wreaking havoc in our lives.

I will share my thoughts and feelings with you whenever I figure out what they are :).

Have a blessed day!

~Teri

Then and Now

2010-10-19T20:02:00.001-04:00

I started this blog over a year ago, and I had no idea what it would come to mean to Scott and I over time. He loves reading your comments as much as I do. We feel like we have so many new friends. Most of you we will never meet, but no doubt you hold a special place in our hearts.

We found out yesterday, that Scott's cancer is back. It still seems to be contained, but in light of this news, I truly feel I need to step away from blogging for a bit, not that I'm super consistent anyway. I have no idea how long I'll take off... maybe a few weeks, maybe longer. I guess GirlMeetsParis will just pop up one day and surprise you. I wanted to let you know why I will be MIA, since I've shared about Scott's situation in the past.

I'm not trying to be over-dramatic, but my creativity seems really stifled... my mind is swirling, but I am at peace.

I want to leave a few thoughts with you before I sign off for awhile.... Paris gave Scott and I both an incredible gift of opening our minds and our world to other possibilities. We love Paris sure, but for us it represents so much about change, and growth, and keeping marriage fun and vibrant.

Here we are in 2006...

Here we are last month...

If your marriage is in the pits... DO SOMETHING, anything, to get it back on track. Do not take that man for granted under any circumstances. Remember all he's done for you over the years, remember that he picked YOU out of all the girls he knew, and while he's not perfect...

well, neither are you :)

A friend sent me this awesome framed art she did for me a few weeks ago. It symbolizes how I feel, and what I'm hanging on to. It sits next to my sink.

I actually gave this verse to her years ago, as her family was going through heart issues with one of her children... they are still walking that road. Life is rough, no doubt, but through it all...

God is in control, and He knows.

I will still be reading your blogs for sure, and will comment when I can...

now... go give your husband a hug and tell him how awesome he is!

~Teri

Flea Market Lovliness

2010-10-14T13:51:00.002-04:00

Working on a couple of projects...so we'll do "Paris in Real Time" over the next few posts.

This is the day at The Pig Fair.

We noticed this sign in a few metro stations.

As I've mentioned before, I am not a huge fan of the flea. I find them overwhelming and confusing. However, this flea market was totally manageable and easy to get around. There was no junk so to speak, and there were items in all price ranges.

There were so many items we wanted, but we weren't prepared mentally or financially to ship stuff home. Everything we bought had to be hand carried on the plane, or put in our luggage... which I think worked in my favor and helped me edit all the things I wanted. One mental note about this market... almost no one spoke English, but that wasn't a problem. The MO (modus operandi) of the day was drawing imaginary numbers on my palm to come up with a fair price. I usually offered 25-30% less (I had read that somewhere) and they almost always agreed.

I would have taken a million pics, but I left my camera card in my iPad at the apartment from when I downloaded the night before! My camera allowed me only 5 shots on it's internal memory, and I was done... almost brought me to tears. We took a few videos and that was it!

These are all very short, I promise.

Getting there...

In awe...

Just for fun...

For Ruth at A Beautiful Life...click here if you
would like to order a similar bottle rack :)

I've only been to a few flea markets in Paris, so I'm no expert, but if I ever go to Paris again, I would plan my trip around this event, which happens twice a year. It was that good and that fun. Scott even got into it, even though he finds haggling horribly embarrassing...he hung out outside of the stands as I made my offers. In the end he was shocked at my nerve, but excited to be saving money.

Next blog... Food at the Fair... hope you'll check back.

~Teri

An Outfit a Day

2010-10-11T18:23:00.002-04:00

Okay ladies... I have TEN minutes to do this post and I'm out the door. I find it so difficult to reenter my life after being in Paris. Still adjusting, but wanted to do a quick post.

For some reason... I decided this year to have Scott take a picture of my outfit for each day. I was thinking that if someone hasn't been to Paris, and they are planning a trip, I wanted them to know they don't have to invest a lot of money in new clothes... unless of course, they want to... in that case... go for it!

I almost always dress in solid, dark colors or white. Not sure why. I like to fade into the background. I always felt appropriate everywhere we went, but then again, we don't hang out in the fancy places :)

So... I feel a little silly now, but without time to plan a lovely post, this will have to do. I'm already down to 7 minutes!

I knew this wasn't the most flattering, but I love this vest and it was warm!

Scarf... 5€ on the corner.

I swear this was crisp and ironed at the beginning of the day.

This was flea market day.

If you click on the pic you can see these cute flats I bought.

Everyone wears flats in Paris!

And here we have... drum roll... the Leopard coat!

So... as you can see... only on the LAST day did I take a risk. I guess Fashion Week and the shop windows got to me.

Will blog again soon.

Teri

P.S. I'm not MaiTai that's for sure! Her way of dressing is my dream!

Saturday In Paris

2010-10-03T08:22:00.003-04:00

Au revoir Paris. You never cease to amaze, surprise, and delight me.

Until we meet again...

XXOO

P.S. Got in last night. Daughter had a blast at homecoming, and she sent pictures to me while we waited for our connection in Chicago. My parents went so far above and beyond the call taking care of her. They might sleep for a week now. My daughter can be quite high maintenance... in a good way! :)

As I walked through the Tampa airport last night, one thought overwhelmed me...
"Everything is so clean, shiny, spacious, and NEW looking."

Dog and home are fine. I have to say... as much as I love Paris...
There's no place like home!

Friday in Paris

2010-10-02T01:55:00.000-04:00

A hodgepodge of a day...can't get into it in detail...yet!

How about... time on our favorite bridge, Pont Alexander...

Dior Fashion Show...

a scam almost run on me, until Scott said, "No way!" then an hour later, same scam by a different woman...

the Louvre...

George V...

a late dinner in Montmartre where we laughed until we cried... for NO reason!

I'll explain later...Bon nuit for now...taxi coming early.

Thursday in Paris

2010-10-01T13:06:00.000-04:00

Thursday was a long day of wandering...all over St. Germain des Pres. We started at Place Vendome, where Fashion Week was in full swing. We ate a fabulous lunch of steak and pomme frites, and took off walking. We ended up making a purchase...Scott was determined I get a new purse, but instead we found a coat. I've always heard you should use leopard as an accessory. Well, even petite me decided to use it as the whole outfit. Pics to follow. I guess the shop windows got to me.

We were also walking along and found, quite unexpectedly, some perfume a certain blog friend asked me to pick up for her... we were so surprised, and so excited. I had written down the perfume in detail, and the shop owner explined it all to us... why we couldn`t find it at Sephora anymore, etc...she was awesome, even with the language barrier!

We walked along the river, looking for the French version of Harry Potter that we saw before, and couldn't find again...sorry Meagan, thought you might like that. Walked on and on to get my mom something I decided we had to get...then ended up at the Marias along tiny, crooked streets...so French.

One more day...so sad...but I do miss my kids and grandkids a bit! My youngest has Homecoming, which I am missing for the second year in a row, even though we planned our trip around the date. How were we supposed to know she would get invited to Homecoming at a different High School???

MOM...take pictures please!

We ended the evening near the apt...doing something I said I would do for years...see top photo.

Teri

Photo to go with Paris in Wed. Post

2010-09-29T13:08:00.000-04:00

Flea Market photo to go with previous blogpost. Here are 3 of my finds. I am so excited. I am NOT a flea market type of gal (yes, I can hear the gasps across America) and this may sound shallow, but as we walked in, I prayed, "Lord, please give me an eye today." I could not be happier!

Have I told you lately how much I love France?

Wednesday in Paris

2010-09-29T13:06:00.001-04:00

My ever caring mother has filled us in that there are terror threats in Paris...so here is my report, live, from the scene...

Eiffel tower...yesterday we were at Notre Dame, and tons of police cars were rushing in big groups somewhere. I told Scott I bet something has happened. We just heard from mom that the E.Tower was evacuated. We are also seeing patrols everywhere...some police, some military. Today our train was stopped in the middle of our trip back into town from the flea market. They made some big announcement, in French of course, everyone looked annoyed, and got off. We followed suit, and found a way home on a diff. line. There were cops all over...not normal.

The weirdest thing is there is NOTHING on the TV! Oh well. It seems it would be on the station we watch. It's 24/7 French news in English.

We went to the flea market today and it was a dream. I got about 6 things I've been searching for in the US for over 2 years, and of course they are better now b/c they are from France. I was channeling Tracy Porter ALL day. I got an old silver gallery tray, a small oil painting for my London wall (approx. 5x7 w/ 2 in frame around) 2 French people statues (8 in), a white bust of a woman, and an old oval copper casserole! I managed to "deal" with the French, and offer less money, and they were happy to accept. NO ONE spoke English all day. Many times they would say something to Scott and I, and as we stared blankly, uproarious laughter would break out around us...apparently we were the brunt of all jokes today. Scott almost ordered lamb and kidney skewers. I insisted getting out the French/English dictionary before he ordered...we ran away quickly...but it did smell good. Suffice it to say we had HAM sandwiches at the HAM fair and even ordering that was funny. WE don't think we are funny, but a lot of french people do!

There are some great videos from the flea market, but they will have to wait.

Tonight...off to the steps that overlook the entire city, then some Onion Soup.

I posted a pic of some of my finds on the next post. This trip is a blogging nightmare, but I'm trying...

Teri

Tuesday in Paris

2010-09-29T03:49:00.001-04:00

It's Wed. morning, but last night I was just too tired to post.

Today started out with a trip to a basket store and a basket purchase. Thank you so much Debi@ Tale of Two Cities. She was in Paris last week and mentioned she saw some market bags by a friend's place. Since Scott and I had struck out, I asked her to send me the street name. She actually emailed her friend in Paris...the friend took her camera, took pics of the store so I could see the types of bags, came home, downloaded and emailed the pics to Debi who emailed them to me! Aren't Bloggers THE nicest people?

She mentioned she wasn't sure of the quality. These bags have been hanging outside awhile, but don't you just love the patina of this bag? It looks old... I love the one I chose, and bonus, it was only 12€. I posed the bag just for this photo when I saw the brown bridge. That's the Seine of course and Notre Dame to the left.

We started out yesterday at 11am. We were determined not to kill ourselves, come in early and relax, go out for a late dinner, and get up all rested and refreshed for today...the Pig Fair day. So, in our true fashion, we stayed out nonstop until 11pm! We finished the night in true fashion as well. We went down in the metro, and Scott was so sure of the line and the direction and connection we needed, we did not double check the map like we always do. We got on the train, got all situated and began riding home. It was at least 15 stops to our connection. I got this feeling something wasn't quite right. At one point I looked over at a stop, and covering the walls was the most beautiful painting of the French at war...we had never seen this. Suffice it to say we rode ALL the way across Paris to catch our connection, that had actually been 2 stops the other direction from where we got on. We just shook our heads.

We did so much, and saw so much, and relaxed so much, that we both agreed this was one of the most wonderful days we've ever had. We fell into bed last night!

I truly have so much fun stuff to blog, but it will have to wait. Hopefully, you will all continue reading over the next few weeks as I unfold our experiences, and of course I have some great photos and a few pitiful videos to go along with these future posts. We don't do anything with style and grace...we seem to always be clunking through Paris!

So...off to the flea market. We have to catch the RER...a system we've never been able to master...here goes nothing!

Will post tonight...

Teri

P.S. I did buy a fur piece in a vintage shop yesterday in the Marais. Scott says it is a purchase I will regret... but hey... it was only 5euro!

La Photo...

2010-09-27T15:03:00.001-04:00

This photo goes with the post right before it... posting from France can be maddening!