The New Year is here

Well here we are in a New Year and I am back in France where I will be for the next 5 months.  I didn't get a chance to update while I was in Sacramento because I was having too much fun spending time with my family and friends.  So for my first post of the New Year, here is an update of my amazing Christmas break!

My Christmas started in a truly wonderful, beautiful city: Paris!  Because my flight left so early in the morning on Saturday, I went to Paris on Friday and stayed with my friend Cory, who I have know since elementary school.  Cory is an au pair in Paris and her parents and brother were visiting for Christmas already so I hung out with them on Friday.  We went to the Champs-Elysees Christmas market which was absolutely amazing. We even went on the huge ferris wheel!  It was a lot of fun and a perfect way to start my break!

Cory and I at the Christmas Market

Eiffel Tower in the City of Lights

I was very nervous about the snow causing big delays for my flight but fortunately, I got out of there just in time.  My flight was only delayed about a half hour and soon I was on my way to Houston.  The flight was actually not as bad as I thought it was going to be for an 11 hour flight.  Once I got to Houston, I had a long layover.  I was just getting dinner when I heard someone call my name and I saw Elle, another friend I have known since elementary school.  She was flying to Sacramento on an earlier flight and told me that I should try to fly stand-by so I could get home earlier.  Luckily, I was able to get on the plane and made it home 2 hours earlier than I would have.

From the very second I got home to when I left, I was so incredibly happy.  It was so nice to be around my family and my cats.  I was happy to be able to wear sweats and t-shirts and not have to get into jeans every single day.  I made sure to get all of the food I have missed and craved so much in France. And being able to hop in my car and drive was amazing!

The first week I was back, I had two very special visitors: Christy and Jessica.  They drove from San Francisco to hang out with me! It was so sweet of them to come.  We went to dinner as soon as they got here and watched the finale of the Sing-Off.  It was so nice to talk and catch up with them, especially since I haven't seen them since I left Eugene in August.  The next morning, we went out for breakfast at Sharis with two other mutual friends of ours. It was great seeing everyone!

Breakfast at Sharis crew

Christmas Eve day we went to the Cowards' for Christmas brunch like we have for the past couple of years.  This is one of my favorite parts about Christmas.  We always have a great meal and we get to spend time with some of our closest family friends.

Sibling picture with Justine and Zac

All of our wonderful parents

Besties

That afternoon, we went to Mass at Holy Spirit with Grannie and Aunt Mary Ann.  After, we went back to Grannie's for Christmas Eve dinner.  There were a lot of us this year!  I couldn't be happier being around my family!  Christmas Day was at our house and just as much fun as Christmas Eve.  The best part was definitely the entire family glued to the TV when we watched Elf and Despicable Me.

The Ostapecks

Cousin picture, love this

Stephen and I with Grannie

Grannie and her kids

Aunt Steph and me

The day after Christmas we had a 5 year anniversary of when we won State.  So the whole volleyball team and our parents gathered at St. Francis where we played volleyball for about an hour and a half. It was probably the sloppiest volleyball we have ever played but we got out there and had fun!  After that, we went to one of our coach's houses for dinner.  We couldn't believe it had been five years since we had all been together.  It was great to see all of these girls and remember all of the good times we had together!

Volleyball State Champs 5 years later

The rest of break went by really fast.  I went out to a few dinners with my group of friends from high school and spent a lot of time with my family.  I didn't do much but that is exactly what I wanted from my vacation.  It was nice to just sit and watch TV with Stephen and the cats or just go out to coffee and talk for awhile.

I was supposed to leave for France on New Year's Day but after some flight delays in Sacramento that would make me miss my flight from Houston to Paris, I just decided to move everything back a day.  Luckily, this was not a problem.  So 4 hours after my parents dropped me off, they came back to get me and the four of us went out to a wonderful breakfast.  Then the rest of the day we watched football and sat around the house.  It was only one more day with them but it was one of the best days.  I started off the  New Year with my family and football, what more could I want?

And finally, I made it back to France and to my home in Caen.  I am still getting over the jetlag and have been sleeping a lot.  I have a feeling it will be a very low-key weekend for me.  Classes have just started up but so far they have been going well.  Next on my list will be to decide where to go for the next holiday.  I am also hoping to make some weekend trips to Paris in the near future.  Life is good.  Which coincidentally is the name of this blog!

Happy New Year everyone! :)

oh, and GO DUCKS!