Where did the last 8 years go?

So here I sit at my kitchen table in Toulouse thinking about what a blur the past 8 years of my life has been.  Here we go:

2008- moved to Paris
2009 - got married and adopted Stella
2010 - Alan was born
2011 - moved back to DC
2011 - started M.Ed. program
2012 - became pregnant again
2013 - moved back to Paris for 3 months
2013 - Annabelle was born
2013 - moved to Vienna, VA
2014 - completed Master's degree
2014 - began working as an ESOL teacher
2017 - moved to Toulouse

It just crossed my mind, that 8+ years ago when Rob and I were living in Paris and I had no job and no kids, I started a blog...but I wasn't a very faithful blogger.  I was curious to see if I could find it and read what I had written and voila, here it is!  The last line of my last post  said something like, "we'll see how long this blogging thing lasts..." that was 2009, it is now 2017, clearly I am not very dedicated.  So why am I writing now?  I think mostly because of what I read in my previous posts. They were full of complaining, stories about the French and Paris and bad experiences I had and clearly felt the need to vent about.  I laughed out loud at myself, at remembering some of the actual experiences, and at how much I have changed in the past 8 years.

This time around we are living in Toulouse.  I began French lessons yesterday and my teacher gave me the homework of writing down my first impressions of Toulouse.  I have yet to do it (in French), but instead thought I'd go ahead and get my thoughts down.

The day we arrived, Sunday, April 9th, the weather was beautiful.  I don't remember the temperature, I just know that the sun was shining and it felt like spring.  I had been here in January during a very cold and rainy week, so it was a very pleasant surprise.  For the past two weeks it has been sunny every single day, so one of my first impressions is that the weather here is great!  At least much better than in my memories of Paris, which were gray, cold, and damp.  Also, the countryside is beautiful.  We do not live in the city center, rather in a small town about 20 minutes northwest of the city.  The drive I take every day to get anywhere, is a 2 lane road through fields of green and yellow.  Along the streets are both charming old houses and store fronts and more modern, less charming commercial centers (or strip malls as we call them back home).  Overall, its really very pretty and reminiscent of what one might conjure up in their minds when they hear the word "provincial".  Finally, the people are here are quite friendly!  I used to brace myself before every customer service experience when I lived in Paris.  Here, I haven't had to.  I have had excellent service and kind people greet me at every turn.  I even had a woman at the post office (I can't believe I didn't write about the post office 8+ years ago, as I loathed it) take me BEFORE the woman in front of me because she could see I had an easy transaction.  I have not (yet) heard the words, "ce n'est pas possible" (its not possible)!  I am definitely hoping that this is not beginner's luck and that Toulouse (and the suburbs) continue to be as hospitable as they have been these first two weeks!