America! Heck, Yea!

Pictures from my welcome home party that Tanner put together and many wonderful friends came to from all over :).  Thanks Shaun for the pictures!

Crazy friends.  Quite entertaining!

Tanner, Jacob, and Marsha.  Tanner lives in a very cool warehouse apartment.

Shaun and Griff.

Shaun and Griff...and oh wait!  Silas just coming out of the bathroom!

Shaun and me.

Kevin and me.  Notice the Coors Lite beer cans hanging up?  Tanner and Dave drank that terrible stuff to make my party super American.  I appreciate the pain they went through for that.

Marsha and me.

Ohhh, do I really have to dance???

Alright, fine. But I'm just going to copy you guys.

Everyone hanging out and eating their very American food.

Tanner - the host of Barbara Fest.  Thanks Tanner!!!

Flowers :)

As you all probably already know, I love flowers and working outside. Here are some pictures of flowers that are either from my grandparents yard or from The Steinman Mansion in Lancaster (they are known for their incredibly gorgeous gardens). I hope you all at least enjoy a few pictures of flowers!

Hydrangea. This plant is both purple and pink.

A plant I have never seen before but think it's really cool.

The herb garden at the Steinman Mansion.

I never knew what an artichoke plant looked like before.

Pretty lily from the pond below.

Can you imagine this being your back yard?

The pool area. The lifeguard is a boxwood bear topiary.

Lots of butterflies on what I believe is a type of phlox...not sure though!

Another pretty pond.

I'm going to end with my favorite plant ever. Babies Breath!!! Everyone should use it in every arrangement possible.

The Mayo Wedding!

Two of my friends from Grove City got married a weekend ago. It was a huge reunion and celebration at the same time. I was so happy to see the happy couple and to be a party of their special day (I did the flowers!).

I tried to post a bunch of pictures but did not succeed for some reason. I'll keep trying but for now here are some pictures!

Rachel, Neha, Katie and Joanna were so helpful with the flowers the days leading up to the wedding. Rachel held these on her lap for the 1.5 hour ride to Grove City and Katie put up with the AC on blast for 4 freeeeeezing hours across PA :).

Some of the flowers!

The wedding ceremony at Grace Anglican.

The fun reception! Bethany was just gorgeous and the two are so in love - it's adorable!

The first dance... it had been raining all day but it cleared up enough for them to be able to have their first dance outside on the patio. It was perfect.

The crazy Rhos :)

Rachel, Katie, Joanna, and me...where was Neha!?!?! :(

Dan, Anna, Erin, and Thomas at the reception. It was great getting to meet Erin and Anna.

Rachel, Bethany, Josh, and me right before the throwing of the bouquet.

Katie wrestled it to the ground for the win! Watch out Oli!

Afterwards, we went to the Blue Ribbon and Elephant and Castle to hang out more with all of our friends. We finally made it home around 2h30! It was a long but wonderful day!

Congratulations Bethany and Josh Mayo!

For more pictures, check out Jonathan's (friend and photographer) website: http://www.jfreyblog.com/

Waiting...

Hi Everyone!


I know some of you are patiently waiting for my next post.  Well, I have been waiting for some pictures from my 'Welcome Home!' party to post for all of you.  I am going to give it until the end of this week.  If I still don't have any, then I'll just go ahead and post without them.


In any case, being home has been nice.  It almost feels like I never left.  I have been quite busy (thankfully!) and have also been able to spend a lot of time with friends and family. I have only worked a few days thus far and will really start up with that next week (along with apartment hunting in Philly).  


I hope you all are doing well!  If I haven't talked to you yet, I hope to in the very near future!


Barbara

I'm Home!

I am back in the USA!  Just wanted to let everyone know that I am here safely.  I will update again soon with the ins and outs of my trip.

So long, farewell, and now I say adieu....

Yes, for those of you who are confused, I don't leave France until tomorrow. However, I am leaving Nantes in 4 hours to head to Paris for my flight tomorrow morning. Yesterday I spent my day saying goodbyes and packing. Each bag is 49 lbs...it will be interesting navigating my way through the train station and airport with the huge luggage I have! Anyway, I met up with some of the remaining assistants to say goodbye and then I met up with some teachers from La Herdrie to say bye. Unfortunately, I did not get to stay very long but it was nice seeing them one last time.

The harder departures were saved for today. I already said goodbye to Marco's mom. We ate lunch together today and said bye after that. She wrote me a little note and gave me some cool souvenirs to bring back with me. It was difficult to say the final 'au revoir' just because she was such a huge part of my experience here in France. Next on the list of goodbyes is the cat (a little less difficult but I hope she isn't too crushed that she won't get her nightly Babara time!). But most importantly, I have to say bye to Marco. It's always very hard but it seems like it is a part of our relationship. We are both looking forward to the day when it will be no longer necessary! 4 hours until I have to climb over that obstacle....

Well, this is my last post from France. I'll keep you all updated about my life for awhile upon my return. Maybe I'll even be able to tell most of you in person :).

See you soon USA!

The Beginning of the End....

I think I can officially say that this is the end of my stay in France. I have 2 full days left in Nantes (I will spend the night on Wednesday in Paris for my Thursday morning flight) before heading back to the good ole US of A. Bittersweet is the only way of describing my imminent departure. Leaving Marco and his family behind will be incredibly difficult and emotional, but seeing the US, my family and friends will be oh-so-sweet. When I get sad about the end of this stage of my life, all I have to think about is all that is awaiting me when I return and I feel better (well...most of the time I do!). In all reality, I do my best to just not think about it at all, in order to regulate my emotions and not seem manic to those around me!

So, what now? Upon my return, I will start working for the Rohrer's again as well as settling back to being in the US and at home. My plan is to be very busy as soon as possible to make life seem 'normal,' in hopes of having a smoother transition. I have a decent amount of things to do when I get back: a haircut (the first in 9 months!), welcome home party on the 22nd with my GCC friends (which I am really looking forward to), work, hanging out with family, unpacking, helping my mom re-decorate, searching for an apartment in Philly, a sign language course, getting things ready for Bethany and Josh's wedding (I am doing their flowers) etc. In August, I will move to Philadelphia to start my studies and assistantship at Eastern University to be a School Psychologist. Another three years of school seems a little daunting, but I am really looking forward to being back in the learning environment as well.

As for Marco, he currently has an internship in Nantes which he will be finishing up mid-fall. He is starting to look for a job in the US in hopes of joining me after his internship. He wasn't able to find an internship in the US after months of searching, so I am hoping that finding a job doesn't have the same result. We are trying to be optimistic! In any case, he will come to visit at the end of fall/beginning of winter. We are hoping to see each other again in the 3 to 5 month time frame. Oh, yes... back to long distance!

Well, hopefully I answered the basic questions that many of you have asked me recently. Of course if you have more questions, ask away!

In the mean time, I am going to enjoy my last 2 days in my home away from home.... a bientot!