First Post Paris

So it's been practically forever since I've written-- which is unfortunate since I actually do enjoy writing about what's going on. It's been so long and I've been so out of practice that I had practically forgotten about it completely.

What's going on? Where do I begin?
I upped and left my life in Montreal with my fiancé to run a small sales office of my dad's business. It has been exciting, exhausting, daunting, envigorating and a test every day. It is safe to say that where I used to see myself as a confident and strong young women, my ground beneath my feet feels like it has swept up beneath me and I am doing all that I can to hold on tight.

I know that everything that I find daunting and difficult is in fact a challenge and chance to grow in disguise. I remember one of my mentors telling me that once I got here, I would ask myself, "Why is everything so hard?" all the time in the first six months. Six months later, I am still asking these questions. I know, however, that with the support of my friends, family, and of course my fiancé, that I can handle this.

Since getting here I have lost complete track of my finances. I do know that we have been spending exorbitant amounts of money on food-- and not even good food. I'm talking delivered lunches. This actually disgusts me. Some weeks, I take delivered lunch every day of the week. With an average price of  9.00 EUR a day, we're talking $67.00 CAD a week! Between the two of us, that's about $530 a month. Insane. That's some people's rent for the month. I am actually disgusted at myself right now at this figure.

With that money-- we could instead go for a weekend getaway. London? No problem. Marseilles? Sure. Amsterdam-- not far. Shit.


Ok enough about the money. What do I need to do to maximize my time here? Before I came, what did I want to take advantage of while here? What would make my life here full and happy?

What do I want?
1) I want to run the office well
2) I want to come back being perfectly fluent in French
3) I want to go on weekend getaways and SEE THE WORLD
4) I want to make great friends to share my experiences with
5) I want to be healthy
6) I want to be ready for China
7) I need to plan my wedding

I think this is a good list. Can I actually achieve all of this? I hope so. Maybe I should write it out to remind myself what I am here to do. It's my life. Every day is a choice. I make it what I want to.