Once Upon a Time in a Land Far, Far Away...

Kings' Cake!

2012-01-10T20:46:00.007+01:00

I recently received an email from a friend that commented how funny it is that we are always homesick for the place where we are not currently living!

In France we often made homemade salsa and other American and Tex-Mex things. In Texas, we find ourselves making French food and celebrating French holidays!

January 6th is Epiphany. Traditionally, it is the day when the Three Wise Men met the baby Jesus. On the 6th (or the Sunday after) many families in France celebrate this holiday by eating cake! (What better was is there to celebrate anything than by eating cake!) A tiny charm (or prize or "feve") is hidden somewhere in the cake. Whoever gets the charm ends up being the King! And, no king is truly a king without a paper crown, right?!

The smallest kiddo gets under the table and picks who gets which slice of cake!

We looked for a Kings' Cake at all bakeries around here. We found plenty of "New Orleans" style Kings' Cakes. They are beautiful and colorful, and I'm sure they taste great. But, nothing compares with the flakey, French almond-goo filled Kings' Cakes. They are just SO good!

We ended up making the cake ourselves.

It was good. But, we were a little homesick for our little bakery on Rue Paradis in Marseille. But, don't worry about us, we made ourselves less homesick by eating good ol' Tex-Mex chips and salsa later!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

2012-01-02T03:41:00.003+01:00

I know that many people may disagree, but I think that New Year’s Eve is perhaps one of the most overrated days of the year.

HOWEVER, I have always thought that New Year’s DAY was a day full of potential. Even if I didn’t have any resolutions, I always sort of thought of January 1st as a day of new beginnings.

This morning I woke up thinking “Happy New Year”! But, then I thought that God gives us this
sense of renewal EVERY DAY if we want it!

Because of the LORD’s
great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
~Lamentations 3:22-23

What amazing verses.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

Ode to Box Cake

2010-04-22T18:22:00.003+02:00

This past Saturday was Claire’s Birthday. Because it was vacation and everyone was gone we had a family birthday party. (Don’t worry we will have one with her friends soon.) So we have some box cakes that we needed to eat. You know the kind, Betty Crocker box cakes you can get at any grocery store in the States. They do not have those here. They have something like it but the taste really bad. So we used one of our box cakes for the family party. It was soooooo good. There are things that you know you miss when you live over seas and then there are the things that sneak up on you and you say “WOW! I forgot about this.” I will have to stop here and say that my wife is a top chef and has been able to make cakes from scratch that I would put up against anyone’s. But this is different. It is the taste and the texture that reminds you of home; back when you were a little kid. There is just something about that box mix that tastes different. This is not a plea to send more because goodness knows I do not need to eat any more cake. This is just a rambling thought from someone who does not get box cake very often.

New French Adventure

2010-04-08T15:54:00.005+02:00

I (Tiffany) have decided that I need to embark on a new French learning adventure.

Strangely enough, I have participated in several conversations recently where I did not have a CLUE what to say! The problem wasn't the French language... The problem was that everyone was quoting French philosophers in otherwise perfectly normal conversations! (I suppose that quoting philosophers IS perfectly normal here...)

So, instead of trying to translate what I know of French philosophy from English into French, I am going to start actually reading these guys in FRENCH! I came to the conclusion that it was necessary when I had no clue how to say Pascal's wager in French. I was afraid it would come out like someone trying to translate the old Patrick Henry quote, "Give me liberty or give me death." I would NOT think of Patrick Henry if a French friend were to talk about "that guy during the revolution that said he would prefer to die than to live a life without freedom under British rule."

So, I am starting the great French Philosophy adventure with Pascal's Pensees! We will see how long I last!

Baseball ??

2010-03-29T17:03:00.002+02:00

One of the funniest things happened the other day at the baseball game. If you listen closely you can hear circus music playing in the background.

It is the bottom of the fourth (there are only five innings) with two outs. There is a runner on first. The pitcher winds up for the pitch and begins his throw. The runner takes off. (Note: the pitcher is ALREADY throwing the ball so the runner is off to a late start.) The catcher gets the ball and makes his throw to Second. The ball bounces three feet in front of the bag and goes past the second baseman. Then the ball goes by the short stop who was covering the throw. Now the ball is somewhere in center field. The runner continues on his way to third. (He can do this because he had no intention of sliding and came into second base in a full upright position.) He gets to third and sees that the ball is just now getting to the shortstop, who is in shallow center field, so he heads to home. The shortstop throws it to the pitcher (because home was too far away) then the pitcher makes his throw to the catcher. The catcher catches the ball and makes a beautiful sweeping tag at home plate. He stands up with pride like a Cat who just caught a mouse and starts walking the ball to the Pitcher. While he is strutting away, the runner (who was five feet from home plate when the catcher made his sweeping tag) crosses the plate and the Ump calls him safe.

Here is a video that could have been made about our team!

Let it Snow!

2009-12-30T11:01:00.003+01:00

Since we are awaiting the arrival of Baby Boy Kilcoyne sometime within the next month, our holiday travel was greatly restricted. However, we WERE able to travel about 2 hours up the road from Marseille, and we found SNOW!

Here are some photos from our quick trip to the Alps.

Daniel had the hardest job!

Claire had it pretty easy!

Cheese!

The snow never stopped falling!

Frozen, but still having fun!

Christmas Dinner

2009-12-27T07:14:00.003+01:00

First of all, we need to apologize for the LONG break we have taken from doing this blog. It won't happen again. (Or, rather, we probably WILL take a long break again at some point, but I hope it won't be for months and months this time!)

Now, I have to talk about the amazing French meal we participated in on Christmas day. I say "participated in" because it was a lunch that lasted for about 5 hours! Thank you, Marjorie, for inviting us to spend a wonderful day with your family. It made it a little easier to be so far away from our own families on such a special holiday.

When we celebrate Thanksgiving here in France, we have to special order the turkeys in advance because turkeys are primarily for Christmas here. Well, we had an amazing, awesome turkey on Christmas. It was served with a type of stuffing that involved liver and nuts (sounds weird, but it was yummy). But, the turkey, potatoes, stuffing, green beans, etc. were the 2nd course!

The first course started with salmon mousse and foie gras (goose-liver pate). Once again, sounds very interesting, but was oh-so-good!

The third course was the cheese course. That was good, too!

Then, we had the traditional Christmas dessert. It is a bouche de Noel. It is like a Yule Log, but you eat it! So, just picture a long, skinny, fancy cake that is made to look like a log! We had a chocolate mousse and rasberry cake.

Here in the Provence region of France, there is another traditional dessert, so we had to eat that one, too! Actually, it is called the 13 Desserts, and if you eat all 13 of them, you are supposed to have good luck for the next year. The 13 Desserts is really just 13 smaller desserts that are served together (chocolate, special Christmas candies called Papillotes, nuts, dried fruit, etc.)

Well, I just wanted to share! Thanks for drooling-- I mean READING!

First Day of School!

2009-09-11T10:06:00.004+02:00

In France, most children start pre-school at the age of 3 years old, even though school is not mandatory until the age of 6.

Claire was no exception... she started school when she was still a baby in my eyes! But, now she is "all grown up" and in the equivalent of kindergarten. She loves it! We love the fact that she loves it!

These photos were all taken on her first day of "kindergarten"!

(Her Nana was here, so that made it extra special!)

They grow up so fast, don't they!?

Vacationing Close to Home

2009-08-28T10:39:00.007+02:00

We had a wonderful vacation in Bavaria, Germany with some good friends and their two beautiful little girls. (Those pics will be posted soon!)

However, when we returned to Marseille, we realized that everyone else was still on vacation! Most of our French friends get 4 to 6 weeks vacation (at least) every year.

So, we decided we would take a little vacation here in Marseille. We drove 5 minutes down the road from our apartment, and we experienced Marseille like tourists!

Enjoy the pics!

What day at the beach is complete without Italian ice cream??!!

Building sandcastles is hard work!

Beautiful Marseille!

Scared of Twilight??

2009-06-08T13:59:00.003+02:00

First of all, I have to admit that I have read all four books in the Twilight series. I usually like to read young adult literature in French (easy reading, but still good for vocab...blah, blah, blah), AND I was really curious about the big fuss being made over the books.

Last week I was reading an article in a French magazine about the release of the movie. (I was in a waiting room, so the magazines weren't exactly up-to-date!) The title was something like "Should We Be Scared of Twilight?" The article went on to say that the vampire themes were nothing that anyone should be concerned about.

What should we be scared of then?? According to this article, we should be scared of the fact that the books promote ABSTINENCE before marriage! Yep. The conclusion of the article states that Stephenie Meyer is a Mormon and she is trying to propagate her Mormon beliefs through her books. The fact that abstinence is a theme throughout the novels should frighten everyone! Once again, this is the view of the writer of the article. I am not typically scared of purity in the fiction that I read.

There are some things I will just never understand...

The Driving Test that Didn't Happen

2009-05-29T17:25:00.005+02:00

France is a developed nation. I realize that.

I love France. I remember that.

BUT... I can't help thinking, "WHAT IN THE WORLD??" when I have a day like today.

I have been preparing to take my driving test for my French driver's license since November. France and Texas do not have interchangeable licenses. So, after months of waiting, I was finally scheduled to take the driving part of the test.

There are 39 "inspectors" in Marseille who can give the driving test. Well, only one of them was working today, and he was NOT the one that was supposed to give the exam to me.

Can you belive that? Marseille is the second largest city in France! There are over 1.6 million people here! And, they had ONE (1, un, uno) inspector giving the driving exam today. Just ONE!

We waited and waited and waited and waited. Finally, we realized that the inspector scheduled for us wasn't coming.

So, I will get to take my driving test eventually. But, I am not sure I will ever understand how things work here.

Deep Thoughts and Cute Photos

2009-03-18T09:20:00.004+01:00

I am reading a book called Hearing God by Dallas Willard, and I finally get one little point that he makes in this sometimes-too-deep-for-me book. He says that with God, we attempt things that are impossible on our own. God allows us to "help" Him even when He could do it all by Himself so much faster and easier. But, He lets us take part in what He wants to accomplish in the world. It pleases God to partner with us.

God has to use visible, tangible, real-world examples to explain things to me. I only understand the "refiner's fire" because I watched my dad refine metals in our garage (long story). I understand the image of the vine and the branches and how the Gardener prunes the fruitful branches because I had a vineyard outside of my living room window for a year. And, I finally understand (in part) How God wants us to work with Him because I get to work with my little girl!

God's plans my be much bigger than making a really yummy chicken pot pie, but I still loved watching Claire attempt something with me that she could never dream to do on her own (at least not yet).

Nothing is impossible when we partner with God. And, He WANTS us to be his little helpers!

A Little Irony in France

2009-01-21T09:54:00.004+01:00

In 1860, Louis Pasteur discovered germs. He created the first vaccine for rabies and he invented “Pasteurization”. What an accomplishment for the French! Here is the ironic part of Pasteur’s discoveries.

The best cheeses are still not pasteurized here in France. (In America, all cheeses must be pasteurized or they cannot be sold to the public.) But, these cheeses with all the bacteria really do have more flavor.

Raw and undercooked meats are found in the best restaurants in France. Have you ever tried raw ham with butter?

And, the reason that I am writing this post…

Claire had to go to the restroom before we left school last week. I peeked around the corner while she was washing her hands. I looked just in time to see her take a drink out of a little blue cup in the restroom. Her response when I told her that we don’t drink out of cups in public restrooms? “That’s what the cup is for. All the kids drink out of it.”

Berk! (French for “yuck”!) Talk about germs!

I was so horrified I took a picture with my camera phone!

Change of Post

2009-01-13T14:08:00.002+01:00

I was going to post something silly about a challenging French language experience. I was going to attempt to write a halfway humourous post about life here in France. But, all I can think of right now are my friends Bryan and Olivia Brigham. They were almost able to adopt a baby girl 2 weeks ago, but she was taken back by the birth parents hours later. http://bryanbrigham.blogspot.com/

Spoiled in Marseille

2008-11-08T21:08:00.006+01:00

I used to laugh when I heard someone from Marseille talk about how "bad" the weather was just because of a few clouds in the sky... I used to think it was silly that I could talk to 10-20 different people at different times during a day and just have ONE conversation--- how horribly unlucky we were that the weather wasn't cooperating... I never understood why people felt like the weather was something that could make decisions and conspire against you...

And, then I went to Basel, Switzerland for a conference. I was so cold that I had to get a new scarf and gloves! It was cloudy most of the time, and it was drizzly. There was actual drizzle coming out of the sky and nobody else was using their umbrellas! Why? Because they thought that it wasn't really raining! What? There was water coming out of the sky... that's rain!

On one of the mostly cloudy, freezing cold days during my trip, people were talking about how "good" the weather was. That is when I realized that sunny Marseille has spoiled me!

Then, when I came back to should-be-sunny-all-of-the-time Marseille, it was raining! It rained for 2 weeks! I found myself complaining about the weather and acting as if it were conspiring against me...

SO, when it finally got sunny, Claire and I spent ALL DAY LONG at a big park in town. We had a picnic, she rode a pony, we played, and we talked about how great the weather was!

Enjoy the pics!

Photos (First Day of School: the Sequel)

2008-09-18T12:57:00.006+02:00

Claire started her second year of school a couple of weeks ago. She is having a wonderful time! She is playing with old friends and making new ones. Praise God, she is doing great!

Here are some pics of her first day of school, the second year:

A Tour of Scotland

2008-08-30T09:46:00.005+02:00

Earlier this month, we took a brief trip to Scotland. It was wonderful. There are so many things I want to share, but I am going to follow the lead of a friend of mine and tell the story through photos. A picture is worth a thousand words, right? So, enjoy 10,000 words or so on why Scotland was one of the best vacations ever!

We camped (IN A TENT!) across Scotland!

But, look where we were!

And look at the views!

The Highland Games were a highlight!

We looked for Nessie (on our boat tour of Loch Ness)

But we only found this:

The Castles were all beautiful!

But, our American food fix was almost as amazing!

Kilcoyne Family at Edinburgh Castle 2008!

Scotland, Here we Come!

2008-08-03T23:52:00.004+02:00

I love travel. I love discovering new places and things and meeting new people. HOWEVER, I really don’t like to spend too much money—ever. I prefer the word “frugal” to the word “cheap”.

Being frugal and seeing the world is easier than you might expect IF you plan ahead. We are leaving for Scotland tomorrow, and we have been planning this trip for quite some time.

I did some research and I looked up just about every battlefield that we might possibly cross on our whirlwind tour of Scotland. I tried to remember my college history classes and if Bannockburn was the deciding factor in 1715 or 1314; which Edward or Bruce did what and when, etc. I was a history major (and teacher)..

And, then it hit us. We had not yet made reservations anywhere. That is a key to traveling on a budget! So, we set ourselves to work. To make a long story a bit shorter, everyone in the world is descending on Scotland next week. The remaining available establishments (those that were not booked 7 months ago!) are out of the way or out of our price range. 250 pounds for one night is a bit much, don’t you think?

So, we will be camping across Scotland. I’m sure sleeping on a ridge that overlooks Loch Ness will be as wonderful as it sounds, but I am still kicking myself for waiting too long to find a place to stay!

Once again, Lost in Translation

2008-07-15T16:37:00.002+02:00

I went to the doctor recently, and I understood every word they said. However, I had no clue what they were trying to tell me! This happens more often that I would really care to admit. I understand the WORDS in a conversation, but the MEANING just escapes me. This situation happened again while we were visiting a cute little Mediterannean town with Daniel's family.

The sign on the restaurant said something like "small fried fish". We asked the waitress what it was, and her explanation made it sound like expensive fish nuggets for adults. This town was a tourist trap, but it still served "authentic" meals like small ocotpus, squid, fish pie, etc. So, fried fish sounded good.

A better translation would have been "small fried fish-es".

Claire asked why our fish had eyes. I think her grandparents and great-grandparents almost choked on their own little fish when she said that! But, being the good little French-ified American that she is, CLAIRE TRIED ONE! We were so proud! (She did, however, turn down a second fish.)

Documentary Contest

2008-07-03T00:06:00.001+02:00

We are now officially launching our documentary contest, "What Do You Believe"!!

For more information, go to www.143pelican.com

AND, we now have a short promo on youtube!

Little Yellow School Bus

2008-06-24T09:05:00.003+02:00

I miss little yellow school buses! Claire’s class took a field trip across town to watch a puppet show this last week. Marseille is the 2nd largest city in France, so it was quite a trip!

We took 24 four- and five-year olds on the metro here in Marseille. First, we walked a mile to get to the metro stop (so that we wouldn’t have to change trains). We had to spread out the kids among us, try to hold as many hands as possible, and walk beside the busiest and largest street in Marseille. Did you know that you can actually hold up to 6 little kids’s hands at the same time?? Then, we shoved all 24 kids on the train in the 13-20 seconds that the doors are open. Then, we had to shove all of them off again at our stop. (I think the conductor waited for us!)

After the teacher got finished arguing with the controllers about the price of the tickets for our kids, she asked me if it was like this in the States. All I could think of was a little yellow school bus that drops kids off right at the entrance to a museum or park.

We had a great time having our picnic, playing at the park and watching the puppet show.

On the way back, I was reminded once again that we now live in another world. All the kids drank from the same water bottle. Yuck! But, they were thirsty.

Vive la France.

Things CLaire has said...

2008-06-10T15:25:00.000+02:00

Kids really do say the funniest things.

Joy Ride:

Driving in Marseille is not an easy task. Dodging and swerving to avoid being hit is considered “good driving” (and, it is quite necessary, too)! It was a typical day and Daniel was trying to avoid the cars that were stopping (to park in the middle of our lane) in front of him. Claire was in the back seat. She suddenly said, “Daddy, I have an idea. Let’s name our car McQueen because he swerves around cars, too!”

Lost in translation:

Claire can understand French VERY well. It’s not fair, really. But, the other day, Claire’s teacher told her to “cut it out” in French. Apparently, Claire’s teacher made a gesture like swiping a finger across her neck. (Her teacher did this to her own neck, not to Claire’s neck!) This gesture was made in conjunction with the “cut it out” statement. Claire came home and told us that her teacher told her to stop doing something. She then said that her teacher was going to cut her head off! Oops.

Singer/Songwriter:

Have you ever heard the song “Bubbly” by Colbie Caillat? “It starts in my toes, then I crinkle my nose…” Well, Claire likes it when this song comes on the radio. However, she has her own version. “Touchin’ my toes, then I lean on my nose…” I think she has a chance at being a song writer!

2 Castles in 3 Days

2008-05-14T20:46:00.002+02:00

Claire waiting to enter the Fortress of Mornas

We really do "work" sometimes, but it is so much more fun to show you what we do in our "spare time". (Life does seem to run together sometimes. Sometimes work is fun, sometimes having fun is just exhausting...)

Last Friday, we went to Chateau d'If (the famous, real castle/prison from the fictional, made-up story "The Count of Monte Cristo). We had a great time!

Then, on Sunday, in order to celebrate Tiffany and Mentanna's birthday, we went to the Fortress of Mornas. It is about 1,000 years old!

Here are some pics from our Medieval Weekend:

Claire picking flowers outside of Chateau d'If

The Lighthouse at Chateau d'if

The Day didn't go as Daniel had planned

Les Calanques

2008-05-03T20:13:00.005+02:00

In the last post, we "vented" a little about life in the big city. (Marseille is the 2nd largest city in France.) Well, yesterday we were reminded how great Marseille can be.

We went hiking with some friends in "Les Calanques"-- the cliffs that line the Mediterranean Sea just outside of Marseille. It only took us about 15-20 minutes to drive out there. We took Claire, so the actual hiking part took about an hour. Another blessing we were reminded of yesterday--- Claire loves to hike! (And, she is pretty good at it, too!)

We hiked/walked out to a restaurant that is only accessible by foot or boat. There was a little beach (emphasis on the word "little"), so Claire got to play while we waited 3 hours to get seated! But, the weather was great and the food was good. (But, the water was pretty cold-- see pic of Claire.)

After eating lunch at about 4, we started off on the hour-long hike back to the car. Apparently EVERYONE went hiking that day because EVERYONE was on the road on the way back. Our 15-20 MINUTE trip there turned into a 2 1/2 HOUR trip back. We were quickly reminded that we do live in the 2nd largest city in France! (Look at the pretty flowers we took a picture of while waiting in traffic!)

Life in Europe

2008-04-28T21:40:00.004+02:00

Most of the time I absolutely LOVE living in Europe. Most of the time I feel at home here. Most of the time I enjoy the different pace of life and unique way of thinking.

Most of the time.

There are also those times where I think I am living on another planet and I want to scream the question, "WHY??? Why do you do that??"

We had a lovely trip to the small country of Andorra during Claire's Spring Break. The snow was beautiful and the weather was perfect for skiing. In fact, Daniel had planned to go skiing during our time there. Tiffany had even thought of putting Claire in the ski school and trying to ski, too! Katie and Courtney (our friends and teammates who went with us) brought snow boots and ski jackets..

BUT, ski season closed the day before we got there. It didn't matter that the snow was still powder-y perfect. In Andorra, ski season opens every year around the 1st of December (even though there usually is no snow) and it closes mid-April (even if the snow is abundant). No capitalism here!!!

We did, however, find a ski resort still open across the border in France (where the snow was melting). But, ski season was not supposed to end until the next week.

I also cannot understand WHY people choose to have a dog in a big city like Marseille and then they don't pick up after the dog's, ummm, "business". I think that every dog owner that leaves it's dog's poop on the ground should be forced to step in the mess and then walk through their own house! Get rid of the dog or get rid of the poop! Come on, people.

AND, I would really like to "key" all of the cars that completely block the sidewalk so I am forced to walk my child out into the busy street. (I have NOT done that... I just imagine how good it could feel...)

I also got pretty angry when some big girls at the playground picked Claire up and moved her so that they could act stupid and play like little kids. I did chew them out--- But, hey, at least I did it in French!

So... that is a small record of my culture stress right now. Don't worry. I won't try to change the economic mindset of any small countries, I won't force people to step in poop, I won't scratch any cars, and I won't gripe out any more children-- unless they touch my Claire!

And, it's not bad here. I still love it. Andorra really was BEAUTIFUL, and we did get to sled while there. And, I am VERY thankful that God has chosen to place us in Europe!

Baseball in Marseille

2008-04-07T09:23:00.004+02:00

Yesterday, Daniel officially played his first game with the Marseille baseball team. He hasn't played baseball or softball in quite a while, but here are some stats from yesterday's game...

Daniel hit 3 triples...

He was walked twice by the pitcher (after the triples)...

He was playing 3rd base--- twice in a row the ball was hit to him and he threw the runner out at 1st!

And, his batting average was between .600 and .700! Really, it was!

His team won both of the games in the "double header". The first game was 7 innings. The second game was 5 innings.

Go Meds!

Budapest

2008-03-26T20:59:00.005+01:00

I had wanted to travel to Budapest for about 5 years. Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a conference there, and I found myself feeling a bit nervous. What if it really wasn't as beautiful as everyone described? What if I was disappointed? What if I didn't really enjoy the trip?

Well, as you can see from these pictures, I had nothing to fear. Budapest was a cute little Eastern (or Central?) European city during the day. And, at night... Well, at night it was just spectacular!

I am so thankful I was able to FINALLY get to this beautiful city! I am also thankful that I didn't drop and partially break my camera until after I arrived safely home.

Why??

2008-03-05T21:31:00.000+01:00

Why?

Sometimes, I think there is a little bit of a two-year old (or three-year old) in all of us. We all want to ask, “Why, why, why, why, why??” even when there are really no answers to our questions. So, here are my questions that probably have no answers. But, I ask myself anyway…

Why does Marseille have a baseball team and no baseball field?

Why does the French government make the paperwork to live here so hard that it is impossible to do everything the way they tell you it must be done?

Why do most French people know more about the American primaries and election process than most Americans?

Why is good Tex-Mex so hard to find?
Why is homemade salsa so much better?
Why do Haas avocadoes taste so much better than other avocadoes?

Why do people go on American Idol-type shows when they sing worse than me???

Why do people who live in apartment buildings in big cities have big dogs like Saint Bernards??
Why don’t people clean up after their own dogs when they do their “business” on the sidewalk?

Why do the home improvement stores in the middle of Marseille sell lawnmowers?

Why do I cry at sappy commercials and tv shows?

Thoughts

2008-02-19T10:57:00.001+01:00

I have a lot of deep, blog-worthy things to say, and then I forget them all before I get to a computer!

We have been waiting for our container (crate) from the States; in the meantime we have been filling our apartment with a lot of stuff from Ikea!

You know you have been to Ikea too many times when your three-year old prays like this:

"Dear Jesus, thank you for Daddy and Mommy and my friends and our 'par'ment and all of our furniture."

Pictures of our new sofa coming soon!

Greetings from Marseille

2008-01-01T18:24:00.000+01:00

Happy New Year! Bonne Année! We are now in our own apartment in Marseille. We just thought we would share a few of the most common conversations/questions around our home these days:

CLAIRE: Is this our home? Are we staying here for a WHILE? And, then, someone else will live here? Are we coming back here? Is our crate here? Our crate is coming!

DANIEL: Where is that thing? You know, the thing we put in the box with the other thing. Have you seen those nuts and bolts that go with this thing?

TIFFANY: This place is a mess! I can’t wait ‘til we have a couch, and a rug, and a dining room table and a desk and a bed…

Here are the only pics we can really show you of our new place. (It’s really a mess here!)

Newsletter Post (and Praise!)

2007-12-17T22:25:00.000+01:00

Thank you so very much for your prayers. We truly felt them. Here it the update on the apartment. On Monday we were told that the owners needed more information about us and our company. On Tuesday the realtor said it was looking better in our favor. On Wednesday night we received a phone call from the realtor saying that the owners had agreed to rent to us. Then on Thursday (when we were to start our Final exams) the realtor said we needed to come down and sign the contract as soon as possible. So we left on Thursday afternoon for Marseille. We were then told we could sign the contracts on Friday morning. (Are you tired yet?) So, on Friday morning we signed the contract and came home that afternoon. THEN Saturday morning we took our “fourth” exam having missed the first three on Thursday and Friday. Now, we are getting ready to take 5 exams tomorrow, so we’ll have to cut post short.

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland

2007-11-19T20:46:00.000+01:00

We live in a winter wonderland!

These pics were taken about 5-10 minutes from our apartment.

It is so beautiful here! We are so blessed.

Culture Shock

2007-11-14T15:22:00.000+01:00

I am not currently in culture shock, however I was shocked by something I learned in class yesterday.

In America, I have heard the expression, "The Good is the enemy of the Best." I took this to mean that we should not be satisfied when something is just "good".

Yesterday I learned that the French have a similar expression. "The Best is the enemy of the Good." This means that if something is good, we should leave it alone. You can completely destroy something good if you mess with it just in order to make it better.

Wow! That explains a lot about the differences in our 2 cultures.

Please do not take this post as a judgment of any kind. It's just an observation!

Writers' Strike

2007-11-11T19:27:00.000+01:00

To All my TV Watching and Downloading Friends...

What some writers said about the WGA strike on http://unitedhollywood.blogspot. com/...

"So how do we get our point across, to people who don’t understand why we’re doing this? The best way I have found, is to say: everything on the internet? We get zero. They get everything. They get millions and millions and eventually billions and billions, and we get zero. And the “they,” here, is basically six of the biggest baddest companies in the world, run by men who annually receive salaries and compensation well north of 50 million dollars."

And from Creative Screenwriting e-zine...

I'll give you an example [of why they are striking]-- the series Heroes," said Bernard Lechowick. "The writers and creators of Heroes earn nothing in reruns," he said. "Nothing. Because there are no reruns on television. They're all online, and in the past year tens of millions of people viewed the show in reruns online, and each of those tens of millions of viewings had paid advertisement on it. And the writers earned nothing from that. Not a penny."

"DVDs seem to bethe new residuals," says television writer David Graziano. "Things aren't airing on TV anymore. They're either on the internet or they're being released on DVD." But with the contract agreement reached in 1988 setting rates at a mere four cents per DVD..."

So, these are just some of the things we need to keep in mind when Heroes runs its season finale December 3rd. And, in 4-6 weeks there will be no new episodes (this season) from Desperate Housewives, the Office, or most other shows that are not reality TV based. The writers (in my opinion) have good reasons for striking.

youtube video from the staff of The Office

http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=b6hqP0c0_gw

A 3-bedroom in Marseille?

2007-11-05T19:19:00.000+01:00

Check out this apartment! Lord willing (and the owner waits for us to get all the money and paperwork finalized) this will be our home in Marseille! Thank you for your prayers.

Please keep praying!

Mentanna found it a week ago. Here are some pics:

Here's the link:

http://www.seloger.com/192686/30803267/detail.htm

Question

2007-10-31T17:01:00.000+01:00

Suddenly, I have a lot to blog about! Here's the first thing. This is more of a question than a blog, but I would really appreciate your responses. I could write pages on the background of this question and why it is driving me crazy, but I will try to limit the story to a few lines.

I believe in the power of prayer. (For my friends who follow other teachings or no teachings, please hang in there with me, this question is for you, too.) Recently, I prayed and prayed for what I THOUGHT was the best solution to a big problem, but God had other plans. He said, "No." But yet, I still have faith and I still have hope.

Paul encourages us in the New Testament to “always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that you have in you.” Why do I have this hope? I KNOW I DO have this incredible hope, a peace that is beyond my understanding, and a faith that I can rely on. But, WHY do I have this hope? If sometimes the answer is, “No,” why do I continue to “know” that everything will be okay?

So, here is the question. Actually, here are the questions (plural):

Christians: Why do you have the “hope” in you?
Friends of Other Faiths: Why might the “hope” seem crazy to you?

Thanks.

Hello Again!

2007-10-24T16:24:00.000+02:00

We are now determined (once again) to update our blog regularly (once again).

Here's our problem:

When we have a lot to say, there is no time to post!

When we have time to post, there is not much to say!

But, we know that we love reading other people's blogs and newsletters (even if it takes us a while to comment), so we are going to try (once again) to let you know how things are going over here. (We're still in France in case you haven't heard from us in a REALLY long time!)

So, Claire is only 3, but she started school. They start official preschool between 2 1/2 and 4 here. It is not mandatory, but it seems as if "all the kids are doing it". She loves it! Her teacher says she is speaking French, and she is doing well. (Except she rarely takes naps.)

So, here are a few pictures from her first day of school!

(And, no... her parents did not cry!)

From Claire's Camera

2007-08-20T14:39:00.000+02:00

As requested here are some pictures by Claire

Claire By Claire

Mommyand Daddy by Claire

The Phone by Claire

Ode to a Peaceful waterfront by Claire

Daniel's B-day

2007-08-18T11:18:00.000+02:00

Chateau Chillon

Well another year has gone by and it is Daniel’s b-day again. Well this year, since there was no one in Albertville, we went to Geneva. We visited Chateau Chillon which is on the other side of the lake from Geneva. This is a really cool Chateau. We also went to the Nestle Chocolate factory. This was probably the highlight of the trip. During the tour there is a room were you can sample all the different types of chocolate they make. We also had Burger King and Domino’s pizza. Isn’t it funny that we go to a different country and eat American food? Here are some pictures of our trip.

Daniel on the Pot

The Great hall of Chocolate

It's Summer... Anybody out there??

2007-08-04T18:54:00.001+02:00

I wanted to say something profound or thought-provoking or even interesting, but I cannot think of anything to say. You see, we are "on vacation" from language school which means that we find other ways outside of school to study and speak French. Therefore, our minds are tired. I cannot think in French or English sometimes! Did you know that simply watching a 45 minute TV show (in French) can be one of the most exhausting language exercises???

That being said, I just wanted to say SOMETHING, ANYTHING. It is summer and there is not much going on here, so I really wanted to reach out and communicate with SOMEONE! Please communicate with us.

Let's see what we have done that is worthy of showing a picture... I don't suppose you want to see a picture of our tutor, Bernard? Would you like to see a link to the new Grammar books we want to purchase? What about a clip from the tv show Numb3rs in French?? No? Really?

I have a picture of our overly ambitious attempt to climb a mountain... with Claire. Or you can see a picture of Claire playing at a beach on a lake. How about Claire watching the Tour de France? It came through Albertville (before the leader got stripped of the yellow jersey for doping).

I'll post some pics anyway. We hope all is going well for everyone out there. Here's a question... Why does France close during the summer?

The Tour de France (yellow jersey guy after the riders in pink)

Claire at the Lake Beach

A Picture of Claire Taking a Picture

The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock

2007-07-11T15:16:00.000+02:00

Do you remember the kids’ song about the wise man who built his house upon the rock? Well, they sing that song in France, too, but they add a verse. It translates something like this, “Friend, have your house built upon the rock… The wind will come and the rain will fall, but the house will resist.” Well, here is Claire’s version. (She sings this in French.) “Friend, build your house upon the fool… Friend, build your house upon the fool…”

Ramblings

2007-06-14T17:18:00.000+02:00

Anniversary

Today is our 10-year anniversary!! Yeah! And, to celebrate the decade we have been married, we started our final exams for this trimester. Yeah! It was so romantic... We sat next to each other and took a test. Can you believe it has been 10 years??!!

Claire Stuff

I was singing a song to Claire the other day, and I could not think of all of the words. So, I sang,
"Doo, Doo, Doo, Do, DO." Claire said, "Can you sing, 'I don't know the rest of the words?'"

Claire said, "How you doin'?"

Claire asked for dessert. I told her we had to eat dinner first. She said, "But we ate just yesterday."

Other Stuff

It snowed here in the mountains in June! BUT, now it is getting hot. Weather is such an interesting thing in any language.

Let us know how you are! We're off to study!!

Cannes

2007-05-21T20:38:00.000+02:00

Ahh, springtime in France!

I (Tiffany) just wanted to upload a few pics from the Cannes Film Festival (in Cannes, France). I was able to go with Mentanna to this year's festival. The short film we produced in Austin was shown in the Short Film Corner portion of the festival.

The few days we spent there were wonderful and overwhelming. That is a place for real film people! We were able to attend a premiere of a new film starring Juliette Binoche. We also saw Jude Law and Norah Jones walk the red carpet.

I'm sure I will post more on this subject later. Enjoy the pics, and please leave a comment!

Daniel and Claire were able to be there one day. If you look closely, you can see them on the merry-go-round!

Survey

2007-05-07T20:52:00.000+02:00

I am taking a poll. Everyone keeps asking us what people in America think about the French elections. That's a little hard to answer since we are here. So, I am asking you! Please comment!

Do you think about the French elections at all?

Have the elections been on the news? in the papers?

Had you ever heard of Sarkozy BEFORE Sunday, May 6th?

Did you ever hear of Royal, the lady running against Sarkozy?

What do you think of the outcome of the elections? (Sarkozy won with 53% of the vote.)

Thanks for your input!

Illustration

2007-04-04T21:26:00.000+02:00

We were sitting in church on Sunday, and the pastor was giving his message in French. AND, guess what!? We understood it!!

I had never heard this illustration before…

There was a man who was very sick. The doctor gave him 6 more months to live. One of his friends came to talk to him; his friend told him about this wonderful medicine that would cure his disease. This friend said that 10 years earlier, he had actually suffered from the same disease. He took this medicine, and it worked!! The man did not want to listen to his friend. He knew that the end was coming, and he had come to accept that fact.

A little while later, another friend came to the man. He said that 5 years earlier, he had suffered from the same fatal disease. The man’s friend told him about the wonderful medication that had saved his life. However, the man did not want to listen to his friend.

One of the man’s friends went out and bought the medicine. His friend went to the man’s house and set the medicine on the table in front of the man. His friend told him to take the medicine. He said that the man simply had to take the medicine and he would be cured! The man got very angry. He picked up the medicine and threw it against the wall.

The man is no longer going to die because of his disease. He is going to die because he refused to take the medicine.

Festival of ONE Ballon

2007-03-21T19:09:00.000+01:00

If you read our last update, you know that we recently went to a balloon festival, and there was ONE balloon. We thought our school director said (in French) that the balloons would be there from the morning until the evening. He actually said that the balloons would be there IN the morning and IN the evening. Oh, well! We went up in a balloon (only about 50 meters, but it was fun)!

Throw Pillows

2007-03-11T17:37:00.000+01:00

Some of our friends mentioned the fact that we have not updated our blog in a while. Well, obviously this is true. Honestly, there is just not a lot to say about language school. We are really enjoying school, we are learning a lot, and we are able to communicate in French much better now. (I have even started using pronouns!)

This past month has been fun. For the first time ever we picked out a sofa (okay, it’s a futon) and a chair. We were able to pick out our own throw pillows. That was very exciting for us. You would think that at our age we would have picked out many home items, but this was a first for us!

It is funny how happy little things make us. My throw pillows make me happy.

Where we Are... Where we are Going...

2007-02-14T09:21:00.000+01:00

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

We just wanted to share some pictures with you.

We are studying French in Albertville. They had the Olympics here in 1992.

Here is a picture of the little vineyard across the street from our apartment. There are too many clouds in these pictures to see much of the mountains, but they are there and they are tall!

This was taken out our front window:

This was taken out our back window:

This is near the "Old Port" in Marseille. If you look closely you can see the Chateau d'If (or Chateau beef as Claire calls it). Lord willing, we will be in Marseille by next year!

Here are some pretty boats at the "Old Port" in Marseille:

Grandparents are Grandparents...

2007-02-09T16:02:00.000+01:00

It is incredible how no matter where you are grandparents are the same. We have several “experienced” people living in our apartment building. The other day we met one of them for the first time, and Claire just looked at her and said “Bonjour” and the lady just melted. The old French lady could not resist touching Claire’s cheek and saying how sweet Claire was. This opened up a long conversation between Tiffany and our neighbor. (Daniel was there but his part was not that long). Our neighbor could not stop smiling at Claire who was fidgeting and ready to go. On another day we met our neighbor that lives across the hall and he is about 84 years old. When Claire said “Bonjour” to him he melted as well. As we were leaving Claire asked if that was someone else’s “Papa” (Claire’s Great-Granddad.) We said yes he was.
This little story is to, one, talk about Claire but to also remind us that we are all the same no matter where we go. Grandparents are Grandparents all over the world. And a 2-year- old’s smile can always melt the heart of any Grandparent no matter what the nationality.

Getting Here...

2007-01-25T11:43:00.000+01:00

Okay... so this story is from a few weeks ago, but it contains a big praise!

Well we have made it to France. God has already been good to us during our travels. We went to the airport about four hours early to check-in our 11 bags of luggage. Yes that is what I said 11 bags. It may seem like a lot but try to imagine your whole life for a year in 11 bags. They fill up very quickly! The board only pays for 4 extra bags and we had five. We had resigned ourselves to pay for the extra bag even though we were not happy about it. Well, we got to the airport (four hours early) and checked in. Even though our bags were a bit over the weight limit the lady let them though. Then after all the bags had been weighed and tagged she said, You have five extra bags but I will only charge you for four of them. Man was that a relief, Daniel tried to hold his excitement in and just say thank you, it was difficult.

Our precious Claire enjoyed the plane ride so much she did not sleep for the whole nine hour flight. Actually, you know how kids since when you are almost to your destination so they choose that moment to fall asleep. That is what Claire did. We were about 2 and 1/2 hours from Germany and she decided to fall asleep. They turned the lights on at 2 hours and began to serve breakfast. OH the joys of toddlerdom.

Four Seasons?

2006-11-30T21:39:00.000+01:00

We have been traveling again. We were able to spend time with Daniel's family during the Thanksgiving week.

While returning to Fort Worth, we made a stop in East Texas. I had to take a picture of what I think was a FALL day!

See, Deanna, we have trees that change colors, too!

Then, much to our surprise, we experienced something else. Today, while we were baking "monkey bread" with Claire, and watching "Cars", another season arrived in Fort Worth. I think it is called WINTER.

This is our front yard. In the background you can see the church that is allowing us to stay in their mission house.

I hope that everyone is doing well and staying warm. Let us hear from you.

Sorry

2006-11-16T21:42:00.000+01:00

We need to apologize to everyone (especially Shelley, Jeremy, Patti, Rachel, Sarah...).

We have arrived in Fort Worth. We have been here for a little more than a week. Actually, we went to Houston for a few days to turn in our visa applications.

So, here is our apology. We are sorry. Please forgive us. Please get together with us.

We'll be posting more soon!

2006-10-05T03:16:00.000+02:00

I haven't posted in a while for a couple of reasons. I guess the first reason is that when people don't comment, I think no one is reading. Then, I think of all the posts I read without ever leaving a comment... The second reason is that I feel pressured to say something clever every time I post.

That being said, I just wanted to say that we were at the UT game this last week. (For Deanna, UT in this case is THE University of TEXAS.) Wow! What a game! We won 56-3, but it was still great to be there with my family and friends.

Here's a pic of our little cheerleader...

Here We Go Again...

2006-09-08T00:02:00.000+02:00

We are leaving tonight to go pick up Grandma! We will then head out to South Carolina for Commissioning! Yeah! As of September 13th, we should be officially hired/appointed/commissioned by the International Mission Board.

Please pray for us as we drive halfway across the country with our 2-year old. Please also pray for us as we take another major step toward a career in France!

We love you! If you are located east of Texas somewhere along I-20 or if you live near SC, let us know!!!

Women's Lib

2006-08-11T23:13:00.000+02:00

There is a quote from the movie The Rookie that goes something like this:
“I’m a Texas woman. I don’t need a man…”

I suppose a sort of independence and you-can-do-whatever-the boys-can-do attitude is taught to Texas women from birth. My little girl plays with cars and boats as much as she plays with dolls. Here, women governors are not abnormal, and a girl can have a Harley if she wants one. But, deep down, there are those times when all of the self-reliance and feminism just conveniently disappear, and we can be “damsels” for the moment.

It was (still is) over 100 degrees today. I was on a busy highway. Claire and I had just left a birthday party. (Happy Birthday, Tessa!) Our tire exploded! Praise God, we did not lose control of the car; we simply pulled over to the shoulder while I was thinking, “I think we have a flat tire.”

I couldn’t get the hubcap off. The part of the jack that gives you leverage and makes things easier was missing. The tire was smoking. The road was busy.

Self-Determination flew away as my knight pulled up in the big white air conditioner repair van.

“You need help?”
My thoughts: “No, I can do it.”
My response: “yes.”

It made me feel a little better that the big, strong air-conditioner repairman had to stand (and jump a little) on the tire iron to get the bolts to budge. I probably could not have moved them.

"I Love You" in French

2006-08-09T20:52:00.000+02:00

If you haven't heard, it looks as if we are going back to France!

I'm sure I will be writing a lot on the subject between now and the end of December, but I wanted to share a short little story.

We are trying to teach Claire some basic French words and phrases. Yes, she is only two, but she can handle it! She is quite the talker--probably because she practices all the time. She even talks in her sleep!

We were practicing, and I asked her, "Claire, do you know how to say, 'I love you' in French?"
She answered, "Yes!"
"You do? Can you say, 'I love you' in French?"
The response--"I lav you in Fench!"

This continued with "Hello in Fench", "Goodbye in Fench", etc., etc.!

I think it really started to hit me that we are going to be starting over again when Claire started saying, "I go Fance!" She even said, "I go Fance now." I guess the transistion time isn't easy even if you're two!

Please continue to pray for us!

Here is a picture of us from my family reunion last weekend.

Here We Are...

2006-07-28T14:38:00.000+02:00

We have tried several times to make a new blog! Here it is! We will try to update often--as soon as we figure out this new site.