Packed & Ready

I’m heading back to Paris!

I can finally say I’m going back – to Paris, to my apartment, to my cat, and of course to the fiancé I left behind for nearly 3 months to wallow through the winter without me.

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For the entire time I’ve been home, there has been some measure of uncertainty. Not knowing when I could go back, not knowing if my paperwork was going through, not being able to tell anyone at work I was planning on going back… It has been exhausting. When the pieces finally all fell into place and I not only had solid plans but could share them? That was a big day. And once I was able to tell my team and give my notice a huge weight was lifted and I finally felt like I could enjoy this a little. Not that quitting my job didn’t come with its own set of stressors, but I wasn’t keeping secrets anymore and that was a relief.

Speaking of paperwork, I can also finally celebrate all of it going through! We got our marriage stuff in order… I got my visa application in order and received it… all that’s left is to get on a plane and go to the city hall!

Oh the stories I could tell of the highs and lows of international paperwork. And, believe me, I will certainly tell it all in good time. I just couldn’t bring myself to write about “How To Apply for a Visa” or “How to get married in France” in confident detail until I had the papers securely in hand myself. I was pretty sure that as soon as I wrote about it, something else would go haywire and the whole post would be a lie. So stay tuned for tales of visas and consulates and Paris Mairies in the near future.

After all, I’m soon to be unemployed in Paris. It seems only right that I should spend my days writing my life story in a cafe somewhere!

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But for now, my flight leaves tonight. I’ve got my parents packed and ready to come with me, and I’m getting married on Monday! It has been a wild ride these past few months, full of lots of unknowns and confusion (and joys and excitement), and I’m happy to say it’s all coming to a happy close this very week.

A bientôt, Paris!