gotta start somewhere...

for the holidays, xavi and i were able to fly back to france to visit his family and friends for two weeks. it was a really great time apart from me being sick in bed for 3 whole days. i had off and on fevers and a very persistent ear infection. its good to be well again. it was tough being so sick in a different language and country from my own. we were able to spend a weekend in paris visiting our good friends that live there. it was pretty great to visit paris again. i love it there, and was so glad we were going to get to see some of the city during our trip.. the rest of the trip we spent in the west of france. much of the time we were in Angers, xavi's home town. we got to spend 2 days in Rennes, and new years eve we spent with good friends in St. Malo, in the normandy region.

it was tough saying goodbye when our last day arrived. we're still crossing our fingers that we miiight be able to return before the summer this year. there are some special anniversaries going on this year, and it would mean so much to xavi to be there to celebrate with everyone. i know i'd love to return just to be there period, but depending on fares, it may be a solo trip for xavi. we'll see...

we flew back to the states, arriving in dallas a few days into the new year. xavi and i parted ways in the dallas airport - he caught his flight to orange county, i caught my flight to austin. my trip was pretty much over once we landed in dallas. the man though still had a 3 hr flight to OC. damn that was a harsh trip for him. i knew he was exhausted cos none of his text messages made any sense.. :/ poor guy.

this year, xavi and i agreed that we needed to live in the same state (and city) this year! our parents encouraged this too over the holidays (quite often really). so on our flight back, we tossed up some ideas, .. xavi said he'd look for work here in austin toward the fall months, and i said i'd keep an open mind and look for work there in cali (knowing well i was going to do my best ot stay in austin). together, we hadn't planned for me to move to california toute suite (right away), so the decision was a bit spontaneous on my part.

i had talked to a few friends of my parents about our life living apart. i muted all my usual reasons and defenses, and just listened to their comments and concerns on the matter. normally i had a mouthful of reasons why i had decided to stay in austin. the main reason: i wasn't ready to start over again so soon after finding my niche. i was comfortable here. friendships were developped and strong. family was here. i liked my job. i dont know how, or even why i decided it was time to move there, but the decision goes against every reason i gave for staying put. the way the decision came to me was as common and simple as a kitchen timer going off to tell me the casserole was done cooking. i got up and knew it was time to leave austin and move to cali. i phoned xavi and ran the thought by him. the rest is happening as the days go on.. (oh, and i should add that i was missing xavi terribly around the time i had this kitchen timer-like revelation..). ;)

i think sometime in march we'll be hitting the road w/ our uhaul in tow..

a few greats of the month so far:
-everything working out for me to leave my job
-seeing the obama's inauguration last week was HUGE! im phyced to go there this weekend.
-as said above: i'm going to DC this weekend. i'll be seeing a good friend i lost contact with quite some time ago. her name is eva. i met her on the first day of school at ISS in norway. we were starting 7th grade. she and i were close friends all the way through 10th grade. i dont really know what to expect for this weekend though. i imagine it'll be like old times..

---kiki