"Excuse me, Captain. Haven't we forgotten to thank the Lord?"

Well, I couldn't be happier.

I am at this very moment listening to "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby. Love it. Nothing better :). Happy Holidays everyone! Oh, I just LOVE Christmas time!

A sweet hello from my good friends, Amelia and Guillaume. Heehee. (You should have seen her carrying him like a baby. She looked like her head was going to explode, but she did it!)

Alright, let's get on with it! So, on Tuesday at Piano Lessons, Celine invited me to go see the Opera that is playing. She plays in the Orchestra so she got 3 free tickets. Her husband and her mom were also going. Well, of course I went! The opera was called "l'Ecole des femmes." It was originally a story written by Molière, an old French writer. Well, they turned it into an Opera and it is in German, funny enough. Well, after seeing how gross Carmen turned out to be, I was a little wary to go see this one. I am so glad I went. It was a really cute one. I actually understood most of it (with French Subtitles of course) which was awesome. I liked it. It was so nice of them to invite me. Did not expect that. They are so cool.

These pictures are from that night.

I know I already put up a picture of this last time, but.... I just think it is lovely.

The Grand Theatre.

The super nice, expensive hotel across the street that only rich people can enter.

Well, now for Tursday. This is how excited I was to cook Thanksgiving Dinner. Believe it.

Well, I woke up at 8:30 (that is kind of a big deal. I usually never wake up before 9:30.) and started cooking. I just got right to it. Amelia had her Cello Lesson so she was gone until 5:00, which meant that I had to get it all done before 7:00. If everything had gone right, I would have :). So this is me peeling potatoes in my apron. Heehee. I just made a nice big pot of them (for mashed potatoes, of course.)

Well, Amelia and I have been searching and searching for pumpkin pie filling. None. Not even mashed canned pumpkin or anything. Then we started looking for just a pumpkin. Nothing. So, in the end, we were so desperate that we bought some sort of squash thing that resembled a pumpkin. Well, we got SUPER lucky because as it turns out, it was pretty much the exact same as a pumpkin only sweeter. Perfect for Pumpkin Pie! Well, so I looked up how to make Pumpking Puree and then how to make a pie. Well, I did it. I made a real deal homemade pumpkin pie.

Voila. Sadly, there is no picture of it after it was cooked. You will hear about that later though....

I am sorry Mom. You have taught me better than this. They just already had this and it was so easy!

Rolls! Yes, I even made rolls. I would have made Grandma's rolls had I known the night before that I had to make them. Oh well. They were ok.....

Well, Guillaume came over at about 4:30 to help. The pie had been in the oven FOREVER and it wasn't really cooking. Well, as I turned on the potatoes I realized that the fire was pretty small. Well, after mentioning it to Guillaume, he told me that the gas was running out.... are you kidding me?! So, we just sat and waited for Amelia because we didn't know what to do. I still had everything to cook! Well, by some miracle her dad had bought another gas tank! Well, it took us a while to figure out how to hook it in, but eventually Amelia figured it out. Yes! So, I sent Amelia and Guillaume to get the "Turkey" (actually just a Chicken. Turkey was so expensive!) and I was finishing the Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Pie and Rolls. Well, we ended up leaving for Damien's house 45 minutes later than we were supposed to. Also, we couldn't find a parking spot very close to his house, so we had to carry all the food over. Well, this was the worst moment of my life.... We had to stack things up obviously in order to carry it all. Well.... I was carrying the pumpkin pie (along with other things) and..... it fell! It broke all over the sidewalk! My heart just sank! I can't even tell you..... That pretty much ruined my whole night. That was the thing I was most looking forward to! And it turned out so good too! Oh.... I really was so sad. I was trying not to be but that is just how it was. It was funny, at one point it must have been completely obvious because Guillaume came and gave me a hug and told me that it would be ok. Also, Amelia was trying to make me feel better afterwards and was telling me we could just make another one and it would be just fine! Heehee. I felt like a dumb little kid. Oh well..... that's the story.

This is Amelia pretending that the pumpkin pie is her puke. It looks pretty real, huh?

Ok, so this is the party. There was Damien, Amelia, Guillaume, Me, Corentin, Lauri (Alban's fiancee) and Alban came later.

I told him he could cut the Turkey because he was the oldest.

It was pretty good I guess. It felt nice to have a meal somewhat like I have at home. Not even half as good, but.... it was similar. I did my best....

Well, this was afterwards. Everyone was just laying all over everything and everyone. That is just how Thanksgiving it :). I am glad it wasn't any different here :).

Alban came later.

Well, these are the lame replacements for the Pumpkin Pie that we had to go buy. Amelia, Corentin and I went and got them from Auchan. They are some sort of tart. I guess it is similar to a pie and they were pretty good. Just not Pumpkin Pie.... on Thanksgiving.

Well, in all it was a good day. A good Thanksgiving. Even though I don't sound like it was so happy and nice it was. I am not that picked on and I have a pretty great life :). I am very thankful.

This Morning we got up early and went over to Guillaume's to eat some of the leftovers for Breakfast. We had Hot Chocolate with Whipped Cream ("Chocolat viennois") and it reminded me of Christmas for some reason :). Delicious. I just LOVE Christmas!

Ok, well Amelia and I are going to watch some of The Cosby Show. Please just listen to lots of Christmas music.

"You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down."

coo coo.

You will notice that there aren't many pictures, again. You are right. My camera just started working so hopefully there will be more in the future. There are only a couple weeks left though.... :(.

Well, I am just going to jabber. I will start with Thursday night and go until the end. Once upon a time.....

Guillaume was going home. As he was leaving us with his "when you're in doubt..." thought of the day, he opened the door and this very loud singing drowned out everything . Our neighbor apparently had a lot of drunken girls over (and if they weren't drunk.... I won't even tell you my feelings towards them.) Well.... they were going on for an hour at least. I could hear them as I was falling asleep. Hilarious. I think drunk people are hilarious. You definitely see a lot of them here....
I went to the church to practice on Friday. I had been practicing for about 10 minutes when Alban and Corentin walk in. Dang it. They were painting sets for some Christmas Play or something that is coming up. Well, they told me I could keep playing and ignore them. I did for a while. When I couldn't anymore, I asked if I could help. Well, needless to say it was a party. Corentin and I were painting grass one one of the backgrounds. It was pathetic really. We didn't have enough yellow to mix with the blue so it was pretty blue for a while. Then we found some green. So... it was just rainbow grass really. It looked pretty awful but it was fun. The best part of the whole thing was when they had a shoe fight. It was ridiculous. I thought I was babysitting for a minute :). They just became little boys again or something. It was so funny :). It went on for a while but stopped after a flying shoe hit a bowl of paint and spilled all over the floor :). heehee. Don't worry. We cleaned it up. So yeah..... that was a good day. I only practiced for about 30 minutes but.... it was worth it.
Saturday morning I tasted a real deal french Croissant. They are much better than the Kohlers ones. Believe it. It was delicious. Amelia just went and bought a baguette AND croissants. What could be better?! Nothing..... She is just the best ever.
Saturday night we went over to Marc's house to have a party. We just sat around and talked (listened in my case) and ate food and drank hot chocolate. There was Jonathon, Marc, Solene, her friend, Amelia, Alban, his fiancé, and Corentin. It was fun. Jonathon was the comedian apparently. He reminds me of my uncle Seth. Everyone was just waiting around for him to say something funny :). Heehee.....
On Sunday after church I went over to Adaline's house. I hadn't been for a while so I promised Adaline I would that day :). Well, Olivier (her uncle) made us dinner. He made a delicious tart that was so good! It had eggs, cheese, bacon, onions, and zucchini. It was so good. Better than what I would have had at home, that is for sure. Amelia and I are running super low on food. We have been eating a large selection of noodles, brussels sprouts, hamburgers, and fish sticks for the past week. That is all we have left. We may go shopping tonight. We may not. Yesterday, we had plain noodles with brussle sprouts for lunch. It ended up with us having to pretend they were Krispy Kreme donuts to be able to eat them. We made some odd mixtures of noodles with ketchup and lemonaid with cherry syrup (cherry lemon donut...?), or noodles with steak, mayonnaise, and lemonaid (chocolate covered creme filled. My favorite). It was just absolutely ridiculous. It is getting bad.....
Well, Sunday night after we had dinner and sat and talked for a while, we went over to Guillaume's house. We drank carro, talked and watched The Prince of Egypt (because it was Sunday after all). It was great. Also, Guillaume showed us this video. Hilarious! Please watch it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hElms3Jk1Ls

This picture did not work like it should have. I was attemption to take a picture of the moon because it was so awesome. You can still see it but it just looks like another light. Just believe me when I say it was so awesome.

Christmas lights! They have just started to put them up :). These are the first ones I have seen. It is also a bad picture but... you get the idea. There you go :).

Well, these little darlings are Canelés. They are a Bordeaux specialty apparently. Damien bought me a bunch of them. What the....??....... that was nice. They are very different but I think they are delicious. Also, I think they are cute.

Today way my piano lesson. Amelia and I went to the church this morning and I practiced until 3:00 because I really hadn't practiced except for that 30 minutes on Friday. Every time I had gone to practice, the rooms were full, or no one was there, etc. So, I practiced extra today. Well, I still failed completely at my lesson. Oh well. I will amaze her next week, I'm sure!

Also, Guillaume has been having me help him with pronounciation. He has an audition. He won't tell Amelia and I what exactly he is auditioning for but... I pretty much know. We were doing the woman at the well story. He was doing Jesus' lines. He must be auditioning for SOMETHING where they need a Jesus. I don't know. We will find out soon though. I think the audition was today. Heehee. I just think it is so funny :)......

Well, what else?...... Today I saw a guy on the bus who looked like Johnny Depp except 10 times more attractive. I feel in love...... obviously. If I were any less the person I am today I would have stared at him the entire trip. Believe it. He looked so cool too.... dang it.

Well, I guess that is all. We are just having a grand old time over here. Hopefully next post I will tell you all about our "Thanksgiving" we will hopefully have :). We are still trying to figure it out :).

This is your inspirational quote for today.....

“I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!”

- Dr. Seuss (another genius)

Live long and prosper.

"That cursed beast liked the taste of me so well he's followed me ever since, licking his chops for the rest of me."

Yep, that is right. 3 whole pictures and even they are pushing it. I am sorry. Some weeks are just slow, you know? And some cameras are just broken...... :)

Well, these past few days have been good. On Monday Amelia and I cleaned out our room! Finally! I mean it is REALLY clean! I haven't seen it like that since I got here. It is so nice! The floor is swept and everything. We have even managed to keep it clean since then :). We are just the best. On Monday night I had my Solfege class. Things are getting harder and I don't know enough French to understand everything that the teacher says. Thank goodness for Amelia. I would be a mess without her. Usually I can just try to do whatever the other students are doing and then I figure it out, but lately it isn't working so well. It is ok though... I am glad I am learning something even if it isn't until I go through it afterwards with Amelia :). So then... after my Solfege class I went to the Institute Building for F.H.E. Usually I don't go because I will get there so late that everyone will have left, but that night they were playing Just Dance 2. So I knew they would be there pretty late. It was a lot of fun. The second one is much harder than the first one. The boys who were playing it for a while got all sweaty and out of breath :). I tell you, that game is a work out. It is so great though. Personally, I haven't yet got all sweaty from playing it, but I am probably not dancing as hard as the rest of them. It is super fun though. I am glad I went. Everyone was having fun. I love watching the boys dance to the really girly songs :). They really should be embarrassed but I am so glad they aren't. They get really into it.... :)

Well, this is the dress I bought for Hannah. I looked and looked and finally decided on this one. Isn't it lovely? I love it. I just had to try it on. I didn't love it so much until I did. I think I made a good choice. I hope she loves it. (Do you see that? You can actually see the floor in this picture!)

Well, on Tuesday morning, Guillaume picked me up at 8:30 and we went to IKEA. Amelia had an English Class to teach and then had to practice Cello so she couldn't come :(. We had a really good time though. He got some red drawers and some more shelves for his house/room :). He says it is really "tidy" now :). I am happy for him. I know it drives him crazy to live in a cramped and messy house. So yeah... it was really fun. He bought 3 donuts from IKEA and we brought them back and ate them with Amelia :). It was just a great day...... all around. I got to practice piano for a little bit before my lesson. I was a little bit dreading the lesson because I didn't think I had really gone anywhere with the songs, but by some miracle I played them much better in the lesson than during practice. I didn't feel like such a loser afterward :). Also, I love Celine. I will say it a thousand times...... Did I ever mention that she studied in the Paris Conservatory? That is a big deal! Only the best get in there!

On Wednesday at 9:00, Guillaume came to get me so we could go buy the ingredients for Rice Crispy Treats. Heehee. Originally the plan was for me to walk to his house and then we leave from there, but then he decided he would just come pick me up. Good thing he did because when he rang the doorbell at 9:00, Amelia and I jumped out of bed and hurried and got dressed.. ish. Heehee. I was just dreaming away! I definitely wouldn't have been at his house at 9:00, that is for sure! Hahaha, he is good though. I think he is just used to us always being unorganized and late for things that he doesn't care so much :). Well, we went to Auchan and bought the ingredients and then came back home and made them while Amelia was teaching another English Class. Then, we snarfed. They were delicious. I think I probably ate 30 of them. I felt so sick.....

Good times, good times..... These are just the greatest people.....

Now I would like to send a message out to Curty, my blogger buddy. Thank you for the Banana Bread recipe. I definitely love Smittenkitchen also. (To all of you human beings out there, if you ever need a delicious recipe, go there first. It has changed my life....) I have some bad news though. France hasn't yet discovered brown sugar. I don't understand how they can live without it. I have had a pretty hard time with it, let me tell you! So, pretty much I am saying that I have been searching for a recipe that will be delicious with only white sugar. I guess I could just try yours anyway but just substitute. Sigh........... what is this world coming to?

Well, last night was pretty slow. We didn't really do that much. Amelia was off in one room and I was trying to get warm in our room. I decided to watch a movie. Well, I picked the only movie of theirs that I haven't seen.... I think it is called Just Like Heaven. On the box the title was in French so I can't be sure. "Et si c'etait vrai...." ("And if it was real/true...." Maybe.... something like that I think.) Anyway, it was alright. I tried my hardest but I really couldn't find the main guy very attractive.... inside or out. Call me shallow if you want, but that is a big deal for me. Otherwise I can't really get into the movie.... heehee. Why am I even talking about this?! :D Well, there you go. Now you know another completely useless fact about me. Lucky.....

Well, today was really slow. Last night before we fell asleep she asked me what time I wanted to be woken up. I said 8:00. Well, we both heard the alarm this morning.... but we actually ended up waking up at 10:00. Hahaha... I think that happens EVERY time she asks what time I want to be woken up. It is like a curse. I had better tell her to stop because it ends up wasting half the day. Well, I got up went to buy a baguette....mmmmm. It had been too long since I had had one. Then we scarfed... obviously. Well, I went to go practice at the church today, but.... there was this huge missionary something going on and every room with a piano was full. Lame. So, I had to turn right around and go back home. Another day without practicing :S. I stopped off at Auchan and bought a Pain au Chocolate. Mmmmmm. Delicious. Apparently Bros. Weyland (Tanner and Benjamin) once brought one home to mom and she ate the whole thing. My mom has self control like NO OTHER when it comes to sweeties so that means a lot. I have been needing one ever since I heard the story. Today was the day for it. Needless to say, it was delicious! I made a good decision.

So, lately Amelia and I have been talking about Audrey Hepburn movies. First of all, I love Audrey Hepburn. Basically I wish I was her, but... beggars can't be choosers :). Did you all know she had a pet deer named Pippin? I am completely serious... Now, she is your favorite too :). Well, pretty much we have decided how we think it is dumb how she seems to often get put with ugly old guys (exception: Gregory Peck... I am in love with him). What is the deal with that anyway? A lot of old movies are that way actually. Did they have no young, attractive actors back in the day? I think it is a little odd, but.... if we are being honest, I love the movies anyway. Also if we are being honest, I think Humphrey Bogart is ugly. I do love a lot of his movies though, which just proves me ENTIRELY wrong about what I said earlier.... I'm sorry you guys. I am just as useless as a... I can't think of anything that is completely useless. If you think of one, that is me... Also, I would like to acknowledge that at the same time, there are a lot of attractive men on old movies.... Yes, I know I am an imbecile..... Shut up, Lindsay. You are making no sense.... Ok, what I am trying to say is, it bugs me when they put Audrey Hepburn with ugly guys. They don't deserve her. That is all. (I was thinking of deleting this whole paragraph but... I will leave it up to amuse you. Also, to fill up space.)

So, as I mentioned forever ago, it seems to me that every single person in France smokes! Apparently they don't because Amelia was telling me that it used to be way worse a few years ago. I don't even like to think about that..... Well anyway, I hate it. I can just feel the lung cancer coming on. Well, the only times that it is ok is when I see an old man smoking a pipe :). It just reminds me of Lord of the Rings... or Dane. He always said if he ever smoked (which we all know he never would. Just clarifying....) he would smoke a pipe. I can only agree. Also, I just love seeing little short old men dressed in plaid pants with a little hat on and using a cane. They have some cute old people here. I love it.

Well, I guess should stop rambling. I need to head to Institute......

Here is a quote.

- "The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it."

- J.M. Barrie (genius)

"I'm glad to be with you, Samwise Gamgee, here at the end of all things..."

First of all, I love that movie. Lord of the Rings. The whole last half of the third movie just makes me want to cry. I don't of course, but that doesn't mean I don't feel like it.....

Hmm, well.... things have been good. Amelia and I have pathetically been trying to act responsibly since her dad left. It is weird. You have to keep track of when you need to go shopping and when you need to clean or water plants, etc. etc. Ok, what? I already know that you all do this every day! I'm sorry I am a loser and have never had a life :). It is ok. Now I have. All I am saying is that it is funny to think about us taking care of these things :). Heehee. Yesterday Guillaume came over and wiped our table off.... woops. Apparently things are getting bad. Oh well. For the most part we do pretty good. It is when we don't have a lot of time that things get pretty messy......
Well, these pictures today are from the Primary Activity that we had on Saturday. Can I just say how much I love working in the Primary?! I LOVE working in the primary! It is the best! There aren't a ton of kids so it doesn't get too crazy, and they are all so cute! I can't hardly stand it. I absolutely love it. I love all of them. So....pretty much me and Amaël are best friends now. My FAVORITE boy in the world! Honestly.... for reals guys.... this isn't even a joke. I love him. He is SO cute!! So, we were basically playing the whole time and he even let me hold him. Man! Best day ever! The next day (Sunday), he saw me in the hall and he yelled, "Lindsay!!!!!" Yes :). Best ever. Not even kidding. It has pretty much made my life..... Anyway.... I hope these pictures aren't completely boring for you all. I just love these kids......


Corentin, Faustine, Me, Sis. Poussard (Corentin's mom) the Primary Pres.

Joshua doing the crust for the Pumpkin Tart. heehee....

Amaël mixing some cookies. You have to be kidding me.... He was so cute! He thought that everyone thought he was a real cow, so he would lift up the mask and say, "c'est moi!" like it was such a surprise :). Heehee..... he is so cute.

So, the kids were making delicious treats to eat after the games and stuff. It was awesome. They turned out pretty good. The pumpkin tart wasn't even half as good as American Pumpkin pie though. I was a little disappointed. Corentin was telling me he didn't like pumpkin pie and I could not believe it! Well, if that is the pumpkin pie he is thinking of, I don't actually blame him...

Eleanor

Samuel and Mathieu

This is Amaël about to pull up his mask and show us who it really was :).

This is Joshua. He is so cute. He is Amaël's big brother. They have the cutest family!

Are you joking?! This is the cutest ever!

Oh..... these pictures make me want to cry! Do you see what he is doing with me?!

Hahaha, these cookies didn't turn out so bad. I thought they would be a huge mess :). It was definitely a huge mess to make them!

So cute! They were playing Soccer. They are actually pretty good.

Here is Corentin playing with the kids. Cutest ever. They just never stop.

So, the Primary is apparently putting on a play of "A Christmas Carol." This was their first time going over it. It was so cute :). A little weird hearing it in French, but it was great :.

Hahaha! Amaël was Marley's chains!

This is one of the Spirits and Scrooge.

Favorite.

MOST favorite :D.

Heehee....

They were explaining Freeze Tag.

Alright well. That was fun.

Well, let me think what else has been going on. Last night we went to a Young Adult fireside/broadcast. Well... that is what it was supposed to be. We got to the church and it was locked. We then went over to the institute building but they couldn't get it on their computer so.... we didn't actually watch it. We ended up hanging out in the Institute Kitchen and inventing how to make caramel to pour on popcorn. It was an adventure for sure :). None of them worked out but... they were ok. I definitely felt sick by the time I got home though :). When we got home, we made dinner for us and Guillaume. Poor Guillaume had a dinner he won't forget :). Not because of the food. It was the company. heehee. I think we were tired or something. He didn't even have a minute of peace, poor guy. Plus, it was actually food that he didn't like. We didn't really have anything else though. He ate it like a good boy though. So anyway. Afterwards we all stayed up WAY too late talking about the most random things and laughing our heads off. Of course. Isn't that always what happens when you stay up late? I don't think it can be helped.... Oh well. It was really fun :).

Well, I would like to tell you all that Water is the best thing ever. I don't actually super like it but it helps so much! I have been drinking a ton of it, hoping it will clear my skin and it totally has! Also, totally losing weight still. I forgot how well it worked.... I would encourage you all to drink tons. Exactly tons.

Well, bad news. At the Primary Program during an exciting struggle for a soccer ball, my camera fell off the stage and onto the floor. Well.... luckily it didn't break the insides or anything, but the Lens had some pieces that broke off. It will take pictures if I hold it in just right, but... it isn't the same. Well, it is ok though. Guillaume is going to lend me some super glue so hopefully I will be able to fix it. If not, I will eventually buy a new one. It is a bummer though. It is alright though.... it could have been much worse. I am grateful that it even works at all :).

Sometime this week Amelia and I are going to make Banana Bread! Yes! We are just waiting very impatiently for the Bananas to get really ripe. I will tell you how it goes. I am so excited. I have been wanting to make something delicious forever :).

Also, I just have to say... I don't understand how girls can say "I hate boys!" I mean really.... I absolutely love them. They are so much fun. They don't have all the lame superficial things about them that girls do. With girls often you feel like they are judging, or just being nice because they think they should, or you just get bored..... I am not saying this is how all girls are.... I love girls too. Please believe it. I definitely like hanging out with guys though :). They feel so real to me. That is why I like them. I am so glad that Amelia and I are the kind of girls that guys can stand to be around. I consider that a good thing even though I am not SO sure it is :). I wonder if I will have any feminine thing about me once I go back :). Well, did I ever?...... Heehee. Oh well. That is what happens when you grow up with 5 boys I guess. I wouldn't trade it for anything....

Well, I need to go practice. It has been fun.....