Our European Adventure
Well, we are actually doing it. Three months in Barcelona, Spain for Austin’s last semester of grad school! When we heard a study abroad was an option, I nagged Austin relentlessly until his application was in. I had always dreamed of being a world traveler, but honestly never thought I would get out of Utah. (Funny that we’ve lived in New York, Georgia, and now Europe, all we want is to get back to Utah.) I’m so happy that I married someone who will take me on all of these great adventures!
The night before we left was filled with stress and excitement. Since we had just packed up and moved from New York to Utah two weeks before, our life was still in boxes scattered around Austin’s parent’s house. So we stayed up late finishing laundry, unpacking boxes, packing suit cases, and dreaming of the experiences we would have. Somehow we were able to fit our entire lives into 5 suitcases, a backpack and a diaper bag. I’m still not sure how we were able to do it.
We flew direct from Salt Lake to Paris, which took about 9 hours. I was so, so anxious to make this flight with a toddler. The longest flight we’ve done with her had been 6 hours, and she was pretty much done after the first 4. This is the first time she would have her own seat, though, so we were pretty hopeful that would help. We stocked up on snacks and books and prayed for the best.
When we got to the airport, Skyler was CRAZY hyper. Running in circles around people at the airport and screaming with joy as she ran away from us. I saw all the people waiting to get on the plane with us look at us with dread that this little tornado would be on their flight. I was dreading it, too. Once we got on the plane, she was so good. She’s always been a great flyer, but I was so proud of her on this flight. She watched countless Mickey Mouse episodes, ate just as many snacks and then curled up for a nice long nap. We managed to get to Paris with only one tantrum!
We have now been in Europe for two weeks, but I swear it feels like we’ve only been here two days. I blame that, mostly, on jet-lag! Skyler was a champ and adjusted the first couple of days, it’s me and Austin who really had a hard time. We are hoping to do better when we come home. I will be doing my best to document our time here on this blog for us to keep as a journal and for our family and friends back home who want to read!
Bopper and Baby 
Oh Ash — this was awesome!!!! It was fun to hear all your fun adventures in Paris — I am so jealous! I want to hear about your apartment and what you are doing in Barcelona too so please keep these coming. You are printing these off and putting them in a journal, right? Now, I don’t think I want to put stealing a kiss from Austin at midnight in Paris on my bucket list tho. I think he would throw up!!!! haha JK That was adorable!