Brother?!?

Yep, you read right. I have a brother as of July 14! It's hard to believe -- life never ceases to surprise -- I can honestly say I never expected to have a brother. My dad has 5 daughters to his name, and he never tires of telling everyone he comes in contact just how many daughters he has. Partially, I think, because he wants people to pity him (he calls us high maintenance...ok dad), but mainly because he is very proud of all of us. Ranging from ages 28 (me) to almost 6 years old, I was fairly certain the sibling set was complete. But my dad and his wife were blessed with another child, and amazingly, a BOY! I've read articles about how once you've had about 3 of the same gendered children, it's not likely that you'll get the other sex...you're pretty much marked for either boys OR girls. And since the man determines the sex of the baby, my dad certainly favors girls! He is a proud papa as he adds #6 to Team Ferrara, and I can't wait to see him with a SON! I haven't gotten to meet the little guy since we're in another state, but I hope to see him soon! He's a few photos that have been sent my way. And he's a blonde!!

My brother, Baby Ferrara

Ferrara #5 with Ferrara #6!

Ferraras 001 - 004 with our Dad, James Bond 007 (he refers to us all by numbers, Bond style!)

Fleur

Five Month Check In (yeah that's what I'll call it)

The reason for my post title is because I have done a very poor job of writing about our life here.... because I haven't done so at all! But I hope to do better. In my defense, moving to a new place has been an adjustment. So as a result...this post will inevitably be a long one...but if you read my blog you know they're always long, so no worries!

Beauty
I can't believe we've already been in Austin for 5 months! Time really does fly. In short, we are enjoying our life here! As I've said before, Louisiana will always have our heart, but Austin is being good to us. For me, my favorite part of Austin is the physical beauty -- I have the pleasure of riding through gorgeous rolling hills with houses stuck amongst the trees on my way to and from work. I love that there are bodies of water all throughout the city, with sailboats, kayaks and paddle boats gracing the surfaces. I love that there are greenbelts everywhere to explore and hike, yet we have all the conveniences of a cool, quirky city.

Hill Country in Austin

Town Lake

Getting some action in the water ourselves!

Barton Creek in February (before the drought!!)

And quirky, it is. There's a reason there is the saying, "Keep Austin Weird"...it can be totally just that! People march to the beat of their own drums around here, and it's the perfect place to do so because Austin embraces that way of life. We're finding that most people are not native Austinites, but come from all over. We've also found that just about everyone is super friendly and eager to make us feel at home. There are a lot of strong churches to choose from, and we are still trying to decide which one is the best fit for us.

Snobs
We decided to rent for at least the first year, to make sure first of all that we want to live in Austin for awhile, and also to see which area of Austin is right for us, as it's a big place with lots of different communities within. We had at first wanted to live in the center of downtown, as many people do when they move here, but found that it's just as expensive as my sister's rent in Manhattan. Ridiculous. So we found a nice place about 5 minutes or so from downtown in the hill country. We LOVE this area, but I just have to laugh because the area is considered to be where the "affluent" or upwardly mobile if you will, live....in other words: snobs....or at least this is the way they're percieved by everyone else in Austin. We of course had no idea....and it doesn't really matter, although it's true we probably won't be able to buy here as a result...it's ridiculously expensive to own a home in our neighborhood, which is a bummer. But I now understand why we get the looks we do when we say what neighborhood we live in....apparently, we're already Austin snobs! Oh well. My coworkers like to tease me about it -- it's all in good fun of course. It makes me laugh because it was complete chance for us to end up where we did, and we landed smack in snooty-snoot ville. And what's more, we really love it here... we are in walking distances from shops, we're close to downtown, and we're in the beautiful hill country. I guess that's why it's so expensive. We don't want to swallowed up in a home we can't afford, so we will most likely vacate when it's time to buy....luckily there are plenty of nice places to live in Austin.

Celebrating 5 Years of Marriage in March

Livelihood
It took me about 2 months to find the position I was looking for, and those were the stuff of dark days for Fleurby. Job searching is hard enough, but it can be really hard when you enter a new city where you don't know anyone to plug you in. And, there's seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel...you don't know if it will take weeks, months, years...especially in the current economic climate. I am lucky to have such a supportive husband, friends and family. It just goes to show what a lack of faith I often have -- I was just getting so down on myself even though it hadn't been that long -- it's so easy to feel hopeless in that situation. But as always, God was faithful (even though I was not) and I landed a really amazing job which began in May. I've joined the marketing communications team of an international tech company. The North American headquarters are here in Austin, although we do business all over the world. One great bonus about this company is that it has French roots -- the corporate headquarters are in Paris! Some of you may know that in addition to a communications degree, I also have a degree in the French language. And my goal has always been to do something in communications with an international flair. I feel like I've finally found that. So as Joey said to me recently, we never have cause to worry -- God always takes care of us. Why then, do I spend most of my time worrying so much?? I'm working on it.

So, as you may know if you read regularly, I wanted to do something different from non-profit (where I have spent my career thus far -- nothing against non-profit, just ready for a change), and I certainly got what I asked for in working for a huge tech company! I get to do such interesting things in my job. And what's even more amazing is that it's an international company, and I have the opportunity to speak and write French all throughout the day. Not to mention, my co-workers are really great; I am really enjoying forming these new relationships. I am blessed beyond measure.

Joey, bless his heart, went to work as soon as we got here...a cath lab nurse is a hot commodity, luckily for us. He has been working with a large hospital here in Austin. But I'm very happy to say that he will be undergoing a change soon, now that I am well-rooted in my position. He will go back to school full-time beginning in the fall! We're very excited for what is to come for him and us! As you can see, we're always changing things up around here.

Home

We've had some visitors already since we've been here and are looking forward to more in the coming months! Joey's parents spent a few days with us in March, while my sister Maya stayed for a week in April. My friend Leslie stopped over in May for a few nights. It's so great to have people come see us, as we greatly miss home and our friends and family. And we really enjoy showing our new city, although we are still very much newbies and probably aren't the best tour guides ever...we'll get there. My best friend and her husband (also a dear friend of ours) are coming in August, and we have more friends coming in for Austin City Limits, in September -- as well as my mom coming in either August or September, and my sister passing through as she makes her move to L.A. So we have a jam packed upcoming months and lots of visitors to look forward to! 

Leslie!

Maya at The Grove....a wine bar we love

                

Last but not least...Polly Browne
Our little girl is doing well. She turned 3 in June. We don't have much of a yard at our condo, which is unfortunate, but there are tons of parks here, and we try to bring her to romp and play as much as we can. She brings us so much joy! We always remark as to what she's going to do when we have children because she is our baby. I guess a better question is, what are WE going to do with her when kids come along! It makes me almost sad for her because of course a child will be our priority. But I can't see myself ever not loving her the way we do no matter what. Things will change, but then, things are always changing in some shape or form. She'll always be my first little girl! :)

So that about wraps up about the big picture for us! So much more has happened in 5 months, but that's what I get for not posting more often! I hope to do a better job of blogging more frequently and not being so lame :)

Oh, one more thing, to the rain gods: I'm sorry I cursed your name for all those years I've lived in Louisiana as I walked with wet jeans to class or drove through a monsoon in standstill traffic trying to get home. I have never missed rain more -- we are in a serious drought, my friends!! I like to joke and say we live in a desert, but I'm not sure if I'm joking anymore. It's nice to not have the humidity, but I would love to get a few drops every now and then!!

love and light to you all,

fleur

Remembering Memphis

Recently, we lost a special member of the family. My mom's black lab, Memphis, was killed by a car.

We had Memphis for about 8 years. I was 20 or so when Joey and I got him from a man who couldn't keep him but who wanted to make sure he was going to a good home. We couldn't believe how beautiful he was! We're pretty sure he was a pure bred lab. He had all the instincts of a good hunting dog and loved nothing more than to go on a hunt. Joey named him Memphis.

Especially when he was younger, he was a hard core fetcher of the stick. If you got into a fetching match with Memphis, expect to throw the stick at least 20 times. If you were walking around the farm doing something other than throwing a stick, Memphis would often trail after you, stick in mouth.

Pebbles

A few days after we got Memphis, Pebbles came to us, my mom's other giant dog. Clearly abused and starved, she dragged herself to my mom's property (the other dogs around had probably told her that my mom has a soft spot for animals), and she's been with us every since. She and Memphis became fast friends, although Memphis' sweet disposition made him a passive partner to Pebbles' Alpha Female personality. I'm sure she misses him terribly.

Memphis and Pebbles frequently went on "night hunts" together on my mom's land and wouldn't return until morning. We suspect they did things like kill coyotes, harass nutria, just generally terrorize anything willing to be terrorized. They brought a few bits of evidence to Mom as gifts of love.

Memphis was Mom's faithful companion as she drove the truck to the different pastures feeding the horses. He loved riding in cars.

It's hard to imagine a better dog than Memphis. We were really lucky to have this gallant dog in our lives for as long as we did. He'll be greatly missed.

We love you Memphis. We'll never forget you.

good dog. rest now.

The Next Big Thing

After Christmas, Joey and I decided to go on yet another adventure. Why not, right? But this time, we would stay within our own country.

As I have mentioned in another post, once we came back from Europe, our plan was to relocate to another state other than our own. I've gone into our reasoning for doing this in other posts, so no need to do into now, but I'll just say that although we love Louisiana, we really value and enjoy living and experiencing other places.

We had several places in mind, mainly in the western part of the country, and we figured since we weren't working, why not explore those places to see if they're a good fit? And why not have some fun on the way? And why not take Polly Browne? We like to say YES! :)

So on New Year's Day, we packed up my CRV, scooped up our little one and hit the road for the wild west. I started calling our tour the Williams' Western Whoa! Tour, or the WWW Tour. We had a great time. We were considering Austin, Texas; Flagstaff, Arizona; Albuquerque, New Mexico; San Francisco, L.A., and Napa Valley. Also, we were open to any city we might fancy along the route. We figured this way we could really get a feel for a place.

Of course it wasn't all business. We got to see some things we had never seen before, like the Grand Canyon. It was breathtakingly beautiful!

We visited Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and Boulder Basin. Our country has such beauty!

Hoover Dam



Family Portrait at Boulder Basin



I believe the bridge over the dam was Memorial Bridge. It was quite the sight to see.

Of course we couldn't miss the opportunity to visit Sin City! I hadn't been since high school and Joey had not yet been. We had a wonderful time, even though it was freezing walking around. Joey even tried his hand at the craps table. He played for about an hour and walked away with the same amount he put in. Pretty good, I thought! I made "friends" with a gambler's wife who was also watching her spouse play. Interesting life style, I'll just say that.

Las Vegas

 Next, we headed up to California. Unfortunately the weather was not great while we were there. I was a bit disappointed because I'm sure Napa Valley is gorgeous when it's pretty out, so we'll have to come back another time. But they still serve wine when it's raining, so that's a plus!

We made some friends with some wine-drinking Sicilian miniature donkeys...

San Francisco

Polly enjoying one of many treats she was adorned with while on this trip. This was from the Sonoma Dog Camp organization while we were in Sonoma. No, we did not send her to dog camp...

So if we haven't told you already, we did make a decision as a result of the road trip, and we chose...

Probably not a shocker if you know us! We love this city, and we always said if we ever moved, this would be a top destination. And the truth is we didn't find anywhere we loved as much as Austin. It has everything we're looking for in a city, plus it's close enough to drive home if we need to, which is a big plus. Plus Austin is weird, like us, so I think we're fit right on in :) We're excited! Although we will greatly miss our friends and family, this is the right move for our little family. And we welcome visitors!!

I have to end with a great big thank you to our dear friends, the Charlet family. We are incredibly grateful for the kindness, support and generosity they showed us while we were checking out Austin. They are newcomers themselves to the area, but they opened up their home to us on numerous occasions with such graceful hospitality. They are a true example of serving others in the name of the Lord, and we have been and will always be blessed for having them in our lives. We love you Charlets!!

We indeed would appreciate your prayers as we quickly move in the next few days while also searching for (and hopefully finding) employment in our new city! We love you all!

I'm movin' to Austin, y'all!

The End of 2010 (not the world)

Blogs are interesting in that they don't stay alive if you don't tend to them. For me, I feel this compulsion to keep our blog updated, as I'm sure many bloggers do. Even if no one ever reads it, for whatever reason, you still have to keep it going once you've started. Perhaps more than anything bloggers blog for themselves as a way to make some sort of stamp in the wide open prairie of the cyber...after all, we all have a story to tell.

ALL this to say, it's been longer than I would have liked since my last blog, and for that I apologize. A lot has been going on for us, and now I must jumble it all together in order to catch up! We'll start with the end of 2010.

But first, I just have to say I laugh out loud when people talk about the end of the world occurring. People have been doing this for as long as I can remember. I can recall one particular instance when I was about 8 years old and going through a rough time with my parents' divorce and was pretty sensitive (more than usual, that is) and understandably solemn...I must have been at the check-out line at the grocery store because I remember seeing a lovely edition of The National Enquirer touting the headline, "The End of the World date REVEALED!!"---or something to that effect. I was so afraid to look, but I just had to. I believe the chosen date was August 12, 1993 or thereabouts. Anyway, even at 8, I was aware of the reputation of that particular "news" outlet, and so I quietly dismissed it, yet didn't forget the date until it came and went years later. And of course there was all the hoopla surrounding the new millennium. And now, because of the Mayan calendar ending (I think), the world is supposed to end in 2012. And actually, I saw several bill boards on a recent road trip declaring May 21, 2011 as Judgement Day....this was an actual ad from a church which I found very odd. Incidentally, that is also the date of my 10-year high school reunion, so if the world does indeed end, I guess I'll be surrounded be old friends :) ZHS Class of 2010 goin' out with a bang!

The point being, no one knows the day it will all end. Only God. It says in the Bible that the end will come as unexpectedly as a thief in the night. So every time someone declares an exact date, I discount that date altogether. No one can ever know, so the best thing to do is to get right with the One who actually does know.

So back to the Holidays. I hope you and yours had a lovely Christmas and New Year's! Ours was a little different this year in that we spent Christmas away from home, which I'm pretty sure is a first for our family or at least hasn't happened since we were kids. Wendell, my mom's significant other of several years (I feel weird saying boyfriend for my mom...he's not a boy...but manfriend sounds odd too....what do people of a certain age call their partners?) invited us to spend Christmas in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. The Smokies are gorgeous, and we enjoyed hiking, "redneck" sledding as I fondly called what we did in the snow and spending time together, the eight of us there, including my dear grandmother Phyllis Jean. My uncle and his girlfriend got engaged while we were there, and we wish them the best. The only downside was that we didn't see Joey's and my dad's sides of the family on Christmas Day. But we did get snow on Christmas Day! A LOT! So much that we were snowed in completely and had to extend our trip. Luckily the power didn't go out or anything. And it was quite the experience getting our Louisiana cars with our Louisiana drivers down the very icy mountain when it was time to go home. It took awhile, but we all made it. Here are a few photos from our Eyre Family Christmas:

Mom and her two birds



Wendell and Mom



Wendell, Joey, Uncle Billy at the top of a hike



Snow on Christmas Day!



Ah, love.

All we had to sled upon was the lid of a garbage can...redneck sleddin'!

I would be remiss in not including this one last shot. As a time honored tradition, our mom gives us crazy big sunglasses in our stockings...I think it all started because we teased her as kids about her big sunwear, and of course now they are back in fashion and we wear them. I don't know where she finds them, but they never fail to amaze! And of course we have to take our Paris Hilton-esque photos with them. As a bonus, she gave us little Smoky Mountain bears, much like having a little toy chihuahua named Tinkerbelle.
Nothing less.

LoveandLight,

Portugal and One Last Jump

I'm sorry it's been some time since my last blog post. . .it's been a rather hectic couple of weeks. After Rome, we flew to Lisbon, Portugal. We were there for only one night, because the next day we flew HOME! Portugal was really nice; we would have liked to have spent more time there, but bittersweetly, our traveling stint has come to a close for the time being.


We are glad to be back in the USA! We traveled for about seven weeks, and it was an amazing time. We visited 12 European countries and dozens of cities and towns within! It is an experience we will never forget, and if you feel the need to travel, I strongly recommend it. And what was even more incredible than the trip itself was that we got to have these experiences together as husband and wife, as a team. We have so many special memories and joys that are ours alone.


I think perhaps a few people are wondering why we came home when we did---in other words, why we didn't stay longer. Although our family thought we were gone a little too long, it is a legitimate question. There was no time frame on our trip, and, as you know if you've been keeping up with our blog, no set plans. Yes, if an opportunity arose where we could stay for longer and work, we may have explored that, but the longer we were there, the more we realized that this would prove harder than we thought. There is tons of red tape involved if you want to make a living in a foreign country, even if you're in the healthcare industry like Joey. From what I gathered, the easiest way to work overseas is to already have a job before you get there (like from an American company that has foreign reach, for example), which is a task in itself. Alternatively, it's easier if you are there to go to school. Neither of these options applied to us.


The only real plans we made were involving the amount of money we were going to spend on this adventure. As you know, we both quit our jobs to do this, and we did so with a travel budget set aside, separate from our savings. Although we did take a risk in quitting our jobs and planning this trip about a month before we went, it was very important that the financials were in place. And they were. Not everything we do is fly by the seat of our pants :) And so a budget we would follow, and once that ran out, we would either come home or would have plans for a job in some country (anywhere but the Ukraine, right Joey? haha). So...after about 7 weeks, our travel budget was indeed spent, and since we did not have prospects to stay and work, it was time to come home! Did I mention that Europe is insanely expensive??


Although budget was the main reason, there were several factors that nudged us homeward. One is that my sister is moving home for the winter months!! I am beyond excited. My sister is my closest and most precious friend, and it has been over 5 years since we have lived in the same city. The move is only temporary, so I knew this was something I did not want to pass up.


Secondly, Europe is a little crazy right now, I'm not gonna lie. We were all set to look at apartments in Paris, when the news of the terror threats targeting Paris among others began to circulate through the media. Security was visibly amped up in popular tourist sites. President Obama urged American tourists to register with the U.S. embassy if they were in Europe. Scary stuff. Many of you emailed us out of concern, and we asked for your prayers. The truth is that there would be nothing we could really do to protect ourselves; we were fully relying on God for protection. He is sovereign, and He did protect us and everyone else while we were there. I pray that He continues to do so. Also to add to the chaos of Europe, there were strikes and riots in most of the countries we visited over different issues. It was craziness. I think just about if not all of our flights within the continent were delayed due to some strike or another. I really don't know the politics or the situations concerning the unrest of the working public so I'm not really qualified to comment, but something is going on. I do remember riots of sorts during past visits overseas, but I don't remember there being so many. But then again, I've never traveled for this long and seen this many countries in one trip. So maybe it's always been this way, or maybe things are worse right now. I'm not sure. But suffice it to say, although we adored traveling, we weren't sure if we wanted to stay here long term.


The truth is, we live in a great country. Despite its hefty list of problems, it's a wonderful place to live. For me, I know there are things I take for granted everyday at home, and it caused me to appreciate things a little more after being away. Like ice. Many other things too of course, but that's just one small example :)


So yes, we are back and have no regrets! We look forward to seeing our friends again soon, we missed all of you! During our short time home, our time has been consumed with various family issues such as the death of a close family friend and of course the homecoming of Maya. But we hope to get to see you all soon!


Thank you so much for taking an interest in our travels, we really appreciate everyone's encouragement! As you know, just because we're not traveling anymore doesn't mean that the adventure of life ends! So I do plan to continue blogging, as I have greatly enjoyed doing so. Hopefully Joey will make a cameo and do a "Joey's Take," as everyone seemed to enjoy them!


So I guess the question we need to answer transitions from "where are y'all going next?" to "what are y'all DOING next?"

Wher'er We Roam, We'll Always Have Rome



We finished our Italy stint with a bang and ended with Roma! We visited something like seven cities in Italy, pretty awesome! There is just so much to see in this amazing country. We visited Verona, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Cinque Terre (technically five different places but we'll still count it as one), Cortona, and lastly Rome. I think I got them all. Of course I would have loved to have visited Ferrara (if anything just to take obnoxious pictures with my maiden name) and Capri, but you just can't do everything in one trip, and we have done a ton. There's always next time.

Rome is of course, amazing. Almost too much to take in. We stayed in Vatican City, which was a great place to be. I don't think I really knew this, but did you know that Vatican City is its own country? It's true. They have their own money, print their own stamps, have their own postal service, etc. Of course they accept Euros within their border, thank goodness. The country has about 1000 citizens, which consists of clergymen and people who work and live within the country's borders. Children born in Vatican City are granted Vatican citizenship, until they turn 18, and then it gets converted to Italian citizenship. I found that pretty interesting.


So on Thursday night, Joey discovered that on Friday nights only, you can visit the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel at night! And luckily, they had a few spots left for us so we booked them. Again, I just to have to chuckle at our last-minuteness (and my ability to make up words). So many people that we've met on this trip had literally planned everything six months ago. But hey, it's worked out for us. There isn't much that we haven't gotten to see because of lack of advanced planning. So to the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants traveler, I am here to say it can be done!


It was a neat experience to see it at night. Of course the crowds aren't as crowded, and things just seem more solemn at night. The Vatican museums have some exquisite works of art and some very ancient artifacts. They have an actual intact mummified body dated 1000 B.C. Pretty incredible. And of course the museums themselves are something to behold, with so many of the ceilings painted by Michelangelo himself.

Vatican Museums at night

And then the piece de resistance is of course the Sistine Chapel. It's incredible. Go see it. We couldn't take any pictures, as that chapel is patrolled big time. They are serious on the no photo policy. But it was beautiful. Michelangelo was quite the talented kid.


We also visited the Castle of San Angelo, which was built around the 1st century. The structure wore many hats throughout history---it was built originally by someone who wanted to basically build a shrine to himself I believe (I'm sure my accuracy on history isn't always precise on this bloggy blog, I'm pretty much going by memory), it was also a prison, a palace and a fort. The structure itself isn't very pretty, but the terrace has some lovely views of the city.

Italian hens....i love it!

We also visited Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps and many other sights. Rome has a lot of fountains...

The Spanish Steps...we don't really know why they're famous, and no one else could tell us why. Huh.

Trevi Fountain

I tossed a coin in for us, don't you worry.





Where Mussolini gave his crazy fascist speeches!

We also visited the Coliseum, the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. This is ancient stuff.

Coliseum



Ancient City





 We got to St. Peter's Basilica that same evening (Sunday). We were nervous that we weren't going to get to see it because earlier in the day, we had seen several newscasters outside doing takes for a story. I heard one of them say it would be a very busy night in Rome and something about the Pope...so needless to say we were concerned about crowds and that the basilica might be closed altogether for such an event (and we were leaving Rome early the next morning for Portugal). The Pope has been touring around Europe while we've been here.

But when we arrived, no Pope, no huge crowds, so we got in! The basilica is truly awesome. No expense was spared to make this incredible place of worship. Since it was Sunday, we got to attend the mass there, so that was really neat. It was a great honor to get to worship in such a place.





 

St. Peter's Basilica

la Pieta in St. Peter's Basilica

In the evening



Viva Roma!

 

A note about Italian cuisine. Unfortunately, it's not all incredible. I wish it were. And I guess that's what we were expecting. But you can't just walk into any establishment and expect to have great pasta. The places that are near tourist areas just seem like they want to rip tourists off and serve mediocre food. We especially found this in Rome. I even experienced bad gelato. Like, really bad. Like I threw it away. That's bad. So after about a day, we got smart and started going in with a game plan. That is, we consulted Trip Advisor for our meals. And it worked pretty well. We had the best gelato EVER, and it was even on our hotel's street. We also had some really nice dinners. So, all this to say, don't expect to go to Rome and have great food no matter what. Ya gotta work for it! 

 

We greatly enjoyed majestic Rome; you just can't visit Italy without going to the ancient city. They paved the way for civilization as we know it. An experience not to be forgotten, both spiritual and educational....and it's quite a romantic city too, I think even more so than Paris. 

 

Ciao!