Bonne Année! A Brief Update & Top Posts from 2019
Bonne année! I hope you're feeling hopeful about 2020 and the beginning of a new decade. I mentioned to my oldest child that she'll be twenty years old and likely halfway through college when the next decade arrives. "Where?” She asked. I responded that perhaps she’ll be at my alma mater, Westmont College, in Santa Barbara (California). She replied that she doesn't want to live that far away. My husband and I found this amusing since she professes that she wants to live in France someday. Apparently France is more familiar to her than California, the state neighboring us here in Oregon.
Our family Christmas photo this year (Breton t-shirts from our exchange student; reluctance from our 7-year-old)
For our family, the past year has been busier than ever, to the point that I took a six-month break from writing— long enough, perhaps, for many of you to forget that you signed up to receive blog updates by email. Merci de votre patience. There is always much I want to share with you—family experiences we loved in France (that you can experience as well), our bilingual family progress, our experience having an au pair for a year (such a blessing!), many book recommendations, and encouragement for intentional family living.
A briefly peaceful Christmas moment chez nous, from my Instagram account
Our family is preparing for a big shift, however, and this is why I haven't made writing here a priority for six months. This past fall I went back to school to refresh my anatomy and physiology knowledge as my husband and I consider a new path for our family. I hope to earn a second master's degree (and possibly a terminal degree) as I pursue becoming a physician assistant (PA). The PA career has been hotly promoted by the media for several years now, but my interest in medicine and the PA profession began back when I was a teen. It's also something I wrote about in my first blog post here six years ago. Leaving college, I made the choice to teach because I loved the diversity of students and the French language, and ultimately teaching is how I met my husband, became a learned extrovert, and enjoyed sharing French with so many wonderful students. As I enter midlife, however, I want to arc my career back to my original passion for medicine and family practice.
In 2020, my blog posts will likely be sporadic as I continue homeschooling my children, teaching part-time (literature and French), serving friends through our weekly home Bible study, attempting to ace my ongoing anatomy class, and simply running our household. I could not manage this without my husband's support, and our French exchange student is a sweet and joyful helper too. I hope to see you here again as I share what I can in monthly posts. Let me know in a comment what you've been up to, and if you have a topic or question you'd like me to address—I'd love to hear it! Bonne année, et à bientôt!
Here are the 5 most read Intentional Mama posts from 2019: