First month in France

Hello again, everyone! Is it really already November? I have already been here for almost a whole month and can't believe how fast the time has gone by.

I don't have anything overly exciting to share, but I can share what our lives have been like this past month that I have been here!

Tyler is extremely busy. His team sure does make use of the player's time! I think he has only had 3 or 4 days off total in the past month that I have been here! He is practicing two times a day, every day and on top of that he is taking French lessons! We joke about how it feels like he is back in college again and goes to class in between practices. The team is providing tutoring for Tyler and the other Americans/Foreigners which is really great. Tyler can pick up some of the language and understand different situations in the countries that he plays in, but it is nice for him be able to sit and learn the language. I would totally join Tyler if I were able to, but I would have to pay for lessons. And they are not cheap! So Tyler just comes home and teaches me the things he learns and it works out pretty well!

With Tyler being so busy, we really haven't had time to do much of anything. We have been able to walk around the center of the city a couple of times but other than that, going grocery shopping is about the only other thing we have time for! It doesn't bother me much though. I keep busy when he is gone by cooking and taking my beauty blog more seriously and connecting with other girls in the beauty community. Doing this whole beauty thing makes me truly happy and it feels really good to be doing something that I really enjoy.

I have been slowly making friends with the other girlfriends/wives. I go to the games with them and we all sit together. I am the only American wife here right now. A couple more will be arriving this month so I am very excited to meet them and their children. The French girls have been really kind and they know English pretty well so it is easy to communicate with them. It is nice to not be the only wife this year!

The weather in Pau has been incredible. It has been an average of 75-80 degrees here and I did not pack for it! My wardrobe is what I would need for the Midwest right now! I know the nice weather won't last though and it is even supposed to cool down a lot this week. Now I can stop wearing the same lightweight clothing!

We just found a movie theater that plays American movies in the original language so we are PUMPED! For real. We love going to movies and we are excited to have found a theater that plays a few different American movies everyday. Last year, if we wanted to go to an English movie, we had one movie to choose from a week. A town 20 minutes away from Forli played one English movie on Tuesday nights. So if the movie sucked, we were out of luck for the week! Now we have multiple movies to choose from any day of the week! It's the simple things, people :)

We got to try our first French macaroons this past week. One word: Heaven! I want to stop writing and go get some more right now :)

As Far as the lifestyle in Pau goes, it is the most "Americanized" city Tyler has played in. It is still very much European, but there are some things that are just more "American-like". People dress way more American here. There is no way for me to explain that unless you have lived in both America and Europe. And if you have, you would know exactly what I am talking about! The grocery stores here are also SO similar to American grocery stores! You have no idea how happy that makes me! You might remember from last year that I would get really frustrated when cooking because there were just so many things that were not available. But there is so much more variety here, just like in the States. I think I have cooked more different meals in the past few weeks that I have been here than I did all last season! We also have a full-sized oven this year! Thank the Lord! Our contertop oven served us well last year, but it is nice to have an actual oven to cook meals in!

Tyler is continuing to do great with his team and works so hard. He impresses me more and more every year with how dedicated and hardworking he is. I love seeing children all the way up to adults get so excited to meet him, get his autograph and take pictures with him after the games. I am proud to be his wife!

We would like to take a trip to Bordeaux as soon as Tyler has some time off. It is only a 1.5-2 hour drive from Pau. Everyone says it is beautiful there and I wouldn't mind trying out the wine ;)

Well, that is about all I have to share for now! We miss you all so much and already looking forward to when we can see everyone again!