Technically, if you add up all of the days I’ve slept in the city, they definitely don’t equal a years time, but, November 15th marked the one year anniversary of us making the Nashville area our new home.  And I’m very happy to report that so far we are loving it here. The area is a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts and we regularly take advantage of the landscape and awesome weather by hiking, running, biking, rollerblading, etc.  So, in addition to that, here’s what we’ve been up to…

Back in August, I joined a running group at my local YMCA and have rekindled my love of the sport. I’m running longer and faster than I ever have thanks to the encouragement of the group. Consisting mostly of housewives, these women give me hope that one day I will be able to maintain my active lifestyle with kids. Don’t get me wrong, these housewives are pretty hard-core. Many of them are training for marathons and other endurance events that I don’t have the stomach for anymore, while raising kids and managing life at home. Seriously, they are amazing and probably the main reason I am enjoying the Smyrna community so much. The coach of the running group also talked me into weekly Boot Camp at a park. The first week, I was so sore I couldn’t sit down or get up without assistance.

As for my french, I’m hanging in there and trying my best to not forget.  When I returned home we were really good about talking in french all the time, but I have to admit that we’ve both gotten a bit lazy.  However, in July I found out that I did pass the DELF exam (yay!) and I almost cried tears of joy considering where I started from back in January. I have been continuing classes at the Alliance Française and will also have the opportunity to use my skills at my new job (I’ll get to that later).

Fabien is also enjoying life in Tennessee. He’s busier than ever at work after the plant started production in January. And he has been fortunate enough to be playing soccer three times a week – much to my dismay. In the Summer, his team won the Nashville Championship. Then in the fall, the team that he captains, made the comeback of the season after losing their first 2 games. They made it to the finals where Fabien lead the team to victory by scoring both goals in the 2-0 game. He was so excited and I was so excited to have a huge trophy which took up residency on the living room coffee table .

And last, but not least, since August, I have been looking for a job and am happy to report that as of last week, I have accepted an offer. The company, Schneider Electric, is french owned and I’ll be working on a team of 8 as the Marketing Communications Coordinator for their Nashville office.  Schneider is huge energy company with over 130,000 employees in 100 countries, so the new industry will give me a nice challenge.  In addition to communications and other marketing projects, I will be using my french abilities to liaise with the french expats in the office. The position really couldn’t have worked out better in terms of company, job responsibilities and future opportunities.  I’m excited to begin work on January 7th!

But of course, I am missing Michigan and France. Between the two of us, we were fortunate to travel to Michigan over 6 times this year (phew) and to France 3 times. So, because it will be a while before I do anymore major traveling, we’ve decided to spend Christmas in the warmth of the Bahamas and take a little road trip through the south. To make it even more great, 4 other friends will be joining us. And, I’ve just renewed the website for another year, so even though I will soon have a normal life, it will be my normal, which means making the best of each day and exploring as many inches of the world as possible. So, here’s to another year of kinda living in Nashville.

Happy Holidays, everyone!