I’m finally getting time to update petit à petit and though this may seem like a smorgasbord of pictures with very little explanation, I suppose it’s better than nothing. Sorry for the formatting-I can't get the pictures to stay where I want them to in the text, but oh well. The beginning photos were taken on our honeymoon in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. We spent a few days there since I had meetings in Provo shortly after. We enjoyed the beautiful mountain surroundings and one evening got fancy with our grub & grilled skewers, pineapple, and corn outside. We had a great time. A few random other things we’ve done on weekend outings include: a trip down to Las Vegas to see BYU play UNLV-the kissing picture was taken outside the Brio-a fabulous restaurant that Stephanie and Norm treated us to while we were there. They introduced us to Calamari, which is chewy squid, yet pretty yummy. Last fall we also took a jaunt out to Gardeners’ Village during the Annual Witch Festival. Next, I included a picture from Lydia’s wedding-technically it was two weeks before mine but I had to get it in here. She was a beautiful bride and her reception was perfect
for her. The ballroom dance team came and performed and her father sang the well known piece from Puccini’s “Turandot” which, in my opinion, has to be one of the most romantic songs ever created. If you’re reading this and haven’t heard it, listen to this rendition by Pavarotti:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr5vpHtJIlg . Now if that doesn’t move you, I don’t know what will. Anyway, back on track, Lydia and Andrew ran through an aisle of sparklers and lived happily ever after, or so it appears :). I had to include a picture of the moment when I finally succeeded at making Madame Julienne’s Mousse au chocolat. Believe me, it wasn’t for lack of trying that my first two
attempts went awry. I started over twice so my birthday guests could get a taste, and uncle Kenny was nice enough to say it was good. However, it was a disaster. But, I studied up the tricks (the temperature of the bowl, the temperature of the eggs, the perfect separation of whites and yolks, the percentage of cocoa in the chocolate, etc.) and on my third attempt, succeeded. It was rich and divine and I had my family all take a scoop after I took this photo to send to Mme. Julienne. Before I get too much further, I realized I hadn’t u
ploaded my last few pictures from Lille because of the rush of the wedding. So, this one I included was taken
during my last week, the day that Dr. Lebras came to evaluate me and meet my colleagues. I already described this in more detail in my “home sweet home” blog post, but this picture was taken after my farewell luncheon. I will never forget the restaurant – we walked in and I only saw two small tables; then, the waiter led us down several stairs into a neat cave with dim lights on the rock walls and tapestries hung from iron rods. Besides the unique atmosphere, most of us ordered the special which was a fabulous cut of ham with teeny tiny button mushrooms in a béchamel type sauce. Delicious doesn’t even begin to describe how good it was. Well, we came back for my evaluation with the Dean’s secretary, Cédric (far right) which went tremendously well, and before we went in, a few of us snapped this shot. To the left of me is Stephanie Lecocq, above me is Dr. Lebras, and to my right are: Rosalie Gambino, Bénédicte Lentier, Angélique Derôme, and Cédric Lepoutre. I think back on my time spent in Lille as well as my semester in Paris without fail, every single day. Those six
months are so dear to me. Oh dear, now I’m getting long winded. Continuing, I gave Gavin a pair of snowshoes for his birthday which he enjoyed and immediately tried out. We were in Yellowstone over Christmas break so we tromped right out the front door out into the woods and had a blast treading on the powder and jumping around. Now, I don’t mean to skim over the next semester entirely, it was very eventful with my second French class and finishing up my coursework, but I don’t have a whole lot of photos to document it. So, I’ll skip up to graduation which was such an exciting time! I finished my Bachelors of French Studies with an English Minor.
Then, all of my family and even some of Gavin’s joined me for a fabulous luncheon my mom put together down at Joe Vera’s, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves and I was overjoyed to have all my loved ones happily surrounding me. The day before, my mom and I had made and painted cute little graduation treat boxes to put on the tables. Finally, a few weeks ago my family went hiking to donut falls and laughed as we played games on the trail. Oh and I almost forgot! I finally found a job in an unexpected way. Gavin’s grandmother had a fall
a month ago and had to have her shoulder replaced, so, this summer I am taking care of her husband Grant. I cook, clean, and keep him company and he is a sweet little old man. I just adore taking care of him; he’s always so grateful for anything I do and is also very easy to please. If I ever find the pictures I took with my classes both semesters I’ll put them on, but for now, here’s a pretty good update on what has been going on in my life post wedding. I hope to be more consistent with my posts in the future. Signing off for tonight, -Haleigh.
for her. The ballroom dance team came and performed and her father sang the well known piece from Puccini’s “Turandot” which, in my opinion, has to be one of the most romantic songs ever created. If you’re reading this and haven’t heard it, listen to this rendition by Pavarotti: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr5vpHtJIlg . Now if that doesn’t move you, I don’t know what will. Anyway, back on track, Lydia and Andrew ran through an aisle of sparklers and lived happily ever after, or so it appears :). I had to include a picture of the moment when I finally succeeded at making Madame Julienne’s Mousse au chocolat. Believe me, it wasn’t for lack of trying that my first two 
attempts went awry. I started over twice so my birthday guests could get a taste, and uncle Kenny was nice enough to say it was good. However, it was a disaster. But, I studied up the tricks (the temperature of the bowl, the temperature of the eggs, the perfect separation of whites and yolks, the percentage of cocoa in the chocolate, etc.) and on my third attempt, succeeded. It was rich and divine and I had my family all take a scoop after I took this photo to send to Mme. Julienne. Before I get too much further, I realized I hadn’t u
ploaded my last few pictures from Lille because of the rush of the wedding. So, this one I included was taken 
during my last week, the day that Dr. Lebras came to evaluate me and meet my colleagues. I already described this in more detail in my “home sweet home” blog post, but this picture was taken after my farewell luncheon. I will never forget the restaurant – we walked in and I only saw two small tables; then, the waiter led us down several stairs into a neat cave with dim lights on the rock walls and tapestries hung from iron rods. Besides the unique atmosphere, most of us ordered the special which was a fabulous cut of ham with teeny tiny button mushrooms in a béchamel type sauce. Delicious doesn’t even begin to describe how good it was. Well, we came back for my evaluation with the Dean’s secretary, Cédric (far right) which went tremendously well, and before we went in, a few of us snapped this shot. To the left of me is Stephanie Lecocq, above me is Dr. Lebras, and to my right are: Rosalie Gambino, Bénédicte Lentier, Angélique Derôme, and Cédric Lepoutre. I think back on my time spent in Lille as well as my semester in Paris without fail, every single day. Those six 
months are so dear to me. Oh dear, now I’m getting long winded. Continuing, I gave Gavin a pair of snowshoes for his birthday which he enjoyed and immediately tried out. We were in Yellowstone over Christmas break so we tromped right out the front door out into the woods and had a blast treading on the powder and jumping around. Now, I don’t mean to skim over the next semester entirely, it was very eventful with my second French class and finishing up my coursework, but I don’t have a whole lot of photos to document it. So, I’ll skip up to graduation which was such an exciting time! I finished my Bachelors of French Studies with an English Minor. 
Then, all of my family and even some of Gavin’s joined me for a fabulous luncheon my mom put together down at Joe Vera’s, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves and I was overjoyed to have all my loved ones happily surrounding me. The day before, my mom and I had made and painted cute little graduation treat boxes to put on the tables. Finally, a few weeks ago my family went hiking to donut falls and laughed as we played games on the trail. Oh and I almost forgot! I finally found a job in an unexpected way. Gavin’s grandmother had a fall 
a month ago and had to have her shoulder replaced, so, this summer I am taking care of her husband Grant. I cook, clean, and keep him company and he is a sweet little old man. I just adore taking care of him; he’s always so grateful for anything I do and is also very easy to please. If I ever find the pictures I took with my classes both semesters I’ll put them on, but for now, here’s a pretty good update on what has been going on in my life post wedding. I hope to be more consistent with my posts in the future. Signing off for tonight, -Haleigh.
