Start spreadin' the news...

I've thought a long time about how I want to say this. I've chewed it over and over and over in my head. It's the curse of the writer, or the introvert, or maybe just me. I (thought I) had it all planned out, complete with a slightly altered rendition of Sinatra's "New York, New York" that would make Ol' Blue Eyes spin circles in his grave. But as usual, nothing compares to the truth.

B and I are moving to France. B and I are MOVING...to France. B and I are moving to FRANCE. Oh my heavens, my still-new husband and I are moving to France. It doesn't matter where you place the emphasis. It still boggles the mind.

We're being relocated for B's job, and we'll be living in Tours, smack in the heart of the Loire Valley (aka wine and chateaux country), about an hour and a half southwest of Paris by train. It's the same place we visited for a week in 2011. I immediately fell in love, but I never dreamed I'd get to come back, much less as a resident.

Like I said: doesn't matter where you put the emphasis. Still completely insane. Still boggling the mind. Still giving me (happy) heart palpitations at the mere thought of living in the land of Nutella crepes and pistachio macarons, of bicycles and baguettes, of trains and chateaux, of art and architecture, of café au lait and sparkling Vouvray. A hop, skip, and jump from my old stomping grounds in Florence, Italy. I've told B a hundred thousand times that one day I would to take him to Florence and show him around the place that changed me so much. I just didn't realize it would less than a YEAR after we got married.

And guess what? I'm bringing you all with me, too! Bookmark this blog, add me to your RSS feed, follow me on Twitter and Pinterest and everywhere else. For the sake of my Facebook friends, I'm not going to put most of my posts on my News Feed (since I plan to blog nearly ever day), so enter your email address in the box below my Author bio to stay up to date. It will deliver each new post right to your inbox - no effort required! You'll have front row seats for all of it, from the craziness of packing/moving to our new travel adventures.

Last year at this time, we figured maybe we'd be buying a house right now. Maybe. We had no idea that this was in the cards. We are beyond blessed with this amazing new adventure and opportunity, and I can't wait to share it with you. Happy new dreams, sweet readers!

P.S - A hearty and massive thanks to our family and close friends who have kept our secret while we waited (in my case, rather impatiently) for plans to finalize, especially both sets of our incredibly supportive, loving, and helpful parents. We love you all.