And just like that, we have reached our 3 year “France-iversary”!  When we moved here we thought we’d be here exactly 3 years and that we’d be going home this December.  We are blessed to have the opportunity to stay here longer, so this will not be my last reflections post.

When we had to make the choice of staying longer, there were so many thoughts that ran through my head.  Some might think it would be crazy not to stay, and some might think there’s no way they would be able to live in another country for so long.  Well for us, we absolutely love France.  We have really enjoyed our time here and there are many things we prefer about life here vs. life in the US.  As I’ve mentioned in my previous yearly reflections, we love the food, the travel, the amount of vacation time, experiencing another culture, the healthcare, the less-materialistic lifestyle, being able to walk everywhere (especially on days like today when it is snowing and we don’t have to worry about being able to drive to the grocery store!).  We enjoy walking past the same stores and cafes every day and saying hello to the shop owners, patrons and neighbors that we see sometimes several times a day.  I could go on and on but I’ve already talked about this in previous posts.

So why wouldn’t we want to stay??   Family.  Missing family back home, feeling sad and guilty that our family isn’t getting to spend time with our children and spending holidays and birthdays alone.  It’s also hard having 2 young children and not having family around to help.  When we are sick or tired, when our kids are sick or tired, when we just really need a break we can’t call family to come over or to take the kids for a little while.  Another thing that I sometimes worry about is the effect this may have on my career, with me being out of work for 4-5 years.  However, while I may be out of work I have to hope that the experience of living abroad and learning about another culture and (somewhat) speaking another language will be an asset in my career when we return.  But in the meantime I am so thankful to spend this time at home raising my 2 kids.  And lastly, while being an expat is a wonderful and fun experience most of the time, sometimes we miss normalcy.  Normal daily life in our own country, in our own language, closer to our friends and family and with everything that is familiar to us.

In the end, we chose to take advantage of staying here as long as possible.  We will try and soak up as much of this French life as we can.  Of course when it comes time to move back to the US we will so be looking forward to reuniting with friends and family and looking for a new home to settle into with our children.  If only we could spend half of our time in France and half of our time in the US! 😉