A long overdue update

Blogging is like exercising: both are addicting while you're in the rhythm, but once you slack off for a few days it's hard to get started again. Several weeks have passed since my last post, so it's probably best if I work back into it slowly. Perhaps just a snapshot of September events will suffice for today.

La rentrée - School started again for Lindsey on September 3. Although still difficult, things started off much better than last year. She has a good grasp of the basics of both the French language and culture, which helps tremendously. Our high school graduate, Lori, has also been staying busy this month by taking French lessons at a private language school and getting one-on-one art instruction from a friend from church.

Church - The ICCL also had its own rentrée this month, greeting lots of new international families and students from places like India, Japan, Peru, Colombia, England, and Sierra Leone....just to name a few. But we're also sad to be saying goodbye to people returning to their home countries. Such is life at an international church! I'm incredibly thankful to be a part of this dynamic and diverse group of people who are connected by their common faith in Jesus Christ.

Saying "au revoir" to Jennifer and Marcia

Visit from the beau-père - My wonderful father-in-law came for a 2-week visit shortly after school started. We all had a great time showing him around the beautiful city of Lyon, in addition to Geneva and Chamonix in the French Alps. Greg and his Dad journeyed to Normandy by train and visited several WWII beachheads and museums.

La langue française - Improving my French has been one of my focus areas for this month. I'm taking advantage of a couple of free conversation groups and a one-on-one language exchange. Additionally, I'm supplementing my learning with websites such as Live Mocha, DuoLingo, and TV5Monde.

Exercise - Working out is another priority activity for me. I don't go to a gym; I prefer to exercise outdoors or at home on my yoga mat. I stumbled across a great "online trainer" named Sean Vigue, who motivates me with his challenging power yoga, pilates and conditioning workouts. 

And speaking of exercise, to expand on the analogy I used in the beginning of this post, I don't want to pull a brain muscle so I think I'll stop here and pick it back up again another day!