Another year in the books

Well hello 2018!  I can't believe 2017 is over and done with already, but I can't say I'm sorry to see it go.  It was a rough year for me professionally - The Company restructured about 18 months ago and I'm still struggling with how I fit in to the new layout, which has led to a lot of sleepless nights and a general malaise.  I've been trying to focus on the perks of my job and how lucky I am to have made it this far in life to have work that I love - but at times it's been a struggle.

I have gotten to do some pretty cool stuff this year though -in the first quarter of 2017, I traveled to Egypt, Germany, Thailand, Japan and Poland. We spent a very romantic Easter weekend in Venice.  After that I went to the UK, Norway, South Africa and China.  Then Hungary, Japan again and Marseille/Cassis for our anniversary. 

Back to Japan for a third time in the fall (didn't realize I went there 3x this year!), where I had some free time to do some cool sightseeing in Hiroshima and Kyoto, and then it was off to Zambia followed by India.  And somehow interspersed between all of that were 4 trips to the US, which allowed me to spend some precious quality time with our newborn niece and to attend multiple family events (a bachelorette party, a wedding, a christening, etc).  I guess now looking back on it all, it's easy to see how the year went by in a flash - most of it was spent on a plane lol. 

And funnily enough, I'm writing this from Rio de Janeiro.  On the Friday before Christmas, I was asked "Is there anyway you could go to Brazil on Tuesday for three weeks?".  I was like "As in Tuesday in a few days?? Umm....let me check".   I didn't want to spend that much time apart from C (nor miss New Year's together), so I quickly asked him to see if he could get time off from work at the last minute, and here we are - ringing in a very unexpected New Year's in Rio.  Thank goodness for visa-free travel to Brazil with French passports.

It's been interesting here - Brazil is not necessarily a country I would have visited on my own, but I guess it's one more to scratch off on my map.  C will be heading home soon and then I'll be flying out to the countryside, which will likely be a whole new adventure in itself...

I don't really have any resolutions for 2018 - I just want to find some way to be happy and healthy.  And I wish you all the same!