J’aime Paris.

Last year, my husband and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in the city of love. I had always dreamt of taking the love of my life to Paris! We went with my sister and her husband. I was 5 months pregnant with our 4th child. It was an amazing trip, we had the time of our lives! This was my second time to the city.

The first time, I was a sophomore in college at BYU, and upon applying to the Study Abroad program, I was so excited to be accepted! After taking ballet since I was 3, and studying French for 4 years during high school, this was one of my life’s biggest dreams. Little did I know was I’d be incredibly blessed to meet 4 girls- Allison, Kristyn, Elisa, and Summer- all who had the exact dream of finding her inner Francophone as I did. We became the best of friends and shared some very amazing experiences together. The trip would not have been nearly the same without them, and I truly believe we were supposed to be in each other’s lives during those months. It was the best semester of my entire college career.

I’ve always been passionate about Paris. I love that city with all my heart. I learned so much about life when I lived there. It deeply helped define my life, my goals, and what really mattered to me. I loved learning about its history, studying the language, meeting the Parisians, appreciating the art, food, and architecture, and making memories of my very own.

When we were there last year, I literally felt like the paparazzi. I couldn’t put my camera down! Sadly, ever since coming home, I hadn’t gone through the photos that I took. So this weekend, I sat down with my computer and poured through the hundreds of photos. It was my way of paying tribute to the beautiful city of Paris. I hope you have joined the millions of people throughout the world and myself as we Pray For Paris.