Full trip to Paris!

It sure has been a while since I last posted! I have been wanting to write for a while, but it is hard to find time to just sit down in quiet and do that~

We have been back from Europe for a week now . . . and I still don't have everything unpacked! All the clothes are washed and put away but A LOT of the trinkets and gifts are still packed!  We got back on a Saturday and then were back to work on Monday.

I am working on getting the pictures put together so I can post them . . . but from two different cameras and an iPad, it's a little more work.  I will share a few sneak peaks today though just so you can see the beginnings of the adventures we went on.

This trip was a complete dream come true for me. I can not believe how blessed I am to have been able to go to such amazing places and see such history first hand!

In Paris we got to see the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Arc de Triumph, the Catacombs, and Notre Dame

The Eiffel Tower at night!

The front of the Louvre!

The Mona Lisa!

Notre Dame!

And the Catacombs . . .

Our first day in PARIS!

I still can't believe that we are here! Paris! WOW!

We got in about 6am on Sunday morning. I had a plan to get to the apartment we were staying at, unload everything and then go to the market that is a block away and stock up on food for the next few days. However, that didn't happen. It was early Sunday morning in Paris  . . . nothing was open! I didn't even think about that!

Well with us Deatons, plans always change . . . we changed into some warmer clothes and headed off to explore! I knew we were close to the Eiffel tower, so off we walked. It took us about ten minutes to get there. We turned the corner, and BAM! there it was!

I could not believe we were standing there, looking at the Eiffel Tower! The girls were squealing and I was just standing there with my mouth open in disbelief .

The weather in Paris is quite cold right now but we toughed it out! We walked across the River Seine and hiked up the insane amounts of stairs to get to the "2nd floor" of the tower. The view was insane! :)

We did a bit of shopping while we were up there and got some gifts for some family that had said they wanted something from Paris.

From there, we made the trek back down to the ground. The sun started coming out at that point and it sure felt wonderful! :)

After that amazing adventure, we started our walk back home.

Our first day in Paris was amazing! Today, I believe we are planning on going to the Louvre and I am not sure what else!!! Keep checking in and I will keep updating!!!!! :) WOOOOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!

I REALLY CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                       Right before I went into the OR


I can not believe it has been one year since I had my first surgery and was told they got all of the cancer and it hadn't spread!!!!!!

                                               (This is right after I came out of recovery)

What a journey this has been! I have learned so much about myself in this last year. So much about other people, and so much about human nature.
I still wonder all of the time why I was chosen to stay on this earth while so many others don't get this chance. I feel like I have had a 2nd shot at life!

I want to strive every day to be better than I was the day before. To make sure the people that are around me know how much I love them.

I am getting better with accepting what is now my new sense of normal. There are things that I can't do yet . . . yoga poses that I can't do, things I can't lift or pull (like myself) and for a long time, every time I would try and I couldn't, I would become extremely frustrated.  I have come to accept that things will come back in time. It has only been one year.

I am so happy to be back with my family again!

ONE YEAR CANCER FREE!!!!!!

I just need to be done . . .

My drive home . . . One of those "Jakarta Days"

Driving in Jakarta is never without it's own adventures!
That being said, I thought I would let you all know how my drive home was today.
I take a shuttle home from work. Normally, I will just listen to music and play on my iPad, but today I looked out the window. I wish I could have taken pictures of what I saw, but honestly I was just too overwhelmed.

When we left the embassy things were as normal as a Jakarta ride home can be . . .

Then I looked out the window and saw a guy walk up to a tree, that was on the median and started to pee. He didn't care that there were hundreds and hundreds of people around, he just had to pee. That I have seen a lot here in Jakarta but usually they are on the side of the road and peeing on a wall or something with their backs to the majority of people. Sadly, you kind of get used to it, but this was different. He didn't care. He didn't care about where he was or who was around. It broke my heart. It felt like he had no pride for his country, for who he was, and where he was from.

At that point, I didn't really want to look outside anymore. I just wanted to keep my head down and go to my "happy place". That lasted for about 5 minutes until I was jolted forward. When I looked up, I saw a guy on a motorcycle cutting between us (a big bus) and ANOTHER big bus. Our bumper could not have been more than an inch from this guy. He didn't care, he just kept on going cause the point is to be ahead of everyone else.
The traffic here is AWFUL. COMPLETELY AWFUL. There are lines on the roads dividing lanes, but they are not used. The INSANE amount of motorcycles overwhelm you. There have been many times where I just feel completely surrounded by them, and I am!

This is not an exaggeration. Some days it might be better than this at times, but mostly, it's pretty jam packed. Motorcycles will weave in and out of traffic, squeeze (and I mean SQUEEZE) between cars just so they can get a couple of inches further.

About half way home, the bus went to make a right hand turn onto a street. He was blocked by another bus (the city bus) who couldn't wait their turn so they pushed through both oncoming lanes of traffic. Mind you, the bus was PACKED. 

This is one of the busses. It is in pretty good shape compared to most of the ones that you see driving around the city.

The topper of the trip was when I saw something that looked a lot like this .  . 

Right next to the piles and piles of trash, there was this sign . . . 

It looked as if there had been a demonstration held that day, and the people that were there got fed. There were white cardboard boxes COVERING the street and the sidewalk. I would have to say at least 2 blocks were like this. Everyone that was there just threw their garbage on the street. Wait, I take that back, they didn't throw their garbage, they just dropped it where they stood.  I got so very angry!!!!!

I don't understand how people that claim to have so much pride in themselves and in their country don't see this as wrong.  Why is it ok here for people to just pee wherever they want? Why doesn't anyone think it is a good idea to follow ANY traffic rules whatsoever? WHY do they think it is acceptable to leave their rubbish wherever they want?

Let me make VERY clear that I am not speaking of ALL Indonesians. There are many many people here that care about their home, and want nothing more than to take care of it. The sad thing is, they are outnumbered 10-1 by the ones that just don't give a shit. 

And the results are in . . .

According to the oncologist here in Singapore I am still cancer free! Woohoo! I am anemic so need to watch out for that, and she said it wouldn't be bad if I ate some chicken every once in a while. I do have enlarged lymph nodes under both arms (enlarged but still quite small) and she said that is a very common reaction from the body because of the implants. She would like me to come back in 3 months however and have another ultrasound done just to keep an eye on them and make sure they are not getting any bigger.

So with all this good news . . . why am I still feeling gutted? Oh I know why . . .  The hospital that I had to go to is a private hospital here in Singapore. That means that I had to pay EVERYTHING out of pocket and then put in a claim to our insurance. Every time I had to pull out my credit card, I just kept thinking . . .  this is the money that I have been saving for Europe. This is what I have been working so hard for . . .  and it is just getting lower and lower every second. Yes I know it will be reimbursed (well most of it I hope) but I am pretty darn sure it wont be before we go to Europe.  I know, I know, first world problems . . .  I get that. It is just that this trip is a DREAM COME TRUE for me and a trip of a lifetime for me and my family. I don't want anything to hinder that . . .  not at all . . .

Ok, I feel better now that I got that out! THANK GOD there is still no cancer in my body!!!!! At least I will be going to Europe knowing I am healthy!!!!!

Thank you to everyone for your encouragement during this past year. It has for sure had it's up's and downs, but knowing that through this blog I have been encouraging other people around the world makes it all worth while!

Big Month

So, it has almost been one year since I got the phone call that said "Lizzy, I'm sorry to tell you but

 it IS in fact breast cancer" I got that call on Feb 9, 2012. My husband told me, "Lizzy, if they

 come back and tell you that it is cancer, when you get back here, we are going to Paris and

 Greece.

These are the top two places on my bucket list.  Well, twice, we tried and just couldn't put things

 together enough to make the trip work. It has now been almost exactly one year, and the tickets

 just got booked today!

 

I am beyond excited! This is going to be a trip of a lifetime! My girls are going to get to see such

 amazing places and are going to see world history first hand!

 

I can't wait! We are leaving on the 16th of March. I am glad about that, because that means we

 will arrive in Paris on March 17th, which is the day my dad suddenly passed away. That has been

 a very hard day for me these past years, and along with the sad memories I have for that day, I

 will be able to add some amazing memories also!

 

We are going to Paris from the 17th-20th of March, Rome from the 20-24th, Athens from the 24-

25th, and Santorini from the 25th-30th.  If anyone has any travel tips, web sites, blogs, lists,

 anything .. . pass them my way. I want to be as prepared for this trip as I can be :)

 

 

Wahoo!

Lizzy