Never in a quadrazillion years would I have thought that I would have my 16th birthday in Paris.  And honestly, I never would have picked it, sounds crazy right?  Well, in my 16 years of life I have learned that life is pretty crazy.  Especially when you place it in God's hands. 

Anyway, Mom and I went into town for the day and ended up at Galleries Lafeyette, where everything is so expensive you instantly want to say "I didn't touch it!" if someone even looks at you.  It was crazy to see shops like Louis Vuitton, Dior, Chanel and Coach.  Now I am the kind of girl that normally shops at the Target clearance rack, so I didn't know what a lot of the stores were so it was also a great learning opportunity! 

Given that a man's scarf-thingy was 120 euros (see pic), I didn't buy anything.  We did enjoy looking though and found an H & M nearby, which is a lot more my speed!

After stumbling upon a marching band in front of the opera and taking some pics of the Christmas window displays we headed home for Turkish food at a nearby restaurant.  The food was amazing as always!!  So if you ever happen to be in Massy, France stop by the turkish place in Plaze de France. 

Instead of cake we got some goodies at our boulangerie (bakery).  The thing with the raspberry on top was dark chocolate with a raspberry mousse, enough said.
Finish the evening off with Despicable Me 2 and a movie with mom & dad; a pretty good 16th b-day I would say.

my new normal......

...is having a wire clothes rack instead of a dryer

...is going to the grocery store every 2 days on foot
(come rain, come sleet, come snow, or something like that)

...is having church in a different language
(getting used to this one)

...is having your neighbor above you wear high heels, 24/7
(Everyone knows how much I love heels, just not clicking above me)

...is the ads on YouTube being in French

...is really thinking if a question is really worth asking, and then trying to figure out how to ask it.

...is drinking your tea really quickly because you don't have a microwave
(and burning your tongue, a lot)  

...is scrambling for a converter to plug-in the dying computer
(it gets ugly sometimes)

...is looking through 3 whole aisles of yogurt
(I didn't know you could have that much of a variety.  I mean come on, it's yogurt)

...is trying to avoid the tidal wave caused by a bus going through a puddle at full speed
(It's just like in the movies, you are walking along and then you get hit by a tidal wave, it's quite pleasant.... )

is being able to express myself in two languages
(What?)

 ...is starting to talk and realize that you are speaking French
(I surprise myself sometimes)

...is realizing that my new normals in Burkina will stretch me and make me lean on God more than I can imagine

...is learning that my new normal isn't bad, it's just new