one year in nice

I looked at the calendar, and suddenly realized it’s February 11! One year ago, on February 10th we arrived jet-lagged and dreary eyed to our new home in Nice. We’ve moved rentals twice since then, but we’re in the same general neighborhood. The day we arrived, we dropped our bags at our airbnb, and Neilson and I walked to the port and had inaugural moules-frites and chardonnay in the sunshine, celebrating a new spot to land for the season. I remember I started crying before dessert even came, because I had no idea what I was going to do in this new country, having just left my dance job in California, forging new community in a completely new place. There have been a lot of tears since then, and in the past year a lot has changed.

Even just writing this I can remember the feelings of dread and terror I felt when we first moved here. Did we make a mistake? Would we find friends? Would I ever dance again?

We both hit the ground running, since Neilson had races to prepare for, and I had a career to chase. I remember the first day Neilson came back from training here in Nice, he told me this is the best riding terrain he’d ever been in. And I felt like that was our first little sign of peace from God that we had done the right thing. Change is so hard, and I can’t say it comes naturally to me, but we are living in a career/lifestyle where being adaptable to change is one of the biggest keys to success. When the going gets tough, we remind ourselves that we won’t be living this way forever, and we want to take the most advantage of this opportunity while we can.

Since we’ve been here, we’ve made some really sweet friends, found a new home, done a lot of soul searching, been able to host lots of friends and family, and spent a lot of time in the sea. This next year is not as much a year of everything new, which is possibly one of the biggest breaths of fresh air we could ask for. There will still be a lot of time apart and a lot of change, but I’m already clocking summer visitors and looking forward to making travel plans with sweet friends from afar.

I say all this not because we are on the other side of change and transition, but as an encouragement to anyone else who may feel like they’re in the desert right now. Friendships take time, change is exhausting. Sometimes seeing the fruit of the seeds we are sowing will take much more time than we are comfortable with, but the end result is such a sweet springtime bloom.

xx