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I love a good rainy day. Even though the leaves aren't changing colors and there's no crispness to the air outside, a gray skied day makes it feel like autumn. Rainy days also make me ponderous and nostalgic, which inevitably makes me think of the three months I spent in Europe. Over the past few weeks, I've had strong yearnings for Europe, France especially. In an attempt to quell these feelings, I watched "Julie and Julia" and cried. Yes, I actually cried. A) I rarely cry. B) I can count the number of times I've cried in a movie on one hand, and it's always been in some epic film like "Saving Private Ryan" or "The Lord of the Rings." To make matters worse, after watching "Julie and Julia," I started reading "My Life in France" by Julia Child (are you sensing a theme here?) and have cried multiple times while reading that, too! The only other book I've cried while reading is "Where the Red Fern Grows." Today in church when I should have been listening to the talks being given, I instead closed my eyes transported myself back to the top of El Duomo in Florence, the top of Guggishorn in Switzerland, the top of Dingle, Ireland, and the view of Paris from Montmatre. I could almost smell the scents I became accustomed to while living there-- the fresh baguettes at the local pâtisserie, the smell of the autumn air while I walked to the train station in the morning, and even the musky smell of the metro.... This should give you an idea of how high my miss-o-meter is running right now. My heart is aching for Europe. Anyone have any remedies besides a plane ticket back?


In other news, I am now 24. I am undecided on how I feel about really hitting the mid-twenties. There are so many things I want to do with my life but I think I've yet to really find my "calling." I went and saw "The Help" again with my aunt and cousin and as I watched, I envied Skeeter and Aibileen because they figured out their cause... their way to make a difference in the world. Since graduating from college and losing the direction school provided, I have yet to really discover my "cause" or "calling" or whatever you want to call it. I'm sure it'll come as I work towards figuring it out, but patience has never really been my strong suit. In the mean time, I'll dream about Europe.