•2:19 PM


    “Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born.” - Dale E. Turner

 

 

LANA:

 

 Our dream has been simmering for more than a decade. Today we are renewing it, taking it out of 'dream' status and upgrading it to a 'plan'. DH is going back to culinary school. In Paris. And he's taking us all with him.

 

Truth is, this would have been easier 10 years ago. Before we had two kids, three jobs and believed in not borrowing money for anything. Maybe even while we were young enough to still expect our parents to pay for it all.  

 

DH is 29, and I am 28. We may have married too young, and we may not have thought it through just how long kids tend to stick around when we started throwing caution and birth control to the wind. We might also not have realized that moving home to Minnesota 'to be near Mom and Dad just while the baby is young' is a surefire way to slip into a comfortable half-life that hazily passes until that baby is 6 years old, while also adding a second baby to the roster. 

 

Through the hometown haze, though, we've kept one eye on that plan we didn't fulfill after he graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 2004, that stint abroad to work in Michelin-starred restaurants that was postponed until... when? 

 

If not now, when? 

 

Will someone knock on our door and tell us it's now the absolute perfect time for DH to spend a year continuing his culinary education in Paris? Will we get a gift check from Great Uncle Olaf for $75,000 with a note that says, 'Take a year off on me, guys'? Well. We hope so. Fingers crossed.

 

But while we wait, we are going to pretend like that check isn't coming. (Besides, I don't think we have a Great Uncle Olaf.) We have to save a sizable amount of money before we leave - enough for our family of 4 to live for 11 months in Paris. We will apply for scholarships and grants and financial aid. We will enter contests. We will sell things. We will save. We will go without. We might beg when the police aren't looking. 

 

We do have some things going for us, though. We have God to give us wisdom on this journey. We work and plan together like pros. We have passion for our goal and for DH's craft as a chef. We're relatively young, our health is good, we have no debt, and the kids still do what we tell them to. 

 

 

Knock. Knock.

 

 

 

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4 comments:

On August 1, 2010 at 7:13 PM , Stacy said...

If anyone can do this, I know you guys can. I've watched as you guys worked 'DAVE' and became debt free. You can achieve this dream too.

On a side note: I am so jealous!! I also dream of going to Paris to study cooking. Although, not on the level your husband does. I would be doing it more as a hobby and the love of cooking then the training of a craft to use as a professional.

And one word of advice: As a military gal, let me tell you it's much more easier to move around when the kids are younger. :)

 
On August 2, 2010 at 7:34 AM , The Shindigs said...

Thanks a lot, Stacy! It's a big goal, but what else will we do if we don't do this? :)

Oh, that'd be great if you could make it there, too, Stacy. You'd be like Julia Child. You'd go for classes and end up an icon. I bet you can do it! They have so many classes at so many schools, and some are just a couple of weeks long.... :)

 
On August 2, 2010 at 5:39 PM , Tami said...

I think that is so great! And exciting! Feel free to take me with you ;) I can't wait to watch this all come about!

 
On August 2, 2010 at 5:42 PM , Stacy said...

I know! That's what I think too. When I watched Julie & Julia, I was almost in tears b/c I wanted to do that so bad! Jon bought my her cookbook and I'm in the process of collecting some Les Cruset, lol. I love cooking and I would give ANYTHING to head to Paris and attend a cooking school. If only for a week or two. How awesome would that be?!