The Story Behind Paris

The story behind our trip to Paris is certainly an amazing one to tell and I don't think I'll ever get tired of sharing and retelling it over and over for years to come.

Last Mother's Day, May 11th, I joined a Mother's Day Giveaway sponsored by Katie Mitchell Photography. Katie Mitchell is an Australian lifestyle photographer and to commemorate Mother's Day, she was giving away a Mother & Daughter Portrait Session in Paris. Despite reading the fine print that travel expenses were not included, I proceeded to secretly join the giveaway as I had wanted to surprise Bianca to celebrate her Sweet Sixteen in our ultimate dream destination.  I told myself  that if the trip was meant to be, I would be chosen as the winner. Everything would fall into place for the trip - visas, airfare, accommodations and pocket money and the lack of all these details would not hinder me.

I kept positive from day one after submitting my entry and without even a clue if I would be chosen, I started preparing for the trip. I got our passports renewed, and secured an appointment at the French Embassy for our visa interview. Everyday I would do little things to prepare for the trip like sending our sweaters out to be dry cleaned, looking up hotels and places to stay. I even got Bianca to create an Inspiration Board of all the places we wanted to visit and all the food we wanted to eat in Paris and continued to harness positive thoughts, positive energies and most importantly positive actions.

When I received the email that my entry was chosen, I was in tears. Not in disbelief, but in sheer joy and happiness because I knew that it was finally happening and our trip to Paris would soon be a reality.

Our family and friends came together with their unwavering love and support which kept me going and kept my eyes focused on the goal all the more. One thing lead to another, overwhelmingly so, and in three weeks, Bianca and I found ourselves boarding our plane ride to The City of Light.

I just wanted to share this story with all of you who have dreams still unfulfilled. Paris has been on our bucket list since 2007 and honestly, there were times when I thought it was an impossible dream. But God's timing is always perfect. So, keep dreaming and  keep believing, because dreams really do come true.