Day 8: I can't get no satisfaction...

... though I try, and I try.

Sorry for the random song distraction. Love me some Rolling Stones.

Anywho, today's topic is about a time in my life when I felt the most satisfied. For this moment, we have to travel back in time (about 12 years) and across the globe.

My freshmen year of high school, the district welcomed a new teacher, Ms. D. She had started her adult life in the business world and then decided to go into teaching. It was her first year and she just really made such a difference in my life. While I was blessed to have many teachers that really cared about their students, Ms. D will always have a special place in my heart.

For 3 1/2 years (I graduated high school) I saw her every school day. Early in French 1 it was clear that I was never going to master the language, but she made the class so engaging and fun that I kept at it.

Then she had the crazy idea to take a group of students to France!

For some schools, trips out of the country might not be a big deal, but for us and our school it was HUGE! Getting the school board approval, fundraising, getting passports, all the planning. It consumed probably a year of Ms. D's life and also the lives of the 8 of us that went on the trip.

My memories of that trip are so strange... some moments are so incredibly vivid that it feels like yesterday. And other chunks are so foggy that it doesn't even seem like I lived through it. We spent several days touring Paris, then several days divided up among host families, and then several more days as tourist.

My most satisfied life moment comes from our first few days in Paris, when we visited the Eiffel Tower. While the Eiffel Tower really isn't very representative of what France is, I think that it is probably the most recognized symbol of France... the place that characters in love stories dream of visiting.

The Eiffel Tower had three viewing decks at the time; I'm not sure if the system has changed since our visit. You can pay and ride an elevator straight to the top or you can save money and get some exercise and walk up stairs to the first two levels and then take the elevator to the top, which is what we did. All those stairs, all the laughter. A quick elevator ride and then we were on top of the world.

Even now typing it and reflecting, I get chills about that experience. I had just turned 18, wasn't from a real fancy family or town... I didn't really feel like anybody special. But there I was... at the top of the Eiffel Tower in freakin' Paris, France!

The feelings of accomplishment, the satisfaction of knowing I had set my mind to something and done it. At that point in my life, nothing seriously bad had happened and I had the whole world stretched out in front of me. I was unstoppable. Life was good!

That moment has stayed with me and led to my collection of Eiffel Towers (or "all that France stuff," as a 6 year old girl once commented). I even have a giant Eiffel Tower tat on my back.