Being abroad

I think the most difficult part of the year so far has been being abroad. Europe is lovely, but so different from the U.S. I knew before I made the decision to come to France that I would need to get my supplies  shipped if I was going to be here beyond a few weeks. Originally the plan was to come to France to get married, because my fiance and I were tired of being apart (For us to marry in the States we would have to be apart for 3-5 months while the visas are processed). Little did we know that getting married here is far more complicated and time consuming than we read online. The first town hall we went to the workers really were not knowledgeable on the process of a foreigner marrying a French citizen ugh. She was reading the same online info we read trying to find out what documents we needed, and when she didn't know she just said "You cant get married". Needless to say we went to another town hall where the stay was knowledgeable and nice. Unfortunately they don't give you all the info at once. We have been trying to wed since January and now we are waiting on what we hope will be the final document, then we can turn in our paperwork and wait an additional 6 weeks for a date. In the meantime I wanted to learn how to sculpt, and to finish some dolls I had been working on. The downside is custom fees are killer!! I ordered some baby clothes from JC Pennys when I arrived totaling $103 USD ($64USD for the items and the rest for shipping and handling), UPS charged me customs $49 euros when it arrived, and then sent a bill for an additional $41 euros. When we called to find out why they could not explain, they just said we had to pay or pay a fine.. SMH. Sounds like someone is stealing, custom fees are not suppose to be more than the item itself. I have emailed UPS, and I am waiting for a response. Reborning is challenging, and I adore it. But when your an artist there are a lot of hats that come with the job.. Photographer, Shopper, Accountant etc. Luckily I am going home with my fiance for a few weeks, so more babies coming soon.