Month: February 2011

We had an awesome coffee night this past Saturday. The hosts have been friends of our since 2003. Mark and Ashley have been key connectors in our journey. When we arrived at their house on Saturday night Ashley had an incredible spread of Austrian treats. They had done so much research and worked really hard to make the night special. We got the opportunity to share our story with 4 families that evening and we left there feeling more encouraged than when we arrived! We could clearly see how God had orchestrated the people who were in attendance. After we were done telling our story, the couples there asked us if they could pray over us. We had the opportunity to sit and listen to them bring our names before our Savior. The prayers were so personal and heartfelt and it was a beautiful act of worship. Thanks so much Mark and Ashley for hosting. It’s such a blessing to call you both friends!

 

This past Friday, Ellison and Ian had the daddy daughter dance at her school. These seem to be growing in popularity these days and I’m really glad that her school jumped on the bandwagon. As with any special day for a girl, the first decision was…..the dress! We searched at all of our normal spots but couldn’t really find anything that looks special but was still fit for a little girl. We finally found one at Marshall’s and Ellison really loved it. The next step was to find some shoes which we picked up at Target!

For a few weeks leading up to the dance Ellison kept wondering exactly when it was coming. On the actual day of, she was nearly counting down the hours till Daddy got home. All day she kept saying is “is it almost midnight”, which I’m guessing she equates with Cinderella and the ball. When the time finally arrived, she was dressed and ready to go as soon as Ian walked in the door.

First they were off to dinner where they met some of her classmates and their dads. When that was over she and Ian went to the actual dance where I hear they danced the night away. Ellison said that her favorite part of the daddy daughter dance was spending time with her daddy and Ian says it was watching her dance care free with all of her friends.

Here are some pictures of them before the big night.

Two Thursdays ago, I got the best surprise! I went in to work in training mode ready to work with Kelsey my sweet replacement and within 10 minutes of us talking, 3 of my coworkers kidnapped me. They would give nothing away, they just told me to get into the car. I was so excited because UpStreet peeps know how to party! Also I am a big fan of surprises so I was trying to appear calm on the outside but was jumping up and down on the inside.

We all loaded up in the car and headed away from work and pulled into Summer Nails!! I absolutely love getting my nails done. If I ever get some extra cash, it’s one of the first stops on the list. Nothing says lady to me like pretty nails. So… we get out of the car and Sarah opened the door to reveal a NAIL PARTY! There were streamers, balloons, coffee and muffins and every sweet face that has been a part of my life for the past 5 years. These UpStreet women have walked with me through so many ups and downs and just looking around at each of them and remembering all that we shared was honestly quite emotional.

I finally picked out a color with the help of my friend Kathy and off to the chair I went. While talking to my nail techs and telling them about why I was leaving, one of them busted out with some German! What are the odds of a Vietnemese nail guy talking to you in German about going to live in Austria. Apparently pretty good if you live in Alpharetta!

The mani/pedi began and I was having a great time talking to everyone and laughing. As it neared lunchtime I felt a little sad honestly that the party had to stop because I knew that the majority of them had to go to a meeting at noon. I was planning in my mind what I was going to do and how I could squeeze in some more work to get Kelsey trained. Just about that time, in walks my man. I immediately began to cry. Not sure why I think I was just so happy that he could share in this moment with me. Then I thought oh how perfect they told him we were here and now HE can take me to lunch!

But….it was about to be so much better than that! The big announcement came. “We have arranged for you and Ian to go to stay at the W in Buckhead and for you to enjoy dinner at Pacci . We’ve made arrangements for your kids so all you have to do is go.” I was hysterically happy! I mean seriously. Ian and I have not had a night away together since last April. And the thought of sleeping without the buzz of a baby monitor….So incredible. A meal without telling someone to sit down or stop doing something…divine!

We walk out of the salon and there are our uh-mazing friends family Joy and Marcel waiting to trade cars with us so that they could step in and take over for us at home while we got a night away to play. It was honestly the BEST GIFT EVER. So thoughtful and just what we needed. We thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. It was one heck of a good-bye party and an amazing gift that I will treasure forever.