Goodbye Party

A week before I left, Stacy hosted my goodbye party. It was hard to wrap my head around the fact that I was actually going through with this. I mean all my stuff had been in Virginia for a week now but I was still firmly in Idaho. And if you have a goodbye party than you really should leave. The morning before my goodbye party I had my hair colored and cut one last time by the best stylist - Marbella (my friend Yesenia's, younger sister).

Now for the party. Stacy did a fabulous job of organizing this wonderful get together with a lot of my wonderful friends. We had a potluck BBQ and wow, there was so much amazing food. I love BBQ's, especially when there are Costco hamburgers (yum, yum, yum!)

Photo time. Judy is Stacy's Aunt and such a creative and fun lady.

I could go on and on and on for how amazing Paul and Barb are. I just love them. It's really that simple. Barb has been the main person who has encouraged me day in and day out for the last 4 months. She has made it a point to text me throughout the day and I even got to spend a week with her in DC in October (those posts are coming soon) and I am even more excited that Paul and Barb are coming back in March!

If you received my Christmas card than this photo looks familiar. These are some of my amazing friends I made at MAF. (L-R: Becky, Kathie, Alissa, Me, Danielle, Barb, Paul, Jackie & Tracey)

And after that lovely photo they tried to attack group hug me!

The LaFee's. Chelsea and I have been through so much over the years and while we lost touch for awhile, over 2014 we worked hard getting our friendship back on track. This family means a lot to me.

I met Heidi through a friend at MAF and Heidi's mom was one of the babysitters I managed. Heidi and I attended Eagle Christian together and while we never really got to hang out to much, I was still super excited that she was able to make it to the party.

Rach! I love this girl. We have been friends since our Payless days.

Yesenia and Lionel. Another amazing couple. Yesenia is my partner in our annual bake-a-thon and Lionel always makes fun of me with my weird eating habits and random personal issues. They are also the ones who copied the cars I bought. I got a Trailblazer so they got a Trailblazer. I got a Honda and so they got a Honda. They bought a Ford Edge and now I want a Ford Edge :)

Liah loved Miss Jackie! Showing off their blue tongues from the slushy machine.

And cute little Allison Trempert showing off her blue tongue.

Taryn. This girl is amazing! She is fun and always so upbeat and positive and has been super encourage to me from a distance.

Danielle and Allison - Danielle is so cute and always happy and little Allison just loved me.

Richard and Susan. They are like parents to me. I have known them since I was 5 and they have been with me through so much. They are truly a Godly couple that I look up to.

No party is complete without a selfie! Little did Casey and I know that he would be my main source of advice on my car issues (of course there is a blog post about Bumblebee as well).

The Haveman family. Another special and amazing family. Li and I have been best of friends all our life, she is the reason I moved to Boise. I am super excited to see her and her oldest daughter this spring in DC!! 

The Coburn Family. Another amazing family that I have had the pleasure to watch grow. When Karla and I first started working together in 2006 she was a single mom. And when Karla and I were both laid off from Lithia, she was a month away from marrying Brent and now they have four adorable and very active children.

Stacy and Jackson chillin in the backyard!

Alissa and I. We are so opposite. She is super smart and I like to read picture books. She loves cheese, I think cheese is the devil. She likes weird indie movies and I like mainstream chick flicks. But we both love Target, Starbucks, sarcasm and we worked so well together and through our co-worker relationship became very close friends.

Kathie and I. I wish I could explain Kathie in a neat little box, but I can't. But what I can tell you is Kathie is authentic and trustworthy and honest. Kathie is someone you can trust with everything and you know that she will never judge you. She loves you and she helps you understand yourself more.

I felt so special that my cousin Ashley and her daughter Liah drove up from Nevada to attend my goodbye party. Saying goodbye to them was so hard.

Once inside Liah took pictures of the guests wearing her beautiful bow headband.

Becky photo bombing!

 

Ah, dear sweet Ri and Jackson. I love this girl!

Julie and Becky and they both were our first house guests in DC!

Jackie and Tracey some of the creative people behind the scenes and MAF and such fun girls to hang with!

A huge thank you to Stacy and Robert for not only hosting my goodbye party but for also letting me crash at their home for 2 weeks. Stacy and I have been the best of friends for the last 10 years, so many stories to tell - oh who am I kidding they have already been told on this blog!

Corinne is so amazing. Her and her son, Jake helped me so much with packing and moving out of my apartment.

 I love this little girl so much!

Yes, there was a slushy machine at the party! One was for the adults (red) and one was for the kids (blue).

This blog post took a lot to write (emotionally and physically - this is a long post). It reminds me again of all that I left behind in Idaho to pursue my dream of living on the east coast. But what I also realize is that while I am not hanging out with my friends everyday, we have made some adjustments with Skype, texting, phone calls and visits. My friends are my friends no matter the distance.