Happy Birthday Emily!!!

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Woo Hoo!! Emily is 21 years old today! Yea! .. but I am sad.. :( This is her first birthday I am not with her to enjoy. But she is having an awesome time in Europe and I am so very happy for her! :)

Emily has always been my daughter with a million dreams and plans.. so many in fact it would, at times, stress me out.. she wanted to do this and that and this and that and .. “oh by the way mom I have 25 College Plus kids coming to our house in October”..LOL..! Yea.. she has always kept me on my toes.. but oh, my, how I love her for her spunk, her determination in life, her tenacity! When she settles down on what she wants .. she is tenacious to get it.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting in 2 ½ years! She then decided she wanted to travel the world and not just for a vacation.. no, my little Miss Em.. wanted to live and work and learn and experience all she could. So she signed up on an au pair website and started getting requests from families looking for an au pair. This is something that is very common in Europe. Soon she found a family that seemed like a good fit in Denmark. In true Emily style she crammed and studied and finished up her last 2 college courses just DAYS before her flight left to Denmark. However I did breathe a sigh of relief that she had finished one goal before starting another.

She left for Denmark and after a couple of months found her host family to be unstable and I suggested maybe she should come home.. nope, she was not done with her European experience and found another family in Denmark. They literally put their current au pair on a flight home and drove to the train station and picked up Emily (au pairs get a one year visa and then must move on). Currently she is in love with her host family. They treat her so well and the children are just lovely. She is very happy there. And I am happy knowing she is in a good and stable home environment.

But boy, oh boy, do I miss my spark of energy, enthusiasm, zest for life, coffee loving daughter. She is one of those rare gems in life that you thank God for on a daily bases. She is loving, kind and so respectful of her mama and dad. She loves the Lord and is honest and trust worthy. I am beyond proud to know that she is my daughter! Homesickness for her has been an issue from time to time.. I have told her.. homesickness is not a great reason to come home.. you have experiences God wants for you to have and you need to fulfill those! One day you will be living day to day life and you need to know you experienced all that you can from this time in your life.

Here are a few recent photos of Emily and her time in Europe.. and a few with her equally awesome sister Leanne who has been with her the last few weeks and enjoying her time with her sister.. The rest of the lovely young ladies you see in the pictures are her new found au pair friends. She has met quite a few and they have wonderful time together..












 

Happy Birthday Emily!!  May this be a truly blessed year for you!  I love you!!

Comments

  1. Always LearningMay 3, 2011 at 1:37 PM

    That is beautiful...I want to be one of those rare gems that my family thanks God for! She sounds like an amazing young woman.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMay 3, 2011 at 5:44 PM

    Another story that brought tears to my eyes. And hey - they found a Starbucks! from wykate

    ReplyDelete
  3. ~JoAnn~May 3, 2011 at 11:34 PM

    Crystal~ Both of your daughters are just beautiful. My son also turned 21, his birthday was April 24th and he is also many many miles away from home, in Iraq. I know how hard it is when they are gone. Blessings to you and your family, Joann

    ReplyDelete
  4. BeanMay 5, 2011 at 6:06 AM

    Maybe it is because she is an Emily:) My youngest is an Emily, and she really keeps me on my toes too, she has loads of dreams and goals, loves to travel, is very determined, and makes things happen!

    ReplyDelete
  5. MonicaMay 8, 2011 at 5:56 AM

    What a wonderful experience for Emily.! Exciting too!

    ReplyDelete

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