Small Group Picnic

Our church small group had a picnic back in late March and it was so much fun!  There are 19 or 20 kids in the group (I lose count there are so many!) and there are 7 little girls under the age of 5, so Madison Claire has a blast whenever we are all together. Thank you, God for friends! Here are a few pics from the day:

The first time she picked up a caterpillar!  Love that face!

Surprise, Kate!

We've been planning a surprise party for Kate since late December.  All of us Stockampers (past and present) wanted to do something for Kate to let her know how special she was to us.  Neera, Robert, Laura & Katie flew in from out of town and all of the San Fransisco gang came out for the party Friday night.  We almost blew the surprise by being late to the restaurant!  We had to hunch down and run across the street and sprint behind Kate at the bar while Neera, Leia & Nick kept her occupied but we made it!

She was so surprised...it was really special!  The rest of the weekend, we went shopping, did a wine tasting event and had some of the most amazing food!  It was great to be able to spend time with Kate and let her know how special she is to each of us and to the organization.  It was such a special weekend and I'm just so proud of myself for pulling it off!  I talk to Kate every day and I just knew I was going to spill the beans!

When Kate's position was eliminated in December, I wanted her to know how special she was then, so I sent a message to almost everyone in the company and asked them to flood her inbox on her last day with a message with the Subject Title "Thank you, Kate!".  I told them they could say whatever they wanted in the message but that it could be to thank her, tell a funny story, or just wish her well.  I was overwhelmed by the outcome - she had over 300 messages!  I thought I would include mine here...I'm very thankful for Kate and her friendship and while I miss her at work everyday, I'm thankful to still have her in my life every day and I know that will not change!  I LOVE YOU, KATE!!

Seriously…I can’t even begin to write this message. I was tempted to just not send anything, because there is no goodbye here and I truly believe there won’t be until one of us is in the grave. But then I realized that the purpose of this email isn’t goodbye, but rather thank you. And that in and of itself is almost more overwhelming than goodbye. So…I’ve thought about some of my favorite memories (and I’m sure I’m leaving a ton of them out…but here is a start).

I can still remember the first time I met you when I did my site visit up in New York. You met me in the lobby of the hotel to ride to the project site and all I could think the whole way there was “who is this crazy person who wakes up at 4:30am to go work out everyday”. I can also still remember talking to you in the fall of 2003 about the Recruiting position. I was in an airport somewhere when we talked and even though you were new to the role as well, your passion was infectious…even then. I remember the first time I came to DC to train with you at your condo. I took a taxi to a Potbelly’s by your place and you picked me up in your Miada and I had to ride sitting on top of my suitcase. I remember one of the other times I came to DC early on and I overslept at your place and you didn’t wake me up…you just let me sleep and I was so embarrassed! You were always so kind and made me feel comfortable in those early days.

I remember listening to you on the phone with candidates and observing you in interviews and feeling like there was no way I was ever going to be able to do it as well as you did (and I still don’t). I remember those early years passing and us having some interesting experiences together – going to the NBMBAA conference, Golden Key conference, flying to Birmingham and doing interviews in that awful Sheraton, flying to Ithaca, NY to do interviews there, submitting our proposal to NACE and then being accepted and getting amazing reviews, creating a best in class campus recruiting program, struggling with our Experienced Analyst hires, fighting the perception of being in HR, toot-tooting our own horns (and rightly so!).

Somewhere in the midst of all of that, you became more than a colleague to me. You became a friend.

I remember you being with me at the airport in Madison,WI when we found out that Ryan had cancer and standing by me throughout that time. I remember you not attending our wedding (hee hee – had to get one negative in there!). I remember you giving me advice on everything from vacation destinations, to having a difficult conversation with Ryan, to how to handle challenging work conversations and candidate situations and how to confront things head on (come to think of it, you still give me advice on these things today!).

Somewhere in the midst of all of that, you became more than a friend to me. You became a best friend.

I remember talking to you the morning we found out we had been acquired, and all of the days that have transpired since then. I remember conversations about candidates, emails, leaders. I remember listening in on the Management team call when I wasn’t supposed to (hee hee :)) and you fighting to get me promoted to Manager in Huron. I remember all of the good days and bad days (of which there have been a lot) over the past 3 years with Huron. I remember being on the phone with you when I found out I was pregnant with Madison Claire – you knew even before Ryan knew. I remember you being so generous always – gift cards, night at the Ritz, clothes, anniversary gifts, and now bikes, toys & stuffed animals for the kids. I remember you supporting us and the Lighthouse – every year, even years when we didn’t participate. I remember convincing you to move back to San Francisco – and being so proud of you (and a little freaked out) when you did it!

Somewhere in the midst of all of that, you became more than a best friend to me. You became a sister to me and an aunt to my kids.

I can’t express in words how grateful I am that one day in 2002 I stumbled upon the Stockamp & Associates booth at the Career Fair. I am grateful that I did for many reasons – great company, great people, good career, good benefits, but most of all because it was through Stockamp that God would intertwine our lives and I would meet and get to know you. You have been my greatest advocate and biggest cheerleader. I trust your opinion and value your advice more than you know. You have trained me and helped mold me into who I am today and I strive to have seriously one ounce of the passion and effectiveness in my job that you have always had in yours. I cannot think of a more loyal person and friend. I’m tempted to be totally completely freaked out about what I am going to do without you here, but then I remember, that I will still talk with you and IM with you everyday….but know that it will not be the same without you.

YOU, my friend, are irreplaceable.

I love you,

Lauren

Chicago

I made a trip up to Chicago for work in late March and got to see all of my Chicago friends while I was there!  Ash and Chris moved to the suburbs of Chicago in January, so it was such a treat to get to see thier new house and spend time with them in their new city!  Ash picked me up at the airport and we had a fun day shopping and hanging out with the kids.  I woke up SUPER early to take the train into the city with Chris to be there for work on Monday. 

Annie sent me these adorable pictures of the kids while I was gone.  I love getting the pictures - and it makes me miss them so much!

That week, I was able to meet my new coordinator Natalie for the first time!  It's always fun to meet people in person after you've been working with them for a while and developed a relationship virtually.  Natalie has been such a great assistant!  So great, in fact, that I offered her a position to move over to our Campus Recruiting team as a Recruiter.  Tough for me to lose her, but it was a great opportunity for her and I'm really excited about how this will influence her carere.  It felt really great to be able to do something like that for someone else.

I spent my last night in Chicago with Heidi & Matt.  We had a great dinner in the city and then went back to thier place for the evening.  I love spending time with those 2 - there is never a dull moment!  Heidi is in interior design school and *loves* Chicago and her life with Matt!  It's so fun to see her so happy!

I was so excited to make it back home to these 2 at the end of the week!

House update

Well...the great house hunt continues.  It has been complicated lately due to "the White House".  Ryan and I came across the White House in late March.  It is unlike any of the other houses we have been looking at.  It's on 4 acres and literally has a back yard that is like a park.  The house itself is very stately - it reminds me of an old plantation home but it's been updated beautifully.  We've made 2 different offers on the house but after several counter offers, we just weren't able to get to a price we agreed upon.  BUMMER!!!  Unfortunately, when you fall in love with a house like that, it's a bit hard to move on.

While we were looking at another house, we were out in the back by the pool and I started waving my hands while talking to Madison Claire and my Tiffany ring flew off my hand and into the pool! So...here we are ring fishing!  Ryan got the skimmer and tried to fish it out of the pool.  No luck.  I ended up having to hike my dress up to my waist (fortunately I was wearing solid black bikini underwear that could have been mistaken for a bathing suit) and step down into the pool and grab the ring with my toes.  Praise the Lord I was wearing a dress that day!  Hilarious!!

Spring Break

We headed down to Destin for spring break this year.  We had a fun week relaxing, hanging out by the pool & beach, and eating.  Annie made the trip with us so she and I had some good shopping time too!  The bottom pool at One Water Place was still a little too cold for us to get in, but the top pool was heated so Madison Claire had fun playing with Ryan there.  We also got to have a last minute dinner with Aunt Debbie and Uncle Dave one night!

We decided to have a special day to celebrate Madison Claire while we were there.  We went to the Track and let her ride the kiddie rides.  She was a little nervous on the airplanes!  She was tall enough to do the go-karts so I thought that would be fun.  Unfortunately, her arms weren't quite long enough to reach the wheel so she ended up being frustrated. Maybe next time!

Trying *sooooo* hard to reach the wheel

We then went to Build A Bear - it was her first time and $60 later we left with an ugly bear, but one that she loved!  I'm not sure who had more fun - Madison Claire or Ryan!

We finished off the night with some ice cream from Kilwins - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MADISON CLAIRE!!!  WE LOVE YOU, SWEET ANGEL!

Annie's engaged!

We had all been waiting for the day when Zack would propose to Annie.  I thought for sure it was going to come at Christmas, and then New Years, and then her birthday.  When it didn't happen at any of those times, I knew it was bound to happen soon.  I got a text from Annies BFF Kathryn the night before Valentines Day asking if I could talk and I knew then that something was up!  Kathryn was calling to let me know that Zack was going to propose the next night (Valentine's day) and that he wanted Kathryn to be there so she wanted to make sure it would be okay to stay at the house.  Of course I said yes!

I went through the next day trying to keep the HUGE secret from Annie.  She mentioned that she wondered if it was going to happen that night, but really didn't think it would because they had late dinner reservations and Zack had to be back that same night.  I just agreed with her and kept up the act!

I heard from Zack around 3pm that day and he wanted to know if I could somehow get Annie out of the house around 6pm so he could come in and set up things in her room.  Turns out he wanted to propose at our house in the bonus room.  I told him I would try my best to think of a reason to get her out of the house.  We hung up and I thought about it and I just couldn't come up with a single idea of how I could ask her to leave without it being obvious!!  That was going to be right during the time when she would be getting ready for her Valentine's Day date and I was supposed to ask her to go to the store for me?  She may be my nanny, but she is FAR from "the Help".  She knows I would NEVER ask her to do something like that unless it was an absolute emergency and I couldn't figure out how to fake an emergency.  I just thought it would be too obvious. 

So...change in plans.  I called Zack and told him I'd ask Annie to help me give the kids a bath and that he could sneak in while she was in my bathroom with me.  In order to make this work, we had to stall a bit because we were waiting on Kathryn to make it into town.  Zack texted Annie and told him he had something come up and wasn't going to be here until later. Annie was certifiably PISSED.  She was storming around mad and even said "He better not be asking me to marry him tonight because my answer might be no!".  It was hilarious to witness knowing what was happening!  I said I would be pissed too (I had to make it believable afterall :)) and tried to calm her down without making it obvious. 

It came time for baths and I got word that they still weren't close.  I tried to prolong the bath and then asked Annie to blowdry Madison's hair (stalling, stalling, stalling).  I asked her to help me put Madison Claire to bed and Madison even helped with the stalling, asking to read 2 stories and just being cute talking.  I heard some noise in the hall and realized that Zack had made it and was getting things set up.  He put some things on Annie's bed and then went down to the playroom and was down on one-knee.  I had Ryan come in to finish putting Madison Claire to bed and Annie went into her bathroom to get ready.  I noticed her room and saw Zack on one knee through the crack of the bonus room door.  I ran down to tell him hi and let him know she was out.  He was so nervous I thought he might faint!  He told me that Kathryn had just gotten there so I ran downstairs and let Kathryn in.  Zack wanted both of us to be there, so we went back up to the bonus room.  It seemed like forever and Annie still hadn't come in, so I went to check on her.  She was still in her bathroom getting ready!  She hadn't even seen her room yet!  So I went back and told Zack/Kathryn and asked if they wanted me to get her in her room and Zack frantically said yes.  So back I went to Annie's bathroom and told her she should look in her room.  She went in and saw the bed and said "is he here?!  Did Zack do this?" and I said, "just read your card" and then left and went back to the bonus room. 

Before we knew it, Annie was coming in the bonus room.  She saw Zack on one knee and just cried and cried.  Zack was really sweet and Kathryn and I were just hovering in the corner not really sure what to do.  Kathryn took some pictures and I basically just hid behind her!  It was really sweet and Annie was thrilled once she realized what was happening.  At some point she said "I was SOOOOOOOO mad at you!!".  Zack knew she had been upset about him being late and was freaking out about it. 

Ryan and Madison Claire had been lying on the floor in her room looking under the door down the hallway to see it all happen and she was so confused!  I think she didn't know why Annie was crying.  It was precious.

They had to rush out to their Valentine's Dinner, so I went out and bought Annie some wedding magazine and we just sat around waiting for them to come back.  They were both on cloud nine when they came back...too cute! 

We are so excited for Annie and Zack! The date is set for June 22, 2013.

What you can learn from kids...

It's amazing what you can learn from kids.  We took Madison Claire to the mall to ride the carousel.  She was so excited to ride it and literally couldn't wait!  When we got there, she rode it once and then they let us ride it again for a second time.  I had told her she could get an ice cream cone after the carousel ride and when they started the ride for the second time, all she could talk about was the ice cream cone and she literally started crying because she wanted the ice cream cone.  I tried to tell her that she was missing out on something really fun at that moment and she needed to enjoy it.

As the words were coming out of my mouth, I was struck by how often I do the same thing.  How many times do I lose sight of the blessings of the moment in my constant search for the next good thing.  I wonder how often God must look down at me and think "stop crying...the ice cream cone is coming, but enjoy the carousel right now."