friends new {and old}

i remember so vividly sitting in our house in oregon back in may – we were deep in the midst of packing and sorting and readying our life for this big move, and i suddenly starting thinking about piper’s birthday. before this whole adventure came to life, i had planned on doing a ‘beauty shop’ party for piper at an adorable children’s salon in west linn. “what are we going to do for piper’s birthday?!” i asked wen in a panic. and in typical fashion, he asked if we could focus on the task at hand and cross that bridge at a more appropriate time (whatever!). well, in his defense he was probably carrying a box to the garage or the car or our storage unit (i seem to recall wen holding / carrrying / packing a box for the better part of may). AND, as piper’s birthday isn’t until november, we DID have 6 months with which to discuss and decide how to properly celebrate our little one turning FIVE.

i was sad about not bringing the whole beauty shop party to life, but i was mostly concerned with WHO we could invite to whatever german equivalent celebration i might be able to pull together. “will we have friends, do you think?” was the question swirling around in my brain.

which leads us to this past saturday, when piper and NINE of her sweet new friends joined together at the most darling little children’s cooking school in our neighborhood for a cooking party. we traded nail polish and hair bows for mixing bowls and aprons, and all in all it was the best version of a celebration that i could imagine.

the guest list was a mix of friends from school, children of my work friends and friends that wen & i have been fortunate enough to meet via happenstance. there were bubbly little conversations happening in german, english and french – and at one point my friend tauna commented how amazing it is that piper will be able to look back at her fifth birthday and recall celebrating with this incredible, eclectic group of friends. i looked around that room, at the girls laughing and squealing and baking and talking and felt overwhelming gratitude at how far we have come.

november 30 was our six-month anniversary in germany. SIX MONTHS. it truly feels like it’s only been days, maybe weeks. if i close my eyes i can literally still feel the incredible fear that took over my heart and mind upon landing at the nuremberg airport on may 30. i was instantly terrified, instantly regretting this whole thing, and praying (literally, praying) that god would show me a way to undo this whole thing. i can, of course, now smile and even laugh at those first few days – but the fear and regret were incredibly real. which makes it that much sweeter to have arrived at this place of utter thankfulness for our new life.

not to say that it’s perfectly perfect all the time. as we head into the holidays the homesickness has returned and made a little nest in my heart. i miss my family. i miss my friends from home. i even miss bridgeport village with the cheesy holiday music piped over the loudspeakers, and the long line for the santa at washington square. i miss our church; miss knowing we would celebrate and honor the day with our community of believers. i miss those cranberry bliss bars at starbucks. i miss the bustle of it all, the amazing christmas tree farm wen discovered in the hills off of scholls, finding a reason to order a batch of lisa’s chocolate peppermint cupcakes. i miss the crazy big maxey family gathering, where we all laugh and eat too much and tell the same stories year after year. I. AM. HOMESICK.

but i’m also trying to embrace (REALLY embrace) our new normal, and remain in this space of gratitude. new memories are waiting for us to find and catch them. there is NO place as christmasy as nuremberg (and this is saying a lot from someone who LIVED FOR christmas in new york for 3 years!). the christmas markets here are RIDICULOUS (more on that to come!). and the best part? we’ve already built our own beautiful circle of friends with which to celebrate here. it may not be oregon, but it’s HOME. and I. AM. THANKFUL.

wishing you all a beautiful day, surrounded by friends old and new. xo.