The Surprise Going Away Halloween Party

For the past week I have been planning something very special for my best friend. It's been so hard to avoid posting about it! I put together a surprise Halloween themed Going Away party for Michaela with the help of our friends.

When I first asked her if she was available for "dinner" on Saturday, it turned out that she was also planning something that night. She had already invited people to a bonfire at her house, and was just getting ready to invite me. Instead of throwing my plans out the window, I figured we could still make it work. I told her she could still have dinner with my family beforehand, and then we'd both go back to her house together for the bonfire. 

I painted some Halloween lanterns,

Dipped some chocolate strawberries,

And decorated our living room.

I also pulled together a few presents for Michaela.

The "Memories" binder is full of 17 photo collages that I made online in 4 hours on Thursday night. The camera is a bank I found at a craft store. 

Katie came over about two hours before everyone else to help finish setting up and planning the surprise. We got everyone to park their cars reasonable distances from my house so she didn't suspect anything, and once everyone had arrived and my dad came back with the pizza, I left to get Michaela. I was so nervous and excited the whole way there and back. When I came to the closest stop sign to my house in the neighborhood, I told Michaela someone kept texting me, so I stopped and sent Katie a pre-written text to let her know that we were close. 

Once we got to my house, I told Michaela that the keypad for the garage door was broken, so we walked to the front door and knocked. Katie opened the door, hiding behind it, and Michaela stepped in to see the decorations and our friends.

Then Katie snuck up behind her and put the Halloween feather boa on her.

Once everyone gave Michaela hugs, we had our dinner and snacks and gave her presents. I love this picture of everyone gathered around the memory book and Klifton recording it.

After presents, we all played truth or dare, which turned into a dance party when Michaela was dared to dance with somebody (which turned out to be me). I was also dared at one point to sit in someone's lap while holding their leg, so this happened:

Before we left for the bonfire, we got a group picture and a hug picture:

The surprise party was a big success, and she never expected a thing. She was clueless about it until the last moment. The bonfire was also a lot of fun, as always. 

We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and talked about life and memories. 

I'm so happy that this all went so wonderfully. Everyone was so helpful with the surprise party and I'm glad we were able to give Michaela such a great last Saturday in Alabama to remember. She's going to have a wonderful time in California. I'll hopefully get to see her before she leaves on Monday, which will probably prompt another blog post, possibly entitled "I'm Even More Emotional." 

Wordy Wednesday: I'm Emotional

I was debating on not doing a Wordy Wednesday post today because this week is being kind of mean to me, but I figured I'd do it anyway. The bad part is, it's going to be sappy. So, I apologize for that.

"How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

I really didn't think I would get so emotional about this, but I've cried about 6 times in the past 3 days because it's hitting me really hard that Michaela is leaving for college on Monday. The last time I see her before she leaves will be Saturday night at her bonfire, and I probably won't see her again until Christmas time. 

I've known Michaela for 5 years. Ever since that day in science class when we were assigned to be lab partners. I knew of Michaela before then because Katie introduced us the year before, so I was happy to have a partner that I had at least spoken to once. As we sat at our lab table and waited for the teacher, Michaela put a tiny marble on the desk between us. When I say tiny, I mean literally the smallest marble I had ever seen. I was very excited about it. That marble broke the awkwardness barrier between us and our friendship instantly began to bloom. 

Soon after we became friends, we both started to take an interest in photography. After a while, however, my interest slowly dulled. Michaela continued to enjoy taking pictures and has improved so much, especially just in the past summer. She's decided to major in photography and some day set up her own business. In order to accomplish that, she's going to college all the way in California. She won scholarships that will pay for her tuition and already has a job as a local photographer's assistant secured. I'm so proud of her for pursuing her dreams, even though it means she'll be so far away from me. 

I'll be sure to blog about dinner and the bonfire and how she likes her gifts. I'm going to miss being her model and going on adventures at the creek. I hope she has a wonderful time in California and enjoys her classes and her school.