What I Couldn't Say to Marissa at the Airport

One week ago, our teary-eyed family was driving to airport to conclude of our year hosting Marissa, our exchange student from the Netherlands.

Somewhere along the line, Marissa stopped being an exchange student to us, and become our Dutch daughter, D's big sister, our friend: family. We purposely chose a student from the Netherlands so that we could keep in contact when we go back to the Netherlands to visit Niels' family. We had hoped to return with her, but there's a very important wedding we need to attend next weekend. Our experience was so much better than we had hoped one year ago. and although I was unable to put together the words to tell Marissa what she has meant to us, although I suspect she knows.

So, one week after our family of four became a family of three, here are my sort-of coherent words of what I couldn't say to Marissa at the airport. 

1. Thank you for loving our son. 

We decided to have an exchange student with D was young so that he would hear Dutch from another native speaker. We had some concerns that a teen girl wouldn't be excited to have a little brother, but you and D bonded from the moment you met at the airport last August. 

The two of you share a love of Skyrama... 

...Little Einsteins, Tangled, and taking silly pictures. 

We LOVE that you taught him to clean toilets. 

And you also taught him that it's okay if Mommy and Daddy go out on dates sometimes! He loved his dates with you, and he misses you very much.

2. Thank you for your thoughtfulness.

Whether it was encouraging Niels and I to go on dates, hanging with D when I needed a break, working with your parents to send gifts for us for Sinterklaas and Christmas, we are grateful for your kindness. Even now that you are gone, we are reminded of your thoughtfulness each time D opens one of the gifts you left for him to help bridge the days until we see you again (two weeks!). 

You told him that I would only give him his gifts if he napped and had a happy heart that day. He's missed a few days but he misses his big sister so much, sometimes it's hard for a four-year-old to make good choices when his heart is sad. We are glad your notes and gifts to remind him of your fun times together and bring his sweet side back out. 

I would have been easy to leave D out when you were with friends or doing big kid stuff, but you always made D felt big by including him. 

Of course, my favorite memory of your thoughtfulness was when I was sick and really craved soup so you and Niels made a valiant effort to make me chicken and dumpling soup. (Next time, skip the immersion blender, no matter how fun it is to use!)

3. Thank you for being a good traveler.

We share your love of traveling. And even though being 6'2" doesn't making traveling in a sedan with a preschooler the most comfortable mode of transportation, you took it in stride and were able to see a lot of America, and even a bit of Canada!

4. Thank you for being willing to try new things. 

We are so proud of the way you dove right into to new experiences. Your host organization, CIEE, suggests that you visit your host family's place of worship at least once. You attended with us every week, leading to really cool conversations about faith. 

When you first arrived, you thought you'd ride a bike to school...until you saw how un-bike-friendly American roads can be. You were very excited about the yellow school buses like the ones you'd only seen in the movies.

You have fully embraced and joined me in my Pinterest addiction.

You have celebrated American holidays like Halloween. 

We joked that between school, your friends, and your involvement with our community events, you know more people around here than we do!

We're glad you were able to attend American weddings (and are grateful to friends and family who warmly welcomed you), watched American football, took to cooking and baking (we miss your pizza dough!) and doing your own laundry, challenged yourself to write a sonnet in English, exercised with me at the fitness center, and put together many "poozles."

4. Thank you for being you! 

It easy to see why you made so many quality friends during your time year. I think of meeting Mehak those first few hours in Ohio, when we stopped at the school for a tour before we even made it home. And your birthday party in October. Less than two months before your arrived you had more friends than you could invite to celebrate turning seventeen. Deby, Sarah, Brittany, and your other friends are all welcome to visit (or babysit!) anytime. (And so are the Romanian carolers!)

Thank you for being a willing guinea pig for my sewing adventures and graciously accepting my imperfect gifts.

We love you!

We miss you! (Please come visit!)

You are family.

With lots of love from your American mom,

Jen

Latest "Project"

Our exchange student, Marissa, arrived yesterday! We'll put projects aside for a week or so as we get settled. 

DIY Metallic Letters

Big news in the de Jong household! We're going to be parents again...to a teen girl...from the Netherlands! One of our goals for our new house was to host an exchange student. We're working with CIEE, and have been matched with a Dutch girl who seems to be a great fit for our family. She'll be arriving at the end of August and stay here throughout the school year. 

I've been having a lot of fun getting her room ready. I don't have a lot of opportunity to do girly, as I live with two boys. This is what the room looked like after I found a brand new Target lamp at a garage sale:

I was trying to think of something fun to put above the bed. I liked the idea of putting her name up, since that what we did in D's room.

I found some white letters at JoAnn's. A few of the letters were rather scuffed. I'm not a good painter, so I was trying to figure out how to pretty them up.

I remembered something I saw a few years ago at a model home. The letters of a child's name were covered in aluminum foil. I liked the idea of silver letters because of the way they reflect light and the colors in the room, but I didn't think the foil was very neat. Then I remembered that I had picked up some metallic contact paper on a clearance rack several months ago.

I wasn't sure if it would work, so I sampled with the back of a letter. I removed the protective part of the contact paper, and laid the letter down on the sticky side. Then I roughly cut around the letter. 

The contact paper attached well. I learned that any dust or say, a price tag, would make the seal uneven, so I mostly remembered to wipe each letter down first.

I used an exacto knife to cut the excess contact paper away. It was really easy once I folded down the paper around the letter.

I really like the shine and subtle texture of the contact paper.

And done!

The letters will sit inside a Ikea Ribba photo ledge. We'll hang it up once we buy her nightstand and can center the bed correctly.

I love the way the letters reflect the colors in the room.

A few more pictures of her room.

Stay tuned for more photos of this room as we add a small desk, bookshelf, and nightstand.

***Linked on House of Hepworths and Tuesday's Treasures.