5 years later...

After 5 years of hard work and dedication, Andy has become a manager for E&Y. He has definitely worked hard to get where he is and continues to amaze me. He officially became a manager on October 1st. This past weekend, I was the first person to receive one of his new business cards saying, "manager". I wish I had a letter that is back in storage in Texas. Approximately 3 years ago I received a letter from one of Andy's co-workers just letting me know how much he appreciated Andy and how proud I should be of Andy. He had just been promoted to senior. In the letter his co-worker said a lot of things that I obviously already knew about my husband, but I was so touched and grateful that someone else had realized what a hard worker he is. I don't know the exact percentage, but for the big accounting firms there's a lot of employees that leave before ever making it to manager. So, this is a huge milestone for Andy.

I have always been amazed at his ability to balance work and home. Even though there are weeks that drag on with crazy, late hours, I know where Andy would rather be. He wants to be home and he's constantly apologizing for not being home. Rachel put it quite simply the other day when she was walking around the house singing "Daddy's at the office, all day long, all day long". We have been quite fortunate over in Holland with better hours. He still has his busy times, but for the majority of the year he's home by dinnertime, which is nice. When Andy does come home after a crazy, long day he still let's me talk his ear off before we head to bed. And even though Rachel is most likely asleep, he always peeks in on her.

Andy was supposed to be in Orlando this week. It's a big manager training/celebration that is held once a year for all the Americans. But of course, duty called. So, when he was asked last week to stay behind and continue to work on a project that has a deadline, he of course stayed. I am continually amazed at his commitment. So, 5 years of his career has come and gone. Who knows what the next 5 will bring. But whatever it may be I know that Andy will always excel at what he does. I am so grateful for him and for all he does for our family as a husband and father!