I'll Be Home for Christmas

Winter break is finally here! As I type this, I am laying in my bed in my mom’s house and nothing has ever felt so comfortable. I am having quite the lazy morning simply because I can. The past two days have been filled with travel, reunions, and lots of excitement! As a result, I am worn out! Not only was the travel tiring, but once I got off the plane in New Jersey, I wasn’t able to rest; I had a few people to surprise!

When I booked my ticket home back in October, I set this plan into place to try to surprise my parents for the holidays. I told them that I would be home late tonight (December 23rd) when in reality I was coming in very early yesterday (the 22nd). While I don’t like to lie to my family, my dad made that impossible when he asked to be the one to pick me up from the airport. From this point on, I had to come up with more lies about my travel arrangements. Not only because of my flights, but also because I would be spending the weekend before my return in Anchorage. Had my family known this, they would have been onto the surprise. If they knew I was in town, they would’ve questioned why I wasn’t on my way home. So I had to tell some white lies which I hope I have been forgiven for. 

Once I stepped off the plane yesterday, one of my best friends, Jenna, picked me up from the airport. It was so great to see her, but it was also incredibly strange. On one hand it felt super weird to be standing there talking to her after 4 months of not seeing her, but on the other it felt like I had never left. We were able to catch up and grab breakfast before heading to my mom’s house for the first of my surprises. I had her on the phone when I walked in the door and her reaction was great. After visiting with her, I went to my dad’s house and did the exact same thing. His reaction, along with my step moms, was just what I was hoping for. I loved seeing the looks of their faces when they realized that I was actually standing in front of them. 

After enjoying a nice lunch out with my dad, stepmom, and younger brother, I headed back to NJ (my dad lives in PA) to surprise my little sister, Katie. My plan had been to pick her up from school, but the weather was a bit icky and so we changed the plans. When Katie got home from school, she was asked by my mom to come grab something from my room. I sat on my bed waiting for her to come in, and the moment she did it took all I had not to ball my eyes out. I had missed her so very much and it was great to have her back in my arms. She crawled right up on my lap and wouldn’t stop hugging me and talking about how much she missed me. It’s going to be so much harder to leave her this time than it was last time. 

While I was very tired at this point in the day, I was not finished yet. My mom, Katie, and I headed to the tree farm so I could surprise my grandpa. Oh, his reaction was just as priceless as all the others. As we sat and visited, he just kept looking over at me as if he was worried that I would disappear from where I was sitting. I couldn’t stay too long because I was going to get dinner with my best friend, Shawnee and while she was in on the surprises, I was so excited to see her.

Shawnee and I have been almost attached at the hip since kindergarten and this was the longest we’ve ever been apart. So when I finally saw her, it felt like I was being reunited with another sister. Just as with Jenna earlier in the day, it felt like I’d never left. We slipped right back into our goofy ways and went to the mall as if it was just a normal day (the whole mall thing was almost too overwhelming to handle though.. baby steps!). It was also exciting to get dinner at Applebees, which was just one of many tastes that I have missed while out in the bush.

While it was an incredibly long day in which I was running on about 3 hours of sleep and being fueled by adrenaline and caffeine, it was great to be back home. I was so excited that all of my surprises went as well as they did and that I was able to see as many people as I did on my first day back. The next few days will be filled with happy reunions, great food, and hopefully catching up on some much needed sleep. I am so happy to be back home and can’t wait to have some adventures over the next two weeks. Let’s hope the time doesn’t pass me by too quickly!