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.
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.
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!