Happy birthday, Murika!

Well, internet people, I made it back to my beloved homeland in one piece and have been enjoying this, the 235 anniversary of our country, the American way - with hotdogs and hamburgers, of course!

All in all, my flight back went swimmingly. But the best part of my 2 day trip came at the very end. After the 3 hour train ride to Munich (during which I lost my German phone). After the 20 hour lay over in Amsterdam (more on that later). After the 9 hour transatlantic flight. And especially after the 2 hours it took to get through the ridiculous process that is customs at the Atlanta airport. The best part was waiting for me at the top of the stairs heading to baggage claim. 
 
But first let's back up.
 
See, the whole week leading up to my arrival, while arranging the pick up with my mom she kept saying things like "well, I'll be there, your dad might come, but I'll definitely be there." or "We'll probably come in to meet you." And if you know my mom at all, these reactions came as a bit of a shock in place of the expected "I'm sending your dad, I'll see you when you get back" or "we're just going to pull around outside, come out when you've got your stuff." I even told Gemma, by these responses, it sounded like my mom really missed me! 

So on Friday night around 10pm (you know, only 2 hours after landing) when I reached the top of the escalator to the arrivals hall, I didn't find my parents, but a group of very familiar voices and signs both exclaiming things like "Welcome home, Emily!" and "Go America!" A group of my friends had gathered at the airport for my pick up, to my complete surprise! Suddenly my mom's unusual affection made sense - she was just covering for them. It was very exciting to have an entire welcome crew :) 

So this whole time I was thinking there was no way this return could live up to Christmas when I surprised my parents, but this time, it was me who got the surprise!