Surprise!

Happy New Year! As many of you probably already know, I was secretly busy in November and December raising money through crowd sourcing to come home and surprise Dave for New Years. We were talking in November about how much we hated not to be able to see each other for the holidays, and I said, "I wish I could just get 1,000 people to give me ten dollars!" And he laughed and said, "If anyone could, it's you." Then he completely forgot about it, but I became a madwoman. I sent out messages to everyone who knew us explaining the situation and as politely as possible explaining my idea. The crazy thing is...it worked! He had no idea that all of our friends knew I was coming home and were helping me with coordinating schedules, money, and rides. It is probably one of my proudest achievements that I managed to pull it all off from another continent. I wish you could put those kinds of things on a resume! I feel so blessed to have such supportive friends! It was an incredible experience that I will never forget, as was surprising him.

I left my apartment in Paris practically skipping down the sidewalk, in my head singing "I'm going to America!" My suitcase was chock full of French goodies for my friends in California to try. I had a flight from Charles de Gaulle to Dallas. I had a long but good flight, having knocked myself out with French cold medicine because my sinuses had been horrible before I left, and I didn't want them to hurt from the pressure of take off and landing. Getting back to the States in Texas was a little embarrassing. There was a promotional video playing with sights of America, and inspirational type music playing. I was adjusting my luggage at baggage claim when I felt a warm furry thing bump my leg. I said "Hey, buddy!" to the Beagle staring dolefully up at me. Then I realized he didn't want to be my friend, he was pointing my bag out to a customs worker! She asked me if I had any produce and I had a momentary panic before I realized I had grabbed my leftover apples before leaving, and had planned to eat them but they gave us so much food on the plane that I forgot. Merde. So, I had to go to Agriculture and surrender my dangerous French apples.

Then, I had to go through security again. I was worried they'd make me go through the new nudey scanners, but luckily I got sent through the other line. I was gathering my stuff when I heard a security worker ask the guy next to me, "Is this your pink cup?"

I looked up, dreading what I was about to see. It was my purple water bottle. You'd think someone who works for the TSA would need to have better descriptive skills. I reluctantly raised my hand, "It's mine."

He looked down his nose at me and said, "You'll need to come with me." He shook the water bottle at me. "This tested positive for explosives." Double Merde. I had had my French cold medicine in the water bottle. What the heck is in that stuff, anyway?!

So, I got patted down by a very nice elderly female TSA worker, who complimented my sweater. How nice. Turns out I'm not a terrorist, so they let me go.

So for the next part of the plan: my flight from Dallas to LA. I had no working cell phone because my U.S. phone is shut off for the next few months. I had to find my roommate, Oley when he got off his flight two hours after I got into LAX, and then we'd find our ride together. I arrived at LAX completely bedraggled and exhausted. At this point it was a full twenty four hours since I had left my Paris apartment, humming to myself about going to America. I was a mess. I managed to wait the two hours for Oley's flight without falling asleep. I waited as his flight arrived, and people started streaming by. And waited. And waited. Finally I accepted that he wasn't coming, and asked someone who looked nice if I could use their cell phone. I reached Patty, our ride, who said, "I've been waiting for you to call! Oley missed his connection in Salt Lake City; he's not going to make it to LA tonight." Triple Merde. I could have been home already! I found out later that my friend Lauren was keeping tabs on me, and tried to call LAX to tell me what was happening. They never did page me, we think because they thought it was a prank. You see, her last name is Houston. "I need you to page Kelly Boston and have her call Lauren Houston...I'm aware that both of our last names are cities, but this is serious," did not go over well at the airport. Go figure! Ha!

Finding Patty was a nightmare with LAX holiday traffic and no cell phone, but we finally managed to find each other and got the Hell out of Dodge. Needless to say, I slept well that night.

The next day, I had to take Oley's car to pick him up at 10, and then Dave was due in at 11. After almost 5 months of not driving, plus the fact that it was LA driving in the rain, I was a little nervous. Made it just fine, and then played the waiting game. I waited in our room, and when he landed I got this:

Just landed back in la. Not sure if you'll get this, but I love you so much and can't tell you how badly I miss you. Hope you made it to Brittany safe and sound. Have a great time babe. Enjoy your travels. Love you.

I had told him I was in Brittany with the family I babysit for...muahahaha. He really had no idea I was on the same continent, let alone in our apartment! This only increased my excitement. Our friend Bethany got in at the same time and coordinated rides, so she was texting me with updates as he got closer and closer to home. I got more and more nervous the closer that they got, until I was practically shaking. Then, I got the "Hereeeeeeee :) :)" message, and about lost it. I adjusted the red bow I was wearing (I was his Christmas present, after all), and got ready. I heard the front door open, and my heart sped up. Finally, our bedroom door opened, and he walked in. And then immediately jumped back like he saw a ghost. Which I found out later, was actually his first thought when he saw me, hahahaha. I went up and gave him a hug, and his heart was pounding. I had to sit him down, he was so shocked! Once I explained everything, he was still completely floored but extremely happy. I had to prove that it wasn't a dream several times that day. :)

After that, we just made the most of our time together and with our friends in Palm Springs. Our friends planned an amazing celebration for New Years, but still understood our need for "stolen moments" as it got dubbed anytime we kissed or anything...hahahaha. I love our friends. Here are some pictures of our fabulous NYE weekend:

Group shot.

Stolen moment. :D

View from back of the house...unbelievable.

On the red carpet, entering the party.

Jocelyn, the bartender.

Leaving was harder than I could have possibly imagined after being with Dave again, but it was a great refresher of how it feels to be together. That and I got to confirm that I still want to live in LA, and I really do. So now my focus is on improving my French as much as possible, passing my tests this summer, and working on my transition to being a real person in LA. :) I love Paris and I am enjoying my time here, but my heart is in California.