Happy 50th Ma!

2016/01/24 by Nina 2 Comments

 

My buddy for the two days while I was hiding.

My mom turned 50 in September last year and I really wanted to surprise her. I asked my school in May if it would be okay for me to take an extra day off in October to go home and surprise my mother for her birthday. Originally, I hadn’t planned to do it, but I decided to check flight prices and direct was so cheap I decided fuck it, I’m gonna try. Granted my lovely credit card is what enabled me to be able to book the tickets, but I also received official approval from my school.

Decorating for the surprise party.

About a month or so later, I asked my sister if she was planning a surprise party. She said absolutely there would be one and I told her to push it back a week as I was coming home. My sisters and I were plotting since the summer how things would go and who we should invite. Eventually, we had to let Bruce in on the secret, because my mother wanted to buy me a plane ticket for the winter. Sorry, mom!

Sorry, Boopie, Jackie, and Gabby! ❤

My sisters and I weren’t that close when I was younger, but I think now that we live scattered around we have become a lot closer and we can pull off great feats~!  I stayed with Jackie for about two days in Long Island, and then we headed to CT to get a commemorative tattoo for our mom.  Not the gift she wanted to hear about later, but it was a great bonding experience to say the least!

My sisters, my niece, and I. 

The party went on without a hitch as I walked in with balloons in front of my face. I expected my mom to cry, but I wasn’t expecting to see my Aunt Lauren crying, too. The surprise worked, and it made the night. I had a wonderful time reconnecting with family that I haven’t seen in a year or longer.  Unfortunately, I only had about 6 days left with family after that. I spent as much time as I could with everyone to make sure I had no regrets that I didn’t spend my time wisely.

Quality time with our new dog, Bear.

I also was able to spend quality time with my best friend, Rachel. It was great to spend two days with her and the kids. I spent quality time with my niece as well and I’m sure she doesn’t quite know who I am, but that is okay.  One thing I took out of visiting home is how important it is to prioritize the people you love when you go back to see them.  More than the food and the scenery its the people.  When I lived back home I took it for granted that everyone was close by and I didn’t really cherish the time I had. When you live overseas you realize how important it is to see everyone you love. Get in those hugs and kisses. Take the silly pictures and spend the hours talking with people, even if in the past you would have cringed doing it.

My best friend, Rachel, and her kiddos.

I’m glad I made that trip home last year to see my family. It was to see my mom, but it was also for me. Seeing the people you love makes you realize how much of a blessing your loved ones are even if they are far away. Family and friends back home I love and miss you all a lot. But, I have a lot of things I want to accomplish so with that said trips home will probably be every year and a half to two years.  My mother will freak out reading that sentence, but its fine she will get over it. Instead I promise to kakao, skype, facetime and blog more! I’m already doing fantastic so I just gotta keep the ball rolling~!

Last night out. I lost the better picture, sorry family! ❤