a.'s homecoming

it's been one week since a.'s been home.  and it's been wonderful.  it's so nice to have a partner in crime and someone to just do nothing with.  so i guess you can say, it's been a great week.  

sadly, i missed a.'s homecoming.  in true following of murphy's law, our largest conference was held in san antonio the same weekend of his arrival.  to anyone else, it might seem silly that i wasn't there- and yes, the decision to miss it was hard.  when we found out about the conflict, we talked about it a lot & together decided it would be better to miss the initial hello than be forced to say goodbye a day after he came home.  

so we chose for me to go.  i spent three very long days keeping my head down and working my butt off.  meanwhile, a. started his travels across the globe and our friends planned a killer homecoming party in his honor.

the pictures are: 1) my call from san antonio to tell the gang a's homecoming information and pick-up details.  it was also when i realized it was actually happening.  honestly, i had a mental breakdown.  it was the only time i regretted our decision. 2) the party growlers 3) homecoming formation 4) katie, a. and rick 5) a happy pup 6) a sushi platter rick made for a.

the next day (the first full day a. was home), my colleagues surprised me with an early ticket home.  i wanted to keep it a surprise, but between my excitement and knowing that he probably would decide to go golfing or mountain biking for the day, i thought better of it.  so i hopped the first flight out of san antonio on monday.  miraculously, i made each and every connection & arrived to syracuse on-time.  a. was waiting for me and it was magical.  & for the first time, in 365 days, i finally felt happy.