#14 Surprise someone

I know not everyone likes being surprised, but come on. It's so fun.

Last year a bunch of my friends surprised me after dance practice on my birthday. They were holding balloons and popped out when I turned the corner, about to walk out to what I thought was my Mom's car waiting for me in the parking lot. Instead, they took me out to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. It was simple yet meant so much to me. It took a decent amount of planning, and it showed how great of friends they truly are.

As a way of repaying my friends Leslie and Lauren for being two of the girls involved in that surprise, I decided to visit them at school without telling them beforehand.

Now, I can't go any further into this story without giving major props to my friend Madison. When I heard back in December that she had friends that go to school in Iowa a lightbulb went off in my head. Madison has friends in Iowa...she has a car...and likes to take road trips...hmm... I got a little excited. Thankfully, she is a pretty amazing friend and was more than willing to take the four hour trip north to help me put my plan into action.

Again, I have to stop and acknowledge another friend. My good friend Shannon also goes to school with Lauren and Leslie, and I couldn't have pulled this off without her. I needed at least one person to know I was going to be there so I could figure out the logistics (where we would stay, how we would meet up with the girls, etc.) and she was more than willing to help (and give us a place to sleep). She rocks.

Leslie and I right after I showed up at her door

So here's how it all went down. Madison, her roommate and I drove up to Iowa two weekends ago and dropped all of our stuff off at Shannon's dorm. Thankfully Leslie lives just a few floors above her, so Shannon knocked on her door and there I was, standing in front of Leslie with a bow on the top of my head (I was her belated birthday present).

I won't bore you with any more details, but what I want you to know is that seeing the expression on my dear friends' faces when they saw me made me the happiest I've been in months. Actually, I can't remember the last time I was that happy. It was incredible. Leslie hugged me for a solid minute and a half, looked at me, touched my face to check that I was real, and hugged me again. The same happened when I surprised Lauren, except there were screamed swear words involved and she jumped on top of me in a koala-type hug. Leslie cried. Lauren freaked. It was fantastic.

When you really care about people, it's really hard to be away from them. As obvious as this seems, I never realized the significance of this statement until I got to college. At school, I don't have any of the people I spent everyday with for eighteen years by my side. I don't get to smile and wave at them in the hallway, or sit with them at lunch. I don't get to run up to their locker and share the most recent piece of high school nonsense with them. I don't get to walk home with them and vent about all the things that are stressing me out.

I miss that. I missed my best friends, and although I spend a lot of time blogging about how important it is that out of state kids don't dwell on how far they are from their friends and family, sometimes you just have to admit that you're struggling with it. Sometimes the best cure is a hug from your best friend, and it means so much more when you know that they weren't expecting it. 

So, if you ever get the chance, plan a surprise visit to your friends' school. You may think they don't miss you as much as you miss them, but you have no idea how rewarding it is to realize that the feeling is 100% mutual the second they're back in your arms.

Leslie, Lauren, Shannon and I after the big surprise

Leslie, Shannon and I with our guy friends that I also surprised