For My Own Smile. . .

Emma and I were in the States for 5 weeks. We packed a lot of traveling into those weeks and so many memories, too! Several times during our trip I thought to myself, A camera just wouldn't do this experience justice, so I didn't even try. In addition to all my previous posts, here are a few of those experiences that made my heart smile:
*A Starbuck's Americano, a blueberry muffin and a Naked Berry Blast in the Dallas airport, upon arrival. Never mind the Naked drink cost me almost $5. Ripoff, but kind of worth it.
*Watching Emma play with a total stranger. That stranger happened to resemble Emma's grandma, who we were going to see, and that stranger was so sweet to Emma, playing with her as if she were her own. Aren't there times when it's OK to talk to complete strangers??
*Seeing my in-laws as I walked through the Kansas City airport.
*Lunch at the Cracker Barrel just hours after arriving in the U.S.
*Shopping in familiar stores while my daughter played with her grandparents.
*The peace and quiet of my in-laws' farm.
*Watching Emma run barefoot in the grass, in her swimsuit.
*Sitting on two different couches with two different college girlfriends sharing our lives.
*Dinner with the Kanes and becoming friends with their daughter Avery.
*Listening to my sister-in-law walk through the door at midnight. . . and then hearing the excitement in Marcy's voice as she realized Steve was with Maggie!
*Surprising Kevin at Jon's house in Wichita. I don't think he was all that surprised to see us, until his eyes found Steve. That was really a surprise!
*Family get-together with all the Schrags (minus Tim).
*Painting Gracie and Jada's toenails (and seeing Jody's surprise when they showed her their toes)!
*Seeing Emma play with cousins and cousins' kids.
*Hearing Marcy read to Emma.
*Rook at the Schrags.
*Shopping at WalMart. Yes, I enjoyed it.
*Coffee with Bri.
*Buying a new travel coffee mug for Kevin.
*Seeing Emma's face as she recognized the Steven's house and them.
*Hanging out with the Stevens. Every bit of it.
*Being adjusted by my favorite chiropractor and then hanging out with his wife for a bit.
*Bagel sandwiches with Julie and Kristen and the kids. The normalcy made me smile big.
*An afternoon with Jen and the kids. Picking green beans. Finger painting with the kids. Chatting on the couch while the kids napped (or pretended to nap). Catching up. Burgers. Mmm. Burgers.
*Coffee with Traci while Emma played with the kids.
*Walking through our old backyard with our neighbor Maggie. Reminiscing. Gosh, I loved that house. I loved that yard. I loved being there. I loved our neighbors too.
*An afternoon at the Willhoits. Marsha = smile for me. Terry, too. Carl, too.
*Riding with Carl around the property.
*Quizno's. Sammies. Flatbread. Yum.
*Mailing a package to China. I actually miss the post office.
*Coffee Club at Bell Park.
*Pepperoni/Mushroom pizza from Papa Murphy's. Lunch and an afternoon with Kristen while the kids played so well together. Oh, and cookie dough. Raw and baked.
*Mexican food with Terry and Marsha after Kevin came back from the QC. Dessert drinks with Ryan and Kristen while the kids (again) played so well together.
*Quick stop at the Keaton's. Always a few smiles there!
*Spending hours (and dollars) in Barnes N' Noble. Reading to Emma. Enjoying the massive amounts of English books. Yes, that's rare here.
*Driving on I-80 to Blair. Peaceful, yet fast.
*Walking to a park with Karla, Erik and the kids so the kids could play.
*Seeing Tony and LeAnn in their new home in Omaha. Sitting with LeAnn at the table. It was just familiar, and good. Unexplainably good. (Even though unexplainably isn't a word).
*Meeting Nikki in Topeka for dinner. She even drove from Lawrence to meet me. That made me feel special.
*Talking to Amy on the phone about her insanely-fast labor and delivery (55 minutes) and hearing how happy she was to meet her new son, Levi.
*Talking on my new TracPhone. 1000 minutes. My ear was burning because I was constantly calling people. Unfortunately, I didn't have any numbers with me so I could only call people whose digits I had memorized. It was wonderful though. I felt so connected!
*Being in Manhattan. Seeing campus. Sitting in what used to be Java with my brother and sister-in-law, while our girls shared a chocolate chip cookie.
*Seeing Kellie Huebner in Java - who I haven't seen for over 8 years and who just happened to be visiting from Lebanon with her husband and way-too-cute little girl. That was just fun and random.
*Seeing Grandpa on his birthday.
*Meeting little Levi.
*Seeing Emma enjoy her uncles.
*Cleaning out my dad's fridge. Yes, it makes me smile. It always made my mom smile. Maybe that's why I enjoy it. That, and I'm a clean-freak sometimes. But, seriously, how many bottles of opened mustard do two men (my dad and brother) need? And when the unidentified leftovers have a quarter-inch of green growth on the top layer, it's just time to get rid of them!
*Getting Extra gum and Cadbury chocolate eggs from Linda. She had saved them from last Easter and remembered that I liked them. Mmm.
*Banana cake at Janette's. Meeting nephew Joshua for the first time.
*Taking Alexis and Hunter out for slushies at BK.
*Playing on the playground at the school where my mom used to teach.
*Meeting my cousin Beckie for the first time, in Holyoke. I felt like we had known each other forever and we were just picking up where we had left off! She's lived in the Amazon region of Brazil for the last 28 years and shared the beginning of her story with me. She's amazing and I'm just so thankful for that visit! She and her husband just happened to be in the States the same time as me!
*Seeing my Aunt Harriett, who reminds me so much of my mom, because they were such good friends. She's pretty awesome. She's Beckie's mom, which probably explains where some of Beckie's awesomeness comes from.
*Dinner for Daniel's work (Doug, David, Daniel, Dad, Janette, Linda and all the kids).
*Running to the Y and back while at Dad's.
*Pizza party for Janette's birthday with Dairy Queen ice cream cake for dessert (thanks to Linda)!
*Watching the Fischer kids chase a mouse around their porch until the dog caught it. That was some serious action!
*Stopping in to see sister-in-law Kim in Burlington. She's known me since I was a baby!
*Burgers with the Nikkels.
*Spending a day with Lianne. Coffee. Wisdom. Good food. Honest words. Chic-Fil-A.
*Running with Lianne along the streets of Denver. First time I've ever done that! The sunset was beautiful that night. My lungs and legs were burning because of the altitude, but my heart was happy!
*Hanging out with Garrett, Alison and Ashley - no longer the little kids I used to babysit!
*All day chats with Lori. Honesty. Transparency.
*Running in Ft. Collins with Lori. Proud of my 4 miles in that altitude, but so happy to run with another sister. That was a first also. All the other times (high school) I couldn't keep up!
*Hour-long chat with Cindy during one of my drives. Wish I could have seen her too!
*Vitamin Cottage with Lori. Whipped almond butter. Rolled dates. Yum.
*Massage the day before I left the States.
*Labor Day with three other sisters.
*Making bruschetta with Jane and Lori.
*Spending the night with sister Elise in Dallas due to a delayed flight. Emma jumped on the bed with Alexandra and giggled the whole time she was with her!
*Final Starbuck's stop - a Chai Tea Latte to enjoy as we left the States.
*As I was heading to check in for our final flight from Sao Paulo to Porto Alegre, a man about my age asked if he could help me. I gratefully accepted his help because I had Emma and about 8 other pieces of luggage. He pushed my luggage as I pushed Emma. He was Brazilian but spoke very good English. As we walked, he told me that he was only going to be in Brazil for 2 days and then he had to fly back to Germany, where he was living. Short stay for such a long trip! Then he told me he was heading to see his girlfriend. I said, "Wow. She must be a really special girl for you to make such a quick, expensive trip." Then he said, "Well, I'm going to ask her to move to Germany with me, to marry me! I've never felt this way about a woman before. I'm very nervous, but I love her so much!" Awww. So sweet! So as he told me his story, I walked into the "special line", which is for the elderly, handicapped, pregnant, or women with children. He joined me and asked if he could pretend to be with me. Because he helped me with my luggage, I figured it was OK for him to take advantage of the "special line". He checked in quickly, as did I (thanks to him) and then we wished each other good luck on our trips. Now I'm kicking myself because I really want to know how his story ends! Did she say yes? Is his heart broken? Will she move to Germany? I left that encounter smiling. He was so in love and so excited to ask this woman to be his wife. It was great.
*And last, but not least, my smile was greatest when I saw my husband through the security windows at the Porto Alegre airport. He was supposed to be in meetings and I was supposed to get a taxi (with all our luggage and Emma) and meet him at the hotel. I knew it would be an effort and I figured it would take some time and patience, but I had it all planned out in my mind. When I saw him, I started crying because everything was going to be so much easier. All our travel had been delayed and I was expecting it to be another hour or two before I'd get to see him. Emma ran to him as I grabbed all our luggage. I was just smiling at how great he is.

So, those are more than a few of my memories from our trip home. I've forgotten a few and I hate that. I want to remember everything that makes me smile.