A Christmas Holiday in 3 Parts: Act III

Well, here we are. The last week in the States.

We spent the night with my grandparents again in East Point, watching football, and sleeping late. They bought us breakfast Monday at Cracker Barrell. GRITS.

That night, we continued our tradition of Farm Burger with Katie and Gabe Mick in Buckhead. I just love the story of my friendship with Katie. We found each other on this random roommate search engine in early 2005 while preparing to start at the University of Georgia in the Fall. We met randomly in person at the Laser Show at Stone Mountain, decided we would be roommates, and then lived together for exactly 4 months before I quit UGA and moved to Florida. Now, any normal person would expect us not to be friends anymore. But Katie stuck with me, and we visited each other every year, either in Suwanee or Florida or New Orleans, and were in each other's weddings. I am so so lucky to call her friend. And BONUS, Gabe and Clay get along.

Tuesday, we had dinner with Brent and Kate and CORA! The last time we saw them was our last night in Georgia at our last Braves game before we moved to Scotland. It was so great reconnecting with them, and they gave us hope for when we eventually become parents (whenever that may be in the distant future).

Wednesday we had ANOTHER great burger at Five Guys with Mr. Dad, and then went to Bethlehem to see Mels and Manda and get my hair cut. Nothing like some good sister time and a much-needed haircut.

Thursday, we had some lunch and then saw Josh Stewart, who is still alive, and has a job, a dog and a girlfriend. But he's still the same grumpy old man.

Friday, Sam and I drove to McDonough to see Kellie. Now, these two are another of my favorite friend stories. I met Sam at church in 2003 and she introduced me to Kellie. Somehow, we all stayed friends despite me moving to UGA, then to Florida, then to Nola, then to SCOTLAND! But they are a testament to how blessed I am to have friends who communicate better than I do. Sadly, there were no pictures taken. But here's a throwback so you get the idea.

Friday night was like high school all over again. We got besties Jeff and Clay back together, we ate some Krispy Kremes, we went by the Elam's, and spent the night with the Ritchies. Our last full day in the States started with Chick-fil-A breakfast and Mario Kart. We couldn't ask for more perfect friends.

Saturday night, we had the traditional Rowe family dinner (plus a Turner!) and then it was church Sunday, back to East Point to all-too-briefly see my Aunt Joni and Aunt Robin, and then head back to Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta Baby Girl International Airport. Oh, but not before Melody made me cry, as I'm getting in the car, so then I was weeping uncontrollably at the international terminal while hugging my grandparents and saying goodbye. As I thanked them for everything they had done for us for this trip, my Granama held my hands and said, "Carmen. God is taking care of you." How true.

I was taking funny pictures to try to stop crying.
Clay was not impressed.

We got business class again on the way back to Scotland, and I COULD say that nothing eventful happened... except around 10pm EST/3am GBT, CLAY NOTICED TIM HOWARD ON OUR FLIGHT BEHIND ME IN BUSINESS CLASS. I noticed him too, but not because I knew who he was, but because he had a long, homeless looking beard and I was hoping that Clay wouldn't get any ideas. When we landed in Manchester around 8am, Clay grabbed me and whispered, "TIM HOWARD IS WALKING BEHIND YOUUUUUU!" so I sneakily took photos of them walking together like they were best friends. Clay was ecstatic. We had a cuppa before catching the trains back to St A.

Oh, you know. Clay and his new best friend Tim Howard walking together.

Clay looks like he just saw a murder.

Getting off the plane this time around felt completely different. We knew where we were going, how to get there, and we weren't terrified of people finding out we were Americans. All in all, a good three weeks, but we were happy to be back to real life...

TAKE HIS BRAIN!

Carm