"to our excitement"

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22to+our+excitement%22

“Contrary to our expectation”

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C21&q=“co...

"unexpectedly"

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=unexpectedly

"astonishingly"

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=astonishingly

"holy crap"

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q="holy+crap"

"Against all odds"

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=%22a...