... Come fly with me ...

I love that song... Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away... So fun. =) We listened to it yesterday before we had our graduation from Flight Attendant ground training. I'M DONE!!! It is a strange thing, after 24 super intense days of studying and memorizing and learning... being with people that you just met, and feeling like they're your family... then all of a sudden, it's all over. Before I get ahead of myself, let me back up.

On Sunday we finally got into the service part of our job. After 3 weeks of safety, emergency procedures, etc etc etc, we finally learned what every day will be like. The week went by fast. We were supposed to have our final announcement testing, along with our cumulative final, on the last day, before our graduation. No retests on those! Cami and Fusako both came to the hotel at different times and did awesome reviews with us. Then the best thing ever was that Cami did announcement testing with us at the hotel the night before our graduation day. We didn't have to do it then, but many of us did, and it was AWESOME to have that stress taken care of then. We were all so excited to be done. I even went in the hot tub that night, first time since we'd been there! It was so weird to think that we'd be leaving each other so soon after seeing each other day in and day out... some people I was more than ready to say goodbye to. =) Thursday morning came, and we piled on the bus with all of our luggage, went to the training center, and took our tests. Rocked it and got 100%. Sweetness. =) There was much celebrating and picture taking.


When everyone was done testing, we all went back into the classroom... anxious to hear about our domiciles. They had told us that we'd probably be really spread out... I was hoping for Denver. Cami started reading out where everyone was going, and it was crazy to see the life changes that would take place for everyone... I will be based in Chicago, along with 20 other people! So much for being spread out! 7 are going to Fresno, 5 to Milwaukee, and 2 to Tuscon.


At about noon, we went down and had our graduation ceremony - got our certificates and wings. So fun. =) Then they took us to the airport. Marck was wonderful and helped me out with my bags so I didn't have to pay a million dollars (or 3) =) to get a cart. We checked in and then went to go through boarding. Well, we were all in uniform with our IDs and everything... So we got up there to go to check in, and there was a line for normal people, and one for crewmembers on duty. We decided to follow Denise, because she knew what to do. She went through the crewmember line. We were like, um, we're not on duty! She rolled her eyes and waved us to come with her. It was funny. So nice though!

A bunch of us got to hang out in the airport, and we all kept running into each other too. We were sitting at a table after getting something to eat, and all of a sudden Amelia and Rachel start talking about Vanilla Ice. They're like, there he is! In the hat, gray shirt, all tattooed up... I was like, nuh uh... I thought they were just messing with me because I'm so gullible. Well, eventually they convinced me that it was really him, Rachel and I ran through the airport to try to find him! We were stopped by a man who asked us where the restroom is. Why would we know that??? Oh yeah... uniform. ;-) I told him where I had just seen one, but wasn't sure if there was a closer one - then Rachel said that we didn't know this airport very well. Then we continued our hunt for Vanilla Ice, and found him at Sbarro. Unfortunately, I only have a picture of his back, and it's on my cell phone, and I don't know how to upload those... Nonetheless, it was our first celebrity siting!! The rest of the afternoon, all we could think of was "Ice ice baby ding ding ding ding ding da da ding ding....." Good times. =)

Eventually we parted ways... we all left after 4pm (or were supposed to)... it was sad, but we'll see each other again.

I was super glad to get home. I didn't know if I would, because they didn't call our flight for boarding until we went and asked what was going on... Then they sent us out to the gate, where we were told to go back, because they didn't know where the pilot was. We waited and waited, and finally were called for boarding again. The FA on my flight was super nice. =) She told me that the pilot got sick, and they didn't have one on reserve in SLC so had to fly one in from Fresno. Good thing! It was nice to be able to talk with her about the job and what's ahead... should be interesting. For now, I'm enjoying a few days off before I leave for my first trip on Tuesday!