My last trip out of Chicago...

Crew Support stuck to their pattern this month of not calling me the day before or the day after my scheduled days off, so that was wonderful! I did get a call from them late Friday afternoon, to schedule my moving days. Moving again? Yes. I got a transfer to Tucson, Arizona. I'm excited, and at the same time I've been having mixed feelings about it, but the goal was to be out of Chicago before the winter hit. I didn't expect it to happen so soon (hence the mixed feelings), but if I didn't accept the transfer I'd definitely be stuck here through the beginning of next year, and pretty much I think I'd die. =) I don't do snow, unless I can sit inside and watch it sitting next to the fire and drinking hot chocolate. Then I like it! Anyway, Monica from Crew Support called me and said I could have July 30 - August 2 or July 31 - August 3 as my moving days, and I picked the latter. Wow, less than a week till I'd had to move. Before I went to bed that evening, just before midnight, I checked my schedule online, and they had scheduled me a 3 day trip starting the next morning with a 5:15am report time. There wasn't much sleeping that night!

Overall, a fun trip with a great crew! I was on the CRJ 200, our 50 passenger airplane, so I was the only Flight Attendant. I had the same Captain the whole time, but we had three different First Officers throughout the trip! Some highlights from the trip...

Day One
- Not having to wait ten years for the train to come! =) That's always nice, especially on a weekend.
- We spent our first night at the Holiday Inn in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Not a thrilling place to be, but not bad either. Fortunately, both pilots wanted to walk around and see what there was to see. We grabbed a bite to eat at an Irish pub and then in the afternoon went down to see the Sioux Falls, the reason for the name of the town.
- Bryan, our first FO, greatly impressed me with his knowledge of world geography and even PNG!!! He asked if I'd lived in Port Moresby, and if I flew on AirNiugini... I don't think I've ever met anyone not associated with PNG who knew about AirNiugini!
- Finally, a good night's rest! Without the fear of missing a call from Crew Support early in the morning. =)

Day Two
- An 8:00 show time!
- We flew to Denver, where we had two hours. Bryan left us, and I had a nice time chatting with Eric, the Captain, and listening to his theories on how to rid PNG of crime =) (after I told him why my parents are not there now). I also got to call up Kathy, my dad's cousin, who lives in Denver, and caught up with her a little bit. Hopefully one day I'll stay in Denver long enough to see her!
- Dave, our new FO, met up with us at the gate and we flew to Rapid City, South Dakota. What do you do in Rapid City? Mount Rushmore! Eric had arranged to rent a car. His girlfriend met up with us, and the four of us drove to see the carved faces. It was a beautiful day, and we got a great view of it! (Last time I went to Mt. Rushmore, it was foggy and if we were lucky, we could see an eye or a nose for a second when the clouds moved.) After Rushmore we drove to Deadwood, home of Wild Bill Hickok.
- Since Eric and Alix were hanging out, Dave and I got to chat a bit... Before he was a pilot, he was a bass player in a band! They got to hang out and go on tours with bigger groups and travel a lot. Next week, Dave has 7 days off so he's going down to Sydney! Someday... =)
- We got back to the hotel, and I was super tired, but decided that I needed to go down to the gym for at least a little bit. While I was in there, I was talking to a guy and came to find out that he is a former NFL player with the New Orleans Saints... He's retired because of a quad injury sustained in a game against the Chicago Bears. I felt bad that I didn't recognize him, so I didn't ask him his name... Now the curiosity is killing me!

Day Three
- On our plane from Rapid City to Chicago, the beverage cart's brake wasn't working... so I got to do my service the old school way, and took drink orders and then walked them out. Good thing it was a longer flight! After I finished my service, I was talking with the guy in 1C. He was on his way to Budapest, just to go and explore. He said something about going cliff jumping! Definitely a thrill seeker. He had about an hour layover in Chicago, and asked where was a good place to get breakfast. I told him about my favorite spot, Burrito Beach, and he said a breakfast burrito sounded great. We chatted some more and he asked how much time I had between flights... we only had about 20 minutes before we had to get to our next plane and do security checks and stuff. He said he wished I could join him for breakfast - it would have been fun! I would have liked to hear more about his travels, experiences, adventures... Oh well!
- We did a Milwaukee turn, then a Birmingham turn (for that one, Dave left us and we picked up Franklin, an FO who's only been flying a month!). I had the neediest passengers ever on the way to Birmingham, and a full flight. The highlight of that flight, though, was the Indian ladies who offered me some of their Indian food! We really hadn't stopped since 5:30 that morning, and it was already about 2:30pm, so I was glad for something besides a piece of fruit in my tummy! =)

I got home at about 7pm, sooo happy to be home and see my roomies! I was exhausted though, but had to start thinking about how to move to Arizona in the next couple of days. I booked a flight to Long Beach, then we watched a movie and I fell asleep. Today I've been packing and Kindl and I have been hanging out at home. Sad last day in Chicago. I feel like I should go out! Maybe we will later.

Back to the packing...

Long Beach, we have an evacuation

More adventures getting back to Chicago yesterday! I went home for my days off this week, and had decided to take the morning jetBlue flight back to Chicago so I wouldn't get in at midnight again. Dad took me to Long Beach Airport and I checked in around 8:00 for the 10:35 flight... and then was told the flight was delayed until 12:30 because of (drumroll please)... weather in Chicago! There's a shocker. So instead of getting breakfast at the restaurant at the airport we decided to go to IHOP... mmm... I got the yummy Garden Scramble and Harvest Grain 'N' Nuts pancakes, my new fave item on their menu. Then we went home to hang out for awhile before going back to catch the flight.

My phone rang, and it was Jason calling (thanks again Jason!!!) from LAX, where he was watching the news, where they were reporting that Long Beach Airport was being evacuated because of a possible "bomb"! (Long Beach airport evacuated in scare) Yes, small, quiet LGB that's so easy to travel in and out of and where nothing happens. I started checking United and American flights out of Orange County and LA, but all were packed and oversold... So I called jetBlue to talk to a reservation agent, and while chatting with her about the situation she received an email to say they were opening the airport back up! We drove over and there were packs of people hanging out on the grass and sidewalks... I walked over to some police officers (there were packs of them as well) and they said airport employees were being let back in. Love the uniform! It was crazy, because they were making everyone go back through security, so they filtered people by flight. Finally they let the Chicago people through, then I played the waiting game to see if I'd actually be able to get on! Well, God continues to be faithful and I even got a seat (as opposed to having to sit in the jumpseat) and eventually made it back to my place in Chicago. Before midnight this time!! =)

Being home was nice... I love sleeping in my own bed. We were delayed getting out of Chicago when I flew home on Monday, and then were stuck on the tarmac for half an hour after we landed. But Mom, Dad, and Bogey were there to pick me up! I was ravenously hungry and had a delicious chicken caesar salad when we got to the house. Slept GREAT! The time there is always too short... But I am thankful that I can fly home for free and that I can see Mom & Dad often. I miss them. Tuesday I just hung out and did some errands, then Mom and I met up with Aunt Sharon for dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen. She was back in California from Hawaii, looking all bronzed! =) I'm glad that we got to catch up with her. After we got home, Jenni called us and said she wanted to stop by! That was a nice surprise because when I had talked to her earlier she'd said that we probably wouldn't be able to get together at all this time. Jenni, Mom, Dad & I went to our favorite spot, Golden Spoon (affectionately known as GS) =) for some frozen yogurt. After that I went over to Starbucks to say hi to Mandie and see who else was there. I miss my Starbucks people!

Wednesday was pretty chill... Dad and I went to breakfast at Coco's before he had to go to work. After lunch I met up with B at Starbucks... I love Bethany! We were in the same dorm in college - neighbours for the first two years - then B, Este, Crystal and I moved to the Tropicana (off campus apartments) and B and I shared a room. It was refreshing talking with her!! It always feels like that though... but soo good to catch up. After Mom came home from work, we went to Trader Joe's and then WalMart, where I ran into Nicole, a friend of mine that I worked with at Starbucks! I love it when stuff like that happens. I hadn't been able to see her because she only works at Starbucks on the weekends, so another good few minutes of catching up a bit. Then we were in line to check out, and talking about visiting Larry and Dawn (I also worked with Larry at Starbucks) when Larry called! He was at WalMart too and had run into Nicole who told him she'd seen me and Mom... so even more catching up!

I am finding that even though I don't necessarily "do" much of anything when I travel lately, it is wonderful just to see people and be with them... whether it's helping them move, going grocery shopping with them, or running errands... I just like it.

Em tasol... till next time!

Marry Me, Fly for Free!

I got a 6:00 wake up call on Saturday for a day trip. I got there at 7:30, surprising my crew who weren't expecting me until 8:00. Like I've said before, even though I have two hours to get there, it's just easier to get there as soon as possible... not easier for me, but it helps the rest of the day not to be thrown off for everyone else. I was joining up with a Salt Lake City based crew, because one of the FA's had woken up throwing up that morning. They were fun!! We did a Cedar Rapids turn, then a Wichita turn, so it was nice to do more than just one round trip for a change! The Captain was super nice and the whole crew was awesome. I have been extremely fortunate to work with decent people on my trips so far.

I was the FA up front, so Shambray did the announcements and I did the demos. While I was getting the demo equip't ready, the passenger briefing card felt a little thicker than usual... I opened it up to find a sign taped inside that said "Marry Me, Fly for Free"... I cracked up! Turns out my Captain had put it in there, and he was like, "how did you find it??!" I told him it felt thicker... he didn't think so. Apparently one FA said she smelled the marker when he tried it on her. He told me to ask Shambray about the time they flew together on the CRJ 200 (where there is only one FA). Turns out he had taped that sign on the back of her beverage cart, so while she was going down the aisle to do her service, people could see it. Someone finally told her it was on there, otherwise she would have had no idea!!

We got back and they called the other FA, who said she was feeling better and would join up with them for the rest of the trip. I was glad she felt better but bummed I couldn't continue on with them, they were cool. They invited me to have pizza with them that night but I found out Crew Support scheduled me for a turn with an early report time Sunday morning so I skipped out on that and came home and slept.

Sunday I had a horrible time getting to the airport... had to wait almost 30 minutes for the train, then the train was going no more than 10 miles an hour (no joke). I wondered if I would even get there. It's never taken me more than an hour from my front door to our crew lounge, and I'd given myself an hour and a half. Well, by the grace of God I got there and wasn't late. We were going to Des Moines, Iowa, and I saw that we were out of the C concourse, which is a hike from our crew lounge... and since it was so early, the shuttle wasn't running. Fortunately, I met up with Daravy, the other FA on the trip with me (it was only her second trip - so that was unusual for me to fly with someone who's been out of training for less time than I have!). We got our exercise in and chatted along the way. She was cool to work with, and after our turn we were sitting at the airport on ready reserve until 3:00 so we got to hang out some more. Going to Des Moines I met an Australian couple who are now living in America, but turns out they were ministering in PNG for a couple of years in the late 70's. That was awesome! Had a good chat with them.

Well, I have to back up now to Friday, the beautiful day I had to relax and get caught up on rest. Kelsey and Hope Scott were coming into Chicago for a short layover, and Kim, their mom, had written to me saying that maybe I could meet up with them. We were hoping I could surprise them but Kim hadn't told me where they were coming in from... I ended up finding Kelsey's phone number and got ahold of her right before their plane left from Baltimore. It was too bad it couldn't be a surprise but at least I got the right flight details and found them ok! It was so fun to see them again!! They were on their way to an MK Re-Entry seminar in Buffalo. We grabbed a bite to eat and got to spend about an hour and a half together before they caught their next flight.

Today I am just chilling at home (my place in Chicago, that is) and hoping not to be called out for a trip. I have the next three days off, so am going to try to fly home to California tonight. Can't wait!

Dallas

For my 3 days off this past week, I decided to fly to Dallas to visit Bethany and Nate. About time! I hadn't been to Dallas since their wedding almost exactly 3 years ago (besides my brief layover there at the beginning of the month). I was on call on Monday, and didn't get called by 4pm. By then I was at the airport, assuming that they wouldn't call me. I listed on a flight to Dallas on American Airlines, since we have a sweet agreement with them, and hoped that I could get on. It's always uncertain (I was gonna say it was "up in the air"... but yeah). I was number 24 on the standby list, and there was another lady on standby ahead of me who had been trying to get on a flight to Dallas since 6am!! Sooo I had no idea what would happen, and waited. Everyone ahead of me got on... then they called my name and gave me a boarding pass. When I went to board the plane I told the flight attendant where I was sitting, and he said, "not bad." Well, "not bad" turned out to be amazing. I was in the first row of business class in the aisle, on a 737. I had a big fluffy pillow and a nice thick blanket... none of those thin blue blankets or tiny pillows you get in economy! I had more levers and buttons on my chair than I knew what to do with. It was great. One of the flight attendants came and chatted with me for a bit, then hooked me up with some headphones so I could watch a movie (I had my own screen in my armrest). It was a beautiful flight.

I got to DFW, and eventually connected with Nate and Beth. They took me to one of their favorite taco places, Taco Cabana, and it was super duper yummy. After dinner we went to their house. I love it! It was so fun (and kinda weird) to finally see their place... I say weird because being married and having your own house seems like such a grown up thing... but they are married... =) and we are past our mid-20's. I guess part of it is because I don't have my own house and I just now started a job that pays more than minimum wage. Good stuff. The other thing too is that I've never lived anywhere where you could pay less on a house payment than you would to rent an apartment, which is the case for Nate and Beth. Anyway! All that to say, it was great being able to visit them in their house.

We didn't do anything terribly unusual or exciting, but it was nice to just be with them. On Tuesday Beth and I went to the store because she had a bunch of groceries and house stuff to get. Jason came over and had dinner with us that night, and we all went and walked around the harbor of the lake afterwards. I hadn't seen Jason since Nate and Beth's wedding in 2004. We got to talk through a few things that I think we've both been thinking about for the last couple of years, and I was thankful for that.

Wednesday we went and had lunch with Beth's parents at a delicious sandwich place called Sandwackers. Jason came and brought his roommate, Johnny Walker with him. We had good times catching up over lunch and then some more when Beth and I drove over to the SIL center to see who we would see. We ran into a couple of different people that had been in PNG, and that's always awesome. Afterwards we went to Beth's brother David's place. He has a new wife and a new tiny baby! Crazy!

Thursday was a looooong day. Understatement. =) I checked the flight loads earlier, and it looked ok for me to get on a direct flight from Dallas to Chicago on American. Beth and I left the house at 6am to give plenty of time for me to get back. I checked in when we got to the airport at 7:00... then tried to get on a flight until 1:00. No luck. I was number 60 on the standby list. It just so happens that American had canceled 4 flights the night before because of "weather." And it very well could have been... you never know about Chicago. Close to noon, I was starting to get concerned. I was sitting next to a lady and her two kids, also trying to get to Chicago. She said the same thing had happened when they tried to get to Dallas a couple days before. In their case, they had to come back and try again the next day before they finally got on.

Anyway, while we were sitting there waiting, I saw a man who looked familiar... turns out it was Dr. Tony Evans, one of my favorite speakers. The church he pastors, Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, is an amazing place. While I was in Dallas during the summer of 2000, I went there every week... Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings... could NOT wait to go to church. Awesome worship, solid teaching, and just good stuff. Sadly, it's the only time I have ever been at the point where I couldn't wait for Sunday (or Wednesday night) to roll around. I have always felt so at home there. So it was a surprise to see Dr. Evans and his wife at DFW. At first I wondered if they were one of the many trying to get to Chicago, but soon saw that they were flying first class to Charlotte, NC.

Back to trying to get back to Chicago. I had been trying to figure out where I could connect through to get to Chicago, and not much was working out. Finally I saw that there was a flight to Orange County leaving in half an hour, so thought I could try to get on that, somehow get to Long Beach, and fly JetBlue back to Chicago. I called up Dad, my hero of the day, and asked if he could pick me up if I could get a flight into Orange County. He said of course he would! Next I had to see if I could get on JetBlue... and wouldn't ya know it, their systems were down when I tried to call. So I called Dad and gave him the info, and asked if he could call them for me. Which he did. =) The flight attendants on my flight to OC were so sweet, and hooked me up with food and extra drinks. Said that had to take care of "family," me being a fellow flight attendant. They encouraged me and took great care of me.

When we got in, Dad met me and we got on the 405 to go to Long Beach. I checked in, number 15 on the standby list and the ticket agent said there were 15 empty seats, so I should be good. Dad and I went upstairs to the restaurant and got a bite to eat and hung out for awhile. That was awesome!!! It was a long, insane day, but that was the best part of it. We got chicken caesar salads and got a sweet airport employee discount to go with them.

Our plane ended up being an hour late leaving Long Beach, because it was late coming in from Chicago... then I got to wait for the train... then I finally got to my stop. I took a taxi home instead of walking, at the request of Mom and Dad, and that was fine with me. I probably would have fallen over before I got to my place, I was so exhausted! I got to my bed just before 2am, and was on call starting at 4am. It was the biggest blessing that they didn't call me the next day, as you can imagine!!! I slept, rested, relaxed, it was wonderful! Got a call bright and early the next morning... but that's another story. =)

The Windy City

I finally got to see downtown Chicago! Before I get into that, let me back up. I got back into Chicago late on the 6th, and the 7th was my birthday... Didn't do anything special, but that was alright, since I got to be at home the three days before, and had a super time there. =) I did have to work - I had a standup, which means reduced rest, which means you get paid during the little sleep you get. We went to Lincoln, Nebraska and stayed at the Holiday Inn, which I really like. The best part was that they gave us some brekkie in the morning, even though it was super early. Got back to my apartment at about 8:30 Sunday morning, laid down to take a little nap, and woke up about 20 till 10, just in time to get dressed and walk to the church around the corner to check out their 10am service. It was alright - I went again yesterday to give it another try. It's good stuff but I don't really feel like it "fits." But it's close, and it's solid, and there is diversity and lots of friendly people. Slept for much of the rest of the afternoon... it was beautiful. =)

Monday I was back on call, and didn't get called. I had Tuesday and Wednesday off, so Monday night I flew up to Milwaukee to see the girls. There are 4 girls from my training who are based there, and since Milwaukee is close and the flights were free, I thought, why not? There ended up being cancellations and major delays, but I got there! Jess and G-Love (Gerard) picked me up and we went back to Jess and Steph's new apartment. It was a crazy couple of days moving and shopping but fun to see everyone!

While I was in Milwaukee, Jason (my friend who is a flight attendant out of Colorado Springs) text messaged me and said he had layovers in Chicago, and that we should hang out. So on Wednesday night, we met up at the train station and headed on downtown for some dinner and fun. It was really neat to be in the big city, especially with all the huge buildings and lights at night. We walked around a bit, then found Pizzeria Uno, home of the original deep dish pizza. It was amazing. I hadn't eaten pizza in forever anyway, but wow, this was probably the best pizza I've ever had. Delicious, tasty, fresh, and not greasy. THANKS JASON! =) After dinner and some really good conversation, we walked off somma those calories and explored the city a little. It was so pretty at night with all the lights, and my highlight of the night was seeing the train (you know, like in the movies)... I know, it's the simple things! Jason humored me and pretended like he was excited about the train too. =) While we were walking Jason saw a huge light above the street beaming down, and said they must be making a movie. When we went to check it out, we spotted a City of Gotham Sanitation truck... the new Batman movie! Couldn't see much, but another little thrill. We walked around some more then headed to the train to go home. Jason was awesome and walked me home... got to bed around 2am. It was the most fun I've had in Chicago so far. Definitely good times!!! Lucky for me, I didn't get called the next day, and Jason didn't have to report until 2pm. I was soo thankful for the sleep. =)

Friday morning I got a 4:15am wake up call from Crew Support, for a 5:15am show for a Dayton turn. The guy that called was cool about it though, and said that even though the show was 5:15 I had two hours to get there (which I know, but a lot of the time they try to pressure you to get there earlier). I told him that it takes me an hour to get to the crew lounge from my front door, but I'd be there as soon as I could. I jammed and got there by 5:40. There were a couple awesome things that morning. I checked online to see who I was flying with so I could find them, and saw that I was on the 700 working with Dauna from my training! I was way excited about that. Also saw that I was flying with Chad again, the FO from Australia. On my way to the train I called Dauna and asked her if she could grab my manual out of my locker. I let her know what was up (she'd been called for the trip at 6pm the night before) and she said she'd get on the plane and do all the security and first flight of the day checks. When I got through security, I called Crew Support to check in. I talked to the same guy who had called me, and he was surprised that I was there already. The gate agent was happy that I was there already, the pilots were happy that I got there when I did, and since I got there a couple minutes before they were supposed to board, the passengers didn't know the difference. I said hi to my crew, put my stuff away, and thanked Dauna for doing all the grunt work while I was getting there. It was just one of those feel good things to be able to get there and not have to cause a delay. We flew to Dayton and back, and were done! Everything was good - I was the lav keeper, i.e. the aft flight attendant. On the way back, when I made my Welcome announcement, the guy in 17B said something that cracked me up, and I had a hard time keeping going with it. You gotta have fun with those sometimes right? After our trip, I got to hang out with Dauna at the airport for the rest of the day since we were on ready reserve (where you sit at the airport in case they need you, and if they call, you have to be able to be on the plane within 20 minutes). RollsRoyce was there, and I saw Marcky right before we were off to go home.

Friday night I went to hang out at the Pavillion with RollsRoyce and Toni, that was a lot of fun!! We were tired but decided to go down to the Cabana Bar and hang out. Not too long after we got down there this guy Sam from India offered to buy us drinks. We hung out, talked with him and some others that were there. It was alright, better than doing nothing! I don't know about the other ladies, but I'm getting kinda tired of guys giving me their numbers, or asking me for mine... Definitely have a collection. Soo if you're looking for a guy to hang out with in Chicago, let me know! I got the hook-ups! ;-)

We all had standups Saturday night, so knew we wouldn't be called during the day. We slept in and then watched Music & Lyrics - so cute! In the afternoon I went back home, then up to the airport. I was supposed to meet up with Laura Foxworth off of her flight from London, coming back from her 10 year class reunion in Switzerland. I ran around the airport for an hour and a half but never found her. =(

Reported for my trip at 8pm, then went to the F concourse to find my crew to Charleston, West Virginia. My Captain was pretty cool, and the FO was a younger guy. In the morning when I went out of my room at the hotel, I walked into the hall and heard PARTY LIKE A ROCKSTAR blasting! I listened and heard that it was coming from the FO's room. He didn't strike me as someone who would listen to Shop Boyz. =) We were delayed getting out of Charleston because United oversold us by 5 people, and no one would volunteer to get off the flight. While we were waiting we jammed out to our Captain's ipod over the loudspeaker. Fun stuff. Everyone was hyper about making their connections when they finally were able to board - not our fault! I got to try to keep them calm... I was glad to be done Sunday morning! And that brings me back to being back in Chicago and going to church. More to come...

Home for the 4th...

Surprisingly, I got the 4th, 5th, and 6th of July off... 3 days in a row + public holiday + my b'day on the 7th = home! On Tuesday night (the 3rd) I flew a Dayton turn, and then was going to try to get on a flight to LA that night at 10:30. On our flight from Dayton to Chicago, we had 4 extra passengers that weren't originally on the manifest (for a grand total of 7!). They said they were going to Chicago to connect to a flight to LA. I told them I was going to try to get on that flight as well, and the mom of the family bursted my bubble totally and informed me that they got the last seats. I was way bummed to hear that, but went to the gate to check it out anyway. Not only did I get on, but there were several empty seats on the plane. I was in the exit row, empty seat next to me, tons of room. It was beautiful. The FA making all the announcements was British and it made me nostalgic to listen to him. =) Mom picked me up and I was soooo happy to see her. Although having said that, I've never not been happy to see my mom. She is just awesome.

On the 4th we just hung out... in the afternoon we went and picked up Maria and she came and had dinner with us. Mi amamas long lukim em gen!!! We watched the fireworks and the dogs got all fired up, it was great. =) Abi was supposed to come over for dinner... We didn't know where he was and couldn't get ahold of him... Eventually Hope talked to him and found out that he wasn't feeling well so stayed at home in bed. But it was really weird for Abi not to come and not to call or anything, and also not answer his phone. Despite that disappointment, dinner was super yummy - fajitas, corn on the cob, steak, chips & guacamole... mmmm... I miss fresh homemade food! Oh, and how could I forget, that Mom and I had Golden Spoon around lunchtime! I miss that too.

The next day I got to see Jane! Mom and I did some errands then went and met up with her. She's in California for the summer doing a leadership course. I love being able to catch up with people. That night Dad had to do a mystery shop at the Cheesecake Factory in Brea, so that's where we had my "b'day dinner."Abi made my day and met us there. We had a delicious dinner, mine was made complete with a strawberry martini... don't know if I'll ever hear the end of it from Dad (because he's 57 and has never had a martini... plus it was so expensive). I needed a drink though! Things have been insane. After dinner we all went to The Block and watched Ratatouille... so cute!

Friday was a kinda whatever day... Mom did take me to The Coffee Bean and I got an iced mocha, so refreshing. I love the bitterness of the chocolate and coffee together... sugar free and decaf, of course =) We had lunch at the Soupplantation, my favorite restaurant, and Jason and Jenni both came, which was awesome! Seriously, this job is going to make me see friends more than I did before, because it has to be purposeful since it can't just be whenever anymore.

I miss being home in a lot of ways, but there are some dramas that I'm happy to be without. Two people that I miss a lot are Chris and Abi. Whatcha gonna do?

And on go the adventures...

First Trips

Continued from the previous post...

They wanted me to show at 7:20, which was obviously only an hour and 20 minutes, and they have to give us two hours. I told them I'd do what I could... I jammed and got to the crew lounge at 7:15, found my FO, and we headed out to our plane. Natalie was there already, and she told me to take my time and not let them rush us. We got stuff going, boarded, and headed to DFW. I was the FWD Flight Attendant, which meant First Class. It was cool, because the Sunday before, I did a turn to Norfolk with Christina, who was awesome and patient and helped me feel more comfortable with being on the 700. After DFW we went to DEN then Birmingham, Alabama for the night. That was interesting, because halfway there, the pilots called and said we'd have to head back to Denver because our radar equipment wasn't working. Fun fun. The cool thing was, though, that all our passengers were so cool about it. Many were frustrated, I'm sure, but no one complained at us about the situation. They got things taken care of pretty quickly in Denver, and when we finally got to Birmingham, people thanked the pilots as they were getting off for making sure everyone was safe.

That night we stayed at the DoubleTree Hotel, across the street from a Subway where I got a deliciouso club sandwich. You know what's interesting about my experiences with this job is the attention I've gotten from guys. I don't expect it and it really throws me off. After I got my sandwich I went outside and was waiting to cross the street, and this guy started talking to me... he asked me if I wanted some company tonight... someone to talk to... I told him I was going to go and call my mom. =)

The next day we flew back to DEN, then to Nashville, Tennessee where we stayed at the DoubleTree again, but the rooms were way nicer! We got the hook-ups!

In Nashville, I decided to take the hotel shuttle to the Opry Mills Mall, and check out the Grand Ole Opry Hotel. Pretty cool! The mall was an outlet mall, so I walked through that and down to the hotel. The hotel is kinda a historical thing, with an island in the middle of it and a river around the island. You could take a boat ride (reminded me of the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland) around the river and get a tour, but it was more than I wanted to pay, so I just walked around. I went back to the mall to get something to eat before the shuttle picked me up again, and these guys tried to sell me a phone... then they tried to get me to go hang out with them that night... they seemed really nice, but still, they were strangers. Didn't Mom say not to talk to strangers?? Then, waiting for the shuttle, another guy came up and talked to me and gave me his number in case I wanted to go out for drinks! Oh yeah, then there was the guy on the train... Shoot. I don't get what is up with these guys. If I was in uniform... MAYBE... but no... just weird. Boys will be boys, I guess!

The next day we flew back to DEN, then Bozeman, Montana, and finally back to Chi-town. I was so happy to finally get a trip that was longer than just a turn! It helped me get more into it... Can be crazy, but it's fun stuff.