week 2

Another week is nearly over, and at this point I couldn't be much more excited for the weekend. This week has been quite the emotional rollercoaster as I've made it through with more than a little bit of stress. Apparently I'm not quite cut out to cope with an exam every morning followed by 10 straight hours of new information. I really haven't been a very pleasant person to be around, frazzled and frustrated.

Fortunately, it's getting better. Today was the last of 5 exams in a row, and tomorrow I can breathe easy as we play audience to guest speakers. Never before did I envision being so excited about guest speakers! After that, it's the weekend and I'm heading home for some much needed time with family and friends. I'm very ready to regain my sanity.

This week was a busy one, as we covered every imaginable emergency scenario that we may encounter in our metal tube at 40,000 feet in the sky. We fought live fires, carried out evacuations, and took a tour around the campus and the offices donning our life vests as people laughed and stared, much to our instructor's amusement. I began to get to know my group better, and felt a little less alone as I slowly made friends. I drank more coffee than I'd like to admit to, but it was probably the only thing that got me through some of the days.

Thinking back, I have no idea how I endured this last time around, with the added stress of having just moved to a foreign country. We push on and make it through, and when we do, we are privileged to have one of the greatest jobs, ever.

Just a couple more weeks.. thank goodness for Starbucks!

hitting the books, instead of the skies

Since entering the aviation world I've found that people often perceive the role of a flight attendant to be much different than it actually is. Sure, we travel the world. We serve drinks 40,000 feet in the air. We lead great lives and the majority of us absolutely love what we do and couldn't imagine doing anything else. When I tell people that I'm in the midst of 5 weeks of intense training for my new airline, I'm often met with blank stares. What on earth could you spend 5 weeks learning about?! Let me tell you... plenty!!

It may seem like this job is all about great customer service and mastering the art of smiling through sleep deprivation and rather impolite passengers. That's a huge part of it. In fact, it's ultimately our personalities that land us in this career. However, if you were to look past our impossible perkiness, you'd realize that our main priority is to ensure the safety of each and every person that steps onto the plane. We train for 5 weeks so that we know what to do in the event of an emergency. We need to know what to do in a huge variety of circumstances, from heart attacks to fires to decompressions to anaphylactic reactions. In a perfect world, we'll never have to use our training, but in the event that the worst happens, we know exactly what we are supposed to do. I'm entering the 2nd week of my 5, and I'm completely overwhelmed. I'm studying for my 2nd exam and cramming my brain with far too much information. In fact, I really shouldn't even have the time to be writing a blog about it, but I'm famous for my procrastinating ways. Having worked in the industry before, I was fully aware of what I was getting myself into, but it hasn't made it any easier. In fact, trying to forget what I've been taught to remember new procedures is proving to be a challenge. Information that was drilled into my head, I'm now being forced to block out. Emotions are running high, and I'm feeling rather stressed.

That said, I've managed to enjoy the past week amongst the chaos. My training group is great. I'm making friends and we've had a lot of fun practicing our safety demos and learning the lingo. My new airline seems great, and I'm really looking forward to taking to the skies again.

After a long week, I'd never been more excited for Friday. Having had the summer off and spent the past 2 years flying on any given day, weekends have had very little significance to me. Last night I was overcome with relief as I grabbed my Starbucks and hit the highway. I knew I should hide away in my room and study, but I couldn't. I drove to Edmonton to save myself from Ryan withdrawal. I'm writing out flash cards and kicking back enjoying the lack of lectures and waking up at 6 am. Monday will come too soon, but I'm willing to endure it for the end result... I will love my job, once it no longer consists of studying!

finally.

Ladies and gentlemen, loyal blog readers and people who got bored of reading about my unemployed life... rejoice!! We now return to our regularly scheduled flight attendant blogging!

After 3 long months of being on the ground (Okay, I did go for one flight with Ryan, but I wasn't working. And it was no Boeing.), I've returned to the life of an aviation employee. I'm working for a Canadian airline that I've admired for many years. I first applied at the age of 18, but my lack of maturity and experience didn't get me far in the hiring process. 7 years later, and here I am!

This weekend I moved from Red Deer to Calgary, settling in for what will be a long 5 weeks of rather intense training.

This morning was day 1. Let me tell you, after 3 months (to the date!) of having no responsibility, it was not easy to drag myself out of bed at such an early hour of the day. I was flustered as I read through the many emails I'd received, trying to ensure that I wasn't forgetting anything important before I left the house. I felt like a kid on the first day of school... scared and nervous. Even more terrifying was the prospect of the morning commute ahead. After a 2 year lapse of driving a car, I'm still adjusting to being back on the road, and rush hour in the big city happens to be one of my biggest fears. I'm a small town girl. When it takes me more than 15 minutes to get home, I lose my patience. When it comes to bumper to bumper traffic, I panic. To make matters worse, it happened to be pouring rain, cold, and a very yucky morning in general. I set off on my way, white-knuckled and practically hyperventilating. And you know what?? I made it. Not only did I arrive relatively stress-free, but I was also an hour early. Feeling a bit silly, I opted to stop for coffee before heading into the campus so long before the rest arrived. In Tim Horton's, I spotted a girl who looked rather familiar. She noticed me too, and it didn't take long for it to dawn on us that we'd been through the group interview together, way back in June. It was her first day as well, and she was also far too early. We agreed to walk in together to feel a little less intimidated. As it turns out, the majority of our class had already arrived.

The rest of the day was a breeze. Everyone was friendly and I'd been nervous for absolutely no reason. We spent the day learning about our new company and getting excited about the many perks of the industry. The drive home was quick and easy, and I'm feeling great about the entire situation! It's so good to be back. My heart belongs to Boeing. Well, and Ryan of course.

waiting for something interesting to happen.

I have nothing to blog about.

Life has been pretty uneventful this past week. Generally speaking, there isn't much wrong with uneventful, although it's a bit difficult for a blog addict such as myself. I want to write, I want to update you on my life... but alas, nothing is going on. I don't even have any delicious meals to brag about, because lately my diet has been made up of mainly super healthy meals. I know... how incredibly boring.

This week has consisted of killer gym sessions (my legs still hurt from Tuesday... today is Friday), unseasonably warm weather, and plenty of walks with my beloved puppies and friends.

In times like these where I can think of nothing better to do than ramble pointlessly, the only solution is to post photos. I may not be able to write on a daily basis but I almost always take at least a few photos. I once had a blog dedicated solely to photos, but I gave up updating it with the discovery of Flickr.

Anyways, there I go on rambling yet again. Come for a walk with me...

Despite the warm sunshiny days, there is no denying that autumn is fast approaching. I really do love this season, despite it's proximity to winter. I hate winter, with the exception of days spent cuddled by the fireplace sipping hot chocolate. And Christmas. Oh my goodness... I love Christmas.

My puppy Armani was born in the winter and thus has never experienced autumn and all of its crunchy yellow leaves glory. We went for a walk down by the river, and although she was a bit wary of the leaves falling around her, she seemed to enjoy herself.

In an attempt to interact with more of the human species, I met up with my friend Michaelle and her beautiful kids Layla and Alier, who happen to be my niece and nephew by default. Don't ask how that works, it just does. I love these kids and they make such gorgeous little models.

Well, that brings us to today, which is Friday! I may not currently be working (10 more days!) but I'm still very excited about the fact that the weekend is here as it brings my newly employed fiance back home for a few days! I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend! I certainly plan to!

nearest and dearest

With Ryan gone and moved away to Edmonton, I've found myself at a bit of a loss when it comes to occupying my time. With 2 weeks to go until I'm forced to return to the life of an employed person, I've got plenty of it to spare.

I've found myself taking up residence at the gym, struggling to cram in as much physical activity as possible before returning to ground school and likely succumbing to the temptations of the on-campus Starbucks. Tonight, as a break in the routine, I decided to do something different... I went for dinner... with friends.

I know what you are all thinking. Friends?! Since when?

Admittedly, I've been rather antisocial since my return from Dubai. It's so easy to get caught up in spending all of your time with your significant other. With a 4 week long road trip added to the mix, I just haven't had much time to catch up with my friends.

So tonight I ventured to my favourite sushi restaurant with my friends Rosie, Talin, and Berly. We reunited over delicious food and despite the long lapse since we'd all seen one another, we still managed to go on as though no time had passed. That's the great thing about good friends.

I might not see them often, but I really do have some of the best friends in the world. Even better, I have friends all over the world. I've met some amazing people in my travels that I'll keep in touch with for years to come. I'm hoping to even have a few special people from Dubai travel all the way to Mexico to attend my wedding. I've got friends at home who still love me even though my dreams have sent me to the other side of the world... twice. They love me for my nerdy, crazy, sometimes obnoxious self. And guess what? I love them too!

They've shared in some of the biggest moments of my life, and I can't wait for them to all be there when I marry my very best friend!

That's about enough sappiness for this evening, but I just want the people in my life to know just how much they mean to me.

up above the world so high

I think it's safe to say that Ryan and I are aviation geeks. From our rapidly expanding collection of all things airplane related to our satisfaction in spending hours parked near the airport watching planes take off and land, we most certainly meet the definition of obsessed.

2 years ago, I jetted off to Dubai to begin my career as a flight attendant. At the same time, he began working towards his private pilot's license. It was a long journey, interrupted by the reality of a full time job and trying to accumulate flying hours. Finally, this week Ryan passed his final exams and was certified a real pilot!!

I was so proud of him, and excited about the fact that he was now able to take passengers for flights. After 2 months on the ground, I was getting quite anxious to be in the sky again and tried to make this obvious with my not-too-subtle hints that I'd like to go for a ride.

The weather was in our favour and yesterday we drove out to the airport, rented a plane, took off and flew around Central Alberta. Just like that! We were flying, in a tiny little plane, and he was in full control. As if I didn't love him enough already, now he takes me flying. We were truly meant for each other.

We flew over the many places that I've called home over the years. I snapped photos and enjoyed the turbulence. It felt so good to be back. The world is better from above.

He was clearly as excited as I was, happy to be free from the limitations of a student license. After an hour flight, we landed safely back at the airport. It was an expensive date, but worth every dollar!

Brushing aside our healthy diet, we celebrated with a massive platter of deep-fried deliciousness at a new restaurant in town. We ate until we felt sick, but it was necessary for such an exciting celebration! I'm marrying a pilot!!!