Life, As I Know It...

grounded and grumpy.

2012-01-18T10:24:00.004-07:00

Lately, I've had nothing exciting to share with you lovely folks. Nothing. On days like today, when there is a windchill factor of -46°C, I'm fortunate that I have no place to be and no reason to leave the house. Today I'm content staying under my thick fuzzy blanket, sipping chai tea and watching countless episodes of Say Yes to The Dress.

Let me tell you, today is a rare day. As much as I love being home, I'm feeling the need to get out. I need adventure. I need excitement. I need to work.

So you ask, why is it the 18th of January and I've yet to fly? Well, that's a tricky question. You see, I'm all for living life to the fullest. I follow my dreams. For me, that means spending a year backpacking Australia and Southeast Asia, only to move to Dubai just over a year later. Until recently, my globetrotting ways have only brought great things to me.

My current job requires me to obtain a pass to access restricted areas in airports for security reasons. Fair enough. Back in September I filled out the forms, went to the pass office, got my fingerprints and photo taken, and was issued a temporary pass until the permanent one came in. I waited.... and waited. I knew that living in other countries would delay my permanent pass more than it would for a person who'd spent their entire lives in the same city. I was patient. And then earlier this month, I was informed that my application had been denied. What?! Why?! I didn't understand. I still don't understand. I was given the right to appeal the decision and provide more proof that I was actually where I claimed to be and believe you me, I was not going to go down without a fight. I gathered up remnants of my life in Dubai. Anything that had my address on it, they'd be sent. At present time, there is nothing I can do but wait for police records from the United Arab Emirates and Australia to say "Hey, it's me! I lived here and did absolutely nothing wrong!".

In the meantime, no pass equals no flying. I'm grounded. I'm bored. I've got no place to be and nothing to do. My life consists of cleaning the house, going to the gym, sleeping and doing it all over again. Yeah, sure, it's great to be home... but not every day. I'll never be a housewife. I can't cook. Ask Ryan, my attempt at baking yesterday turned into ugly pancake-like cookies. I try to keep the house clean, but I get far more fulfillment in going to work and getting a paycheque to help contribute to important things... you know, like the mortgage. My patience is gone and I feel terrible for my poor fiancé, because I'm certain that I'm not a very pleasant person to be around during this ordeal.

So, that's how my year is shaping up so far. With no flights and no life, my list of things to blog about is dwindling... but bear with me. As soon as I'm back in the skies, I'll find great entertaining things to tell you all!

Project 366, Leap Year!

2012-01-15T00:27:00.006-07:00

Lately I've lacked the inspiration for blog posts. You see, between fighting for my airport security pass and facing an unknown amount of ground time, there really hasn't been much excitement around the house. I wake up, I laze around the house, I work my butt off at the gym, and that's a typical day in the life of me as of late.

I do, however, chronicle a little bit of each and every day through photography. Way back in 2009 I successfully completed a challenge known as "Project 365". I took one photo, for every single day of that year. It was a fun and sometimes frustrating project, but in the end it was a great way to look back on the year. Seeing as how 2012 is set to be a pretty big year in terms of life events, I'm giving it another shot. It happens to be a leap year, so this year I'm working on "Project 366". Every day I take a photo and attempt to upload it that same day. I tend to come up with a lot of photos of food, but that's a huge part of my life! You can find all of my photos on my Flickr page! Along with my photo, I write a little blurb about my day... usually pointless knowledge that interests only me. Kind of like some of my blog posts....

Anyways... here is a glimpse at my year, so far!

January 1

January 2

January 3

January 4

January 5

January 6

January 7

January 8

January 9

January 10

January 11

January 12

January 13

January 14

a post of love

2012-01-09T16:03:00.005-07:00

Do you ever have those days when you think "Gosh, I sure have the most fantastic, amazing people in my life" and find yourself in awe of just how truly awesome they are? I do. A lot. Especially today.

You see, I used to live in a far away land called Dubai. While there, fate brought an amazing girl to live in my apartment with me. Her name was Kim and we bonded immediately over our love of chick flicks, chocolate, and butter chicken from the restaurant downstairs. Through Kim, I met Sam, who was just as awesome. Before they came along my existence in Dubai was rather... well, unenjoyable. I longed to go away for work because being home meant being lonely and spending far too many hours wandering the giant overpopulated shopping malls. They brought me out of my shell... but more importantly, out of my apartment. We had great fun adventures and they made me happy.

I was sad to say goodbye to them when I left Dubai in June for the final time. We vowed to keep in touch and promised to reunite. So, guess what?! They are coming to my wedding!!

It's been in the plans for awhile but I just got confirmation today that it's a sure thing.

You have absolutely no idea how happy this makes me. When you plan a destination wedding you have to accept that not everyone is going to be able to attend. I knew that having these girls would make my wedding day even better, but as somebody who has a lot of experience in trekking across the globe, let me tell you.... it's not a short trip from Dubai. The fact that they are travelling all the way to Mexico means the world to me... and to Ryan, because when I'm extra happy so is he! I'm so grateful that all of my closest friends are going to be there with us on the beach in April, but these 2 are flying from so far away that I figured they deserved a blog post of their very own. I love them!

See you ladies with pina coladas in hand in 90 days!!!

hello 2012

2012-01-06T09:58:00.002-07:00

I can't believe that I haven't posted in my blog since last year. Despite being only 6 days into 2012, I'm rather ashamed of myself.

Not a lot has happened since the year began. In fact, it's been a very calm, quiet, and uneventful start. I'm not complaining, in fact, it's been great. I gave away my reserve shift and spent the week relaxing and trying to get over what seems to be the longest, most annoying cold in the history of long annoying colds. I don't get sick often, so chances are I'm just overreacting.

It's been great just lounging around the house and actually seeing my fiancé every single day. It's days like these that I would dream of while sitting in my lonely Dubai apartment.

In the lead up to our wedding, Ryan and I are picking up much healthier habits. No more eating out, no more being lazy. It's healthy home cooked meals and daily visits to the gym for us! Our wedding photos are costing us a decent amount of money, so we may as well do everything in our power to look amazing for the big day. The other night we went to our first "boot camp" class, which is just as fun as it sounds. Low and behold, we walked in to find an instructor who used to work at our gym in Red Deer, and who we held greatly responsible for whipping us into shape 3 years ago. The next day, everything hurt... a sure sign that we are off to a great start! With only 97 days to go, the pressure is on.

Another adventure that we've set out on for 2012 is Project 365. Those of you who've known me for a few years would probably remember me doing this in 2009. Basically, the goal is to take one photo every single day for a year. Seeing as how this year is a leap year, it's actually Project 366! After the photo is taken, I upload it to Flickr with a description and a bit of rambling about my day. Sounds simple, right? However, the pressure to always take a photo that I actually like makes it rather stressful and frustrating on some days. For some reason I still love it and am excited to try again! You can view this year's project right here!

I'm currently having issues obtaining an airport pass, thanks to my galavanting around the globe. While the rest of my classmates had their passes within weeks of applying, I have to prove that I was living where I claimed to be.... which for 3 of the past 5 years was not in Canada. As of yesterday I'm temporarily grounded until the issue is resolved. At this time, my house is open for visitors! Come entertain me, and eat the junk food in my pantry so that I don't have to!!

goodbye 2011!

2011-12-29T16:48:00.004-07:00

Well boys and girls... this is it. The last few days of the amazing year that was 2011.

Since the birth of this blog back in 2009, I've been compiling a list of memorable events at the end of each year. It's great to look back and realize how much has changed, or how much you've accomplished in a span of 12 months. For the past few years, each year has been as great or better than the one before. My life is amazing, and I feel truly blessed. Here is my year, all summed up nicely:

It got off to a bit of a rough start. I had just returned from vacation. I was more homesick than I ever thought possible. My laptop stopped working, severing my main form of communication with Ryan. A terrible cold forced me to call in sick for one of my favourite trips (Sydney/Auckland). Fortunately, the good outweighed the bad. I was newly engaged. I'd spend a good portion of my days just staring at the gorgeous ring on my finger. I knew that someday Ryan and I would be reunited for good, and I had forever on my mind. Ryan bought and sent a brand new laptop to me all the way from Canada. I had an amazing new roommate who became one of the best friends that I'd make in Dubai. We bonded immediately through our love of food. I survived January. The rest was a breeze.

This spring, I saw amazing places. I walked on the Great Wall of China. I sat next to tigers in Thailand. I ate crepes in Paris. I discovered a newfound love for Hong Kong. I took a solo trip to Vienna, Austria and indulged in some of the world's best desserts. I brought my country count to a grand total of 36.

I managed to make it make to Canada in February, March, April, and May. In June I bid farewell to the sandy city of Dubai to return for good. Home was great. I surrounded myself by friends, family, and my fiancé. This summer, Ryan and I took a 4 week road trip through the western states of the USA. I went to Disneyland, fulfilling a childhood dream.

He achieved his dream by obtaining a pilot's license... rather exciting for both of us.

Fall rolled around. We planned our dream wedding and began the countdown. I scored a job with a Canadian airline, allowing me to do exactly what I love doing without the catch of having to live on the other side of the world. Training was long and stressful, but afterwards I flew to Hawaii, and got paid for it.

Ryan and I became real grown up people, and purchased a house... our very own perfect little home!

I spent Christmas with the people that I love, a perfect end to an pretty incredible year.

Looking back, it's been one of the most eventful and life changing years, and with 2012 will come just as much excitement and adventure. I'll become a completely different person... at least in terms of last names. Bring it on 2012... I'm ready for you!!

tales of Christmas travels

2011-12-29T11:49:00.003-07:00

While most people packed their bags to head home for the holidays, I packed mine and reluctantly said goodbye to my beloved house and fiancé. Somebody has to work the flights so that everyone else can be home for their Christmas festivities!

It was December 22, and the airport was chaotic. People and suitcases were crammed into every corner. Our flights were not surprisingly completely full. Day one sent me to Fort McMurray, back to Calgary, and then on to Vancouver. I got a short night's sleep before waking up to what was set to be the biggest day that my airline had ever experienced in terms of passenger volume. It was the busiest day of the year, and we were off to one of the busiest airports in the world... LAX. We landed in our little 737 as I stared longingly out the windows while we taxied past a total of 3 A30s. As much as I love my job, I can't help but to miss my big, beautiful, former office. We loaded some more passengers and returned back home. I was lucky enough to have a short layover in Edmonton, so while the rest of the crew went to the hotel, Ryan picked me up and took me home!

Christmas Eve began at 3:30 am for me. We flew to Vegas, on a flight full of families. Apparently Vegas is more of a kids destination than I was led to believe! With 2 hours on ground, we wandered the airport aimlessly, picking up a much needed extra-espresso Starbucks drink for the ride home. Back to Canada we went... on to Kelowna! I checked in to my hotel to find a chocolate Santa on the bed, courtesy of the hotel. I'd been so busy with work that it hadn't really dawned on me that it was almost Christmas! I was lucky enough not to have to spend the evening alone. My mom's friend Michelle, who has known me since the day I was born picked me up and took me to her house for an evening of food and fun. I had to call it a night quite early, as I had another disgusting wake up time the next morning.

When I woke up, it was Christmas! I snacked on my chocolate for breakfast, feeling as though working Christmas day exempted me from eating anything healthy. On the plane, my crew and I exchanged cards, chocolates, and small gifts... they were perhaps the greatest crew I've worked with to date. Just a short flight to Calgary, and we were done! There were hugs all around as we wished each other a Merry Christmas and headed to our homes! I felt so fortunate to have the chance to finally spend a Christmas with my family! An hour and a half later, I was at my mom's house! I spent the day with my mom, brothers, puppies, and later on in the evening we were joined by Ryan. It was a quiet day full of overeating, but I wouldn't have changed a thing. I was surrounded by my family for Christmas!

On Boxing Day, I joined the shopping fanatics in waking up early... only I was headed back to the airport while they rushed out to score bargains. I'd never seen the airport so busy. Both of the parkades were full, and after 5 minutes of driving in circles I finally found a spot to park in the overweight vehicle lot. It was absolute madness, and I could only imagine the type of day I had in store. As it was a new pairing, I had a new set of crew. I wasn't ready to move on from the amazing ones I'd flown with the past 4 days, but I had no choice. After another day of flying I landed for another layover in Edmonton. Ryan and I met up with his family to exchange gifts a day late. I had to get to bed early yet again, so unfortunately there wasn't a lot of time to visit.

Finally, I'd reached day 6. After today, I'd be done flying until 2012! With 5 flights, each completely full, it was one heck of a long day filled with a decent amount of drama and delays. Eventually, we landed in Calgary and that was it. I'd survived the incredibly long 6 day stretch, and it was finally time to go home for real... not just on a layover!

I hit the highway and made the 3 hour journey back to Edmonton. It was so good to be home.

My Christmas gift from the lovely masses of passengers was a sniffly, sneezy cold to take home with me. I shared my sniffles with Ryan, because I'm just that kind.

It may have been busy (okay, absolutely crazy) but this Christmas season really wasn't so bad!

wishes

2011-12-25T15:20:00.003-07:00

Merry Christmas!!

Wishing everyone an amazing festive day... especially all of my fellow crew around the world who are hard at work today trying to get people home to their families!

I've finished my shift for the day and I'm home for the first Christmas in a few years.... and the very first time that Ryan and I will be together for the holiday since we've started dating! My hope is that everyone else is even half as happy as I am!

improv baking

2011-12-19T13:42:00.008-07:00

I'm not really housewife material. Cooking? Not exactly my strength. Like many girls, I do enjoy baking... but I'm not necessarily skilled at it in any way.

A few months ago I discovered cake pops. Delicious balls of cakey goodness, coated in a layer of chocolate. I had to make them. I stumbled upon a recipe and made my very first batch earlier this month. They were a hit, primarily with my 17 year old brother. He consumed many of them, brought some to school to share with his friends and a special young lady, and the next day there were none left.

With Christmas around the corner, I've already purchased an awesome gift for the brother, but I couldn't resist making some more cake pops for him. Nobody else would ever appreciate my attempts at baking quite as much! With a new house and a pretty new kitchen, baking should be a breeze... right? Well, no, not really. As I spent the morning lovingly making little balls of cake, I realized that I need to unpack a few more boxes and buy a few more supplies. I improvised, because that's what I do. Now I'm going to teach you all how to make your very own delicious cake pops.

1. Bake a cake. Any flavour, any type. You can do it from scratch, or if you are feeling like these take more than enough effort already, you can buy a box mix like I did. I love pre-mixed cake, I don't care what any of you happy baking homemakers say. It tastes delicious. I went with rainbow chip, because that happens to be a hit with my brother. Oh, and it helps if you have a cake pan. I didn't, so I used a casserole dish instead. It took forever to bake, but I'm just that dedicated.

2. Take your cake out of the oven, and destroy it. No, really. While it's still warm, take a fork and mix it all up into a fluffy mess of cake.

3. Ruin whatever chance of it being remotely healthy by adding a rather large glob of icing in whatever flavour you choose. Since they are coated in chocolate, I went with plain old vanilla. Mix it in throughout your cake... it will become sticky, delicious glue.

4. Use a melon baller or ice cream scoop to make little round cake balls. Or, if you are like me and have neither of these, use your (scrubbed and washed) hands. Ewwy, gooey mess.

5. Place the balls on a cake sheet and stick them in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Or if you don't have baking sheets or a freezer, I found that tin foil and a cold snowy deck did the trick. There are advantages to living in sub-zero climates.

6. When the cake balls are good and set, dip them in melted chocolate. I used this as an excuse to persuade my fiancé that I absolutely needed to own a chocolate fountain. I intended to take photos but it was a messy process and I was too busy licking chocolate from my fingers...

7. Sprinkle some sprinkles or cookie crumbs or whatever you'd like on your cake pops before the chocolate hardens. Stick them in the fridge to set, and then serve them to your favourite people! Easy as pie! Though I'm really not sure that I'm ready to tackle something as complex as pie at this time...

Wrap them up in pretty little treat bags for a yummy gift... or if you have none and they are for your 17 year old brother who could care less, saran wrap and a bit of ribbon works just fine.

For those of you who read my blog solely to read about my flight attendant adventures, I apologize. I'm trying out the domesticated thing to pass the time during my vast amount of days off between flying. I'm back to the skies again in a few days, and I'm likely to be full of stories just for you!

come in for a tour!

2011-12-18T20:41:00.008-07:00

Oh! Hi guys! I'm sorry I haven't been around much lately, but unfortunately I'm without internet until December 28.... I know, I know. How is it possible for one to survive such a length of time without a large dose of Facebook and Twitter each day? Don't worry, I'm coping. I've got an iPhone to feed my addiction.

So, here we are, day 6 in our brand new house. I'm in love. I still giggle and say "Let's go home!" every time that Ryan and I are finished loading up another shopping cart full of stuff that we just can't say no to. Seriously, we need to kick our shopping habit ASAP, but everything is just so pretty and looks so great in our house!

Anyways.... I've been off work and kicking back at home for the past week. It's been a lot of work but it's all coming together quite nicely! I thought I'd take you all for a little tour of our lovely abode! Come on in, and please, wipe your feet.... we are kind of a bit overprotective of our hardwood floors.

Well, I tried to take a photo of the wreath on the front door. It's very pretty, I assure you. I made it myself with some floral wire, pinecones, and ornaments. As I was outside in the dark trying to snap a shot to share, I heard noises outside and living in a brand new subdivision on a currently uninhabited (minus us and one other family) street, I ran back inside and locked the door. It was probably a deer, since we back onto a field.... but I wasn't willing to find out.

Soooo here is our kitchen. Our beloved, beautiful kitchen. I will bake great things here someday. We are currently waiting on delivery of a fridge and dishwasher, so it's been a week of fast food for us!

You may notice that we don't have a table in the dining room, but have no fear.... it will arrive later this week! We got a steal of a deal just because we were at the right place at the right time. Not that you care, but I'm really excited to brag about getting 4 chairs and a table for only $200.... 60% less than the original price because it was a discontinued product. Go us! Follow me into our living room. Our tree was the first thing to occupy this room. Before the chair, before the couch, before the boxes had been unpacked. I love Christmas and I've waited 2 years to set up a real live tree. They don't grow in Dubai, just in case you wondered.

These are our stairs. More importantly, this is our clock. We love our clock. You can't really tell from my little picture, but it has a vintage map print on it. When Ryan insisted that it was beautiful I was a bit hesitant as to whether we should in fact own it. It was the last one on the shelf, and when another shopper came up and eagerly asked us where we'd found it, I was sold. I became possessive. It was my clock now. It grew on me and now I could never imagine us apart.

Upstairs you'll find our guest washroom. Take a guess at my favourite colours.

Not that this is very interesting, but here is our laundry room. I took a photo just to show off the sign on the wall, which states "When I said I do, I didn't mean the laundry". We aren't quite married, but nothing wrong with a little forewarning for my husband-to-be.

Okay, I actually don't mind the laundry... it's the vacuuming that I can't stand. Fortunately, with our fancy-schmancy new vacuum that we just purchased this evening, I've never seen anyone as eager as Ryan to vacuum every square inch of a home.

We have 2 other bedrooms upstairs, but they are empty and boring and thus not worthy of a photo. One is for our office, the other will be for guests. Not, I repeat, not for babies. Not any time soon. Our house is far from childproof.

Come into our room! It's got a few things that we still want to do, such as perhaps purchase a bed frame. That said, we love our room and it's oh-so-cozy. Again, can you guess my favourite colours?

Ladies, hang on... (and gentlemen, but this is more of a girls and gays thing...) we're about to enter the best part of this place. Step inside my amazing ginormous closet. The photo is deceiving. We've actually got a dresser just to the right and even a wide angle camera lens couldn't get the whole thing in. I'm in heaven. Excuse the mess, we are still getting organized and I've persuaded Ryan to get rid of some of his many, many shirts that I've never seen him wear.

What home of mine would be complete without airplanes scattered throughout? In my many shopping trips I've come to realize that vintage aircraft decor is actually quite popular right now. I'd like to think that I'm ahead of such trends... I've proudly displayed a little Boeing 737 for many years now, and it has more meaning to me than the average home decorator.

Oh, and last but certainly not least, my fiancé and brand new roommate, Ryan. He's my favourite part of this house!

Thanks for visiting, but just so you know, this doesn't excuse you from stopping by in real life. Yeah, that's right. Come visit. We have chocolates on the counter and drinks in the makeshift cooler that we are currently using for a fridge. If I'm not in the sky, I'm up for visitors!

honey, I'm home!

2011-12-15T09:41:00.003-07:00

Life is great.

That was the thought going through my mind over and over again as I sat in my comfy chair adjacent to my freshly decorated Christmas tree, snuggled up to my fiancé in OUR house. It's ours! We are home at last, and I couldn't be happier.

With my vagabond style life, it was hard to imagine that I'd ever love being home. Being a domesticated house-fiancé (between flights) was never really something that I envisioned for myself. Now that I'm here, it's great. I wake up, and I want to clean because I live here. I want to bake in my beautiful kitchen. Ryan comes home from work, and I kiss him and ask how his day was. We are disgustingly cute and insanely normal, and you know what? I love it.

It's been a busy few days filled with unpacking, cleaning, and nervously awaiting the first dent in our hardwood floors. We've hung our pictures, decorated our 100% real living tree, and settled in to the first place I've had to call home in a long, long time. We are still waiting on the arrival of a fridge and dishwasher, so we've resorted to a lot of fast food for the time being.

Since this is our home, we can make it reflect the things that we love... namely travel and aviation. We've got pretty little airplanes and globes and knick-knacks from the over 40 countries combined that we've traveled to. Oh, and wait until you see our fridge, if it ever arrives. I've got a rather epic fridge magnet collection, and I don't care how tacky it is.

I live here. I live with my best friend. We own a home. I repeat: Life is good.

Our first photo together (after a long, long day of moving) in our new house!

a place to call home.

2011-12-11T21:07:00.002-07:00

This week is going to be a very, very exciting week.

Guess why!! No guesses? None?!

Okay, I'll just go right ahead and tell you...

I'm moving!! Tomorrow, in fact! For the first time since June, I'll actually have a place to call home, and even more exciting is the fact that I'll be living with my best friend, my fiancé, Ryan. We bought a house and though time seemed to creep by ever so slowly since we made our initial offer, the time has come. Tomorrow is moving day, and we couldn't be much more excited. Since my return from Dubai I've been hopping around from place to place sleeping in different beds and having no real residence. This house is ours, we'll have our own bedroom, our own bathrooms, our own (beautiful) kitchen. We'll put up our own Christmas tree and life will improve substantially based solely on the fact that we'll finally be home.

I hope you can forgive me for my lack of blog posts, packing has occupied a rather large portion of our time in recent days! Swing by next week and I'll give you a tour of my new home!

layovers at home.

2011-12-05T13:51:00.007-07:00

After a blissful day off in the mountains celebrating a year of calling Ryan my "fiancé" instead of "boyfriend" (and eating a rotisserie chicken by the fire), I was forced to return to work. Time always goes by far too fast when you are having fun!

I'd tried my best to get rid of my first flight of my pairing. I'd have to drive to Calgary to fly 30 minutes to Edmonton. For those of you who don't know Alberta, Red Deer is situated exactly in between Edmonton and Calgary, so it was all a bit silly. To make matters worse, a nice blizzard had swept over the area just in time for me to leave. How lovely. The roads were absolutely terrible and travel was not advised... but what was I to do? I had to work. I took it slow. Really, really slow. With white-knuckles I made it to Calgary, witnessing several cars take to the ditch in an attempt to do the same. I thanked my amazing fiancé for forcing winter tires upon me this year. The normal hour journey turned into 2, and by the time I reached the safety of the airport I was ready to pee my freshly-ironed pants.

This pairing was also different in that I was the "floater" flight attendant. Rather than spend 4 days with the same crew going to the same places, I was on my own. Each flight I had brand new faces. I'm sure in the future I may actually enjoy working this way, but as a new and still often lost employee, I longed for the security of having someone to follow and lead me along. When I arrived at the gate, I was all by my lonesome as my crew was still on the inbound flight.

When the plane arrived I boarded and introduced myself. I'd just finished putting my bags away when the captain informed us that we had to switch planes. Apparently I'd brought my bad luck and broke the aircraft. This resulted in the flight being delayed for longer than the actual flight time, which was rather frustrating after the evening I'd had. We finally set off and before we knew it, we were landing into Edmonton. As of next week, Edmonton will be my home. Until we have possession of our house, however, I was off to stay in my hotel. I was staying at a different hotel than the rest of my crew, just to make things a bit more complicated. I found my shuttle and made it to the hotel, feeling a sense of relief that the night was over. Ryan was waiting for me there, and I apologized for being so much later than anticipated. He understood, as he's been tracking my flights for 2 years now and came to the realization that arrival times are always, always subject to change. It was a bit strange being in my own city for a layover, but I wasn't about to complain. Ryan and I watched TV and drank hot chocolate in the warmth of the hotel room. The next day was a Sunday, and I was quite fortunate for the fact that Ryan didn't have to go to work. Instead, we went to Costco to load up on food samples and pick up some photos we'd had printed. Following that, we went to Wal-Mart, and to top the day off, we enjoyed lunch at Ikea! I would have been happy spending the entire day cruising around the city aimlessly, but there were flights to be worked. Ryan dropped me off at my hotel, said goodbye, and I packed up to head to Vegas!! Now before you get too excited... realize that I had to come right back to Edmonton an hour after landing. No gambling, shopping or Cirque du Soleil for me. I'd heard that the flight down was chaotic, and I fully believed it. I've been a passenger on a Vegas flight before, and the entire cabin was quite a party. This flight, however, was shockingly calm. There were few drinkers and time flew by. We landed in Las Vegas, said buh-bye to our passengers, and then made a mad dash for the burrito place in the terminal. I'd been there 2 years ago and still remembered how delicious it was. I'd brought a salad to eat, but after weighing my options I realized that there really was no option. I had US cash in my wallet and I needed that burrito. Together with the rest of my crew, I loaded up on salsa and headed back to the aircraft just in time for boarding. I managed to stuff a few tasty bites in my mouth before carrying on with my job. As soon as we'd finished our service, it was back to the galley. Our lunch kits were out and we chowed down on burritos until our stomaches hurt. Did I regret it? Yup. Was it worth it? Absolutely. The post-burrito fatigue set in and the final hour and a half of the flight passed by so very slowly. We eventually landed into cold Edmonton and I returned to my hotel for a lengthy sleep. Since it was midnight and Ryan had to work in the morning, he couldn't come to join me this time. I slept in, woke up and got ready to do it all over again. Vegas, twice in a row! What a tease.

My crew was great. I'd actually met them the day prior when I'd followed them to their gate and nearly boarded their aircraft before coming to the realization that they were actually going to Phoenix. Of course this ended up being brought up several times during our flight to Vegas, and I blamed it all on being the new girl. We'll see how long that excuse lasts me here. It was another easy day... a few more drinkers than the previous evening, but still quite mellow considering we were going to Sin City. Upon landing in Edmonton we waited for what felt like forever in the cold until our bus finally came to pick us up. I cozied up in bed and wasted some time on my laptop before calling it a night.

I woke up, thrilled when I remembered that it was home day!! I've come to appreciate these days more than I ever thought possible. I'm still adjusting to being on the road (err... sky?) for up to 5 days in a row and by the final day I'm more than ready to sleep in my own bed and cuddle my puppies. The fact that I'd had back to back pairings made this home day even more highly anticipated. I woke up, threw on some clothes and went downstairs to take advantage of the free continental breakfast for the first time that I've woken up early enough to do so. With a chai tea in one hand and a plate of breakfast foods in the other, I went back up to my room to prepare for a couple of quick flights. From my hotel room I could see the signs on the highway indicating that Red Deer was only 100 something kilometres away, but I was taking quite the detour.

We flew to Vancouver. It was easy, quiet, and a great reminder of how much I don't miss the chaos that was every flight at my former airline. At my new place of employment it's not uncommon to go an entire flight without a single call button being pushed. A whole entire flight. If we made it 20 minutes on the 380 we'd be celebrating and talking about how we had the best passengers ever. The way back wasn't much different. 57 little minutes and we were back in Calgary! I'd originally been scheduled to work a flight to Victoria and back right after that, but I dropped it with hopes of beating the snowstorm and getting home before 2 am. As the rest of my crew headed to the next departure gate, I waved goodbye and headed north to Red Deer! Home! At last! It had been a long 4 days and I was extremely content sitting on my couch, cuddling my puppies, and eating the pineapple I'd lovingly hauled back from Maui!

aloha again!

2011-12-02T10:35:00.005-07:00

Going back to work after 2 weeks off is never easy, even when you are fortunate enough to love your job. I'd got settled back into my lazy routine, started going to the gym and grown rather fond of sleeping in. The time had come and I was forced to return to my version of reality. Since I had a Monday morning 6 am check-in, I figured my best option would be to spend the night in Calgary, shortening my commute by an hour and a half. Sunday afternoon a massive windstorm caused havoc in the city, closing portions of the highway due to overturned semi-trucks. I decided to give it a couple of hours for the chaos to clear, but a couple of hours later a blizzard swept over, making the roads icy and terrifying. I contemplated my options before deciding to stay home and leave in the morning. Perhaps snowploughs would go over the highways by that time.

I wanted to break my beloved iPhone when the alarm on it went off at 2:30 am. Was I absolutely insane?! I'd brushed the snow off of my car before bed, but it was covered in a fresh powdery layer. Reluctantly, I got ready and set off for what would be a long and nerve-wracking drive to Calgary. White knuckled the entire way, I eventually made it. I was exhausted and stressed, but I was safe. It was going to be a long, long day, and I hadn't even started work yet. I met my crew, among them, Trace. We were both in the same training class and it was so nice to see a familiar face.

We set off for Vancouver! It was an easy, quick flight, and Trace and I ran the back galley like pros. Once there, we strolled through the airport in search of customs, walked for a good 10 minutes in the direction that we'd been led, and then realized it was the wrong way. The rest of our crew was nowhere to be found as we turned around looking like the newbies that we were.

We found customs, eventually. Coffee in hand, it was off to Phoenix. Imagine our joy (sarcasm, folks) when we discovered that the flight was being audited by a safety inspector. Sure, we all knew our job and exactly what we needed to do, but seeing as how we were both alone in the back for the first time... it was rather nerve wracking. We did everything as we've been taught and passed with flying colours. We waved goodbye to the inspector as we turned back for Canada! It had been 12 hours after we'd left Calgary, and I'd been awake for longer than I cared to think of. My 4 hours of sleep the night prior weren't doing me much good at that point, and I'd never felt so relieved to check into my hotel. As the rest of the crew made plans for dinner, I immediately excluded myself. I had a date with my amazing comfy bed. Ahh, bed.

I slept for approximately 11 hours, woke up, and got ready for the next day. I could hardly wait... we were off to Maui!!! As we boarded the plane, I excitedly waved hello to a friend from Red Deer. She was with her brand new husband and they were off to enjoy their honeymoon!

The flight over was busy, but nothing that we couldn't handle. We landed in Maui and nothing else mattered. Aloha!

I began to think of my plan of action for the evening. First off, it was Tuesday, therefore Taco Tuesday, therefore stuffing my face with delicious fish tacos was entirely necessary. Myself and the other flight attendants happily strolled to pick up our tacos before returning to eat them by the pool. They were delicious, just as we'd anticipated. It also happened to be happy hour, which made us very happy indeed. I ordered drinks with tropical names... Ocean water and Kihei Seabreeze. Delicious blue concoctions, but quite potent. We sat around the pool chatting and telling stories... because as a flight attendant, you are always full of stories. It was cooling down as the sun began to set. We proceeded to the beach to snap many, many photos of the gorgeous sunset over the ocean. How lucky we were. I had my millionth "wow" moment since beginning this career, and as long as I keep having them I'll know that this is exactly what I'm meant to be doing. I'm happy and I love my job... how many people can honestly say that? As night fell over the island, we returned to the pool. The rest of the crew went out for dinner as Trace and I relaxed in the hot tub beneath the silhouette of palm trees. We decided to head to the grocery store to stock up on some Hawaiian goodies before calling it a night. I loaded up my basket... coconut M&M's (amazing, in case you were wondering), coconut water, macadamia nuts, Kona coffee, and an entire pineapple. Since my fiancé has commenced "Operation Healthy Eating", I knew that my little brother would absolutely love me when I came home bearing all sorts of yummy gifts. With all of my purchases I retreated to my hotel room to call it a night. I'd hoped to wake up bright and early the next day to make the most of the time I had left in Maui.

I was up at 6 am to the sound of birds singing outside my balcony. I snacked on some pineapple and threw on my gym clothes. I'd be crazy to go to the gym in such a beautiful place, but I did go for a nice morning run on the beach. It was short-lived, but better than nothing at all! I wandered for awhile before returning to the hotel for some pool time before the flight back.

The rest of my crew was there as well, and we sat basking in the sun and loving our lives. We went for a quick walk to get some last minute snacks, and then we headed to our respective rooms to get ready for our flight. Just as I was about to leave my room, my phone rang. It was the first officer, informing me that we were delayed.... 3 hours! I stood around for a few minutes wondering what to do, before changing out of my uniform and back into shorts. 3 extra hours in Hawaii?! I'll take it!

With a bottle of coconut water in hand, I wandered to the outdoor markets and browsed through the pretty touristy items on sale. I strolled along the beach and enjoyed the warmth for awhile before I'd successfully wasted a sufficient amount of time. It was time to go back. I put the uniform back on and sadly said goodbye as we drove to the airport. I crossed my fingers that our guests would be in good spirits despite the lengthy delay. Before leaving, I carried on the tradition I'd began last flight and ordered a mocha coconut frappuchino from Starbucks. Amazing.

We were off on our way to Vancouver, and the flight back felt like it took forever. None of us had been prepared to arrive at 1 am, and we were practically sleepwalking by the time we reached the airport. It was straight to bed, and since we didn't depart until later the next evening, I planned to sleep until my body told me it wanted to get out of bed. That ended up being around 11 am. I put on my gym clothes and headed next door to the fitness centre. I spent a good hour getting a great workout, grabbed a Jugo Juice, and returned to my room. I had an afternoon of watching TLC ahead of me. By the time I had to get ready to leave, I'd watched enough of "A Baby Story" to convince me to never get pregnant, and enough "Say Yes to the Dress" to make me even more proud of the low price I spent on my wedding dress. It was time to fly home... finally!! A quick hop over to Calgary and I'd finished another pairing. I got in my car and drove back to Red Deer where I was surprised to find Ryan hiding in my room! We'd been engaged for exactly a year, and to celebrate, we headed to Canmore for an evening of sipping hot chocolate by the fireplace in our suite. I couldn't have asked for more.

My one day off went by far too fast, and before I knew it... it was time to go back to work! That's a story for another post!!

PS... I tried my best to upload more photos but Blogger wasn't being very cooperative!

to grandmother's house we go!

2011-11-22T10:36:00.004-07:00

After only a few months of employment I'd found myself with vacation time. The end of the year is fast approaching and our company is trying to schedule in our earned time off rather than carry it over into next year. So there I was, with over a week of freedom and nothing to do. Ryan was headed to Indiana for his own job, so I was left to fend for myself when it came to entertainment... a daunting task in my snowy, cold hometown.

I was in luck. My mom, like myself, felt in need of a whirlwind weekend away. Our flight discounts made it possible for us to fly to Ontario, visit family, and then return home in time for the week to begin. We set out for the airport Thursday evening. We figured our odds of getting on the flight would be substantially greater if my mom would take Friday off of work. We arrived to our gate just in time to be handed boarding passes... always a thrilling moment when you know nothing but standby travel. We stocked up on candy and boarded after my persistence that we had to hurry. I'm early for everything and have been my entire life. My mother (and fiancé, lucky me) on the other hand, take their sweet time getting from place to place and it wouldn't be the end of the world if they got on a plane at final boarding call. That for me, is unacceptable. I need to be on time. I don't know how I got this way with a persistently late mother, but it's who I am and as a flight attendant it's a pretty key trait. We finally got on the flight and settled into our seats... me stuck between my mom and a talkative old man who staked his claim on the armrest. We hadn't had time to have dinner, and therefore I felt it acceptable to satisfy my desire for a cheese tray. As I pointed out other items on our menu, my mom agreed to all of them and we found ourselves with loaded table trays as I forked over my credit card. It was a party! A quick 3 hours later, we were in Hamilton!

We disembarked and walked down the stairs at one of the only airports I know of that actually still uses stairs as opposed to a bridge. Waiting inside we found my smiling grandma, and there were hugs all around. When our bags finally arrived we hauled them to the car and set out on our way. It was past midnight by this point, but we ended up staying awake to chat and catch up until nearly 2 in the morning.

Morning came too soon. In a zombie-like state, we got ready for what was sure to be a fun day. My grandma, aunt (I feel the need to add that she is not in fact married to my uncle.. only because I know how much she's tired of hearing it), and mom had rented a car and we were going to cross the border for some shopping in New York! Before you get too excited, hang on a minute. People tend to forget that not only is there a big city called New York, but it's also a state. We weren't going to beautiful NYC (a far too lengthy drive for a day trip), but rather Buffalo. At the border we handed the customs officer our passports. Flipping through mine, he couldn't help but to ask what exactly it was that I did for a living. Once I told him, he understood the heavily stamped pages. We were sent on our way, and soon found the shopping mall that we'd come for.

We strolled through Macy's and the halls of the rather large mall, and I'm quite proud to say that I didn't purchase a thing. Okay, almost. My mom and I were both drawn to a ridiculous (awesome) hat with bear ears, covered in fur, complete with paws. It had paws! How could we resist?

We spent hours walking and browsing until we were so tired and hungry that we couldn't walk any further. We set out in search of a delicious meal and much to my satisfaction, we settled on The Cheesecake Factory. We were told that we'd be waiting for 15-20 minutes, so we ordered drinks to pass the time. Over 30 minutes later, we were still waiting. When we asked the hostess she checked our pager and said it would be about 20 minutes more. This news was not taken well by the 4 of us hungry shopped-out ladies. We had skipped lunch and my one drink was going to my head. We expressed our concerns about the miscommunication and before we knew it, they bumped us up and we had a table! Our next challenge was deciding what to order from the massive menu that sat in front of us. Everything sounded delicious and I was too hungry to make decisions. I finally settled upon barbecue salmon, and was very satisfied with the very American sized portion served to me. Dinner was over and I was certain that I couldn't eat another thing for at least a day. That was until our waiter brought dessert menus and I remembered exactly where I was. I couldn't leave without cheesecake. My mom ordered a slice of red velvet and I chose peanut butter cup.

We took them as souvenirs to be enjoyed upon our return to Canada only hours later. It had been a great day, although a long one. We called it a night and left the mall, stopping for a quick wander around Target before proceeding onwards to the border. We flashed our passports and carried on our way home. I was exhausted, as was everyone else. I was going to have the best night's sleep.... but first, I had to sample my cheesecake. It had been about 2 hours since dinner and though I was still far from hungry, I like to believe that there is a separate spot in my stomach dedicated solely to dessert. Oh my goodness, what a perfect combination of amazingness that cheesecake was. Peanut butter and chunks of chocolate all snuggled in between layers of cheesecake. I could think of no better end to our day.

It was off to bed, and this time around I had an amazing sleep.

The next day was a day to be spent with family. My grandma was organizing a dinner and we'd spend the afternoon and evening visiting and catching up with those that we don't get to see very often. My mom and I had some time to pass before anyone showed up, so we went for a drive in search of a quick snack. We somehow ended up at Homesense and my willpower was put to the test as I resisted buying any of the beautiful home decor. My mom picked up a couple of rhinestone-covered dog collars for our beloved puppies. At the grocery store we grabbed a small tray of sushi and enjoyed it for a quick lunch, before deciding it was probably time to return home.

Dinner was delicious, as it usually is when made by a grandmother. We stuffed ourselves full and then enjoyed a dessert of lemon meringue pie.

Once everyone had gone home and we'd said our goodbyes, it was time to call it a night. Well, almost. I must not forget that I felt it necessary to finish my slice of cheesecake before returning home. I force fed myself each yummy forkful, and then crawled into bed. (And yes, I did purchase a gym membership the day we arrived home...)

We'd originally booked for the evening flight back to Calgary, but after checking the loads and finding that it was completely sold out, we were forced to switch to the earlier flight. Unfortunately, that meant a 7 am departure, which meant a disgustingly early wake up time. We were practically sleepwalking as we packed our suitcases. My grandma drove us to the airport and we hugged goodbye before disappearing through security. It was a long 4 hour flight as we tried our best to get some sleep. We finally landed and I immediately hated our decision to return home. It was so darn cold!!! It had been well over a year since I'd felt such bone-chilling temperatures. I donned my bear hat and was thankful that we were in my mom's vehicle instead of mine. I'm quite certain that my next car should have heated seats.

It's not often that we start a day off in Calgary, so we decided to take advantage of it. After a breakfast at Denny's, we wandered Ikea and then headed to the karaoke store for my mom to update her song collection. Once we'd accomplished our tasks, it was back home to our warm house that I vowed to never leave until sometime in May!

ice ice baby

2011-11-16T11:08:00.004-07:00

Disclaimer: The contents of this blog post include a significant amount of complaining and ranting. Should you choose to continue reading, you void all opportunity to complain about me complaining.

This happens every year. One day I wake up and come to the realization that summer is over. For the next 6 months I'll contemplate hibernation as ridiculously cold temperatures hover outside. I hate winter. I hate snow and I have an anxiety attack nearly every time that I'm forced to drive in icy conditions. Don't get me wrong, I love my country and I'm so proud to be Canadian... but I wouldn't object to spending my winters elsewhere. In fact, that's what I've been attempting to do for a few years now. First I ran off to the sunny beaches of Australia. I came back for a year and then spent 2 winters in the Dubai desert. This will be my first full winter spent in Canada since 2008... and I'm really, really not looking forward to it.

The general consensus is that people complain too much about winter. I'll confess, I don't stop until the sun starts shining again sometime around May. In my defence... You'll NEVER hear me complaining about the heat in Canada. On the hottest of hot summer days, I'm soaking up the warmth and just thankful that it's not 50 degrees like SOME places that I've called home. I don't like to be cold. I don't like how dry my skin is as the cool air strips it of all moisture. I don't like snow, and I will never, ever like winter.

I know what you are all thinking... I can read your mind, my lovelies.. half of you are in complete agreement, while the other half is wishing that I'd just stop complaining as you mutter the usual "If you don't like it, leave!". Well, may I remind you... I did leave. Twice, in fact. I left for some of the hottest places in the world, like baking hot Cairns in Australia and of course Dubai. I came back from Australia because my visa was up and leaving on my own accord just seemed like a better idea than overstaying and facing deportation. I left Dubai primarily because I have a snow-loving amazing fiancé here in Canada, and I really missed him. The things we do for love. Try as I might, he'll never want to leave. I took comfort in the fact that on the coldest of days he'd be here to cuddle up to me and keep me warm. As I type this, I'm watching a blizzard outside my window... and where is my furnace of a fiancé? He's working in the United States, somewhere with temperatures above freezing. I'm the flight attendant, and therefore I'm supposed to be the one running off to warmer places.

Oh, that reminds me. I'm running off to Ontario for the weekend with my mom. It's not tropical but it sure may seem like it after the frigid week we've had here. It's only just begun. We had our first snowfall just last weekend and the temperatures are what we'll consider balmy by mid-January. I'm not sure how I'll get through this winter. If anyone cares to take me on an all expenses paid tropical vacation, or buy me a car with heated seats... I'll be forever grateful. I'll write an entire blog dedicated to your amazing greatness. No? Nobody?! I guess I'll just have to be thankful that I have such an amazing job that occasionally takes me to places warm enough to grow palm trees.

Alright, end rant. Thanks for listening. I'll try to withhold from further complaints about the weather, but I can't make any promises...

one hundred

2011-11-09T09:42:00.003-07:00

This week I hit a magical milestone in my blogging journey....

100 followers!

That means that 100 of you liked my blog enough to subscribe to my updates, and even more of you read it anonymously. I never imagined that my silly stories would become so popular, but thank you, every single one of you, for tagging along for my crazy journeys over the past few years. Thanks for keeping me company in every corner of the world. You've inspired me to keep up with my blog. As crazy as it sounds, there have been times in foreign countries when I've wanted to be boring and lazy. During these times, the thought "would that make a very interesting blog?" has floated through my mind and I've forced myself to have new and different adventures... all in the name of blogging. In the process, I've had a heck of a lot more fun than I would have had if I didn't feel the need to share my experiences with all of you! So thank you, for the inspiration and the motivation!

I started this blog 3 years ago as a single, restless, office employee. Life has certainly changed a lot since then, and you've been with me every step of the way!

You've said nothing but amazing things about my relationship with Ryan, and even encouraged me during some of the tough times dealing with a long distance relationship.

I love you all, my lovely, wonderful, followers!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

You make me so happy that I could laugh and dance in the rain!

west-coast weekend

2011-11-08T10:24:00.004-07:00

I'd just finished a long red-eye flight from Maui to Vancouver. It was 7 in the morning, I was cold, tired... and just to mix things up a bit, I was also super excited. While the rest of my crew headed to the gate to catch their flight back to Calgary, I'd cancelled my deadhead flight (flying in uniform as a passenger to get me back home) in favour of staying in Vancouver. Even better, I'd booked a ticket for my fiancé Ryan to meet me there. Our flights were landing at almost the exact same time, so after I'd cleared customs I moseyed on down to domestic arrivals to wait for his smiling face to appear at the baggage carousel. There he was! Memories of our last meeting in Vancouver came back to me... if you are a new reader to my blog and a hopeless romantic, you should really read about that story here.

As Ryan waited for his suitcase to arrive (containing items that I'd requested he bring, such as my rather chunky pair of Ugg boots), I went to change out of my uniform to better blend in. We piled into a taxi and headed towards the city. One of my good friends from flight attendant training had been kind enough to offer us her apartment for the weekend. We love you, Shannon! She was far too accommodating, offering us the keys to her apartment and her car. She wasn't even angry that we arrived at a ridiculously early time of day following what had been a late and crazy night for her and her boyfriend Eric. Once we'd stayed for awhile and chatted (it's amazing how much you can have to catch up on after only 2 weeks!) Ryan and I decided to let them get a bit more sleep as we ventured out. We headed straight to Granville Island. I love it there. We walked through the market and I wished that I lived in Vancouver so that I could buy all of my fresh fruits and veggies there each week. Something about markets makes me happy... Perhaps it's being surrounded by such a vast array of foods and the smell of fresh cut flowers. By this point, both Ryan and myself were rather hungry. We chose to go for a breakfast of champions... perogies and sausages drowning in a sea of sour cream and sauerkraut. Oh my goodness, it was perfect.

Needing a sweet treat to balance it out, we ordered Nutella crepes and sat outside savouring each chocolatey bite. I've been to Paris, so they weren't the greatest that I'd ever had... but they were a pretty yummy Saturday morning treat.

Being the romantic fiancé that he is, Ryan bought me a flower to tote around for the day... just as he'd done the last time we were at the Granville Island Market.

We watched as excited children threw birdseed at the dozens of greedy pigeons. Ryan took photos while I hid beneath a covered area, fearing the possibility of bird poop on my head ruining my day. We strolled through the kids market, where my never-growing-up fiancé purchased a foam rocket equipped with an elastic that promised to shoot it 300 feet in the air. Of course, he tried it within minutes of purchasing it, only to have it break. Grumpy, he returned to the store where the employee apologized and refunded his money. He was a sad boy indeed, as he'd been looking forward to his new toy. I was suddenly feeling the effects of being awake since the evening prior, so we decided to return to Shannon's apartment for an afternoon nap. 2 hours later, I felt like a new person and we continued on with our Vancouver adventures. We walked downtown...a rather lengthy trek, but we knew that we could use the exercise. On the way, we grabbed a slice of pizza and commented on the fact that we need more pizza by the slice joints back home.

Using our trusty iPhone apps, we scouted out restaurants with good reviews for dinner. Our search led us to The Mill, where Ryan sipped a beer and I ordered a caesar that I couldn't pronounce, complete with dill and smoked salmon. For our meal, we shared an amazing seafood platter... smoked salmon, perfectly baked salmon, char-grilled tuna, mussels and shrimp. There wasn't a thing on the plate that we didn't love.

After dinner we headed to Starbucks to meet up with my friend Jess, who I hadn't seen in 2 years, on my last visit to Vancouver. We caught up over coffee and it was great to reunite. He took us down the pretty lit streets of Gastown before we parted ways, until next time.

Feeling exhausted from what had been a very long day, Ryan and I walked back to the apartment and called it a night.

We got up the next day, feeling great and loving that switching to daylight savings time overnight had given us an extra hour in Vancouver! We set out for another day of adventures, starting with breakfast at White Spot. It was nothing overly exciting, but breakfast is always great. We wandered the streets until we came to Starbucks on Davie Street and ordered caffeinated treats. We walked down English Bay beach, sipping our coffees and loving life... until Ryan stepped in a pile of dog poo. His good mood turned sour as he sat on rock, scraping his shoes with seashells in a desperate attempt to get them clean. I tried to withhold my laughter over the situation.

Eventually, his shoe was clean and we were on our way yet again. We strolled through Stanley Park, thrilled to come across squirrels, ducks, and racoons!!

We snapped photos and held hands and life was good once again. We set out in search of a good place to take photos of the Lion's Gate bridge. After many detours and off the beaten path routes, we finally found Prospect Point and snapped our photos. Our feet were tired, so we figured it was a great time for lunch. Turning to our iPhones yet again, we found a Japanese restaurant with great deals on sushi. It was far cheaper and far tastier than sushi back home, far from the ocean.

We decided to slowly make our way back towards Shannon's apartment to get ready to head back to the airport. Along the way, we stopped in some stores selling home decor and dream-decorated the home that we don't yet own.

Back at Shannon's, we packed our bags, relaxed for awhile, and then caught a taxi to the airport. It was our first time flying standby together, and from what I'd seen earlier in the day, our odds of getting on the flight were good. Sometime between when I'd last checked and the time that we arrived, another flight had been delayed, causing our to fill up with passengers who didn't want to miss connection flights. There were absolutely no seats left, and things weren't looking good. We did exactly what we'd come to the airport to do... standby. We waited for news of any type, and just before boarding we were handed 2 boarding passes. A window seat for Ryan, thanks to somebody who failed to check in... and a seat in the cockpit for me! It was a beautiful night as the moon lit up the mountains below, and the view landing into Calgary was better than I'd ever seen in the past. I wished that Ryan could be up front with me, sharing the views and checking out all of the controls. We couldn't complain though, at least we'd made it back!

It was a great ending to a great weekend!

maui = love

2011-11-04T03:36:00.005-06:00

I never expected that when I bid for flights to Maui, I'd actually ever discover them on my roster. I'd grown accustomed to the seniority based system of my former airline and disappointment was a usual occurrence. Since everything is new to me and I'm happy to visit most destinations, I wasn't too picky and randomly asked for Maui just to bid for something. I did it as a long shot "wouldn't that be nice" kind of thing, expecting nothing to ever come of it. Imagine my shock when I got not one, but two flights. To Maui.... Hawaii.... the beautiful sunny beach... For WORK. Do I have the greatest job ever?! I certainly can't complain.

I was rather nervous about the pairing, as it would be my first flight without the security blanket that was my onboard trainer. I was a fully trained, capable flight attendant and this time I was flying solo. I made my way to the gate and as usual, I was the first one to arrive. I tend to show up far to early for nearly everything. Not wandering to stand there alone, I awkwardly walked a few laps around the terminal as I waited for the rest of my crew to arrive. Relief washed over me when I met them, and they were great. Things were going to be just fine.

The flight to Vancouver was quick and easy and my crew were great enough to make sure that once we arrived, I didn't get lost getting to the gate for our Maui flight and proceeding through U.S. Customs. Once on the other side, they fled to duty free while I scouted out something to eat during the flight. Sushi in hand, we boarded the aircraft, did our security checks, and waited for our vacationing passengers to board wearing their Hawaiian shirts. A couple of girls came on clutching bags containing wedding dresses, which of course was very exciting for myself, as I'm another soon-to-be married-on-a-beach bride. It was a busy 5 1/2 hours running up and down the aisles, but we finally landed in Maui! Once exiting the airport, I was overcome with happiness as the humid air blanketed me with warmth. The smell of hibiscus flowers lingered in the air, and after 25 years of dreaming of that moment, there I was... in Hawaii.

We got to the hotel and I checked into my room to find that it was not in fact a room, but rather a suite. I'm not sure how I lucked out, but I had my very own sitting area, 2 balconies, and a separate room with my bed. The bed was a sea of pillows and I would have enjoyed nothing more than to have dove into it and spent the remainder of my evening there, but I'd agreed to meet the others for a drink before calling it a night. Normally, I'd just do my own thing, ditch the rest, and enjoy my precious sleep. However, this is a new airline, new places, new faces, and there is nothing wrong with making an effort and perhaps a few friends.

We headed to the hotel bar, where it happened to be happy hour. In the spirit of Hawaii, I ordered a Mai Tai and sipped it over a good conversation with the others. Once we'd finished our drinks, we collectively agreed that it was bedtime. The waiter brought us our bill, and for the first time in my aviation career, I watched as the Captain paid for us all. Sure, there were only a few of us and the drinks were cheap, but such things would never happen at my former airline. In fact, I recall a time or two paying more than my share by insistence of splitting the bill evenly. Perhaps there is hope!

Back in my room, I showered and snuggled up in my cloud-like bed. Pure bliss.

I set my alarm to wake up early the next day, but I didn't need it. I was up at 4 am thanks to the 4 hour time difference from home. I forced myself to sleep awhile longer before finally giving in to the singing birds and getting out of bed. I had a full day to enjoy!

I changed into a pair of shorts and threw on my flip flops while thinking of my hometown that had endured the first snowfall of the season only hours after I'd left. Clutching my camera, I made my way to the beach where I walked along listening to the waves and taking photos, happy as could be.

The weather was perfect and a warm breeze blew through my hair. I was beginning to feel pretty hungry, so I decided to head back to the street in search of something delicious to enjoy for breakfast. As I crossed the street, I heard somebody call my name and turned to see another flight attendant. She was off to the grocery store, so I decided to tag along. I have a weakness for foreign grocery stores and all of the items that aren't available in Canada. The U.S. in particular is home to so many treats that we don't have the pleasure of enjoying across the border. I loaded up my basket with a few sushi rolls to eat before my flight, a container of pre-cut pineapple chunks, and coconut M&M's. By the strong recommendation of the other flight attendant, I threw in a pack of macadamia nut pancake batter and coconut syrup to bring a Hawaiian breakfast home.

I hauled my purchases back to my hotel room and proceeded to eat my pineapple. It was the most delicious, sweetest, juiciest pineapple that I ever did taste. Had I left more room in my suitcase, I certainly would have thrown an entire fruit in it.

For lunch, I pulled out my iPhone and used my Foodspotting app to suggest a good meal nearby. It led me to Maui Taco, where I ordered fish tacos and indulged in the deliciousness.

The wind was picking up and I'm not a huge fan of sand flying at my face, so I opted for an afternoon by the pool rather than the beach. I found my fellow flight attendants parked in lounge chairs and made myself at home next to them.

Sheltered from the wind between the palm trees, we kicked back and soaked up the glorious sun. It was November, and our friends and family back home were shovelling snow. I often wonder what I did to deserve this, or if perhaps I do in fact deserve it. Hula music played softly in the background as I basked in the warmth. After awhile of lying there, my legs were getting rather pink, as I'd neglected to apply sunscreen to them. I said goodbye to the others as I retreated to my room, changed, and headed back outside. I couldn't possibly leave without having some coconut ice cream. It happens to be one of my favourite treats. I came across a gelato shop, where I ordered my ice cream and chatted to the extremely friendly employee who served me. He informed me that he also works as a hair stylist, and we were both shocked to find out that his next client having her hair styled for her wedding happened to be from my home town. What are the odds!? He loaded me up with coupons for my next visit and I promised that I'd return. After a few bites of my amazing ice cream, I knew for sure that I'd keep that promise.

Time had went by too fast, as it usually does during perfect layovers. I had a redeye flight ahead of me, so I forced myself to take a nap in preparation. I sadly closed the blinds to the bright sun, and crawled into my bed, sleeping for a few hours before waking up to put on my uniform and head back to the airport. At the Starbucks in the terminal, our entire crew got our dose of caffeine. I ordered an amazing coconut-mocha frappuchino, since it sounded incredible and isn't available in Canada. We boarded the plane, said goodbye to Hawaii, and flew our 63 guests (a miracle!) back to Canada. Normally I'd be heartbroken to return, but the great thing about working for a domestic airline is that when I go home, I actually go home. Not Dubai, but Canada. Home, to my fiancé and my friends and family. It makes the end of layovers a whole lot easier. This time around was even better, as I was meeting Ryan in Vancouver for a weekend of fun.... but that's a story for the next blog! It's safe to say, I love Hawaii. Of course I knew that I would, but it's certainly nice to be proven right!

silly krysta

2011-11-01T23:20:00.008-06:00

Everyone seems to have an excuse for being absent-minded. Expectant mom's blame it on the pregnancy, the elderly attribute it to old age. Myself? I've got a serious case of Plane-Brain. Something about the altitude and the lower concentration of oxygen in the cabin affects my ability to remember things and occasionally hinders my common sense. Or at least that's the story I'm sticking with. This summer, I had to take full responsibility for my stupidity, but now I'm back in the skies and Plane-Brain is back in full force. Only a week back on the job, and I've already made myself look silly a few times. First, I opted out of stopping at my temporary home in Calgary after my flight to save time and head straight to Red Deer. In the process, I realized that I'd forgot to bring my shampoo, camera, and any type of handbag. No big deal, I coped. After that, I got lost several times in my attempts to meet Ryan after work. I made it, after having some unkind words with my GPS. My finest moment, however, came today.

I've been looking forward to my next flight since the day that the schedule came out. Today I left Edmonton bound for Red Deer, where I packed my bags, bought a travel-sized sunscreen, and considered myself almost set to go to Hawaii. Tomorrow would be so exciting! I procrastinated driving to Calgary, finally giving in and hitting the road. Coffee in my cupholder, I was heading for the highway when I my phone buzzed with a text message. Now I know, I shouldn't be reading my messages when I'm driving, but in my defence I was at a red light, and I'm glad that I did! It was Ryan, asking why I was leaving so early when my flight wasn't until Thursday and today was Tuesday. What did he know, that silly boy?! I surely could keep track of my schedule better than him. I shrugged it off at first, until I stopped to think about it. I'd known all along that my flight was on November 3rd, and I was well aware of the fact that today was only the 1st. I'm not quite sure why I'd assumed that we'd be skipping poor November 2nd, but it finally dawned on me that Ryan was right. I didn't have a flight tomorrow. Why was I driving to Calgary?

I turned around and drove back to my mom's place, where I told her my story as she laughed at me. I'm not going to Hawaii tomorrow. I'm not going anywhere tomorrow.

I'm just relieved that I realized it before showing up at the gate ready to board the aircraft. Now that would have been a rather awkward situation!

It was a ridiculous mistake that any smart person would have never made. Well... you know what? Whatever. I blame the altitude. Even if I've spent the past week on the ground.

(A bit of photographic evidence of altitude-induced craziness amongst the crew... long haul flight on my former airline.)

so excited.

2011-10-30T21:15:00.005-06:00

One of the greatest things about my job is the amount of downtime that comes along with it. In Dubai, it was often a downfall, as I looked forward to nearly every opportunity to escape the sandpit. Now that I'm back home in Canada, I take full advantage of my free time!

While it's not always easy being on the other side of the country and being forced to miss out on special occasions, I am privileged to have many, many days off during the month. I spend these days wandering the mall, going on lunch dates with my fiancé, sleeping in, and thinking of the rest of the general population as they sit at work. I have absolutely no routine, which would probably drive most people crazy... but it works perfectly for me!

Another great thing about my job is the places that I get to see. Sure, I've only just begun with this airline and my most glamorous destination so far has been Saskatoon. That said, this career has taken me around the world and back more than a few times. Places that I never would have thought to visit, I've been able to see thanks to my job. I've been to glamourous places like Paris, Sydney, and Hong Kong... and guess where I'm going in just a few short days?! Come on, take a guess!! Okay, fine... I'll tell you. I'm going to Hawaii!!! Maui, to be exact. I'm going to spend 24 hours in beautiful sunny Hawaii, where I'll hang out on the beach, enjoy a cocktail, soak up the sun.... oh, and get paid for it. As a beach-loving, sunshine-loving, always-wanted-to-visit-Hawaii type of girl, I can assure you, I'm very excited. I can also assure you that there WILL be a blog post complete with photos.

On my last pairing, I did something very uncharacteristic of myself, and left my camera at home. Fortunately, I've had my brand new shiny iPhone 4s to join me in my travels, and it does a nice job of documenting where I've been!

Anyways, I've rambled on enough about nothing for the evening. This just serves as a pre-blog post for my upcoming blog about the layover that I can barely wait for. Life is good, really, really good.

the new girl!

2011-10-26T17:26:00.002-06:00

With my line indoctrination flight out of the way, I was almost set to be a full-fledged flight attendant. A huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders, but there was one more final step in the process that I had to get through first.

Next up was my follow up flight, and by flight I mean multiple flights over the course of 4 days... referred to in the industry as a pairing. My former airline didn't have pairings, as every flight connected via Dubai. I packed my tiny little bag full for 4 days away from home, still wondering where my giant plastic suitcase was. Apparently I'd been spoiled in the past. I tried to stuff my lunch bag full too, but my inability to prepare meals in advance left me with only a few snacks to eat over the course of the pairing. I grew increasingly nervous as I drove to the airport on Sunday morning. I repeatedly reminded myself that I'd done this before, and that my onboard trainer would be with me every step of the way. It didn't help much, but as usual I worried for nothing. We worked our very first flight all the way to Toronto, and it went rather well! I felt a little bit lost, but things fell into place as the day went on. We landed in Toronto, switched planes, and flew to Winnipeg. By the time that we arrived, I was super exhausted, but we weren't done yet. We flew back to Toronto. For those of you who aren't from Canada, let me assure you, it's a rather ginormous country. Flying domestic can take just as long as flying across Europe, or from Dubai to Thailand. It had been a very long day. We said goodnight and headed to our hotel rooms, where I quickly proceeded to fall asleep, only to be waken far too early the next morning. It was time to fly again!

This day took us all the way to the other side of the country... Vancouver! As soon as everyone was off the plane, we were boarding again, heading back to Calgary. So close to my own bed, but yet so far. We headed right back in the direction we'd come from and finally landed at our final destination for the day, Abbotsford. We had a bit more time than we'd had in Toronto, so rather than head to our rooms and call it a night, I met up with my trainer and the pilots and we went for dinner. I was absolutely starving, and a day full of serving Clamato juice to our passengers had left me craving a spicy caesar. I ordered one to enjoy with my delicious salmon burger. It was nice to sit and relax and chat outside of the work atmosphere of the aircraft. Once dinner was over, it was bed time!! There are few things more satisfying than crawling into bed after a long day in the sky! As usual, 4 am came too soon. I don't care what anyone says, you don't get used to waking up early. I never have, and I probably never will. I was looking forward to the day ahead, as it was much shorter than the previous 2 had been!

We hopped on over to Calgary and one quick flight later we were in Saskatoon. I never thought I'd catch myself saying this, but I was rather excited to be there! My friend and former roommate Kimmy (not the one from Dubai, but another awesome Kim!) lives there and we hadn't seen each other in well over a year.We were long overdue for a lunch date. I checked into my hotel room, changed out of my uniform, and headed to the lobby to wait for her. Yay! Reunions are so much fun! We caught up and gossiped over a delicious meal.... Vietnamese! I finally met her lovely boyfriend Justin and gave him my seal of approval... not that it matters, of course. The day was over far too soon and Kimmy had to go to class while I went back to my room for the evening.

I had mixed emotions regarding the next day. On one hand, it was finally home day!! On the other hand, I was awake at 3 am and it was my first time being lead flight attendant. I was a little bit (a lot) terrified. You know that person that makes all of the announcements and closes the main cabin door and is the go-to person when it comes to communicating with the flight deck?? That was me.

As we boarded our first flight of the day, to Toronto, I nervously clung to my cue cards, scared to death of making my very first PA. I have made my share of announcements in the past working for my former airline. It was different here though, as I was working for an airline that prides itself on being fun and entertaining. Most flight attendants throw their personal touch into their announcements, actually forcing the passengers to pay attention to the usually-ignored safety demo. But I was the new girl, who didn't have my announcements memorized, and I was going by the book. The time had come, and hands shaking, I picked up the phone. I did it! I said everything that I was supposed to, and nobody had even stopped to listen. The hardest part was over. Sure, I still had many more to make, but getting past the first one is always the most difficult. I closed the door on my very first try, and before I knew it, we were in Toronto! Just one more flight, and we'd be home! The last flight of our last day of my first pairing, and I was feeling far more confident in my role. It felt good to be back.

We landed into Calgary, and after I'd made my final PA, I handed the phone to my lovely trainer to make the French announcement. Once he'd finished, he announced to the entire cabin that I was the newest flight attendant and asked for a round of applause. The cabin erupted into a loud symphony of applause, as I felt my face turning ridiculously bright red. Embarrassing, yes, but the warm and fuzzy, happy type of embarrassed. As we disembarked, each person congratulated me and wished me luck. I'd done it! I'd officially finished all of the steps of training, and I was now a real, active flight attendant!! What a great feeling.

Hugs and goodbyes with the crew followed, and then I was on my way home!

I'm so proud and excited to be a part of this airline, and I know that fun times lie ahead!

Gooooin' to winnipeg!

2011-10-21T17:24:00.003-06:00

The day had arrived. Training was over, and I was off to spread my wings and do what I came here to do... fly!!! My first flight was more for observation purposes, but I willingly helped out the working crew. No better way to learn!

My thoughts during the day went as followed, although the exact times may be slightly inaccurate:

3:00 am: You've got to be kidding me. You want me to get out of bed to fly to Winnipeg and back? My bed is warm. Sleep is good. I refuse.

3:05 am: Okay, fine. I'm getting up. It's going to take a lot of time and makeup to cover up the dark circles under these eyes.

3:50 am: Seriously?! My car is absolutely coated in a layer of frost. I love Ryan for giving me a spare key (to my own car) so that I can warm it up, thus saving myself from scraping the windows and keeping me cozy.

4:00 am: I'm going, I'm going. Do I have time for coffee?! Should I?? Okay, maybe not... I want to make a good first impression when I meet my onboard trainer.

4:30 am: I'm starting to feel much happier. Free parking at the airport is magical!! I feel important!

4:40 am: Good lord, it's a long, long walk to the crew room! I'm nervous. Why am I nervous?! What if my trainer is mean??

4:45 am: I'm here, right on time. Is that him?? I tried to Facebook stalk him but his profile was limited. Oh, he's waving. It's him.

4:50 am: My trainer is awesome. He wants to go get coffee.

5:00 am: My very own boarding pass! Security! It's just dawned on me that I've really missed airports.

5:30 am: I'm on a plane!! It's my first commercial flight since I flew home from Dubai on June 20th! Yay!

5:35 am: My trainer must think I'm weak and pathetic... for the life of me I can not close these doors. I miss my A380 with its "CLOSE" button. Seriously, it had a button! I'm going to be the worst flight attendant ever. It's not working!

5:40 am: Success! I can close the door. It sure isn't easy, but with all of the strength that I possess, I can do it. Go me!

5:50 am: The crew are here... will they be nice to me? Oh please, let them be nice to me.

5:55 am: They are lovely. I feel particularly attached to one girl who is working her 3rd flight. She knows what its like to be in my shoes, as it was her only weeks prior.

6:00 am: Passengers!! Time to put on my flight attendant smile. Hello, good morning. Oh goodness, why are there so many babies onboard? I have to brief ALL of them?!

6:05 am: Crap. My emergency exit row briefings. I think I know them... what if I mess up? Oh goodness, I'm going to embarrass myself. I can do this.

6:07 am: Like a pro. I rocked those briefings.

6:25 am: Alright, let's go!!! I miss the rush that I get during take off. I love watching the ground get further and further away. I'm sitting patiently waiting... it's time to go!

6:30 am: I'm flying, I'm flying!!

7:00 am: Doing my thing, being a flight attendant, and helping the other crew members. It's all so different but so familiar at the same time. I love my job!

8:45 am: Hello, Winnipeg. Your airport is kind of ugly, but it reminds me of the terminal in Paris. Ahh, CDG. I hear you are getting a brand new terminal though... good for you!

9:00 am: I'm so hungry I'm going to actually fall down, right here, right now. Okay, maybe not, but I'm losing patience fast in the Tim Horton's line.

9:30 am: Food, at last!! Just in time to board again. One flight down, one to go!

10:00 am: The plane is full of football players. We'll have to bypass long legs sticking out into the aisles, which is always an adventure!

10:10 am: Here we go... the moment I've waited years for. I'm doing a safety demo in front of the entire cabin. My former airline had videos, and we never got to point to our exits and fasten seat belts in the air. The lead flight attendant has just announced that it's my first flight, so for once, the passengers are paying full attention to the demo. I'm terrified and likely bright red.

10:12 am: Well, that wasn't so bad!! Not even the French part.

10:15 am: The cabin is secure, thanks in part to me. It makes such a difference when everyone speaks the same language as you instead of staring blankly when you ask them to put their bag under the seat. They cooperate. I love them. I want to have such great passengers on every flight.

10:20 am: Take-off, yet again!

11:30 am: I've completed a full service, fed and watered our lovely guests.

12:00 pm: Oh Calgary, I've missed you!! I've survived my very first flight and before I know it, I'll be curled up in my bed. What a day!

I proceeded to drive home, dreaming of a long, satisfying afternoon nap. My plans were changed when I was informed that the house that I'm living it (which happens to be for sale) had a showing and I'd have to leave. I sleepily wandered Ikea, before grabbing a coffee and spontaneously making the decision to drive to Red Deer for a Friday night date with my fiancé. Downing lattes and Red Bull, I managed to stay awake until the movie was over at midnight! 23 hours later, I was finally curled up in bed. Day 1, over!

freedom!

2011-10-17T18:44:00.004-06:00

I'm going to keep this one short and sweet.

I'M DONE!!

As of today, I'm no longer in initial flight attendant training. It's time to spread my little wings and take to the skies... I couldn't be happier!

After a few much needed days off, I'll be headed for my very first flight bright and early on Friday morning. The glamourous destination that awaits? Winnipeg.

Okay, so it's not as exciting as Bangkok, Sydney, or Paris... which happens to be where I was when I applied for this job. That said, I moved home for a reason and I have absolutely no regrets. I love to fly and that's exactly what I'm going to do!

All of the hard work and stress has paid off.... Let the celebration begin!

the light at the end of the tunnel

2011-10-16T20:54:00.002-06:00

This week has come to an end, and I must admit... I've never felt more relieved. What a week it was. After a glorious long weekend, I was forced back to a place I've come to despise over the past few weeks... the classroom. We were in the home stretch, but nerves and stress had reached an all time high and people were at their breaking point. The week commenced with us being tested for our drills. Essentially, we had to become great actors and actresses and successfully evacuate our simulated aircraft. It doesn't matter what airline you've worked for, or how many years you've worked as a flight attendant... whether it's your initial training or annual recurrent, everybody stresses over drills. We made it through two rather tedious days and our entire class successfully passed. We can evacuate a plane, but we certainly hope that we'll never need to!

The next day was our final exam. We wrote it, passed it, and received our wings and diplomas, and celebrated with cupcakes! It was also the first day that we wore our uniforms. For those of you who are curious, I apologize for not having photos at this time... but let me tell you, it's far different from the former polyester that I sported! No more red hat, and I couldn't wear red lipstick even if I wanted to! I've got a simple black and blue uniform with a cute little scarf and a simple ponytail will suffice for a hairstyle. Simply put, I feel very free! Sure, it's still far more strict than your average place of employment, but never once have I been asked to step on a scale or reapply my mascara. Things like that just wouldn't go over well in Canada.

Some things about my former airline remind me a great deal of a new television show that people have been asking me about. So for the record... yes, I do watch Pan Am. Of course I do. In fact, nearly every flight attendant that I know does. And yes, I do enjoy it. Cheesy as it is, I can't miss an episode. You want to know a secret? Ryan watches it with me, and he loves it too.

So, back to my happy passing-exam-eating-cupcakes-wearing-uniform day. It was a good day. As soon as we were released from class I hit the highway, heading home to go for dinner with my mom and brother's in celebration of my baby brother's 17th birthday. I'm not sure how he's reached that age, and I'm reluctant to accept the fact, but I can't do a thing about it. We ate a mediocre meal before heading home for a good night's sleep. In the comfort of my own bed I slept for 12 hours straight, taking full advantage of my one day off.

The next morning I went to see my good friend and great hairdresser, Talin. She gave me a much needed hair makeover, just in time to start my new job. Later that day Ryan came to town and made my entire week by taking me for a flight. I love flying, and I love watching him as a pilot. Admittedly, I used to (okay, sometimes I still do) stereotype pilots based on the few sleazy ones that I've known, but when my very own fiance decided to pursue flying I was forced to be a bit more open-minded. Some people just love planes, and love flying them. Maybe one day I can too!

My day off went by far too fast for my liking, and before I knew it, it was time to go back to Calgary and back to training... over the weekend! This time, however, Ryan came with me to the city. Knowing that he was at home waiting for me to be done made getting through the days that much easier. I remembered why I'd moved home to Canada in the first place. I can't wait to actually live in the same city! The weekend ended as fast as it began, and Ryan headed back to Edmonton to get ready for his work week to begin.

That sums up the past week and brings us to Sunday. Which means that tomorrow is Monday, and (drumroll please) that means the tomorrow is my LAST DAY OF TRAINING!

Just one more day of class and then it's time for me to spread my little wings... and fly!

...I think it's safe to say that I'm excited.

thankful.

2011-10-09T18:23:00.003-06:00

Every year around this time, I come up with a list of things that I'm thankful for. Each year, the list seems to grow, proving that life just keeps getting better. Ladies and gentlemen, it's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, and without a doubt one of my most favourite occasions of the year.

I love this holiday primarily for the fact that it revolves around a massive feast of food, but the idea of giving thanks for all that we have brings a nice feel-good vibe to the entire weekend. This year the feast was a bit rushed, as Ryan and I stuffed ourselves before heading to a beautiful wedding... congratulations to our friends Mat and Mandy, who threw a great party and actually stayed to enjoy it, unlike many newlyweds. I'm so happy for the two of them, and wish them the best in their new life together! Weddings are so great!

I carried on the weekend, being happy and thankful.... For the following things:

1. Being in Canada. Anywhere else, and I wouldn't even get to celebrate Thanksgiving in all of its turkey and pumpkin pie glory. I've always loved my country, but after spending 18 months in the Middle East, I'm exceptionally patriotic these days. This is my home, and as far as I'm concerned the best place on Earth. Trust me, I've seen a great deal of places to support this theory. I'm so, so happy to be home.

2. My family. They've supported me through all of my crazy adventures and encouraged me to pursue my dreams. Like 90% of flight attendants on the planet, I've been watching the show "Pan Am" a lot lately. Perhaps it's a different era, but even today I know that some parents don't think too highly of the career. I'm not sure if it was myself of my mom that was more excited for my job. She knows how happy it makes me, and takes advantage of the perks that come with it! My brothers think that I'm a pretty cool big sister, my aunts, uncles and cousins are supportive..... my family-to-be are all pretty awesome too. I feel blessed. FYI... my puppies are part of my family too. The cuddliest, cutest members of it.

3. My fiance. Last Thanksgiving, he was just my boyfriend. I love him even more now than I did back then, which if you'd asked me a year ago I would have thought was impossible. Nobody has ever been more supportive or understood me better. Our wedding seemed like such a distant, far off thing... Mat and Mandy still had to get married long before we could countdown. They had their awesome wedding this weekend, and now it appears... we're next!! Ryan even caught the garter. I can't wait to marry him. I never dreamt I'd meet somebody who actually obsessed over airplanes the way that I do, or possessed the same carefree travel-loving attitude as me. We're pretty great for one another, and thanks to the first item on my list, we are actually together.... finally.

4. My friends. From Australia to Dubai to Canada, I have amazing friends all over the place. I'm thankful for the old ones who've been there for me since I was young and silly, to the new friends who've made the past couple of years as great as they were. I'm thankful for the fact that I can't even begin to list them all, because there are just so many awesome people.

5. My job. How many people can honestly say that they've scored their dream job... not once, but twice?! I can, and I still pinch myself from time to time to make sure it's real. I love what I do, and the sky feels like my home. I've worked international, seen the world, and came back home to do what I love in the country that I call home. I couldn't ask for anything more. Other people dream of this job, and I'm one of the lucky dreamers who've seen it come true.

6. Chocolate. For being there for me when times get tough, and making the good times even better. How could I not include one of my most favourite things in my list?!

7. Life. I love my life, and I'm appreciative of all of the little things that I could write out here if you all wanted to read one of my longest blog posts, ever. I'm happy, healthy, alive and thankful. I'm marrying my best friend, shopping for houses, flying around the continent, and surrounded by amazing people. If you ask me, life really couldn't get a whole lot better than it already is. I'm truly blessed, and truly thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my Canadians at home or abroad!

The Cure to Weekdays is a good Weekend

2011-10-02T21:29:00.004-06:00

The stress of exams and mind-numbingly long days last week had left me in a rather stressed-out and unpleasant person to be around kind of state. I was sleep deprived and overwhelmed with most aspects of life, from my new career and missing Ryan to wedding planning and purchasing a home.

I'm quite certain that I've never looked forward to Friday more than I did last week. I left campus in a stupidly-giddy mood and set out bound for Red Deer. Nothing cheers me up better than surrounding myself with family and friends, most especially my fiance. After stopping at my mom's house to say hi, cuddle my puppies, and chatter about my week, I set off to Ryan's parent's place where we met and dined on a fantastic dinner, followed by the very first episode of "Pan Am", a television show that I have little choice but to love given that it is entirely about flight attendants.

By the time we drove back to my house I was fighting to stay awake. It was so nice to sleep in the next morning, even if it was only until 8 am! Breakfast was the highlight of my week, thus far. Bacon and eggs and sausages, oh my! I'd been living on little more than coffee during training and felt rather spoiled by the meal. Later that afternoon, Ryan and I went to the mall (I told you he's the greatest fiance, ever) to kill some time and window shop for items to decorate our future home. The rest of our evening was reserved for a very special person. My friend Carley happened to be in town celebrating her both her 25th birthday and her brother's 18th birthday. There was plenty of fun to be had as we headed to our favourite lounge for an evening of drinks and appetizers. Carley and her brother were both forced to endure a birthday tradition (that shall remained unnamed to keep this blog family friendly) of searching for a shot glass amongst a mountain of whipped cream. More of our friends joined in, and we talked about how in only 189 days, we'd be sipping pina coladas in Mexico. I feel so lucky that so many of my friends are joining Ryan and I for our wedding. The best part of the evening was when Ryan smuggled 5 cheeseburgers inside and we sneakily ate them, hiding them under the table when the waitress was approaching. It was nice to be silly and take a break from studying, and exactly the reminder that I needed... my life is pretty darn awesome! I may be in the midst of a challenging 5 weeks, but I'm training for a job that I absolutely love and planning a beautiful wedding with my very best friend. What more could a girl ask for?!

It's a brand new week on a brand new note, and I'm going to do my best not to complain nearly as much as I did last week. Life's not always sunshine and rainbows, but I'm still pretty darn lucky!

week 2

2011-09-29T16:51:00.002-06:00

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

2011-09-24T08:19:00.003-06:00

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.

2011-09-19T17:25:00.004-06:00

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.

2011-09-09T16:14:00.006-06:00

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

2011-09-07T20:45:00.003-06:00

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

2011-09-02T11:22:00.003-06:00

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!!!

oh summer, where have you gone?

2011-08-30T16:28:00.006-06:00

This happens every year. I find myself staring at the calendar, confused as to how time has mysteriously flown by and left us at the end of August. Summer came, and it's about to go back into hiding for another long, long winter. I'm slightly terrified at the thought of this. In a perfect world, this summer would last forever.

Ryan and I would have the time of our lives enjoying our in-between jobs phase. We wouldn't have to move to separate cities and continue on with our grown up lives and working for a living. The weather would stay warm and snow would be nothing more than a distant memory, never to be seen again.

But alas, we live in the real world and life must go on. Next week Ryan will move to Edmonton to begin his brand new job, while I'll stay home until my own move 2 weeks later. We'll be separated by 3 hours of highway, which certainly beats an entire ocean, but still isn't much fun. The days will get shorter and colder, and we'll brace ourselves for winter.

On the bright side, both of us are moving forward in our careers and are very much looking forward to beginning our new jobs. He'll be working for a much better company than his previous employer, and I'll be hitting the skies again, doing what I love.

September brings beautiful autumn landscapes and the return of pumpkin spiced lattes. It will also bring a brand new city and hopefully some new friends!

It's a bittersweet time, but I'll try my very best to make the most of it. Life is changing, yet again!

bite by bite, step by step.

2011-08-23T22:13:00.005-06:00

Since my return from Dubai, Ryan and I have been living like royalty. Or at least we've been eating like it.

Shrugging aside the fact that our wedding date is fast approaching, we opted for a summer of delicious meals regardless of their nutritional content. I re-experienced all of my favourite Canadian foods. I had a birthday party with enough food to feed a family for a month or two. Oh, and then there was the roadtrip. For 4 weeks Ryan and I drove through the United States eating like Americans. We had to get the full cultural experience, and that just happened to include Starbucks and a whole lot of burgers and hot dogs. The west coast was a seafood mecca and we took full advantage of the fresh crab, prawns, mussels and oysters. Every day was filled with glorious food and more treats than we needed or deserved.

All good things must come to an end, and unfortunately for us that meant returning home and facing real life and the end of our long vacation. It also meant returning to our long deserted former hangout... the gym.

We'd discussed it many times during our trip. We'd justify our calories with the fact that we'd go to the gym as soon as we were back home. Time flew by and before we knew it we were forced to accept our fate. The gym awaited and it wasn't going to go easy on us.

Still sore from our hike up a mountain days earlier, we forced ourselves out of bed this morning and reluctantly drove to the gym. We purchased our monthly pass and made our way to the track where we endured a mixture of running, walking, sit-ups and push-ups. We stayed an entire hour and were feeling rather proud of ourselves, but that wasn't the end.

Later in the day we returned, just in time for a circuit training fitness class. Ryan and I may be out of shape at the moment, but there was a time a long time ago when we were fitness junkie, gym addicts. We've been to the classes and at our prime, they were a breeze. Today, however, I thought I just might die. Everything hurt. My legs, my arms, my back, my abs. During one of our ten flights of stairs we were told to run, we contemplated escaping. My genius of a fiance had left the car keys in the other room and we were forced to return to our perky over-energetic instructor, who commanded us to proceed to the next station. Both Ryan and I struggled to get through each station, cheating and taking breaks and feeling rather embarrassed at our state of fitness. We did survive, and the class did eventually end, much to our surprise. Just 2 hours of workouts and I've got to admit, I'm sore and tired but I'm feeling great. Combined with our ridiculously healthy meals, we are well on our way to getting into shape for our wedding. The moral of the story: Nothing great comes without consequences.

That said, if we can do this, anyone can.

I'll leave you now with a tribute to the food that we ate and enjoyed. If I could take it all back I wouldn't, I loved every single gram of fat and calorie.

catching up!

2011-08-23T08:52:00.004-06:00

Admittedly, I've been far too lazy to blog lately. Summer has flown by and I'm doing all that I can to soak up the last bit of it before winter settles in for a long, long time. To be honest, I'm not really sure how I'll cope with winter after 2 years living in one of the hottest places on Earth. Maybe a week away for a tropical wedding will help? Speaking of weddings, I have my wedding dress! It's downstairs, in the spare room closet, just waiting to be worn. Each day I take a moment to admire it and look forward to the fast-approaching big day. I'm overcome with wedding fever, but I'm sure none of you want to read about it.

Now back to our regular scheduled blogging....

After our trip to Seattle, Ryan and I enjoyed one last day in the United States before beginning the journey home. We watched airplanes take off, ate far too much greasy food, and went to Wal-Mart. I'm quite certain that I've blogged about my love for Wal-Mart in the past, but let me tell you... Wal-Mart in the USA? Amazing. Ryan and I cruised around the massive store loading up our shopping cart. Everything was so cheap in comparison to Canada, and our strong Canadian dollar made it feel like even more of a bargain. Before reaching the checkout we went through each and every item, trying to convince ourselves that we didn't need to own it. It worked for a few things, but we left with far more than we'd anticipated.

The next day it was finally time to begin the long journey home. We stopped for a couple of nights in Kelowna, where we enjoyed the beautiful weather and went on a 12 km hike... the most physical activity we'd had in weeks. Stocked up on fresh fruit, we set out for a full day of driving, eventually reaching home that evening. Our roadtrip was over, 9,000 kilometres later. We caught up with our parents and enjoyed a night of sleeping in our very own bed.

Our vacation wasn't over quite yet. We spent the weekend camping near beautiful Banff, eating campfire food and freezing in the Alberta weather. On Saturday we set out for a hike, battling exhaustion until we finally reached the summit of Sulphur Mountain. I watched in envy as gondolas full of people climbed the mountain above us. It was no easy task, but we felt proud of ourselves for taking the first step towards getting back into shape. The weekend ended and we returned home. Back to reality and the fact that we both have jobs starting in the near future. I've been a busy bee trying to finish up all of my pre-job requirements. I'm rather excited to start work again... maybe not the training portion, but I can't wait to hit the skies.

Life is busy and crazy and I'm loving every minute of it. I'd take this over summer in Dubai any day.

hello seattle!

2011-08-14T20:43:00.009-06:00

For reasons that I don't understand, I've always had the desire to visit Seattle. It's one of those places that just rolls off the tip of your tongue so nicely and sounds like a great place to go. Say it with me… Seattle. The fact that it is the home of Starbucks probably helps its case.

I'd been to the rainy city before, but at the time I was about 5 years old and wouldn't have known the difference between it and the town that I lived in. 20 years later, I was going to see the Seattle through new, grownup eyes.

Ryan and I showered and got ready for our day. Our first stop was Starbucks, as it seemed quite fitting and I'm admittedly a bit of an addict. Caffeinated, we were on our way! Somehow, I ended up being the one forced to drive. I sat white knuckled on the gridlocked interstate, wondering how people had the patience to spend so much of their lives sitting in traffic. I probably won't do well with moving to Calgary, but its nothing in comparison to some of the cities we've been to. As we entered city limits the skyline stood proudly, the Space Needle posing for our photos. I won the battle with traffic and made it safely and not too stressfully to our destination.

Car parked, we headed to the famous Pike Place Market. We knew that it would be busy. We were well aware that coming on a Saturday afternoon was recipe for disaster. We'd taken it all into consideration, but we were still shocked at the mass crowds of people filing through the market.

We forced our way through in an attempt to find food to satisfy our raging appetites. The line for the seafood stall was long, so as I waited Ryan went to a bakery to purchase an almond bear-claw croissant. Mmm, delicious. Once we'd made it to the front of the line we ordered a seafood chowder and a shrimp cocktail. The man working the till messed up our order and gave us a more expensive crab cocktail instead. He'd charged us more money, but we accepted this given the fact that he gave us too much change as well.

We stood eating our food and enjoying the atmosphere of the market area. Once we were fed it was time to battle the crowds once again. Ryan led the way as we weaved in and out of groups of slow walking people. It was a bit too chaotic to do much random browsing, but we made our way through the market and back out to the street. We found a small grocery store selling all sorts of unique items and made a few purchases. Some Tillamook cheese (since Ryan's mom had raved about Tillamook, Oregon), chocolate coated bacon (we've yet to try it, I'll let you know how it goes…) and my personal favourite purchase; chocolate chip cookie dough. Like rebellious children away from the supervision of our parents, we sat at a table eating cookie dough by the spoonful. Don't worry, the package clearly stated that it was safe to eat raw. Life was wonderful.

Using the little bit of willpower that we possess, we closed the lid of the cookie dough before we began to feel ill, continuing on with our Seattle exploring. Down the road we spotted a cafe that advertised "Any Beer, Any Time - $4". Ryan decided to take them up on this offer, ordering a bottle of Moose Drool while I sipped an iced chai latte.

We continued our wandering until we came across an old fashioned barber shop. With my encouragement, Ryan decided to be adventurous and go in for a new look. The barber meticulously gave him a much shorter hairstyle followed by an old fashioned shave. I watched and took photos as my scruffy fuzzy haired fiance was given a much more clean cut look. With a smooth face and tame hair, he looked almost too young to be out with me.

Next up for the day was dinner. I know what you are all thinking… do our entire lives revolve around food?! Well, to put it simply… yes. Yes they do.

We'd found a restaurant advertising super cheap appetizers with the purchase of a drink. I ordered a cherry slushy and Ryan tried another local beer to go along with our buttermilk calamari and lemon butter salmon skewers. It was enough to make a meal, and at less than $20 for food and drinks it was a bargain.

As we left the restaurant the market was closing. We quickly purchased candied salmon (amazing) and cinnamon roasted almonds for an edible souvenir of Pike Place Market. We wandered the streets, passing by a wall covered in thousands of pieces of chewing gum. Other tourists took photos and stuck their gum to the wall to contribute. It was a strange and kind of yucky attraction, but we couldn't resist taking a few of our own photos. Ryan suggested that I stick one of my cards on the wall in an attempt to gain a few more blog followers, but I chose to keep my distance instead.

After checking on our car to ensure that nobody had broken in while we were gone, it was time for the highlight of my day… Starbucks! Earlier in the day the line had stretched out into the street, forcing me to make the decision to carry on walking. It had died down now that the market was closed. Ryan and I stepped inside the very first Starbucks which sported the original logo and lacked the modern decor of the other cafes.

I bought a travel mug as a souvenir, and we took our coffees down the street to another Starbucks that actually had seating. We sat there overlooking the much photographed Pike Place Market sign as we drank our coffee and took advantage of the free wifi.

The sun was setting over the city as we returning to our car to begin the journey back to our campsite. We opted out of visiting the Space Needle as it was far out of the way and we were running short of time to make it back before the park gates closed for the evening. It had been a great day full of food and coffee. Seattle was great, just as I'd always anticipated it would be!

blown away by boeing

2011-08-13T20:57:00.006-06:00

Since we first decided to include Seattle in our roadtrip plans, I have been begging and pleading and probably driving Ryan insane with my many reminders of the fact that I wanted (I may have said needed) to go to the Boeing Factory just outside of Everett. We missed stopping on our first trip through the state, but Ryan agreed that we would return after the wedding in Victoria that he needed to photograph.

I'm lucky to be in love with somebody who keeps his promises. After a nice week on Vancouver Island we caught the ferry back to Anacortes, Washington. We found a site to pitch our tent and called it a night, resting up for the next day. We had tickets for a tour of the Boeing Factory and the aviation nerd in me could barely contain her excitement.

We woke up well rested and packed up our site, moving to another campsite on Camano Island. We didn't waste time blowing up our air mattress or making the bed cozy, we simply pitched our tent, got back in the car, and headed for Everett. Turning off on Boeing Freeway we spotted our first glimpse of the massive factory; the biggest building in the world by volume. It was love at first sight.

Surrounded by jumbo jets sporting the logos of dozens of different airlines, I knew that we were in store for a great day.

We parked and admired the view as we walked in to the Future of Flight centre. We'd arrived early for the tour, so we spent awhile wandering the gift shop to pass the time. There was another gift shop dedicated solely to Boeing, but I insisted that we save that for the end of the day. It was finally time to go! We piled into an auditorium where we watched a short video about how air travel (specifically Boeing) has changed the world. After that we were loaded onto our bus and began the trip over to the factory. Ryan and I sat at the very front, being complete nerds and bombarding our tour guide with questions.

Our first stop was the production line where the 747-8 planes are assembled. I wish that I could share photos, but cameras are strictly prohibited on the tour. The huge planes sat in various stages of completion. I may have been crew on the A380, but that doesn't make the 747 seem any less amazing.

Next stop was the production line for the 777. This was more familiar territory for me. In fact, I even spotted a plane being built for my former airline. The cool thing about this assembly line is that the entire thing actually moves 1.6 inches each minute to make production faster and easier.

The last stop on the tour was the 787 Dreamliner production line. We felt privileged to be among the few who have seen the aircraft so far, as it's yet to take its inaugural passenger flight. We listened to the many amazing features of the aircraft and caught a glimpse of the very first plane that will be shipped off to All Nippon Airways in Japan in just a few short weeks.

The tour was over and we were of course released directly into the Boeing gift shop. Ryan and I knew that we'd never escape without spending a small fortune, but we didn't care. Who doesn't need airplane shaped slippers or Boeing jackets or an incredible (and pricey) bag made from vintage aircraft materials?! We spent a great deal of time as I went back and forth contemplating whether I needed to own the bag or not, before finally coming to the realization that I was unable to leave without it.

I won't comment on how much we spent or how long we stayed in the gift shop, but I can assure you that it was more than enough to make us very happy.

Once we'd spent a sufficient chunk of cash we quickly walked through the Future of Flight gallery and onto the viewing deck where we were rewarded with a view of the runway and all of the nearly completed aircrafts on the tarmac. We were excited to spot the Dreamlifter, an aircraft built for the sole purpose of transporting aircraft parts. It was a rather interesting looking plane, and to our satisfaction we were now free to take as many photos as we'd like.

We watched a few planes take off and land, and just as the building closed we stood with several other photographers begging the employee to let us stay just a few more minutes as a Dreamliner was about to take off. He obliged, allowing us to watch and snap photos as it headed down the runway. How lucky we were! We watched it take off, impressed by how quiet it was in comparison to other planes of the same size.

The building was closing and we were forced to leave, but that didn't stop us from hanging out in the parking lot. We continued to watch planes for awhile until deciding to finally go for dinner.

We made our way to a busy Chinese seafood restaurant where we dined on amazing dishes that tasted far better than any I've ever had in China. Full beyond the point of being able to walk, we waddled back to the car and returned to Boeing. Yes, again. The tour guide had explained that most of the action takes place at night to prevent car accidents as the factory is right beside a freeway and definitely a distraction. We sat for awhile, but nothing happened so we decided to finally make our way back to our campsite.

We had failed to consider the fact that the gate might be closed as it was nearly midnight. Fortunately, I was able to open it and we drove in quietly so as to not wake up anyone camping. All of that effort went out the window when Ryan accidentally pushed the alarm button on the car remote, likely waking up all of our neighbours. Embarrassed, we retreated to our tent and settled in for a good night's sleep after an amazing airplane filled day.

My new airline flies only Boeing, and I'm excited to spend my days cruising the skies on them!

Relaxing in Comox

2011-08-12T13:12:00.002-06:00

Back on mainland (sort of) after a whirlwind trip to Hornby Island, Ryan and I settled in for some much needed downtime in Comox on Vancouver Island. We were fortunate enough to be staying with Mary and Steve, his aunt and uncle who showered us with hospitality.

Once we'd had our post-camping showers we were treated to a delicious dinner of chicken wraps, followed by an amazing coffee-chocolate pudding cake. Feeling the need to walk off our meal, we made our way to the beach. It was great being walking distance to the ocean. We scouted for crabs along the rocks, me being the only one reluctant to pick them up and hold them. They moved too fast and had far too much of a resemblance to spiders for my liking. It was a beautiful night as the sun set over the water.

The next day we woke up early, just in time for low tide. Being the prairie boy that he is, Ryan is very intrigued by the tides and has found a new obsession in finding beached sea creatures. We loaded the car with shovels and buckets and drove to Point Holmes. With the tide out, the beach stretched far and we set out to explore. The highlight of the location was the fact that it was situated nearby the airport. Planes would fly low over us on their final approach. After a couple of hours and many crabs, starfish, clams and oysters later, we headed back to the car to set out in search of lunch.

Much to our dismay, when we turned the key, the car wouldn't start. It was our own fault, we should have known better than to leave our mini fridge plugged in while we were gone. Fortunately, we found a kind man who gave us a boost and we were on our way! Before finding a restaurant we cruised past the airport, stopping to wander a field of retired warplanes. I love having a fiance who not only accepts my nerdy love of airplanes, but appreciates them just as much as I do.

By the time we'd took our photos and admired the planes, we were feeling rather hungry. We made our way to a seafood restaurant where we feasted on battered oysters, seafood chowder, lobster ravioli and a club sandwich made with crab and shrimp meat. They are so much more appetizing on a plane than on the sandy beach. It was all extremely satisfying and we left feeling very full.

The large meal left us feeling rather sleepy, so we went back to the house for a short nap. We woke up feeling far more energized. It was a beautiful afternoon, and a great day to fly our airplane kite that we'd purchased in San Francisco. Or so we thought. Out on Goose Spit we attempted to fly our plane, but the winds were not in our favour. We had a few minutes of airborne fun before giving up and returning home for dinner.

Mmm, let me tell you about dinner. We had cedar plank salmon, which I very much appreciated given the fact that salmon happens to be one of my favourite foods. It was delicious and followed by an equally amazing dessert of chocolate peanut butter cup ice cream. I was in food heaven, as I have been for much of this trip. Topping off an already great day was our perfect evening. Earlier that day we'd seen people having fires along the beach and I mentioned that I'd love to do that. Mary and Steve made it happen, saying "Let's go tonight!" without hesitation. We packed our cameras and blankets and drove to Goose Spit where we found a free fire pit .

We spent the evening there sitting on driftwood, cooking smores, basking in the heat of the fire, and listening to the waves hit the shore. What a wonderful life. The nearly full moon lit up the water and I loved every moment of it. After a good night's sleep and an amazing breakfast of blue crab eggs benedict, it was time to pack up and hit the road yet again. Comox has been good to us, but there are far too many adventures to be had in so little time!

getting domesticated.

2011-08-10T00:01:00.002-06:00

It's hard to believe that only 2 short months ago I was jetting across the world on a weekly basis. I hopped from continent to continent and despite the chaos, it was my life, as I knew it. Being on ground has been an interesting transition as I've adjusted to being in one country for a span of more than a week at a time. Even now, as Ryan and I are entering the 3rd week of our roadtrip, life seems calm in comparison to earlier this year. I'm planning my wedding, I'm discussing my future, and I'm getting domesticated... in more than one sense of the word. A few days ago I was offered employment at a Canadian-based airline. Just as I'm settling back into the normalcy of life on the ground, I'm returning to the skies to live my life as a flight attendant once again. Strange as it sounds, it's where I feel most at home. I can't wait to get back.

Before Dubai and the lucrative temptations of flying international, this airline was my dream job. After 18 months of living in the Middle East and enduring a long distance relationship, I rediscovered the dream. From the outside looking in, it might not sound all that glamourous to go from Paris and Sydney to flying mainly domestic routes, but it's all a matter of how you look at it. For me, it means seeing my family more than twice a year, planning a future with the man that I'm about to marry, living in my home country, and as an added bonus, I still get to fly. I really couldn't ask for much more.

Life is good and I'm doing what I can to prove that the sky is not the limit.

on the road again...

2011-08-09T16:25:00.005-06:00

Approximately 6,400 kilometres later, Ryan and I are still living life on the road. After a good night's sleep in Grant's Pass, Oregon, we were on the road yet again. Canada bound! We drove through Oregon and into Washington, passing soaring mountains and thrilling the mild Twilight fan in me as we saw the turn-off for Forks and La Push.

By mid-afternoon we'd arrived in Port Angeles where arrived just in time to get one of the last spots on the ferry to Victoria. With nearly an hour to wait for our departure, we asked a border patrol officer for a restaurant recommendation. I'm sure glad that we did, because our lunch was delicious! Across the street at a restaurant called Kokopelli Grill we dined on shrimp po-boy and fresh baked oysters, all served quickly as we'd requested. We even had a few minutes to spare, so we grabbed a couple of white chocolate mochas at a coffee stand and headed back to our car.

It was a windy ride to Victoria, but Ryan and I kept busy taking photos and wandering the boat. We were among the last off the ferry and the very last to clear customs, but we were back on Canadian soil and I was rather happy about it.

We entered our hotel into our GPS and drove up Bear Mountain to find our home for the weekend. My goodness, I still can't get over our hotel room. We felt like royalty as we walked in to find 2 bathrooms, a full kitchen, living room, bedroom, and a balcony bigger than the entire room in the last place we'd stayed. It was beautiful and we felt rather out of place in our grubby roadtrip clothes. We settled in and made ourselves at home.

The next morning started with a coffee on the balcony and a quick dip in the pool before heading into town to meet up with Jon and Dixie, who were getting married the next day. As the photographer, Ryan wanted to see all of the photo locations ahead of time. We drove around envisioning the next day and finally returned to their home to join them for their rehearsal dinner. Oh, the food! I'll be amazed if I still fit any of my clothes after this trip. We helped ourselves to bacon wrapped scallops, curried prawns and freshly caught salmon. It's a shame that seafood addicts like ourselves live so far inland. We stuffed ourselves and sat around the fire until later that night when we returned to our room to call it a night.

The next morning was an early one, as we woke up to get ready for the wedding. The thing about wedding photography that I hadn't considered is that to take photos of the bride getting ready, you must be ready before the bride. Needless to say, I was quite sleepy as we packed up the cameras. As Dixie had her hair styled and makeup applied, we watched Toy Story and Ryan took photos. When it was finally time to put on the dress, Ryan left to take photos of the boys while I stayed with the girls and took a few photos of the exciting moment. As somebody who has attended very few weddings in the past few years and in the process of planning my own, I was rather giddy (and maybe a bit teary eyed) as we made our way downstairs where bride and groom would meet for the first time. They had opted for photos before the evening ceremony, which worked perfectly for Ryan. I stood on the sidelines, snapping random photos throughout the day. The wedding was beautiful, the food was delicious, and the sangria was to die for. The vineyard venue was amazing. It was a great day and a fun night, and I'm happy to congratulate Jon and Dixie on beginning their lives together!

The next day was a sad one, as we reluctantly checked out of our amazing hotel room. We went to the post-wedding brunch and watched as the newlyweds opened their stack of gifts. As we were leaving it dawned on me that I had no idea where my purse was. I pondered where I could have possibly placed it when a sudden sinking feeling overcame me. I'd placed my purse, along with a rather large chunk of cash in the safe at the hotel. We'd already checked out and it was only minutes until check in time. Fearing the worst, I called the hotel and explained the situation. We drove back where they were happy to bring us back to the room and we found our money safely placed exactly where I'd left it. I'd never felt so relieved, though I'm certain Ryan will never let me live that one down.

We were on the road again, heading up the coast towards Comox to stay with Ryan's relatives for a few days. Before that, however, we stopped at Paradise Fun Park to play a couple of rounds of mini-golf with the newlyweds who were happy to escape the wedding and family madness for a few hours. I lost both games, as I usually do when it comes to mini golf. We parted ways with Jon and Dixie and continued onto Comox. After arriving and chatting to Ryan's aunt and uncle we called it a night, happy for a good night's sleep after a long, busy weekend.

We were up early the next day, eager to find something to do in the area. After a short while contemplating we decided to make a day trip to Hornby Island. We made our way to the ferry and rode across first to Denman Island and then onto the next ferry dock. We hadn't anticipated so many people with the same intentions, and found ourselves waiting nearly an hour to catch another ferry. By the time we'd arrived it was rather late, so we opted to make use of our tent and found a campsite with a spot available. We pitched the tent and then proceeded to explore the island. Our first stop was a small taco stand where we ate tacos beside the beach.

They were delicious but small, so we continued driving around the island until we found a fish and chips shop and ordered battered halibut and salmon.

After a good lunch, fatigue was beginning to set in. Rather than spend the afternoon lazing around, I insisted that we go on a hike and take photos along the way. We made our way to Helliwell Provincial Park, where we walked the 5 kilometre circle trail along bluffs and through the forest.

It was a gorgeous hike and we managed to spot sea lions, massive birds, a snake and a woodpecker. Content with having exercised, we went to grab a slice of pizza each. On the way back to our campsite we stopped at a beach where the sun was setting as we wandered barefoot in the sand exploring tidal pools. It had been a fun day and it was time to settle in for the evening. We cozied up in our small tent that we'd purchased at Walmart for $22. Despite the constant stream of people walking by late into the night, we managed to get some sleep and wake up early the next morning. Our first stop of the day was a bakery where I had a cinnamon raisin roll and Ryan out-did my unhealthy ways by ordering cheesecake for breakfast. We rounded off our meals with a smoothie for him and a latte for me and continued on our way. At the ferry dock we wandered on the rocks at low tide, finding crabs and starfish.

Ryan stayed there until I finally insisted that we return to the campsite as we were only 15 minutes away from checkout time. We headed back and took down our tent, vacating our site just in time. Before returning to catch the ferry, we played at Tribune Beach which is said to be the Hawaii of Canada. The water was warm by Canadian ocean standards and abundant with marine life.

It was time to return to mainland, and by mainland I mean Vancouver Island. Back to Comox we went, happy to have had a great time on an island that only 2 days earlier I hadn't known existed!

childhood dreams and big kid adventures

2011-08-03T23:23:00.009-06:00

The past week has been a blur of days that were as fun as they were exhausting. Our legs ache, our feet are blistered, but Ryan and myself are as happy as two kids in a toy store... (or as ourselves, in a toy store...).

On Friday, we loaded up the car and headed south down the coast. We spent the morning winding alongside steep cliffs with incredible ocean views. The long day of driving was broken up with a stop in Monterey, a pretty coastal town full of sea lions and more importantly, seafood.

As we wandered Fisherman's Wharf in search of a delicious dinner, we were overwhelmed with options. Each restaurant offered a sample of their clam chowder, proclaiming it to be the best. We were happy to taste each one and make the decision ourselves. What won us over in the end was one restaurant that served a free appetizer of buffalo style calamari. As huge fans of buffalo chicken wings, we had to try it. Oh my goodness, whoever thought of that combination was pure genius. It was delicious.

We contemplated ordering a second round, but decided to share a main course instead. Continuing the seafood theme, we ordered cioppino, a mixture of crab, shrimp, mussels, oysters and calamari all drowning in a tomato broth. Our tastebuds were not disappointed.

After our great dinner we wandered the wharf, stopping to watch the sea lions before heading back to the car to continue the journey.

The rest of the way seemed to take an eternity as we headed towards Los Angeles. We drove through the night up massive hills fearing that our car would overheat. We finally reached LA and for a brief few moments took in the view of the lit-up downtown from the freeway. Shortly after midnight we reached Anaheim, and just a short distance down the road from our hotel we drove past the entrance to Disneyland! It was late and we were tired, but I couldn't help but to be excited for the next day.

We reached the comfort of our hotel room and called it a night after what had been a very long day of driving.

The next day was the day that I'd waited my entire childhood for. Ryan and I were bound for Disneyland!! As we entered the gates I grew more and more excited as I spotted Mickey Mouse everything. It was insanely busy but I didn't care. I was finally in Disneyland and I was going to love it.

Ryan and I spent the day running between Disneyland and California Adventure, grabbing fast passes, eating Mickey shaped pretzels and ice cream, and riding rides.

I won't go as far as to detail our day to day activities, because that would be one extra long blog. I can assure you that we had an amazing time and that Disneyland is not overrated, at least in my opinion. We spent 3 days in the park before it was time to head north again. The highlights? Splash Mountain, California Screamin', Space Mountain, the nightly fireworks and the World of Colour show, which put the fountains of the Burj Khalifa and Bellagio to shame.

After fulfilling my childhood dream, it was time to make Ryan's come true. We were off to Six Flags Magic Mountain, to spend the day riding some of the world's craziest rollercoasters. We loaded up the car, determined to get an early start to make it across LA by 10:30 am. As we were putting the last few items in the car I saw something out of the corner of my eye that could potentially ruin our entire day. "Umm, Ryan…" I said, reluctantly. "…we have a flat tire." We looked at each other in silence, suddenly much less excited about our day than we had been minutes earlier. I left him to assess the situation as I went inside to check out. Fortunately, it was an easy fix. Ryan's emergency car kit came in handy as he filled the tire up and we continued on our way. We were headed into rush hour traffic, but aside from a few back up areas it wasn't nearly as terrible as we'd expected it to be.

We arrived at the park just before the gates opened, forgetting all about the tire and focusing on having fun. Once the park was open we headed to pick up our Flash Pass. We'd paid double the admission fee for it, but it was well worth it. For the entire day we skipped the massive lines and proceeded to the front, waiting a maximum of 10 minutes for the popular rides and hopping straight on for many of them. Best of all, once we'd finished the ride our pass enabled to ride again, angering the people waiting for their turn. It was great. In the +40 degree heat we rode rollercoasters and water rides non-stop from the time the park opened until it closed at night. I've never been happier about the fact that I don't have a weak stomach, although a few of the coasters left me feeling a bit dizzy for awhile afterwards. Ryan was ecstatic, particularly after riding the insane X2 rollercoaster.

The park closed and we left on a happy adrenaline high. Having made no plans for the evening, we continued driving until we came across a row of motels along the interstate. We stopped at each one until we were so tired that we settled for a somewhat sketchy place that offered free wifi and breakfast. How could we pass that up? Ryan examined the bedding and we reluctantly crawled onto the rock hard mattress. It looked like one of those motels on TV where criminals running from the law hide, but it beat the Walmart parking lot. At least we could have a shower. We got through the night and hit the road, happy to leave.

Back to the I-5 interstate we went, driving through the state of California, passing vineyards, deserts, and mountains.

We made it to Oregon and pulled into a slightly nicer motel to spend the evening. Tomorrow it's back to the road and onto Washington!

Wandering and Overreating in San Francisco

2011-07-29T11:33:00.001-06:00

It was a foggy morning in San Francisco as Ryan and I set out for a day of exploring the way that I know best. Ditching the guide books and car, we rode the train to the city where we proceeded to wander by foot.

I knew from the beginning that it was going to be a long day. As soon as we'd emerged from the station and spotted the massive line of people waiting for cable cars, we opted to walk to the waterfront instead.

We began the hike up the steep hilly streets, happily wandering and snapping photos. We strolled through China town and eventually reached Fisherman's Wharf. Having successfully converted Ryan into a coffee drinker during our trip, we stopped at Starbucks for a caffeine fix and then carried on with our wandering. Mass amounts of camera shops along the way caused a slight delay, as we stopped to check prices and walked out with brand new polarizing filters. It certainly wasn't something we'd planned to purchase, but our photos from that point on were far better.

Once we'd reached the food stalls of Fisherman's Wharf we both realized just how amazing this city was. Both of us are seafood lovers, and the vast amount of crab, shrimp, mussels and clam chowder was almost overwhelming as we tried to decide what to eat first. We settled on clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl, as it's somewhat of a "must-try" in San Francisco.

It was pretty darn delicious, despite the large glob that ended up in my hair thanks to the ridiculous wind. Never full, we pondered our next snack. We decided upon squid, which was yummy but could have done without the dressing that it was soaked in.

Next on our list was Ghirardelli Square. Any city that has an entire square dedicated to a brand of chocolate is good in my books. We browsed the chocolate shop, where we were offered a delicious sample. This satisfied my craving and convinced me to buy ice cream instead of more chocolate.

Oh my goodness, the ice cream. It's almost worth a blog entry in itself. We scanned the menu before deciding upon 2 massive sundaes... one called Mint Bliss, made with mint chocolate ice cream and hot fudge, and the other one called Gold Rush, which contained layers of ice cream, peanut butter, and hot fudge. Even while we were ordering, we knew that we'd regret it, but that didn't stop either of us. We indulged in the incredible sundaes, eating far past the point of feeling full. Did I feel disgusting once I'd conquered the ice cream? You bet. Was it worth it? Heck yes.

Feeling the need to walk off the sugar, we strolled down the long pier where we were rewarded with beautiful views of the city and Alcatraz. We even managed to spot a few sea lions swimming around in the water below us. We spent an extremely long time on the pier, caught up in taking photos of everything and anything.

I finally convinced Ryan to return to land, as I was freezing from the heavy sea breeze. We headed back towards Pier 39, browsing random shops along the way. Always ones to spend our money on useless and amazing items, we entered a kite store and left with a rather large Kitty Hawk airplane shaped kite. Being the practical engineer that he is, Ryan insisted on putting it together right then and there to ensure that it was in good condition. We stood in the store meticulously building the kite until it was finally good to go. From that moment on, I lost my fiance to a kite. Rather than holding my hand, he held onto the plane and ran around soaring it through the air. If I was anyone else, I'd probably think he was a bit silly, but admittedly it was my idea to buy that very kite and I'd known that this would happen.

Miraculously, we regained our sense of hunger as evening approached. Determined to indulge in crab, we sought out what looked to be the best restaurant. When we saw The Crab House in Pier 39, we knew that it was meant for us. We sat at a large table, propping the plane on the booth beside us and trying to refrain from ordering absolutely everything on the menu. Donning the bibs that the restaurant provided, we settled on steamed mussels and shrimp to start. A huge steaming platter was brought to our table with wine poured over top. Amazing.

Next up was the main course, and it was exactly what we'd hoped for. A huge plate of crab dripping in garlic butter was placed in front of us, much to our delight. It was so incredible that I never wanted it to end.

Sadly, it did end, but that didn't mean that the meal was over. Oh no, not for food addicts such as ourselves! Feeling that we'd already ate a week's share of dessert that day, we chose to order crab chowder instead. It may have looked like mush, but it was certainly the yummiest mush that I've ever tasted. Dinner was finally over and we were content with how amazing it had been.

We continued wandering Pier 39, full of all sorts of random stores that tempted us to spend our money. I walked away with a tiny airplane charm that I've been searching for for quite awhile. It even has 4 engines so I can get away with saying that it's an A380. The sun was setting over the water, forcing us to stop to take even more photos. Alcatraz sat beneath a layer of cloud and orange sky, looking eerie in the distance.

Before we could return home, we were distracted by an arcade where Ryan thought it would be a good idea to spend our pouch full of quarters. We were instantly drawn to a game that we'd seen many times before, where the object is to use coins to push other coins off of the ledge. It happens to be annoyingly addictive. Our quarters were gone, and Ryan began breaking out the dollar bills... "Just one more!". That's what they all say. $8 and 250 winning tickets later we left with our prizes... a styrofoam plane, some other junk toy, and not one, but 2 Laffy Taffy (only because the guy behind the counter threw in one for free). We were tired and it was dark, so we made the decision to go home and head to bed.

Realizing how far the walk was at that time of night, we opted to ride the cable car. Besides, we were in San Francisco and it seemed almost mandatory. Jam packed like sardines into the car, we rode up and down the streets until we reached the end of the line and the metro station. We rode the train back and to my relief my car was still intact and waiting for us at the other end. We drove back to the house, looked at our photos, and called it a night.

San Francisco won over our hearts, and our stomachs, but it's time to continue down the coast... next stop, LA!

california dreamin'

2011-07-27T22:10:00.009-06:00

Life in California has been relatively peaceful considering the massive population and big city surroundings. Ryan and I have been doing exactly what vacations are intended for... relaxing.

Our friends Jon and Jody have taken great care of us, allowing us to stay in their home and touring us around the Bay area.

Yesterday we woke up to another beautiful California day. While Jody headed off to work, Jon and his 3 year old son had dentist appointments. Ryan and I agreed to stay home with the 11 month old baby while the others were gone.

As everyone left, Ryan decided that it would be an ideal time to rotate the tires on the car. I stayed inside with a baby who was heartbroken that his dad had left him all alone with a stranger. He cried for quite some time before finally falling asleep as I carried him around. Success! Only minutes later, Ryan walked back inside the house. At the sound of the door opening, the sleeping baby in my arms woke up and burst into tears once again. Way to go, Ryan. We struggled to cheer him up, only succeeding temporarily before he'd scream again. For those of you who will certainly be asking as soon as the wedding has happened, Ryan and I aren't planning on having kids in the near-ish future.

Jon finally returned home and magically calmed his sad baby in a way that only a parent can. Next on our day plan was a trip to Costco. It might not sound all of that exciting, but for Ryan and I it was. He bought an external hard drive and a huge supply of batteries, while I tossed some fresh cherries in the cart. Once we'd made our purchases, it was off to make a far more exciting purchase. We are now proud to be in possession of a pair of 3-day park hopper passes to Disneyland and California Adventure. I'm the most excited girl on the planet as I think about finally being able to meet Mickey Mouse.

Continuing on with our day, we stopped at a fast food outlet called Pollo Loco, where we sampled what Jon promised were some of the area's most delicious churros. Admittedly, they were pretty darn amazing. Having already passed the point of no return on our trend of unhealthy eating, we stopped at 7-11 to grab some pina colada flavoured slurpees. Best idea, ever. While we sipped our slurpees, Ryan took photos of planes landing overhead.

We finished off our day by joining Jon, Jody and their family for a barbecue and picnic in the park. We ate hot dogs and brownies and played at the park with the kids.

After dinner we took photos of the sun setting over San Francisco before we returned home for a quiet night of TV and general lazing around looking at the photos that we've taken thus far.

This morning we woke up and lounged around the house, contemplating taking photos of the sunrise but succumbing to our laziness. Jon had the day off again and the 3 of us were set for another day of photo adventures. It's great hanging out with people who actually find joy in standing at one spot for long periods of time just to capture the perfect shot. We drove through San Francisco, across the Golden Gate Bridge, took a slight detour to Starbucks and then headed to Muir Woods National Monument, a huge forest full of giant Redwood trees.

Each of us stopped every few minutes for another photo. We took an hour to walk what would take a normal person only 10 minutes. Hundreds of photos later, we left the forest and continued on to In N' Out burger, where we dined on delicious burgers and fries. Say what you will, but I love American fast food chains in all of their greasy glory.

On the way back to the house we stopped for photos at a Mormon temple perched on the side of a hill with a stunning view of the city below. Normally open to visitors, it was closed for the day. Cameras in hand, we managed to entertain ourselves for quite some time taking photos of honeybees in the rose bushes.

Dinner came with even more delicious food. Jody and Jon made an amazing meal of tri-tip sandwiches, corn on the cob, and baked potatoes. Home cooked meals are especially delicious when you spend so much time on the go.

The rest of the evening was spent lazing on the couch with a cup of coffee in hand and a bag of kettle corn on the couch beside us. Life is good, and we love California!

road trippin' the usa

2011-07-25T22:57:00.007-06:00

The day had finally arrived. After an entire month back home in Red Deer, there was finally some adventure in store for Ryan and I. The car was loaded, the gas tank was full, and we were ready to set off on an epic roadtrip. Getting by on caffeine and excitement, we hit the road early Saturday morning, traveling south.

We cruised through Alberta until the border, where we handed over our passports and drove into the United States. Montana was beautiful, much more than we'd expected it to be. We fought the urge to stop around every corner, trying to make good time.

A few more hours passed, and we reached Idaho. Once again, we were surprised at the landscape and the altitude as we drove through the state. The further south we drove, the warmer the outside temperature got. I was thrilled to finally have an entire day without a rain storm. Summer back home hasn't been great when it comes to weather.

It was getting late as we crossed the state line and drove into Utah. We'd been on the road for over 12 hours and both of us were ready to call it a night. To save time and money, we decided not to get a hotel room for the evening. Instead, we settled into a cozy stall in the parking lot of a Walmart in Salt Lake City. In our jam-packed car it wasn't all that comfortable, but it was better than nothing. Before falling asleep, however, we felt it necessary to wander the quiet aisles of the store, open 24 hours. That alone could almost convince me to move south of the border. It was 1 am and there we were, stocking up on memory cards for our cameras. We retreated to the car where we slept for a few hours before waking up to the sunrise. After a quick breakfast at McDonald's (where they have pancakes!!) we were back on the road.

The air smelled of salt and fish as we drove past Great Salt Lake and into the salt flats. The ground was white for miles on end, covered in a layer of salt. If it weren't for the soaring temperatures, you might almost mistake it for snow. We stopped for a few quick photos and then continued on our way.

Before we knew it, we were in Nevada! Surrounded by desert and under the blazing sun, it almost felt as if I'd been dropped off in Dubai. According to our thermometer, the outside temperature was 38 degrees celsius (about 100F). The land was barren. No trees, no homes, just miles of emptiness with a few prisons every couple of hours. It felt as though we'd never make it out. Time slowed to a halt as we drove through the state. Dust devils formed around us and tumbleweeds blew across the interstate. We finally reached Reno, and it seemed like a mirage after the miles of endless desert.

After a quick stop to fill up the gas, we were on the way again. Shortly after Reno we reached the sign that we'd been waiting for.... Welcome to California! It greeted us like an ice cream cone on a hot summer day, and we hopped out of the car to take photos in front of it. Aside from airport stopovers, it was my first time in California and I was ridiculously excited. The landscape changed dramatically as we crossed the state line. Trees! Nature!

We spotted the exit for Lake Tahoe and despite the fact that we were trying to make it to our destination as fast as possible, we couldn't bring ourselves to drive right past without stopping. We pulled into a small lakeside town filled with quaint cafes and sports shops. I picked up my usual fridge magnet and then carried on down the street to a surf and snowboard shop where we discovered a large rack of winter clothing on clearance. In the heat of the store I stood trying on winter jackets and snow pants. I walked out with my purchases, laughing at the fact that I'd found my winter attire in sunny California, but content with the fact that I was a bit more prepared for what I'm certain will be a long, cold winter with my snow-loving fiance. We shared a sandwich at a bench overlooking the massive lake before continuing on our road trip.

I was nervous as we drove on winding roads climbing up and down mountains at speeds that shouldn't have been legal, but were. Ryan loved every moment of it. I didn't calm down much as we got closer to the coast. As somebody who gets impatient at slight traffic jams in my small hometown, I was overwhelmed by 7 lanes of cars. As night settled in, we finally reached San Francisco, 6 tanks of gas and 11 pee breaks later.

Our friends Jon and Jody were kind enough to let us stay in their beautiful home, and we were relieved to finally have a bed to sleep in.

The next morning we woke up well rested and ready for a day of taking photos in San Francisco. Ryan, Jon and myself packed up our cameras and headed for the city. Our first stop was the famous Lombard Street. The steep road winded uphill, lined with pretty homes and camera toting tourists. A cable car passed by at the top, making it all so very cliche San Francisco. I loved it.

Our next stop was the landmark of the city... the Golden Gate Bridge. We took far too many photos and spent quite awhile admiring the red structure before moving on to have lunch at a place called Liverpool Lil's. Ryan and I shared a Reuben sandwich and a delicious burger, happy to be eating a real meal after 2 days of on-the-road snacks.

After lunch we proceeded to take more photos of the bridge from different angles. We walked along a beach barefoot, spotting a few people who took off more than just their shoes, as nudity was permitted. We even had the chance to drive across the bridge not once, but twice, feeling like movie stars. Content with our day, we headed for dinner at California Pizza Kitchen where we dined on Thai Chicken pizza and Hawaiian BBQ pizza, both delicious. On the way back home, we stopped to take photos of the sun setting over the bay, a perfect end to a great day. I'm loving California and don't want to leave... fortunately our vacation is only beginning!

one month later...

2011-07-21T07:04:00.003-06:00

As of today, I've officially been home for one month! Unlike Dubai, where I spent half of my time flying and the other half sleeping, time slows to a halt back home. It feels as though I've been here for far longer than I actually have. Every day somebody asks "Do you miss it?" That all depends on the context of the question. Do I miss my job? Yes. I miss living in the sky and hopping around the world. Do I miss my friends? Of course! I miss watching movies and eating ice cream with Kim, I miss spending my salary at Ikea with Greta. Do I miss envelopes of cash being handed to me each time I check into a hotel? You bet I do. Forking over payment is far less exciting. When it comes to the main question, however, I have a slightly different answer. Do I miss Dubai? Not at all.

I don't miss trying to accomplish simple errands and the frustration that came with the many obstacles involved in each task. I don't miss the heat, although my stance on that may change a few months from now. I don't miss my deteriorating apartment with its leaky ceilings, creepy crawlies, or lack of hot water. I don't miss the taxis and I certainly don't miss the crew buses.

I may be having a bit of altitude withdrawal as I remain on ground, but other than that I'm still quite happy to be finished with the Middle East.

When it comes to adventure, I am getting a bit restless spending my days sitting around the house. I've spent weeks patiently waiting Ryan's completion of his pilot's license, and fortunately the end is near. As I type he's off to take his flight test, and I know that he'll pass with flying colours... get it, flying? Once he has that weight lifted off his shoulders, it's time for vacation!! This weekend we are leaving for an amazing road trip that will bring us south to California and back up the coast to make it to Victoria for a wedding in a few weeks. We have no timeline, and no set plans. I've managed to persuade Ryan to go to both Disneyland and the Boeing Factory in Seattle, so I'm a little bit (ridiculously) excited for this trip. We'll have the laptop and of course our cameras on the road, so rest assured, I'll be blogging as we go! California here we come!!!

Food addicts anonymous, i need you!

2011-07-18T11:20:00.004-06:00

As far back as I can remember, I've loved food. While most parents had to think of creative ways to get their children to eat their dinner, mine had to stop me from eating everything in sight.

Getting a job as a flight attendant was a dream come true... it meant that I could sample some authentic dishes from countries all around the world! This blog evolved into somewhat of a food journal as I bragged about the delicious meals that I'd indulged in during my layovers. I may be home now, but it doesn't mean that I'm not still overindulging instead of falling into the typical bride's pre-wedding health kick.

Last week Ryan and I made a trip to Edmonton so that he could meet with his future boss to set up a start date for his new job. I waited patiently in the car, contemplating what we would eat for dinner. There are far more options in the big city! After a recommendation from a friend, we decided to feast on Greek food. Our destination was a restaurant called "Koutouki Taverna". We were led to our table hidden away to give us plenty of privacy. It didn't take us long to decide... we'd try the seafood mezze platter! We were brought dish after dish of delicious samples, easily enough to feed 4 people but enjoyed only by the 2 of us. Tzatziki, hummus, stuffed vine leaves, prawns, calamari, Greek potatoes, rice, and so much more that I can't even remember it all to list it! Needless to say, we left feeling quite full.

The next day had even more food in store for us. Once a year the famous Calgary Stampede takes place in Alberta, bringing with it a rodeo, midway rides and games, and best of all... carnival food! We were up extra early to drive to the city to meet up with Ryan's parents. We loaded up on a pancake breakfast before hitting the midway. Our first snack of the day was an ice cream bar dipped in chocolate and coated with peanuts. Mmm! Next on the list was bannock, a traditional Native Canadian bread. After a couple of overpriced rides and games, we grabbed a fresh lemonade and headed inside to watch the Ice Show, where Olympic champions (and my former idols) Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were performing. Once the show was over, Ryan's parents hit the road as the two of us stayed for more fun and food. For lunch was a jumbo hot dog, followed by another ice cream, later followed by Dippin' Dots and finally, MORE ice cream! We really didn't need the last serving, but it was free and I'm quite certain that saying no to free ice cream is completely unacceptable.

We left before we had the chance to eat anything else, heading home to visit with Ryan's cousin's brand new son... only 2 days old and so sweet!!

Another week over, and we are likely a few pounds heavier.

I really should make use of my gym membership.

Ryan is preparing for his flight test this week... after which he'll officially be a pilot and we'll officially be on vacation! We are in the process of planning an amazing road trip and I'll be sure to blog all about it!

Roughin' it in the Rockies

2011-07-13T16:02:00.010-06:00

Despite my lack of recent blog entries, I haven't forgotten about you lovely people who still follow my life even after my cabin crew days. I've been surprisingly busy lately, having fun and enjoying what is meant to be summer.

My cousin Jay is still kicking around, experiencing Canadian culture (and by culture, I obviously mean food) and keeping me company as I drift through the days as a lazy unemployed person. Last week she made a trip to Edmonton where she made it to the final stage of interviews for a certain airline that I was recently employed at. As happy as I am to be home, I'm crossing my fingers that she gets the job. She's young, single, and there is absolutely nothing holding her back from jetting around the world. Not that I considered myself as being held back in a relationship, but it certainly affected my desire to live on the other side of the world and played a large role in my return to Canada. So please join me in wishing Jay the best of luck and I promise to force her to start her very own blog should she get the job.

In other (ridiculously exciting) news.... I bought a car!! After 18 months of enduring crew buses and the smelliest taxis in the world, I'd forgotten just how amazing it is to get in a car and drive wherever it is I want to go. I was lucky in that Ryan's sister and brother-in-law had recently purchased a more family appropriate mini-van and were in need of finding a new owner for their car. I'm happy to be that person. Despite my initial anxiety getting used to being behind the wheel again, I'm thrilled to be back on the road. I've been cruising around town singing to my music just like old times.

To celebrate my car's very first road trip, Ryan and I drove to the mountains to meet his parents for a weekend of camping! The weather wasn't great and Ryan had been kind enough to share his cold, making me feel rather miserable. I didn't care. I was going to take beautiful photos, eat delicious campfire food, and enjoy my weekend.

We woke up early on Saturday morning and headed west. We'd planned to make it to the campsite around 9 in the morning, just in time for breakfast. We were delayed after a stop at a car shop to purchase an air freshener led to Ryan wasting an hour loading up on random purchases that only a boy would find exciting. I now carry a tool kit in the back of my car because "you never know when you might need one." My favourite purchase of the day (aside from my vanilla scented air freshener) was a GPS. I find myself using it each time I get in the car, following the directions to my home as though I've never been there before. We used it to direct us to the campsite, where we arrived later then anticipated, but just in time for lunch!

Camping with Ryan's family is amazing. While most people survive on a diet of hot dogs and marshmallows when cooking over fire, we feasted on pizzas and bacon and egg pies. I'm a bit addicted to camping pizzas, cooked to perfection in pie irons over the fire. With each delicious bite I feel a bit of accomplishment in the fact that I cooked my meal all by myself. We ate to our heart's desire, set up our tent, and then planned out our day. After a short nap, we were going to go hiking!

Camera bags packed with all of the essentials, we got into the truck and drove towards Peyto Lake. On the way, I snapped a few photos as we drove by a black bear! It had been years since I'd seen a real live bear in the wild, and I was very excited.

We arrived at the starting point for the trail and set off on our way. The weather was less than desirable, but it was probably for the best as I'm sure it eliminated a few tourists from swarming the place. The lake was stunning. To this day I'm amazed each time that I see water in such an amazing shade of blue. Had I not seen it in person I'd probably be convinced that it was digitally enhanced in photos.

We took the mandatory photos, which between Ryan and I is more than most people would take in a month. Continuing up the not so beaten path, we made our way up the mountain for a better vantage point and a bit of exercise. Normally I quite enjoy hiking, but the combination of the cold air (I've only been back from Dubai a short time!), high altitude and my stuffed up sinuses, I wasn't feeling so well. I toughed it out for the photos and the views, and I'm glad that I did. It was beautiful the further we walked. We saw two not-so-common animals... a pika and a marmot.

Hundreds of photos later, we went back down to the truck, made another photo stop at another beautiful lake, and finally returned to the campsite.

For dinner, we had pizza again. I never seem to get sick of them! After dinner we played a card game despite my cough medicine induced drowsiness. Finally, it was off to bed. I'd never been so happy to crawl into a tent.

The next morning I woke up feeling equally as miserable as the night before. Fortunately, the weather was better and the sun even appeared to be peeking out from behind the clouds! We made our breakfast as usual and then set out for another day of mountain adventures. We decided to hike up Stanley Falls, a pretty trail alongside a canyon with 7 sets of waterfalls. This was photo paradise, and we made frequent stops to give our cameras some exercise of their own. Despite waking up feeling ill, the fresh air and exercise actually made me feel a whole lot better this day. At the top of the trail we stopped for a snack before turning back and continuing our scenic drive.

We stopped at the Columbia Icefield, which is home to several huge glaciers and is a popular tourist attraction. Rather than crossing the street and visiting the glacier that we've been to many times before, we went to the cafe for ice cream.

Our next stop was another set of waterfalls. First, we saw Panther Falls and further down the path was Bridal Veil Falls. It was a pretty hike, but since it was downhill the entire way, it meant that we had to walk uphill all the way back to the truck. Out of breath and feeling rather out of shape, we happily made our way back to the campsite for dinner. I felt spoiled as we dined on steak and potatoes. They eat better camping than I do with a full kitchen available to me!

After dinner the sun began to set and I persuaded Ryan that we should go for a drive to take photos. While his parents played games, we drove out in search of great photo opportunities. It was a beautiful night but we were feeling rather uninspired by the sunset. We made one final photo stop before turning around and deciding to head home. As Ryan began to drive I stared out the window and saw a large brown animal in the grass. "Bear!!!" I shouted, a bit unsure of whether it actually was a bear. "Bear! BEAR!!!" I shouted, more excited now. He quickly pulled over and saw the bear for himself... a grizzly!! Without responsible adults around to tell us that stopping so close was a bad idea, we pulled over and giddily began to take photos as the bear munched on berries and plants. As he would walk further up the road, we'd back up the car to continue taking photos. It was a like a photography dream for camera nerds like ourselves. We would have spent all night taking photos, but it was getting dark and the bear was growing impatient. He finally looked up towards us, thrilling us as we continued snapping photos.

If he hadn't noticed us before, he certainly did now. He stomped one large foot against the ground and for a moment my heart stopped as I was sure that he was about to run towards us. "Drive!!!" I screamed, nervous. With his foot on the gas pedal Ryan waited to see what would happen. Fortunately for us and my new car, the bear continued his business, feeling that he'd given us sufficient warning to maintain our distance. Just as he began to cross the street a huge tour bus pulled up and the windows lit up with flashes of cameras. We let the tourists have their moment and headed back to the campsite.

It was now dark and I was feeling a bit anxious about sleeping in a tent after being so close to a grizzly bear, but I fell asleep quickly and survived the night without being eaten by bears. We'd had a great weekend but it was time to head back home. Ryan would have been happy to stay another week, but I personally had never felt more excited for a long shower and a comfortable bed. Home we went, feeling rather fortunate to live in such an incredible place!

my first visitor!

2011-07-08T09:55:00.004-06:00

Around this time 3 years ago, I was living in Australia doing the working-backpacker thing. I had just spent nearly 3 months living on a remote island surrounded by dingos and I was longing for city life. I found my way to Brisbane, where I planned to meet Jay, a distant cousin, but family nonetheless. I'd met some of her family earlier on in my journey, but we'd maintained contact on Facebook and were determined to meet in person.

We organized a breakfast meeting and hit it off. We were instant friends! The next day, I moved into her house and a day later we'd book flights to Fiji. We had a great summer in Brisbane and vowed to reunite again, someday.

That day came this week! Also badly infected with the travel bug, Jay had just spent a few months wandering South America and was ready for something new. I was thrilled to have her and show her around my home.

Ryan and I met her at the airport on Monday morning. I held up a sign to welcome her.... not just any sign, but a sign lovingly made and loaded with glitter. I was probably more excited than she was about her arrival to my lovely homeland.

I proceeded to drag her out to karaoke night, where we were charmed and insulted by an intoxicated man who provided a great source of entertainment for the evening.

We've spent the rest of the week lazing around the house. I feel a bit bad for the fact that I suddenly lead such an uneventful life, nor do I own a vehicle. We are both catching up on our American television... I sure have missed it!

In other news, time really goes by slowly when you are on the ground! As a flight attendant, I'd spend half of my life in the sky and the rest of it sleeping. Weeks passed as if they were days, and before I knew it another month was gone. I feel as though I've been home for 2 months, but when I actually stop to think about it, it's been less than 3 weeks. I've yet to decide if this is good or bad, but I'm going to lean towards good at the moment seeing as how it is summer and summer never seems to last long enough when you live in Canada.

The weather here is ridiculous. Last night a massive storm swept through, bringing rain, hail, and even a few tornadoes. Red Deer was placed under a tornado warning and as families sought shelter in their basements, I was with my adrenaline junkie of a fiance, following the storm in search of great photos. The photos were great, I'll give him that, but I was pretty nervous as I watched the angry sky convinced that a tornado was about to drop down and sweep us away. We made it home safe and sound, and Red Deer remained intact despite the fears. This is quite normal to us Albertans. Tornado warnings, like ice cream, are just another part of summer. It might be scary, but it's home! I'm still happy to be here!

one big birthday party

2011-07-03T11:48:00.004-06:00

As somebody who has spent more of the past 4 years out of the country than in it, it might be hard to believe that I'm as ridiculously patriotic as I claim to be. Rest assured, I really, really love my home. It was Canada Day and I was happy to be in the country celebrating as opposed to enduring a sandstorm in the sweltering Dubai heat. I began my day the way that a large percentage of Canadians begin every day: drinking Tim Horton's coffee. "Timmy's" is as Canadian as hockey, or snow, or other icons of the country. As I sipped my delicious iced cap, I contemplated what to do with the rest of the day. Ryan was busy flying and I was getting a bit restless sitting around instead of celebrating Canada's birthday.

I'd been driving Ryan crazy begging him to drive to the mountains. I was thrilled when he called to let me know that he was on his way home to pick me up for our road trip. I was even happier when he showed up and instructed me to pack a bag, as we'd be staying the night. While the rest of our friends and family camped, we opted out of roughing it in favour of a hotel. Packed and ready to go, we hit the highway!

Although it would have been faster to avoid driving through Calgary, no mountain road trip is complete without first stopping at Peter's Drive In for burgers and milkshakes. In honour of Canada Day, we ordered a milkshake flavoured with maple.

Full and satisfied, we continued on our journey. Along the way we stopped on a random stretch of the highway and hopped out to take some of what will end up being our engagement photos. We eventually made it to Canmore and checked into our hotel, the same one that we stay at for most of our overnight trips. After a bit of time relaxing in our room, we decided it was time for some drinks and a bite to eat. Our relationship seems to be largely based around meal times. We walked to Boston Pizza, where Ryan drank beer and I enjoyed a classic Canadian Caesar. I used to be disgusted at the spicy Clamato juice concoction, but in recent months it's become my drink of choice. Continuing our already unhealthy day, we ordered Thai chicken bites and cheesy spinach dip. Delicious!

We returned to our hotel room after a quick photo stop as I insisted upon sitting on the bear statue out front.

Back in the room, I forced a sleepy Ryan out of bed to set out in search of the park where the fireworks were being held. After a chilly walk, we found it and got a great seat on the bleachers. The wind was cold, and we sat huddled together using our giant Canadian flag as a blanket. We waited patiently for the sky to darken and the fireworks to begin.

Finally, the sky lit up with an amazing show. Canmore certainly outdid itself! The fireworks continued on much longer than we'd expected, lighting up the mountains with each burst of colour. Once the show was finally over, a man in the crowd stood up and to shout "Hey everybody, let's sing Oh Canada!". The entire park began to proudly belt out our national anthem, and at that moment I was likely the proudest and happiest Canadian in the world.

How blessed I am to be from such a beautiful and friendly place!!

We returned to our hotel and crawled under the warm blankets for a great night's sleep.

The next morning we were up bright and early, quite typical for us these days. After the free breakfast at the hotel we checked out and hit the road. I persuaded Ryan to stop at Tim Horton's, but after seeing how incredibly massive the line was, we decided not to wait. We stopped at a small coffee shop in town instead, where I continued my patriotic ways by ordering a maple latte.

We'd managed to leave the park pass at home, making entering Banff national park impossible without buying a new one. Slightly disappointed by this realization, we contemplated our options before deciding to take an alternate route. We winded down gravel roads nestled between mountains and beautiful lakes. As usual, there were many photo stops included in our journey. Taking your very own engagement photos is not as easy as it sounds, but my picky photographer fiance wouldn't have it any other way. With the mountains as a backdrop, I'm certain they'll be perfect.

We cruised along listening to an ABBA CD that the previous car owner had left. Feeling hungry several hours after breakfast, we stopped at a small store in a campground to stock up on goodies. Loaded with ice cream and Cheezies, we were too hungry to feel any guilt for our terrible eating habits.

There wasn't much to the day besides driving, but I was perfectly content gazing at the stunning scenery. The mountains gradually grew shorter and before we knew it, we were back to the flat prairie land. We drove through tiny towns and imagined what life must be like in such a small community. Having lived in the middle of nowhere in my younger years, I'm pretty certain that I'm better suited to the heart of the big city.

We had one more stop before returning home. You guessed it... dinner! As we reached Calgary city limits, I navigated until we reached our destination. Red Lobster!! Ryan and I are both a bit too in love with seafood, and we happily waited for a table to be available. Having already given up any hope of healthy eating for the day, we indulged. Bacon wrapped scallops and seafood stuffed mushrooms to start, and the ultimate feast (lobster, crap, and shrimp, oh my!) for our main course. Every bite was worth the disgustingly full feeling that lingered for hours after the meal.

It was finally time to return home and head straight to bed. It had been a relatively short getaway, but a great one none the less. I couldn't think of a much better way to celebrate and appreciate my country!

Oh Canada

2011-07-01T09:32:00.006-06:00

Today is a very important day.

Today my beautiful country celebrates its birthday! Happy Canada Day to all of my fellow Canadians both at home and abroad.

Growing up I never thought much of the fact that I was Canadian. It was where I had been born and raised but I didn't think it was all that special. After a vast amount of traveling and a little bit of maturing, I've realized what most young adults do at some point... childhood me knew nothing.

I realize now how truly blessed I am to have been born in a country that is so vast, beautiful, and provides me so much freedom. It's safe here, and people say "Hi!" as they walk by. We love hockey, a certain brand of coffee, and we've learnt to deal with harsh winters. I've seen the world and many amazing places, but this place will always be my home.

I love you Canada! Happy Birthday!

Maple the Moose joined me on many of my adventures around the world, and he thinks Canada is a pretty cool place too!

lazy summer days

2011-06-28T08:08:00.005-06:00

I'm enjoying every minute of being back home in Canada. Well, almost every minute. There are a few moments when I'm overcome by frustration due to my pollen induced allergy symptoms, but once those moments pass I'm back to loving my life and the fact that I'm back where I belong.

For a quick sample of what I've been up to lately:

I turned 25 on June 24th. It was a quiet day that I actually started with a trip to the gym. I know... how rare and unheard of for me! Content with the fact that I'd done my daily exercise, I proceeded to begin what would be a weekend of over-eating. Ryan was flying airplanes all morning, so I lazed around the house with my puppies waiting patiently (sort of) for him to finish. When he did, we met up with my Grandma who took us for lunch and shopping for the next day's party. It wasn't too much of an eventful day, but I suppose that's what happens when you find that you've all of a sudden become a grown up!

We had dinner with my mom at a new restaurant in town called "The Rock". They serve delicious pizza and yummy cocktails in sand buckets! That pretty much summed up my birthday!

The next day, however, was far less low key. My mom had planned a huge birthday bash in my honour. It served as a welcome home party as well, and our house quickly filled up with tons of family and friends... and oh my goodness, food. It was like a never-ending buffet of deliciousness. Each person that arrived had something new and yummy. My personal favourites went with the theme of the party.

First off, my beautiful cake! How awesome was it?! It was perfectly suited to my travel-themed celebration. Best of all, it was chocolate cake and tasted great. I may have over-indulged a bit.

Also a hit, were my cookies. I'd had the idea before leaving Dubai, thinking that it would never actually work out. I'd failed to realize that my fiance is absolutely amazing and creative, and with the help of his mom we set to work creating these tasty little masterpieces. His mom did the baking and painted on the ocean, while Ryan meticulously drew on the continents. I finished the cookies off with the name and airport code of each city. In my biased opinion, I think that they turned out amazing.

The party was great, stretching late into the night. It was so nice to see so many people that I'd missed oh so much.

The rest of my days home have been rather uneventful. Being unemployed really isn't all that thrilling without a car or humans to keep me company. My family is gone all day, while Ryan flies every morning. I've been spending a lot of quality time with Titan and Armani, my fuzzy cuddly babies. On that note, I'll leave you with an overload of puppy photos, because they happen to be 2 of the loves of my life.

Quarter Century

2011-06-24T10:05:00.006-06:00

A few years back I remember reading an article in which middle aged men and women stated what age they'd like to stay if they could choose any year to freeze. The consensus? The average age chosen was 25. In my youthful 18 year old state I was certain that these people must have been crazy. Why would anyone want to be 25?! It was so old! Life certainly wouldn't be as much fun by then. I didn't understand, and I was convinced that I never would.

Fast forward a few years and I'm sitting here on my 25th birthday reflecting on life and how awesome it really is right now... and you know what? I get it. Today, I wouldn't want to be at any other point in my life.

Initially I was worried about the jump from 24 to 25. It's a pretty tough one to accept for anyone desperate to hang on to their youth. How did I possibly become old enough to rent a car? That had always seemed like such a distant, far off number. Now that I've reached the milestone, I'm content. After the fear subsided I took a moment to try to think of what was possibly so bad about being 25, and I struggled to find valid points.

I'm 25 years old and I've already achieved my biggest dreams and goals. Some people spend their entire lives trying to do the same. I've seen the world, I'm surrounded by amazing friends and family and when I look back at being 25 I'll be able to say "That was the year that I married my best friend!". I'm the happiest that I've been in a long time, and though I'm still hesitant about this aging thing, I know that this could be one of the best years of my life.

If nothing else, I have an awesome excuse to eat cake!

Happy Birthday to me! I'm spending it in Canada for the first time in 4 years!

Ryan and I on my 21st birthday, oblivious to the fact that 4 years later we'd be planning our wedding!

The Recovery Phase

2011-06-23T06:09:00.003-06:00

It's currently 6 am and any normal unemployed person would be happily curled up in the warmth and comfort of their bed. I wish that I could be doing the same, as I've just purchased a new feather down duvet that makes my bed extra amazingly comfortable, especially in comparison to the rock solid mattress that I slept on in Dubai.

I'm tired and I have no commitments today that require my consciousness. Unfortunately, I'm also jet lagged. While convincing myself that I was immune to it after 18 months of constant globe hopping, it appears that crossing 10 time zones really confuses a person's body.

So here I am, wishing and hoping to be asleep, but wide awake instead. My lovely sleepy fiance was not too appreciative of my constant tossing and turning, so I gave up and accepted my defeat, leaving him to sleep in peace. I'm awake now, and it's going to be a long day.

Aside from my combined insomnia and fatigue, I've had a great first few days back home. I've spent time with my puppies, Ryan, and my mom. Ryan and I decided to get right back into our former routine, purchasing a gym membership and forcing our bodies to endure tough workouts. The post gym endorphins felt great, but day 3 and every inch of my body aches. Ryan and I are walking around sounding like an elderly couple, complaining about how sore we are with every step that we take. Getting back into it won't be easy, but we are determined to regain our former fitness level. Having a wedding in less than a year is good motivation.

As I spend my mornings lazing around the house, Ryan is off flying airplanes. This is still a bit odd to me, as we seem to have reversed roles. It's not often that I'm the one on the ground. I'm excited for him, and he loves the sky. It's nice to share in an interest that not many people have.

Yesterday we went to West Edmonton Mall, which I must add used to be the world's biggest until Dubai stole the title with the overpopulated Dubai Mall. Despite traveling to many great shopping destinations in my job, I rarely purchased new clothing and my wardrobe was desperately in need of an overhaul. I wandered from shop to shop, spending my hard earned cash on pretty new summer attire.

As we browsed a random homewares store, I spotted one of my very best friends from college. "Davey!!!" I screamed, excitedly. This was a huge surprise, as neither of us actually live in Edmonton, nor do we visit it very often. Davey lived in the dorm room across from mine and I believe that a time or 2 (okay, more like a few times a week) I wandered into his dorm and browsed his kitchen for food more appealing than what was in mine. It was great to see him again after so many years. It just so happened that Ryan and I had dinner plans with my friend Carley, who was my roommate in my college days. Davey joined us and we giggled about old times and laughed at how some things still hadn't changed. We've all matured, but only boring people ever truly grow up. It was a great night, and I left happy to be home. There are just so many amazing people in my life here!

Next up is a rather large party in honour of my homecoming and (this one is tough to admit) my 25th birthday. I'll be reunited with friends, family, and my favourite foods. I'm looking forward to it and I'm sure that there will be photos and stories to follow!

guess who's back?

2011-06-21T10:32:00.003-06:00

It's the first day of summer! It's a beautiful, sunny day and the sky is a bright shade of blue. Best of all, I'm home!!

After 18 hours in the sky and over 24 hours of total travel time, I arrived back in Alberta, Canada late last night. As sad as I was to say goodbye to my amazing friends in Dubai (especially my roommate Kim, Frances, Glen, Sam, and Tenaya, all of whom were at the airport as I fled the sandpit one last time), I can't describe how amazing it feels to be home.

HOME!

I'm getting reacquainted with one time zone, small towns, family, the real world, my puppies, and my fiance. It's going to take some time to adjust to the normalcy of it all, but I'm looking forward to it! For now, I'm off to cuddle with my beloved puppy Titan as I recover from my jet lag.

Ahh, there is no place like home!

one last thai-m

2011-06-15T06:11:00.004-06:00

My excitement was building in the days leading up to the release of the June roster. Knowing that it would be my last month of flying, I was eager to see where I'd be sent. The day came and I opened the email to reveal just 2 flights. The first was my 48 hour Hong Kong, which I was very much looking forward to, and the second? Manchester.

Now don't get me wrong, I've had my share of decent Manchester layovers, but when it comes to least exciting destinations on the A380 fleet, Manchester is second only to Jeddah. If you like to shop, it's great. If you like to sleep, it's even better! But this was my very last flight as crew for my airline and I didn't want to do either of those things. I was rather disappointed and made a desperate attempt to swap the flight for either a Seoul or Paris. Somebody had to be willing to take the flight from me!! I seemed to be out of luck. Every request came back as rejected, and I began to accept my fate.

A few days later I landed from my Toronto flight, and having just missed the bus back to my apartment I decided to occupy my time using the crew computers. Just for curiosity, I decided to check the online swap shop to see if anybody had decided that they in fact wanted to go to Manchester. I couldn't believe my eyes... somebody was actually offering me a Bangkok trip in exchange! Knowing how popular that trip is, I hadn't even attempted to request it before. I clicked accept as fast as possible and went home ecstatic... my last flight would be to Thailand!

I was certain that things couldn't get any better, but boy was I wrong. Once I got home I checked out more details of the flight, just to see if I knew any of the crew. I actually had to do a double take when I saw my roommate Kim's smiling face on the crew list. Was this really happening?! After 6 months of wishing for a flight together, we'd been magically blessed with 4 day trip to finish off what's been an amazing career.

When Kim returned home I shared my happy news and we squealed with excitement, likely waking up our neighbours. It was going to be one awesome trip!

We set off at a ridiculous time of day, bound for the airport. Sleepy, but excited, we proceeded to the briefing room, passed our safety questions and we were off to the aircraft! It was an easy flight over, as Bangkok flights typically are. Kim and I snapped dozens of silly photos and happily worked together for the first and last time.

5 1/2 hours later, we were in Thailand! The long bus ride to the hotel served as a much needed nap time. Upon arrival, I headed to my room... room # 1111! This made me happy, as I've always made wishes when the clock hits 11:11. I'm sure that in the past I've even wished to be a flight attendant going on layovers. It seemed rather fitting for my final trip. I had a quick shower and tried to make myself look presentable before Kim came knocking on my door ready to go. We were all set for adventures in Bangkok! Our first stop was a very non-touristy one... Starbucks. Frappucinos in hand, we kept cool in the humid air.

Our plan for the afternoon was to spend our meal allowance at MBK, the massive mall that I manage to end up at each layover. We ventured to the street in search of a taxi but instead hopped onboard a tuk-tuk when the driver offered to bring us to the mall for the bargain price of 20 baht... less than 1 Canadian dollar. The only condition was that we stop at a tailor along the way. We weren't obligated to buy anything, but if the driver stopped and brought potential customers the shop owners would pay for his fuel. We walked into the store and were quickly attacked by the employees eager for a sale. I made up a a grand story about how I would return with my mom to get my wedding dress made. Leaving them feeling a bit hopeful, we dashed for the exit and back to our tuk-tuk.

We cruised through the streets and weaved in and out of traffic in ways that would strike fear to most Canadians, but as an expat living in Dubai scary driving no longer phases me.

We made it to the mall safely and paid the driver double the fare for a tip, but still less than you'd pay for a chocolate bar in most countries. MBK was chaos as always. Jam packed with tourists and locals, we wandered from floor to floor in search of items that we didn't need. As I'm preparing to leave Dubai forever, my lonely roommate stocked up movies and TV series to occupy her time when she finds herself alone in the big apartment.

Next up was the best part of trips to Thailand... dinner time! We headed to the food court where I ordered my favourite... Tom yum goong soup! It was delicious as always and went perfectly with my banana milkshake. I felt great sympathy for Kim, who is allergic to seafood. I just couldn't imagine a life without prawns!

Full and ready to carry on with our day, we left the food court for our next adventure. A few months back I'd discovered a Thai photo studio in the mall, and since then I'd been eager to visit and have a Thai-style makeover. Much to my luck, Kim agreed to join me and we headed to the studio where we choose dresses to wear before being rushed to makeup. As someone who rarely wears much makeup, I must admit I felt ridiculous. Layer after layer of makeup was applied to my face. I was relieved when I glanced over at Kim to see that the ladyboy applying her makeup was making her equally cake faced. Next up was hair. There was a lot of backcombing, a lot of hairspray, and uncontrollable laughter as we were made into Thai princesses with extremely big hair. Once it was finally time to change, it all came together.

In our flowing colourful dresses, we looked the part and were quickly ushered to have our photos taken. As a photographer's fiance and flight attendant with a rather unique uniform, I'm more than used to having my photo taken. However, I couldn't help but to struggle with the extremely unnatural posing and giggle when the photographer made me tilt my head to the side. I could never be a model. It was absolutely hilarious and despite the awkward posing we had a blast being photographed. When we were finally able to see the photos, they were perfect! We looked like Thai royalty.

We ordered our favourites to be printed and then decided to return to the hotel. We'd been up for nearly 24 hours and our bodies were struggling for energy. We taxied back to the hotel and called it a night, hoping to get a good amount of sleep before our flight in the morning.

The next day we were off to Hong Kong! It's always a long day as we must return to Bangkok the same evening, but we were motivated by the buffet lunch in the airport lounge. First though, was breakfast! I made sure that I was one of the first ones through the passport line so that I had enough time to pick up one of my favourite snacks... mango sticky rice! Once onboard, Kim and I hid in the galley eating our delicious Thai dessert until it was time to board the passengers.

The flight over was busy and quick, as usual. At the end of the flight the purser approached me to tell me that he'd sent one of the business class crew members to sit in my jumpseat and take over my door. I was going to the cockpit for landing!! Since joining the A380 I've never had the opportunity to sit up front, as I've always been responsible for a door. I ran to the flight deck and took a seat next to a girl from business class who was also in her finals days as a crew member.

I've had the opportunity to sit in the flight deck for landings into Dubai, India and other places in the middle east, but nothing compared to the view of Hong Kong. On an unusually clear day, the mountains, sea, and skyline normally buried beneath a layer of smog were all visible. Even the captain was excited, pulling out his camera for a few shots of his own.

It was in that moment that I remembered why I was here in the first place. I didn't move across the world to go shopping in glamourous destinations or for the flight discounts. I'd did it simply because I loved to fly. I felt the same feeling that I'd had on my very first flight. This was my dream that I'd spent years trying to achieve and it was great to have a reminder of that fact. I was sitting in the cockpit of an Airbus A380, the most advanced passenger plane in the world, landing in one of the most incredible cities that I've ever visited. It felt like I'd reached some important revelation, like I could leave now on a positive note. All homesickness aside, it has been an absolutely incredible 18 months and I'm just happy that I'm one of the few people fortunate enough to have ever lived my dream, even if it was only for awhile.

I listened to the radio thinking of my pilot-to-be husband-to-be. If he feels the same way that I do up there, I couldn't be happier for him. We've got exciting futures in the skies!

Once we'd reached the gate we disembarked and made our way to the lounge for lunch. I loaded my plate with spring rolls and researched things to do in Bangkok with Kim. She went back to the plane early to sleep while I remained in the lounge, eating and wasting time online. I was feeling pretty sleepy when it was time to finally fly back, but the thought of sitting in the flight deck again woke me up. It was a beautiful evening as we departed Hong Kong, flying over the shining lights of the massive city. The moonlight lit up the mountains around us and I selfishly felt as if the day had cooperated just for me. Once the seatbelt signs had been switched off, I went back into the cabin to do some work before heading back in for landing into Bangkok. What is normally an exhausting and uneventful day had been pretty darn great.

Once we'd landed, left the airport, and reached our hotel, Kim and I were tired but determined to go for ice cream. It was 1:30 am as we headed to the mini-mart across the street for a much deserved treat.

We ate our ice cream and agreed to meet up the next morning early to make plans for the day. With only 4 hours of sleep I was less than eager to get out of bed, but I reminded myself that today was my last day of my last layover and my last flight working for my airline. I hopped into the shower and waited for Kim's phone call to meet her downstairs. Equally drowsy, she was quick to agree that our first stop should be to get coffee. We walked through the rain to Starbucks, got caffeinated, and then headed onwards to MBK to collect our photos from the other day.

We laughed rather uncontrollably as we pulled them out of the envelope. It had been so much fun, and the results were great. We happily proceeded to grab lunch... one last Pad Thai, of course.

It was nearly noon and we still hadn't made any concrete plans for the day, so we retuned to the hotel to ask the concierge to arrange transportation for us to go to the Tiger Temple. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive and we both knew that we should have left earlier in the day, but that didn't change our minds. We'd just be extra sleepy for the return flight to Dubai!

Our driver arrived 15 minutes later and we began the long ride to the Kanchanaburi province where the temple was located. I'd planned to use the time to sleep in the car, but our awesome driver kept us awake with his unusual music selection... a bit of my personal favourite, Jason Mraz, some classic power ballads, and the highlight... an acoustic version of the YMCA. Kim and I sang along in the back seat, excited for the day ahead.

It seemed to take forever, but we finally made it. We'd failed to realize that wearing shorts was not permitted inside of a temple, and were forced to buy a pair of pants at the entrance. They were baggy and we looked funny, but I must say, they sure were comfy! Once we'd paid our admission we were off to see the tigers! I didn't know what to expect of the place, but I was happily surprised. We wandered through the quiet paths, searching for signs or indications of where to go, when all of a sudden I caught a glimpse of a crowded area and spotted a tiger! We excitedly made our way there, happy to find that it was where we could have our photos taken. A volunteer took my camera as another took my hand and led me from tiger to tiger. I was able to sit down next to them, and smile happy but nervously as I had my photos taken with the beautiful animals.

We were assured that the tigers are not drugged, they have simply been raised with people and even in the wild tigers spend most of the day sleeping. Kim and I were ecstatic about our photos as we continued through the park. It was really an amazing place. Monks wandered the grounds walking tigers, and deer, birds, cows and other animals roamed free. It was free from the chaos and crowds of a zoo, and we were free to interact with the animals. We spent awhile watching the tigers, amazed and happy that we'd made the trip. My already perfect layover had just become so much better.

It was getting late and we both realized that we had to return to Bangkok to get some rest before our flight. We didn't want to leave, but we got in the car and began the long journey back with even more music to sing along with. By the time we reached our hotel it was nearly 7 pm and we had only a few hours before we had to leave. I quickly packed my suitcase and crawled into bed for a short but much needed nap. My wake up call came too soon, and I put on my uniform one last time to go check out of the hotel. It was such a bittersweet feeling.

We flew back to Dubai. The crew was great, and I'm really going to miss this job and my great roommate. Once we'd landed in Dubai one last time, everyone wished me good luck as they said goodbye. I've finally come to the end of my journey here, and I really couldn't think of a much better layover to have finished it off with!

It's a Delicious World!

2011-06-09T02:54:00.005-06:00

A word of warning before proceeding: If you are currently hungry, please close this window and get a snack before returning. I really don't want any hate mail!

Carrying on... One of the best aspects of my job is the fact that I get to taste some delicious, authentic food from all over the world. My friends and family always giggle at the fact that the majority of my blog posts focus heavily on what I ate rather than what I saw and did. What can I say? I love my food. I know that I'm actually an obese girl trapped in this small body, but I like to think that my hours spent walking around different cities and running up and down the aisles of a massive airplane entitle me a little bit. I think if there is one part of the job that I'll miss the most, this is it. To please all of my fellow food lovers and make everyone else shake their heads at my addiction, here is a tiny sample of some of the yummy meals I've tasted in my travels:

Aussie Meat Pies, but not too authentic as I ate them in Dubai. Yummy, regardless.

Jjimdak in Seoul, South Korea

French Onion Soup in Paris, France

Bibimbap in Seoul, South Korea

Laduree Macaroons in Paris, France

Berry Waffles in Toronto, Canada

Pad Thai in Bangkok, Thailand

Fruit salad with lemon sorbet in Zurich, Switzerland

My personal favourite... Lindt chocolate in Zurich, Switzerland

Champagne at the world's only 7 star hotel, Burj Al Arab, Dubai

German sausages, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes in Frankfurt, Germany

Pretzel in Munich, Germany

Real pizza in Milan, Italy

My goodness I'm lucky... and now I'm hungry.

Happy Days in Hong Kong!

2011-06-08T03:44:00.005-06:00

First of all... WOW. Thank you all for your support and sweet well wishes after my last post. I was overwhelmed, and I can't thank you enough. I've received so many emails and nice comments and I promise to reply shortly, but first... on to a new post!

While this job comes with many travel perks, the majority of my layovers are no more than 24 hours. Within those 24 hours we must disembark our passengers, make our way through airports, customs, ride a bus to our hotel, check in to our hotel, get a good night's sleep, get ready for the return flight and ride the bus back to the airport. It's really not that much time when you think about it. As you can imagine, I was thrilled when I discovered a 48 hour layover in Hong Kong on my roster this month. 48 hours?! Whatever would I do with all of my free time??

I was in a great mood as I headed to the briefing room. It was the 2nd last time that I'd leave Dubai as a crew member.

The flight over was a breeze. In our massive economy cabin, we had only 140 passengers. I thought it was a joke at first, as such numbers are unheard of in our normally full airplane. We have the capacity for 427 in economy, just to give you an idea of how empty it really was. Needless to say, it was one of the easiest flights that I've ever worked, and I had the privilege of working with some really great crew members. We made plans for our layover, as I repeatedly insisted that it had to be amazing as it was one of my last trips.

After landing and checking in, myself and a few others agreed to meet in the morning for breakfast, after which we'd head to Macau! I headed to my room and straight into bed, exhausted after a long day of flying.

I was extremely tired when I woke up early in the morning, forcing myself out of bed despite my desire to stay there all day. There were adventures to be had, and I was not going to miss out!

One of my favourite things about Hong Kong is the breakfast buffet. I've mentioned it before, but I feel the need to bring it up again. I filled up on enough food to last me through until lunch time, and best of all, it was free! What could possibly be better than free food?

Cameras, passports and train tickets in hand, I headed to the station with Simone from Australia, Stephanie from Germany, and Jerome from France. Despite a recent string of miserable crew putting a damper on my layovers, these 3 were happy, optimistic and excited for our day. I couldn't have chosen better people to spend the day with! We rode the train to Hong Kong island, caught a taxi to the ferry terminal, and bought tickets to Macau. What we hadn't considered was how busy it would be. It was only 10:30 and the next available tickets weren't until 12:45. Disappointed, we splurged and bought overpriced tickets for the 11:15 boat from a man selling a handful off to the side of the ticket line.

We headed towards the gates, feeling as though we were about to board a plane. We passed through customs, got stamps on our passports, and set off in search of our boarding gate. Once there, we waited until it was time to board the ferry. In typical cabin crew style, we read the safety card and joked about pressing the call bell. The journey to Macau was an hour long, cruising through the sparkling green water as we passed small islands and ships.

When we docked at the ferry terminal we were excited to head out and explore. We had no idea that hundreds of others would be just as eager as us. The lines for the immigration counters were ridiculous. There was no organization, people pushed for a spot hoping to get through quickly. We spent over an hour standing there, witnessing strange things such as a mother pulling down her child's pants and holding a plastic bag as he urinated inside of it. She then tied the pee filled bag and casually tossed it in a garbage bin. The 4 of us were greatly disturbed by this, but nobody else seemed to notice. Chinese cities always win top spot on my list of places with the most culture shock. We finally reached the immigration officer, got our passports stamped and we were free!

We'd agreed to find a tour guide to drive us around for the day, as we had limited time and wanted to see as much as we could. Our tour guide found us instead, introducing himself as Tony and convincing us that he was the best person to show us around Macau. We bargained for a better price, and once we all agreed, he led us to his car and passed us paper fans from the MGM Grand to keep cool in the summer heat. We stopped a few times outside of casinos and hotels for photos. It was oddly similar to Las Vegas, with fake volcanos, Greek ruins, and flashy lights. Formerly a Portuguese colony, all of the street signs were written in both Chinese and Portuguese, making it a very strange place indeed. We took all of the necessary tourist photos and headed onwards to the Macau Tower. We hadn't planned to go to the top, but an over eager Tony purchased our tickets and handed them to us, informing us that we needed to pay him afterwards. This was a bit annoying, but we figured we may as well go check out the view. At the top, we took in the stunning views of the islands and the casinos all built on reclaimed land. The Macau Tower is also home to the world's tallest bungee jump. Before that day I'd considered jumping myself, but once we saw a girl fall from the nauseating height my mind was changed. Walking on the glass floors was enough of a rush for me. For somebody who is an adventure seeker (not to mention working in the sky) I sure don't do well with heights!

After we'd seen the sights we headed back to a lower altitude, met again by Tony. He drove us around, pointing out buildings and statues and explaining their significance. We took photos out the windows like the tourists that we were.

Next stop was the Sao Paulo Cathedral. In 1835 it was destroyed in a fire during a typhoon, and today all that remains is one wall. On a distinctly Chinese street, the European-looking Catholic cathedral seemed very out of place. As we tried to take photos, we found ourselves as the tourist attraction. 3 girls, clearly not of Asian descent. People posed next to us and took photos, ignoring the historic building behind us. As flight attendants, we are accustomed to this, but as tourists it struck us as a bit odd. We walked down the street, picking up the essential fridge magnet (I have on from nearly every country that I've visited!) and losing our appetite at the sight and smell of the street food. It was extremely hot and humid, and we were ready to seek refuge inside an air conditioned building. We returned to our car, where Tony said goodbye and introduced us to our new driver. We told him to take us to the Venetian hotel, a replica of the same one in Vegas. We wandered the busy casino and the halls lined with designer shops. Having been to Vegas it was all very strange to me. They even had a Grand Canel, complete with gondola rides. It had been hours since breakfast and we were starving, so we set out in search of the food court and dined on Americanized food.

We refrained from gambling and instead went back to find our driver. We'd booked our ferry ticket for 5:45 and it was time to return to the terminal.

Fortunately, passing customs was much easier this time around. We were a bit early and decided to try getting on the earlier ferry. We were let on and boarded immediately, saving us from having to wait an extra half hour! Exhausted from an early morning and a day in the sun, the 4 of us slept on the journey back to Hong Kong.

Once we were back, we went our separate ways.... Simone and Jerome headed to the hotel to nap in preparation for a big night out, while Stephanie and myself decided to hang around the city for awhile longer. We caught a ferry across the harbour to Kowloon, where we stood anxiously awaiting the light show over the Hong Kong skyline. We waited, and we waited, but all that ever happened were a few beams of light from some of the buildings. It was uneventful, but I still managed to take many, many photos. The colourful buildings were beautifully lit up across the water. It was another moment to add to my long list of "Wow, this is my job" moments.

Content with our fun filled day, we returned to the train station and caught the train back to the hotel. I honestly don't know how I managed to stay up so long, but I was quick to fall asleep once I'd changed into my pyjamas and crawled into bed.

The next morning I woke up and headed downstairs for breakfast again. I still had an entire day in Hong Kong! Since I'd already seen the majority of the attractions that I'd hoped to and since I'd spent the majority of my money the previous day, I opted for a low key day. I bought a train ticket and headed for the city, deciding to wander it on foot.

I really love Hong Kong for its fast pace and mix of nationalities living together. It's like what Dubai strives to be, but Hong Kong pulls it off so much better. After a short walk around the busy downtown, I headed across the water once again to Kowloon. I strolled along the Avenue of Stars... like the Chinese version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The only names that I recognized were Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, but I'm assuming that in culture with more than a billion people some of the handprints on the path must have been from mega stars.

The clouds looked threatening but the rain held off as I continued wandering along the water, enjoying what may have been my last day ever in Hong Kong. Seeking air conditioning, I ventured inside of a huge mall. I wandered the many shops, fascinated with the useless yet adorable quirky items for sale. If it weren't for my extreme lack of suitcase space I would have pulled out my credit card right then and there... who doesn't need a rubber duck that doubles as a shower radio, or a pedometer that translates steps walked into how much chocolate you've earned? I was rather impressed with how well I resisted making any purchases, and treated myself to a green tea frappucino from Starbucks as a reward.

I knew that I had to return to the hotel shortly to get some sleep before the flight. On the way over I'd struggled to stay awake in my jumpseat during take off and landing, and this time I was going to be a bit more conscious. I reluctantly returned to the hotel, procrastinated sleep by spending some time online, and then finally gave in and took a nap.

I'm glad that I did, because the flight back seemed to last an eternity! It was quiet once again, with all of our passengers sleeping and the crew too tired for conversation. We eventually landed in Dubai, where I sadly said goodbye to my friend Cathy, who was in my original training batch. She was traveling as a passenger and it would be the last time I'd see her before moving home. More hugs, goodbyes, and well wishes followed as I parted ways with the crew after my suitcase showed up on the belt. If every crew was as great as these ones had been, leaving would be a lot more difficult. I'd had a great trip and made more great memories.

Just one more trip and I'm officially unemployed. I plan to make the next one the best, ever!

What Goes Up, Must Come Down

2011-06-02T00:15:00.003-06:00

18 months ago I packed up my life and boarded a plane bound for Dubai. I'd never felt so many emotions at one time in my life... I was terrified, excited, happy and heartbroken. I'd spent years dreaming of that very moment. After great perseverance I was finally going to be able to call myself a flight attendant. I was off to see the world.

Leaving didn't come without sacrifice. I said goodbye to my boyfriend, my family, my friends, and my puppy. It wasn't easy, but this was the opportunity of a lifetime and I was definitely not going to let it slip through my fingers.

And so I set off for what would be a great adventure. I made amazing friends and experienced more in most months than many do in their entire lifetime. It's been one incredible journey. Without further ado, the purpose of this blog post is to inform you all of my resignation from my airline. A couple of weeks ago I went to meet with my manager to break the news. I'm leaving. It's been amazing, but it's time for me to move back to Canada and start the next chapter of my life.

This job and life in the Middle East has come with its share of ups and downs. I've dealt with homesickness and loneliness but I've also experienced happy moments that will live in my memory for the rest of my life. I'd be lying if I said that I won't miss it, but I'm looking forward to the future and all that comes with it.

What exactly does the future have in store for me? Well, I'm still trying to figure that out myself. If all goes to plan I'll be working in the same industry, because truth be told I really can't see myself doing anything else. You know how they say that some people are born to be doctors or teachers... it might sound silly, but I'm meant to fly. The sky is my home and for the first time in my life I've looked forward to going to work. I'm going to take some time off to relax and enjoy being back home, but stay tuned, my travel tales are far from over.

As most of you know, my non-career life has big things coming too. Ryan and I are planning a January 2012 wedding and I can't imagine being married and separated by an ocean. No, it's not the sole reason that I'm going home, but yes, it most certainly was a factor in my decision. I've never met anybody more suited to me. We are both so passionate about travel, photos, food, and aviation... in fact, just last week in Toronto he surprised me by announcing that while I've been hopping around the world, he's been in the process of obtaining his pilot's license. It's something that he's always wanted to do, and it means a lot to me that we share that common interest. The flight attendant will marry her pilot... how romantic!

This job has been hard work. I've been challenged emotionally and physically, dealing with jet lag and missing home more than I ever thought possible. If you ask me, it's been worth it. I feel like I'm a different person than I was a year and a half ago. I'm more adventurous, brave, and I know exactly what I want in life. I've accumulated dozens of passport stamps, hundreds of stories, and a bit unrelated, but I even gained a fiance.

It's not the end, but rather a new beginning. New memories are to be made, new adventures to be had. I'll miss the people that made this place that much more bearable. I've made some genuine friends and I'll never forget them.

Thanks for following the most crazy journey of my life so far. This blog evolved to become more popular than I could have imagined, and I'm truly grateful for the kind words and support I've received from those of you who read it.

Stick around, I promise to keep you updated as I continue my travels... and don't worry, I still have a couple more layovers that I'll be sure to write about before I depart the sandpit for good.

I'll leave you with a slideshow of some of my favourite moments that I've been blessed to experience.

Thank you, buh-bye.

A Romantic Weekend Courtesy of My Job

2011-06-01T04:35:00.007-06:00

To finish off an already amazing month, I was once again bound for my home country and another 3 day layover in Toronto. While thoughts of Tim Horton's and buying groceries were exciting, the true icing on the cake was the fact that my fiance Ryan would be flying in from Alberta to spend the weekend with me! It had been nearly 2 months since we'd seen each other last, and we were most definitely due for a reunion.

Of course, before we could reunite I was forced to work a 14 hour flight to make me wait in anticipation for as long as possible. It was nothing less than chaotic, filled with a handful of crazy passengers and a good serving of crew drama. With all of that out of the way, we landed happy and safe in beautiful Canada. I rushed through the airport to the bus, eager to get to the hotel and see a smiling Ryan waiting for my arrival. The traffic on the way was less than favourable, added to my already high level of impatience. I couldn't wait any longer! We finally arrived and I was the first one off the bus. I rushed to the lobby ready for a hug, but Ryan was nowhere to be found. I immediately began forming assumptions as to where he could possibly be. Maybe his flight was delayed. Maybe he'd got tired of waiting for my delayed flight. Maybe I was secretly imagining all along that he said he'd meet me in Toronto. I checked into my room and waited around a few more minutes before going upstairs. I wasn't sure what to do. I had no phone, no internet access, and no idea where he was or when he'd arrive. I changed out of my uniform and flicked on the TV, waiting for some news.

Finally, after the longest 20 minutes ever, my phone rang. He was in the lobby! I gave him my room number and waited patiently for a knock at my door. We were together again, and life was lovely!! We talked about our flights and he explained that he'd tried to surprise me by meeting me at the airport. Unfortunately, he'd missed me by a matter of minutes as I rushed to the bus. Once he'd realized that I was gone, he proceeded to the hotel himself, but of course I beat him there. He was frustrated with the timing, but it didn't matter. We were together now and I was one happy girl. I was even happier when he surprised me with some super exciting news that I'll save for another post.

Before succumbing to jet lag and fatigue, I insisted that we go for a walk begin what was sure to be a food-filled weekend. We were leaning towards healthy options and had our hearts set on sushi, but after a few minutes of searching for a particular restaurant, we gave up and caved to our cravings. It was off to Wayne Gretzky's restaurant instead. We shared an order of delicious hot wings and threw in a salad to make us feel a bit less guilty. Everything was yummy, and it was so nice to be in the same place as the person that I love the most!

After dinner we made our way back to the hotel for an early night disturbed by my frequent tossing and turning. Jet lag kills me on this trip, and Ryan was suffering from my sleeplessness as well. I was up early begging him to wake up so that we could go for breakfast. I had bacon on the mind and I wouldn't give up the fight until he was out of bed and dressed to go.

We headed to Marche, a cool restaurant with several different stations. We walked past the waffles and fruit salads straight toward the bacon and eggs, where we loaded up our plates with breakfast amazingness. Oh, bacon... how are you so great? There was a short time in my life that I was a vegetarian (about 5 months to be exact), but my love for bacon drew me back.

After breakfast we continued walking down Yonge Street until we reached Eaton Centre, a popular shopping mall in the area. I got my broken iPod replaced at the Apple store, and proceeded on to do a bit of shopping, dragging Ryan into girly stores as I tried on clothes... he didn't mind though.

We were meeting up with some of my family later in the day, but we decided to go see a movie before they arrived. We saw Bridesmaids, which was hilarious. Just before the end of the movie we noticed Ryan's phone had a message. It turns out that my family was already waiting in the hotel lobby! Fortunately the movie ended a few minutes later and we walked to meet them at the mall. Awaiting our hugs were my grandparents, my Uncle Troy, and Sheri. We walked around the mall chatting and catching up, and then proceeded to the St. Lawrence Market for some yummy food shopping. Ryan and I were feeling pretty hungry, but after circling the market and loading up on samples we were satisfied.

My grandparents were enjoying a mini-holiday of their own, including a night at a nice hotel. It's not often that they come to the big city! We walked to their hotel to check in and went up to their massive room to enjoy some drinks and snacks until my favourite time of day... dinner! Yes, far too much of my life revolves around food and meal time.

After reading my blogs proclaiming my love of Korean BBQ, my grandparents were eager to try it for themselves. Being the technology loving grandparents that they are, they Googled a popular restaurant and we set off to eat.

I explained the basics as we began to cook our meal on the table in front of us. It wasn't quite the same as Seoul, but it was quite delicious nonetheless. Once we'd filled up on more than enough, it was time to go. My grandparents headed to their hotel as Ryan and I headed to Tim Horton's for the first time this trip. I'm amazed that it took me so long to enjoy an iced cappuccino! We got a caffeine buzz and set out for a walk along the waterfront. He took photos of the beautiful city lights reflecting in the water. We sat there awhile, enjoying the view and the company before retreating to our hotel room for the evening.

I tried really hard to sleep in the next day and let Ryan do the same. It was still quite early when I grew restless and once again got him out of bed far earlier than he would have liked to have been. We ate fresh raspberries that I'd bought at the market and lounged around watching TV before going for a quick walk. My grandparents came to the hotel when it was time for them to check out of their own. They left their luggage in our room as they had a few hours to kill before catching the train home. My grandma was set on buying a new dress, so we said goodbye as they headed to the mall and we ventured off in search of lunch.

Ryan and I were both craving sushi, so we walked around until we found a place that was open. It was very yummy, and the fact that it was 50% off on Sunday afternoons made it taste even better! Next on my list of cravings was bubble tea, so after finishing our lunch we asked our waitress where we could find some. We followed her directions and found a tea shop, where we were informed that the tapioca pearls wouldn't be ready for 20 minutes. Ryan was fine with this, but it's just not bubble tea without bubbles, so we decided to wait. We walked down the street and sat on a park bench taking photos.

I figured that 20 minutes had passed, so we returned to the tea place and ordered our drinks.

We'd made plans a few weeks earlier to go to Medieval Times, a dinner show. It was a beautiful day so we opted to walk even though it was about an hour on foot. We strolled along the lakeside, stopping to play on swings like the children that we are. We finally reached Medieval Times and took our seats just in time. If you are ever in the Toronto area, I'd recommend going! We cheered for our yellow knight as we feasted on huge portions of food.

To add to the experience, no utensils were provided and everything had to be eaten by hand. Ryan, myself, and every child in the place loved this part the best. The food was good, and so was the show.

Once it was over we slowly began the walk back to the hotel, stopping for photos along the way. If you ever spend time with Ryan and I you'll get used to the frequent photo stops. It always takes us a long time to get anywhere.

We eventually got back to the hotel, tired but not ready to call it a night. It was our last night together and I was craving a real Canadian caesar so I suggested going out for a few drinks. Our first stop was Jack Astor's, where I satisfied my craving but longed for a fruity cocktail as well. Deciding to explore our options, we headed next door to a restaurant called "The Loose Moose" where we ordered another drink. The place was uneventful, so we continued our wandering down towards Queen Street. A big storm was approaching and we watched as the sky lit up with lightning. It had been a long time since I'd witnessed a thunder storm, and I was a mixture of scared and excited. We didn't have a plan as to where we were going, but when the sky opened up and rain began pouring down our decision was made for us. We ran to the nearest restaurant and sat inside, warm and dry. We watched the storm and waited for the rain to die down before continuing our adventure. Next stop - PIZZA! We each ordered a slice and watched as lighting struck the CN Tower. So crazy! It was late and we were finally ready to call it a night, so we returned to our hotel and got a good night's sleep.

The next morning I purposely woke up early in an attempt to make myself tired enough for an afternoon nap before my flight back to Dubai. We found a cozy little restaurant where we ordered an amazing breakfast complete with bacon, eggs, hashbrowns and French toast.

We wandered the streets for a few hours, stopping for coffee and discussing lunch plans... clearly we need treatment for our food addiction. We hung out around the base of the CN Tower for awhile, talking about life and playing with my camera.

Finally, it was lunch time! We dined at an Asian restaurant that was so great, I only wish that I had discovered it earlier! The menu offered everything, from sushi to Thai to dim sum... everything that I love the most!

We each started with my favourite soup... Tom Yum Goong. It was not quite as spicy as what I'm used to in Bangkok, but pretty darn delicious!

Next up was pork and shrimp dumplings and a platter of salad rolls and tornado shrimp... amazing. We were well fed and ready for bed, but first we stopped for dessert at Wendy's. Mmm, Frosty. Feeling guilty for ruining my healthy eating plan, we walked to the supermarket where I loaded up on healthy goodies to bring back to Dubai... raspberries, blueberries, spinach and peas!

Back at the hotel we napped until it was time to get ready and head to our respective flights. I'm always sad to say goodbye, but after such a great weekend I was staying strong, much unlike my usual emotional self. We parted ways as I jetted back to the desert, but it won't be long until we are reunited once again!

I can't believe that I get paid for weekend getaways with my fiance!