tales of Christmas travels

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

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

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!

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!

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.

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.

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!