Pachelbel Rant

For all you music geeks out there...especially those who played the cello like me!

Meeting Blogger Friends: Hizzeather

It's always an exciting thing when you meet a new friend. It's even cooler when you can meet that person on their wedding day. Yesterday I finally met Heather (Hizzeather) and her new husband Cody. I drove up to their beautifully decorated reception in Palmdale in record time, so I was able to enjoy all of the reception festivities.


Most of her decorations were hand-made, in green, black and white. It was beautiful, but very personal to her too. I loved the pink roses trailing down her cake.

My favorite part of the reception was watching them dance. You could just tell how in love they are. And halfway through their romantic first dance, they broke out into some funky moves, just like the Youtube Wedding Couple.
Going to a reception for a virtual stranger can be a bit daunting, so I asked Heather who I should go talk to so I didn't feel like a lonely idiot. She suggested that I talk to Debbie, we hit it off and talked the rest of the reception.

My birthday is in 5 days *hint hint*

If I could have ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING for my birthday this year, it would be a ticket to Coachella Music Festival. Oh, how I had $300 of disposable income! Look at the line up! My lifelong dream (since I really started caring about music as a child) has been to see Paul McCartney live. And he's a HEADLINER. Plus The Cure....another band I've ached to see live. And Franz Ferdinand?!? And Amy Winehouse?!? And The Killers?!? If someone out there in the blogosphere really loves me....this is what I really REALLY want. Enough that I'd sit out in the desert sun for three days.

As far as obtainable gifts, my Amazon Wish List is updated...

T Minus 10 Hours

I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Breakfast of Champions

Tonight we had Chick-fil-A for dinner to use up our free sandwich coupons from the CFA calendar. I love the signage that CFA uses, and this was my favorite sign of the day: Try a Coca-Cola Zero with your Breakfast Meal. I laughed because when I DO have a breakfast meal, I typically choose Coke Zero or Dr. Pepper. I don't drink coffee, but I do get my caffiene fix! On the way out, the sign was advertising their catering services : Good for holidays, and any day that ends in Y. (Get it? All days of the week end in Y)

Now it's time to get off the computer and pack for my trip to Cali. I'm going straight after work. Taylor's going to drop Rosie and I off at the MARTA train station that will take us directly into the airport terminal. We'd be cutting it close on time if we drove, and we'll be able to get our boarding passes in a less busy corner of the airport. Now, if only I had a CLEAR pass...

Virgin Complaint

This letter, from a passenger of Virgin Atlantic, takes the cake of the best complaint letter ever filed. It's even better than as my rant letters.

The "F" Word

Oh my heck. We just got word that Taylor's airline have decided to start the furlough process. Hopefully Taylor's up enough in seniority that it won't affect him, but still...it's scary. Keep your fingers crossed and knees bent in his behalf.

*Update: After scouring the company website, airline pilot forums, and a few news websites, it looks like the brunt of the company structure changes will be administrative. Right now 50 administrative employees between the 4 bases, including base managers, have been laid off. No specific pilot furloughs have been officially announced, but that's the talk in the bowels of the crew room. Taylor's got about 300 FO's below him, so we're safe for the moment.

10,000

Today was a big day in my blogging career. According to my Sitemeter, I've had 10,000 unique visitor hits since I added it to my blog in January 2008 (I started blogging back in 2002, but have no idea how many hits happened prior to adding my meter). What does 10,000 equate to? It is roughly equivalent of the population in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Or the amount of steps one should walk to achieve improved health and fitness.

Another milestone was that I was approved to be a contributor to Modern Molly Mormon. It's a fun and witty site about being a modern Latter-Day Saint woman, without all the cliche stuff that one thinks about as a "Molly". All the writers have a fun "M" name, such as Married Molly, Mighty Molly, Moxie Molly, Media Molly, etc. I've chosen the name Mnemonic Molly (not demonic, pneumatic, or melodic like some people think I'm saying). You can see me listed here under the contributors section. My introductory post is HERE, and keep an eye on my Twitter feed for future posts. Stay tuned!

My Word...

Your Word is "Love"

You see life as possibility to form deep connections with a few people. Relationships are the center of your world, and you always take time to bond with those you love.You are caring and giving. You enjoy helping those you love. And when it comes to romantic love, you feel passionately ... even in a very long term relationship.

What's Your Word?

Are you surprised?

91%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Lunch in Athens

Yesterday, Rosie and I drove 70 miles into Athens, GA to meet up with my old high school friend Amy. She's been working on a graduate program at the University of Georgia, and has one year to go. I had mostly lost touch with her since we graduated, even though she was one of my most admired friends through school. We reconnected on Facebook this year, and I was thrilled that she was living so close to where I was moving.UGA's mascot is the bulldog, and all through Athens you will see a variety of painted bulldogs for decoration. This one matched my shirt, and Rosie and I used it as a photo op.
In high school, Amy was nicknamed "Tall Amy," for obvious reasons, and because another girl had the same name (first names spelled different though). I'm 5'10", and she's even taller than me. She was perched out on a bench with her head in a book, waiting for Rosie and I to arrive at the Last Resort Grill (just as I suspected). She treated us to fried green tomatoes, and I indulged in the delicious "Blow Oscar" sandwich. After lunch, we walked around downtown Athens and the UGA campus.
Everytime Rosie goes on a college campus, she says she wants to attend that school when she grows up. What do you think....will Rosie grow up to be a 'Dawg'?

Fast Track to a jet pilot?

When something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Especially in aviation.

I recently found out about the website www.jetuniversitysucks.com that airs out all the dirty laundry about Jet University, a flight school in Fort Lauderdale. They offer a jet transition program that will take you from your commercial pilot license (with multi-engine and instrument rating) to regional jet first officer in 4 months. You pay a lot of money up front($26,000-$70,000 depending on the program) to prepare for a guaranteed job interview with a regional airline. The splinter site talks of gross financial mismanagement and countless students that have been strung along without the contracted and promised results. There's even a class-action lawsuit in the works for the pilots who have been taken advantage of by Jet U.

It's true that some of the people who went through the program were successful, and are employed by the airlines as outlined (including my husband). For the others, I hope you are able to get the restitution you deserve.

5 days to go...

I'm getting really excited for my trip to California next week. I was able to get approval from work to take Friday off. Rosie and I will be heading to our Zion Thursday evening. Friday we're going to go to Disneyland with Liz, and I'll have a Girls Night Out with some of my friends in the evening. Saturday morning, I'll be spending time with my in-laws, and hopefully be picking up Taylor from the airport (he's going to be coming off a high-speed so he's still undecided if he's actually going to come to Cali, even though he has the weekend off). Saturday afternoon I'll be heading up to Palmdale for Heather and Cody's wedding reception. That evening, my dear friends Anastasia and Kathryn will be performing at Molly Malones' in LA...and fun nights out on the town typically follow. Sunday morning we'll head back to Georgia.

I almost feel giddy with excitement to see Heather, or meet her, rather. I started stalking her blog in July when he won a contest on TAMN's blog. I loved her posts so much that I started from the beginning of her blog and read to her current post. I feel like I found a kindred spirit, and I smacked myself in the forehead saying, "Why didn't I find her blog back when I lived in California? We would have been fast friends!" We share the same obesessions of Anne of Green Gables, Arrested Development, The Office, cute delicious cupcakes, the beach, and supporting Prop 8. We also can share a lot of sympathy over hyperactive hives and Benadryl addictions.

She has a really interesting story with Cody, and here's the short version (and correct me if I'm wrong, Heather): She served as a missionary in Ukraine, came home and fell in love with Cody, and they planned to get married. Then the spirit started tugging on his heartstrings, and he prayed and decided to serve a mission prior to their wedding. Coincidentally, Cody was called to Ukraine. Heather wrote him faithfully, yet kept an independent fun life while he was across the world. He got home in December, and the decided to waste no time and get married on January 31st. Her positive attitude reminded me of how I had to keep things together for Rosie and I while Taylor was gone for flight training in 2007. Taylor was gone the better part of 11 months, and I only got to see him occasionally (like maybe one weekend every month or two). I can only imagine how difficult it would have been to not see Taylor at all for two years.

We may live on opposite sides of the country, but think we'll hit it off, and I'll have another mandatory friend to visit on my quick trips to Cali.

And as a funny side note, I'll be attending Anastasia's concert right after the wedding reception...and Nastia's from Ukraine. That's almost as coincidental as my uncle marrying two gorgeous Ukranian trophy wives (yes Lena, I know you read my blog :)

Social Calendar

If you've been following my blog for any amount of time, you've probably noticed that I have a hard time sitting still for long. I'm impulsive and daring, and love to try new things and going places. I was marking up my new calendar at work with everything going on in the next few months...and it's going to be a blast!

Jan 24: Touring Athens, GA with my friend "Tall Amy" from HS

Jan 29-Feb 1: California. I'll spend Friday at Disneyland with Liz, an evening with friends Friday night, and go to Hizzeather's wedding reception Saturday and a Nikki Forova Concert. Hopefully Taylor will join Rosie and I, since he'll have that weekend off (*note* if you're a friend that want to see me Friday in Cali, let me know)

Feb 5-7: The weekend of my birthday. Taylor is on reserve for the 5th (my actual birthday) but he's off for the rest of the weekend. Friday night we're going to have a birthday/housewarming party, and Saturday we'll tour cool destinations in Atlanta (World of Coca-Cola, CNN Tour, Georgia Aquarium, etc)

Feb 14: Valentine Day. Taylor's got something up his sleeve

Feb 17-19: Three Fox Elipsus Concerts in the Atlanta area (and if I weren't at those, I'd be seeing Nathan McEuen in Nashville)

Feb 20-22: Texas. I'm going to stay with my HS friend Janet Jackson (except she's not famous nor skanky) and tour the Dallas/Fort Worth Area. And hopefully hit Six Flags over Texas at some point

Feb 27: Missy Higgins and Justin Nozuka Concert at the CW Loft

March 17: NKOTB concert in Greenville, SC (I've got an extra ticket if you're interested)

March 19: A big gala event for work that I get to be all fancied up for

April 3-5: Chicago for Pilot Wives Club Meet-up!

Pilot Wife Resources

My hubby's plane

Some of you may have noticed my badges for Pilot Wives Club on my sidebar, as well as me being the featured wife of the month for January. I wanted to give you a list of some of my other favorite aviation and pilot wife/gf/so websites and groups for those who are looking for a little more support and friends in your situation...or for those who love to stalk and want to know more about the realities of pilot wifestyle. Here are my favorite groups:

Pilot Wives Club
Wives and Girlfriends (or Boyfriends!) of Pilots Facebook Group
Love My Pilot
Jet Girls

As well as a variety of pilot wife/gf/so blogs.Here's my current blogroll...

http://partnerofapilot.wordpress.com/
http://av8rswife.blogspot.com/
http://imapilotswife.blogspot.com/
http://atexaninohio.blogspot.com/
http://katrinabjork.blogspot.com
http://ohthelifeofapilotswife.blogspot.com/
http://marriagewithaltitude.blogspot.com/
http://ramblingpilotwife.blogspot.com/
http://aviationfamilyinak.blogspot.com/
http://apilotswifetraveltips.blogspot.com/
http://barefootstargazer.blogspot.com/
http://global-gal.com/
http://elsja.com/blog/
http://se-impressions.blogspot.com/
http://hornetwife.blogspot.com/
http://diariesofapilotswife.blogspot.com
http://northcarolinanewbeginnings.blogspot.com/
http://littlemommaandcompany.blogspot.com/
http://mandyclaire.blogspot.com/
http://crazydaysofsummer.typepad.com/
http://coconutbelly.blogspot.com
http://regionalgf.blogspot.com/
http://adventuresintheskies.blogspot.com/
http://iambeingbindy.blogspot.com/
http://shelleypotts.com/
http://simpsonsightings.blogspot.com/
http://kassikfamily.blogspot.com/
http://deathofdisguise.blogspot.com/

If I missed you, let me know!

Take a picture NOW!

Voluntarily tagged by Mandy:

1) Take a picture of yourself right NOW!
2) DON'T change your clothes; DON'T fix your hair... Just take a picture.
3) Post that picture with NO editing.
4) Post these instructions with your picture.

TAG! You're it!!!

The Southern Belle Bob

The last time I had short hair was in late 2005 or 2006 when I donated my hair to Locks of Love. Taylor prefers it long, and I do like it long, but the humidity here makes the back of my hair turn into a tangled mess by the end of the day. Taylor and Rosie needed cuts, so I decided to get one too. The Great Clips $5.99 special, and I pointed to the picture on the wall of the salon. What do you think?

NKOTB Revisited

NKOTB announced another leg of their tour. Unfortunately, they won't be performing this time in Atlanta, and the closest location in Greenville, SC. It will be on Tuesday, March 17th (St. Patricks Day). It's about a 2 hour drive from here. Tickets go on sale January 24th, and will probably be around $40. I'll probably drive out after work, sleep over in a hotel, and come back early in the morning for work. Anyone with me?

My Favorite Aviation Commercial

When I lived in Utah, I spend four years in the semi-professional womens' choir, Viva Voce. When I was in the choir, I sang one of my favorite pieces of choral music of all time: Adiemus from Songs of Sanctuary. I had heard it years before on this Delta Airlines Commercial, and was excited to learn it. This was before I even knew Taylor, let alone him starting his aviation career. I randomly found it on YouTube today. Pardon my French, but I actually understand what they're saying.

22 Hours in Utah

On Friday night, I'd decided not to come to SLC because the flight loads were yucky and I needed to take it easy to recover from bronchitis. My mom called to guilt-trip me about it, but I told her my mind was made up. But I woke up at 3:30 am and started IMing my sister Mary. She had driven 4 hours down from college for the weekend and really wanted to see me. I checked the flight loads for the morning flights, and they were quite positive. Taylor was on a high speed to Pittsburgh, and would be on another one to Dayton the next night. I dragged Rosie out of bed, packed up our overnight bags (couldn't find the camera because of all the moving mess), and drove to the airport.

There were 55 open seats on the flight, and all 55 people on standby got on (the plane was totally full) Rosie was across the aisle from a nice girl a bit older than her, also the child of a pilot. They chatted through much of the flight, which helped the 4 hours go by. We arrived in SLC at 10:30, and my sister's friend Melina picked us up. We made a few necessary stops (Sunflower Market, Seagull Book, Downeast Basics, etc), had lunch with Melina, Mary and her roommate Katie, and went down to my parents beautiful new home in Lehi.

My friends Esther and Emily both visited, and the three of us went up to South Towne Mall to do some shopping. I came back for my mom's 51st birthday party. Dad made teriyaki chicken, I made my famous Better than Sex Cake, and all the family was together for a few hours, sans Taylor :( Since I'd been up since 3 am EST, I was totally dead tired by 11 pm MST. Mary will be taking me to the airport at 6:30 am, and I'll be back in ATL around 2:00 pm..as long as flight loads cooperate. Wish me luck!