Charlotte Snowmageddon 2014

My roommate Ursula is originally from Ohio, and all winter she has regaled us of stories about how spoiled us southerners are when it comes to snow. We see a bit of dusting on the ground, and everything gets cancelled. Back home, she said, snow could stack up foot by foot and nobody blinked.

Well, then it blizzarded here earlier this week. As in, we couldn't get out of our apartment for 2 days. Scheduling called me and I kind of laughed to myself, because even if I wanted to there was no way I would be able to get to the airport.

Coming back from a trip the previous day when the first 7 inches of snow had fallen, I was barely able to dig my car out of the employee lot (and then only because it was still powder, not solid ice) and drive home on roads which looked like the rapture had occurred. Abandoned cars, belongings, mysterious footprints but no people. Creepy.

I made it home and hoped against all hope I'd get home to see Darcy for Valentines Day, not no such luck. It snowed all night and the next day.

I can only imagine how crazy this next week of flying will be; moving people hither and thither and yon who were previously stranded in Charlotte. Did I mention the airport has completely been shut down because of the extreme weather hazard? North Carolina just doesn't have the infrastructure to operate when it snows. Especially a big snow.

Here are some photos of the 2014 Charlotte Snowmageddon:

Craziness at the Charlotte airport as flights are cancelled on Valentines Day
photo courtesy of LakeWyliePilot.com

Yeah, you weren't planning to go anywhere were you? Oops.



Cars were completely blanketed with snow in the employee parking lots.

Our apartment parking lot. Photo courtesy of my roommate Ursula

Its kind of pretty, if it weren't so darn inconvenient

Photo courtesy of my roommate Ursula

 For all my readers still out there, trying to get home or just get out of their driveway, stay safe and please stay warm. We'll be flying the (hopefully more) friendly skies again soon!

To see this post at its original location (and many more like it) click here



One Year Ago.....

.....I started this blog as I waltzed into a new chapter of my life. I had no idea what I was doing, but I had the prominent notion that my life needed some change. Since I had never traveled out of my (25 years) familiar hometown, I wanted to see the world. On a whim, I applied to the airline industry and voila! I got a call back, an interview, another interview and then got sent off to {training for 4.5 weeks in Phoenix}. It feels like a crazy whirlwind of a year, but the anniversary finally has come. Sometimes I feel like it was just yesterday, and other reminiscences make me feel sure it must have been at least a decade ago. One year ago, Darcy dropped me off at the airport and after a tearful goodbye I put on my big girl pants and started a new, fabulous career with travel, friendships and adventure galore. I have grown so much, learned so much, done so many things I never dreamed I'd be brave enough to do and to top it all off, our class got awarded lines for March!

What this means for you non-airline folks is instead of being on-call, not knowing if we're going to fly or just wait around on base certain days and off certain days, we now get to pick our schedule every month including which trips we work, where we go and which days we are off. This much more freedom usually happens to flight attendants after working many years, but because of how fast our company is growing, we have high enough seniority to "hold" a line after only a year! What a great present!

Below are some photo compilations I borrowed from my roommate Belle (you should definitely check out her {blog} too!) to commemorate this special occasion.

Also, here are some of my favorite posts over the last year. Here's to many more years of adventure, change and discovery!

Back In Blue

Stay Calm and Eat Clam

Biking The Golden Gate Bridge (in ballet flats)

Birthdays At The Beach

It's Not The Years, It's The Mileage

An Unexpected Roadtrip

The Winged Wayfarer Flies Across the Pond (Dublin, Ireland)

Lastly, if any of you out there (and I know you're there because I get messages and comments from you all the time!) want to start your own adventure as a flight attendant, check out my post on applying and {interviewing} and then click {this link} and apply. We're still hiring like crazy. It's totally worth it! Take the leap! You won't regret it!

photo borrowed from {thelayoverlife.wordpress.com}

photo borrowed from {thelayoverlife.wordpress.com}

photo borrowed from {thelayoverlife.wordpress.com}

Winged Whimsy Weekly

I think by now you all know that I interpret the word "weekly" in this post rather loosely. It can mean weekly, or monthly, or......my bad.

But anyway, I have a nice little group of photos to share and I hope they're worth the wait. These start before my {Ireland trip}, and end with pictures as recent as yesterday.

A rare but wonderful occasion. Darcy and I had a spontaneous slow dance, at a bar, in the middle of a trivia show.

My dear friend made me waffles and sausage for breakfast. I've been to a lot of nice hotels, but this is one of the fanciest spreads I've had in the morning (do you see that sparkling grape juice).  Deeeelicious. And made with love.

Darcy and I attended the local {Chattacon}, where he dressed up as a rather dapper gent. Am I lucky, or am I lucky ladies?

I recently started an Anatomy and Physiology course online. Some of the material is very complicated and verbose, so I remember things by copious highlighting.....and drawing cartoons to help me remember concepts/definitions. Hey, adulthood is what you make of it! ;)

Got a new pair of glasses! I rather like them!

I saw this on the way back from the gym  at my apartment and it made me giggle. Anyone wanna hang out by the pool?

A tonicity experiment I had to do with celery and salt water. Science in progress!

Driving back to Chattanooga last week, I saw this ramp just waiting for some James Bond action. Sadly, I had neither the gumption nor the insanity to attempt.

My bestie Bryanna and I crafting up some Valentines goodness for our honies.

Speaking of, this is the delightful lady I mentioned previously. I had just brought her some earrings from Ireland that she now plans to wear at her wedding in May! We were both pretty tickled.

yesterday in Buffalo New York at the Millenium Hotel. Right after this we went to Nassau Bahamas, so that was a bit sunnier and warmer. But on this morning it was -1 degrees Fahrenheit! No bueno! I wouldn't mind, however, going to Niagara Falls, which was just a few miles away from here.

Due to the onslaught of snow and ice, pretty much every flight in Charlotte has been cancelled or delayed. I'm so over winter!