Aloha oi!

Grandma and I just landed at the lihue airport and were waiting for melanie to come fetch us. So we just thought why not make you all jealous.. He he. Aloha and mele kaliki maka

My Carol...

Would be much like the one shared by Michael McLean tonight at the Forgotten Carols. Stand up and do something so that people know who is in your heart. I think that is something that I have always had in my heart. Everyone always tells me that Im maybe too nice, or too understanding. But I think its my hearts way of showing my love for people, my brothers and sisters on this earth.

Thank you mom and dad for taking me to this wonderful show tonight. It was a great reminder of why I am who I am and why I do what I do.
Love to you all this holiday season..

Check List update...

#1- I cleaned my bathroom and am working on the bedroom. It will be done by the time sara and paul show up tomorrow night
#2- Ok so I didnt get any laundry done that night but Ive since done quite a bit.. so uh.. check?
#3- havent even started. But dont worry andrew.. you will be the first to know
#4- Computer desk is ALMOST there..
#5- grr.. she lives 3 streets away and ive not seen her in like 6 weeks.. whats my major malfunction?
#6- this is an on going project that I am going to need help from all the cousins on. We are going to make her a DVD for her birthday with pictures and video. Pick some of your favorite pictures and email em to your cuz..
#7- uh.. maybe after thanksgiving
#8- I should have made phone calls but Im trying to be good about it..

there you have it nat.. so far.. so good

Uncle Mike has big hair..

That's not the impression I'm wanting to leave with the noodles this holiday season.. Its just something that has happened, and thanks to the wonders of hair gel I am able to tone down this mop to something more presentable at work..I also found some super attractive shades to wear in the car. They fit over my glasses.. Novel eh.. Oh well so what if I look like Ray Charles.. I can see

An Ode to Natalie...

So cousin, I read your blog where you said that you make lists.
I have a dirty confession. I fly by the seat of my pants, I havent made a to-do/checklist in I cant tell you how long. I could have still been in high school the last time I took the time or had the notion to sit down and make a list.
But I gotta tell ya. Im feeling inspired and renewed. So today Im going to make my first to-do list and its going to go right on my blog..
1. Clean your room you lazy slug!!!
2. Do as much laundry as you can before bed
3. Purge your closets of unused clothing
4. Organize your computer desk
5. Write a letter to gma flegal
6. Work on gma flegals 90'th birthday basche video
7. Wrap christmas presents already purchased and label them
8. Tell my family I love them at least one time today..

Not a bad list eh!! Aside from sitting down with the worlds leaders and hammering out world peace I think that went pretty well..
Ill update you all on just how well I did.. ttfn
love ya!!

My Buddy and Me..

Is this not the cutest little puppy that came to visit me today? I have no idea what his name is but I did need a lint roller once he was done giving me loves. Such a sweet little dog that I'm sure will one day be a sweet BIG dog. Everytime the girls bring me a puppy I fall in love with them all over again. I need to find a friend with a dog and just go get my fix with their dog instead of getting my own then never being home, mom would love that!!
Anywho just thought you all might like the pics..

Sometimes my eyes Bug-out..

So I went to pick up gma for our pool date today and found these sexy new glasses. I think if I had these for myself I might wear them to work just to throw people off.
Did a huge clean up on my room and am excited with how its turned out. Ill post before and after pics probly tomorrow when I put the finishing touches on it all.
Well I'm at work and mobile blogging so I'd better get back to it.
Peace

My On-the-go..

So I'm trying out this mobile blogging stuff.. You all know what a nerd I am with my fandangled technologies, so I thought me and my new 2, I know its small, megapixel cell phone should keep you up to date even more. Here's to hoping this works..
This is a pic of my drink from lunch. Thanks to Lucas for getting me hooked on tea's again.
Mike

its 3am.. do you know where your brain is?

Mine is wandering. Ive watched the newest episode of Heroes and think I might explode with anticipation for next weeks.. THEN I watched the newest episode of Smallville.. THAT was my mistake. Now I'm totally thinking about it. Wondering what is going to happen, Its enough to make you tired.. BUT IM NOT.. NO.. Luckily tomorrow/today is my day off. I did get the garbages out when I came home from work so at least I can sleep in in peace.. I HOPE.. Gma Helen and I are new BFF's and are hitting the hospital (blood test) then lunch, voting and then maybe even another dip in the POOL.. thats right.. Mike isn't doing anything so lets just hang out with him.. We also have plans to go to the.. wait for it.. Library to find another book on tape. She is fit to be tied she is so excited. Im happy to see her happy as well.. She gets this light in her eyes and a big smile on her face when she is moving in the pool. Reminds me of when we were younger and she would take us all to the pool. Its good to be her friend again.
Zoinks.. just typing all that made me yawn!! YAY..
I guess sleep is coming after all..
Good luck to AJ and ALI tomorrow with their findings.. I want a text message asap!!!
xo
me

All your Blogs sound fun

Mine however I find to be on the Mundane.. THANKFULLY andrew and ali invited me up to the condo with them. I was happy to go since my trip to Maui, yes in the hawaiian islands, had be summarily cancelled thanks to full flights. My friends missed me and I was sad I wasnt on the beach but we had fun. I took some cute pictures of the peanut and family for them. Ali and I had fun shopping at the outlets, Andrew and Eliza on the other hand didnt love it so much. Al's when you go back to do your exchanges let me know, I need to pick up a few more gifts.
Today is my friday and I know not what the next two days off will bring. I know mom is hoping I will Finally put all my laundry away.. Maybe I will.. maybe I will..
Love you to all the family
xoxo

Panini and Pearls

My friend Steve came to Utah to visit last week. I had fun showing him around downtown. He wanted to go and look up some geneology so we hit the Family History Center. He put in his great-grandmas name and traced it back to 1310 in england. He was pretty excited. Well we had so much fun that I followed him back to phoenix. Tom's company was sponsoring the Panini and Pearls party again and so I went down to attend. Lots of glamorous people eating and drinkin and having a good time. We met up with a few friends and just had ourselves a fantastic time.
Here is a pic of me ready to go out...

and then a pic of a guy I just couldnt keep my eyes off.. I totally stole and cell pic.. hehe

Rx Cafe Rio

So I had called my doc on wed to let her know I was sick.. Thinking she could wave her magic wand over me or give me some magic potion.. They called today cause they had a cancellation so I went in and saw her.. No magic wand needed now that I feel like a normal human being. Granted a much skinnier Human.. She weighed me just to see if I was over exagerating about the weight loss. In my jeans and shirt I weighed in at 144. I havent weighed so little since I came home from my mission in 1999.
So I told her I was going to Cafe Rio for lunch to get a pork salad, black beans house dressing, she suggested I go for the burrito and that maybe I should eat there twice today. HAHA..
Anywho thats my update for the day.. I have a date with my laundry today..
love y'all

How to loose 25 lbs in 4 days

First off let me preface this with this statement. Loosing this much weight in such a short time leaves you very weak.
I came down with the flu sunday night at work. Thanks to the projectile vomiting they let me come home. I think that was the last time I ate.. With the night sweats (yes my sheets were soaked) and the high fever I went from 170 lbs to 144. Nasty I know. I can barely walk around the house but finally I dont feel like I'm going to die.
Here is the worst of it. Mom and I had been planning to make a trip to Paris monday morning.. It never fails.. I try to go to paris and something always impeads my journey.. One of these days Ill get there.. Soon I hope.
Im feeling better and and holding food down..
Love you all

So Why Am I Smiling?

Hmm What could be making my face grin this big??

Well.. I didnt get the job that I had mentioned in my earlier post.. So thats not it..
Im not all that saddened that I didnt get this job.. There will be other, and maybe better opportunities down the road. So dont cry for me argentina..

My smile comes from the wonderful world of MAC..
I purchased a new computer this weekend. An iMac. If ever there was happiness from a temperal item this would be it..
I even took this fun little photo with my photobooth software. It gives me what I call electronic wood...

I hope to create great and wonderful posts from this new terminal. I plan on sharing them with you all..
for now its 108am and I have to be to work at 9am-1am... Talk about a long day.. So much for sunday being a day of rest.
XO

What? me Responsible?

Hmm work.. whats new with me and work you say? Well hopefully tomorrow will bring me good news. I interviewed for a leadership position today at work. Its just a step up from my current job but MUCH more responsibility. Id be in charge of around 16 agents makeing sure they were performing satisfactorily in their positions.. I know its hard to imagine me acting like a growed up.. But whats a guy to do, but grow up? Grandma F would be so proud to hear that statement from my mouth. She is always asking when I am going to settle down and be a man.. Here I am trying to be responsible.
So what does this job afford me? Money, flexibility and hopefully a little respect. So we shall see what the future holds for me. Hopefully I was able to sell myself well enough to shine for them..
Ill post it when it happens..

Cat and Mouse..

I think this is the funniest picture we have of the Cat so far..
She played with this mouse for almost an hour.. I just sat a watched. Is that sadistic?

FishKisses!!!

So I sent out FishKisses to the kids...

This is what I got back




they were worth every fish!

Birthday in Hawaii

So Im going to the Big Island for my birthday.. Never been before.. Im still waiting on days off to see how much time I'll get to spend there. Im HOPING that I get 5 days.. But for now its just 3.. Cross your fingers for me!!
Ill post pics and stories of my adventure when I return. I dont leave till Tues..
cheers

Crazy or Adventurous?

So Im thinking of Jetting to Munich to pick up a pair of glasses that had truely caught my eye in the shopping area of Landshut. Id do this all on my 3 days off.. Am I crazy? I very well could be. I mean I have to have some time to read the new Harry Potter right? What better place than being gorged with food in Business Class?
Ill check the flights..

the DREADED trip home..

Like I said we got home from the ward party all danced out, after a day of visiting beautiful sights. It was about 1020 in the evening.. I immediately jumped on the laptop to check my flight in the morning.. BAD NEWS.
The flight from Munich to Atlanta was now oversold and looking ugly. This was a friday night and I had to be to work at 230pm on Sunday. So I started to scramble.. Looking at my back up cities. Stuttgart was over sold, Vienna-oversold, Venice-oversold, Frankfurt (with its 4 flights)-oversold. So I looked futher. Berlin..! Available...but the flight was at noon the next day!!
I pulled up the S-Bahn sight and found that i could get to Berlin by 8am if i caught the train from Landshut at 1115! What time did i tell you it was when I got home? Ya no time like the immediate present to pack your bag, give your kisses and RUN out the door. I totally forgot my toothbrush. It didnt matter.. I had 15mins to get to the trainstation, buy a ticket and get on the train.
Andrew and Dad took me in the car. We got to the station with 8 minutes to spare.
Andrew and I ran to the ticket machine (in german) and worked to find out how the crap to buy a ticket! 112 Euros later I had a ticket in my hand to take me all the way to Berlin and a bus transfer to the airport. We ran to the platform as the train pulled into the station.
Looking at my ticket I had to change trains in Regensburg. Where the crap was that!! Andrew tried to give me as many instructions as he could think of and even talked to the train guy who boarded with us. He really is a great brother!!
And i was off.. at 1115pm on my 9 hour train ride to Berlin! (vomits just at the memory)
Regensburg it turns out wasnt too far down the tracks I was there by 1245pm. My next train to Berlin was to be leaving at 105am. This was the overnighter to Berlin. I had an assigned seat and everything. I was thinkin.. Nah this isnt too bad.. I can do this.
The train to Berlin was 5 mins late but I caught on to that on the sign. I boarded and went to look for my seat. Car 256 both whatever seat blah blah.. Turns out booth whatever was the smoking car and I was banished there for the next 8 hours!! I did check the rest of the train and all the other booths were full. I was punished. To sit in the smoke with those who just passed by to light up.. (only 5 cigarettes were smoked and I endured every one..)
Did I fail to mention the train wasnt non stop? Oh no.. we stopped about every 45 mins.. I did set my phone alarm so i wouldnt miss gettin up and getting off the train but then when people come in and smoke.. ya.. Not so much sleep was had.. I think I did get in about 2.5 hrs. maybe 3 if I was lucky.
So as the sun came up over now Northern Germany at 5am!! I tried to enjoy the sights. All the towns seemed to blend together and look the same. I wanted to see a castle or something.. But I wasnt to be so lucky.
I found on the floor a train schedule. It showed our slow progression to Berlin. I tried to doze at this point but it was fruitless..
About 715 I saw an airport tower.. I thought could I be passing right by the airport? So I scrambled to get ready to get off. The train station was named berlin Schoenfield Flugenhauf (flugenhauf meaning airport). I watched my train leave then went to look at how to get to this airport.
At this point you should know that the Name of the Airport I needed was in fact the Berlin Tegel Airport (the international one) This was something that hit me like a ton of bricks as i looked at the map at the station and saw 3 airports in the vicinity of Berlin and I was at the WRONG ONE!!
Have you ever had that sinking feeling of being in the wrong place and not knowing how to fix it? Here I was in a Foreign country trying to converse in a language that I didnt speak. BUT I persevered. I found the guy who worked the station and spoke a few random words in German. He understood what I tried (poorly) to say, 'How the crap do you get to the REAL Berlin Airport?'
He pointed to a train that he said would be leaving in five minutes and would take me to the Haupbahnhoft (main train station) I raced to the quai and waited the departure.

At this point I was fairly comfortable with the way things on the trains worked and saw that it was only 11 stops to get to where I needed to be. Good thing it was 730 in the morning and my flight wasnt until 12 noon. (phew)
I arrived at the HBF (im so german I know) and found my way to the bus stops. It was threatning rain but fortunately the bus arrived just as the rain started.

Another 9 stops on the bus and I was at the Berlin Tegel Airport. FINALLY!!!
I checked in and got a Business Class seat. Praise St Christopher (isnt he the patron saint of travelers?) JFK was a mess and I listed on 5 flights before I got on one to LAS. I missed the Delta flight by 15 mins and had to buy a standby ticket on USAirways to get home at 3am.
Now with all this hubbub im thinking of going back for the day.. Am I crazy?

Berchtesgaden Adventures!

So my first day in Germany consisted of being kinda lazy.. Ok so did the second.. but my Third and full day was an adventure to be had. Dad had rented a car and a TomTom navigational system GPS thingy. He was really excited about it. We decided since Id only be able to spend one day that we should head over to Berchtesgaden and see the sights there. It was one of the places I've heard people rave about so OFF we went. The drive was about 2 hrs and in a full car tensions got a bit high.. We had to stop to eat and found this cute little cafe on the side of the road.


Isnt dad a cutiepie?


They didnt have a table outside big enough for the 5 of us so we had a boys and girls table..



Katie had a great sandwich apparently! hehe

We decided to go and see KonigSee (kings lake)
I have never seen any thing so beautiful as this lake. It is so pristine. They only use electric boats on it to preserve its purity. You take a ride on a boat to the other end of the lake, walk about 500 yards and there is another lake.. You just get to look at this one but dang if it wasnt beautiful.



this is at the end of the first lake.. Apparently someone lives here with their herd of cattle.. It would be like heaven to live here!! I couldnt imagine anything more fantastic than to have a view like this..

The boat ride over the guy on the boat plays his horn against the cliffs. I made a movie of it and put it on YouTube. It was pretty freakin cool..



this was a stop on the lake. It used to be a monastery.. beautiful eh!!


I dont know how many times we took this pic but it just didnt capture the beauty of the place..This was at the second lake. I think the others have more pictures of this lake. My camera was giving me the times up on batterylife..

After this we had to cruise home for the ward party where we all dressed up polynesian style and danced the night away..
My next entry will go more into that night for me.

Landshut is BEAUTIFUL!

Ok so Ali told me that I wouldnt like her waking me up from my little nap. I thought, not. BOY was I wrong! I felt like I was spinning in a dreamy fog for about 20 minutes. My body felt like lead. I just couldnt move.

That is until Ali suggested we go for gelato's. I think I might have just jumped at that point. Of we were to go and see the little city of Landshut. Just a short little bus ride into the city and we would be there.

Nothing can describe how beautiful this city truely is. Its right on the river. The main area is, well, Beautiful! Ill be taking pictures but cant upload them till I get home. But I will be sticking them here in the blog so that you can see. Its pretty freakin cool!. We passed by an glasses place and I just had to go in. I found a cute pair of green glasses that Id like to buy (much to Andrews protest at buying them immediately) So the nice lady is holding them for me to come tomorrow and get them. They were only 59 euros. Duh. Its not like it was a super expensive buy. He just has fear of spending money. Ali did find a very cute pair of sunglasses but they were twice the price of my little frames. But doesnt she look cute! (I told her they would be her Victoria Beckham glasses if she got em)

We walked around to their favorite Gelato'OK. I got Himbeery and peppermitz. (translation for you americans thats Raspberry and Mint Chocolate Chip) They were OH so good. The flavor was real and full. It didnt taste like manufactured ice cream. It was a little bit of heaven in a waffle cone. We made a quick pit stop at the grocery store and then did a little more window shopping. I can show one picture because its here on the Flegal komputer. Ali thought it would be super funny to take my picture in front of this ad.. (its because of the store name)

It was a bit rainy so we got an umbrella and headed for the bus stop. I couldnt help running into the local T-Mobile store to look at the phones they have here. I found two that i'd want to have. That purchase however I didnt make.

We had dinner with the missionaries and then Andrew had to do his little meeting with them. We stayed up and had Ice Cream with the Auras' and laughed and laughed. They are a super fun couple and I can see how they became best of friends with Andrew and Ali.

Sleep would be a welcome event tonight.

PS I do not speak German...

We landed in Munich and did the customs thingy. Not too bad accept the little pen you have to stand in before clearing passport control. I have purchased a little phrase book while in NYC and had written down how to ask for the taxi price to Landshut. Apparently it was costly cause he told me 56 euros. NO WAY! So we set out for the bus.
We hit the ATM in the airport and then got a little change from the bank so we could pay the bus. It was 2.20 Euros to take the bus to Freising (which sounds like Frys-Sing not Freezing) and then only like 6.20 Euros to take. Now I say only but the truth of the matter is I had such a hard time buying the tickets.
First thing is we did meet a nice german guy on the bus fromt he airport to the train station. He was living in Austin doing his grad work. He had just come home cause his brother was getting married. He was taking the train too. Apparatly here you can buy tickets and they work for a group of you at a time. (the German systems are either weird or really smart) So we chatted and became friendly. He even used my pen. So we get off the bus and there is the Platform for the trains. We look around and I dont see the place to buy tickets. I kind of expected to see a blantanly obvious looking, big neon signed (ok not really) but something that said, 'Welcome to the Freising Train Depot, come on over and buy your tickets here!'
I didnt see that.
I didnt even see what looked like a trainstation. I felt abandoned in the middle of nowhere with out a ticket to go anywhere. Ok I am being a little over dramatic if I say it like that but its where my heart was going because now Liz and I were really in Germany and I had to get us to Landshut.
So we walked down the steps to enter the tunnel to access the platforms. It connected to the other side of the station. 'That must be where the station is!' I thought and walked with purpose to the other side. Nothing! Just more parking. At this point I called Johanna Auras, Ali and Andrews neighbors to ask what I should do. She told me there should be an automated machine somewhere to purchase my tickets from. Well I wasnt seeing anything like that. So I thought it best to go up on the platform. Maybe it was right there when you get on the train.
Low and behold there was in fact a train station. You just couldnt see it directly from where the bus dropped you off.. It was hidden. But I sure saw it when i went up on the platform and I knew we were saved.
I went and found the automated machine. There were 2. I picked the one that was touchscreen and spoke english (Duh.. no germanzi-spreckened here!) So Im purposely putting in all the information and it tells me the cost. Im all ready with my money but then I notice this machine doesnt take money! NO!!! Ah!. All it seems to do is pick out your schedule for you. So of coarse i hit print. I hadnt wasted my time for nothing.
Now remember I said there were 2 machines. Now also remember I had chosen the one that spoke english. So I'm looking at this machine trying to figure it out. I'm watching other people use it successfully and walk away with a ticket to board. I think I've picked it up and I punch the buttons, 1356, which the little list tells me is Landshut. It tells me the price of the ticket and I think I'm almost there. But NO!!! the bloody machine wont take my bills. I know they are good I'd just pulled them out of an ATM. So I then had to then go inside and buy a ticket, from a person.. Duh why didnt I do that to begin with? I tried to speak German but the lady spoke English back to me and so I just acquiesced. At least I tried to speak german. (zwie zur Landshut) Thats what I said, she just said,'English?" Im such a nerd.
A 20 minute train ride and we were picked up by Ali, Eliza and Johanna the neighbor lady.
I'm currently sitting in the front room listening to the rain and telling Ali about my love life.
Catch up with you tomorrow. I'm needing a nap something fierce.

Munich Bound

So I checked the flights again when I woke up at (vomit) 4am. I rebooked our flight through RDU and that let Liz sleep a few minutes more. We called a car to take us to the airport. We were both so tired, I just couldnt deal with a bus. We got checked in but only as far as Atlanta due to the fact that our lay over was going to be so long.
It was a seemless connection there at RDU.
us.. laying over..

We did get to take the Pink Plane (aka the Brest Cancer Plane) from RDU to ATL. We had the front row seats on that one so it was kinda nice. I started the book, The Golden Compass on this trip and ended up reading that on both flights and not sleeping.
Atlanta 1020am. Yes we were quite early for our 425 flight to Munich but we could check in. So off we went to the International Concourse E. It was maybe 20 mins in line but we got checked in no problems. Just that our flight was all the way back on T4. So we hopped back on the train and went to the T concourse. It was here that I was able to snag about a 2 hr nap.
The waiting wasnt too terrible. There was a cute lady who had missed her Ireland flight the night before and had been sleeping all night at the airport. She was maybe in her 60's and the night had kinda worn on her. We chatted for a bit and later she brought us some quiche (ps the quiche wasnt so good but I think they had food vouchers and just bought a ton) super nice lady.
So it gets to be about an hour before the flight and they start working the standby list. I was getting nervous because the list kept growing but Liz was always at the bottom. I was at the top of the list. I knew I would get the BusinessClass seat and I didnt want to give that up. But I also didnt want to go if Liz didnt. So I told this to the lady and she said that I needed to decide right there if I was going or not. So I looked at the numbers and said,'Im in!'
Liz made it of course, much to my stress relief. I was in 6a and she got 29a. Yay for window seats cause our landing in Munich was beautiful.
I of coarse was pampered in BC. I had wine with dinner and porto with dessert. I ate it all up and loved every minute. I was sad that Liz couldnt experience it with me but hopefully she can on the way home.

Ah.. NYC the city that never sleeps..

Why do i always feel like an insomniac in this city? Hmm
I was such a good boy waiting patiently for the departure to LGA when there came an announcement. 'Ladies and Gentlemen.. blah blah blah, gate change, blah blah blah'
So, just like when we were in choir and the chorister would raise her hands, everyone stood up in unison and headed for our new gate. It was just down the hall but man you could see some grumpy faces.
We boarded pretty quickly. I find it a little bit funny in my seats. My SLC-ATL flight i was in 37b and the LGA flight I was in 38c. It turned out to be and exit row on the LAST row of an MD90. Oh well.
This was the first time Ive flown into LGA to come see Liz and Marc. I gotta tell ya, SUPER EASY! But dont go buying a Metro card for the day (7dollars) if all you are going to do is hop the bus to the house. The lady at the airport tried to get me to buy that dumb card. All you need is 2 bucks in quarters and the M60 bus drops you off RIGHT outside their house. The bus ride took maybe 25 mins.
Liz and Marc were still at work so I headed to the nearest starbucks, on broadway, and logged in to my T-Mobile HotSpot and started lookin at the flights. It was then that I noticed that Delta cancelled a flight on the 26th from LGA to ATL. That wouldnt do..
So here I sit after much stress and NO sleep at 451 in the morning ready to call a cab and get back to the airport. Liz and I are going to take a connecting flight through the city of Raleigh-Durham. We now get into Atlanta at 1030 am and our flight to Munich isnt until 430. Who can say airport-nap-on-the-floor?
I just know I'm gonna pass out on the flights. Id better get a compfy seat.
More to come on the Amazing Adventure to Deutschland YA!

Munich Bound, Kinda

So i stayed up till almost 1am last night trying to get my bag packed for my trip to Germany to see Andrew, Ali and Eliza. I was so nervous that I wouldnt be making my flight I had back up after back up set in mind.

I got to the airport and had to wait in the normal security line. (I would have liked to have just bypassed all that securitiy like the pilots and flight attendants do but NOOOOOO) So i spent 30 mins in securtiy. I went speed walking down tot he Atlanta flight not knowing if i was even going to get on. LOW and Behold my seat was cleared in a middle but her I am in Atlanta. Im actually sitting on the floor of the concourse outside the Crown Room so I can get my T-Mobile internet. Smooth eh? Ill take a picture but I'll need to load it once the trip is over. I didnt bring that connection cable.. Maybe i can used Andrew's... but I digress..
My middle seat made it hard to try to sleep and the girl in the window seat was wanting to watch the movie so SHE suggested we swap.. HA what a sweetheart. I slept the entire flight!!

So the reason I'm only kinda on my way to germany is that I have to make a stop in NYC to pick up my cute middle sister. She and I ar pass riding it to Europe while the rest of the family is on paid seats. Yes we must be crazy but thats what makes it fun!!

My next flight to LGA looks fine I have no worries about it. Ive just never flown into LGA so im not THAT familiar with how to get to Lizzie and Marks nest of love. Heres to Adventures!!
Ok time to take my photo and check my emails.
Im trying to make this as informative as MS Ali Mae.. we will see..
Loves.

A True JetSetter

So my friend Amy asked me to accompany her to pick up her passport and drop her off at class.
Now to the rest of you this would just mean getting in the car and cruising around..
Amys passport was in Washington DC where a friend had picked it up from the GHANA embassy, fresh with a new visa, and her class was at the JFK airport cargo center..
She flew the connection in from SMF and we met in the crown room in SLC. Id picked up her Malaria pills from her sister that morning. We got on the flight to DCA. Me in an aisle seat next to a crazy lady and Amy on an exit window.. Lucky poo..
the flight got to DCA at 4. So we jumped on the metro and went to the WHITE HOUSE to meet our friend Tim. No Tim doesnt work at the White House but kitty corner.. He surrendered the passport over dinner on the other side of the White House. Thus Dinner in DC. Amy and I had to catch the flight to LGA then. We checked the flights at his office and they didnt look so grand. There had been some rain and we'd cancelled 4 flights. So I told amy to go and I stayed with Tim. Her seat was positive space afterall.. So Tim and I head back to his place. When we get there I used his computer just to check that things looked ok for amy and they hadnt cancelled the flight. Seat availability had gone from -12 seats to positive 12 seats!. So Tim jumped in the car and dropped me off in time to catch the flight.
Now on this flight this married guy couldnt keep his eyes to himself.. He stared at me every 2.5 minutes. I finally started locking eyes and smiling. That really freaked him out. But he kept lookin.. I guess i was looking irresistable!!
In LGA we caught a cab to Amy's friends place. Mr Cox lives in Queens and i thought that was appropriate..
He has a fun apartment and from the roof top we can see the rest of the city. He took us to a local bar and we had a few drinks there. A private car took us to the holiday inn at JFK. I slept for maybe 2.4 hours and then had to take the shuttle to the airport.
I missed my flight thanks to the rain the day previous and the back up I had planned was looking worse. So I found an empty gate and logged in and found that if i flew to Seattle I could connect and make it home, but the flight wasnt till 845 but it was first class!!!.. SO I went.
Tired as all getout I got home after 4pm.. home at 5.. I just couldnt see taking a nap.. or id wake up at 4am.. so I stayed up.. that hurt.. but I did get to sleep at 10 with an ambien and slept till 830 today..
Voila.. thats how you JetSet!!

Boston Pride 2007

I missed going to SLC Pride because the family was in Lake Powell. Id totally pick the lake anytime so that wasnt tough.. The bummer is that Delta is a major sponser at 6 prides in the nation. That means we march (in cool polos they give us) and throw beads. Then they have a booth and people come throw darts at the map of our new destinations. We give prises and have a drawing for 2 free airline tickets in the americas.
Well... the Boston crew sent out an email saying they were in need of help cause no one had volunteerd and they needed bodies. So of coarse i went.
Their Pride Parade was on a Saturday so I flew in Friday night late. I didnt get into my hotel until 2am. So i crashed out and woke up at 10. I had time to change shower and off i went.. checking out of my hotel. I only had a small backback to keep my change of necessities..
Having never ever been to Boston I really didnt know where i was going. I'd chatted with some people to get the basic idea. I'd just missed the shuttle to the airport that also stops at the T station. So i snagged a cab, but only as far as the T stop.
I got off at Back Bay and then had to ask a few bears and trannies for the directions to where i was to meet my group. As i got there the parade was just starting. Luckily I had time to put on my polo and get into formation. We had two people holding the banner that said Delta was a proud sponsor. Three girls in blow up airplane costumes and pilot hats.. the delta mini and a truck with music blairing whatever. Then about 6 other people throwing out the beads. I was in the lead with the banner.
The weather was a bit yucky. We had fog covering the tops of the skyscrapers but it wasnt too cold and walking all that way, 3 miles, it was just perfect..
The parade ended in the square at city hall. Delta had our booth set up there. I stuck around for a little bit but then had to jet back to the airport for the ride home. My flight was at 5pm. I hopped on the T and off i went to return home.
So what was that? about 12 hrs in boston on my first trip? not bad but i didnt get to see much.. Next time im totally staying longer... and NOT at the airport hotel..
cheers
me

Lake Powell

First off welcome home to my baby sister who returned home from her mission in Montreal. Im so happy to have her back.
To celebrate this blessed event (and cause we had the houseboat) We went to Lake Powell. We left on a friday and got there a little before dark. So we stayed on a mooring that night. The next day we set off to find a beach.
Beaches in Lake Powell can be tricky to find. Being as we were getting there mid week a lot of people had taken the good spots. Katie,Wick and I had found what we thought was an ok location. Little did we know that Sunday would bring micro bursts of wind to knock us off our beach and throw us into the channel. Luckily a lot of people had already left the good beaches and we found one just around the corner.
Katie and I had to go back and claim lost items which included our steak to hold us in place and an anchor that was in 30 feet of water.
We got all settled in to the new beach (this one with sand) and I had to head back to SLC. SO i packed up my bag and off i went back to the marina to schlep my tookis back home.
It was very fun to see the Taylors. The kids just keep getting cuter and cuter.
Ill try to post some pics once mom gets back with the camera (i cant find mine.. am i a true flegal or what?)
cheers n happy travels
Me

Waikiki Esape

So Still no work coming from the inflight people.
So with Mon Tues and Wed off I felt i should use my bennies to go someplace..
I checked flights to Paris but I would have only had 24 hours in the city.. and that included sleeping.
I'd just been to NYC and Montreal to see the kids.
So I looked west. Hawaii was open enough..
So I announced my intents to the Parentals and mom piped in that she wanted to go..
I called and booked the hotel that same minute.
The Pacific Beach Hotel is just across the street from the beach. They were kinda reasonably priced. I would say however dinner was much overpriced. We preferred the Cheesecake Factory.
Day one was in the sun. I even took a surfing lesson and did pretty well. What you dont realise in surfing, if youve never dont it, is the muscles that it takes to do it. Now im not talking about the actual surfing part. Its the paddling out to the waves that was killin my back. Then you have to paddle hard to get going for the waves. My ribs are brused from laying down and paddling and my knees, I dont know if they are burnt or just rubbed raw but they are red!
I loved surfing. It just felt great to be up and riding the waves.. Deffinatly do that again.
I did fry my skin that day and spent my last day in Hawaii in the shade. No sweat i got to read.
We really lucked out and got first coming home. I had a G&T before take off and slept the whole way home. I missed out on the meal but i slept.. that was more important.
I need to do another escape to hawaii again. I like it.

Entretien=Interview

I flew to Atlanta for my interview on Wednesday. Ashton was SOO nice to let me stay with him. He picked me up at the airport and wisked me to Chez Lui. I unpacked and we chatted about what to expect at the interview. We had dinner that night with some friends and it really was a lot of fun. We got in around 11 and waited for the bf to arrive home. We watched the news and I was in bed by 1230. Had a wonderful nights sleep in the Lewis Suite and Ashton made me a great brain breakfast.
The interview was at 9am and i was dropped off at 845. I met all the people there at the interview. In all about 10 of us.
They had 8 interviewers and took the first 4. Then they kind of trickeled down the rest of us and Low and Behold I was the last man standing, or sitting as it were. My language test was to be at 1pm and by 110 I was still waiting for my interview and had no idea my language test had almost come and gone. So someone came and rushed me to a room for the language test. The lady on the phone was very nice and fairly easy to comprehend. Its no easy thing to take a foreign language test via the telephone but I felt i did amazingly well. Id have given me an Intermediate to Fluent. We shall see..
They took me back to the interview wait area and I waited even more. People started coming in for the next round of interviews so they took me to a second wait area. Finally it was my turn and I met with two lovely ladies. I felt I answered the interview questions properly and fully and I also had a good feeling about my lil presentation. My only fear is that I may have not answered my last question how I wanted to. By the time i was done it was about 3pm I hadnt had anything since breakfast at 745. I was feeling a bit depleated. I do though feel I did well and hope to hear from them very soon as the class is the 30th or the 7th. Positive vibes is where im at. feed me the positive and positive will come back.
More to come.
The voyager

Inflight interview here I come!!

Ive called almost all of you but in case i missed ya, I got the phone interview today from Delta InFlight. I fly to Atlanta for an interview in person on thursday. Ill also be taking my french speaking interview. Doing yet again another drug test and another 10 year background check. Those are my favorite to fill out. You have to account for your life for the past ten years. Sometimes thats a bit depressing seeing what I have and havent done. Sigh...
Anywho I should be told that day on what day ill be starting in Atlanta. Ill be there for 5 weeks of training. Then I go to my base which will be one of 3 cities. Atlanta, Cincinatti and New York City. Watch out liz, we could be neighbors soon enough!
Im so happy that this has come through and thank you all for your prayers of support.
Ill let you know more as it unfolds.
Hugs to all
The traveler..
Ps. Im going to be using this a whole lot more. Now that ill have much more to share!! YAY

blah...

I didnt get my inflight job. :(
they apparantly DID get a lot of french speaking applicants. Lets just hope they are all as good as me!!
who knows now what the future holds. Ill keep you up to date.
me

Lazy Sundays = FunDays..

So I slept in this morning.. I love sundays for that.
Bubba made some yummy eggzeronious. It was 64 degrees today! I call that a lil bit of heaven.
I was outside today and was reminded of a time when sara took me up the canyon one springish day and we went tanning.
I remember it was a sunday. We drove up one of the canyons and laid out on the hood of the car. It was freezing but the sun was so warm you didnt notice. I bet if I laid out today i coulda got some sun.
Speaking of memories. Ali took us down memory lane tonight when she found a VHS tape from 1986/87. Andrew and katie were just lil chubby things. I still tried to steal the show in every scene. I think i'd just learned how to cartwheel cause I was doin it like it was goin out of style.
Cute lil Eliza played with me a lot today. She is so stinkin cute.
Its 11pm and I still need to write katie and Liz.
YAY for our family and how close we are.
xo y'all

Is no news good news?

Sara asked that question to me today. Is No News Good News?
I honestly dont know what to say. Id love to be able to say that Ive got news and its good! But im still waiting on that phone call. I just dont know when its going to ring on my smell phone.
Otherwise Im just working hard as always.
My current schedule consists of the two jobs.
Delta I work wed thurs frid sat from 4pm to 8pm.. I call it the princess shift cause its so easy.
But the Tmobile Im also off on sunday so thats a full day off.. but then im either off on mon or tues..
the rest of the days i work 8am to 8pm. Yes thats a very long day!
Im looking forward to my sunday off this week. I wanna sleep till 1pm.
Dont worry family. You will all be on my list of people to call when I get the interview and the job.
For now its 1115pm and ive got some sleeping to do.
Love you all a grundle
Me

Chinese New Year!

Who you calling a Pig?
Yes its the chinese year of the Pig this year. No that doesnt entitle us all to pack on the pounds! I dont know what it means really I should have asked someone.
I flew into San Francisco yesterday to meet the Mims and the Montrealians. After waiting a full hour for the hotel shuttle to come and get me. They drug their cute selves to the airport and off we went into the city. We were a bit worried about parking in downtown SF but low and behold on sunday you can park on the warf for $6 bucks!! How cool is that?
We wanted to go and see Alcatraz but 1. there were protesters at the place that we wanted to get the boat, and 2. everyone was sold out on tours until tuesday. It was Presidents Day weekend afterall. Whatever..
So we just walked down the warfs to Fishermans and had a Super Yummy bowl of clam chowder.. Why is it so good when its fresh? Duh.. No seriously it was the best ever (sorry gramma).
We hit Ghiradelli square where I stoped for a ring and to put my feet in the sand.
Then we marched WAY up the hill to Grace cathedral and then down into ChinaTown. The festivities had all but stopped but you could see the fireworks leftovers. I bought some cute undies and a new manbag at the H&M and then back to ChinaTown for yummy sushi, not cheap, just yummo.
Jumping back in the car we went up to Castro to take the boys to the Crepevine. Just off market and church, its my favorite creperie in SF. They just dont have it right when making my dessert crepe. I gotta admit mine is out of this world. But Mims and I shared a yummy dinner crepe. We stopped off for a night cap and then back to the hotel.
Mims and I got up at 330 to drive to SMF to catch my flight back to SLC. I showed up to the airport 25 mins prior to departure but I ran through security and up to the gate and was able to get on the plane.
Now im just tired.
At least i have the day off and can enjoy it.
Cheers