I have never flown before mainly because I'm not made of money and with 7 other siblings it was never quite feasible to do so and everywhere we went was drivable. The week leading up to my grand adventure I honestly couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that I was going to be flying in a few days. I convinced myself that something would come up and keep me from going. Even the morning of when they delayed our plane an hour and then when we were sitting on the tarmat for 45min, I was still convinced the big silver bird would never take off. So when the plane lined up on the runway and the jets started to fire up, internally I was screaming and crying, "NO GET ME OFF THIS THING, THIS IS UNNATURAL!" Then we sped off and we were airborne. I also concluded that it's exactly like what everyone told me it was= a roller coaster ride. My stomach flew to my throat. At the same time though, it was completely exhilarating! As we ascended over the Rocky Mountains the song "Defying Gravity" from the musical Wicked entered my mind and I belted that baby out (well in my head of course, I didn't need people staring at me, that would have made me sick!) Granted it's more like working with gravity than defying it. I felt as if I were so my friend humored me and told me I was right!
Most people on the plane read, slept, or watched movies but I was completely enthralled by the majestic mountains and the flatness of the plains. I stared out the window for pretty much all 3 hours! It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. When it got dark, I became mesmerized by the bright lights of the cities below. My friend, I'm pretty sure got annoyed every time I said, "Look! That is so cool. No seriously Heidi look!" For most people planes are pretty boring for me it was the most entertaining thing I had done in... well... since I started college... actually maybe my whole life!
THEN.... we began our descent into Atlanta (our layover) and this is when I was awakened to the "real" fun of flying. We hit turbulence, and pretty bad turbulence according to the people I was sitting by. Then, I got the wonderful pressure headache. Then the landing in a rainstorm. These singularly and collectively made the ending of my first flight... interesting! Once getting off the plane I immediately understood what humidity feels like. In my mind whenever my southern or eastern friends talked about humidity I didn't think much of this. Well, I'm here to say that if flying wasn't going to kill me, the humidity about did. I hate it, I don't know if I could actually live a whole summer in it. I felt wet, sticky, and like I was breathing water! Another wake up call, black people. The thought, "I'm definitely not in Utah anymore" ran through my mind the entire time. I think there was an all of about two black people in my entire high school. After a half hour of waiting, we finally boarded our next plane at about 11:30pm and I was thankful for that. The 38 min flight to Charlotte was short and very uncomfortable. I sat in the middle on a really small plane with a pounding headache. Needless to say, that was the longest 38 min of my life. We drove to my friends house and immediately crashed! When I woke up and saw North Carolina for the first time my jaw dropped in pure amazement of its beauty. North Carolina is gorgeous even with all the dead trees. I used my imagination to think of what it looked like covered in green. I loved the scenery. I was expecting the weather to be more humid but in reality it felt like Utah so that wasn't too different.
We went to the wedding, I looked pretty dang amazing in my bridesmaids dress, had fun at the reception and then got food poisoning (or maybe it was just the southern food that my body just isn't accustomed too, me and my brother Daniel shared our southern food experiences... southerners eat weird stuff at weird occasions I decided). I was scheduled to fly out Sunday and Sunday morning at 3am I got sick, then again at 6:30am and I was planning on leaving at 10am for my flight at 1pm. The worst thing I think you can go through is getting sick in an unfamiliar home on the other side of the country.
After a priesthood blessing I decided I would fly that day and so I did. The flight to my first layover in Detroit was alright but by the end I was getting sick. No pressure headache but I definitely didn't feel good which proved right as I got sick in the airport about 30min after landing. The 2 hour wait for my next flight was long and terrible. I finally boarded and thought I will just sleep the whole way... eh.... wrong. The four hour flight to Salt Lake City was the longest four hours of my life and one of the worst flying experiences I hope to ever have. There were about 30+ kids on the flight and most of them cried the whole way and I sat next to an old couple the lady was a little bigger and entered my confined little bubble most the flight and the man snored quite loudly most the way. As we entered SLC, we hit more turbulence and about 15 of those small children threw up. I had prided myself on not getting sick but the gagging and the smell were making it that much longer and harder of a fight to not get sick. (Sorry if that was graphic for anyone) When we touched down all I wanted to do was run off the plane, kiss the ground, and then run to mommy to take care of me (which she was all ready to do as I got in their car to take me home!)
Needless to say, I have joined the flying club and experienced some interesting flying moments but my moral to this story (as I have in most stories I tell) is that I am so thankful for the Priesthood. Amongst all of my sickness, the blessing I got really allowed me to make it home safely and without getting sick on an airplane. I'm also thankful for my Heavenly Father answering my billion prayers on the plane. HALLELUJAH I'M HOME!!!
P.S. Sorry this is such a long post, I like to tell stories! And now since I know most of you won't read what I just wrote here are some pictures for you to look at!
Me slightly nervous/slightly excited for my first plane trip!
Just flying over the Rocky Mountains I look at everyday!
Snow covered mountains!
One beautiful sunset. They look so much cooler in planes!
Guess I need to show Heidi how to focus a camera but hey it's alright you can still tell that's me in Charlotte, NC!
Heidi and I decorating for the reception. Anything for Abbey!
Heidi and I after we finished decorating for the reception. 6 HOURS of it!! It looked amazing though!
The reason I bore it all and made this trip! I love you Abbey Miles! CONGRATULATIONS!!!
3 comments:
Weird, Abbey and Heidi are/were in the ward with Nathan and I. It never ceases to amaze me how small BYU's campus can be. Congrats on joining the club. You should get your official club membership card in the mail in 6-8 weeks. :)
Are you guys still in the same ward? It's always so strange when that happens, it really is a small world.
I love the story... cept I think you should have belted out the singing and screaming out loud! Would have been that much more interesting. :)
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