Thanksgiving

Last Thursday was thanksgiving in America which is always a great time to reflect on what I'm grateful for this year. So here is my list of 24 things I am thankful for this year.

1) Parents who are not only great parents but also great friends.




2) To live close enough to home that I can see my family often.
3) Fantastic siblings.







Check out that old photo .. Better not forget Lukie babes who appeared 10 years later.

This year I'm super grateful for all my friends, but there are a few that have been absolutely amazing and really supportive this year who I am particularly thankful for.

4) Living with Lisa. I love how we've become close. She's been amazingly through a lot of excitement, tears, stress, and awful snapchats.



5) My 'foreign' friends Megan, Ronja, and Noelia. For not letting hundreds or even thousands of miles affect our friendship.






6) Skype and FaceTime for making the above possible.

7) Ali and our monthly 'dates'.



8) The Ryanair girlies who never fail to make me laugh.



9) To get to know more about my Grandad through his army records and stories from my Aunt. He passed away before I was born so this was amazing.

10) That I've managed to get through the year with only 1 sickness and 1 ear infection. (Touch wood I last the final 4 weeks).

11) My time at Ryanair and all the experiences I had there both good and bad.



12) Getting a new job I really enjoy and working with some new wonderful dollies and flight crew.



13) OU financial aid and grant
14) To be able to earn enough to support myself.
15) The chance to resit my math exam despite the fact that I failed again.
16) Really cheap rent
17) The ability to get time off work easily for exams and weddings.
18) Beautiful sunsets



19) Holidays!! Skiing, Palma, and Malta.






20) That none of my plane crash dreams have come true.
21) That I've been more relaxed and happy this year.
22) This year I have really started to recognise lots of good things about myself ... It's nice to feel more confident.
23) My new car.
24) The wonderful weather we've had. A few hot weeks in the summer where I got an actual tan, and a mild winter so far.

About this time last year I found this ...


... And I decided that it was going to be my motto for 2013. Since I don't make resolutions really I thought that instead I would just make sure I check each of these things off and fill my life with fabulous things. I'm thankful that this year there have been soooo many fabulous things in my life, it's been a pretty good year.

Endings, beginnings, and cake!!

Am taking a (few) minutes out of my crazy hectic life to update my blog. Since leaving Ryanair life has been jam packed with training and maths assignments. My brain feels like it's going to explode.
My last week at Ryanair was busy, long, and a tad emotional. I was able to fly with some of my favourite people and on some of my favourite routes. Of course finishing off with a hen and stag party. It really wouldn't of been the same if I'd finished on a dull polish flight. I think I actually miss it a little. A few people recently have asked why I stayed at Ryanair so long. I know Ryanair isn't the best company to work for (hence why I've left) but they've been pretty good to me and I got pretty lucky. I got a transfer when I wanted it, a contract when I needed it, I worked with a ton of amazing and fun people, and I had a heap of great (and not so great) experiences, all if which have changed and shaped me into who I am today. And without Ryanair I'm sure I wouldn't be at bmi now.












Speaking of bmi, I'm now half way through training and finding it exhausting. I don't know how people work mon- fri 9-5:30. Tackling rush hour is driving me crazy (no pun intended) and I can't get anything done during the day. I seriously can't wait to get back in the air, get back on home standbys, and get back to my crazy unsocial work hours where I actually have time to do things. My roster is looking really exciting with routes I've not flown before ... I can't wait. The aircraft I'm going to be working on is tiny though, it's going to take a little while to get used to!!!
It's nearly the end of my maths module and I've been really struggling to plod through and motivate myself. Provided I can pass the exam I will pass the course. I haven't done as well as I've hoped but then it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I'm still debating what to enrol for for next year.
Today I got back in the kitchen to make a birthday cake for one of the girls I'm training with. It was fun to do something other than study. I made sure I chose something simple that wouldn't take too much time to make and would hide all the flaws.

Goodbye Ryanair!!!

So after 3 years and 11 months it will be goodbye Ryanair. When I started training in 2009 I never thought that I would still be here so long. I honestly thought that I would be there a year (or maybe two) before leaving for some glamourous airline like BA or Virgin Atlantic living my long haul dream.

Instead, almost 4 years later I am leaving to join bmi regional.

Based out of Bristol I'll be flying a single crew aircraft (meaning I'm the only cabin crew), to six destinations. Currently they fly to Aberdeen, Hamburg, Hannover, Frankfurt, Milan, and Munich. Occasionally I'll have to go up to Birmngham or Manchester and fly out of there for a few days.

I'm pretty excited for a new challenge, a different demographic of passengers, and not having to walk far in the rain to my aircraft. Training begins on May 13th and will be 3 1/2 weeks long.

Despite my excitement I think I'm going to miss Ryanair. There are a lot of people I'm you going to miss, and I'm going to miss the back galley gossip. Part of me still can't believe I have handed in my notice and will actually be leaving. Never to don the smurf looking uniform again.

Provided I don't get called off a home standby, have my roster changed, I have 8 more days of flying.

So 5 things I won't miss about Ryanair.
1) walking forever in the rain to the aircraft
2) hen parties (I'm actually going to miss stag parties a little)
3) families of 8 coming onto a full flight last and blaming me that they can't sit together
4) the uniform
5) polish flights

Well I did say I was ready for a change ...

Plodding along!!

I'm staying in Bristol. Yay!! I didn't get the transfer I requested due to no spaces in the bases I asked for, so I get to stay. It's going to be so weird at work now with half the people gone. A lot have gone to sunny places like Malta, Palma and Tenerife and I'm not going to lie, I have a little bit of jealousy that I'm not living somewhere hot and sunny. Then practical Kiri reminds me why I didn't request a transfer to Tenerife.

Sometimes I hate practical Kiri!!

Skiing was good. I only went for 2 days and what I really wanted was to get some confidence back. The weather was great and there was lots of fresh snow. Since French holidays weren't for another week it was quiet too. I got back out on the blues and was feeling a lot better about skiing by the end of the holiday. Give me another day and I might of let my brothers take me on a red. Something for next year maybe.

In other news I've turned 24 since I last blogged!! I'm not sure how I feel about that. However one thing it made me realise was that I needed to write down my list. The list is something I've had in my head since I turned 20 and is full of things I want to do before I'm 30. There are 30 things ... Some serious, some fun, and since some have been crossed off already I though now is a good time to physically have it written down instead of in my forgetful mind.

I love baking and since moving into this house I hadn't whipped up any cakes or brownies or anything. In the past few weeks that has changed. I've started to replace some of my equipment with nicer things and dusted off the recipe books. It's been all things creme eggs, much to my colleagues joy when I bring them to work. The creme egg cupcakes got met with comments that I should open a cupcake store. :) whilst I'm not thinking of anything like that I am thinking that I may start selling cupcakes and birthday cakes if people are requesting them. ... Just a thought!!!

Open university is a drag. I have zero motivation to study or do my assignment and feel like I'm drowning in everything that need to be done. I'm also a really good procrastinater. But what's new ... I've just summed up what I was like at BYU aswell. Sometimes I miss the days where I was a great student and required perfection from my school work.

So yes ... Life is plodding along as usual!!!

Christmas and Changes

 Christmas was once again, really good this year. Although we didn't do a lot of the Ainslie Christmas traditions, we had a lot of great time as a family. The Saturday before Christmas we went to see Santa, then spent the rest of the weekend with James and Cheryl. It was great to see them, see their new flat, and spend time relaxing with the family. It was just sad that Laura couldn't be there.
Christmas Eve involved veggie prepping, and the Christmas Eve trip to the cinema with the Clarkies. Lucas was so excited on Christmas Eve and was tracking Santa all night. When Santa got to Rome it was time for bed and Lucas was jumping up and down and checking off everything to make sure we had put out the mince pie, carrot, stockings etc. He then flopped on his bed, told me if I wake up first I must wake him up, then told us goodnight. He's so cute!!

Me and Lucas with our stockings

 The next morning I woke up and got confronted by Lucas for not waking him up, we then went to investigate to see if Santa had been .... We found PRESENTS!! It's so much fun having a 6 year old in the house for Christmas, Kids make it so much more magical.
Laura was on a night shift and so got back home around 10,  I'm not sure she liked the fact that we were all watching her open her stocking. Then it was time for the tree :D
I love spending time with my family at this time of year. The only bad thing was that I had to work the 3 days after Christmas while everyone else was slouching at home. I'm so grateful I live so close to home and that I can be there for the random days, weekends, and holidays. If I had transferred to Maastricht I would of been really lucky to make it home for Christmas day, let alone anything else over the Christmas period.

Mum, Dad and Lucas by the tree

2013 seems to be all change so far. We've been given the news that they are reducing aircraft in Bristol from 5 to 2 in the summer. While I suspected this was going to be the case, and then the ground staff told us that was the case, it was still a little bit of a shock to hear it officially. Basically, 48 cabin crew have to either transfer or leave, leaving 40 in Bristol. First the ask for volunteers to transfer, then if not enough get their transfer (if there are no spaces in that base), or not enough apply, then they will force people to transfer. They've just announced 7 new bases that are opening in April: Eindhoven, Netherlands. Krakow, Poland. Zadar, Croatia. Chania, Greece. Marrakesh and Fez, Morocco  And Marseilles  France. If you apply for one of these you're pretty much guaranteed to go there. Despite pretty much knowing what we were going to be told, I still had no idea what to do. To apply for a transfer, or to risk trying to stay??? I think in my head I was ok to transfer in the UK, but then we got told there were no vacancies in the UK unless someone from those bases transfer or leave. Needless to say I've been pretty stressed and work has occupied a lot of my mind space in the last few weeks. After hours of research and lots of excel charts tossing up between possible places to move to either new or existing bases, I made the decision that for practical reasons I needed to try and stay in the UK (However much I might want to live in Tenerife). I've applied for Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds. If I don't get any of those I'll be risking it in Bristol, hoping I don't get forced anywhere I'm really against (Poland and Morocco) and having to deal with it if I do get forced out.

Hopefully by next week I'll know where I'll be moving to at the end of March (I'm crossing my fingers for nowhere). 

In other news, I'm really looking forward to getting away to France for a week at the beginning of February and am so grateful that I don't have to do the drive down. Since the parentals didn't want to take 2 cars, I get to fly down (thanks Mum and Dad). This job has totally ruined my ability to spend a whole day in a car. 

Really must stop procrastinating now and go start my assignment. It's funny all the things you can find to do when you want to put something off. :)

5 Airports, 4 Christmas Markets, 3 Airplanes, 2 Hire Cars, and 1 FANTASTIC Holiday!!!

As I was boarding the plane in STN.

I feel like I've changed the lyrics to 'The 12 days of Christmas' ... Well for the first 5 days anyways!!

I absolutely LOVED my trip to Germany, however there were a few tiny things that certainly made the trip eventful. I'm not bad luck ... Honest!!

I was going out to Germany to see my friend Ronja, who I roomed with for a semester at BYU. Some great German Christmas Markets and snow was also a great Christmas activity so imagine my excitement when it started snowing at Stansted as we were boarding the plane. However, I forgot that the UK are rubbish when it comes to snow and 30 minutes later, with 1cm of snow on the ground, the airport closed ... We were grounded, and they cancelled all flights going out that morning. :(

The line for the ticket desk literally was as long as the airport and after standing there for half hour without moving I tried to reschedule my flight online .... To be told there was nothing available until Friday (I was coming home on Saturday). I hadn't seen Ronja in almost 2 years and I wasn't about to give up my holiday that easily and waste all the money I had already spent, so next stop ... Easyjet!! Luckily they had 1 seat left on the Bristol to Berlin flight and I had 6 hours to race across the country to go and catch it. Easy!! Until I got on the motorway and hit a car park. It took an hour to go 2 junctions to the M25, by which time I was praying that the M25 and M4 were clear. All I needed was to be able to go the speed limit and I knew I'd make my flight. First bit of good all day ... The other 2 motorways were clear and I even had time to spare.

12 hours later, 3 airports, and 2 planes and I was finally in Berlin Schonefeld.

Ronja lives about 2 hours from Berlin, and so the next day we decided to drive in and see the sights. Eventful incident number 2 .... The motor warning light came on!! Having had a car die not long after this same light came on, you can imagine my anxiety as we pulled over and called Hertz to try and find out what we should do. They said it was either nothing or the car was about to blow, but since there was no smoke, and the steering was fine, they told us to carry on to Berlin and stop at the Berlin Tegal Airport to switch out cars. To be fair Hertz were really good, I literally handed back the keys, they gave me a new set of keys and we were on our way again.

Brandenburg Gate

Berlin was amazing!! And really easy to drive in, and we managed to park for FREE!! As we were driving in we saw the angel statue that you see all the time in movies etc. We then went to look at the Brandenburg Gate, and then Checkpoint Charlie. Checkpoint Charlie is where the US checkpoint was to get into West Berlin and is obviously right where the wall was. We also went to a museum where they went through the history of the wall and talked about the amazing escape attempts made my East Germans trying to get into West Germany. We were planning to the DDR museum which was about what life was like in Eastern Germany during that time, and was apparently really good, with lots of hand on stuff and really interactive. However, by the time we were ready to go there we found out that it was going to be closing shortly and instead went to look at some of the churches and the Christmas Market in Berlin before heading home where Ronja cooked me a supper yummy German meal.

Berlin has bears all over the city ... I found 2.

Checkpoint Charlie

Brandenburg Gate at night.

 On Friday we went into Halle to go to the Halloren Schokoladen Museum. Anyone who knows me will know that anything with the word chocolate in it is something that I would enjoy. It was amazing. It talked about the history of the company, and how they made the chocolate. Then you got to see the production room. Around the museum they had models of some of the famous buildings in the area .... All made out of chocolate, and a chocolate room. . . Yes, a chocolate room!! This would so not survive in my house. Everything apart from like the couch, table, and light was made out of real chocolate. The walls and everything. It was basically heaven!!

Me, Ronja, and the Chocolate Room. 

Leipzig Christmas Market.

 After that me and Ronja went into Leipzig to get lunch and stroll round the Christmas Markets. Ronja took me to this fabulous place called Vapianos. They do fresh pasta and you can choose what you have with it and they make it right in front of you. It was delicious and really good value for the portions you get. We then went round all the Christmas Markets and I got some really cute German Christmas Decorations, fudge, and gingerbread. It was FREEZING!! The temperatures were forever below freezing and our noses were proper cold. We popped into the art gallery in Leipzig. This building was humongous, with really tall ceilings. The art was really good and there was plenty to see. My favourite piece pretty much looked like he had sloshed a ton of paint onto a canvas and moved it around with his feet ... You could actually see feet prints on the canvas.
Ronja then took me to the top of one of the tallest buildings in Leipzig where you could have panoramic views of the city. It looked so magical at night with all the city lights. Unfortunately my camera decided to spas out and took blurry shots, but it was breathtaking.

Quedlinburg.

Saturday was my last day in Germany and I was flying out that afternoon. We trotted off to this quaint little town called Quedlinburg, which opened up all the little courtyards between the houses and churches etc and had Christmas market stalls. It was kinda like a advent and you had to find these 24 little alley ways which led to the courtyards. It was so pretty, how they've tried to keep the town to look like it did originally and having these passageways that led to these open spaces... It was a bit magical.

We didn't have very much time before I needed to be back to go to the airport, and it was pretty perfect timing really. I totally hadn't really left enough time thinking that Leipzig airport would be a bit like a shed ... How wrong was I. It was actually pretty big for a regional airport - bigger than Bristol - and they were just starting to board by the time I got to the Gate... And I didn't even go to any last minute shops.

Because I  had driven to Bristol on Wednesday, it meant I had to catch the train home on Saturday from Stansted. We had landed early and my train from Paddington wasn't due to leave for another 2 hours so I managed to change the time so I got back to Bristol in time to get at least a few hours sleep before I had to be up the next morning for work ... Needless to say that it was a very long day!!

Despite all the mishaps at the beginning of the holiday, I had such a fabulous time in Germany and it was so good to see Ronja again and have a proper catch up ... It felt just like old times when we were living together. Well worth the trip!!

Just as I was trying to convince myself that I really wasn't bad luck my first shift back at work on Sunday and we got diverted. Fantastic!! We were trying to get into Warsaw Modlin and got diverted to the proper Warsaw airport due to bad weather, low cloud, and mist. After waiting around for a while we then tried to go back to Modlin to pick up our passengers for our return flight but couldn't get in again. Really wasn't having much luck with flights last week that's for sure. We ended up flying back to Bristol empty which is bad because we don't get flight pay for empty flights, but was really good because it meant I managed to get a Sunday nap in. And waiting for me when I got home from work .... Dinner!! I really do have great housemates.

My Thankful List

It's that time of year again. Thanksgiving is just a week away and I have happily made and eaten pumpkin pie, so now it is time for my thankful list for 2012. There are a few things the same as last year, but I'm still thankful for them so they still count. :) In no particular order, here are 23 things I am thankful for (this is going to be so hard when I'm 92):

1) Chocolate and Vanilla magnum ice-cream (Soooo good!!)
2) Cheap holidays, and the family and friends that made them possible. Big thank-you to the Avril, the parentals, the Williams', and to Ronja.
3) Having a job that I still enjoy.
4) Kevin and Nick, for bringing me lucky charms back from America.
5) My Aunt and Uncle for letting me borrow their car when I moved.
6) Skype
7) My parents, for all the great things they do for me.
8) James: For being such a fantastic help with my OU assignment.
9) Laura: The great talks we had when we went skiing
10) Josh: For being such a great example.
11) Jake: For getting rid of the spiders in the bathroom
12) Lucas: For still giving me massive hugs when I need them.
13) The chance to go to the olympics and Paralympics (thanks Phil)
14) Seeing and spending time with the American side of the family.
15) The Range
16) Supermarkets being open for 24 hours
17) Passing my OU module.
18) Good European chocolate
19) Great friends all over the world.
20) Being offered the transfer to The Netherlands, even though I didn't take it.
21) Financial Aid and Grant
22) Being able to spend Christmas at home (For a little while i thought I would end up missing it this year).
23) Pumpkin in a can (and Harvey Nichols for selling them).