Here We Go, Again................

So................I have applied with SWA, once again!!!!!! I think that I should be hearing something in about a week, or so! SO stinking EXCITED!!!!!! I applied on April 9th. The last time that I applied, it took right at 3 months before I heard anything. Whatever happens, God has a reason. But I REALLY hope that I hear something, AND that I get hired!!!!!!!!

I am so ready for pool weather! If it's hot here, it's beyond windy. If it's not windy, then it's cold. Ugh! So done with this!!! This girl needs sunshine on her skin, and SOON! The pools should be open in a few weeks. In the meantime..... I have an inflatable pool, in the backyard. It's great. It's big enough for one float. Now, if the weather would cooperate......... I have running on my brain. I haven't really ran in close to 2 years. It really makes me sad, when I think back to 2 years ago. I was doing 7k's. I was on the road to a half. I did run a mile a few weeks back, at the gym. It did not feel good. I think that this time, training is going to be different. It's going to be FUN! I'm thinking less time on the treadmill (running, in general) and more Zumba and other cardio activities. I have mapped out a pretty good 4 mile route around my neighborhood that is very beautiful. There are 2 local half marathon's that I am interested in. One is in late March and it's more of a trail run and it's hilly. The other is in early May and it is literally all around town! I did it as part of a relay team, 2 years ago. Very fulfilling. I guess I'm just going to have to wait and see what God has in store for me :)

Unanswered Prayers.....

I have always loved the Garth Brooks song "Unanswered Prayers". The older I have gotten, the more I see that God may not be telling me "No", he could be telling me "Not now". I spent a good part of Thursday on the phone with and emailing SWA. It had been over 4 weeks, since my interview. I could not get any answers!!! One of the girls that I met at my interview was in her first week of training. She was tellingly about her experience, along with other people in training's experience's with SWA's unorganization. Around 9:00 P.M., I received a response to my earlier email. It was just apologizing for the delay and telling me that correspondence would go out, that night. Literally 2 minutes later, I got the dreaded, standard email. I had to reread it, several times, before it actually set in. I did cry. I think that it was a little bit a cry of relief. I have amazing friends that are always so supportive of me. The encourage me, the guide me, they love me. I texted several (and talked to one) and they're sweet words were such soothing comforts. A few are FA's with SWA and the shared in my shock. They all made me promise that I would not give up. Honestly, I know it's not time. I'm not ready to go 5 weeks without pay. I can reapply, in 6 months. My car will be paid off, in 6 months. God has a plan. He didn't tell me "No!", he told me "Not now"........

Happy Easter!!!

Today was such a beautiful day! It was extremely busy, but beautiful! I am blessed with a wonderful church family that fills my soul. We got much needed rain💦💦💦💦 That's a big deal when you live in an area that doesn't get much. It was a beautiful Resurrection Day!!!

Praying and Waiting

So, I found out yesterday that 3 of the ladies that I met at my interview with SWA, have been given training dates. I have constantly been checking my phone and email, and praying. I have been told that if you are invited to training, they will call you. If not, they will email you. I know that this is in God'd hands.....but the waiting is very hard. I could definitely use extra prayer!!!

Waiting......

It's been almost 2 weeks, since my interview with SWA. I am very patiently and prayerfully, waiting. I am very curious what God has in store for me! In the meantime, I am keeping myself busy working on Best of Texas and 24 Hours in the Canyon. Both are very quickly approaching!!!

Dreams........

Sometime around the age of 19, I decided that I wanted to be a Flight Attendant. Not just for any airline, for Southwest Airlines. I use to drive out to the airport every 6 months and fill out this massive, trifold application, and wait.....without receiving any response. I would always think,"If only I could get an interview!!". As the computer age evolved, they started doing everything online. They only took resumes', when they were hiring. About 3 years ago, I was on a flight from Reno to Boise and began talking with the flight attendants. I swear some of them probably think that I am a stalker! Anyway, they were telling me to check the employment part of the website, every morning, early! Apparently, there had recently been a Flight Attendant posting a few weeks earlier, at 5 AM. The server shut down, due to the volume of applicants. So, even though I am not a morning person....I began setting my alarm for 5 AM, checking the job postings and then going back to bed 🙊 About a year and a half ago, a childhood friend who is a FA for SWA informed me that they were going to be hiring FA's I'm January!!!! Woo whoo!!! I had just spent the past 6 months working my rear off at the gym and I'm the kitchen. I was not where I wanted to be, but I was in the best shape of my adult life. My precious friend, Brittany, helped me with my resume'and in the mean time, I found out that another major carrier was going to be hiring, the next week. I struggled back and forth. Do I put ally eggs in one basket or do I apply with more than on company? My love for Southwest lies in their employees. The have fun. Therefore, your flight is fun. I have flown other airlines and there FA's are great at their jobs. But they either don't have a personality or they are not allowed to show it. I tried to upload my resume' to the other carrier's site, and there was a glitch and it wouldn't go through. I decided that was my sign. January came and went and there were no openings. My friend found out that they were hiring, internally 😖. She would send me info from smaller airlines, but I was not interested. Then, she found out that they would be hiring in the Fall!!!! I was SO excited!!! Well, the Fall came and no postings were up. Then, at the beginning of December, I got a picture from her. It was a screenshot of an email that she had received. It said that on December 19, 2013, the Flight Attendant positions would be opened up to the public!!!!! Excited was an understatement!!! December 19th came, and I was ready!!! I got to the office early, to have everything ready to go. Around 7:50 AM (the posting was suppose to go up at 8 AM), the server went down! I was devastated! I kept the screen minimized, so that I could go about my day. I kept refreshing it and there would be a message that all job postings would resume the following day. My mom had an appointment in my office, right before lunch. I had told her that the server had been down, all morning. She told me how sorry she was. About 30 minutes later, I refreshed my computer and the message now read, "Flight Attendant applicants, please click here to upload you resume'." My heart stopped! I immediately clicked and uploaded my resume'. About 2 minutes later, I received and email telling me that my resume' had been received and accepted!!! I just sat there with tears streaming down my face. They were hiring AND they received my resume'!!! The email also explained that due to the high volume of applicants (later I found out there were over 10,000!!), that it could be several months, before I heard back from them. OK, I can be patient. Over the next few days, I was on cloud 9! Then on the afternoon of the 21st, my mom called me. My dad was having se routine testing and it was discovered that he had Esophageal Cancer. My world stopped. I immediately called my best friend, balling. Then, my Oncology background kicked in. He needed his "Tribe". I called my aunt (his sister in law. I knew he'd want his brother there). I am not a negative person, but the reality of this all is, I had deep down, been expecting this. His older brother had died of this in 1999. He didn't go to the doctor, until he was in pain. By then, it was too late. He passed away, 6 weeks later. We were told that it could be hereditary. My dad immediately started seeing Dr. Thannoun. He was diagnosed with Barrett's Esophagus. That's pre Cancer. He has followed up every year. That's how this was caught and it was caught EARLY. With my mom, her best friend, my aunt, uncle and sweet cousin with us, Dr. Thannoun began explaining what needed to be done. Dad needed to go to Dallas, to Baylor Medical Center, to have surgery, to remove the Cancer. Elaine, mom's best friend, asked if this surgery needed to be done, immediately. Dr. Thannoun's response was,"It should have been done, yesterday. However, due to it being so close to the Holliday's, it would take a miracle to get him in before the end of the year." I just sat there, stunned. A miracle? He does not know my family, my friends or MY GOD! Over the next few days, my family and I tried to process this all and stay focused on Christ's birth. On Christmas Eve morning, my dad received a call from Baylor. His surgery was scheduled for 11 AM on December 31st. First miracle down!!!! So, after work on December 30th, I left for Dallas. I cried from Amarillo to Childress (about 2 hours), while listening to praise and worship music. One sweet friend called me to pray with me. Peace finally took over me, until I got to Decautor. I was a mess. Literally sick. Nerves and a sugary Coke, don't mix. I finally made it to the hotel around Midnight. We got up the next morning and headed to Baylor. That place is WONDERFUL! On of my parents friends from high school (that we hand' seen in years and lives about 2 hours from Baylor), came to sit with mom and I, while dad was in surgery. That was so good for my mom. It was good for her to catch up with Donna and to have her mind detoured, for a bit. The surgery was successful and they were able to get ALL of the Cancer!!! God is AMAZING! My parents were able to fly to Idaho the following weekend, to see their grandchildren (thanks to another angel!). I had pushed the FA thing to the back of my mind and dove right into Best of Texas. On St. Patrick's night, out of sheer boredom while waiting on friends, I checked my email. There was an email from SWA. I was flying to Idaho that weekend, so I figured it was about my flight. Then I saw "Congratulations!". Again, my heart stopped! It was an email congratulating me on making past the preliminary round and to be expecting a phone interview, over the next few weeks!! Tears were once again streaming down my cheeks. A few days later, another friend that is a SWA FA called me, because she had found out a little about the interviewing process. She gave me invaluable info!!! I had to just saturate myself in all things SWA. I left for Idaho a few days, later. On my flight from Amarillo to Denver, I met a precious FA and we had a good convo. My second day in Idaho, my phone rang. I looked at it and it was 214 area code. My heart stopped. That's the Dallas area and SWA headquarter's. I answered and I hear this bright, cheerful voice,"Hi, Jenna! This is Barbara with SWA. Do you have a few minutes to talk?". I had to quickly find a quiet place, in my sister's house!!!! Finally found one and I had to sit down!!! We chatted for a few minutes about why I wanted to work for SWA as a FA. I told her everything. She then says,"I'd like to invite you to Dallas for a second interview, next week. Can you make it?". I could not believe it! Not only had I finally gotten one interview, I was getting a second one!!!!! My week in Idaho seemed so long, which was wonderful! I was able to have so much relaxed time with my sister, her family and our friends. I came home and eagerly prepared for my interview. The big day came and getting up at 5 AM for an 8 AM flight, was not fun (I could not fall asleep, the night before...), but I figured that I had better get use to it!!! I got up and got ready. I was told to "dress to impress", so I did. The flight there was good. I found my shuttle and the driver was precious! He kept telling me that he could tell by my peacefulness, that I had this made. I thanked him and told him that I hoped and prayed that I did! We arrived at the Headquarter's. I was told to go to the People Place (❤️ that that is what they call their HR Dept!). I very easily found it and checked in. More paperwork and finger printing, to be done. While I was waiting, a lady came in with hair similar to mine. We immediately started talking. Her name was Ruby and she's from Ft. Hood. Her husband is currently deployed. We had a lot in common. We both had interviews at 10:15, and they were running late..... I was finally called back, for my interview. I think that having to wait so long, killed my fire. I had 4 people interviewing me, but I fell that I only "wowed" 3 of them. I came out of that interview, broken. I took my eyes off of God, to help me, and put everything on myself. It took a few hours for me to realize that. I still had to do a Physical Performance Standards Test. Thankfully, Ruby was I'm my testing group. We also met a funny, funny girl from Nashville, Stacey, and Mia. Mia is already a FA with Jet Blue. She use to work for Trans Air, which is now owned by SWA. We were taken to the SWA training center. Looking back, it was so surreal!!! I wish that I had taken it all in, a little more. I was so afraid to enjoy it, that I didn't take any pictures 😤. We were split into 2 groups. My girls were in my group and somehow, I was #1. They had the body of a plane, in the training center. I had to walk on the plane and to the back. Make sure that I could fit into two different jump seats and then go to a lower area there were three rows of seats with just a side panel of the plane. It was as if they had taken the wing "door" out of the panel. I had to climb out of that area, in my wrap dress and heels!!! I rocked that!!!! It was so much fun! We were then taken back to HQ. My flight was leaving in a few hours, and the airport shuttle would not arrive for another 30 minutes, so we waited. Stacey still had her interview. We visited for a while, until it was time for the shuttle. Once on the shuttle, I began talking to a lady that had been a FA from 1996-2004. She had taken a early retirement, while on leave with her first daughter. Now, she's ready to come back. We had a good talk and then ate together, once we checked in. It was very refreshing, for me. Then it was time to find my gate. Mia was there! Her flight was about to leave, but we got a quick chat in. She boarded and left and I looked up and there was the Sea World plane with Pete and Penny Penguin on it. To say that I love penguins, is an understatement. Once again, there were tears. Either that was just God's way on cheering me up, or it was a sign. When I boarded my plane, one of the FA's started complimenting me on my hair and how nicely I was dressed. I explained to her that I had just interviewed with SWA and was just not happy with how it went. We visited for a bit. When the plane landed, I was messing with my phone. The guy I front of me stood up and goes,"If you'd like, I could write you a letter of reference.". I looked up and it was a guy that I had gone to Junior High and High School with. He's been with SWA for many years. Again, there was a peacefulness.... I was told that I would hear from SWA in 2-4 weeks, so I am pray fully waiting!!! Overall, my experience was wonderful! I just wish that I would have "stopped to smell the roses"!