Flying Solo

Yo. This update will be pretty random. Although, I guess they all are. I worked the last two nights, have off tonight and work the next three nights after this so I figured I’d throw in a post. I have five days off after that though! I am hoping to make a trek to the ocean or Asheville in those couple days!

So, I worked one night last week and was hardcore into my slumber when I woke up to a SUPER low flying (and loud) military jet over the neighborhood! For those that are aware of my plane obsession you know how happy I was when I saw this. Also, a little sad because I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep until this jet stopped flying. I can’t contain myself and have to constantly watch out the window to wait to catch another glimpse. Anyway, Piedmont Triad International Airport is about 10 minutes from where I am staying. I guess it is not rare to see military jets circling and flying low in this area because they use that airport as a take off/land training base. I was wondering why several people who were walking their dogs did not even look up when the jet flew over. I was like HOW ARE YOU NOT LOVING THIS!?

Last Thursday it was gorgeous out, 70s and sunny. So A and I went hiking at Pilot Mountain which is about 35 minutes northwest of Greensboro. My mom and I had passed this on the way down here and were intrigued so I decided to check it out! It was gorgeous. The top of the mountain has these two huge stone “knobs” (that’s what they called them) at the top that stick out in the skyline. It was really cool because these knobs made the circumference of the top of the mountain a little smaller. There were trails going around each of these which made for awesome views the entire hike. I am looking forward to going back and doing the entire hike up the mountain. We got there a little later so just did some hiking up top before the sun went down too much!

After hiking we came back and watched the Olympics. It’s really kind of weird watching the Olympics with someone who knows, competes with and is friends with the athletes we were watching. Dick’s Sporting Goods is one of the US Men’s bobsled team sponsors. A does “appearances” and speaking engagements and stuff for them on his off time. So last week he had to go to the headquarters in Pittsburgh for an engagment. He sent me a few photos and videos. His picture is on elevator doors and huge banners throughout the headquarters. Apparently they pick a few athletes to showcase and he is one of them. I told him that must be so odd walking into that campus and seeing yourself plastered everywhere. Kind of cool though.

Just before writing this post I rebooked a trip to Vietnam. I was supposed to go in January and that didn’t happen so I figured it would be a waste of life and money to let a ticket go since I had already paid for it. So, I forced myself to book another flight and I am headed there in April after I am done with this assignment in NC. I am going by myself so that should be interesting. I talked to a few people who have been there and they’ve all said they felt super safe there so meh, we’ll find out! I am mainly excited to eat all their food! I can’t wait to try everything! I figure I’ll book a few tours so I am with people along the way but I’ll be primarily around Saigon so there will be plenty of tourists. Not sure if I’ll go the hostel route or not. I am so picky about sleeping so I may just get my own room. Plus, if I end up catching a travel bug I’m not exactly looking to share a space with people. It’s so cheap to travel there anyway that spending a few bucks on a room will be nothing. According to a lot of blogs I’ve read I should be able to do the whole trip for under $200. SO CRAZY!

A few final sappy thoughts before I sign out for this week:

I received a card from a good friend this week that came at a really good time. Plus the card is awesome. I’ll post a picture because I just feel it is very representative of how I have been feeling the past several months and what I am trying to achieve from all this. Anyway, the point is that that card reminded me how insanely lucky I am for all the people in my life. Family and friends. I feel like I always have such a great support system and many times a week and even many times a day I think about how grateful I am for everyone. So, thank you to those who see this! I know people go through a lot of things and mine is insanely minor and this may seem silly but I am still struggling every day and having such good friends and family is just the best. I don’t know what people do without that!

Next sappy thought is how crazy is it that we can do whatever we want with our lives? I’ve been struggling with the idea lately that I am at my own mercy. I keep thinking “well I need to do this next” or “I should go here next because…” or “I need to be settled in a year somewhere.” But also I don’t have to do any of that. Despite the fact that I was supposed to be moving to NYC I had been on the way to a “settling” down track prior to all this happening and that’s just because that’s where I was in life at the time. So it has been hard to get out of that mindframe and realize that I can do whatever I want as long as I drive myself in that direction. It’s pretty cool. I just need to learn how to appreciate it a little more. Which is what this year is all about so I will get there. But I guess what I realized is that even if you are “settled” down you can still do whatever you want and that’s so awesome. I always get really irritated when people complain about things but never do anything to change them. You can literally do anything. I’m so fascinated by that! That being said. I also feel beyond lucky that I have the means to be able to do this. By that I do not mean money. I mean living in a place where I am not afraid to step outside and I am not fleeing from war and scared of getting bombed every day. I will continue to be grateful for that for as long as it lasts. This is also why I am trying to do the most I can with it! There are people who would kill to be able to do any of this!

Finally, I went for a run yesterday and there are actual flowers blooming from the ground. I think I have mentioned this in all my posts but seriously…I will continue to freak out about this for the rest of my days here. It is February 19th and there are tulips and random flowers BLOOMING. I can’t believe how much things like that help the psyche. If I were home right now we wouldn’t be anywhere near flowers. Not even buds. Probably not even grass! So, I’m thrilled about that. It’s supposed to be mid 70s the next several days too so I’m sure that will help things right along 🙂

Ok, time to watch more Olympics!!! Rave on, folks.