New York, Here We Come!

It's really happening y'all. Flights are booked, bags are packed, and we are ready to go!

And I want to say thank you so much to everyone who helped make this happen. We've had so much support as we threw this trip together. The GoFundMe campaign blew me away! And we are still receiving financial donations from some of you, which is amazing. We could not have made this happen without your help, truly.

I will, of course, be taking a ton of pictures on this trip, and I will share them with you wonderful people when we get back! Our itinerary isn't set in stone (nothing ever is where James is concerned!) so if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them. We are for sure attending a pre-climb meet up at the Blind Pig on Sunday (where they will be fundraising for the charities involved in the climb) and going to the 9/11 Museum on Monday before the climb. I also have some 30 Before Thirty items to check off the list (breakfast at Tiffanys!) and I would love to go to a UCB show.

So bring on the suggestions! What do we have to do in our short visit to NYC? I've had lots of different feedback on the major landmarks like the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, and Rockefeller Center, but what do you think? I'd love to know!

Previously on Mrs Robbins Sparkles...

When I Grow Up: Becoming a Flight Attendant

What does the word flight attendant make you think of? I must confess, I tend to think of that silly movie, View From the Top! Pretty sure that is not what life is like for a flight attendant these day, but why don't we find out now? Stephanie Rhynes is a flight attendant, and I'm so glad she agreed to be featured today!

As a child, I wanted to be a ____ when I grew up. I wanted to be a singer when I grew up... Really thought seriously of becoming a flight attendant in high school

How close (or far) is your current career from that dream? You could say I'm living the dream! Haha sort of, I do say, "Welcome aboard" in my best sing-song voice

What is your official job title?

Official job title: Flight Attendant

Unofficial job title: Babysitter, trash collector, nurse, fireman, therapist, lavatory and exit director and evacuator... We wear a lot of hats.

What is a typical day like? Haha a typical day. If it's not atypical, then something automatically seems askew. Generally, I fly between 2-4 legs a day in a 3 day trip and about 5-6 trips a month. The flexibility of this career is the reason many people stay and fly up through their 70's (no, really, some flight attendants have 40+ years under their belts - aka "senior mamas". I fly mostly domestic (because only senior mamas get the highly coveted international trips). However, the best perk is the ability to hop on a plane to see friends and family across the country or going someplace fun overseas when time off and vacation allows. My last venture was Germany, but I have a long list of places to see. It's tough to balance work and downtime. Sometimes the last place I want to be after a stretch of 6 days on duty is the airport. Only those of us in the biz understand this dilemma...

How did you end up in this career? After college, I worked in customer service (ticketing, check-in, boarding, etc.) and on the ramp (loading bags/cargo) at a smaller airline. When I tell people I worked on the ramp they usually laugh. Rightfully so - here comes prancing along a cheery, scrawny blonde chick ready to load your mother's meat locker. To this day I wonder, what on earth do people pack?!?!? Loved the people I worked with in OKC and it taught me so much more than I expected. After a year of "ground work" I got hired as a flight attendant. Hello, culture shock. Moved to Denver and started my dream journey. Sadly, that airline had a lot of politics and terrible work rules. Straight reserve (on call 24 hrs with only a set amount of days off) and feast or famine flying = a total stressed out frenzy. Then finally, the big dogs called (the majors; i.e. legacy carriers). Funny enough, it happened at a time when I was most content, hiking with friends and loving Colorado. No joke, got the voicemail after a fun hike with friends. Climb every mountain...

In retrospect, that removed the creeping giant of interview nerves. On the one hand I was happy where I was, but on the other, this is where I always wanted to be from the get-go. I went in with that attitude of fearless, positive optimism and bam! Welcome to the big leagues!!!

What advice would you give to someone who wants a similar career? To those who aspire to a life in the skies, I would definitely encourage them to go for it! It's an amazing way to see the world, not only through your own eyes, but through others. Just don't go into the interview saying, "I love to travel and I love people!" You have to have interpersonal savvy when it comes to customer service. It's tough up there, and you gotta have true grit along with poise and unfettered grace when a grown man is chewing you out over "HIS" overhead bin space...

Do you have any other career dreams? What do you want to be when you grow up? As far as growing up goes, that never stops. I always want to learn/do/see more. My advice - Do what YOU want to do. At the end of the day, it's your choice and no one else's. Looking back, I can see how everything fell into place. God knows what He's doing. I'm always on the lookout for new opportunities and will follow through as He leads me, but it's important to enjoy the season you're in now, even when it seems like you're in a valley. Keep climbing that mountain!

Thank you so much for telling us about your career as a flight attendant, Stephanie! Keep climbing that mountain :)

Previously on Mrs Robbins Sparkles...
 

Audible Alternatives

Last month I talked about how Audible is awesome. And I really think it is! But I also understand that not everyone is willing to part with $14.99 a month for a subscription. That's why I've checked out a few alternatives that you may be interested in.

1. Old School Audiobooks - Our library still offers books on CD, and I think most of them do. It's not the most convenient option, because you can't listen on your phone. But if you have a CD player in your car, it might work for you! Titles are going to be pretty limited, so you may be more interested in option number 2...
2. OverDrive -This might be my favorite option. Like checking out those old school audiobooks, it is FREE! Most libraries nowadays are part of virtual library networks. Ours is part of the OK Virtual Library network, which is powered by OverDrive! Long story short, I can borrow audiobooks through the library and listen to them with the OverDrive app on my iPhone. I've been wanting to listen to the Harry Potter series but they aren't available on Audible, so I was going to have to buy the physical CDs through Amazon. Except they are all available on OverDrive! There is a wait, but I just put my name down and I'm alerted when it is available. Then I download the book within the OverDrive app on my phone and I'm all set.
3. Amazon Whisper Sync - I just heard about this recently. Modern Mrs Darcy has a very detailed post on it, so if you want all the details, head there. But basically you can buy Audible editions of books you already own for your Kindle for a lower price, and Amazon keeps track of where you are at in both. So you can read a book on your Kindle, then switch to Audible, and then back again effortlessly. And in some cases you can save a lot! For example, I bought Come Clean for $2 for my Kindle, and I added the Audible edition for only $1.99. So for $4 I own the e-book and the audiobook! The list price of the Audiobook itself is $20.99, so obviously this is a pretty awesome deal.

Do you have any other Audible alternatives you use? I really can't say enough about the OverDrive app. Getting to listen to Harry Potter for free has made my week! 

Previously on Mrs Robbins Sparkles...