Friday, January 20, 2012

My Trip From Texas | personal

My mom dropped me off at the airport at 7:30 a.m. because she had to be at work at 8.
My flight didn't leave till 9 something, but I didn't mind... I'm a people watcher :).
She walked me into the airport, gave me a big hug "goodbye", kissed my cheek and tried to choke back the tears.  I hate goodbyes!

After my luggage was checked in (which seemed to take an eternity), I grabbed a Starbucks coffee and burned my mouth!  Oops!  I texted a few friends.  Read my bible.  Burned my mouth again.  Good grief!  A brilliant person told me to take the lid off the cup.  Thanks brilliant person!  People watched.  Drank my coffee quickly, which by this point had become a necessity since it was 30 minutes till my flight was going to leave & I needed to head upstairs to get in line!

There were a total of 4 women aside from myself and about 175 men.  I kid you not!  And it sorta spazzed me out in a not good way.  Remember a few weeks ago, I shared that one of my quirks is looking at men in the eyes?  Yeah, you can imagine the hyperventilation that just about overtook me at that small airport!  I had prayer back-up though, so I survived!  :)

After I boarded the plane and sat next to one of the 4 women in the entire flight, we took off.





Within 15 minutes there was quite a bit of turbulence.  So much so, that the flight attendants weren't allowed to bring us our drink & peanuts, they had to stay buckled up.  Boo!!!  Then the Pilot announced that there were pretty severe storms in Houston (my mid-stop airport) so we were going to have to fly above the area until the storms stopped.

{This was taken while we were circling above the Houston area.
You can see Galveston Beach on this shot.}




{This was what it looked like when we rose above the storm.
Simply breathtaking!
The Lord spoke very clearly to me through this scenery...
And this week, His words have helped me get through some
hard days!}



Forty-five minutes later, we were told we would just head back to the airport we came from and wait for the storms to stop.  Have you ever heard of such a thing? WEIRDOS!  Thanks for keeping us safe sweet people!


{The gorgeous storm underneath us.
I LOVE storms... especially when they're underneath me!}   :)


My mother-in-law later told me that they were looking at us online and there were lots little red dots symbolizing all the different flights hovering all over the Houston area, exactly where I was stuck!

So we flew back to the airport near my mom's home.
And Father hushed my nervous spirit.
And the turbulence finally quieted.
We landed an hour later.
And we waited in the airplane.
And then we were told we could get a red pass, go grab lunch inside the airport and then come back on the airplane.
And many people (most) ended up going on different flights or rescheduling their trip.
I ate my fancy sandwich & sunchips, sat there quietly with the entire back end of the airplane all to myself and read my bible.  I might've smiled to myself...
45 minutes later, we were off again.  I should've already been home, watching Little House on the Prairie with my girls and anticipating seeing my Matt, but instead, I was back at the first airport.
But I was safe.
And my spirit was calm.



When we landed at the Houston Airport, it looked like mass chaos.  And it smelled like a High School Gym Locker Room.  Remember that odor?  Blech!
Those poor Houston people had been waiting for their flights to arrive or take off for 5 hours.  There were screaming babies, cranky children, tired mommies and ticked off daddies.  It was NOT a pretty sight!
But they were safe.
Some of them didn't seem like they appreciated that...

I navigated my way around there and figured out that my flight would be taking off in about 45 minutes. I found a place to sit... on the FLOOR, because that's the only room there was because God was gracious to give me a place to plop my photography gear, and resumed my people watching.  I played peek-a-boo w/ a 4 yr old.  Her mom was appreciative.  I was too.  :)

After 20 minutes or so a line of people starting forming in front of me.  Then Matt called & chatted with me and clarified that I was supposed to be getting on that flight.  I told him the sign said it was heading somewhere else, but I decided to ask the kind ticket lady anyway to prove my husband wrong... and sure enough, they hadn't updated the boarding sign.  HA!  I almost missed my flight.  Thank You Jesus for cell phones and husbands who keep their silly wives in check!

I boarded the flight.
Sat next to some kind people.
Wished I was drinking my neighbor's bloody mary.  HA! 
Read my bible instead & drank my root beer. :)




And before I knew it, I was finally home!  And instead of my girls & MIL picking me up from the airport, I was welcomed into the warm, strong, amazing embrace of my precious husband who I missed more than coffee!!!

The End!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You know how to tell a story like no one else baby! :) BEAUTIFUL pictures!

I love you!!!

Your Matt

justalittlehappy said...

You are an incredible story teller! Thanks for reminding me to be thankful in all situations!

KB said...

What a day. We had a similar experience in ... of all places, Houston. What's up with TX? Traveling is always an adventure. Sounds like you at least got a lot of reading done. :)

tomorrowsmemoriesphotography said...

I never got these responses, stupid email!
Thanks for the comments sweet people!
Matt - the pix came out amazing, God's AMAZING!
Laura - it's all about perspective... remind me to be thankful the next time you hear me complaining! :)
Kristin - TX is nuts, but I love it anyway! :) And yep, got lots of reading done!

Jenna B said...

love your storytelling :)