ORD Bound

My morning started after just three hours of sleep. I thought I'd get up early and give myself time to have a nice relaxing morning. It was a pretty good plan and so far I don't feel like I'm suffering for it... I'll be able to make up for it between my 14 hours in the air from Chicago to Abu Dhabi especially since it's just about bedtime when I land there at 8:00pm Saturday... which is 7:00am at home... making for just under a 24 hour journey (counting my layover).

Of course it wasn't as relaxing as I realized that there was no way I was going to get my stupid carry-on to weigh 15lbs... I finally just decided that I'd pay for it if I have to! Hoping beyond belief that I wont have to!

Dad helped me with last minute weight checks and we were off to the airport! Dena did a great job getting us there! She dropped us off at the terminal and went to the waiting area, so just dad and I went inside. Dad helped me get all my bags through the terminal and checked in.

Security wasn't a big deal, though it was much more difficult traveling alone! Trying to keep everything where I could see it and not take my hands off the things that were most important, namely my passport, boarding pass, backpack and laptop! I made it through no problem and headed for my gate.

At the gate I met a waitress who had showed up a little early for work and was waiting in the gate area. We chatted until it was time for her to head in and I went in search of a soda (which I've only taken a sip of... I really should have just put water in my bottle!)

That's when I headed to the counter to get my seat assignment and met up with Randell & Kaaren! I am SO grateful that I have people to travel with the whole time and we're actually all sitting within arms reach of each other! The best part was when I mentioned something about flying alone and he quickly responded that I wasn't.

My adventure has officially started. It's a little crazy to be writing while so high up in the air, but it was the very reason behind my purchasing a new keyboard for my iPad. I knew that while I was flying for 19 hours I'd be driven to write at some point. And while using this tiny keyboard isn't as easy as writing on my laptop, it's much nicer space wise. I'm half tempted to post this without editing it, but I also know how annoyed I'd be looking back. Somehow I got lucky and managed a emergency row window seat, which on this plane means i have an extra foot of space to my right! My iPad says it's 12:30 now, which means I've been flying for somewhere around an hour and a half. In that short time I've watched the first 10 minutes of a movie, drank a glass of sprite, started a logic problem, completed a "quote-falls," chatted with the guy next to me, seen numerous clips of Dexter season four while he was watching, opened a letter from Em, A LONG letter from mom, and a totally awesome {picture worthy} card from Gramma, gone through 10 napkins as I cried reading said items. Oh! And I've attempted to nap... that one's not going too well!