Olga the Viking Queen

I have returned from the lovely land of Colorado. My sleeping pattern is SO out of whack...the first day I was awake over 24 hours straight. The second day wasn't as bad. And the third day continued into the next day to make a double day with a "night" in between that consisted of around an hour and a half of sleep. So...I've been running like a mad woman for a while. I slept for around 11 hours last night and I still feel like I was hit by a truck. But it's ALL...GOOD. The only thing that matters is this:

The wedding was a success

...and it's OVER. AND...there was a lot less drama than we expected. There WAS some, don't get me wrong. BUT...it was less than we thought. And the bride did great and was never once a bridezilla. Yipppee!! I'm very glad to be home again though.
I left notes on my cellphone of things I wanted to remember to write blogs about when I got back...so...they might be random but...they were entertaining to me.

I woke up at 1am on Thursday to catch the 2:10 airporter. My trip began and ended with cowboys.

Stay tuned...it WILL make sense. While waiting for the airporter to arrive, an old cowboy approached our van that me and my mom were sitting in and motioned to wind down the window. My mom was pretty freaked out (because she's easily freaked out by strangers...but I guess a random cowboy creeping over to our van at 2am is kinda weird) but she took the window down an inch and the cowboy asked if we were the airporter...hehe...we said no and just then the airporter swung around the corner and me and the ol' cowboy got on and off we went. Everything went smoothly getting to the airport and checking in and checking my bag. But they seemed to have cracked down on security since I last flew. A large "barricade" type structure blocked off the area where the metal detectors and baggage scanning area was. In order to get through you had to get your ticket and passport checked by an officer at a desk. There was 2 desks set up with three female officers. Two of them seemed relatively normal but the third was SO foreboding. She had a braid wound up into a bun at the very TIPPY top of her head and I swear she looked like she should have been named OLGA the viking queen. She was INTENSE. She reminded me of some Russian spy...or a concentration camp guard from The Hiding Place. Of COURSE I had to go to her to get checked in but she ended up being very nice. The main security check-in as in the whole metal detector area was also pretty cracked down. They still did the whole "remove the shoes" thing but anyone and I do mean ANYONE who beeped when going through the metal detector had to get scanned completely and then sit in a chair and have their legs and feet scanned completely. I thought that was kinda different. One lady at my gate was in her socks and I wondered if she forgot her shoes at the security check point. Bummer.
Once I got to my gate I settled in and conveniently my gate was situated RIGHT across from the Starbucks. It was around 4:30 at that point but the Starbucks didn't open until 5 so I debated for half an hour and a little more over whether or not I wanted/needed coffee. They had one thing near my gate that I thought was kinda cool. It was called "Laptop Lane" and it was a little block of mini rooms that you could rent to sit on your laptop in private while you waited for your flight. I thought that was a cool idea...they all had doors so you could close them completely. What is it with news people saying "er rock" instead of "Iraq?" Which way is correct?
I realized something about myself during my wait time. There was a kid in camo in my seating area. He looked about 19 and was in the army and I realized...since I met John EVERY person I see that's in the military...I can't help but SMILING like an IDIOT and I want SO badly to go up to them and ask them tons of questions about themselves and what they do. I'm a dork I know. I really can't help it. I saw a marine and his wife checking their bags in his dress Charlies (is that right John? is that what they're called with the khaki top?) and I was like...INSTANTLY giddy cuz I wanted to be like OH hi my boyfriend is a marine too are you enlisted or an officer well he's an officer and he's in aviation and well he's really great so when did you join oh really that's so great...exactly like that without any punctuation or separation between sentences and complete run-on sentences. My English teachers would be horrified. But I'm sure they figured out that's just part of my humor. One teacher never seemed to figure that out but then again he never figured much of anything out about me or anyone else. But that's off the subject. So...I SO badly wanted to say hi to the army guy and just ask him questions but then I decided against it. At that point I had decided to go to Starbucks FOR SURE because I was hungry and you can't get anything on the flights...and I heard they aren't going to serve peanuts anymore...which is SO gay. Anyway...I decided NOT to get coffee and get a vanilla steamer instead so I could sleep on the plane. The Starbucks in the meantime had a constant line of at least 12 people...as if Washingtonians didn't get enough coffee to begin with. I got in line at the same time as another woman and I let her go ahead of me. She thanked me and said she wasn't sure if she had enough time. I then realized she was a flight attendant. She checked her watch every few seconds and kept checking the gate she needed to be at to see if her crew had arrived. She made her order and just then turned and asked where I was flying. I told her Denver and she brightened up and asked "Through that gate?" and pointed at my gate. I said yes. She asked me "Would you bring my coffee to me when it comes? Cuz my crew is already boarding and I have to go...would you mind?" I said not at all and she thanked me profusely and ran off. A few seconds later she came back and told me that I could board with seating section 1 right after first class because she had told the boarding people who I was and that I was bringing her coffee. Sure enough I went up before I was scheduled and started explaining who I was and they said "Oh yeah go ahead...she told us already..." I got on, put my stuff at my seat, gave her her coffee (which she again thanked me over and over again for) and got my seat and konked out right away. The army guy ended up being next to me. I still refrained from showering him with questions. We both fell asleep and I was stoked cuz I was able to sleep the whole time. When I got off the plane she told me she had looked for me to give me a free cocktail to thank me but I was so out of it she didn't want to wake me up. So I thought that was super sweet she wanted to do that for me. I *heart* nice people!
I noticed something while waiting for my flight in Seattle. The Alaska air tail art...I figured out what it was like...2 years ago. And everyone reading this is probably thinking DUH it took you THAT long? But honestly...for some reason I never saw it as an eskimo with a fur hood. I always thought it looked like Jackie Chan with an afro. I didn't really associate it with Jackie Chan literally...but someone with an afro. I always thought that was super weird. Now I know why. hehe...I'm so weird.
Once I got off the plane, I got my bag (it was literally one of the first pieces to come on the conveyor belt which has NEVER happened) and instantly got picked up by Steve, my friend Alex's fiance and Josh one of his groomsmen. I'm going to end it at that and continue where I left off later on.