Never flying standby again.

My trip to Indianapolis came to an end last night. I say last night because I had to get up at 4:30 (3:30 Houston time) this morning to catch a flight, or try to.

The 6:45 flight looked promising the other day when there was 20 open seats.

This morning, booked full. 2nd flight at 9:05, booked. & I didn't even attempt to catch the 12:10 flight due to the flight being booked & a shit ton of people already on standby, my chances were slim.

I checked Expedia and ended up getting a Delta flight for 200 bones. That was money I wasn't planning on spending today but I couldn't take the chances of not getting a flight home. So, there I was in the airport at 7am waiting for a flight at noon. I was that person who slept awkwardly in a seat & woke up every time they would call for someone over the loud speaker. Around 9 I decided to get some coffee and treated myself to a half hour chair massage for what I was going through. It helped me relax for sure. After that I picked up some

Pretzel bites and the new People Magazine with juicy topics about people I don't really care about. But it helped the time pass.

Since this flight was so cheap I have a 2 hour layover in Detroit & will finally be back in Houston tonight around 6. What a freaking day. 

I keep reminding myself I did this for Jace. He is the coolest kid. Last Friday, my step mom told him they had to go to the airport to pick up a fed ex package.. When I walked up he was shocked. It was perfect. So sad to leave him.

On a plane

Holy cow, thank you Jesus I got on a flight. I am off to Indianapolis.

This morning my alarm went off at 4:30. With this new sales job I am used to waking up around 8 so I am running on coffee. 

I arrived at the airport at 5:45 with my carry on bag and a book. Got checked in and waited patiently at terminal B. Flying standby gives me tons of anxiety. I constantly check the seat map and booking totals to see my chances of getting a seat. I try to pick out the other standby'ers. Just trying to size my competition. I kid. 

While they board, I proceed to get sick to my stomach and count each person boarding. I know there are 66 seats and 3 people on standby & I am the second person on the standby list (it has to do with some ranking system they have). I hear the lady say she has two open seats and my heart starts pounding because I know I have ths second ticket. She calls my name and issues me seat assignment. 

As I am boarding, I call my dad to let him know I need someone to pick me up in 2 hours. He thinks I am kidding. This is no joking matter, getting a seat while trying to fly standby isn't easy. The last time I tried this, I didn't get on and it was a sad day. I didn't want to let him know I was trying to fly up because there is no need in getting everyone's hope up.

It has been 16 months since I have seen my little brother, Jace (dad and step mom too but let's be honest, Jace is the only one I'm worried about seeing). They came to Houston last February and with two job changes I haven't had the time to get away. ( besides the one weekend I tried and I didn't get a seat, after that I was discourgaged to fly standby.) 

Jace just finished 2nd grade. He is growing too fast and I can't wait to see how much he has changed in the last year. We were pen pals for one of his class projects. It was the sweetest and coolest thing. Each letter said, "I love you so much sissy and miss you, can you come visit soon?" I am going to ask him if he still wants to write letters back and forth. I just love getting his letters with his sweet handwriting and misspelled words. 

Bo is at home, he has his cousins graduation this weekend and will probably be working. His schedule is very unpredictable & being a supervisor for a very important/ large job right now it's not a good idea to take vacation. & he isn't dying to meet my dad. I cannot blame him and I am totally ok with his decision. The only thing he knows about my dad is that he moved away while I was in college & it makes me very sad still (even though it's been 7 years). He doesn't understand (nor do I) that my dad moved to Indiana because he wanted Jace to have grandparents. My step moms family lives there...grandparents are important, But what about his brother and sister? Corbin and I were in college and always on the go, didn't have much time for family (you know that stage every kid goes through). My Dad didn't think Corbin and I needed him anymore. So now, they live in Indiana and we live in Houston. Also my dad has never offered to buy me a flight, I always have to ask if he will split it. Bo thinks if he was to move away from his child, he would be paying the bill for travel & I agree. (Thankfully bo doesn't have a kid so I don't have to deal with baby mama drama :) 

Family is super important to me & I wish Jace was close. I think it is finally hitting my Dad that he might not have made the best decision but won't admit it. What happens when I get married, have kids & they have kids. Unfortunatly, he will miss out and so will my kid (I think I want only 1). Who knows, one day when Jace can make his own decisions maybe he will want to live in Texas. I can't wait until he is old enough to fly down and spend some time in the summer or maybe even go to college in Texas. 

Ok the rant is over. 

The other day Bo and I were walking into Academy to buy bikes & I said "omg the heat is here". He replied with,"you take everything to the extreme, it feels good outside". It was 92 degrees out, warmest day so far. He cracks me up. He is definitely the funniest person I know.

You can't really tell but Bo got the manliest bike I have ever seen with huge tires & I got an oldie cruiser with a cute little basket. We rode to smoothie king & I stayed on watch while he ordered drinks.

2 things:

1. I told Bo my basket was for snacks and water. He said, "damn how long of a bike ride are we going on".

2. When bo got our smoothies, he handed me one not knowing which was which- i took a sip and said this is mine!! He drinks his then we go home. Mine is in my cup holder.. We get home and I tell him he can have the rest of mine. He takes one drink and goes "this was mine!!! It's straight banana how did you think this was yours?" (Mine was strawberry only) I took another sip & said oh yea, that does taste like banana. Oops.

Trying to think of anything else exciting that has happened... 

Went to a friends wedding in Austin! It was like a Zeta reunion & I actually loved it! We all had a blast & woke up with hilarious stories and hangovers.

Btw- hangovers are lasting about 2 horribly long days now.

My favorite show of the summer starts this month!!!!! 

& I found some old gems while I visited my great grandparents a few weeks ago. 

Did everyone gets glamour shots back in the 90's??? The hair and outfits are just too much. 

& my brother and his girlfriend are getting married, September 2016. 

& finally I am going to toot my own horn and let you know I got 1st place last month- out of the entire sales team I sold the most! I was SOOOO excited! This new job is just amazing and perfect. 

Have a great weekend!!!! 

The time I ran out of gas.

So it was my 4th week here at my new job. Just driving down the road, normal day. All the sudden my car starts slowing down. I press harder on the gas and nothing. Still coming to a stop. I yelled- what is wrong with this car??? Oh that little gauge that tells me if I have gas or not, well it was on empty. 

Thank god I was close to a gas station because I proceeded to get out and ask the sweet man behind me if he could "bump" my car to the gas pump. "Bump" as in he just hit my car with his car and I steered until we got close to the pump then we pushed it. The whole time I was dying laughing. I'm sure everyone thougt I was nuts but when something bad happens, I laugh. 

My family and friends were really questioning how I proceeded to run out of gas?! "Who does that??" 

I feel like I have a valid argument because this car doesn't alert, chime, blink when the gas is low. Now it does have a small gauge that I obviously didn't pay attention to. 

I really hate stopping for gas. The day before this incident I noticed I had 1/4 of a tank and thought- eh I'll stop tomorrow. But now if I get down to 1/4, I stop immediately. Lesson learned. 

People at work did find out because my bumper isn't in the best shape after being "bumped". I didn't get in trouble.. I think they felt bad for me. 

Oh hey it's me.

Loving my new job, sales life is where it's at.

I just drive everywhere all day long. 

Delivering goodies and chatting it up with my referral sources. 

Thank god I have a work car because I would be putting tonssss on my own.

This is my "desk" area. Real organized. You don't want to see the trunk. 

ITS FRIDAY!!!! & it's rodeo time in Houston. Time for some beer and barbecue. 

Blogging in bed

Good news first, I start a new (medical sales) job January 5th!! This is something I have wanted to do since college but the opportunity was never my ideal position and companies wanted to start me out making very little money. My mom has worked in the industry for 10+ years and now is starting her own business. When she put in her two week notice her boss said "do you think Ashten will be interested in taking over your position & accounts?".

OF COURSE SIGN ME UP COUNT ME IN WHEN CAN I START?!?? 

Had a little interview/ beer with the bosses, discussed benefits and money. Bam, the job was mine. 

The hard part is always notifying your current employer. I have worked for this company since February- it was a start up company with 5 employees. I took care of everything from insurance- payroll - HR- AR - AP - contracts. Keep in mind I was hired for marketing... Didn't have time for it. Currently the company has 72 employees. It was insane but I learned so much. Since I am responsible for so much I gave a months notice and surprisingly made it 8 days before telling them all to F off. 

Of course when someone quits everyone whispers about the reasoning why and it always gets twisted. 

My boyfriend Bo decided to step away also and return to our previous employer. Which I got blamed for. Who knew men can be so nasty to each other. The amount of gossiping and back stabbing that goes on at that office blows my mind. We are both leaving at the right time and walking out of that office yesterday gave me such great relief. 

Now that that is behind me I am so excited for what this new job has in store. I can't wait to be out & about instead of sitting at a desk all day- change of pace for sure but I think I will do great && I am so thankful this opportunity came along. 

Me and Bo both start our new jobs on the 5th so we have a little 2 week (low budget moneyless) vacation that starts today. I have to keep reminding myself that I won't get a normal paycheck until the 3rd week of January. Scary. 

Holiday decor.

I have never put up decorations in my apartment. Doesn't matter what holiday, I'm not doing it. I have considered it a few times but then the thought of having to pack that shit away in January changes my mind. Bo on the other hand cannot wait to have our own house so he can put lights up and the whole 9 yards. This year, since we are in an apartment, he decided that just a tree would do. 

We had a discussion about what kind of tree and who was going to decorate it... Blah blah blah. I wasn't feeling it but he pressed on and said "it will be fun". 

Sure, it will be fun..... Well you know what is fun. Doing something nice for someone and surprising them. 

Last night I drove my happy ass to Walmart for a cheap pre-lit tree because I needed to make this as easy on myself as possible. I was so determined to get this damn tree I had to visit 2 walmarts due to these fancy trees being a hot commodity. Well, I got it and put this bad boy together all by myself. Feeling super accomplished and my work is done. Not really, Pinterest has taken over my evenings and now I get to buy decorations.... $$$. I'll use Bo's credit card and tell him "it will be fun". 

Pups are scared to death of it and won't get off the couch.

TGIF. 

I can't wait to see how excited bo is. 

Oh and next week we at both off ALL WEEK! 

We have a little road trip planned with family visits along the way. So pumped! 

Living solo Monday- Thursday.

When bo is gone,

I get to watch all the Bravo TV I want without any interruptions.

And drink wine out of a fancy cup. 

And have long chats with Ashton who now lives in Colorado.

And eat leftovers. (Because he cleans out the fridge with his appetite when he's home)   

And ace and cash think they are king of the castle. 

And Ace & Cash just live it up.