Alas, the wait is over! A new blog post for your enjoyment!

On August 8th I got to fly home for a 17 day visit to the great state of Utah! Being the luckiest girl ever, my long trip home consisted of several adventures which included but were not limited to, Jason’s 26th birthday party, Wyatt’s Mission farewell, the Felt Family 2008 summer vacation, and a work conference to be held at the Chateaux in Deer Valley. I was so excited to be flying home with so many fun things on my agenda!

On Friday morning, August 8th, I woke up and left for work like usual. I was only scheduled to work until 5:30pm in order to make my 7:30pm flight out of Newark, NJ. FYI: I am currently banning the JFK airport due to the severe delays that I have experienced the last few times flying from there. I know, even though Newark is a bit more expensive, it is worth it! Of course in good Shalauna fashion I arrive at the airport just a few minutes late, check my bags, and start the race to the gate. Before putting on my running shoes I decide to look at the big screen just to be sure that my flight is still on-time… Was it? Not a chance!

It was scheduled to be 30 minutes late, which is nothing compared to the 5 hour delays I have been experiencing at JFK. I decide that this was the best news of the day because now I could do some shopping at the airport gift stores (my new favorite thing). I pick up a few magazines, a new NY T-Shirt (can’t have too many of those), a pack of gum, and I was all set.

I headed to the plane only to find I was the last one to board. Perfect! (I love being the last one). We push away from the gate right away and off we went. Ok, I am going to say up front that I consider myself to be an experienced traveler. I have flown both domestic and internationally more times than I can count, and have experienced some serious turbulence, but for all my past experiences what I was about to experience would be nothing in comparison!

So we are cruising at the standard 36,000 feet, I’m listening to my iPod and have my computer out updating my journal when all of the sudden, I felt like I was given the “fast pass” to the front of Disneyland’s Tower of Terror and was getting strapped in against my will for the ride of my life!

We seriously out of nowhere hit turbulence that sent the plane straight up like a rocket in the sky, just to drop us back down! I am telling you, grown men were grabbing for the arm rest and were gasping for air! No joke 10 seconds after that happened the pilot gets on the intercom and orders the flight attendants to secure the plane and buckle up in their seats, he notifies the passengers to remain seated with our seat belts securely fastened and to review the cards in the seat pocket in front of us.

Hello! “Stay seated with your seat belt securely fastened?” Where did he think we were going to go? Oh, we’re having bad turbulence, guess I better get my purse out and go shopping in the sky mall located in the back of the plane?! Hello, no! I don’t know about everyone else on the plane but my belt was so tight that the circulation to my legs was getting cut off – which was fine with me because if the plane went down at least I wouldn’t feel my legs break in two! And can I add, who says “review the cards in the seat pocket in front of you”? I mean seriously, he might as well have said, we’re going to crash… HOLD ON TIGHT!

As the flight attendants were rushing to get the plane secured and buckled into their seats I honestly was having a heart attack. I was thinking for sure this plane is going to go down! Below is the picture of how I pictured the whole event happening…

As I was in my seat having a heart attack I look to my right where the sweetest old lady was sitting reading a book. During this whole event she hadn’t moved or squirmed at all! I couldn’t figure it out! Here I am 26 years old freaking out and this little old grandma didn’t seem to mind that we were all riding the Tower of Terror and everyone was screaming to get off. She was just happy to be reading her book. Why? The answer finally hit me. It didn’t matter to this old lady if the plane was in the sky, on the ground, or falling from the sky towards the ground, she had already lived a long and full life and to worry about the things that she couldn’t control wasn’t worth her time. Since what was happening with the plane was out of her control, she was just going to keep on reading.

Ok, having this thought did not comfort me at all! If anything it made me be more nervous because I started thinking of all the things I had yet to accomplish and how I wished I could live to be 80!

Obviously I am writing this blog post so I survived, but I am not going to lie and this story is not over exaggerated, it really was touch and go for quite some time!