Is This Real Life?

Do you remember seeing the "David at the Dentist Clip" from a few years ago?

That's kind of how Ryan and I have felt over the past week...

We're moving to the Caribbean.

We're moving to the Caribbean?

We're moving to the Caribbean!

#isthisreallife

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Last week was crazy. Literally.

One of the craziest ever.

Moving out, cleaning, packing, sending Ryan off to the Grenada, moving to my parents', getting our renters in. Whoa.

If it weren't for some amazing people from our ward and our families, it wouldn't have happened.

Seriously though, Stace, you were a life. saver. I'll owe you forever.

Stacey and Steve. We seriously love these two. Gorgeous. (our kids just need to grow up and get married already)

I didn't finish packing and cleaning until Friday (after Ryan was already gone) with more help from our families, but it was a whirlwind.

Evidence of the madness...

Everything we own in one 10x15 storage unit. 

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Friday morning at 3:30am, Ryan, Jennifer, Adi, and I headed to the airport. Unknowingly, Ryan and I were both praying (pleading, begging, etc.) for one thing: that the bags would be the right weight.

He had three bags at 70 lbs a piece, and although we first weighed them in at 50-60 lbs a piece, there had been a lot of shuffling.

We got to the airport (Ryan had already checked in on his phone) and proceeded to check the weight of the bags.

68 lbs... yes!

70.10 lbs... umm...

75.00 lbs... yikes!

But, with a little shuffling (we were literally placing Ryan's oil canvases one by one on top of the suitcase) we got it down to a svelte 70 lbs exactly, 70 lbs exactly, and 69.50 lbs.

Seriously! There was not room for another granola bar or pen anywhere in his checked bags, carry on, or personal item (and heaven bless our new friends Laura and Jared for telling us a pillow didn't count, because that's where we hid some of the sheets)!

We got the bags squared away weight wise, but because of the embargo, we had to be escorted by our new friend American Airlines friend, Walt, to the desk to be checked in manually. (The desk agent seemed really annoyed with the fact that our bags were at exactly 70 lbs. She stared at it for ten seconds, willing them each to be over. I was thrilled that they were the right weight and beyond grateful!)

After that, Ryan came back to the car and wished us all good bye.

Ryan and Adi - 8/1/2014 - 4:00am 

Ryan and Adi - 8/1/2014 - 4:00am

It was a quick goodbye--we were all tired at 4:00am, but in a flash, he was off!

I stayed up texting Ryan until his flight took off at 6:00am, but I loved this iMessage later in the day that he sent from his Miami to Grenada flight...

"Warm nuts are the best thing about First Class" 

Love him.

Only 54 days until Adi and I join him!

Dear August

Dear August, 

You snuck up on me and have blown by so quickly. Everyone keeps alluding to bouquets of sharpened pencils. Please let summer linger just a little longer. 

It seems that each year you bring incredible change, and I've realized the past few days that last year you brought us full circle. We've officially been on the med school route exactly one year today. 

Here's to next August and a little more change. 

Love, McKenzie

PS, I found these pictures of last August. 

Delta Dropped the Ball. You Think?

So, this is (I'm sure) Part 1 of a long list of posts, but all the time I have now will be dedicated to someone else's version of our experience.

A friend sent me this blog link after hearing me rant about Ryan's delayed/canceled/delayed/delayed (need I go on?) flight.

Completely random that a passanger blogged about it? Yes.

Completely random that our friend follows this blog? Yes.

Completely random that I mentioned Ryan's travel woes merely hours ago? Yes.

Anyway, read the post and read the comment I left.

(I will say that Sharon Coleman from Cincinnati, Ohio, was responsive to our needs and deserves a raise from Delta.)

Ugh. Delays.

I am currently sitting in the Denver airport. My flight was delayed. Of course it was. When you really want to get somewhere quickly (say like... to see my baby) flights are always delayed.

Oh well, it gave me a chance to finish my final. So, I guess it was a blessing in disguise.

Overheard at 30,000 ft

So, I was flying Frontier Airlines (note to self, never fly Frontier) from Salt Lake to Denver. I was sitting on the very back row on the isle. I got on the plane, sat down, and we took off. About 10 minutes after take off, I hear two flight attendants talking. One of them started making some comments about Mormons. I didn't hear what she was saying until she said something like "Oh! I used to live in Idaho and we would fly chartered flights with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It was amazing! They never left any trash, and we didn't even have to tell them to put their tray tables up!"

It made me laugh - I didn't realize it was that big of a deal, but I guess when every single person does it it makes a difference. Glad to know they made a good impression. :)

One O'clock In The Morning and $154.40 Later...

As Ryan mentioned, our trip home from the Dominican Republic was less than ideal. In fact, that is the understatement of the century, and definitely needs documenting (although after having finished the post and reading it, it's a little on the long side for me--feel free to skim.)

So, the last day of our trip, we enjoyed a beautiful morning basking in the overcast Caribbean sun and enjoying the clear, beautiful, warm Caribbean sea (as seen below).

After a few hours on the beach, we headed back to our room and packed our bags for the airport. We grabbed a quick lunch and then headed to the concierge. Like all of our transportation, they were right on time; in fact, they were early, so we headed to the airport.

Once we got to the airport, I noticed there was an earlier flight to Miami, and asked if there were any empty seats, but of course there were none. The time was about 12:30, and we sat down to settle into our wait (we were to board at 3:05). In the meantime, a torrential downpour had started outside, but we weren't in any hurry. We had three hours.

So, we waited, and waited, and waited. At 2:55, an attendant announced that a flight to Havana, Cuba would start departing from our gate in five minutes. Wait, that's our gate. What happened to our flight!?

At that point, we became a little concerned, and Ryan went to check the sign. When he came back he said that the flight had been delayed until 6pm. Say what?! 6pm? We were supposed to be departing to DC at 7pm from Miami!

When I heard that, my first reaction was slight panic. Then I became angry that the airline hadn't even MENTIONED ANYTHING! I frantically tried to locate the American Airlines employees, and when we found them, a man told us that unfortunately they would have to put everyone up in a hotel for the night in Miami...

On other days, this would have been fine, but considering we were leaving to drive cross-country at 5am the next morning, that was NOT GOING TO WORK. So, before Ryan started yelling--he was getting a little upset, which is saying something huge for Ryan who is always very even tempered--I told the man that it was an absolute necessity that we get to the DC area tonight. He could tell that we meant absolute business, so which he was taking other people's boarding passes, he said that he could put us on this flight (meaning the flight that was boarding at the time) and then fly us to Baltimore and then pay for our ground transportation to Virginia... So, literally five minutes later we were headed to Puerto Rico--a destination that had not been on our agenda. :)

The flight to San Juan was pleasant, although I can't say the same for our time in the airport. We waited three hours, three delays, and three gate changes, and we were finally--finally--on our way to Baltimore.

After arriving in Baltimore, the task at hand was to locate an actual live American Airlines person at midnight when the desks closed at nine, but we did. After a little convincing that Virginia was really what was meant by 'Washington, DC' in the travel voucher, we hopped in a cab headed to Virginia.

The drive from BWI to Virginia was over an hour. On our way home I apologized to the drive that it was such a far drive, but the driver said that he'd driven to Philadelphia, New York, and Newark in the past, so Virginia didn't seem that far away.

Anyway... we got home at 1am, and when all was said and done, the taxi fare was...

$154.40--the most expensive taxi ride that I have or will probably ever have to pay--oh wait I didn't have to pay (that was definitely a plus).

So, takeaway: Puerto Rico isn't that great when your airline doesn't tell you what's going on, they delay your flight multiple times, and you have to drive 100 miles to get home from the airport. Oh well. I'm sure it won't be my worst traveling experience, but it will definitely be up there.