January – 

• Clint & I stayed home for NYE because everyone we knew was sick except for us. This year seems about the same!
• I explored Milwaukee for the first time…so cold but I enjoyed it! Can’t wait to go back (I actually go back at the end of next month)
• I had a fabulous New York layover with my friend Sandy. We went to the Magic Hour rooftop bar which was so cute & aesthetically pleasing & later got caught in the snow.
• Clint & I took off to Texas to visit his dad & step mom. We flew into Austin, got comped an upgrade to a Genesis for our rental, had an awesome visit, & left out of Dallas.
• I was back in Austin for work a week later & explored solo. I fell in love. Austin is great!

February –

• I was back in Manhattan with my girl Wendy! We hit a couple little bars & ate at the cutest little pink restaurant called Pietro Nolita.
• On that same trip, Wendy & I worked with our first all female crew. Female Captain, female First Officer, & 5 female flight attendants with me working lead. The future is female!
• My merry band of buddy bidders got together again shortly after & we went to Detroit where our dear friend Catherine picked us up at our hotel & took us out all around D-Town.
• Clint & I started noticing problems with Emma. Her behavior, she lost a bit of weight, & most obvious…her mouth smelled. We soon learned she had loose teeth that needed to come out ASAP. My aunt got us into the vet she uses since I didn’t care for Emma’s current vet & we scheduled her dental work as soon as we could. She had 2 weeks worth of antibiotics to take first…they helped her dramatically! Her new vet is fantastic.
• We helped our dear friend Nick & his girlfriend plan a surprise visit to Kathy (aka “mom” – Nick’s actual mom but Clinton calls her mom too & she definitely considers him hers as well! She snow birds & stays in our town during the winter) to tell her wonderful news – they were having a baby & Kathy was getting her first grandchild!
• I went to the Christmas Story house in Cleveland, spent Super Bowl Sunday in Tampa, spent Valentine’s Day with my buddy bidders in San Juan, visited St. Louis for the first time, & had the best Mardi Gras in New Orleans!

March –

• We hit Bike Week in Daytona! My husband’s bike is soooo sick. It attracted a lot of attention & we were even told he had the nicest Indian that came through Daytona. I can’t say I disagree. On the last day of Bike Week we took Emma so we had to drive an actual car but Emma was also a hit! She loves motorcycles.
• We dog sat for Kathy & her husband Allen while they went on a cruise. We took Emma & their dachshund, Perry everywhere! We went to the dog beach, the manatee observation deck, Chick Fil A, Daytona to visit my family, everywhere.
• Emma had her surgery, which absolutely broke my heart but it totally reinvigorated Emma! She plays harder, she’s more vocal, her energy levels spiked. I miss her little toothy smile a lot but it’s also adorable seeing her with just her little canines sticking out (she has her canines + all her back teeth still in tact, only her little bitty front teeth were pulled)
• I didn’t work a lot this month & couldn’t afford personal travel after Emma’s surgery so the only place I really went out in was a layover in Columbus, Ohio. We had switched hotels there & I’m so obsessed with where we stay there now that Columbus is one of my favorite cities…there’s something I’ll bet you never hear!! But seriously, I absolutely love it there. I used to hate it but it turns out, I just hated where we stayed.
• Karren & I went to Taste of Spring for a wine tasting at the Crimson House in New Smyrna Beach. I loved it! So much fun & great wine.

April –

• We had Easter at my sister in law’s house with my niece, nephew, & Clint’s grandma in tow.
• I had fantastic trips to Myrtle Beach & Kansas City, where I got to re-visit my favor BBQ from days past when I lived there.
• THE MASK MANDATE ENDED!!!!!
• ……Aaaaaaand I promptly got sick twice in 1 month.
• Emma recovered beautifully from her surgery! We felt awful for her for that first week afterwards. She would whimper & moan. We took her for a post-op check up with her doctor & he gave her the all-clear & suddenly she was a-okay again! Been a total crackhead ever since!

May –

• First Fly Girls camp out or the year!! Lots of drinking, eating, swimming, sunburn, gator hunting, & karaoke. I live for those weekends!
• I was invited by Caesars in Vegas to come check out some wedding chapels…This was the start of my Vegas wedding planning! I viewed 4 chapels with Caesar’s & included a visit to the Cosmopolitan as well while on a Vegas layover for work. This was the month I believe that we chose the Paris for our venue.
• We went swimming with our dear friend Randi, her son, & her sweet niece.

June –

• It was Clinton’s birthday! We had gift time at home & then drove up to Jacksonville for a nice dinner at Fogo de Chao. We were joined by my best friend Lindsey & her niece Bella. I learned around this time that “If they wanted to, they will” & this is exactly why I consider Lindsey my dearest friend. She drove from Valdosta to JAX to celebrate with us when there’s so many that wouldn’t drive 15-20 minutes.
• We had a stay-cation for Clint’s birthday as well since I had taken the time off for it. We spent days at our beach, the springs, & our favorite wildlife reserve.
• I spent more time in Vegas wedding prepping.
• My cousin Jena & her boyfriend Seth came to stay with us as well! They are definitely more of the “if they wanted to, they will” kind of people. I love these 2 so much o& appreciated our time together.
• Clinton started a new job this month thanks to a couple of good friends of ours, Angelie & Mark.

July –

• We spent the 4th in Port Orange for their fireworks & celebration in the park.
• We celebrated Randi’s son’s first birthday at Big Tuna’s in Daytona! We got to see other friends like Jackie & Shawna as well.
• I had my first scary event happen on an aircraft. I can’t disclose details due to my company’s social media & blogging policies but obviously all ended well.
• I went to visit my favorite cousin, Sara, in Nashville! We went to see Hanson together at the Ryman Auditorium! It was childhood all over again. Around this time is when I started thinking with the mentality of “do whatever the fuck you want because life is short”. We had a great time.
• I had a great 4 day trip with my friend Megan. We went out in Austin to a couple places including a taco place that was *chef’s kiss*
• Lindsey & I had our girls trip to Paris & Morocco!!! We both busted our asses to make that trip happen & ,well, I blogged about it. Y’all know what it was like! It was insane! I loved it, I struggled, I sweat my ass off, I damn near stepped on a cobra but it was all totally worth it. Travel is LIFE.

August –

• Travel IS life but it’ll also give you stomach problems so once again…I missed some work. Dropped one trip & called out sick for another. It was a rough go for like 2 weeks once I got home from Africa.
• Since I didn’t really relax on my trip to Paris & Morocco, when I had time off I was begging everyone to please just let me relax so that’s what we did. We went to the beach, my aunt let me use her pool while she was traveling so I could have it to myself, and we had another camping trip at Wekiva with Karren & Jade.
• I actually spent a lot of time with Karren this month. She had a very hard, traumatic summer & needed extra love.
• I went to Salt Lake City for the first time!
• My father in law visited us for the first time in this house! AND in a surprise turn of events, while he was here Clinton had found out through 23&me that my father in law had a sister he did not know! She flew to Florida & we met her together for the first time during his visit!
• Emma Lou turned 13 years old. My baby girl is a teenager.

September –

• Someone hit me at a red light in Daytona. It was me & Emma & we were in Clinton’s car. We were stopped at a red light when I heard a loud noise, I looked into the rear view mirror & thought to myself “my God they’re not stopping!” And they didn’t. Slammed right into us. It wasn’t that person’s fault though…it was the person behind them!! So yeah. It was a 3 car accident. While the police were helping us, I heard another loud crash & ANOTHER 3 cars smacked into each other at the EXACT same red light. I started freaking out, I could not believe that happened. But Emma & I were fine, Clinton’s SUV was still drivable, it was covered by the person who hit me & the other man gentleman, & we got a nice rental for a month.
• I turned 35! Clinton took me to Limoncello for dinner & bought me flowers & new books.
• I had my 5th recurrent training for work (where I get certified to fly for another year) & the girls and I had our annual beach study date at Sea Vista & Chases’s.
• I explored Seattle for the first time & had 2 days in Salt Lake City because…
• HURRICANE IAN! Thank the good Lord above us, we fared well. I was in SLC absolutely petrified of what was happening at home. Our street flooded but luckily our home was spared. Most of our loved ones fared well also but we had a few friends & loved ones who flooded & lost quite a bit.

October –

• Time to put in WERK honey! Our wedding was coming up! Invites were sent out, deposits paid, wedding package needed paid off in a month, etc. I put in HOURS this month!
• Karren and I took a newbie out in Philly & we also had 30+ hours to spend in New Orleans so that was definitely dangerous. Our day in NOLA was everything. We had mimosas at Curio & Hotel Monteleone at the carousel bar, lunch at Music Legends Park/Cafe Beignet, hit a few bars, & finished with dinner at Tavern on Vets which has the BEST burgers EVER.
• We attended the Chili & Craft Beer challenge in New Smyrna in Flagler Ave. 4 of us split a $40 giant mimosa & I went home and passed out on my couch!!
• I spent a solo day at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville. Absolutely stunning resort & so hope to be able to stay there one day!
• Got to have dinner with Lindsey & Phill in Charlotte.
• Clint & I had date night at the beach & ate dinner at Crabby’s
• We had dinner at River Grille in Ormond Beach with my whole family for my daddy’s birthday (Halloween) – such a great time & it makes me question…why don’t we plan nights like that more often?!

November-

• HURRICANE NICOLE!!! Once again, absolutely petrified but we fared well. I got stuck in Detroit, Kathy & Allen were back at this point so they came & stayed with Clint & Emma. We prepared the best we could but luckily it wasn’t super needed.
• Emma met a cute Yorkie friend at the beach. Emma never makes friends. I had to document this rare occasion.
• Once again, I had back to back sickness. Lost my voice for 3 days, coughed like I’d smoked all my life, got better, then turned right around & got a stomach bug. My health has struggled this year!!
• Had Thanksgiving dinner with Clinton’s “new” aunt (see August) at her Florida home.
• Had a second Thanksgiving with crew in Myrtle Beach!
• Finished paying off everything regarding the wedding.

December –

• GOT HITCHED!!! And alllllll that that includes!! Y’all read the blog, you know how it went down.
• Had the work trip from hell that ended on Christmas Eve. Luckily passengers were lovely. Lots of Starbucks gift cards!
• Flew with my dear friend David during this trip from hell. Froze our asses off on all of our layovers due to Winter Storm Elliott. Had minimum rest. Got locked out of my hotel room in Nashville because the key pad died to my room. Just an overall trash trip.
• Had a decent enough Christmas. My heart wasn’t in it this year. I was too busy & broke as hell from the wedding. It was fine. I made a great meal, we skipped gifts, & just went for a cold night at the beach & looked at Christmas lights.

‘22 really wasn’t that *great* of a year but it was good. I know people think that because we got married it’s the best but that was just a highlight. Aside from the wedding & my trip to Paris & Morocco, I feel that ‘22 was largely mediocre & stressful! I look forward to 2023 although I know circumstances don’t change just because the year does. We have a honeymoon, some personal things we’re working on regarding family, whatever my yearly trip with Lindsey may entail, etc! I think we’ll be back in the game & in for a wonderful time!

Bring it on!!

– Autumn