You might be an aviation student when.....

.....you get information for a speech in Public Speaking from the Airport/Facility Directory, the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board, and the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration).

....your idea of a fun study time is sitting with a group of student pilots translating METARs and TAFs.

....you get depressed from reading weather forecasts that predict low ceilings and visibility for the rest of the week.

....class gets cancelled because the flight simulator is broken.  (True story, my flight block was cancelled this morning because both sims weren't in working order.)

....your biggest goal in life is to get your butt up in the air, whilst everyone else is content with letting gravity keep theirs on the ground.

....the biggest excitement for the week was Delta bringing the A319 into Roanoke for a daily flight to Atlanda.

....you don't consider homework a chore, but something fun.

....You start thinking about how long it would take to get to Walmart if you had to go through a pre-driving checklist and inspection of the car.

....you hear the sound of an airplane engine while walking down the street, and you immediately start scanning the sky to catch a glimpse of it.

......you wake up at 6 AM, memorize the before start-up checklist along with some chair flying whilst gulping hot coffee, get to the airport, run through the checklists from before start-up to after landing on the paper trainer (while consuming more coffee), do a pre-flight on a C172, get back to your dorm, brew more coffee, and your roommate is still asleep.

If you have two or more of these symptoms, you may have a serious illness called Acute Aviation Infatuation Virus, also known as the flying bug.  The only cure is to get in a plane and fly for a few hours.

Time flies....

...when you're having fun, so they say!  And it's true.  I can't believe that I've been at Liberty University for two weeks already.  In some ways, it seems like it was just last week my family was dropping me off, but in other ways, it feels like it's been a couple months!

So much has happened.  I turned 19 on Wednesday.  I've already had my first paper due.  First quiz in AVIA 102 was on V-speeds, and I aced it.  (woooohoooo!!!!)  Tuesday, I had my first flight block with my instructor, and Thursday, I got to run through the pre-flight checklist with just a little help from my instructor.  Hopefully I'll have my first flight in a two weeks or so!!!!!  All my professors are great, and I seriously am enjoying every single one of my classes (even English 102 and Public Speaking, which is saying a lot from me!).

The Lord did some cleaning out of bad influences in my life the first week of classes, which has been painful, but good for me, and He has given me some of the best friends to encourage me and pray for me.  It's been a long time since I've had such a love of learning, and a joy in just living!

My roommate and I are at my family's house for the weekend right now.  It's nice to be home for a little while, and get a good home-cooked meal.  I never knew I could crave grilled chicken and mashed potatoes and cheesecake as much as I have these past days!

Krysti, my roommate is great.  As I write this, she's playing beautiful music on our piano.  The only "roommate rivalry" that we have is when I have to get up really early and be very quiet so as not to wake her!  Even that isn't that bad at all, just a minor inconvenience.

For anyone who's wondering, I haven't started gaining the freshman 15 yet.  It's a 1/2 mile walk to the dining hall from my dorm, so I joke that I walk off everything I eat.  I probably walk about 3 miles a day just to and from buildings and bus stops...not counting the numerous times I get lost on the fourth floor of DeMoss and end up walking in circles...and half of that walking is up hills or flights of stairs!  I'm eating a salad with almost every meal, and staying away from pizza and hamburgers.....most of the time.  The only bad health habits I've picked up on is 1) not eating breakfast, and I'm trying to eat at least oatmeal in my dorm before I leave at 6:30 in the morning for my flight block; 2) not getting enough sleep since, as a pilot, I'm required to have at least 6 hours of sleep every night before I fly - personally I need at least 8 hours to function well - so I'm trying to not stay out too late and then watch music videos until 1 in the morning.  That needs to change too.

Before I close, I'm just going to say that my goal is to write an update on this blog once or twice a week.  I need to keep a record of my college life....all the new things I'm learning, how I'm growing with the Lord, the crazy people I hang out with, the flying stories I'll have.  This is as much for my own benefit and record as well as anyone else who can gain anything from my random thoughts!

In Christ,
Abigail

A true story.....

Once upon a time there was a teenage girl who was very tired and trying to fall asleep (a.k.a. me).  But the family dog kept barking, presumably at some wild animal, right outside the window.  And it kept barking, and barking, and barking even though I had told her several times to be quiet!  And I kept getting more and more upset.  Finally, I muttered to myself, "If that dog keeps this up one more time, I will yell at her in Shakespearean English....."  So I carefully raised the window blind.  (Now you need to understand something - my brother measured the window wrong so the blinds are too small, and are prone to falling down at random times.)  The dog started barking again, so I screamed through the open window "SHUT UP YOUR BISCUIT-TRAP OR I'LL BEAT YOUR BONY BUTT!!!!"  Crash!  Bang!  The window blinds fell down at that exact moment.  And my sister who was supposed to be asleep rolled with laughter from the top bunk.  I couldn't help myself, we both laughed so hard that we snorted, then laughed even harder until our sides ached and our voices got hoarse.  Let's just say that it took a very long time for either of us to go to sleep.  Oh, and the dog started barking again.........

Bday wish list

Aggghhhh!!!  Life is so busy!  It seems as if I haven't had time to even THINK any more!  Basically, I don't have anything interesting to write about...unless y'all want to hear about cleaning houses and washing saris to sew into skirts....so I just compiled a wish list for my birthday (which is coming up in three and a half weeks!), and going off to college (just 11 days away!!!).  Some of these are serious, others are just for humor.

• American Duchess shoes, size 7.5. 

They would look so cute with anything from slacks to jeans to modern skirts and dresses!  Besides, I wouldn't have to hide my feet any more when I wear my Colonial dresses....lets just say that Dansko clogs are not the most historically accurate shoes....  LOL.

• Brown riding boots such as these to pair with jeans and skirts (so for those mid-calf skirts, I don't have that awkward two or three inches of bare leg from the hem of the skirt to my shoes!  And I don't do leggings.....)

• Peep-toe shoes like these from Blowfish Shoes in black distressed linen.  I'd like a pair in white.  They look so cute with 50's dresses!

• A P-51 Mustang would be awesome!

as would a P-40 Kittyhawk

 

or the well-loved Piper Cub (same as missionary Nate Saint flew when he was killed in Ecuador) 

Or a F-14.  Or and A-380.  Yeah, it would be so special if I could take my first solo flight in one of these amazing planes.

• Dresses. I love dresses.  Like these from eShakti:

Or from ModCloth:

(I like blue, and retro style if you can't tell!!!)

• A computer (necessary for college!).  Just please, not an Apple or a Dell.  

• An all-expenses-paid vacation to Scotland and Ireland. Or Jamaica.  Or anywhere for that matter.

• Books!  And the time to read them!   There's so many books I want to read.  Maybe it's because I like history, or maybe it's because I enjoy learning, but I want to read so many of the classics.  I want to read everything from Jane Eyre to The Pilgrim's Progress to Mein Kampf.  And I want to read stories about flying.  

• New camera.  Mine died about a year ago, and since then I've relied on my brother to take pictures for me.  But my brother will not be around forever....and I need some way to not only take pictures of my skirts for my Etsy shop, but also to document my college experience!  

• Mexican Train dominoes!  If you haven't played this game, then you are missing out on a lot of fun!  I love playing this game with my church family.  We get so silly making fun of each other and threatening to never talk to each other again and telling the pastor's wife to be nice!  I've never laughed so hard as when playing Mexican Train!

• Vinyl chalkboard and chalk pens.  This would be so cute to put on my dorm room door to write notes to my roomie or to put schedule reminders to myself!

 

• A 50K scholarship would be really nice.  (LOL, don't we all wish for that!)

• Hats.  Have I ever mentioned that I do like to wear hats?  I think the 1940's pillbox, fedora, and newsboy hats are so cute, and I don't understand why more girls and women don't wear hats anymore!  Hats are cool.

• Customers for my business.

• Winter coat.  Mine's kinda looking threadbare.....but maybe I can mend it and replace some missing buttons to last this winter.

That's my birthday wish list, full of random stuff that I want, but probably don't need.

And of course, last but not least, my biggest birthday wish is for a wonderful birthday with my family, boyfriend, and roommate (who's birthday is the day before mine!  Eeeek!!!!!).  :)

Sorry for the lack of posts....

but I've been crazy busy lately.  There's a lot I want to post about, but needless to say, between working two jobs and running my Etsy shop (I've got another shipment of saris coming in later this week, so I've got plenty of sewing to do), I don't have much time for anything else!  So, please, bear patiently with me!  :)

Class Schedule

I am now registered for all my classes at Liberty, and, thank the Lord, I got all the classes I needed/wanted.  Because the School of Aeronautics is not on the main campus, but at the airport, I wanted to get all my aviation classes on the same day so I'm not commuting back and forth from main campus to the airport everyday between classes.  I've got two aviation classes, two Honors courses, and two general education classes.  And a flight block for actually getting in the plane behind the yoke and flying.  Total: 16 credits.  I think I can handle that pretty well, but I'm not sure how running my business is going to fit in.....

A random fashion question.....

What do I wear at college?  I just posted about this over my other blog, Old-Fashioned Beauty.  More or less, with a dress code that calls for slacks or pants or khakis, and a collared shirt, I'm needing some suggestions on cute, inexpensive outfits!  I don't want a boring polo shirt here.  Blouses are almost a must so I can wear them with skirts too, vintage style preferred.  Sewing pattern ideas are accepted.  :)