Guest Post #2 - Fall Trend

Hello there Flying Through Life readers!  Ashley here from Places To Go, Things To Buy and I am sooo excited that Shea has allowed me to do a guest posting on her fabulous blog! She and I have become bloggie friends (the best kind of course) and today I thought we’d talk about one of fall’s hottest trends…..RED!

Color has totally invaded fall this year.  Goodbye traditional fall colors like brown, black, and beige. Hello bright and bold colors!  For me, this is a welcome surprise because I love color!  Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the neutrals, but I will always love a good pop of color.  And what better way to do it then with red!

One of my fall fashion buys were these red work pants from Express!  I absolutely love them and I got so many compliments on them the other day!  They fit like a dream too!

A tried and true classic is red nail polish, and nobody does it better than Chanel of course!  Whenever I see someone with red nails or lips, I always swoon!  There is just something so eye-catching about it!

These red suede booties from Nine West are adorable! What a great way to add a pop of color to an outfit…..just throw on a pair of skinny jeans, white t-shirt, and a black blazer and your good to go!  These are definitely on my fall wish list….

And last but not least, can we just take a sec to admire how gorgeous this JCrew red winter coat is? It’s a bit outa my budget…..($350)….BUT this would absolutely make a statement walking down the street! Go big or go home, right? It’s such a gorgeous shade of red and I love the military style buttons!

So remember….don’t be afraid of color this fall and when it doubt….wear red! Thanks for reading and please stop on over to my blog, Places To Go, Things To Buy. I’d love to meet you all!

Ashley - I love your style and actually don't have much red in my wardrobe...but you've definitely inspired my next shopping trip!  Thanks so much for your willingness to guest blog!..I'm so happy we've become bloggie friends :-)


The third and final guest post will be on Monday from Tammy @ Lemons, Avocados, and the Bay.  I hope you check it out!

XOXO,

Guest Post #1 - Mama Laughlin

Hello all you FTL readers! 
I am Mama Laughlin. Now, brace yourself for some inappropriateness... that's sort of my thing.

I'm not the wife of a pilot like Shea- my husband is an electrician if you MUST know. But I am mom of soon to be 2 boys.
Shoot me.
Okay, don't really. I seriously have the cutest kid in all the lands. (What? I do!)
See!

And I'm pretty sure this next one is going to be equally as good looking.
He get it from his mama. :)
But in all seriousness, I love my son more than anything in this world and can't wait to expand our family!
This is our family last Christmas.

I know what you're thinking, and you're right, I WAS skinny. 
I worked my ass off to be that skinny. Literally.
Because before I got pregnant, I actually looked like this.

And then I got pregnant in 2009. Delivered my son weighing in at 217 lbs. 

And then I became an obese, 200 lb. mom. Something I'd always feared. 

And then one day when my son was 6 weeks old I said "ok, I think I want to be skinny". And from that day forward, I worked my butt off to be just that.
It took me nearly 10 months to lose 60 lbs. 
It is one of the best things I've ever done for myself and one of the things I'm most proud of.

I kept track of my weightloss on my blog and posted pics with each 10 lb. loss. 
I didn't take a magic pill, follow some ridiculous diet, or have surgery. I did it the old fashioned way- I put down the fork and picked up my tennis shoes.
I truly believe the key to weightloss is hard work and consistency.
If I can do it, ANYONE can.

Now days, I look more like this.

I have had a fit pregnancy this time around and am still feeling great at 34 weeks.
I truly believe that's because I've continued to eat mindfully and stay active throughout this pregnancy. 
I also know that post-baby body won't be NEAR as bad as it was last time and for that I'm thankful.
I will, however, be documenting my post-baby weightloss again on my blog and hope you'll stop by to watch this mama get fit again!
And say hello if you're new, I love meeting new friends!

Until next time, 
Peace, Love, & Baby Fat

Mama Laughlin

Thanks so much Mama Laughlin!  I love your blog & I'm so excited that you were able to do a post for me!  I'm honored :-)  

Tomorrow's guest post will be Ashley from Places to Go, Things to Buy!  I hope you stop over!

XOXO,

No Update...

Yesterday evening, Josh was supposed to find out if there was a possibility of him upgrading to Captain.  Well....yesterday came and went...and no list was released.  

So dumb AND typical!  Ugh!!

I seriously predicted this would happen.  I really don't want to bash his company especially since they haven't ever screwed Josh over (and sometimes that's normal for an airline to do) and his job is pretty stable (something to be cherished when working for an airline).....

BUT

His company is always late with everything!  Putting lines (AKA: schedules) out, seniority lists, the new contract, and now I can add this to the list...  which of course is the one that we're most on edge about.  Apparently the system that was supposed to compute the entire realignment just didn't work.  Wonderful.  You would have thought they'd do a trail run first??  Hopefully they get it figured out soon!

  Ohhh well, time will tell.  Enough of my complaining!  Until then, I'm sure Josh will be compulsively checking his crew account to see if they've released anything.  

Keep keeping your fingers crossed!!! :-)

XOXO,

Captain Spot?

So this should be quite an interesting week...

This post may get a little complicated and piloty...so if it bores you, I won't be offended.  But after all, this is a blog of a pilot's wife!

A few weeks ago, Josh's airline announced a "Realignment" notice which basically gives the pilot's the opportunity to "bid" to fly other planes.  Since his company recently merged with 2 other companies, there are now a total of 4 different types of planes.

Contrary to what many people think, pilot's just don't wake up each morning and fly whatever plane is lined up for them.  They are assigned to and trained for a specific aircraft and that's what they stick to unless they bid to fly something else or they are hired by another airline.

  So because of this realignment and there being new planes to bid for, Captains might choose to fly something different.  In turn, that may create a few open Captain spots.  If things work out just right, Josh could maybe, just possibly be awarded a Captain.  ...which would be crazy/so exciting!

But honestly, there are just too many things that have to work out perfectly.  At first we were quite hopeful, but the more Josh ran the numbers, the more doubtful we became.  We just keep telling ourselves that if it doesn't work out this time around, it's for a reason and his time will come when it's right.  On the bright side, if some people upgrade to Captain (but not enough for him to be reached), he'll soar in seniority and hopefully get better schedules.  

Ughh...who knows.  This pilot business is just too complex. 

One thing I don't like about the airlines is the fact that everything is based on seniority.  Although it makes everything "fair", it's not based on merit.  In other words, Josh could be THE BEST pilot in the entire world, but he wouldn't be awarded a captain spot until everyone hired before him got it too.  I don't like it!!  I like my job where if you do really well...you are given a promotion or somehow rewarded.     

Anywho...the list showing if anyone was awarded a Captain spot comes out Tuesday evening.  However, we can't even get our hopes up because that's just the "Initial" award.  If anyone wants to make changes or decline anything, they can.  For example, if a Captain changes his mind about going to a different aircraft, they can decline and then that open spot goes away.  The "Final" list comes out Thursday night and that's the important one.  If his name is on there, then we're off to celebrate!

So if you all could just cross your fingers for him, that would be wonderful.  I'm really not expecting him to actually get it...but we can at least hope, right?!?

Whatever happens, happens.  But I'll definitely keep you all posted!!  Think happy thoughts! :-)

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I'm linking up with Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesday!

1. Carmex

Regardless of the season, temperature, weather - my lips are almost always chapped.  It's kind of ridiculous.  So throughout the years I've become an expert on good chapsticks.  Carmex is by far the best chapstick out there!  So next time you're standing in line at the grocery store and you're in the mood to try something new, grab one of these suckers off the shelf!

2. EverSleek Shampoo

I really try to be as healthy as I can, but when I think of being "healthy," food and exercise usually come to mind.  But we have to remember that our skin is the largest organ of our body.  So anything we slather onto our skin/head will immediately be absorbed into our bodies.  I recently purchased Loreal's Eversleek shampoo because it's sulfate free.  I was kind of nervous at first because I know they put sulfates into shampoo to make lathering easy.  But I was pleasantly surprised!  It lathered quite well and made my hair feel extra soft.  Good purchase.

3. Strawberry-Pretzel Salad

O-M-G.  I'm sure many of you are quite familiar with this dessert...but I made it over the weekend to take to a party and it was probably the best dessert I've ever made.  You can find the recipe here.  It was a pretty simple recipe...just a few separate steps.  It's always a crowd favorite...  YUM!!

4. Josh is HOME! 

I'm LOVING that Josh is HOME and it's Wednesday!!!!  As soon as I'm finished typing this post, we're going to make dinner and then spend the evening together...I feel like a real married couple, haha.  I'm really not sure why he's home (some random thing with this week's schedule), but he'll leave again tomorrow morning for just a few flights that day and then return home tomorrow night.  All in all, this week won't be too bad.  And then at the end of next week... SAN FRANCISCO!!!  Woo hoo!!

Have a lovely evening everyone!

XOXO,

Looking for Guest Bloggers!

As some of you know, I will be in San Francisco visiting my brother October 7th-10th.  Soooo, I was hoping a few of you might be interested in guest blogging!

I'm open to all topics...but my favorites are beauty, fashion, money-savings, pilot lifestyles, healthy living, etc.  

If you're interested, please comment below or send me an e-mail at mrspilotwife@gmail.com and we can work out the details!

Thanks so much!  I've never done this, so I'm kind of excited ;-)

A Wicked Weekend

Many months ago, my awesome mother surprised us all (me, Josh, my mom, & step-dad) with Wicked tickets.  I'm sure many of you are familiar with it already...but in case you don't know, it's a Broadway show and it's fabulous.  We didn't travel to NYC...the touring company just came to Pittsburgh.

Our Friday night:

Wicked is based around what happened prior to "The Wizard of Oz."  Therefore, to fully understand the story line, you need to be pretty familiar with Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Wicked Witch of the West, etc.  Needless to say, (for Josh's sake) we watched the The Wizard of Oz on Friday night in preparation for the show on Saturday....haha.  But wow...I am REALLY glad we did.  I forgot how many references there were and he probably would have been pretty confused.    

Our Saturday:

We woke up early Saturday morning and met Josh's parents at our favorite (breakfast) restaurant, Perkin's.  That was nice since his Gram was in town visiting and we don't get to see her as often as we'd like.

After that, we pretty much rushed home and got ready since we had tickets for the Matinee show.  Usually I prefer going at night, but my mom was able to get much better tickets if she chose the earlier show.  Good decision on her part because we had wonderful seats...about 10 rows from the stage.  Just far enough back that we could see the entire stage perfectly. 

As I mentioned above, Wicked was fabulous.  Like, so freaking good.  However, it was my second time seeing it and it will never compare to my first time.  I was fortunate enough to have seen the original broadway cast in NYC with Kristin Chenowith and Idina Menzel.  That night was magical.  I was pretty worried I was going to be disappointed with the traveling company, but I wasn't.  Their voices were SUBERB and they completely lived up to my expectations. 

Josh also loved it.  Let me just say, I am very thankful to have a husband that actually enjoys these kinds of things.  There are so many guys out there that would just refuse to see a musical with their girlfriend/wife because it's too "gay" or boring.  So thank you hubby - you are awesome.  

After the show, we all went out for dinner at Max & Erma's which is a fun restaurant that's right across the street from the theater.  It was nice to be on a "double date" with my parents...albeit different, but nice.

Our Sunday (today):

My former boss had a party at his cabin.  We got there at about noon and stayed until mid-afternoon.  No joke...it was by far, the nicest cabin I've ever seen in my entire life.  It was something you'd see on HGTV or something.  I really wish I would have taken pictures...but then again, it may have been weird if they caught me taking pictures of their bathroom.  It was right along the river too, so the view was just breathtaking.  

After we got home, we did our usual get-josh-ready-for-his-trip routine and now we're both curled up on the couch watching the Steeler game.  Ahem...Go Steelers!

So overall, this past weekend was wicked fun ;-)