Night Shift And Day Travel: A Story About Nearly Missing My Flight

I was so happy to get the chance to fly back to Minnesota this weekend to visit my family and meet our new little nephew, Finnley. Unfortunately, Matt wasn't able to come with me this time because of his clinical internship, but we have another trip planned for early December in which we'll both get lots of time to spend soaking up some quality time with family.

This trip started out pretty interesting for me as I worked the night before flying out. After getting off work around 7:30 a.m., I packed up my bags and headed to the airport. I have been looking forward to this trip all week since our nephew was born and felt like I had plenty of energy after getting off to make the trek. Funny and not surprisingly enough, I ended up crashing pretty quickly. First, I fell asleep on the flight from San Francisco to my layover in Denver. I missed the drink service and landed with my tray table down and my face smashed into the pillow I had set atop it (such a rebel haha). I cannot help but wonder if anyone tried to wake me up to put the table in the right position before landing... guess I'll never know.

The second time I fell asleep was in the airport in Denver. I stopped somewhere for dinner and headed to my gate. My flight was delayed about an hour and a half so I set an alarm and tried to take a little nap. Twice, people woke me up asking "are you going to Philadelphia? The flight is boarding... wouldn't want you to miss your flight!", to which I kindly responded "thank you" but I was heading to Minneapolis. I remember thinking to myself "I won't sleep through my flight, I set an alarm." However, I woke up around 9 p.m. freaking out because my flight was supposed to take off at 9 p.m. By God's grace the gate had been changed last minute and the boarding process delayed. I got to the gate just as they were boarding my group and a little too close for comfort!

Anyways, the moral of this story is working night shift and having your transition day spent traveling alone is probably not the best idea (really wish I could've had my human alarm clock, aka my husband). However, I did happen to get enough rest to recover during the trip, I just was pretty lucky I didn't miss any flights!

I got to soak up a selfish share of snuggles with my nephew Finnley and play time with my niece Eden. It’s so fun to see her getting such a sweet personality and copying the new words she hears. In addition to spending time with my immediate family, I saw my grandparents, lots of cousins, and visited my family’s church on Sunday. It was a short but very eventful visit, as usual.

I’m heading back to California early Monday morning to start another three night stretch at work. Matt and I are looking forward to spending some time together this weekend on a backpacking trip in Big Basin Redwoods State Park. It will be our first overnight trip since arriving in Cali!

I think going home is always a little bittersweet for me. I love my family, how close we all are, and how loved I feel each time I come back to Minnesota. However, I am thankful for the experience that Matt and I have been given to travel the country during his schooling. As the chapter of graduate school slowly closes for us, I’m excited to see where God takes us next!