Golden Tickets!

Lindsay here!  Matt is fast asleep... I think the jet lag is catching up to him.  I'm taking this opportunity to update the blog... last time we posted, we were waiting for our golden tickets.  Last Saturday, they still hadn't come, and I made the decision to take a quick "business" trip up to Salt Lake to help one little autistic boy in his new kindergarten classroom.  As soon as I booked my ticket, I knew my ticket to Abu Dhabi would be coming.

I woke up the next morning to two of my friends messaging me that their tickets had come and I frantically checked my e-mail.  Nothing.  Spam folder?  Nope.  So, we went to church and I distractedly checked my e-mail over and over again.  After church, we ate a quick lunch of Olive Garden left overs and Matt, Darlene, and I headed to Albuquerque.  I continued to check my e-mail every 10 minutes, but no e-mail.

I checked and checked as I awaited the first leg of my trip to Las Vegas.  Nothing.

At the Vegas Airport... nothing.

Salt Lake Airport... nothing.  

In spite of being preoccupied with the prospect of receiving my tickets at any moment, I was still able to enjoy my time in Salt Lake.  My parents couldn't have me be that close to them (4.5 hours away) and not come see me, so they were there to pick me up at the airport (I love them)!  We enjoyed sushi and Chinese food at Red Ginger Bistro and then they took me to stay with the family of the little boy I was there to work with.  My parents stayed in a hotel close by so that they could spend as much time with me as possible.

Monday was as wonderful as could be, and I managed to truly enjoy my unexpected time in Salt Lake with some friends and family and doing some very rewarding work with this little autistic boy I have come to love so much.  That afternoon, I received a phone call from Footprints Recruiting letting me know that my visa had been processed.  What a relief!  At least I didn't have to wonder about that anymore.  By the end of the day, I was feeling pretty confident that my tickets were not going to end the trip early, but I still had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that I needed to be back in Albuquerque by Tuesday evening.  Exhausted from a long, eventful day and feeling a cold coming on, I managed to book the flight before my head hit the pillow.

Tuesday morning, I awoke to the long-awaited e-mail from Nirvana Travel Agency with my visa and tickets!  I needed to add tickets for Matt and change the departure city from Salt Lake to Albuquerque, but I was still so excited to finally be making progress in this journey.  Nirvana had the problem fixed before noon, and everything was set.  Matt and I were to depart the NEXT day at 12:53 PM!  Things were working out perfectly.  I couldn't have planned it better myself!  I said more tearful goodbyes to my sweet friend who brought me up to Salt Lake and to my wonderful parents, who were able to take me to the airport and truly send me off to Abu Dhabi... the last time was so anticlimactic, since we were just going to New Mexico to wait for our tickets.  What a blessing for my parents and for me, although I cried a lot more than the last time.