Flying High

MISSION: ACCOMOPLISHED! .... or was it?? .......

In March, I booked a flight to Florida to visit the vacation house my mom bought earlier this year. The last time I booked a flight, I cancelled it within 3 hours because I started crying (WTF?) when I started packing, so this was a major deal. Two weeks later.... it was that time.... time to get my butt on a jet to Florida! I had an 8:00AM flight, which meant I had to be out of the house at 6AM (yuck!). I was soo tired that I had the calmest ride to the airport - I wasn't nervous at all!.... Until I got to the airport.

Once I got through security, I looked around for a Sprite (don't ask, it's my comfort drink... I'm neurotic remember?). Of course, they didn't have it anywhere in the airport! Just my luck! I was freaking out - I almost cancelled the trip because they didn't have Sprite! I settled for something else and decided I would try to get my seat changed hoping it would help me feel a little more comfortable on the flight. I ended up getting my seat changed to ROW 1! Literally ROW 1! I was also able to have a flight attendant waiting for me with a Sprite when I stepped on the plane (wow, JetBlue spoiled the $h1t out of me didn't they?). I was soo nervous when I got on the plane that I was afraid I was going to end up getting off. Instead, the cabin door closed and I was on my way to Florida!

 I landed in Tampa and life was goooood!

Fear of flying: Conquered?

Afraid of flying at 22. I know what you're thinking "What a baby!".. Well that's what I thought too! Every year... I mean EVERY YEAR for the past 6 years, my mom has asked me to visit Florida with her and the family. My response the past six years: NO. I didn't understand what was wrong with me, but I knew I couldn't get on a plane. It's not like I hadn't flown soo many times before! It just seemed so ridiculous and I felt like a baby. At a certain point, I decided I really needed to conquer the $h1t out of my fear of flying. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life in New Jersey without the possibility of visiting other states and even other countries! I've always wanted to visit soo many places, but I knew I would never get there with this fear putting some serious weight on me. I did the only thing I thought would make my fear of flying magically disappear.....

I emailed every small airport and every charter company in the area. I didn't think any of them would respond since they must get a billion email a day from much more important people. Next thing I knew... I GOT A RESPONSE! I was scheduled with a private charter company to take a short flight on a private jet - and yes I said PRIVATE JET! I had a week to prepare for this, and I was sooo extremely nervous. Never in my life did I expect to fly on a private jet - this kind of thing normally costs over $1,000 per hour! I flew for free! I was sooo excited the day of the flight that I wasn't even really nervous. At that point, I knew that my anxiety and fear of flying was just stupid and something made up in my baby brain. I finally stepped foot on the jet and I felt like a million bucks.. literally I felt like a millionaire! We taxied to the runway and took off to the skies. This was the most amazing feeling that I had felt in soo long. I was soo proud of myself that I was speechless. I just kept staring out the window with such a smile on my face. After the flight, the first thing I did was call my mom (she was flying to Florida that night) and said "I FRIGGIN' DID IT!" She then wanted me to take a trip to FL with her in April soooo.....

Next step was to book a flight to Florida! Did I really conquer my fear of flying?? ......

Food?: Yes, please

Who's the pickiest eater you'll ever know? - I AM! Seriously, I'm worse than a child! Ever take a look at the food pyramid (now called "my plate")? Let's just say I never ate anything in it besides candy and breads. The more chocolate I had, the happier I was. I was afraid to eat just about everything! There were very few things I would eat, but that list consisted of pizza, pasta with butter, ham and cheese sandwiches, and some chicken every once in a while.... oh and I can't forget candy! I know you're asking yourself, "how the hell did she survive?!" .... believe me, I've asked myself the same thing and I don't even know how I did it.

I desperately needed to expand my food horizons, so I made a commitment to myself to try to eat a new food everyday - and hell, it worked! Example: Never in my life did I think I would like japanese food, but guess what happened when I tried it?? I am now addicted! I could eat hibachi all day, every day for the rest of my life and be completely happy(unfortunately that's completely unhealthy!).

Looking back I say to myself, "WTF WAS I THINKING?!?" I love almost everything I try. Things I thought I would totally hate, I now can't get seem to get enough. I used to be forced to go to restaurants where I would never order anything - I would just sit there while the "normal" people enjoyed their food. Now, I can finally go out to restaurants without the fear of not being able to eat something. It's incredible! "Oh, heyy life!"

Could this possibly be the beginning of a new life for me??! .....

What an understatement!

What was an understatement, you ask?? My anxiety!

Years went by without realizing that I was developing some crazzzyyy anxiety. I never wanted to do anything. I didn't go out with friends, I didn't eat in restaurants, I didn't travel...... in short - I didn't do anything! My anxiety had absolutely taken over my life and it was just pathetic and depressing. It held me back from doing sooo many things - I couldn't take it anymore!

I realized that everything I was anxious about was linked together in some way. I didn't travel not only because I thought something bad was going to happen to me on the plane, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to eat while I was away because I'm such a picky eater. I'm also a baby and was just plain afraid to leave home(how pathetic, right?)! After six years of suffering from the lame life that had been completely taken over by anxiety, I decided I needed to open up and explore new possibilities in life.

I knew I had to nip my anxiety in the @$$ or I would never get to enjoy life the way "normal"(is there really such thing as normal?) people do! In no way am I cured, but hell, I know I kicked the $h1t out of my anxiety already and I'm totally prepared to kick some more be-hind! I'll share some of my @$$ kicking experiences very soon - first up..... I know it doesn't sound like much, but FOOD! (I'm picky as hell, but I friggin' LOVE to eat!)

neu.ro.sis

neu·ro·sis
noun, plural -ses
A functional disorder in which feelings of anxiety, obsessional thoughts, compulsive acts, and physical complaints without objective evidence of disease,in various degrees and patterns,dominate the personality.

Oh nooooo, I'm neurotic?!?! AHHHHH!!

I'm neurotic! I'm neurotic!!

oh, heyy life!

A few things about oh, heyy life! and katie elizabeth that you must know:

1. i, katie elizabeth, am neurotic, filled with anxiety, and a dreamer - quite possibly the most important although i am not actually neurotic i just have some tendencies - i am not perfect
2. oh, heyy life! will consist of ridiculous thoughts and ramblings from the mind of me, katie elizabeth; photos and drawings will also be posted frequently

I've created oh, heyy life! to describe and explore my own thoughts and experiences while my followers can enjoy them as I know my friends and family do. I'm prepared to take you on a comedic journey of my daily life that I know so many of you can and will probably relate to.

Over the past few years, I have developed anxiety of just about everything in this thing we call life. From the food I eat to the places I go, anxiety is always present. I'm sure soo many others can relate and that's one reason I wanted to create oh, heyy life!

It's been a long journey to get where I am today, but I realized that in order to have a life, I needed to conquer some of those fears, big or small, every day. You'll see through this blog that I'm not only not perfect, but you'll also see that my experiences are somewhat funny and sometimes pretty pathetic. I've had a lot of fun conquering some of my fears - some are experiences that I will never forget and some that have turned into things I love to do. You'll see....... but I say "Oh, heyy life!"