getting my wings

After 22 tests, 46 days of training, 3 training flights, 8 practical evaluations, and countless hours of sleep lost, I've finally graduated from flight attendant training. *sigh of relief* It was much more difficult than I anticipated, likely due to the combination of being away from home for such a long period time plus the content and speed in which we covered the material. To sum it up, flight attendant training is no joke. But, God clearly wanted me here and I'm so thankful he brought me to this point.

The last week of flight attendant training was, well, intense. We had 2 aircraft tests, customer service validations, emergency management validations, door proficiency finals, emergency equipment preflight validations, and our final exam. It was the culmination of 7 weeks of information crammed into 3 days of testing and assessing whether or not we really got it.

Thursday afternoon was our final exam. After completing the assessment and pressing 'submit' for the last time, a wave of relief washed over me. I sunk into my seat with a sigh, realizing that I did it. I made it through flight attendant training. It's hard to explain what that moment felt like, but needless to say, it was wonderful.

Friday was a combination of elation, liberation, and exhaustion. We arrived early to the graduation venue in full uniform to rehearse and afterwards eagerly awaited the arrival of our friends and family. The venue was beautiful and the ceremony was a tear jerker. As with any graduation, we had a few speakers that motivated us to go out into the world (or sky, in this case) and be the best you can be. They spoke of our accomplishments and what we went through to get to this point.

Towards the end, we crossed the stage and were presented our wings. My airline does the pinning of the wings differently than most other airlines. Typically, the instructors will pin students wings as they walk across the stage, but we were given the opportunity to choose whomever we wanted to pin our wings after the ceremony. Without a shadow of a doubt, I knew I wanted my dad to be the one to pin my wings.

It was such a special moment being reunited with my parents and Kelly, celebrating this accomplishment and being able to finally head home!

There was a short reception after the ceremony that was catered with brunch foods. A perfect ending to an amazing morning.

As thrilling as it was to have gotten to graduation, it was also slightly bittersweet. I am blessed to have been able to develop the friendships I did at training. I've spent so many hours with my fellow trainees (now flight attendants :) studying, learning, stressing, and just living life together. I could never explain what flight attendant training is like to someone and have them fully comprehend. You have to experience it yourself...and that's what happened within my class. We experienced something together that few people understand. We locked arms when things got tough and helped one another succeed. I'm so grateful for the camaraderie our class has developed, even after 7 weeks of madness. Congrats to everyone in my class and I'll see y'all in NYC!

My roomie Ashley and I

My amazing instructors and I

Finally, I don't think I could write a post about graduating without saying thank you to those of you who stuck with me through these last 7 weeks of training. You know who you are and I praise God for you and for the support you gave. I certainly needed it! Without your reassurance and encouragement, I don't know that I would've been able to make it to this point.

Well friends, there's not much more to say aside from the fact that I'm now officially a flight attendant. Stick around for future posts on figuring out this crazy new career which will include: crashpads, navigating NYC, my first flight, and plenty more haphazard adventures.

Welcome aboard :)

the sweetest reflection

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."

Søren Kierkegaard

These past 7 weeks have been challenging, exciting, interesting, exhausting, frustrating, exhilarating, and painstaking, but most of all, they have been sanctifying. God clearly ordained my coming here for his glory and my good. The temporal training I received to become a flight attendant is utterly insignificant in comparison to the ways in which the gospel was made known among this group of trainees. On the drive here 7 weeks ago, my dad and I prayed that my time at training would be filled with opportunities to share the gospel and boldness in doing so. That simple prayer was lifted up countless times from so many different people. God heard our prayers and responded. He moved in great ways here and I am humbled to have been chosen as part of his plan to draw these people to himself.

"Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!"

Psalm 117

I wish I could sit down with each person reading this post and tell of God's greatness and the ways in which he included me in his work here. Needless to say, it was magnificent. I had an abundance of opportunities to share the gospel one-on-one and in groups. More often than not, the people I shared with were open and curious about my beliefs. Few times though, I did experience pushback and rejection of the gospel. In both circumstances, God used those conversations to draw myself closer to him and to make known to these people the salvation offered to them through Christ. My prayer is that those who heard will turn from their sinfulness and repent so that they might be reconciled to the God of the universe and join me as coheirs with Christ.

"The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him."

Romans 8:16-17

I praise God for the challenges, frustrations, and exhaustion that flight attendant training brought. He used it to make me even more aware of my own human frailty and to conform me into a closer image of himself. Ultimately, that is all I want from this life. To know him and to make him known among all nations.

"But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."

2 Corinthians 3:16-18

Give praise to God, beloved. He is deserving of your honor and worship. Give yourself to this, turn to the Lord, and allow the veil to be removed. 

wait, what airplane am i on?

MD-88/90, DC-9, 717, 737, A319/320, 777, 767, 757, A330, 747. Aircraft types. And to the untrained eye, they all look like this.

And even with training, they still look like that.

That's pretty much the overview of week 6 of flight attendant training. More aircraft types, more exits, more emergency equipment. We did have the opportunity to go and tour a 777 in the hangar which was so much fun! The crew rest facility and first class were amazing! Huge galleys, lay flat seats in first class, and an upper deck crew rest? Yes please.

Flight deck fun. 

Me and my roomie in the hangar.

Saturday, we had our last customer service training flight. Myself and two other trainees flew to Salt Lake City which was such a valuable experience. Actually going through the motions and doing the job puts all the pieces together. We were even able to sit in the cockpit during the flight and ask the captain and first officer questions! Let's just say, it's a pretty spectacular view.

Amazing training flight crew.

This week is my last week of flight attendant training. Can I get an AMEN?! It will be incredibly stressful but when I get my wings on Friday, it will all be worth it.

T-minus 5 days.

service in the sky

Last week was week 5 of flight attendant training...international service week. We focused mainly on international customer service standards such as: how to serve/cook a meal, set up a dessert cart, which carts can be opened on the ground, duty free sales, etc. For the most part, it was a breeze. We had later report times, fewer tests, and light material. I will say though, there is much more that goes into service at 35,000ft than you would expect. But, we all needed a bit of a break so we were grateful to slow things down a bit. Unfortunately, this week will not look the same. We will be covering the rest of the widebody aircrafts in our fleet. As I mentioned in week 4, I'm not a huge fan of aircraft specific training, although it will probably be better than the dull less interesting material covered last week. I'll keep you posted though.

In other news, we had a wine tasting and catered dinner off campus on Wednesday which was a welcome change to our monotonous schedule. The food was delicious and real which is the polar opposite of the 'food' I am able to eat and store at the hotel (i.e. cereal, oatmeal, and protein bars).

Saturday, we had our second training flight which focused specifically on customer service. I flew with two other trainees to Fort Lauderdale and back. It was a quick and easy trip that offered so much insight into what work will really be like when we're finished with training. On the first leg, I worked in First Class and had amazing customer interactions. The customers and crew were encouraging and excited to have us onboard which made the experience all the more exciting. On the flight back to Atlanta, the captain made us stay seated for the majority of the flight due to turbulence which prevented us from doing a full beverage service. Thankfully, the turbulence lightened up with enough time for us to do a water and snack walkthrough. Overall, the flight was really fun and a good reminder of what I'll be doing in a few short weeks.

Since my flight landed back in Atlanta at 1:25pm, I was able to run to another gate and hop on a flight home to surprise mom for Mother's Day! Being in Birmingham with my parents, Kelly, and Tucker was exactly what I needed to rejuvenate me for this last bit of training. I was able to go to church with my parents which was more of a blessing than I can explain. The sermon focused on the cross and Christian womanhood since it was Mother's Day. It was a beautiful reminder of not only my purpose here at training (to be intentional in sharing the gospel with coworkers) but more specifically, my role as a woman. Praise God for creating distinct gender roles that we are intended to glorify him through.

It was a busy but blessed week. May 24th doesn't seem that far off anymore. Here's to finishing training and getting back home so I can spend much needed time with my Birmingham crew :)

halfway there

I'm elated to say that I am now over halfway finished with flight attendant training. Thank God! Graduation couldn't get here soon enough!

We just completed week 4. It consisted of a midterm, 5 aircraft tests, and midterm emergency management validations. Overall, it was a busy week. Our instructors have been so excited to teach the aircraft specific section of our training since the beginning, so we were all looking forward to it. But boy, were we wrong. This is what pretty much each day this week looked like (with the exception of our midterm day). The first thing we did after reporting to the training center was take a test on the aircraft we studied the previous day. Immediately following the test, we did online training on the aircraft we would be studying that day, then we go into lecture. We covered how many exits are on the aircraft, how to operate those exits, where the jumpseats are, what the minimum crew is, emergency equipment locations, etc. Every.little.detail. And let me tell you, there are a lot of minor differences. Lunch is thrown in at some point and then we went down to our 'mock-ups' in which we practiced normal and emergency operation of that aircraft's exits (windows, doors, tailcones, etc.). Each person has to pass off on the ability to operate the exits because at the end of training, we have our door proficiency day. One of the most nerve-racking days of training. We will have to go in and test off on every exit of every aircraft before graduating. You fail, you go home. I heard of a girl last year who had to retest on her doors the morning of graduation. She failed and was sent home from training. Oh, and her family had flown in from Brazil to see her graduate. No bueno. That being said, our door proficiency is critical to passing. After we all practiced exit operation, we had a review and headed home. That happened every.single.day. All in all, not my favorite week. I am looking forward to this upcoming week though! Week 5 is international week (can someone say Paris?!) so there will be lots of training on customer service, cultural sensitivity, food/beverage service standards, among other non-aircraft specific related subjects. Unfortunately, we still have 4 aircrafts left to study (with multiple variations of each aircraft), but at least we're finished with 5 of them!

19 days left friends. Just 19 days. Praise.the.Lord.

a perfectly timed pick-me-up

Getting to the halfway point in training comes with it's pros and cons. It really just depends if you're a glass is half full or half empty kind of person. For me, it changes day to day. Being away from my friends and family has been exceedingly difficult. I miss the community and accountability that comes from my small group, church, family, and friends. Thankfully though, the busyness of my schedule has only enabled me to focus on what is happening here, keeping me from dwelling on what I miss so dearly. One amazing thing about my training is that it's held in Atlanta, Georgia, a mere 2-3 hour drive from Birmingham! Some people here are 16 hours from their family and friends! Due to the short commute, I have been beyond blessed to have visits from my sweet daddy and most recently, Kelly!! Here's a rundown of 30 hours of roommate awesomeness.

It began with what can only be described as a breathtaking, jaw dropping, she-knows-me-too-well surprise. Gluten free chocolate chip banana bread. Feel free to take a moment to wipe the drool from your mouth. I understand. Some might say that this banana bread is necessary to my survival. If there are two bananas in my house at any point, you can bet I will be transforming them into this bad boy.

Moving on. We made a quick trip to Target so I could grab my weekly necessities. Soup. Cereal. Bananas. Protein bars. Ahh the joys of hotel life...microwave food only. Afterwards, we went for some serious girl time and got a manicure. It was so relaxing and a nice treat considering the workload Kelly and I both have had on our plate in the recent weeks.

Next, we wanted to go somewhere that neither of us had been to that would be a fun experience in the ATL. Little did we know, we chose paradise. Trader Joe's.

This place is like a mini Whole Foods, but cheaper. A gluten free girls dream. We were excited to say the least. After perusing each aisle, we left like champions.

If you've never been to Trader Joe's before, make sure to tell the people at check out. You might leave with an extra goody and a few bells rung in your honor. Just sayin.

We had just a little time before church so we headed to one of Kelly's favorite places to shop. I had never been before so I was excited to see what the hype was all about.

Crate & Barrel was awesome! Kelly explained it perfectly. It's similar to Ikea, but better quality and you don't have to assemble everything yourself.

The next part of our day was honestly a huge disappointment. Being in Atlanta and having no car has kept me from being able to attend church these past two Sundays. I have been craving community and corporate worship so Kelly suggested we find a church to attend! Brilliant idea. We chose a well-known church in Atlanta and attended their evening service. It was terrible. There's really no better way to say it, we were shocked. The teaching was a feel good, man pleasing, Scripture lacking, motivational speech. The pastor read one verse and told personal, unrelated stories the rest of the service. It was fluff. The focus was completely misdirected. It was centered on being successful, finding your passion, and doing good. While that may sound nice, that's not the intention for the church. We glorify God by making disciples of all nations. Finding your passion as a follower of Christ is relatively easy. We seek to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth, fulfilling the great commission. I was angered by the lack of gospel-centered, Christ exalting, God honoring worship. That being said, I am committing to pray for this church for at least the duration of my training in Atlanta. That place desperately needs refocusing.

Leaving early from the service with our spirits broken, Kelly and I made our way to dinner. She mentioned hearing about a gluten free burger place in town that sounded delicious. And boy was she right. God bless Farm Burger.

This place knocked our socks off. The service exceeded expectations and the food was delectable. We each built our own burgers...mine with a gluten free bun. The spicy garlic, parmesan, herb Farm Burger fries were to-die-for. Sooo good.

But wait, there's more.

This is truly the epitome of Kelly and I in milkshake form. She ordered the salted caramel and I ordered the chocolate peanut butter. It was bliss. Bliss people. A much needed pick-me-up.

Monday, we slept in (can I get an amen?) and then headed to Ikea.

It was a fairly quick trip but Kelly knew what she was looking for which streamlined the process. Here are our spoils from the trip.

Unfortunately, this is the end of 30 hours of much needed roomie time. Kelly, you're amazing, the best roommate a girl could ask for! I love you more than you know and am so thankful you were able to come visit! I miss you already and can't wait to see you in a few short weeks!!

xoxo

first flight, first aid, and fighting bob

Week three. Almost halfway there. Thank God. This week was a little bit of a break compared to Emergency Management week. Our report times were a little later and we left a little earlier. We covered medical for two days, security for two days, an aircraft type, and then on Saturday, I had my first training flight!

My class after a session in customer service.

The medical section ranged from nausea/vomiting to life threatening medical conditions. If you know me, you know I love all.things.medical. I began on the track to nursing school last summer but due to a long series of events, God was clearly redirecting my path. So, it was nice to study medicine again, even if for a short time.

Ol' Stanley needed some serious resuscitation.

Next was security. Those two days were pretty intense. As you might expect, we discussed 9/11 and how that changed air travel in it's entirety. Reflecting on that day from the perspective of a flight attendant adds a whole new vantage point and is just truly heartbreaking. As I said last week, I pray that my class and I will never encounter any type of security related situation. On a lighter note, we briefly covered self defense. Enter: Bob. Bob is an angry passenger who has attempted to physically assault a flight attendant. Hint: don't try that. We have tricks up our freshly ironed sleeves to take you down.

My roommate with an unhappy Bob.

Friday, we covered three aircraft types. It was a long, stressful, 12 hour day. By the time I got home, I only had a few hours to study and prepare for my flight the following day. I was scheduled for a quick turn from Atlanta to St. Louis and back. This training flight is referred to as the OE flight. Essentially, it is required for all flight attendants to have an OE before the FAA approves you to become a flight attentant. It's huge. If you didn't pass Saturday, you were given a second attempt on Monday. If you failed again, you're sent home. On the flight, you sit with an instructor and go through a list of questions concerning door operation, emergency equipment, preflight checks, emergency situations, etc. You're really just proving to them that you know your stuff. After you finish, you're able to go and help out the crew with beverage service or whatever they needed. I was the first to sit with the instructor out of the two other girls in training with me and I'm happy to say, I passed!! It honestly wasn't as bad as I was anticipating, the stress of it all though was just incredibly overwhelming.

My OE instructor and the girls.

Being that our class flew on Saturday at different times throughout the day, we didn't have class afterwards. And my flight arrived back in ATL at 12:30pm! So I had the rest of the day to relax!! Woo hoo! They also gave us Monday off to prepare for our midterm on Tuesday. Not looking forward to that.

Overall, I'm grateful to have the flight done and can now move forward to the last half of training. 25 days to go!

*Sorry that my pictures have terrible quality! I used my phone for most of them and let's face it, my Droid has a crummy camera. 

emergency management

Afraid of flying? Yeah, well so am I after a good dose of Emergency Management week. Kidding, kidding. I still love flying, but I am now capable of evacuating an aircraft in under 90 seconds. (Can I have my wings now??) Emergency Management week is the hardest of all 7 weeks of training. It consisted of 5 tests and 2 practical exams. 6 days of at least 11 hours a day spent at the training center. Think you can rest when you get home? Think again. It's study time. And if you fail to maintain a 90% average, it's termination boulevard for you friend. Praise God, I can say I passed and am still here studying my little heart away.

We began the week going over the emergency equipment on each flight. Be not afraid of crashing in the Arctic...we have polar gear. Next, we covered water evacuations and different types of flotation we have available for passengers. Then turbulence—don't play. Smoke and fire emergencies—no smoking in the lavatories. Decompression—don your masks. Land evacuations—jump and slide. Emergency exits—arm those exits. Sea survival—uhh...good luck.

The fun stuff? We got to evacuate out of a training aircraft, down the slide! The slide is huge, and it looks higher from the aircraft door. Jump and slide, jump and slide. We also experienced a 'decompression' (there was no loss of cabin pressure thankfully) in the motion simulator. And we experienced smoke and fire emergencies in our mock ups. Saturday, we had our pool day. We evacuated into the water and deployed our rafts, climbed in, practiced drills, among other water sports (not really. I wish).

We also talked through different airline disasters such as the Tenerife airport disaster and the Miracle on the Hudson...and how to respond to and/or prevent these types of disasters in the future.

U.S. Airways Flight 1549

Disaster at Tenerife

These discussions really brought to life the seriousness and potential dangers of our job. I've heard of flight attendants being called 'waitresses in the sky' but when that plane is going down, you're going to be glad we were there. Our commands and evacuation plans are drilled into our heads so there's no question as to what to do in that situation. We got this. My prayer is that my class and I will never have to utilize the things we learned in Emergency Management week.

Hmm...how to end a post filled with pictures of plane crashes? Umm...trust your flight attendants. Listen to your flight attendants. And remember that smoking is not allowed on any aircraft. Federal law prohibits tampering with, disabling, or destroying a lavatory smoke detector. Trust me, just say no.

delayed arrival

The airline industry can easily be a place filled with stress and chocked-full of confusion. This seems to be a good depiction of my life these past two and a half weeks. Flight attendant training is no joke people. I fully intended to publish blogs weekly (hence the reason for this blog) but there has been absolutely no time. So, to catch you up, here's an overview of the first week of training.

Arrival: Sunday, April 7th
My wonderful dad drove me to Atlanta on Sunday after a cherished time of worship at church. It was a teary goodbye between Kelly and I, but I quickly became distracted by the reality of what was to come. We arrived at my new, temporary home sooner than I expected, hauled my luggage in, and headed to Target. There, we grabbed some essentials and then sadly, he headed home. Later in the evening, I met my amazing roommate Ashley and we prepared for our first day of training! Here are some shots of the hotel :)

The first week was our Indoctrination week. Essentially, we covered Federal Aviation Regulations and what goes into a day in the life of a flight attendant. Training is 6 days a week ranging from 8-11 hours a day. The first week was intense but gave me a good idea of how to approach the coming weeks. Week two was Emergency Management week. The hardest week of training. Stay tuned for details on that ;)

Sorry again for the lack of posting. Hopefully with Emergency Management week over, I'll be able to post more frequently. Sending love from the ATL.

the profoundest of problems

As flight attendant training rapidly approaches, I'm reminded of all the ways in which the Lord has provided for me this past year. The blessing of this job is just overwhelming to me. The past year and a half has probably been one of the most difficult years of my life. With trials ranging from long-term illness to heartbreak, God was certainly refining me.

"And I will put this third into the fire,
   and refine them as one refines silver,
and test them as gold is tested.
They will call upon my name, and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘They are my people’;
and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’”
(Zechariah 13:9)

In years past, facing these trials, I very well may have turned from the Lord. Chosen rather to trust in myself and my friends to get me through the difficulties. I praise God for this year, He has used the hardships to establish a firm foundation in Him. And I could not be more grateful...

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-4) 

Friends, nothing will fully satisfy you aside from Christ. Not your career, family, friends, school, success, money, health, etc. All of these things are guaranteed to pass away, but the love of Christ is everlasting. Hear this beloved, through our sin, we have been separated from God.

"One sin unatoned for is as sufficient to damn the soul as one leak is to sink a ship." -Olaudah Equiano

We are corrupted by sin and have rebelled against a holy God. We are a self-indulgent, self-righteous people. We have turned away from the only One who can truly satisfy our souls. "God beckons storm clouds and they come. He tells the wind to blow and the rain to fall, and they obey immediately. He speaks to the mountains, 'You go there,' and He says to the seas, 'You stop here,' and they do it. Everything in all creation responds in obedience to the Creator...until we get to you and I. We have the audacity to look God in the face and say, 'no'."

David Platt, the pastor of the church I attend, says it best with his exposition on the justice of God. "Therein lies the problem, how can we be made right before an infinitely just God? ... God himself says that if you justify the guilty, if you say the guilty are innocent, then you are an abomination to the Lord. That's not good for us. Because that begs the question, if we are guilty sinners then how can God, who is just, say we are innocent? He would be an abomination to Himself in doing that! This is where we realize, God's forgiveness of our sins is a threat to His character. To His justice and His holiness. John Stott said "forgiveness for God is the profoundest of problems". You think about it, we have got to feel this tension. If there were a judge in a courtroom in our culture today and every guilty criminal who was brought before him, he said 'innocent' over and over and over again. Kept telling guilty criminals 'you're innocent, go free'. We would have that judge off the bench in a heartbeat. Why? Because he's not a good judge. That's not a just judge. And so then, how can God, a just judge, holy, perfect, pure, say to those who are guilty 'you are innocent'? This is setting up the tension that is in the center of the Bible. How can God justify guilty sinners?"

The answer? God is gracious. He shows the guilty free and unmerited favor. 

"But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

(Titus 3:4-7)

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people"

(Titus 2:11)

He not only spares the guilty what they do deserve, but God gives the guilty what they could never deserve. God does not require anything for you to earn His favor. Praise God that the grace of God has appeared and brought salvation for all people. There is restoration in God through faith in Jesus. We can be restored to God!! Turn from your sin and yourself, confess your sinfulness, and trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord.

"if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved."

(Romans 10:9-10)

I write this post because this is the overflow of my heart. While I may write blogs about being a flight attendant or friends or traveling, that is not what makes me who I am. If all of those things were to pass away, I would still be identified with Christ. I urge you to take seriously the state of your soul. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you might have concerning what I have written. The gospel is life changing beloved. It is life giving. Give yourselves to it and I promise you, you will lack nothing.

airport code angst

Back in high school, I remember receiving a Summer Reading List each year. We would have to go purchase whatever books were listed for your upcoming grade and read them to prepare you for class. (Is this a normal occurrence at other schools?) I never agreed with 'homework' over summer break. Therefore, the books stayed piled in the corner of my room, collecting dust until school started. I never rarely read them. I'm thinking it's time to change my ways...

Last week, I received my initial flight attendant training packet that consisted of over 50 pages of material that I need to become familiar with before training begins. Some of it is really exciting and fuels my excitement to get this process started. But, when I got to page 24ish, things took a sharp turn and made me want to take the packet and let it collect dust in the corner of my room for the next 3 weeks.

The next 15 pages consisted of airport codes. 238 of them. Now, I won't try to explain to you my disability challenges when it comes to geography. It's sad. Really. I blame my middle school. Nevertheless, this is going to be tough.

Thankfully, I was able to whip up this tasty treat to help with my pre-training studies.

Mmm...cereal cookies. Seriously though, this recipe couldn't be easier. I already had all the ingredients and threw it together in 10 minutes. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough peanut butter for what the recipe called for so I substituted with Nutella. And honestly, as much as I love Nutella, I would've preferred for it to be all peanut butter. I am a peanut butter addict though so the more PB, the better. Either way, the cookies are still delish and it helped soothe my sweet tooth.

Anyways, if in the next few weeks you find me surrounded by 200 notecards with a crazed look on my face, please pass me a cookie. It helps, trust me.