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Woo Hoo!

Posted by on December 6, 2008 3 Comments
Nicole is jumping up and down with glee….…she got the job at Emory!

Today I was offered the long-awaited position at Emory. I’ll be an Admin Assistant in Development and University Relations. My first day is January 5th. Taylor and I also decided on the place we’ll be living in. It’s a 2 bed/2bath condo in North Druid Hills, 4 miles from Emory. Let the packing begin!
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Hooray!

Posted by on November 19, 2008 2 Comments

The other day, Taylor was asked to pick something up at the store on the way back from ready reserve. He saw a Walmart off the highway and pulled off. Much to his surprise, there was an El Pollo Loco there! I thought that there were only EPL’s in California, and a few other scattered locations in the west. I just checked the website, and there are 9 EPL’s in the Atlanta area! This is good news for us…it’s one of the healthiest fast food restaurants possible. The contestants on the Biggest Loser have meals there, and their food is suggested on several commercial diet plans. I used to go to an EPL post-workout all the time in CA. Proof again that I won’t have to live off fried chicken and southern cooking in Georgia. Citrus-grilled chicken breast, here I come!

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Fat Matt’s Rib Shack

Posted by on November 19, 2008 Leave a Comment

Just for fun, a collage from last weekend. Most of the pics were taken with Clint, Hank, Marissa, and Taylor at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. Don’t forget to get the “RUM” baked beans (which we can’t quite figure out why they call ‘em “RUM” beans, because apparently they don’t taste like rum)

Also, in the left bottom corner is a restaurant we saw called NickieMotos. It sounds like just the place for me!

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Mutually Beneficial

Posted by on November 14, 2008 4 Comments

Yesterday I had my interview at Emory. I hate to get my hopes up prematurely, but I really think I’ve got the job. I was impressed by the people that I met with, had comments ranging from acceptable-to-stunning for every question, had a lot in common with the interviewers, and just had a good gut feeling. I am CERTAIN that I am qualified for the position, it is a position that INTERESTS me, and I would have a TALENT for. I was told they are going to interview a few other candidates for comparison, but the director also mentioned making an appointment next week to discuss salary. I don’t want to be crushed emotionally if I don’t get the job, but I’m cautiously and enthusiastically optimistic.

After the interview, Taylor and I checked out a few apartments and condos in the Decatur/North Druid Hills area. We have our top two places selected, both with immediate availability, with the same top-ranked elementary school assigned to the units. We had dinner at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack with Clint, Hank, and Marissa. We followed Clint onto the wrong way on a one-way street and narrowly missed a major crash. Today Taylor is on reserve from 11a-11p, and I hope that he doesn’t get called so I can get some quality hubby time.

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A pilot widow week

Posted by on October 22, 2008 1 Comment

This morning Taylor left for Memphis for CAT-II training. He’ll overnight there, and then fly up to Montreal for 4 days of simulator bliss. He will be at the Bombardier Headquarters, and apparently its a pretty nice place to train. Unfortunately, that means we’re going to go 4 days without talking on the phone. I’ve briefly blogged about it before, but Taylor is very anti-surcharge when it comes to our phones. It took two years before he agreed that it was worth the $5/month to add texting to his phone. He knows it would only be $5/month to be able to call from Canada, but since he flies there infrequently, he doesn’t want to sign up for a month, just to cancel. It’s 35 cents per text, so we’ll text if it’s an “emergency.” We’re going to rely on webcams and instant messaging to communicate for the next few days. It means we’ll only get to chat at night, but better than nothing!

Once he’s done in Montreal, he flies back to Atlanta Monday afternoon. He hopes to take care of his SIDA badge and get his parking pass Monday. He’ll fly home to Detroit sometime Tuesday, pack up his car, and “move” to Atlanta Wednesday. His first flight in his new bird is Thursday – Friday. His November schedule should be posted tomorrow, but it will likely be a month of reserve.

It was so nice to have him home for 5 days. It’s going to be a long time till he has that much time off in the same location as me for a long time.

As for the job hunt…about 20 applications in, two “thanks, but no thanks” emails, and no calls.

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Oh, Atlanta

Posted by on October 19, 2008 Leave a Comment

A few people have asked how our Atlanta trip went. It was really fun to travel and enjoy a child-less trip. It was the first time we’d been on a passenger flight together, without Rosie, since our honeymoon. We touched down in Atlanta around 9 am, deplaned at 9:45, and got to our rental car at 10:30. My $13/day compact car rental turned out to be really nice Mustang. We drove into Stone Mountain at Clint’s house around 11:15, and stayed up wayyy past our bedtimes.

In the morning, I insisted on finally having breakfast at the Waffle House. The cheesy eggs were very tasty. Then we went to Stone Mountain to look around. We then spent the next 5 hours driving and driving. We went through Decatur, Druid Hills, downtown, Smyrna, Marietta, Vinings, and more. We checked out a few apartments, and have one in mind that’s our top choice in Smyrna. We then met up with Taylor’s BYU roommate Hank, and his wife Marissa for a BBQ. Their apartment was right on the Chattahoochee river, and it was a perfect afternoon for a BBQ. Afterwards, we went to the Ansley Park Playhouse to see Clint’s sister, Tina McKissick, star in the play “Veranda.” Post-performance, we went to a fabulous Mexican restaurant and hung out at Tina’s. We stumbled back into bed around 2 am.

The next morning, Taylor and I headed off after breakfast. We checked out the Camp Creek area, and started driving to Peachtree City (but ran out of time and turned around). We got some lunch in a pretty sketchy part of town near the airport, turned the Mustang back into the rental agency, and found our gates in the terminal. I got the last seat available back to DTW. Taylor got bumped from a flight (full of 15 pilots vying for the jumpseats on a full flight) before scoring a seat to Memphis for training.

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Checking in from ATL

Posted by on October 12, 2008 2 Comments


This weekend, Taylor and I have been in Atlanta. He starts training for his new plane on Monday. When we boarded the half-empty plane on Friday, we looked at each other with a cock-eyed face. We realized this was the first flight we’d taken, just the two of us, since our honeymoon. For a couple that flies thousands and thousands of miles, it’s pretty funny that it’s been so long. Oh wait, there was one trip in the Cessna 172 right after he passed his private pilot checkride, but that still was 3 years ago…

We’ve been checking out neighborhoods and apartments, spending some time downtown, spending time with friends, had a BBQ on the Chattahoochee, enjoyed Stone Mountain, saw a hillarious play, finally tried the Waffle House, and today we’ll part our separate ways again. As I laid in bed this morning, I just had such a good feeling. I’m certain that this will be a good move for us. We don’t know exactly where we’ll live, or exactly where we’ll work, or exactly when we’ll move…but it’s right.

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Ch-ch-ch-changes….

Posted by on September 21, 2008 7 Comments

In case you didn’t hear Taylor’s “leak” on Facebook earlier this week, the Bullock family is gearing up for another life change. We’ve been living in Michigan since January, and come January 2009 (or sooner!) we’ll be moving to Atlanta, GA. He’ll still be flying for the same company, but under new colors (which will coincidentally merge into one within the next few months.) His bid was originally approved for January 1, but he just got his October schedule, which shows him starting training October 12. That’s 3 weeks away.

“Why?” you may ask. Why would we be crazy enough to move to our fourth state in our nearly four-year marriage? We expect it to be an excellent career move. He’ll be upgrading to a nicer aircraft (from CRJ-200 to CRJ-900), and making a significant percentage more pay in his lowly F.O. pay. He’ll continue to have great schedules (sometimes up to 17 days off per month) and probably have less than 6 weeks on reserve. The wages in my industry are comparable, possibly more, and housing is affordable. We also have close friends in town, who have vowed to make it worth our while. We discussed having Taylor commute, but have decided we need to keep our family together. Atlanta was actually an option when we moved to Detroit, but at that time wages were the same, and he would have had to work 6 months in DTW before transitioning to ATL. The time is right, and we’re going with it.

Life in Michigan has been difficult for me. Four days after I arrived in the state, my dad was nearly killed in a car crash. I spent the majority of two months flying back and forth to SLC to keep things together for my family. I had a very unsuccessful semester of school that has truly shaken my confidence in ever finishing my bachelor degree. I’ve been sick over and over, and have gained a significant amount of weight. Our finances have been a wreck, and we’ve only survived through the generosity of family and church members. I took on an extremely challenging job that ends up keeping me continually stressed outside of work. The upcoming grayness and cold of another Michigan winter make me shudder. I only have a handful of friends here, but those I have become close to I will miss dearly.

The fact that we’ll be close to 76 locations of Chick-fil-a makes it a bit more tempting to move…

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