We're In L.A.

May 1

We finally got the all clear to leave from the doctor at 4pm Monday afternoon. From then on it was rush, rush, rush! On Tuesday morning I threw all my clothes into my case and zipped it up. I was convinced that both our cases were overwieght, but when weighed at Albury we discovered we were both well under the limit. "Oh you're travelling light," the customs people said. Light! I'd hate to lift a heavy case!

No time for cuppas in Albury, we raced off to Sydney where chaos reigns supreme. After asking directions from several staff, we eventually found our way to the International Terminal. From then on it was an endless wait in a line for booking, an endless wait in line through customs, an endless wait in line... Yeah, you get the drift.

Our view from the plane.

The long wing of Flight UA840

 

When we got our boarding passes we discovered we weren't even sitting in the same sectin of the plane. Jeez! Thanks to a very nice young man who changed seats with Geoff, we finally got to sit together.

And sit we did... for nearly 3 hours.  3 hours!! Our plane couldn't take off without a new cargo door strap.

Eventually we lifted off.

A view of Sydney as we last saw it.

 Some iconic views of Sydney harbour as we flew over it and away from Australia at last.

 .

Evening over the

Pacific Ocean.

This is over Suva. We could see the islands clearly. But having already spent about 5 hours in the air, my sense of humour evaporated.

The flight was interminable. Unbearable. Excruciating. Indescribable. Why do people actually do this to themselves? Why subject themselves to this unique kind of torture?

The next day dawned eventually - or the same day dawned again. 







We finally caught a glimpse of mountains through the clouds.

My first glimpse of L.A. as we descended through the clouds.

L.A. International Airport - where the big jet engines roar... I was so happy to touch down I could have burst into song! 

Now there's a familiar sight!

  

Oh my God! I could have kissed the ground! Only there was no ground, just a very long walkway, around a corner, down some stairs and then a 2 hour wait to get through Immigration. 

We got through Immigration and Customs with no problems, then we had to wait outside for a transit bus. We were told the wrong information and waited for another 2 hours only to discover that we were waiting in the wrong spot. We could have been on our bus and at our hotel at least an hour or more earlier.

Grrrr! Humour evaporating again.

Add to that the enormous May Day protest about something which will forever remain a mystery to me even though I watched it on several TV channels, and it all added up to us not getting to our hotel until about 4pm.

The whole highlight of the day and the same day again, was that we rang Maia Berens and she and her husband, Bart, came to the hotel to meet us.

We went to a lovely little shopping centre to a health food smorgasbord type shop and selected ourselves a wonderful meal which we all sat and shared as we chatted and laughed.

After years of talking to Maia via Skype, Messenger and anything else that would work, it was wonderful to finally meet in person.

Before we met, we both thought we'd be awkward and not know what to say. No fear of that! I don't think either of us drew breath!

Geoff chatting with the Valet at our hotel.

Geoff, Maia and Bart walking in to buy some healthy take away food.

Our first real meal in America. It was really delicious too.

Geoff and Bart discuss the finer points of what really is where in Australia.

Maia and I chatting away as though we get together often.

It really felt like we were two old friends getting together after a long time away. 

Another of those, "Geoff, just take the bloody picture," moments.

 Bart, Maia and I in L.A.

Right now it is 8.37pm Tuesday evening here and 1.37am Wednesday morning at home. Geoff is already in bed fast asleep while I sit here and blog on. I'm not happy that the shuttle bus is picking us up at 6.45am tomorrow. Breakfast isn't until 7am here, so I guess we'll miss out on that. Jeeez!


Anyway, despite the insanely slow plane flight, the painfully slow waiting in lines, and the delays and mistakes, we've had a really exciting start to our trip.


 

 

Once Upon A Time...

Once Upon A Time

There Was You

By Maia Berens

http://www.allaboutlifecoaching.com
http://twitter.com/lifecoachmaia

I’ve been reading, as usual, and learning, as always. And… couldn’t resist the opportunity to share what I’ve discovered – about me! Not that you asked for it, but here it is anyway.

My latest revelation came in the form of an ebook written by a very inspiring woman, Maia Berens.

Maia’s book, “Once Upon A Time There Was You”, is a wonderful journey into yourself.

It starts out by telling you a story about a little girl. This story is told as you would read it to a child.

The real kicker is, YOU ARE READING IT TO YOURSELF AS A CHILD.

I couldn’t help but connect to this story. My inner self related to this child-like tale on so many levels that I even ended up crying.

Yes, I know… I’m soppy enough at the best of times. But this got me right where I live – right in the soul.

Maia made me look at my life from the time I was born as a brand new person, full of hope, love, light and possibilities. Her story took me through my dark teenage years and into adulthood. It made me really see me as I am, and, most importantly, me as I could be.

This is more than just another self-help book to discover new ways to find yourself. This is a journey to the centre of yourself and back out again. Not only does this ebook give you the key to YOU, but it also helps you to fit it into the lock and turn it.

As many of you know, I call myself a “soul healer”, for want of a better term. I deal with people’s emotions, past lives, fears and soul-deep damage. I try to help others reconnect with themselves and the universe, to accept themselves and to love all that they are.

This is not something I’ve learned to do in just one life time. This has been a very long haul of lives and experiences. One thing I can assure you is that what I do for other people, I am also constantly doing for myself.

However, healing yourself when you don’t have any help or instructions can be an extremely long, hard road to trudge along. Believe me when I say I’m still walking that path, even though I started putting one foot in front of the other several lives ago! Maybe I’m a slow learner.

I wish someone had read Maia’s book to me as a child. It would have led me to a greater understanding much sooner, and possibly without half the scars. I would have believed in myself and my own inner light much sooner. These tools would have helped me through many dark times.

I also wish I had this book to read to my two sons when they were little. What wonderful possibilities there would be for a child who grows up with this philosophy, and with the tools Maia has blessed us with.

Within the book are, as I’ve just mentioned, tools. Tools for life – keys to open the door to yourself.

There are exercises for us to do as well. Being me, I couldn’t resist the exercises. The following are some of the lessons, or realisations, that I learned. Most were no surprise for me, as soul-searching and analysing moments of my life is something I do quite often. Some realisations were quite surprising – even for someone like me who considers themselves adept at digging the positive out of the negative.

For what it’s worth, here are some things I’ve learned from the darkness:

I thought about all the many minor things that bug me about my life at the moment and what lessons I’ve learned from those.

I have learned that I’ve been given the time to reconnect with myself, and to connect with the universe again on a deeper level.

I’ve learned patience and endurance. How to live in the here and now and cope with the practical day-to-day physical plane of existence.

Most importantly:- I’ve learned how to be me and how to stay true to myself when others can’t/won’t/don’t want to see me or accept me for who I really am.

I thought about the slightly more serious negative things about my life.

I’ve learned resilience, lateral thinking and problem solving. I’ve discovered how different situations and emotions impact upon me, my life and emotions, physically, mentally and spiritually.

I’ve learned how to deal with them, how to embrace them and own them as a part of me and my journey. I’ve learned how to live through them and with them.

Now for the major problems and really negative parts of my life.

I’ve learned that my inner self is strong.

I’ve learned that my spirit and soul cannot be destroyed by despair and cruelty.

I have learned that hate cannot destroy love.

I know that the harsher and darker the world/people are, the brighter the light that shines from within me.

I have gotten to know myself. I know I’m a work in progress, but I also know that I am worth working on.

…and so the journey continues.

Please surf on over to Maia’s web site, http://www.allaboutlifecoaching.com and check out “Once Upon A Time There Was You”. This is not an ebook you’ll read once then put aside.

Thankfully it is an ebook and not a print book. I’d probably wear the print off the pages by constantly thumbing through them!

It’s never too late to work on yourself, and think what a wonderful gift this knowledge would be for any child or teenager in your life.

Thank you, Maia, for helping to spread light in the world.

Cheers

Brittany