From the beginning...

Who is Dallice?

In short, a Realtor in the Boulder area and a flight student out of Vance Brand Airport, Longmont.

Of course there is more to me... I'm a person, with all the diverse interests, issues and complications that any decent human being has acquired by the time they get to my age.

I invite you to peel back the onion... get to know me through my posts. Give me advice, make comments and share your stories too.

I began flight lessons in August, 2010. Everyone has a bucket list. Mine's not that long, since I'm a "why wait?" type of girl. However, learning to fly had been on my list for a good 15 years... which I realize does call into question whether I am truly a "why wait?" girl after all!

This is "my" airplane. A Cessna 152. Tail number 65440.

We have become friends, have lots of memories together, and have a good deal of trust between us.

And my flight instructor, Mark. Same deal.

Around the same time I began flying, I undertook a kitchen remodel. My own house... so I was driven by passion and a vision for my home's improvement.

Sounds simple enough, right? Ummm... Not really!

There is a lot of work that goes into making a 1955 (original - Yikes!) kitchen, complete with washing machine, no dishwasher, poor lightening and poor storage, into a functional kitchen to be enjoyed and proud of.

There was dirt, noise and a generally high level of chaos which I thrived in for the first 3-4 weeks... then a slow decent into "make it stop" land. The kitchen (and all the other bits that need doing just then too) took 7 weeks... but what a transformation.

Long story short, the chaos of construction was offset by the freedom of flying. The anxiety that came with learning to recover a stall and from trying to learn landings was quickly pushed aside by each physically and emotionally demanding day of kitchen remodeling.

I am now a year into my training. The anxiety of new maneuvers has given way to test anxiety as I get closer to my check-ride.

Like many of you, I turned to the internet for advice, information and general reassurance about this upcoming exam. I found little. Perhaps because I wasn't looking in the right place... or perhaps because few of us log the process, emotion and planning that is upon us when preparing for such events.

Hence this blog... A place to record my journey, both the ups and downs.