New Year, new career

My name is Mark, I'm a 28 and still a little kid with a lifelong undying passion for aviation. Soon, I will turn an important page and begin a new chapter of my life, leaving my journalism career behind in favor of a new life as an airline pilot, a move that terrifies and exhilerates me all at once.
In April of 2004, I began flight training at Hanscom Field in Bedford, MA and became a private pilot four months later. It is to date the biggest achievement in my life and I will forever remember with fondness my first solo, the first trip I flew alone and my checkride. Now, with 130+ hours of flight time under my belt and most of my instrument training complete, I am planning the big leap into the world of professional flying.
I'll freely admit that I am terrified. Leaving the steady job I've held for five years won't be easy and the prospect of years of poverty and low seniority in a relatively shaky industry is, quite frankly, daunting. But I am blessed by the strong support of my wife and the certainty that in time the airlines' wounds will heal as passenger volume is set to grow exponentially in the years ahead. Once my dues are paid, I have no doubt my new career will open up exciting and rewarding doors to me and my family.
So in January, I will reluctantly leave my wife and stepdaughter behind in the Boston area to start training at Airline Transport Professionals in Manassas, VA. In three months, I will earn ratings on multi-engine aircraft (more about that later), take my commercial license and become a certificated flight instructor. From there I will teach to build experience and time or with a little luck work my way into the cockpit of a light freight or charter plane in New England. Within months, I should have enough flight time to score the right seat at a regional airline.
Through this blog, I hope to recount the highs and lows of climbing the aviation ladder, which other pilots or aviation enthusiasts might enjoy. But at its very heart, this is my personal flying diary, a collection of stories and thoughts for myself and my family.
Flying is a beautiful thing and already in my very short time as a pilot I have lived formidable adventures, some of which I hope to tell in future entries. If you stumble upon this site, I hope you enjoy reading my stories, whether you are a pilot or like I was until recently just an overgrown kid with his eyes constantly turned toward the sky!