I'm free, free fallin'

The other day, I finally got around to uploading my Skydiving video to my computer from this last August, and it dawned on me that I never wrote about it. Seeing as this was probably the most awesome/exciting thing I have ever done, I feel like it's better late than never to document it.

So, why did I go skydiving?

Well at the beginning of the summer, I was chatting for awhile with my brother-in-law, Brandon. He was telling me how this is the time in my life that I should do anything I want too and for myself, as in a few years, things will be different. He brought up skydiving, amidst a few other things, and said that we should most definitely go by the end of the summer. I agreed, not really believing that we would actually do it. I have learned something since then. Don't tell Brandon you are going to do something with the idea that it probably won't happen. Chances are, it will. Like at Lava Hot Springs. Brandon was like "okay you're gonna jump off that 50 foot tall platform right?" I was like, Psh of course. Even though I was really thinking, Yeah. Maybe when pigs fly. Let's just say Diana and I jumped off that thing into water. Painful. Very painful. So I did it twice. Who doesn't love pain? It became very obvious to me why they have you sign a waiver. Anyways, after this experience, I knew that, if Brandon remembered, I would be going skydiving.

And oh, he remembered.

About the end of August, he brought it up again, and we started looking into it. Apparently his buddy had gone, and recommend a place near Boulder that was pretty legitimate. So we started making plans to go. Well, Brandon did. I just kind of waited for him to tell me, secretly hoping it wouldn't happen. About 5 days before I was to leave for Mexico for Daniel and Charbel's wedding, Brandon was like "hey! I just made an appointment for you, me, Kevin (his friend) and AJ (one of my other brother in laws) to go on Monday!" Well, luck have it, that was supposed to be my last day of work. I very easily could have called into work sick, and they wouldn't have suspected a thing, as I had been early to work every day since I worked there, stayed late, and never missed a day. However, after thinking about this dilemma and my mom enforcing her suggestions into my head, I decided that I had better go to my last day, as this job had treated me so well. I was a little bummed, because I did kind of want to go skydiving, but I figured it was the best option. Well, Brandon still wanted me to go, so he said he could go again the next week with me. I was scared, but I decided that there may not be another time in the near future where I will have the funds to go, so I might as well do it.

So the next week, the Friday before I was going to head back to Provo for school, Brandon and I, as well as his friend Mikey, drove to Boulder. As we were driving there. I wasn't nervous. I was elated. So excited to be doing something that would the most intense thing I've ever done. I mentioned this to Brandon, and he was like "you just wait til we get there and you start to see those planes flying overhead." Well, we got there, and even after seeing that, I wasn't scared. We got suited up, and sat around for about an hour. While we were waiting, people filtered in and out, everyone telling me how it was the coolest and most amazing thing ever. I was getting SO excited. Well, finally they called our names. They did a little video interview, and took some preliminary pictures. Just because I might as well put my pictures to use, I'll illustrate the rest of this story with pictures :)

This is right before we went outside to wait for the trailer that would take us to where the planes were at. Mikey is on the left, and Brandon is on the right. Obviously, I'm in the middle. hehe. Coincidently, I'm wearing that same shirt today . . .

We had to wait a few minutes for the trailer. This is about where I started getting a tad bit nervous. I really wasn't crying, or praying, like I look like I am, they just caught me at a bad moment ;-)

This was right after I got off the trailer and about to board the plane. I wasn't having second thoughts yet, but I was wondering what I got myself into. Especially when I saw the plane . . .

Finally getting on the plane. The nerves started kicking in as I climbed in. And can I just mention that I was feeling a bit iffy, because my tandem instructor guy was shorter than me. For some reason I didn't feel like that was safe. I was hoping for the tall, buff one that I had seen earlier. But fate was not on my side.

Here I am, probably a little bit after take off. I most definitely left my stomach on the ground. I won't lie, I started freaking out a little bit out this point. Especially when all the sudden, people just started jumping out. My brother in law thought I was going to back out, and start crying. Well, I wasn't. I was just freaking out a little bit (they got a little bit of the freak out on the video, but unfortunately not the best part)

We had quite a few people on our plane. Everyone but Brandon, Mikey, and I were in the training school to become certified or just jumping by themselves. It was intense.

Once we reached a safe altitude (don't remember what it was), we were told to take off our seatbelts. At that point, we had to go sit on our instructors lap, and get strapped to them. Honestly, I felt a whole lot safer at this point. You are secured VERY tightly to the person, you can't even move. It finally was my turn (I went before Brandon and Mikey....It's like the thought I'd back out if I went last!). We scooted to the front of the plane, and got to the opening. I don't even know what I was thinking. Probably praying that I wouldn't die or anything.

The Moment of Truth. I absolutely refused to look down. I probably would have thrown up. So I just looked up at the cameraman on the side of the plane and tried to convince myself this was completely normal. Before I knew it, we jumped, and the free fall began. It was the most exhilarating feeling I have ever experienced. The free fall lasted about 60 seconds, which was way too short. I'll admit, at first I could not breathe (or at least I felt like I couldn't), but that only lasted a few seconds. It was amazing.

And here are just a bunch of pictures from the ride down :)

So the pulling of the parachute....Kind of hurt. Not gonna lie. But that's okay. It was cool to have a nice leisurely ride down to hard ground

The landing.

And I survived!

So, this was definitely one of the most awesomest things I've ever done. If money permitted, I would love to go again. There's just no other feeling like it. I am definitely grateful that my job during the summer allowed me to have enough money to do this! If any of you are considering skydiving, do it. You definitely will not regret it, at all.



And, here is my video. I was hesitant about posting it, mainly because I look like a really big idiot at the beginning, but I decided I might as well. Let me just explain. When you jump out, you are supposed to arch your back, and keep your arms to your chest. Well, I forgot, and did neither. So it looks like I'm trying to get away from my instructor. It's kind of silly, but that's okay. Most of the video is pretty intense. I'm glad I spent the extra money to get the video and the pictures...Nothing could ever recreate it :)