Down to Earth...literally!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me! JT has been planning my Mother's Day/birthday weekend for months now, trying to keep everything a secret and making sure everything goes just right, and while there were a few bumps (so he says) it was absolutely wonderful. I have the most awesome husband! I do not normally blog about this sort of stuff, but it is too good not to and since I have no picture evidence of this stuff, I want to write it out so when my physical memory starts to fade, I will always have this to look back on and read. :-) JT arranged for his grandparents to keep the kids, and they did all weekend. They are amazing!

First of all, on Friday night, he took me to see a musical, Wizard of Oz. It was so good, and all the actors did such an amazing job portraying the characters. Leave it to us to have something weird happen. Ok, so right when Dorothy got to munchkin land and they are all dancing around singing ding dong the witch is dead, Toto pukes! HILARIOUS! Some of the actors saw it and others didn't. They played it off very well and it served as a very entertaining thing to see if someone stepped or fell in it before they had time to clean it. Ahh...the joys of live theater!

Ok, now for the BEST part! On Saturday morning, JT took me SKYDIVING!!!! WOW! Words cannot explain the feeling, but I am sure gonna try. Like I said, I want detailed records of this day before the memory isn't so fresh. We went to Skydive 35, in Hillsboro, TX. The staff was friendly, safety oriented, professional, and made you feel real comfortable.

So we show up about 9am, and it was pretty cold and bound to get colder 12,000 feet in the air. I just had on a short sleeve shirt, so we check in then I go back and scrounge around in JTs car and I finally find a sweatshirt, so thankful it was there, don't know how long its been there, but thankful none the less. So they harness us up, and go over safety stuff and show us how to move our bodies, etc. Then we wait. We are on load 3, so we get to watch 2 loads go down before us, some rough landings, some smooth landings.

Oh by the way, being the nut that I am, when I found out we were going skydiving, I researched the death toll and stuff and found it to be quite safe in comparison. Only like 30, give or take, a year...less then cycling and skiing, not to mention driving. Anyway, I divert.

Now it is our turn....we take our wagon ride to the airplane and board with our tandem instructor guy, not sure the term, but the dude that's strapped to your back. :-) I was set to be the 2nd out and JT the 4th. So, we get in the plane and take off to our destination of 12,000 feet. It is about a 10 min ride. (funny it takes us longer to get up there then to get down, gotta love it). So, we're just enjoying the ride and "the dude" starts getting us all hooked up together. As we get to out destination, the door goes open and my "dude" starts messing with the strap of the parachute on the "dude" next to me saying "I can't get it." The "dude" next to me says, "Yeah, they don't pack these things right." Hmmm....last words I heard before I jumped out of that airplane. HAHA pretty encouraging, I know, but I trusted them and their equipment BUT I trusted the Lord more. I know the Lord is in control of all things, even the things like jumping from an airplane. I am confident in Him and His plans for my life.

So the first guy goes and then it was my turn. I scoot up to the edge, dangle my feet out of the plane, cold air whipping the side of them. I assume the position they told me do, hands crossed over my chest, head back, and feet back. Let's do this! One, two, three, and we're out of the plane, plummeting 120 mph face first toward that beautiful earth. I feel a tap on my shoulder which is my indication to my arms out, I uncross them and spread them out above like I am flying. Oddly enough it does not feel like I am falling, but more like floating, I can see the earth but it is not a falling sensation. Me dude points left so I move my body left and we go that way...so cool. My dude points right and I go that way...so so cool! Then he pulls the string, which I was not prepared for and we are thrust upward with a rush! Now it is smooth sailing back down. He does some other cool little tricks and spins with the parachute.

Now for the landing, we go down and he tells me to put my knees up and I do, then he says, just start walking, and I do, and it was a smooth landing, no stumbles or anything. They unstrap us and I walk to the side to await JT's landing. Here he comes, nice and smooth with a little stumble but he didn't fall like some others did. It was so amazing to experience this with my hubby.

My ears were so clogged and would not pop for anything! JT had no problems with his ears, but mine hurt so bad afterwards! They are still actually popping today. Either way, on the drive home, our adrenaline rush crashed hard and we actually skipped lunch and just took a nap!

It is definitely an experience I hope to never forget and also hope to do again someday.