Turning 30 from 13,500 feet in the air.....

Turning 30 wasn't the "doomsday" I had thought it was going to be. 

I celebrated with family and friends but the "BIG" deal event for the milestone was to SKYDIVE!!!  YES I DID IT!!! 

I was scheduled for a noon jump Saturday. The week prior the weather reports showed chances of rain and clouds all day which would have caused my jump to be rescheduled.  Think of my excitement when I woke up Saturday at 7:15 a.m. (yeah I could have slept in) to sun and not a cloud in the sky. I was able to get all members of the family up, dressed and fed (a home-cooked breakfast) and then it was time. I knew I needed to get to the skydive location early because I had to sign more forms than it took me to buy a car or even bring my children home from the hospital, but I knew most of them were "CYA" legalities! Truth be told I didn't even read most of the fine print!!  I just wanted to get my most fashionable purple jump suit and have someone strapped to my back with a parachute in a backpack! 

I first met my photographer/videographer. He asked me a few questions and then we met my "jump master."  He was super informative and added a great sense of humor that I needed to easy my nerves. We heard them call "Flight 10" to the loading zone. It was now or never. I took the 50-step walk out to the plane. My family and friends were all watching, waving and blowing kisses. I boarded the plane with my jump master and sat on a bench facing the back of the plane. We began take off. 

The plane climbed altitude and the doors opened....Was this it? Not quite...there were some jumpers that were going out as part of the certification at 8,000 feet. We still had 5,500 feet left to go. It actually took no time and the doors opened again. The solo jumpers all made their way out of the plane and then....all hooked up we duck waddled over to the door. At this point I may have said a prayer, Hail Mary or a combo of the two. The cameraman climbed out and held on to the side of the plane. My jump master yelled some last-minute reminders in my ear and did the ONE, TWO, GO...at this moment I was surviving on complete adrenaline.  I couldn't feel my heart beat and after 15 seconds of free fall, I realized that I may be hyperventilating.  I couldn't breath!!!  

There was no "GET ME OFF THIS RIDE" button and it was too loud to ask advice.  I managed to breath as hard as I could while being whipped in the face by the wind, and in an instant, it was quiet, slower and I was able to talk to the jump master.  What had just happened? Oh he deployed our parachute!!  That must have been that massive jerk that sprung me forward.  Now we could talk and he asked me if I was OK and my response was something like "NOW I AM!!"  He let me take over controls and we did some spins and twirls in the air.  He pointed out some major landmarks from the air and we sailed around. As we got closer to the ground, we could see my fan club waving so I waved and attempted a yell to them which was of course  not heard. We prepared for landing and got into position. The landing was smooth.  Nothing fancy, but I was back safely on land and in one piece.  My children and husband ran over with lots of kisses and hugs and I decided at that very moment, I MUST DO THIS AGAIN!!!!!  Happy 30th to me!!!!