much ado about nothing: Time for this squirrel to fly!

         Guess what, guess what, guess what!! After waiting and rescheduling and waiting oh so much more, last Thursday was finally the day! When I say it was THE day, I mean of course that Stephanie and I actually got to sky dive!
         It wasn't all smooth sailing as our 5th day of rescheduling did NOT start out looking promising. The sky was full of clouds, it actually looked down right bleak outside. With an appointment set for 2:00 p.m. and high hopes that those darn clouds would burn off around noon, I even turned down a job subbing-something I do not do often. I left the house around 1:15 informing my folks that I would call if, as my magic eight ball used to say-"outlook good." I was really hoping I would not get another "ask again later."
         The drive out was not improving my positive outlook until I hit Molalla...holy crow!! It was like the skies had cleared for Molalla alone! Molalla happens to be where Sky Dive Oregon is located f.y.i. I pulled up, jumped out of my car and greeted Steph, both of us with ridiculously big grins on our faces. We got the thumbs up from the owners-who by now felt a little like that part of the family you try to avoid because they are so unpleasant, and started calling people to see who would actually be willing to support us on our 5th attempt haha. We waited about 2 hours to jump and even managed to coax Stephanie's sister, her 2 girls and husband as well as both her parents and my mom to make the trip out to see us finally take the plunge.
         It was like music to our ears when we heard our names over the intercom to suit up, rarely have I ever been so excited or anticipated anything so much! Both Stephanie and I met the instructors we would be jumping with as well as our videographers-all awesome and quite funny fellas! Harnessed up, we headed outside for pics with the fam and of course a fun intro to our videos!
         The walk to the plane felt epic, as cheesy as that sounds. I was first to board and when inside I was instructed to sit in front of my instructor straddling this little row seat. Strangely enough I remember commenting on how I had never flown in a plane this small before. Yep, this is what I was focused on lol. The takeoff and climb to 13,000 feet was filled with silly antics for the video, A LOT of gazing out of the window and of course for anyone who knows me-random dancing :)
         When after the loooongest 15 minutes of my life we finally reached altitude my dive instructor had strapped himself to me-or vice versa I suppose, instructed me to put on my wicked cool goggles with my already ROCKIN' cone-head cap, he turned to me and said the words I'd been practicing my answer to for a month, "Are you ready to sky dive?" Without hesitation I responded with "YES!" we scooted together towards the door. Now many of you have asked what was the scariest part of the whole venture and to that I would answer "the scoot to the door," or as I like to say the point you realize yeah, this is happening. I was first to go and at the door I looked up at my camera man and waved goodbye then out, out, out we dove into the bright, cloudless sky. The free fall is undescribable. Not at all scared, I was mostly in awe and simply trying to take it all in. There was much woohooing of course, but in a "this is the coolest thing I have ever done!" kind of way.
         When after what felt like 20 minutes he pulled the chute we got the chance to chat. He was the perfect tour guide, pointing out all the mountains and various other cool places one can only see from way up high. I even got to steer my parachute! We went left, left, left, left in circles until I felt like I might vomit, then right, right, right in circles to counter the affects of course. Even the landing was smooth with one simple direction, "show me your toes," and before I knew it I was back on solid ground. Almost instantly I missed the "flying squirrel" feeling, but I know that I will have it again some day.
         Overall, for all the time it took to actually get to sky dive I have to say it was worth every minute. I do believe I will remember that moment for the rest of my life, the feeling of complete freedom and weightlessness as well as the sense of awe. After accomplishing this I know one thing for certain...I may have to rethink my super power preference :)