Amateur Hour: ...And I'm Freeeee, Free Fallinnnn...

Well ladies and gents! Mark another one off the good ol' bucket list because this girl has officially taken part in the craziest thing she's ever done! Plummeted from 10,000 feet above the Gulf of Mexico, to land on a tiny strip of beach in Port Aransas..and man, was it something else.

I've literally been ITCHING to write about this topic ever since I knew it was going to happen, about 2 months ago. My Aunt Marti called and informed me that she wanted to surprise my mom for her 50th birthday by treating her, me, and my sister to a gift of a lifetime...a tandem skydive jump! Because we wanted it to be a surprise, we secretly planned the whole ordeal...set up the dive, invited close friends, and planned a small get together at the coolest restaurant in town, Brewster's Street (that's a plug for you babe!) for afterwards. We even went as far as to get a custom cake ordered from Janet's Cakery (the most awesome bakery in town) with the face of my mom's favorite person of all time plastered on it, Elvis...uh huhhhhh (said in the classic Elvis style). We've never had a party like this to celebrate a birthday, and 50 only comes once a lifetime..as does skydiving if something goes wrong lol.

Anywho, I digress. Let me just say, skydiving was an utterly exhilarating experience. For four of us to go, it literally took hours, as this small, local business Skydive South Texas was utilizing a VERY SMALL plane that could only take up one jumper at a time. Those hours waiting weren't spent in vain, don't worry...as we waited for each of our group members to land, we got to sunbathe, drink a few brewskis, and soak up the rays of another gorgeous day on the island...now that's what I call service.

My mom went first, it being her birthday and all, and also probably for the fact that if she waited for everyone else to jump, she'd more than likely end up talking herself out of it. The smile on her face after her land was priceless, and not many people can say they've jumped out of a plane at 50. Congrats Mom!

Then my sister Sam, who was the skydiving veteran of the group (she's been once before) got to go, except she got to go above and beyond just enjoying the ride! She got the amazing experience of pulling her own parachute cord, and even doing a little light steering...now that's what I call a badass!

Then there was me. Let me just tell you, as a girl who gets sick riding shotgun in a honda civic, going on a ferris wheel, riding in any size boat, AND flying in airplanes, I was more than a little apprehensive that I'd end up vomiting all the way down on my "majestic" ride from 10,000 feet above. What makes the emotions even more tumultuous is that you spend a good 2o minutes slowly gaining altitude in a little puddle jumper, which gives you PLENTY of time to second guess what you're about to so, and totally psych yourself out. So you can imagine my stomach was already turning circles at that point. But in all reality, it doesn't really hit you that you're about to jump out of a plane until the side door opens and you can feel the wind rushing past you. THAT'S when I panicked. What did he say earlier about arching your back? Was he gonna tap my shoulder once or twice?? Or was he gonna tap my leg?!! OMG I'M GONNA DIE!

And then nothing.

All of a sudden you're out, you're doing everything he told you to do, and all you can do is look around you in complete and total awe. The wind creates a vacuum of thought, and well...you're flying. For approximately 45 seconds you're in complete freefall. Dead weight, heading toward the ground. The closest you'll probably get to "flying" in your entire life, and it's truly amazing. You're trying to ham it up for the camera, but really all you can do is stare at the view. The water, the beach, the horizon, the intense blue of the sky from this high up. It's almost indescribable.

Then reality sets in as the parachute opens, and you're jerked upwards, which was literally the most uncomfortable part of the whole gig. Anyone who says they didn't get a camel toe from that strap is an outright liar. Despite the camel toe, the floating sensation was pretty amazing. That is until we started manuevering in circles to adjust our speed and altitude for landing, which was approximately the point in the descent during which my stomach started saying to me "hey, I think we're gonna hurl." Nevertheless, I held it in enough to enjoy the last bit of air, and as soon as we landed and disengaged, I bent over and dry heaved the crap outta myself.

Luckily, nothing came up, and I recovered just in time to see our last diver, Terry make her jump! So proud of you lady! You did amazing, and looked flawless coming down!

So that was our experience. As we were floating to the ground, our Tandem Instructor, Ken (who was strapped to my back at about as close as humanly possible) asked me what was the craziest thing I'd ever done before this. I honestly couldn't tell him. I've spent most of my life playing it safe. I always wear a seatbelt. I try not to text while driving. I don't eat nuts at a bar. At that moment, I realized jumping out of a plane was in fact, the craziest thing I'd ever done in all my 27 years on Earth, and I've gotta change that.

There may be nothing like the feeling of free falling to give yourself that rush, but be prepared folks, because if there is...I aim to find it.