I went skydiving, I went....

I didn't want to get Madison just any ol' graduation gift last year.  I wanted something memorable.  Something epic.  Not something that would get left in a drawer.  And then I saw a Groupon for skydiving.  That was it.  Something I always had wanted to do and something she wanted to do too!  And we could do it together.

We ran out of time last summer and didn't want to go when it was cold out.  July 6, 2017 we did it!

Before boarding the plane we shared a hug and were so excited.  Neither one of us was really scared.

In the tiny plane, we were snuggled up with our tandem partners - two guys from Hungary.  Madison was closest to the door so she was going to be going first.

Madison looks afraid in this picture but it was pure excitement!

I was strapped up tight with my guy Tomas, goggles on, and ready to go.  I was watching Madison getting ready to jump.

Here she is, head back (which she had a hard time KEEPING back!), feet out the door.

And off they go!  10,000 feet in the air and we fall out of an airplane!

My turn! I didn't figure it out until a day later but my left leg hit that step you can see at the bottom of the picture leaving me with a huge bruise.  Didn't mind a bit!

I'm fairly certain I had my eyes closed at this point because I do NOT remember being upside down and flipping.

Still free falling at something like 120 mph.  I think I had stopped screaming by this point.  Maybe because my mouth was so dry from inhaling all that air...  Not sure if I was not breathing because I couldn't or because the strap across my chest was so tight!

And then the chute opened and it was quiet and so beautiful!

Exhilarating!

Between the last pic and this one my straps were loosened so I could breath and sort of "sit" in the harness.  I was also given control of the yellow straps that direct the chute.  No idea what I was supposed to do with them but it felt good to "hold" something!  I'm apparently not very good at using my arms to fly.

This was probably the scariest part for me - we were swooping back and forth and up and down directing towards the landing site.  Kind of like a roller coaster ride!

Tomas gave me a break to breath again before he took the controls over and did some fast swoops to get us down in the right spot.  We still overshot the landing spot a little bit but it wasn't a big deal.  WOW!! What a blast!

Back on the ground.  A bit wobbly and my heart beating a little harder than normal but already super glad I did this!

We got the certificates and t-shirts for proof!

I'm sure it might seem crazy but skydiving was a turning point in my life.  I came out of the experience feeling so much more empowered.  I wasn't afraid of skydiving but it totally erased many of my other fears.  I jumped out of a f'ing plane!!! A perfect good plane!!!