#9 on my 30 before 30 list is to skydive! WOW! Ummm, can I switch it for something else on my list?! Haha.
Did I end up doing it? YEP! Was I scared out of my mind? YEP! Look at my hair!
I woke up at about 7:30 on Sunday morning to get ready for church. Since moving to the West side of Houston I having been searching for a new church, I miss New Hope! This weekend I tried Tallowood Baptist Church. I liked the church and the pastor a lot, but I am really looking for a church with a bigger singles group where I can meet people. :/ I am going to try one more ( ) and then if I do not like that one, I will go back to Houston’s First Baptist (my fav so far).
Back to skydiving:
After church I headed home to wait for Laura and say bye to Jabba. Jabba wasn’t interested in saying bye to me; I guess he figured I would be ok. Haha. BRAT! I packed my bag also at this time with an extra change of clothes (just in case I pee’d in my pants! Haha). I also ate a banana and a Clif bar (left over from my training) so I wouldn’t get sick during the jump. Laura got dropped off right after 12 pm by Beau and my two favorite boys, Hunter and Cole. Funny story: I asked Hunter if he wanted to come watch me, but he said “No, if I go I will want to jump and I don’t want to today.” Haha. He is so cute. Cole was sleeping when they came so they put in for a nap in my bed, but of course he woke up. Jabba was all about the visitors, soaking up every minute of ear scratching he could get. ;) After Cole woke up he played in Jabba’s water fountain (and soaking the floor) for a while, they headed out and we were on our way to pick up Maw-Maw. The three of us just chatted the whole way, the closer we got the more nervous I got.
We got to Skydive Spaceland in Rosharon, TX about 5-10 minutes before 2 pm and I checked in. As I was signing my paperwork Laura said that she wished she could do it. Eventually she said she would and got her paperwork together also. Earlier, I had invited my Mom to see if she wanted to come watch she said she had no interest in watching her child jump out of an airplane so I called and told her that her chances of her child getting hurt by jumping just doubled and that Laura is now jumping. “Great”, is what I heard on the other end of the phone. Haha. Laura called Beau and she told him she was jumping, he said something about he wishes she wouldn’t and they have two kids to think about. She went anyway. :/
Training
We were taken upstairs to hear someone tell us what to do (we were told again by our instructor later) watch a short video that included this guy. What is going on with his beard?! Doesn’t it make you want to braid it?
The Wait
We got there around two, but we didn’t jump til at least 3:30 or 4 pm. I am not sure what time exactly we got into the plane, but it took awhile. I think it might have been the wind or something. While waiting we started talking to a guy that was doing his first solo jump. YIKES! He was super sweet, and was a firefighter for Houston. We talked to him for awhile and he ended up sitting with Maw-Maw and taking pictures for us while we jumped. I didn’t get his name, but he was cute! J I am a sucker for guys with arm muscles and he had them(no baseball cap though darnit)! Haha. No, I didn’t get his number (lost my nerve), but I should have! After you watch the training video, you wait until your name is on the monitor to see what flight you are going up. Our name was on the board already after we watched the video. Originally I was supposed to go with a guy named Jay, but ended up being paired with an instructor named Boston.
The suit up
Laura’s guy found her first, then a while later Boston found me. OMG! Boston was HOTT! I will be strapped to him any day. ;) Swoon.
Boston showed me which suit to wear (blue) and helped me get into my harness. I kept trying to ask him about how many times he jumped, but he kept saying two! I seriously was hoping that he was joking, otherwise I would find another instructor pronto (cute or not!). I told him how easily I get motion sickness and that I didn’t want to do tons of flips and turns. He was glad I told him and gave me a plastic bag in case I got sick, and then he proceeded to tell me a few stories about people getting sick. Luckily, I ended up not needing one. Before we got on the plane I made sure to pray for our safety (mainly for me and Laura, but then I added everyone to be nice…thought they would appreciate it).
The plane ride
We were the second set to board the plane (the first goes last) and we sat down on the bench next to each other. Laura and her instructor were on the other bench a few people down. The entire way people kept joking about things and ‘being scared,’ me? I WAS TERRIFIED! My sister said my pupils were huge and I think they then figured out I was really scared and not just acting like it. They sort of calmed down with the joking after that. Thank goodness! J We were in the plane for a while, at least 5-7 minutes before we got to where we needed to be in the air. At first it was really hot, but they opened some window or door and a breeze came in. On the way up I prayed for everyone again! At one point (between all my hyperventilating) they started to strap us to our instructor. Let me tell you, you get REALLY up close and personal with your instructor. Really close. Lucky for me Boston is a hottie so I was good. (That might sound weird, but I don’t care!). All of the sudden the plane stalled (engine stopped) and the other door flew open (it was cold all of the sudden). It’s weird how the plane just stops. I tried to keep my head low (and not cry) and just focus on trying anything but jumping, but then Boston said look at the door, Laura is jumping. I think I may of cried out a bit and reached out my hand when I saw her go. Since we were the second pair to go inside the plane, we should have been second to last to jump, NOPE-we were the LAST! We stood up and sort of did a crab walk thing since the ceiling in the plane was really low to the door of the plane. We were at the door.
The jump
I tried not to look down to much I looked to the right like I was supposed to (and thought what the heck was I doing, but whatever) and Boston swayed us one way and then we were out! For probably like two seconds my stomach fell (like it does when you are on a roller coaster) and then it stopped.
Freefalling
The free fall was loud and I was told to straighten my arms and do a ‘superman’. The entire freefall I kept saying, “God keep me safe, God keep me safe, God keep me safe” I was too worried about myself to pray for anyone else! Haha. J It was so cold up there and my googles were stuck to my face like they were afraid to fall too, they hurt! Then I was tapped on the shoulder. That is all I remember about the freefall, it was terrifying.
Parachuting
I was not paying attention to my watch and looked at it and we were at 6,000! Oops, time to pull the cord. I reached back and could not find the freakin’ thing. You are supposed to pull towards you really hard, but I think I was pulling backwards. I screamed for a second when I couldn’t pull it and sort of panicked (aren’t you proud of me, that’s the only time I screamed). Boston realized that I wasn’t finding it and pulled it for me. Thank goodness! I know I can’t jump solo because I would panic. The parachute opened (halleluiah!) and we were jerked back. Instantly it got much quieter (freefalling is loud! 120 mph will do that).
Once the parachute opened I instantly put my hands on the harness and held on (I did feel safe and secure in the belt, but I still wasn’t going to chance falling out). Boston asked me how I felt and I said that my boobs hurt (sorry, TMI). The strap went right across my chest (I think a guy invented that!) and it hurt. In air he loosened it and it felt much better. I asked where my sister was and he looked around for her. She was to our left and waving at us. I looked but I was still holding on for dear life (my hands were getting tired at this point so honestly it wouldn’t have mattered) so I didn’t wave, I think Boston waved for the both of us. Boston asked if I wanted to steer the parachute and I said no thank you, he said ok it was his favorite part so he didn’t mind. He asked if I wanted to go through a cloud, yes please! Clouds are awesome. Parachuting was very relaxing (for the most part) and we just glided. We were the last out of the plane so I got to see everyone else land. Boston is an excellent parachute flyer and I knew I was in good hands. He told me he was kidding earlier and that he had done around 7,000 jumps in 9 years, he had been jumping since he was 23. Let’s all do the math…that’s 32…I am 30…he is hot… Good girls love bad boys…Boston needs to marry me. . J (I am just kidding, if Boston ever reads this I will just DIE of embarrassment-forget jumping out of a plane!)
Laura was already on the ground and she loved it, she wants to go again. She got to fly the parachute and do flips and turns. This is her and her instructor afterwards (I am sad I didn’t get a picture with Boston). When we got inside we both hugged Maw-Maw and texted my mom “finally” was all she texted back. Haha. Laura called Beau and he was relived she was back on the ground.
I am sure there were some other technical things I didn’t mention about the jump, but I was too afraid to notice anything else.
The landing
The landing was super easy. Boston just said to lift my feet up and we would land. We came in and people grabbed us and helped us down. I <3 the ground.
(Laura and her instructor Dale)
After
When we landed Boston gave me a hug (double swoon) and told me to go inside and take off the suit. I was shaking and he said it was from all of the adrenaline in my body after our jump. Afterwards I thanked the hottie fireman for taking pictures and asked him about how Maw-Maw took us jumping. He said she did well and only was mildly panicked when she noticed people dropping and then finally she saw parachutes opening. He tried to find us while in air and he thought he saw me go through the cloud. He was right, that was me! He had been taking pictures the entire time. Super sweet/cute fireman!
I went inside and hung up my suit on the rack and headed straight to the gift store and bought this sticker.
Afterwards I found Boston and he gave me a log book so I can record my jump in case I ever wanted to go again (NOPE!). He even wrote Happy B’day on it.
Final Thoughts.
Would I go again? No! Would I recommend someone else do it? Heck yes! It was a super fun experience, but I am not into doing things like that multiple times. God kept me safe once; I am not going to press my luck again. J
Skydive Spaceland: The center was really nice and professional. I felt very safe the entire time (overall, but how safe can you feel freefalling 7,000 feet?). I would absolutely recommend going to Skydive Spaceland to anyone who wants to skydive and have an amazing time doing it. The hanger is huge and even has a restaurant/snack bar at the top (I wouldn’t recommend eating right before going up).
My instructor Boston (aka the hottie): Boston was super sweet and very knowledgeable; he tried to make the entire experience fun. He has a great since of humor and I would feel safe jumping with him again (I’m not going to do it again, but if I did, I would ask for him). THANK YOU BOSTON for keeping me safe!
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