When my brain goes into overdrive and I need an escape... I do what most people would do to get away. I jump out of an airplane.
Ok. Maybe MOST people don't do that... but in my world... they do!
I started skydiving a little over a year ago and it's been a life changing experience. Freefall from 13,500 feet lasts about a minute. You don't realize how long a minute is until you experience free fall at 120 mph.
In that minute, nothing else matters. The sky is my playground and there's nothing better than sharing my playground with some friends.
This past Sunday I had a few friends come out to the DZ (drop zone) and do some tandem jumps. I shared a plane with them and did a horny gorilla exit with a couple of friends. A horny gorilla exit basically means we all lock knees and hold on tight and throw ourselves out in a ball that tumbles and rolls. Ideally you can put your arms out at some point and beat your chest like a gorilla. Later I did a safe sex exit with another friend. Safe sex means you straddle another skydiver and tumble and roll similar to the horny gorilla. I had a great time and was lucky enough to get my skydives on video.
I thought I'd give my readers a little introduction to skydiving... this is my first post on the subject, but it most certainly will not be my last!
Enjoy!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
I Gotta Get Outta This Place!
If it’s the last thing I ever do!
I’m vacation minded right now. I need to LEAVE Dallas. Even if it’s just for a weekend! I’m so frustrated at home right now and need to get outta town and clear my head.
This feeling has intensified lately due to some stressors. I’m in a place where I need to start making a few decisions and I’m being even more indecisive than usual.
My lease is almost up and I haven’t decided what to do about that. Renew it? Or move it?
Work wise I’m not making the kind of money I wish I was. Either step up my game, or pick a new field. But what field? Oh… this starts a whole new blog to be honest, one I’ve been editing for weeks and haven’t posted yet FOR A REASON.
Relationship wise I’m pissed. Every single time I take 2 steps forward… something takes me 3 steps back.
Family wise, I’m throwing my hands up in the air. We can’t communicate and we seem to have taken each other for granted. And NO ONE seems happy right now, so it’s hard to support each other when we’re all trying to “figure it out” still. Maybe the apple didn’t fall far from the tree after all.
Frankly, I’m at a crossroads. I have the world at my finger tips and all I need to do is take a step in one direction to change my life drastically.
But instead, I’m stagnant. I hate stagnant. It’s incredibly boring. At least if I was a feather in the wind I would actually get BLOWN SOMEWHERE!!!
So… I’ve decided. Vacation time it is.
But even when I think vacation time lately, I think: When? Where? With who?
Well! Sound the horns because I finally have an answer my friends!!!
2 weekends from now!
South Beach!
With my bestie!
Booyah!!!
I’ll let ya know how this pans out!
I’m vacation minded right now. I need to LEAVE Dallas. Even if it’s just for a weekend! I’m so frustrated at home right now and need to get outta town and clear my head.
This feeling has intensified lately due to some stressors. I’m in a place where I need to start making a few decisions and I’m being even more indecisive than usual.
My lease is almost up and I haven’t decided what to do about that. Renew it? Or move it?
Work wise I’m not making the kind of money I wish I was. Either step up my game, or pick a new field. But what field? Oh… this starts a whole new blog to be honest, one I’ve been editing for weeks and haven’t posted yet FOR A REASON.
Relationship wise I’m pissed. Every single time I take 2 steps forward… something takes me 3 steps back.
Family wise, I’m throwing my hands up in the air. We can’t communicate and we seem to have taken each other for granted. And NO ONE seems happy right now, so it’s hard to support each other when we’re all trying to “figure it out” still. Maybe the apple didn’t fall far from the tree after all.
Frankly, I’m at a crossroads. I have the world at my finger tips and all I need to do is take a step in one direction to change my life drastically.
But instead, I’m stagnant. I hate stagnant. It’s incredibly boring. At least if I was a feather in the wind I would actually get BLOWN SOMEWHERE!!!
So… I’ve decided. Vacation time it is.
But even when I think vacation time lately, I think: When? Where? With who?
Well! Sound the horns because I finally have an answer my friends!!!
2 weekends from now!
South Beach!
With my bestie!
Booyah!!!
I’ll let ya know how this pans out!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Kissing Frogs
“You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you will find your prince.”
And I have been kissing a lot of frogs! I have joked in the past that I’m a chronic dater, and it’s not unlike me to accept dates from just about anyone who asks. I have found that I stay extremely busy that way, often times going on 2 dates a day in order to schedule everyone. The side effects to this hobby are many.
I have gained weight. Think about it, most dates are over a meal and 2-a-days usually mean I’ve eaten out for lunch and dinner. It’s hard to eat healthy when I go out to eat and I don’t know how the food is prepared and I typically suck at portion control because… well, I LOVE food! Also, it’s extremely hard to maintain a fitness program when I’m rushing home from work every day to go on a date.
I don’t always have time for my “real friends” either because I’m so overbooked with dates that I forget to “schedule” girl time or general hang out time with my friends. They don’t like this and neither do I.
It’s hard to develop actual feelings for someone when I am constantly worried about keeping track of what their name is and our dating history so I don’t make a stupid comment that relates to someone ELSE I’ve been dating.
My calendar stays full and sometimes I have to book dates far in advanced. This leaves no room for mood swings. Sometimes I am neither in the mood for the date planned or the person I agreed to go out with. This usually results in a bad date due to my bad attitude. And forget about last minute opportunities that arise! “Hey, I just scored 2 tickets to the hottest concert in town tonight! Wanna go!?” “Oh I’d love to… but I already have plans.”
Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of pros to dating a lot! I am fortunate to have really interesting people in my life who do really interesting things! So I have been exposed to new hobbies, new music, new restaurants, new views on people and life in general, etc. Dating a wide variety of men ensures that I get to do a wide variety of activities! In fact, I feel quite spoiled because I know these are things I wouldn’t get to experience otherwise.
But enough is enough! If I’m on a quest to find true love, then I have to pick better frogs! That means no more accepting dates unless I’m truly interested in the guy! I have “ended it” with a few people I’ve been dating that I see no real future with and I’ve been practicing the art of saying “no” when new ones ask me out! I have narrowed my frogs down significantly in a very short amount of time!
It hasn’t been long since I have started living by my new rules but so far things are working nicely! I have already spent less time eating and more time working out! I finally started to catch up on all those shows taking up space on my DVR too. I have spent more quality time with my friends, as well as my family! And the frog that I have been kissing is very… charming!
And I have been kissing a lot of frogs! I have joked in the past that I’m a chronic dater, and it’s not unlike me to accept dates from just about anyone who asks. I have found that I stay extremely busy that way, often times going on 2 dates a day in order to schedule everyone. The side effects to this hobby are many.
I have gained weight. Think about it, most dates are over a meal and 2-a-days usually mean I’ve eaten out for lunch and dinner. It’s hard to eat healthy when I go out to eat and I don’t know how the food is prepared and I typically suck at portion control because… well, I LOVE food! Also, it’s extremely hard to maintain a fitness program when I’m rushing home from work every day to go on a date.
I don’t always have time for my “real friends” either because I’m so overbooked with dates that I forget to “schedule” girl time or general hang out time with my friends. They don’t like this and neither do I.
It’s hard to develop actual feelings for someone when I am constantly worried about keeping track of what their name is and our dating history so I don’t make a stupid comment that relates to someone ELSE I’ve been dating.
My calendar stays full and sometimes I have to book dates far in advanced. This leaves no room for mood swings. Sometimes I am neither in the mood for the date planned or the person I agreed to go out with. This usually results in a bad date due to my bad attitude. And forget about last minute opportunities that arise! “Hey, I just scored 2 tickets to the hottest concert in town tonight! Wanna go!?” “Oh I’d love to… but I already have plans.”
Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of pros to dating a lot! I am fortunate to have really interesting people in my life who do really interesting things! So I have been exposed to new hobbies, new music, new restaurants, new views on people and life in general, etc. Dating a wide variety of men ensures that I get to do a wide variety of activities! In fact, I feel quite spoiled because I know these are things I wouldn’t get to experience otherwise.
But enough is enough! If I’m on a quest to find true love, then I have to pick better frogs! That means no more accepting dates unless I’m truly interested in the guy! I have “ended it” with a few people I’ve been dating that I see no real future with and I’ve been practicing the art of saying “no” when new ones ask me out! I have narrowed my frogs down significantly in a very short amount of time!
It hasn’t been long since I have started living by my new rules but so far things are working nicely! I have already spent less time eating and more time working out! I finally started to catch up on all those shows taking up space on my DVR too. I have spent more quality time with my friends, as well as my family! And the frog that I have been kissing is very… charming!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Love and Marriage, Love and Marriage...
Go together like a horse and carriage! (Sorry, I couldn't refrain from singing!)
I don’t “do” weddings. Wedding receptions with an open bar? Why, yes! Yes I do! I have perfected the art of skipping the ceremony and simply making an appearance at the reception. When someone grasps the concept of an open bar at the ceremony, I might change my tune. Until then, I will stick to my current system.
Fortunately, at my age, most of my closest friends have already been married off and are working hard at building their little family one child at a time. So there are very few weddings I feel obligated to attend, and even fewer that I have been asked to participate in the wedding party. It has been 5 years since I have been a bridesmaid.
This weekend, however, I will once again walk down the aisle for a girlfriend, donning the dress of her choice. Being a bridesmaid is supposed to be an honor, but in reality it is a lot of work, a lot of stress, and a lot of money spent on someone else’s “happy day”. I blame my own failed marriage for my negative outlook on romance and true love. I have realized that I am quite jealous at the idea of someone else’s life ending “happily ever after” when my own fairy tale ended more like a tragic opera… everyone dies in the end. Or something like that.
It has been a long journey for me to forgive my ex for crushing my dreams of “…to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, ‘til death do us part….” But over the past year and a half, I have lived a period of “personal growth” and have really come to terms with it, forgiven him (and myself) for the disappointment and heartbreak we caused each other, and trusted that the Lord will someday bless me with a husband who honors the covenant of marriage. It has been a long road to healing, but I have come out a better person in the end and I feel that I have even more love to give than I ever have before.
For the first time in a very long time, I am truly happy to see a young couple madly in love with each other, taking a blind leap of faith into the commitment of marriage. I am cheering them on and praying that they will not become another marital statistic. In fact, I have become quite emotional lately due to the fact that one friend is merely days away from walking down the aisle and another very dear friend has recently become engaged. I have even enjoyed playing in a blizzard of chiffon, silk, tulle and lace as we search for the perfect wedding dress! The “old me” wouldn’t have been able to tolerate this, let alone celebrate it. Now I’m the girl who tears up when her best friend steps out of the dressing room in that one perfect dress!
I am absolutely frightened at the idea of standing at the altar this weekend. Partly because I have never overcome my stage fright and partly because I am terrified that my warm gooey center (that I have kept behind frozen walls for so long) will melt and I will be a bawling mess when I see the bride walking down the aisle to meet her new husband. I am terrified that my sobs will overwhelm their marriage vows! Mostly, I am afraid that I will feel more alone than I have in a long time, because I am missing that kind of love and commitment in my life. BUT! This is not about me! Shocking, I know! So…
To the Bride and Groom:
Let your love endure beyond the last sunset.
May your life be long and happy,
Your cares and sorrows few;
And the many friends around thee
Prove faithful, fond and true.
May your voyage through life be as happy and as free
As the dancing waves on the deep blue sea.
May your love be added, may it never be subtracted, may your household multiply, and may your hearts never be divided!
I don’t “do” weddings. Wedding receptions with an open bar? Why, yes! Yes I do! I have perfected the art of skipping the ceremony and simply making an appearance at the reception. When someone grasps the concept of an open bar at the ceremony, I might change my tune. Until then, I will stick to my current system.
Fortunately, at my age, most of my closest friends have already been married off and are working hard at building their little family one child at a time. So there are very few weddings I feel obligated to attend, and even fewer that I have been asked to participate in the wedding party. It has been 5 years since I have been a bridesmaid.
This weekend, however, I will once again walk down the aisle for a girlfriend, donning the dress of her choice. Being a bridesmaid is supposed to be an honor, but in reality it is a lot of work, a lot of stress, and a lot of money spent on someone else’s “happy day”. I blame my own failed marriage for my negative outlook on romance and true love. I have realized that I am quite jealous at the idea of someone else’s life ending “happily ever after” when my own fairy tale ended more like a tragic opera… everyone dies in the end. Or something like that.
It has been a long journey for me to forgive my ex for crushing my dreams of “…to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, ‘til death do us part….” But over the past year and a half, I have lived a period of “personal growth” and have really come to terms with it, forgiven him (and myself) for the disappointment and heartbreak we caused each other, and trusted that the Lord will someday bless me with a husband who honors the covenant of marriage. It has been a long road to healing, but I have come out a better person in the end and I feel that I have even more love to give than I ever have before.
For the first time in a very long time, I am truly happy to see a young couple madly in love with each other, taking a blind leap of faith into the commitment of marriage. I am cheering them on and praying that they will not become another marital statistic. In fact, I have become quite emotional lately due to the fact that one friend is merely days away from walking down the aisle and another very dear friend has recently become engaged. I have even enjoyed playing in a blizzard of chiffon, silk, tulle and lace as we search for the perfect wedding dress! The “old me” wouldn’t have been able to tolerate this, let alone celebrate it. Now I’m the girl who tears up when her best friend steps out of the dressing room in that one perfect dress!
I am absolutely frightened at the idea of standing at the altar this weekend. Partly because I have never overcome my stage fright and partly because I am terrified that my warm gooey center (that I have kept behind frozen walls for so long) will melt and I will be a bawling mess when I see the bride walking down the aisle to meet her new husband. I am terrified that my sobs will overwhelm their marriage vows! Mostly, I am afraid that I will feel more alone than I have in a long time, because I am missing that kind of love and commitment in my life. BUT! This is not about me! Shocking, I know! So…
To the Bride and Groom:
Let your love endure beyond the last sunset.
May your life be long and happy,
Your cares and sorrows few;
And the many friends around thee
Prove faithful, fond and true.
May your voyage through life be as happy and as free
As the dancing waves on the deep blue sea.
May your love be added, may it never be subtracted, may your household multiply, and may your hearts never be divided!
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