I put some various other Florida Field Manager pics in as well, so enjoy!!
About Me
Friday, March 13, 2009
Dade City and Skydiving
Yes I did say skydiving, but we'll get to that.
The cast arrived in Dade City as scheduled and we were ready and prepared for them. The week went by incredibly smoothly with very few problems. The only one was on Thursday when I got lost with the lunches and was late delivering them. Of course it was no problem with the staff and students, but I hate being late so I was really stressed. The two shows went really well. I'm so impressed with this cast! They are just awesome. We didn't have the numbers that we were hoping for but the people that did come really enjoyed themselves. It was so great to be with the cast and staff again. I enjoy hanging out with my partner Phil, but after a few weeks it's nice to see other faces too. I also got the opportunity to room with some of the cast members and really bond with them as well.
My host family was interesting to say the least. They were a wonderful family, we just had very different views.
Sunday was host family day but for me, the rest of the staff and some lucky students it was the adventure of a lifetime. Matt Erley our business manager had host parents in Orlando who had connections at a skydiving resort. They got us a huge discount so we all decided to go. I was petrified thinking about jumping out of a plane. I pretty much thought I was going to puke all day. Of course I was placed in the next to last group for jumpers so I had to sit around all day watching everyone else go and just get more nervous as the day went on. It was good though because I got to spend some quality time with other staff members that I didn't know as well. When it was my turn I went to suit up with the others in my group Brodie, Sofie, Manuel and Nicole. We had some great photo ops because we were the group who wanted to pretend to be from NASA. Anyway, we all got hooked up to our instructors and boarded this plane that looked more like a flying ambulance. It had no seats or seatbelts and we just sat in little rows with our legs around each other. When we reached 14,000 feet they opened the back panel and we started the progression of jumping. I ended up being the last person to jump. My instructor was awesome. He guided me to the edge and gave me a little countdown and before I knew it I was doing backflips out of a plane at 14,000 feet. The free fall was the best part. It didn't even feel like falling, I felt like I was flying. My instructor pointed out all the other jumpers which looked like little white specs, but it was cool to see them and watch their parachutes open. After the shortest 30 seconds of my life he pulled the parachute. The rest of the landing wasn't the best because my harness was so tight around my legs I had bruises. It was just uncomfortable. But it was awesome none the less. We did spins and tricks with the parachute and I was on the ground before I knew it. I'd jump again in a heartbeat.
On the ride home I had a great conversation/music listening time with Phil Woods. We talked about how doing something reckless and dangerous makes us think about our life and what we want to accomplish. We talked alot about bucket lists and whether or not we even wanted to make one. To me, jumping out of a plane makes anything else I could be afraid of seem so minimal. I literally put my life in someone else's hands and jumped. (not even metaphorically speaking) It's a new goal of mine to go for the metaphorical.
Now I'm in Tyler, Texas where it's cold and rainy. We only have 3 weeks to set up this city and because of Spring Break I feel like the first week wasn't that successful. I couldn't contact anyone about host families or church bulletins or school presentations because everyone is gone for Spring Break. It's really difficult and stressful. I know we'll get it done because Phil and I are a good team, but it's stressful right now. I'm hoping maybe nicer weather puts me in a better mood about it. I really hate being cold and wet. Well, I should probably figure out something to do with the next hour. Maybe I'll put up my skydiving pictures that I have.
The cast arrived in Dade City as scheduled and we were ready and prepared for them. The week went by incredibly smoothly with very few problems. The only one was on Thursday when I got lost with the lunches and was late delivering them. Of course it was no problem with the staff and students, but I hate being late so I was really stressed. The two shows went really well. I'm so impressed with this cast! They are just awesome. We didn't have the numbers that we were hoping for but the people that did come really enjoyed themselves. It was so great to be with the cast and staff again. I enjoy hanging out with my partner Phil, but after a few weeks it's nice to see other faces too. I also got the opportunity to room with some of the cast members and really bond with them as well.
My host family was interesting to say the least. They were a wonderful family, we just had very different views.
Sunday was host family day but for me, the rest of the staff and some lucky students it was the adventure of a lifetime. Matt Erley our business manager had host parents in Orlando who had connections at a skydiving resort. They got us a huge discount so we all decided to go. I was petrified thinking about jumping out of a plane. I pretty much thought I was going to puke all day. Of course I was placed in the next to last group for jumpers so I had to sit around all day watching everyone else go and just get more nervous as the day went on. It was good though because I got to spend some quality time with other staff members that I didn't know as well. When it was my turn I went to suit up with the others in my group Brodie, Sofie, Manuel and Nicole. We had some great photo ops because we were the group who wanted to pretend to be from NASA. Anyway, we all got hooked up to our instructors and boarded this plane that looked more like a flying ambulance. It had no seats or seatbelts and we just sat in little rows with our legs around each other. When we reached 14,000 feet they opened the back panel and we started the progression of jumping. I ended up being the last person to jump. My instructor was awesome. He guided me to the edge and gave me a little countdown and before I knew it I was doing backflips out of a plane at 14,000 feet. The free fall was the best part. It didn't even feel like falling, I felt like I was flying. My instructor pointed out all the other jumpers which looked like little white specs, but it was cool to see them and watch their parachutes open. After the shortest 30 seconds of my life he pulled the parachute. The rest of the landing wasn't the best because my harness was so tight around my legs I had bruises. It was just uncomfortable. But it was awesome none the less. We did spins and tricks with the parachute and I was on the ground before I knew it. I'd jump again in a heartbeat.
On the ride home I had a great conversation/music listening time with Phil Woods. We talked about how doing something reckless and dangerous makes us think about our life and what we want to accomplish. We talked alot about bucket lists and whether or not we even wanted to make one. To me, jumping out of a plane makes anything else I could be afraid of seem so minimal. I literally put my life in someone else's hands and jumped. (not even metaphorically speaking) It's a new goal of mine to go for the metaphorical.
Now I'm in Tyler, Texas where it's cold and rainy. We only have 3 weeks to set up this city and because of Spring Break I feel like the first week wasn't that successful. I couldn't contact anyone about host families or church bulletins or school presentations because everyone is gone for Spring Break. It's really difficult and stressful. I know we'll get it done because Phil and I are a good team, but it's stressful right now. I'm hoping maybe nicer weather puts me in a better mood about it. I really hate being cold and wet. Well, I should probably figure out something to do with the next hour. Maybe I'll put up my skydiving pictures that I have.
Friday, February 27, 2009
New job
Hello friends. So I'm one week away from being finished with my very first set up of a city. For those of you who don't know I've joined the staff of Up with People and am not a Field Marketing and Operations Manger. Basically what I do is go ahead of the cast to a city and do all of the organizing that it takes to bring a cast to a city. I find host families, meals, community projects, a venue, media outlets, sell tickets, write lots of memos. Basically anything you can think of I probably do that. It's a fun and sometimes frustrating job. My coworker in this city is Phil W. It's really been a pleasure to work with him. I'm so glad he was my first partner because we have a very similar working style and we've gotten along great! We got our interns two weeks ago, Karoline from Norway and Yohannes from Ethiopia. They've been great and so fun to work with. I think we're pretty much ready for the cast to arrive on Monday. I feel like there should be so much more I need to be doing, but everything I'm in charge of is pretty set. We have all our host families. (provided no one else drops out before Monday) and although no one would donate meals to us, I think I've got the budget all sorted out so I can buy them. It's been tough, but we've had a lot of fun too. My first week in Dade City, Phil and I went up to Tampa to a parade called Gasparillia. It's basically a pirate themed Mardi Gras. There were pirates, booze and tons of beads. We had a great time just watching the people go crazy. Then the next week there was the big Kumkwat Festival in Dade City. It reminded me of Arts in the Park in North Platte or Imperial. Lots of booths and food and music and some booths with useless crap that no one would ever need but you just feel like you should buy it because it's there. Haha. Then the week our interns came my boss Christy called us up and asked if we were free that weekend to come down to Orlando and hang out at Universal Studios for free. Umm....duh. So we took our interns there and rode some rides and ended up getting to ride on THE Universal Studios float for their Mardi Gras parade. We got to dress up and throw beads into a screaming crowd of thousands. It was super fun!!!! Plus the Jurrasic Park ride may have been the coolest ride I've ever been on. I got soaked and it totally ruined my hair for the rest of the day, but it was worth it. I can't wait to go back and also go to Disney World. I love rollercoasters!! Anyway, the cast gets here Monday and I'm super excited to see everyone. I've really missed the staff. We got pretty close during staging and I think the hardest part of this job is being secluded and away from people for months at a time. It's been great having Phil. I can't imagine doing the job alone. I think I'd go crazy. Anyway, I should know where I'm headed to next in about a week. It will either be Deridder, Louisiana or Tyler, Texas. I'm pretty sure I'll be sent to Texas which would totally make my day because it's not that far from my friend Javier. I have no clue if anyone still reads this blog, but I'm going to try and keep it up because it's a great way to let everyone know what's happening in my life.
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