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.