Thursday, April 18, 2013

I Went Skydiving With Edward Cullen and Jim Croce

Sunday is my 12th wedding anniversary.  We're going to the mummy exhibit and everything.  I know what you're thinking!  "Mummies?  Is that romantic?"  Well, it'll be interesting and that's what our anniversaries always are.  Remember two years ago when Cade took me skydiving?  It was AWESOME!      
    They paired Cade with Jim Croce--a man who died in a plane crash, and me with a guy who I thought looked like my version on Edward Cullen.  I’m not a huge Twilight fan--let me send that thought in the wind.  I thought Edward was obsessive, overbearing, controlling.  If I could pick one literary character to NOT go skydiving with, it would be him or Captain Ahab!  There’s something about jumping from a plane--with a vamp--it doesn’t bode well.  It’s like facing death TWICE!

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To top things off, my cameraman looked like a preacher I used to know.  It wasn’t until the video guy started dropping the “F” bomb that I questioned his faith.   
    “Are you related to any pastors?” I asked the “F Bomber.”
    “No.”
    “Well, you look like a very successful one I used to know . . .  You could probably make a good living, if you held services before people jump.”
    He laughed so hard.  “Even though I swear a lot.”
    “You could still do awesome.  Pass around an offering plate, tell people this might be their last moment and you’ll be golden!”
    I watched a few people jump before me.  When my turn came, that’s when I finally got nervous.  This is just a dream, I closed my eyes and instead of jumping, I just leaned into the wind like when I let go of Zeke’s ashes
    I kept my eyes closed for a couple seconds of the sixty-second free fall.  It was beautiful!  I was a bird--that had no wings and couldn’t fly--but still I was a freakin’ bird!!!  That’s when I opened my eyes and forgot about everything except God’s beauty.  My cheeks flapped as I thought about how my teeth might freeze and then fall from my face.  The world looked beautiful from up there in the frigid--teeth chattering weather.  I almost cried thinking about God’s awesomeness and the fact that a little spit dribbled from the side of my mouth and probably into my instructor’s face.
    After he pulled the shoot, he let me do a few turns and then we landed.  I ran up to Cade and hugged him.  “You jumped with Jim Croce and you survived!  That was sooo awesome!"     We started  walking toward the hanger and I turned to Cade.  “Were you nervous?  Did you have a hard time jumping?”
    “You wanna know the truth?”
    I nodded.
    “We got up there, and something with the pressure or something.  Anyway, I was strapped to Croce, who could hardly speak English and all the sudden I had to . . .”  Cade looked around and whispered, “I had to fart.”
    “Oh my gosh!” I giggled so hard.
    “Well, I held it, until I had to jump from the plane, and I think it gave me an extra boost.”
    “So you abandoned the plane AND a bad fart?”  I laughed so hard, my side hurt. And I couldn't help wondering, did the fart stay in the plane after Cade jumped? So many people waited to jump after us.  If they would've died, would that smell been one of their last memories from life?
    When we walked back to the counter, an instructor pulled me aside and said, Kevin told me that normally skinny girls are hard to dive with because they end up being so light, gravity will flip the both of you upside down.  But he said you went out of that plane easier than any skinny girl he’s dove with and it was one of the best tandem jumps he’s made.”     That made me grin.     “You’re a natural,” he said.  “You shocked me today, and you’re a natural.”     So, I did it.  I’m a natural faller.  Me and gravity . . . We get along.  

To celebrate our anniversary, Bible Girl & the Bad Boy is only 99 cents.  It's the story of how I met Cade and ran away to Hawaii.  You can check that out HERE.


Also If you want to see part of the jump, here's the video. If you watch any of it, watch 3:42--it still makes me smile.


16 comments:

  1. So brave of you, if it came down to sky diving with a vampire or getting up close with a mummy, personally I'd go for the mummy every time. Anyway, happy anniversary to you both on Sunday, I know you'll have a great day whatever happens. Oh and by the way I agree with every thing you have to say about Edward Cullen - obsessive, overbearing, controlling .... and he wouldn't keep my feet warm in bed at night.

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  2. As you know, I've flown in the zero gravity plane that the astronauts train in & I LOVED it, but skydiving is still not on my bucket list! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

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  3. I found you through Pat Hatt's blog. I have a major fear of heights so I am going to hold off on skydiving for quite a while :)

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  4. I could not skydive. But I'd probably pick the vampire over the mummy (it might depend on the vampire though. I know some very nice ones and some very. very nasty ones). Mummies are creepy.
    I always get a funny feeling on seeing people's mortal remains in museums, but there's something particularly weird-inducing when the whole body is there, a little shrunken but perfectly recognisable. With a face. And other bits - they arranged a bit of cloth to keep her decent, and that just made it feel so much like seeing a person. And she was a person, a real person who really lived just like us and now we're ogling her in a glass case. It's probably not so bad if they're all wrapped up, but seeing an unwrapped mummy really freaked me out. I can understand the Egyptians' belief that keeping the body intact and remembering their name would make you immortal.

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  5. Just as long as you and gravity are good... with a parachute. There's that old joke that says "You only need a parachute to skydive if you want to do it again."

    Happy Anniversary.

    My 2nd is coming up... odds are we're not skydiving. :)

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  6. Although, I do kind of have a history of getting freaked out in museums, so maybe it's just me.


    I was three, and the dinosaur was moving. IT WAS MOVING.

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  7. This (almost) makes me want to skydive! I panic even in a ferris wheel, so it would take a lot to get me up there. I love how you described God's awesomeness.

    And I just got Bible Girl and the Bad Boy. Can't wait to read it.

    Happy Anniversary- may it be the best yet!

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  8. OH my gosh. So cool. I was nervous for you. Then excited. I don't know if I could do it. The closest I've come is ziplining in the desert in Vegas at 50 mph. Not the same. I saw people doing what you did in the distance and thought, "I wonder if I could do that." Hmm. I don't know. Thanks for sharing that. Fun to read and watch.
    Amber


    www.theflipsidestories.com

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  9. Wow brave lady, lol. I am not very happy about the idea of flying on a plane, jumping out of one is not something I think I'' ever do and it is a shame because it looks amazing.

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  10. I used to want to jump, but not anymore! Looks like you had a great time! :)

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  11. Cade farted? Cade farted! hahahahahahaha
    I remember when Jim Croce died. I was in junior high. He's amazingly well preserved.

    Love,
    Janie

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  12. Still not sure I'd have the guts to do it, but LOL I'll remember to pass some gas if I need an extra boost.

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  13. Why did he tilt your head back at the start? OMG. I couldn't have done it and I would not have been thinking about god's beautiful creation. I would have been thinking I was going to be seeing him IN PERSON in 3-2-1....ay yi yi

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  14. It was so fun :)

    Carrie,
    I am a bit nervous about the mummies. I went to a biology class once--they were dissecting cadavers and I fainted. At least a cute guy caught me LOL!

    Shelly,
    I hope you'll love it. Thank you :)

    Lotta Joy,
    It had something to do with not being able to breathe when the wind hit my face. Good memories :)

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  15. When I am just a little bit older, I will try that! Mummies I can handle, no problem. But skydiving addresses some fears.

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  16. Holy cow- you are brave! I don't think I will ever jump out of a plane. I have such terrible ear pain when I go on planes (my ears don't pop and the pain is intense when the plane is getting ready to land). They even hurt driving up and especially down large hills!

    Great video! I love that you were so calm and such a good jumper/faller.
    ~Stephanie

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