"WE DID IT!" {Part 1 of Our Celebration}

Most of you that read this blog also follow me on instagram, so you know my big news already. 

At the beginning of the year, I decided I was going to read the entire bible.  I have an app on my phone that tells me what chapters to read each day.  On March 15, I was reading Deuteronomy 10 and verse 20 says, "Fear the LORD your God and serve him.  Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name."  This verse stuck out to me and I started thinking about things I fear... the first thing that popped in my head was skydiving.  

On one of my first dates with Kevin back in 2004, he told me he wanted to skydive.  I told him I'd go watch, but I'd never do it.  We had been talking on and off all year long about how we should celebrate our 10 year anniversary, and in early March we decided we'd spend the day at Barkley lake and go fishing.  But after reading this bible verse and meditating on it for awhile, I really felt like God was pushing me to take a leap (quite literally) of faith.  He wanted to show me I didn't need to fear skydiving.  I've been reading in the old testament about how God has delivered his people, and I felt confident that even if we had a faulty parachute, God would still deliver me safely to the ground.  I know I have nothing to fear, other than the Lord, but I don't usually live that way.  I talked to Kevin when he got home from work and asked if we could scrap the fishing plans.  I told him I wanted to plan a more exciting day.

My original plan was to not tell Kevin about skydiving until we got to the airport on April 8th.  After about an hour of my heart racing and me sweating profusely (I usually never sweat!), he was dying to know.  I thought maybe we could process this together, and get excited together, so I told him the plans.  He was shocked.  He was hesitant.  I reminded him this was something he told me he wanted to do!  He said he was enjoying this predictable life we live, which I was nodding in agreement, but he said "Let's do it!"  I put down our deposit online.  

We both thought of backing out several times over the next few weeks, but when one of us was weak, the other was strong.  Telling him was definitely the right choice!  We watched YouTube videos of people's jumps, I dreamed crazy skydiving dreams, I looked up tandem skydiving death statistics (which was actually really encouraging), I wrote a goodbye letter to the kids just in case,  and we sang "Live Like You're Dying" under our breaths and smiled at each other because we liked having a secret.

The night before our jump (which was actually a day after our anniversary), we slept so great!  I woke up a bit early but stuck to my morning routine, and we got ready and left for the day.  It was about a 3.5 hour drive and that was probably the worst part of the day.  We chatted to calm our nerves, but it was obvious we were both out of our comfort zone. 

We arrived at Frankfort Municipal Airport about 12:25 and our scheduled time to start was 1.  We were immediately taken back to watch the saftey video and fill out paper work, and by 12:45 we had paid and were ready to get fitted in our jumpsuits and harnesses.  There was another young couple ahead of us.  They were there celebrating his 25th birthday.  They were actually from southern Indiana too, so we just made small talk.  A couple instructors came up and talked to us, which helped calm some nerves too.  Kevin's tandem partner, Kramer, was a little older than us, had been doing this for 20 years, and had jumped over 13,500 times.  My partner, Ryan, had 1,500+ jumps. 

We watched the couple infront of us go and come back safely and they kept talking about how awesome it was.  We did a interview for the camera and then tightened our harness.  My instructor told me he was invested in me and this was going to work, and we'd land safely.  All that was reassuring to hear.  We headed towards our little 1970s plane driven by a college kid.  That was probably the scariest part of the whole thing. 

Once we got in the plane, my partner was so good about keeping me calm.  He kept encouraging me to take deep breaths, and talked to me almost the entire time.  And I like to talk when I'm nervous.  And apparently (from watching my video) I smile too much and wave nervously at any camera pointed my direction - haha!  The best thing my partner said was right at the end of the flight.  He said, "Just remember to enjoy it.  You're just along for the ride!"  I don't know why that eased my mind so much but it did! 

The door I was squished against during the flight up was opened, my camera man crawled out over the top of us (we were packed in the plane like sardines which I don't think I've mentioned yet), and I followed procedure.  My partner put one foot out, I was supposed to put my two feet out, then he'd put his last foot out and off we'd go!  I was so calm during this part and I thought I'd be freaking out.  I think this was just God answering all the hundreds of prayers I had said!

It's hard to describe the fall.  It's not like a roller coaster, but it definitely feels like you're falling.  I was hanging on to my straps for dear life, trying to get my bearings, and when I opened my eyes my camera man was looking right at me!  I tried to smile for the camera, and before I knew it the freefall was over and the parachute was opening.  Parachuting was the BEST part for me!  It was easy, nothing scary about it, and I felt like, "ok, we made it!"  And then that's exactly what my partner told me. 

He had to adjust his straps and asked me to hold on to the parachute and stand on his feet.  I don't think this part was planned, but if it was he hadn't prepared me for it.  I heard what sounded like two buttons snap and he screamed, "OH GOD" and I screamed, "OH MY GOSH!" and he said, "Just kidding."  I didn't find that nearly as funny as he did!  He was giving me landing instructions and told me we'd slide in instead of landing on our feet.  While he was talking I realized Kevin had already landed.  I was confused how that happened since I jumped first, but all I knew it we were coming in fast for our landing.  It was probably the ugliest landing I could have imagined and my back popped a funny pop when my legs got stuck behind me.  Nothing graceful about it all. 

My camera man was immediately back in my face asking me questions and I wish I had thought about how I was going to answer them ahead of time!  "The coming down part" means parachuting by the way :)  I was listening to my partner talk to Kevin's partner about how ugly his exit from the plane was.  I knew his foot had fallen asleep on the flight up, but the exit felt seemless to me.  My partner got out of his harness and back into a new one because he was on the next group to go up.  He wished us a Happy Anniversary while Kevin & I took a couple more picture.

We hugged, kissed, and said, "We Did It!" --- which is kind of how we felt about being married 10 years!  We made it past some ugly, hard, rough times.  It really was an incredible experience that I will never forget.  People keep asking if I'd skydive again, and I think I would.  I have no plans made in the future though.  And if I never do it again, I'm fine with that too. 

We called and texted our parents and siblings on the way to our next planned stop.  Everyone was shocked, just as we expected.  We had kept it a secret because we didn't want them worrying.  That was definitely the right choice too. :)

Here are the videos... Kevin definitely wins the award for looking the coolest!

And some pictures...

Some random things I don't want to forget:

1. This was SkydiveIndy's second weekend being open for the season.
2. The big plane that holds 14 people hadn't arrived yet (it was in Florida for the off-season), so that's why we had the tiny plane that had duct tape in it!
3. My partner had only been in Indiana about 24 hours before we jumped.  He usually works for a company in New York, but came to Indiana because they needed more help until the full crew was there.
4. I didn't realize that skydivers travel so much.  Kevin's partner is gone 3-4 months of the year to work in California.
5. There was the cutest dog at the hanger named Charlie.  He helped keep me calm.
6.  The weather was sunny/clear skies and temps in the lower 60s 
7. The sweet couple we chatted with while we waited were Ben & Shelby.  They were just dating.  I asked if he planned to propose when she came down and he said they weren't ready for that.   Bummer!  I would have loved to see that!
8. There was a man in his 80s just hanging out watching people jump.  He said he jumped last year on his birthday, but didn't think he was going to this year.
9. I had a separate photographer that took my pictures and video.  Kevin's partner had a GoPro camera attached to his arm and that's how he got his pictures and videos - and that's also why our videos are so different!

Patti's Restaurant

Yesterday Kevin had the day off work, while the two oldest kids had to make up their snow day from a couple weeks ago.  We wanted to do something fun, so we headed to Kentucky to eat at Patti's.  It's always been one of my favorite restaurants for so many reasons;  I love the shopping in and around the restaurant, I love the strawberry butter, I love the food, I love the restaurant decor, and if I have room for dessert (which I usually don't), it's amazing too.   If you ever get to Grand Rivers, you have to go eat there!

Before we ate, we made a pit stop at Kevin's parents property by Barkley Lake so he could see if there were any signs of deer.  He's wanting to hunt down there this fall with Hayden.  I promise to cheer them on (because I know it's something he likes and wants to do), but let's be honest.... I want nothin to do with a dead deer.... I take that back.  I wouldn't mind one deer head mount for me to decorate with seasonal things, but that's it.  We spent about an hour walking through the woods looking for hoof prints, bedding areas, and deer rubs.  I know you're jealous.

Here are some pictures from our lunch out :)

Most of the Christmas decor was still up, and it was fun to see!

Me & Krissy waiting on that bread!

Flower pot bread with 2x strawberry butter and regular butter

Kevin & Austin

Krissy & Austin both loved the bread (Austin was licking strawberry butter off his plate), and they both got corn dogs and homemade chips for lunch that they loved too!

I got my usual - aloha chicken salad.  It was fantastic!  The kids helped me eat my fruit :)  Kevin got a fried chicken salad that I didn't get pictures of.

Before we left, I looked around their store and found their 75% off Christmas clearance.  I saw this little mistletoe ornament and decided I needed it!  (It looked like all the stores were having huge sales, so it's a good thing we ran out of time and had to get home!)

We couldn't leave without a picture of Krissy on that big pink tractor!

These two crashed on the way home and Kevin and I enjoyed the silent ride back home!

Christmas Lake Overnight

Some of our favorite yearly Christmas traditions take place at my parents cabin at Christmas Lake Village in Santa Claus, Indiana!  Usually around my birthday, we shoot down mistletoe from my uncle's trees and I also mail our Christmas cards from the Santa Claus post office.  We also try to spend the night at their cabin, but some years we've missed that part.  

When we went up to the cabin in middle November for Christmas card pictures (another tradition we started back in 2012), the kids were so disappointed we didn't spend the night.  I promised them we would soon, so we did last weekend.  We kept it really simple - got dinner at the local grocery store, made chocolate lava cakes for dessert, and made an easy breakfast in the morning.  The best part was we packed really light (pillow/blankets/pjs/toothbrushes for everyone and that was it!).  I kept commenting on how nice it was to pack so light!  It's the first time we've gone and not had to bring diapers or a pack and play or a baby gate or anything else baby/toddler related.  The kids sat by the fire, watched Christmas movies on cable tv, played with all the toys, and it was actually relaxing and restful!  

I didn't snap as many pictures as I would have liked to but here are a few from the little overnight stay :)

Kevin, my dad, and Hayden shot down and collected the mistletoe.  One of the branches came down and they brought that back for me! :)

Kevin drove his truck up and we got this cute picture of him and Hayden by the main lake before we left Saturday.

This is where I did Christmas card pictures this year, so I wanted another picture there with their grandparents in the back ground. 

Sometimes unposed/candid shots are my favorite :)

Hayden found this little nest and "baby pumpkins" when he was getting mistletoe.  We've since clear coated it so it stays together and he can keep it!

Trails with the Family

Kevin was off today and we wanted to spend the day together as a family.  We threw around ideas of what we could do, but he decided we should take the kids to Lincoln State Park and walk the trails.  We loaded up the van just before lunch time and headed to Spencer County.  Today was free admission (which we didn't know until we got there). 

We set off on Trail 1 and detoured once to go see the old fire tower.  It was a ton of fun and the kids can't wait to go back!

Nothing better than a self-timed family photo :)

Austin stopped about every 10 steps to say "Wook at dat mom!"

Allie and I went up one more flight and I convinced her it was time to get down!  I didn't mind the height, it was the steep stairs and the going back down that had me worried!

We climbed to the platform that was about half was up.

Allie found a caterpillar.

The trails were so nice!  Steps down steep parts, bridges over water...

Hayden found a baby frog.

An uprooted tree right on the trail.

 

We stopped to check out the dams the beavers built!

She hung back with me most of the walk.

We kept trying to tell the kids to take the higher paths, but all 4 of them had soaking wet feet when we were done!

Kevin dared them to climb the tree.

Checking out the bug in the water.

Hayden wished we would have brought fishing poles.

When the kids saw the playground they wanted to play!  So that was our last stop before calling it a day!