Wheeeeeee!

Today I jumped out of a plane!

For Valentine's Day, Husband got me a tandem skydive. It's my second time doing this.

In a tandem jump, I wear a harness and am clipped tightly to an experienced diver. The first time was with Ronaldo from Brazil, at least 5 years ago. This time it was with Johan from South Africa.

Both times were amazing. Both times we jumped out at 14,000 feet.

It was a beautiful, gorgeous day. Sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and warm -- 70F.

The most nerve wracking part was the actual push out of the plane, done by Johan. Then you're just free falling, air rushing past so, so fast, it's almost hard to breathe. Good thing they gave me goggles.

Then the chute opens, there's a bit of a jerk as your momentum suddenly changes and then it's lovely, and peaceful, floating. I could also see Stone Mountain from where I was up in the air in Carrollton, which is nearly to the Alabama border.

It's interesting. About a year ago, Husband and I went to Miami for something and he got me an appointment to parasail. But I just couldn't do it when the time came. I was just so afraid. I don't know if it was the hormones I was taking that made me so risk adverse. Or it was the stress of work that made me so risk adverse. I talked about the skydiving thing a few weeks ago with someone and it made me sad to think that I had become so afraid of parasailing.

But now that I've quit the old job in January and started my own consulting business (grant proposal writing), I am so much happier. And when Husband gave me the skydiving gift, I was just excited, not afraid at all.