Adventures. No but for real!

I don't think my body can handle any more adrenaline pumping through it for a while. Between caving with my counseling internship group yesterday and jumping out of a perfectly good airplane today, I think I'm losing it out here... No but for real.

We weren't caving Mammoth Cave style ya'll. It was legit army crawl through the dirt and in square foot openings known as "the tube". At one point we all had to turn our lights off and sit there in the quiet. Now, I'm not one who is generally afraid of the dark. But when you put in me in a tiny cave and turn off all lights on me, chances are I'll get pretty uncomfortable. We learned how it is experiential therapy because it teaches you to stay in the here and now. When you're in there, you're not thinking about anything else. You can't do anything about the past or the future because you have to stay present and paying attention to what you're doing. The way that they talked us through tight spots and worked with those individuals who were borderline panicking, was extremely patient and helpful. There were a couple different approaches people took while in the cave. Some were more reserved and didn't really go off while others jumped at the chance to explore when given the option. For me, it was important to keep a light-hearted approach to the situation so that I didn't sit there and think about where I was and what I was doing. We encouraged each other through the afternoon, and came out a total mess. But it was worth it :)

Best part of yesterday? When someone was crawling through a really tight space and she emerging into a cavern. As her head is coming out, Tim goes "It's a girl!!!" We got a good laugh out of that one.

On to today's adventures... We arrived at Mile Hi Skydiving around 2:00, after doing a quick shopping trip downtown Boulder. We waited for a solid 2 hours before being brought out to the hangar. (longest two hours of my life, contemplating why I was about to jump out of a perfectly good airplane...) We met our instructors and suited up. Chris was a pretty cool guy that was my tandem buddy for this adventure. We boarded the plane and started heading up! After what seemed like a long time Chris goes "so we're about halfway up". I thought we were high enough already! Apparently the instructors didn't think so... At about 2 1/2 miles up, they flung open the side door and Chris said "Alright, you're first!" Oh $#*!. AmIright?? We waddled over to the door, gave Shayne my videographer a smile and thumbs up, then BOMBS AWAY! One whole minute of free fall! Seriously the most intense minute of my life. If you're like me, you're thinking "oh gosh my stomach would drop like on a roller coaster and I'd puke". Somehow, (I still don't understand it), my stomach didn't drop AT ALL. Weirdest. Sensation. Ever. After free falling a while, Chris pulled the parachute and we were able to enjoy the view on the way down. It was gorgeous! And a beautiful day to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.

Bottom line. If you've been thinking about skydiving, DO IT.
If you haven't been thinking about skydiving, DO IT ANYWAY.