What a rush!!!

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It’s something I’ve always wanted to do…and finally took the plunge – literally. Yesterday, I went SKYDIVING!

I was scheduled to go earlier in the year, but the weather was sketchy so I rescheduled for August 9th, when my friend Lisa and her sister, Kris, were planning to go with their dad for his 60th birthday. Lisa had gone once before (last year) and her dad has been skydiving twice before, but the last time he went was almost 40 years ago! So Kris and I were the loan newbies to the skydiving adventure. And what an adventure it was.

We were supposed to jump at 11:00, but we didn’t even arrive at Skydive Twin Cities until 11:30. Oops. So by the time we watched the video, signed the waiver (gulp), and did a short (emphasis on short) training session it was almost 1:00. Then we had to wait for our turn on the plane…which means it was almost 2:00 before we jumped – and I hadn’t eaten since the night before. So instead of nerves, all I could feel was hunger!

Finally it was our turn. We were packed on the plane like sardines; I kept looking out the window at the ground getting smaller and smaller – and although that was nerve wracking, it was better than looking at my jump partner, Eric, who I kept calling “Rook” because he looked more nervous than I did! When we were finally at the optimal height (about 12,000 feet) it was time to get hooked up with our jump partners. Then one by one, people started disappearing from the plane. I wasn’t too nervous yet…then I saw my friend Lisa jump out. And dissapear. I freaked. We were walking towards the door when she jumped, and I planted my feet and screamed “NOOOOOOOOO!” Needless to say I was having second thoughts. But it was too late. Eric, who was strapped to my back, just kept walking so I had no choice but to go with. He was supposed to count to three, but I don’t think he did. All I can remember thinking was “Go w/ the flow…you’ll be fine”. Then we jumped. And I screamed again. I tried to think “Look up, look around. Check out the sights!” So I did. Then I looked down…and screamed again. And while the freefall was only 60 seconds (at 120 miles per hour) it felt like an eternity! Then Eric opened the parachute, and it was amazing! I felt like I was sitting in a chair, just floating above the ground. He spun us around to try and see the Minnepolis skyline, but it was too cloudy; we waved to the others; watched the cars go by on the road. It was amazing. Then it was time to land, and we decided to land right in front of the building so I could wave to everyone as we came it.

Months of anticipation, three hours of waiting, a 10 minute plane ride, 60 seconds of fear & exhilaration, and 5 minutes of floating on top of the world. It was by far the coolest thing I’ve ever done!

Summer Update

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It’s been a pretty busy summer so far, but we obviously have not been doing a very good job of updating the website. No one wants to read a novel written by me, so I’ll try to be consise with the details!

In May we went back to Nebraska for Dan’s stepsister, Autumn’s high school graduation. Since we were headed to Colorado the weekend after the graduation, we decided to take a whole week off and spend time with family & friends. It was great to see everyone, but of course there is never enough time! You can see pictures from the graduation in the “photo gallery.”

After a few days in Nebraska we headed to Colorado. Dan was asked to compete in a pairs frizbee dog competition, and once he decided to do it he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to enter Baxter into the competition as well. While the event was really fun (and huge – it was a qualifing event for the National Competition), we discovered that after a week of running around on the farm and playing with Connie’s dogs in Nebraska – Baxter is a little too tired to care about the Frizbee! But on the upside, Dan and his pairs-partner Melissa qualified for the National Competition with Melissa’s dog Tag. That event is in September in Chatanooga, TN…they haven’t decided yet if they are going to attend or not.

Our trip to Colorado was timed perfectly with the Twins schedule – they were in town playing the Rockies. So of course we had to head to Coors Field to take in the action. We bought tickets off the street and got to sit three rows behind the Twins dugout! It was amazing…and my new favorite player is Carlos Gomez…he’s a cutie! 🙂 Check out the photo gallery for all of the pictures we took at the game.

In June we made our way back to Nebraska to help celebrate Grandma Glaser’s 80th birthday. Now most people would think an 80th birthday party would be boring…but those people have never met the Glaser’s! It was a great time complete with a 4 hour game of softball, a barbeque, bonfire, canoe trip, and hours of laughter! Almost everyone in the family was able to make it – over 80 people! Of course I have pictures from that event as well in the Photo Gallery, so check them out!

In addition to our travels, we have also been doing stuff around the house. This weekend we worked on building the shed we bought…which has proved to be a little more challenging than we originally anticipated. We are also still trying to grow grass in the backyard – and while that is a never ending project, it’s beginning to look much better!

LA

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I’ve been traveling quite a bit for work, but the only work trip that was any fun was my trip to LA. I had meetings out there on Thursday & Friday (May 1st & 2nd), then stayed with Jeremiah for the rest of the weekend.

It was great to see him and Trista, since we haven’t seen each other since Christmas. Trista came to pick me up after my last meeting on Friday (since Jeremiah was still working) and we headed to Santa Monica. Turns out that JC works just a couple blocks away from the Santa Monica Pier. So once he got off work, we went to the beach (first time walking in the Pacific Ocean!) and ate at a little Mexican joint on the Pier. The rest of the weekend went way too fast, but it was so much fun! On Saturday we went to the dog park with Husker, which is right underneath of the Hollywood Sign. From there we went to Venice Beach. That was the best people watching that I’ve seen in a long time! The boardwalk is filled with a lot of crazy little stands with people selling everthing from little trinkets to fabulous art. We even walked past “Muscle Gym”…I know you’ve seen it in a million different ’80’s movies! We spent most of the afternoon in the water and on the beach – even though it was a little chilly. Then in the evening we headed over to City Walk at Universal Studios. That was pretty cool, had some great places to eat and some cute shops (of course this was pre-fire) but since it was so late all the rides and stuff were shut down. But we still had a great time. I even got to meet a couple of JC & Trista’s friends, so that was really fun. My flight left Sunday afternoon, but before heading to the airport we hit the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Rodeo Drive. All in all it was a great trip!

Check out my pictures in the “Dan & Rachelle” picture album!