Who invented this?

December 25th, 2009:
As I scanned the base of our Christmas tree, my eyes fall upon a small envelope with my name on it. It’s from my sister and [almost] brother in law. My assumptions were either one of two things: I was getting an IOU Christmas present – they had either forgotten to bring it from Denver, ordered it late and it wasn’t in the mail, or wanted me to choose between several options. The second thought that I had was that it was a gift-card from a fair trade or gear store to purchase something for my upcoming adventure. “I am awfully clever”, I thought, “I’ve got them pegged” but I was WRONG and was thus totally unprepared for how incredible the contents of that envelope were…

Flash forward: This morning, March 8th 2010, I awoke in the cozy little town of Methven, New Zealand, with butterflies playing a rugby match in my stomach. It was a combination of excitement, anticipation and nerves. It was the same feeling that often accompanied exam week in college, where you spend 12 hours drinking coffee to stay awake in order to cram in all the knowledge you forgot to gain throughout the semester. Your hands are a little shaky, your stomach slightly unhappy with you and your whole body clammy, not quite sweaty exactly, CLAMMY. I woke this morning facing what seemed like an idiotic reality when spoken out loud: “I am going to jump out of an airplane today.”

The butterflies continued their raucous dance party in my stomach, however as we walked toward the plane to climb inside, I didn’t feel afraid or even nervous, just twitterpated. This was the point of no return, once this plane leaves the ground, I have no choice - I will have to jump. My instructor, Laszlo, was really cool – a lot cooler than I am… (big surprise, he’s a sky diving instructor) and calmed my nerves with his, well, lack of nerves. Once we reached the desired elevation and the plane hatch flew open, my first real sense of fear kicked in as I watched Lauren and her instructor disappear into the open sky… its our turn. God help me.
The next 20 seconds seemed like the longest of my life as we shuffled our way to the edge of the plane, Laszlo adjusted a few straps and I dangled my over the side, waiting to take the plunge. Finally it came, and as we flipped out of the plane I had no idea which direction was up or down and my stomach lost all sense of where it was supposed to be in my body. When Laszlo tapped my shoulder, signaling that I could stretch out my arms, my stomach found its proper placement and this time left the butterflies to float down on their own. I always pictured sky diving as a rollercoaster on speed, a constant stomach drop, the thrill of a lifetime. While it was thrilling, it was also peaceful. It felt incredible to see the world from that perspective with no snoring neighbor or flight attendant to interrupt or window to look through. The whole experience was over in a blink and had they asked immediately upon landing, before my rationale decision-making skills landed, to pay every cent I had to do it again, I would have enthusiastically responded with two thumbs up.

Luckily, they didn’t ask, and before I knew it, Laszlo was climbing back on another plane to take out another group and I sat silently in shock and awe over what I just experienced.
So, KB and Caleb, this blog entry is dedicated to you… thank you SOOOOO MUCH for the best Christmas gift ever!!!!