ScrdofHites

Hi Jana, you know I have faith in you! I think you're doing great. I've seen you in action out there and I admire you. Be patient with yourself and I think school is an excellent choice as a top priority. After all, when you finish school and get a great job, then you'll be able to sky dive at your leisure, right? Don't get discouraged... And anytime you wanna talk, you can call me! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If at first you succeed, try something harder.

Laurel, I know this is so not the point of the show but I have to say you look great on TV. No, really. Consider looking into it. You photograph well and you were so relaxed looking. You're a natural! (Oh yeah and William looked great too- in that sexy gold coast sweatshirt!) Anywho, Chad and I watched and taped it. He was at the firestation and I was at the house and we were both taping it separately and talking on the phone simultaneously! (we're brightwell fans- what can we say!) And I totally think selling it on Ebay is a great idea! Fabuloso! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If at first you succeed, try something harder.

Oreos are definitely the best... although now that I think about it maybe I don't really like Oreos in milk at all- but rather it's the fact that the millions of $ Nabisco has spent on marketing Oreos as the most dunkable, that is making me *believe* I like Oreos the best. Well, I guess the only way to see if Oreos are truly the best is to go to the store and test this theory... :) Nillas would be good if they could withstand the milk a little better... they get a little too soggy too fast... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If at first you succeed, try something harder.

Woo hoo! 71 wpm. But what the heck is up with these testing stories? Huh? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If at first you succeed, try something harder.

Freeflying for Freedom? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If at first you succeed, try something harder.

Does falling like an anvil in a wind tunnel count? (wink) Jus' playin. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If at first you succeed, try something harder.

Well it depends... how long is the ride? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If at first you succeed, try something harder.

Hell ya! Uh but wait, what do I have to do to get a ride? I mean... uh that came out wrong.. you know what I mean! Right? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If at first you succeed, try something harder.

Oohh me! me! I'm going! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If at first you succeed, try something harder.

....Bald Eagle.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If at first you succeed, try something harder.

No, some people were born during Carter's administration... like myself. I think it's hilarious!

That "if you really love him" line is a load of crap. I already know how much I love him. I'm reminded how much I love him every day that he leaves in the morning to possibly fight a fire, get shot running a call, or jump out of an airplane. I don't take things for granted like so many people do. I'm as practical as they get. He's not some fresh 18 year old with no opportunity and no discipline. We got married in December, own a house and I make over $55,000 a year by myself. He has a great steady job for nearly a decade which he loves and excels at. And who will already pay for his education, should he chose to go to school. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If at first you succeed, try something harder.

I am cvfd1399's wife. I am totally against the idea of the Marines (and so is the rest of his family). Thank you for pointing out that is important to involve your wife in life changing decisions. I support my husband in all that he does in other areas of his life regardless of my opinion of the behavior. But I cannot help but wonder what sort of recruiter would NOT discuss this possibility of enlistment with the 23 year old newly married man's wife.

Wow - what was in your breakfast cereal this morning?? Chill, Ron. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If at first you succeed, try something harder.

That is right yes I bitch but I am also your love slave. Edited for drama ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If at first you succeed, try something harder.

Smoootch We'll see dear... we'll see. (Skydivers! Can't live with them, can't live without them.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If at first you succeed, try something harder.

Bill, I LOVE reading your "interests" in your profile man! LOL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If at first you succeed, try something harder.

Falko, he REALLY did say that. I kid you not. I didn't make up a word of my story! I told you word for word what he said. I thought he was great! I'd already made up my mind to conquer my fear so nothing was going to deter me.... And I would rather die than ride back down to the ground in the plane as a coward. I could never live that down. I think his scary comments did add to how proud I am of myself for facing my fear. And now it is great to see everyone's reaction to this. I shocked so many people by doing this. I've had so many people say they've always wanted to do it. And I love hearing everyone say they're proud of me! That in and of itself is worth the risk. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If at first you succeed, try something harder.

Ok, keep in mind that you're talking to the girl who cries because she can't get off the bunk bed... the girl who can't climb down from the attic... (hence the nickname) My husband was making his 3rd and 4th AFF jumps this weekend and well, I told myself. This is it! Do it and don't think about it. Do it for the following reasons: 1. So you can freakin' understand what the husband is so excited about and talk back intelligently. 2. Therapeutic reasons aka to face my fear of heights. 3. Show everyone I know that they haven't gotten me all figured out just yet. 4. Have a new bad a** attitude/persona to go with my bad a** new last name. (Just got married last month.) 5. So my future kids will think "mommy" is cool too - not just "daddy". Anyway, on with the story. I get to the airport. I put it out of my mind. I watch a tandem video. Talk to a regular who reminds me, "Don't think about it." I sign the waivers. I meet another Tandem (Ellenor) who is going on the first load. We exchange jokes as we listen to the instructor give us a 10 minute low-down on the ins and outs of tandems. I suit up, dimly noticing the "DANGER" label on the harness as it goes on my back. I wave goodbye to the first load as they board, including Ellenor. One of the tandem instructors yells and points at me. "You're next!!" I laugh nervously but swallow hard. 15 minutes goes by that I wait for the chutes to appear in the sky above. I attempt to stare cooly at the clearing blue sky. Nearby I hear 4 other young marine first time tandems teasing eachother as we all wait. I hear one wonder aloud how high the plane is. I answer, "14,000 feet - time to jump". All of their eyes got really big. I think secretly I was hoping that my fear would jump out of my body somehow and into one of them. Soon I see chutes above in brilliant colors. I watch Ellenor land with a huge smile. She exclaims excitedly. I'm interupted by a older tall man with a white jumpsuit. "Are you Veronica? I'm Karl, your tandem instructor. Are you ready?" With that I'm heading to the plane. I ask him if I'm supposed to have glasses. He says, "Well, how much did you pay?" He laughs but gives me no glasses. We step into the plane and get in so that we will be the 2nd to last to leave. My husband and his 2 AFF instructors are in front of me. There we sit cramped on the floor as the plane lifts of the ground and Karl begins to adjust all my straps on my harness. I hear him clicking and unclicking and pulling and pushing. I hear him say, "Oh my, that's dangerous. Glad I caught that!" and "Do you mind if I only hook onto you with 3 hooks instead of 4?" I try to stay confident as he tell me that he has more tandem jumps (1400) than solos. I watch Karl's altimeter as we rise. I threw a look at the quiet young marine beside me and his tandem instructor who just smiles. I tell him. "I'm scared of heights." He said, "ME too. Why'd you do this?" I point to my husband. "Because of him... so we can talk about this together... and for therapeutic/spiritual reasons..." Karl then tells me to remember to grab the grass. "If for some reason you come off of me, just make a big X and I'll try to catch you. If I miss you and you hit the ground just try to remember that it's not the intial impact that kills you, it's the bounce - so just grab the grass on the intial impact so you don't bounce. That way you'll only be broken up badly. The bounce makes all those bones puncture your organs." I feel my nervous start to dance in my stomach. "Thanks for sharing," I say. Karl taps my husband. "I'll take good care of her." As my husband turns away, Karl looks at me. "I'm gonna do something to you that no man has ever done before!!" I hear someone yell. "Anyone watching the light?" About a minute later I hear the engines stall and the door slide open. The cold wind whipping around me makes my body tingle with anxiety. "Is it really that cold out there?" I asked. "Naaah." Karl says. "Where's your glasses?" I say, "I don't have any." Karl smiles. "That's because I didn't give them to you." I take them and put them on gladly. I watch my husband jump from the doorway inches from where I kneel. At that moment I look out and I'm feeling Karl pushing me into the doorway! Suddenly my knees are half out the plane at 14,000 feet!! I start to say, "I can't do this-" but it's too late I'm flipping over and over and over again. I just see plane, sky, ground, sky, ground... Suddenly we stablize and it's sensory overload. Wind rushing against my face, my hands out beside my head. Floating. Flying. Anything but falling... 9000 feet in 1 minute. Karl pulls and we are suddenly standing in mid-air suspended comfortably. So peaceful. So quiet. I see a "map" below me. Squares and lines, green and brown. "Welcome to the real mile high club, sweetheart. You've experienced something only a small percentage of the population ever has. You've jumped from a perfectly good airplane." We float for minutes and land standing up! I signed Karl's logbook... "Thanks, Karl! Can't wait to do it again- but don't forget you'll always be my first!" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If at first you succeed, try something harder.