Blue Skies

You'll never believe what I did this morning... I jumped out of an airplane! Yep, I went skydiving. My bishop is an avid skydiver, goes at least once a week, and arranged for a group to go. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on how you look at it) for Amy, it was raining two weeks ago when we had originally planned to go, so she was able to come with us.
As part of our training before we jump, we had to watch a video with a lawyer. The first thing that appears on the screen is "SKYDIVING MAY RESULT IN SERIOUS INJURY OR YOUR DEATH." But that did not deter any of us... we waived all of our rights to sue and suited up. I kept thinking that I should have been more nervous than I was, but when I do scary things, I don't let myself think about it and just go. I didn't really start feeling scared until we were halfway up in the airplane. Two jumpers got out at 5000 feet. The first guy just kind of stepped out of the plane and shot back like a bullet. I had to gulp... um... was I really about to jump out of a plane?! Oh, and one of the girls who went up before me had a twisted parachute, so they had to cut it away and use the reserve. Yeah. When we got up to 10,000 feet, my bishop somersaulted out of the plane, then Amy, white as a ghost, barrel-rolled out and my turn arrived. I stepped up and crouched at the door, toes on the edge, with my arms crossed over my chest. We rocked forward, back and OUT! A scream escaped my lips and I froze... I couldn't remember what I was supposed to be doing... I was in the air... falling through the sky! Luckily, when I felt us start to twist, I snapped out of it and remembered that I had to arch my back, kick my feet up, and hold my arms out. Free-falling didn't actually feel like falling... more like flying. The wind was rushing up (I couldn't hear anything), and almost feels like it's holding you up... suspended in mid-air. This lasted about 45 seconds while we fell 5000 feet, at which point, my instructor Rich signalled to pulled the cord. I looked (important step) and reached down to find the orange tab and pulled. The parachute opened, pulling us up... this hurt the worst as the harness came a foot higher than it had been. Yeah, I'm sore.
We slowly floated down for the remaining 5000 feet, taking about five minutes. It was beautiful... still didn't feel like we were falling. It really almost felt like I was supported or attached to something on the ground. We glided in for a standing landing (I didn't quite stick the landing, but close). As scary as it was, I had so much fun and would definitely do it again!