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Brief update :)

Every day I get asked “Why do you skydive?”

 

My answer… Why do you breathe?  Why do you blink?  (To the smart alec’s…. spare me the medical reasons for those last two questions. :D)

 

How can I explain it? 

 “More than anything else the sensation is one of perfect peace mingled with an excitement that strains every nerve to the utmost, if you can conceive of such a combination.” Said Wilbur Wright about flying but that, pretty much, sums up skydiving for me.

 

For those seconds, I am as free as a bird. I have the entire sky as my playground!  I can go as fast as I want with no worries of getting a speeding ticket.  I can fly my wingsuit and soar like an eagle.  As a child (and to this day, actually) I find myself staring at the sky watching the birds and butterflies frolic. I am at my happiest floating amongst the clouds. I feel closer to God and imagine that’s the view He has.

 

My new adventure has begun.  After spending Christmas with my family, my 3 day cross-country-trek began.  The destination?  VEGAS, baby! 

 

2200 miles.  36 hours of driving. 

 

Gnomie (my garden gnome who’s traveled the world with me) in tow.  My reasoning for a location change to? To become proficient in camera flying and to get my tandem rating. And frankly, to make sure it would be a beneficial investment to move across the country. I gave it a 2 month trial period before I bit the proverbial bullet to go back to the east coast, load up a moving truck and make that same journey again with all my stuff.

 

So, here I am… in the middle of the dessert residing in a city that has no boundaries, no limitations, and “HOT HOT GIRLS DELIVERED TO YOU”… 24 hour buffets, human cows grazing on the street food, guys dressed up as Transformers collecting tips from tourists who want a photo, and the occasional crack-addict homeless prostitute who’d “give a hand-job for a hamburger”. 

Little country girl from small town, Georgia is in another world, lol. Please imagine me saying that in a country accent wearing a blue plaid sundress and big white hat ;)

But, I am living my dream; I am skydiving almost daily and I am cooking almost daily, too!   Faith+ Family +Friends +Flying + (good) FOOD= perfect life for me!

 

I’ll wrap it up ‘cause I just don’t have much to say. I am so happy with life and hope you are, too!

 

I will leave you with this…

 

DON’T MISS LOVE. It’s an incredible gift. I love to think that the day you’re born, you’re given the world as your birthday present. It frightens me to think that so few people even bother to open up the ribbon! Rip it open! Tear off the top! It’s just full of love and magic and joy and wonder and pain and tears. All of the things that are your gift for being human.

//// An introduction (condensed) ////

­Allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Nicole.  I’m 28 years old. The following is a condensed version of the past three years of my life.

January 29, 2010
My husband died.  That sent my world into a spin.  I had been with him, practically, my entire adult life. Having that taken away turned everything I knew upside down. I spent the next 10 months reacclimating my life; trying to find something that made sense.  

I had done 4 tandem skydives… one every year around my birthday, since I was 22.  I never had the time (or the courage, frankly) to commit to doing it on my own.  After a lot of research and soul searching, I mustered up enough courage to do it on my own.

January 7, 2011
After taking to Hans Paulson (DZO at Skydive the Farm), I went to Skydive the Farm in Rockmart, GA for AFF ground school.  Because of the high winds, I was unable to jump that day.  I went back the following weekend and completed level 1-3 with both Jeremy Marston and Miki Baranowski.  I INSTANTLY fell in love with skydiving and was immediately attracted to Jeremy.  Jeremy and I started dating within the week and I soon found myself falling in love, again.

June 13, 2011
Jeremy and I were a mile from his apartment, heading home from a picnic in the park.  We stopped by Redbox to grab a movie.  Leaving the parking lot, going through a green light a guy ran the red light at 65 miles per hour and t-boned us- hitting the drivers side door.  Jeremy was driving and didn’t survive the accident.

I was in critical condition.  I had to be flown via Life Flight to a hospital in Atlanta. I sustained a broken neck, back, tailbone, punctured lung, 2 broken ribs, 4 pelvic fractures, and 2 brain injuries.  The doctors informed my family of my injuries and prepared them for the worst.  My mom and dad were told, because of my brain injuries, I may never be able to have a normal conversation again.  On top of that, they were told I would never be able to walk again.  But, in the off chance I did recover from the pelvic injuries and regained my ability to walk, I would never do it without an aid or without a limp.  My mother and father were given a 2 inch thick stack of papers preparing them for my long term care.

I spent 11 total days in the hospital (none of which I remember) and went through 8 months of grueling physical therapy.  

I am happy to say that I started walking, with a walker, 10 days after the accident, on my own in 10 weeks with NO limp and NO cane, and skydiving again in November.

I returned to work at the beginning of August.  After three weeks, I decided  to quit my job as a District Manager for a large specialty retail company.  I had a comfortable life and I had been with the company since my Sophomore year in college (2003) but the desire to do this job was no longer in my heart.

During my rehabilitation, I had time to focus on what is really important in life.  It was no longer about the job, the nice house, the sports cars. No!  I realized LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO BE CONSUMED BY MATERIALISTIC CLUTTER. So, I quickly began to get rid of the things holding me back- the house, the car, and a large majority of the things in my house. It was time to knock some things off my “bucket list”.

That takes us to TODAY.  My love for skydiving has become an obsession.  Wilbur Wright said it best “More than anything else the sensation is one of perfect peace mingled with an excitement that strains every nerve to the utmost, if you can conceive of such a combination.”

The first thing (well, the first 50 things) I am going to knock off my bucket list:

Skydiving all 50 states!

I anticipate this trip taking 4-5 months and I will try to document it every step of the way.  Wish me luck.

Blue Skies!

UPDATE:
As of 8-18-12  I have completed ALL 50 states.  Check out my blog for the list of states and Dropzone names, information, and my experiences.  TemptPhate01.tumblr.com

Check it out….

I’ve been having a TON of fun this summer :)

http://youtu.be/M43nD4gAIoE


// The Finale Video is POSTED!!! CHECK IT OUT :)//

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad2U4DFqmwU&feature=youtu.be



Life Continues…. Raeford Parachute Center

October 13, 2012

The past month has been filed with so much fun!

At this point, I have logged almost 700 skydives! Crazy huh? Considering I had just a little over 100 jumps when I started the “Skydiving the States Tour”.

Last week, after checking the weather and deciding that I had missed John long enough, I bought a last minute plane ticket to Raleigh, NC.

The conversation went a little like this:

Me: What would you say if I said I needed you to pick me up at the airport tomorrow?

John: What airport?

Me: Silly boy…. RALEIGH

John: What?

Me: Can you pick me up and are you too busy this week?

John: Are you serious?

Me: About to finalize the ticket…. I need to know if it’s good with you…

John: Hell yeah baby! What time do you get here?

DONE!

The next 24 hours were brutal… Raw excitement took over and made doing the most simple things seem impossible. I couldn’t concentrate on doing anything except packing my bag for a week in NC.

John,

I love you endlessly and wholeheartedly. You have my soul captivated and my heart consumed with passion and admiration. I love your gentleness and genuine concern for my well being and happiness. I feel so strong and safe with you, yet I am so vulnerable simultaneously….

He was waiting for me at baggage claim with a huge smile and a bouquet of wildflowers he had picked for me… wrapped with a pullup cord, haha.

The next few days we spent the large majority of daylight at Raeford Parachute Center. Between getting his rigger ticket, coach jumps, packing, and fun jumps, I found it relaxing to be back in a familiar place and taking a much needed break from life in Illinois.

Several people I know from the Farm where jumping at RPC that weekend doing bigway training; Bam, Steve, Doug, T.C. and Theressa. Plus, I got to chill with more folks I had jumped with during my last visit and from my trip around the country.

RPC had an event planned, too; the Idiocracy Scrambles. They needed some camera flyers for the teams so I joined the event. Flying camera for Team Saint Gods with David Wagner, Dave and 2 other guys. We were tied for first for the first 3 rounds, but after round 4, we came in second. We fought a good fight but lost to Team Costco. Super fun, nonetheless!

The rumor for Sunday was bad weather…. Perfect. Time to get a rental car and head to Georgia!

Sure enough, the weather on Sunday was unfavorable for jumping so we made our way to see my parents. My mom’s birthday was Monday and I wanted to surprise her, even more so after a conversation we had Sunday morning. My mom “I feel like a mother with no children”… meaning she hasn’t seen my brother and me in ages and has forgotten how good it feels to see us when we were living just a few hours away. I laughed SOO hard after that conversation because I led her to believe she wasn’t going to get to see me until Thanksgiving at the earliest.

My dad and grandparents were both in on the tomfoolery. My grandpa was playing a key role in the trick… keeping my mom in the kitchen while we pulled into the driveway, lit the candles on her cake, and snuck in.

DAMN DOG! My mom’s dog, Ruthie, a six-pound-Napoleon-complex Yorkie started to bark the second the door opened. “Well crap” I thought! So much for the surprise!!! “Happy birthday to you” I started to sing. In about 2 seconds flat, my mother had rounded the corner with her hand covering her mouth and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw me standing in the living room with a birthday cake. I started laughing. She started crying. My grandpa started laughing, too. When she realized the role he played in the whole ordeal, she looked kinda unsettled that she hadn’t picked up on what was going on. WE GOT YA, MAMMA!!! OH YEAH! She normally has quite the knack for picking up on these kind of surprises. Maybe it goes away with age… (oooooooo! I know you wanna kill me for that one Mom! I love you ;D)

John and I spent the next couple of days visiting with my mom, dad, grandparents, great-grandmother, and Elizabeth.

But, I had to get back to NC… I had a plane to catch.

8 days flew by in no time.

Back home to CSC. The skydiving season is winding down in IL quickly… It’s time to figure out where I am going after this adventure is over.

I hope all of you are enjoying your Fall and have lots of great winter activities planned!

Stay Tuned for the next update!

Blue ones,

Nicole

Tiki Bar Boogie, Labor Day Weekend 2012- SKYDIVE NEW ENGLAND

August 28

Its 8 am and my alarm is sounding! I normally groan, hit the snooze button (because we all know that extra 10 minutes… or 20… or 30 is going to make all the difference in our day… NOT), but NOT TODAY! Today is the day I pick John up at the airport and start the journey to Skydive New England in Lebanon, Maine, for their legendary TIKI BAR BOOGIE!!!


There he is, bag in tow, with a huge smile on his face. It’s been several weeks since John and I have seen each other, and it takes all of me to remember to put the car in park before I hop out to give him a hug and kiss!

Well, the fact that I put the car in park and got out of the car was enough for a rent-a-cop to start eyeballing us. And as soon as John had me in his arms and gave me a kiss, the dude starts to blow his whistle! Naturally, we looked, saw that he was blowing it at us, hugged and kissed again. This time, a little bigger and a little longer. With that, came louder and longer whistle blows, me throwing my hand up and doing a “shooing” motion, a little crowd laughter, and big smiles from everyone who was watching this sweet little love scene.

Rent-a-cop is storming towards us. “Let’s get outta here!” John says with a smile. I wave at the security guy and the small crowd around us and get in the car. We laugh long and hard enough to make my cheeks hurt.

The 19 hour drive begins.

The plan for the next day- New York to visit with my good friend, Alex!!! I haven’t seen her since April when I was in California.

We arrived bearing booze; 3 bottles of wine. It’s going to be a fun night. John and Pete (Alex’s bf) had BASE jumping and parachutes to talk about while we had our wine, talked about skydiving (a little), boys, her new residency job, and fun places to visit in the city.

The hours flew by and the wine seemed to disappear. Alex had to be at the hospital at some ungodly hour in the morning and only got an hour or 2 of sleep because we were up to 3 or 4. I cant remember. smile

Somehow, I woke up on my own at 9. IT’S TIME TO GO INTO THE CITY! I LOVE New York City. Mostly because I LOVE food and a high pace environment. Living and jumping everyday in Rochelle, IL (2 hours from the nearest big city) has been a little stifling for this Atlanta girl!

I have been to this city several times and know enough to get around the city using the subway. Seeing that we only have 9 hours or so to visit, we went on a WHIRLWIND tour. First stop, Grand Central Station. Followed by Katz Deli for corned beef and pastrami sandwiches- SO DARN GOOD, Times Square, Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, a pedicab through Central Park, and finally Junior’s for some CHEESECAKE! This city is amazing.

One more night with good friends before the final stretch to SKYDIVE NEW ENGLAND!!!

WE’RE HERE!!!!!!! The “Welcome to your new addiction” sign makes me smile and as we turn the corner, the Tiki Bar is being assembled. It’s rugged, rustic, and beautifully imperfect- it looks like it’s made from all the scrap wood in Lebanon. Even like a Captain Hook Lost Boys hide-out, if you will. The two-story shenanigan central bar was adorned with Hawaiian leis, a teddy bear, Homer Simpson, a blowup doll, bras, a canopy up top, and several other random things; all things that are going to be burned to the ground on Sunday night once the all the alcohol has been consumed; THE GRAND FANILE!

Some dropzones take a while to warm up. You know what I mean, right? Being the new person, coming alone, trying to figure out what groups are going to do what kind of flying…. the normal stuff. During my initial visit in early May, there wasn’t a “warm-up” period. Forgive the pun, but these guys took me under their wing IMMEDIATELY! IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I felt right at home as soon as I walked through their door. (you can read my blog entry here http://temptphate01.tumblr.com/post/23036514146/skydiving-the-states-tour-skydive-new-england)

We made our way into the gear store to get registered for the boogie. I saw Ewok, Foggy, Jimmy, Spencer, Irish, Axle, Melissa, and Nina in the first 10 minutes of my arrival!!! GOD, I HAVE MISSED THIS PLACE!!! Hugs, well wishes, a little small talk, and laughter abound! It was like a little family reunion in the middle of the last minute boogie prep hustle and bustle. Awwwwwwww…. my heart is at home.

Knowing I needed to get out of their way, John and I headed towards camper-land to set up our tent. Once we had everything out of the car and our new residence established, we set out on a mission to find a lobster roll. YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMY

Friday
Day one of the TIKI BAR BOOGIE

The day started early so John and I made our way down to the Ripcord Cafe (the on-site restaurant), for some much needed coffee. It was SO nice to see Dave again, and I got to meet the ladies who would be running the show during the boogie.

The winds were a little funky, so John and I spent the majority of the day socializing. He had several friends there; Rod, Pelon, L Dub, just to name a few. I met up with numerous people who I had jumped with throughout the country.

I think I have said this a handful of times in my blog, but I am still amazed by how small the skydiving community is… While talking to some of the staff members, I met Greg. Greg and I were having a nice conversation about his history in the sport when he mentioned he had children in the sport as well… “ They own/run the dropzone in Moab “SHUT UP!!” I say “YOU’RE Keith MacBeth’s dad!!!??? NO WAY! I visited his dropzone several months ago! Love that guy!” He chuckled and proceeded to tell me some more stories about his kids and why Skydive New England is his “American dropzone home!”


After mingling all day and traveling as much as we had in the last few days, we were both a little fatigued and called it an early night. But, while we relaxed and rested, a bonfire raged and the true boogie ramp-up began!

I’m tellin’ ya… THIS IS A DROPZONE TO VISIT! The vibe is second to none and the people are so friendly!

Back to the story…


Saturday

A brisk semi-cloudy morning allowed for a little laziness, but again, we made our way down to the Ripcord to get some coffee. By this time, I had run into several people who wanted to organize a tracking dive. “Oh HECK yeah, count me in!” Plus, Luis Prinetto was load organizing freefly jumps. There was an UNLIMITED amount of fun to be had!

The boogie was in full swing by mid-day and several of my good friends had arrived. After jumping my butt off for the last few months, I decided to take my time jumping at this boogie and focus on meeting new people, making new friends, and catching up with my buddies. But, the jumping was NONSTOP (well, except for the occasional weather hold. But as they say in Maine, if you don’t like the weather, wait 10 minutes).
The Skyvan and Otter both flying back to back.

Once the jumping had concluded for the day, A lobster dinner (yeah, you read that right… LOBSTER. OMG!) was served at the Ripcord, another bonfire raged, and a band played, the tiki bar serving up their rum and vodka punch… well into the night.

Sunday- THE DAY!

Hooray! Today’s the DAY! The TIKI BAR IS GOING TO BURN TO THE GROUND!!!!!!!! Freeflying, tracking, rafts, Mr. Potato Head, Waldo, RW, head up, head down…. NAME THE JUMP- It was going on. If it wasn’t, it didn’t take any time at all to find some folks to want to take part of the shenanigans.

The day seemed to slip away!
On that note… Why do the fun times seem to make time disappear? And, Why do the dull and boring times DRAG on?!! It’s a little unfair and backwards, I think.

Jump, jump, jump… every jump meant it was 20 minutes closer to the final SNE Tiki Bar Boogie party! Besides the jumping, THIS is what the people show up for!

At sundown, once the last load landed and the beer light came on, it was dinner time. Again, (and just as every night before) dinner was served at the Ripcord. This time, it was proceeded by a Jello wrestling match.

I can’t even begin describing this… all of my descriptions will utterly fail in comparison to what was witnessed.
I can give you an idea… maybe…
First, and of course, all the wrestlers were ladies.

The rules:
NO BITING
NO HAIR PULLING
STAY ON YOUR KNEES
HAVE FUN

The person showing the round #… a semi-hairy man (YES, MAN) in a 2 piece bikini… that was about 3 sizes too small. As a matter of fact, the bottoms hardly covered his crack.

The MC does the introductions, Bikini Man does his walk around the Jello pool (getting harassed by a handful of people) and the ladies begin.

Each round getting funnier and funnier.

Each round, Bikini Man gets harassed more and more. His top gets untied, first. Then, the bottoms get pulled down. Then, he gets tripped. He thought at one point, he had outsmarted the crowd by standing in and walking around in the Jello pool. But, unfortunately for him, the crowd didn’t appreciate his last move very much. On the next round around the pool, he was shoved into the Jello pool. Awwwwww! Poor Bikini Man! I cried from laughing so hard, I can’t even lie.

As the matches continued, the crowd insisted on throwing a couple of SNE staff members in the Jello. Eva, Ewok, and Nina all end up in the pool at some point during the evening.

The winner of the Jello Wrestling Match? My friend Samantha. Way to go, girl!!

All the while, a band rocked out under the Ripcord pavilion.

Shortly after the wrestling match concluded, a large fireworks show started. The show was BEAUTIFUL!

With all the fun, it seemed that in no time, all the alcohol was GONE. TIME FOR THE Tiki Bar burning to commence.

There was a bit of live action from 2 performers. A little fire juggling, fire eating, fire twirling, and fire breathing all took place while others added kindling to the tiki bar.

Over the course of 30 minutes, the entire bar was ablaze. The Hawaiian leis, teddy bear, Homer Simpson, bras and blowup doll had all burned or melted. The fire was HUGE! The band continued to play in the background and the individual cooler of beers that had appeared after the tiki bar was depleted… yeah, their stock levels quickly diminished, too.

The party was in FULL swing by midnight and went WELL into the morning.

NO ONE parties the way Skydive New England parties.

Monday

After sleeping in again because of slightly imperfect weather (a 500 ft ceiling), John and I decided to go ahead and pack our things before the day of jumping got started.

11am rolls around, the clouds are gone, and the jumping begins. I had enough time to get 2 more jumps in; a funky tracking dive and a freefly with Rod, L Dub, and Dave.

Oh, I didn’t want to leave. I LOVE THIS PLACE. I wish I could just STAY. Yet again, the time has come for me to take off for another adventure.

Skydive New England,
It was a PLEASURE to come back and visit. Seeing all of your beautiful faces again warmed my heart! Mike and Chawna, you two are an amazing couple and I have fallen in love with the way you love each other. You guys are so DAMN cute!
SNE staff, PLEASE DON’T CHANGE! You are the most quirky (in a good way), fun, good humored, loveable, friendly staff I have encountered. You WIN my DZ award for “Most Bad-Ass Dropzone in the Country” (Unfortunately, there isn’t an actual award to receive… just the title! :D)
Keep kickin’ ass and setting the BAR HIGH in the skydiving world!
Big HUGS (and a kiss to Foggy ;D),

Nicole

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