"All you need now is your courage"

At an altitude of about 8,000 feet, these were the final words from my tandem instructor after running through all of the steps of my first sky dive.

Two thousand feet higher, I was pushing Nick out of the plane for his solo free fall. The camera guy suggested we do this for fun. It was awesome, but I did get a little freaked out seeing him actually falling to earth. It was like something you see on a movie, and I thought, "Did I just do that?" I barely had any time to think about it, though, because what felt like 10 seconds later, my butt was outside of the plane. It is not everyday you get to push your boyfriend out of a moving aircraft and then jump out yourself, but I HIGHLY recommend you do it.

I am not going to say I wasn't nervous, but I was surprised at just how calm the calm before the storm actually was. 

The calm was the ride to our jumping altitude of 10,000 feet. The ride up to jumping altitude was smooth and beautiful. My girlfriends Lisa and Anna, Nick and I did our jumps at Blue Ridge Skydiving Adventures in New Market, VA. The drop zone is situated right in the Shenandoah Valley, so the views were spectacular, absolutely gorgeous, and distracting me from thinking too much about what I was actually doing. 

My tandem instructor's name was Larry. He was an older, hilarious, and badass guy. Pointing out various parts of the views and his funny jokes also helped keep me relaxed on the way up. He described skydiving as "The funnest thing you can do with your clothes on." Awesome!

The storm was the airplane door swinging open and the realization that you're going out of it. The storm continues with a rock forward and back on the edge of the airplane, and then, you go! When we jumped, I felt the most thrilling, beautiful, and peaceful rush of my life. There is nothing like it.

Free fall lasts for about 40 seconds at about 120 miles per hour. I was flying and loving it. Hello, world!

Five thousand five hundred feet was the magic number to deploy the chute. Larry gave me the option of trying to pull it myself, and I told him I wanted to give it a shot. (If I were too caught up in free fall, he was going to pull it regardless.) When he gave the sign to look at my altimeter, we were at seven thousand feet. I found the orange knob to pull the chute on Larry's hip, glued my hand there, and glued my eyes to the altimeter. I was pulling that damn thing. Five thousand five hundred feet, and PULL!

You jolt up a bit when your chute opens and then you drift up there for a bit. I think at that point my heart rate was the highest it's ever been in my life. I kept repeating, "Oh my gosh!" "Hell yeah!" and "Woooo!" Larry asked me how I felt and if I were up for doing some spins. I was. I remember feeling soreness in my cheeks and mouth at this point from smiling during the entire experience. Even still, I could not stop smiling. We went over some things for landing; I spotted Nick and the girls on the ground and we made our way back to earth. We stuck the landing, standing up. Yeah, I'm bragging. 

Back on earth, I was greeted by Nick and the girls. We were all elated and on cloud 9 after getting to jump of a plane. For myself and the girls, it was our first time. Nick is a bit of a pro with over 150 jumps (no big deal). As for Larry, he's no rookie, either. I was his 3,011th tandem jump. THAT'S a big deal! (I was naturally thrilled with this). After our jumps were rescheduled a few of times due to weather, this event was much anticipated and blew all of our expectations out of the water. 

We all kicked butt and couldn't seem to come down from the adrenaline kick - at least not until we had a big lunch and it was time to drive back. The girls and I were snooze city then. Sorry Nick!

Skydiving, for me, was truly life-changing. Yes, it was the rush of a lifetime. However, for the girls and I, our first time jumping out of a plane went beyond that. We talked about how we had butterflies and nerves but were never worried about our safety (ironically enough when jumping out of a plane). For the huge amount of excitement and thrill we experienced, it was met with the most peaceful and positive acceptance I've ever felt in my life. It was freeing. That is a combination I had never known to exist before, and I'm so glad I found it. 

I deem my first sky dive the first #Adventure day of La Too Fit. Life would be so boring without adventures, and I know there are many more unknown feelings and experiences out there. I'm curious about them and anxious to get them under my belt. I know I'm not alone in this either. 

I think fears exist to be conquered! If you're "too scared" you certainly can't be "Too Fit." No matter the extreme, go for it.Here's to living "Too Fit" and on the edge!

What's your next adventure?