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On September 20th, my long-time buddy Kirstin Crabtree and I headed to the Valley for a day of farm’ing and hopefully sky diving! Nope, trekking to the base camp of Everest and raising $10,000 was not a big enough adventure for me – I had to add sky diving to it. Go big or go home, folks. It’s a motto I live by. Another motto: You can’t ever fail if you never give up. I think the two are interchangeable. 

The weather in Halifax was crummy on Sunday, but in spite of the rainy, cloudy weather, we made our way to the Valley and enjoyed some pumpkin viewing and some wine touring (which led to a free tasting!) Slowly, the skies began to ‘blue’ as Kirst and I enjoyed some munchies at the local picnic park and by the time we reached the Atlantic School of Sky Diving, we were seeing blue skies all the way! We could even see a few folks parachuting down….holy moly!

The more we waited, the more the control freak in me was freaking out…. sure, some of it had to do with the impending 10,000 feet into thin air, but some of it was their relaxed, laissez-faire attitudes. Looking back, I think their attitudes are what kept me calm, but at that point I just wanted to get up in the darn plane and make it happen! The wait was killing me!    

Finally, at 4:30 I met my tandem partner and owner of the School, Dave. The crew got me suited up and we headed to the plane. Duh…Duh…Duh (said in an impending-death tone). All four of us – Kirst, Kenny (Kirst’s tandem partner), Dave and I huddle together, knees-to-chest in the teeny, tiny plane. So they closed the door and off we went. Beyond the overwhelming roar of the plane, it was pretty silent. Very little small talk , just thoughts running through my head of ‘holy crap’ as I looked out the window.

Okay, it’s time. The door opens. Kenny has already connected himself to Kirstin and she begins to inch her way out of the plane, as we were instructed. She steps on the ‘plank’ (as I like to call it), getting ready to ‘arch’ (put up your hands as though you’re being arrested) and ‘ready, set, go’….she’s gone. My buddy is gone. She was just suctioned out of the plane. Holy crap, I’m next.

After prying my hands from the pilot’s chair, Dave and I take our rightful places on the plank. Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh…Oh my gosh….(I proceeded to repeat this line about four or five dozen times as we free fell for 40 seconds).  Looking down at 10,000 feet was a thrill and as I type right now I can feel my heart sink into my feet as it did before we jumped.

‘Ready, set, go’ and I’m out of the plane. Holy moly. Flying through the air and screaming like a nutcase, we flew through the air for 40 seconds until the parachute pulled us up. The rest of the ride was just as incredible. It was a clear day, not a cloud in the sky and as we turned, dipped and dived in the sky, I could only think, ‘holy moly, I did it.’ WE did it!

Kirst and I did this for our 26th birthdays and each year, on our birthdays, we’re going to find something new that will take us out of our comfort zones. It certainly doesn’t have to be as BIG as a sky dive, but something new. I think it’s a great thing to do…forget about resolutions. This is about living life to the fullest and doing things you never thought you could do.

And speaking of which, in the next few days, my online donation page for the Arthritis Societywill say ‘$10,000′ and you know what that means? I’ll have reached my fundraising goal! AH! I never thought I could do it, but because of all of your help, I’ve done it! And in less than two weeks, I’ll be on my way to Nepal! (Please disregard the excessive amounts of exclamation points!) 

More to come on reaching my goal! And more to come on the sky dive…once I get the video! HA! I’m sure it will be a good laugh!

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