SKYDIVING

I have dreamed of skydiving since I was at Snow College. I was supposed to go with all my friends one day before my mission. We ended up not going because of a massive rainstorm the day we were supposed to jump. I am glad that happened looking back. Because jumping in Hawaii with my sister and cousin was the best experience ever! 

The thing about sky diving is that it's scarier the day before you jump rather than the day of. I think because the day before all I could think about was falling from the sky and that was pretty freaky. I hate jumping off of things but for some reason, I have always wanted to go skydiving.  

We decided to go on a random day in August. We decided that it was going to be a celebration for Ava moving to the island and for her birthday. Sam rounded up Michael and Jonah to come with us. We also met up with Sei and Nikita at the diving place. They were jumping to celebrate their graduation! We scheduled a 9am jump time but I guess it's more of a first come first serve basis and they just take as many reservations as they can in a day and give you an idea about what time you'll jump. Well, we waited for 5 hours in the hot sun. Ava and I just wore our Chacos because we didn't know you had to jump with closed-toed shoes! Luckily they had a box of old tennis we could wear. I had some pink shoes that I wore all day in the hot sun with no socks. We watched jumper after jumper land from our waiting spot. We also saw them folding up the parachutes. They were doing it so fast. I was crossing my fingers that nobody messed up. 

Finally, when it was our turn to jump they made us watch a safety video about how to lean and hold your body when you were in the air. After that, we were assigned our jumper. My guy was from Ukraine! I was stoked when I found that out. I was taller than him though. Once we were harnessed up we were filed out to the smallest plane. Ava and I hoped on first so this meant that we would be the last to jump. We were both speechless at this point. I think we were holding hands on the way up. My guide fell asleep and I was panicking that he wasn't going to connect me right when it was time. We flew over the ocean and away from the land. I couldn't believe I was about to jump out of the plane. They told us on the ground that there is no turning back once you get in that plane. We got this Ava!! This was my guides 10th jump that day. Easy for him! 

When it was time to jump we put on our safety goggles to keep bugs and wind out of our eyes and they made sure our harnesses were all secure. After that, we watched all 6 jumpers in front of us jump. It was surreal seeing Sam and my friends lean out of the plane and disappear. Next, it was my turn! I was brought to the end of the plane and we slowly leaned out. I was told to put my head on his shoulder the second we jumped and to arch my back. He started to count down from three! 3 2 1 and I was out! The last thing I heard was Ava yelling MALLERIEEEEEEEEE. I was praying she was right behind me! I was free-falling for 60 seconds before the parachute was released. I remember feeling the wind and seeing the clouds below me. It was a weird feeling free falling for that long. I definitely knew I was falling but it was almost as if my brain wasn't connecting to what was going on. I was living in the moment! The wind was stretching out my face. As soon as the parachute was pulled I was yanked up into a sitting position and it was a smooth sailing ride to the end. Ava's parachute was pulled right by mine and were yelling each other's names and throwing each other the Shaka. It was truly magical! We were both smiling so big! 

When we got to the ground I couldn't help but scream and jump with my fist in the air. The adrenaline was real. I had so much energy. We all cheered and hugged at the bottom! We were brought to a room where we viewed our photos and videos. After watching and seeing mine I knew I needed to purchase mine. My only regret was wearing a normal bra... if you watch the video of me jumping you will know exactly what I mean. We crashed hard that night after a big meal. I think from all the excitement we wore ourselves out.