Who said six was an unlucky number?

Skydiving: noun: the sport of jumping from an airplane at a moderate altitude and executing various body maneuvers before pulling the rip cord of a parachute.

I have a confession.
I am addicted to falling out of airplanes.
the rush.
the suit.
the 14,000 feet.
the adrenaline.
It is an experience that is so hard to put into words. It's a float not a fall. It's breathtaking, literally. And it is, hands down, the most amazing thing I have ever experienced.

It all began two years ago on my birthday, Amber and I had talked forever about how we wanted to skydive, it was a lot of talk, not a whole lot of action. But then, on the day before my twentieth birthday it was happening. We got rain out that day, but would were determined to not let it get us down. We were back. We jumped. We fell. We loved it! And so the addiction began. From that day on it was become a tradition to jump every year on her birthday, and on mine. Sunday was jump #6. Chase, Shane, Me, Amber, Kelly and Dayne. We all took the plunge. They were all first timers except Amber and I, and they too, are all addicted to the rush. There is always a brief moment when you are hanging your toes over the edge of a open door of an airplane at 14,000 feet that you think to yourself "Am I out of my freaking mind?!" And then it happens, the nudge, coming from the guy stapped to your back forcing you to fall, that sends you threw that open door. And as you fall doing flips threw the air, seeing the plane drift away, your cheeks fill with wind, your eyes begin the water, your limbs fly freely threw the air, it is then that it hits you. This is incredible! Nothing you will ever do in your life will give you the same sense of thrill as that moment, and you fall in love with the fall....

ABC!

Kristi tagged me.....

ABC........
A- Attached or Single? Single!
B- Best friend? Amber Marie and my mama
C-Cake or Pie? hhmm..... probably pie.
D-Day of Choice? Sunday, very chill happy day.
E-Essential item? studio fix
F-Favorite color? Yellow!
G-gummy bears or gummy worms? Both!
H-hometown? Payson
I-Indulgences? Cream soda
J- January or July? July, it's closer to fall time
K-Kids? nope. Adorable dog though.
L-Life is incomplete without? memories
M-Marriage date? has not approached yet...
N-Number of siblings? 2 Brothers 1 Sister
O-Oranges or apples? Oranges!
P-Phobias or fears? um- not that I can think of?
Q-Quotes? "We are going to need you to stop wearing tiaras to work...."
R- Reason to smile? Longboarding the canyon
S- Season? Fall. Love everything about it!
T-tag 8 people-Whoever wants to do this!
U-Unknown Fact? I always wished I had a southern accent
V-Very Favorite store? MAC counter, Forever 21, Victoria Secret, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory....
W- Worst habit? BITING MY NAILS!
X- X-Ray or Ultrasound? Haven't had either.
Y- Your favorite food?Mashed potatoes, chicken parmesan
Z- Zodiac? Virgo

four hats and a cake.

Hats. That was the theme on my birthday this year, I received 4 of them and loved every single one. Each has a great story attached to it!
Hat #1:

My birthday celebration began on my birthday eve, Shane took me out for a fantastic birthday dinner. He would not tell me where we were going, or what we were doing, just to" dress up and bring a jacket" so...

7:12pm Shane arrives at my house. Picks me up and we are headed up Provo Canyon
7:36pm We are seated for a delicious dinner at the Sundance resort.
8:24pm We finish dinner and our waitress brings our check. Along with the check is a gift. a beautiful gift! She hands it to me and simply says, "happy birthday!" I look at Shane, who had this all planed out, I open the gift and there sits the cutest hat I have ever seen. Truly, an adorable beanie, right on top of an adorable scarf. the best part of all, he made it. Yes he made this hat. I tried it on, the waitress comments on how cute it is, I inform her that he made it and she was in disbelief! "I thought it was bought for sure" were her words. She is impressed. I am impressed, and CAN NOT stop smiling! How personal, how thoughtful. I love it!
9:37pm We are sitting on a ski lift for the moon lit lift ride. beautiful! The moon is huge, the view is the breath taking, the hat on my head is perfect, and I love it!





Hat #2:

7:52am I wake up on my actual birthday to Elvis singing me happy birthday, he has done it every year, my whole life, and it is so funny! (love you dad!)
8:23am Arrive at work. I am surrounded by all my co-workers singing to me at all different keys, it was awesome! Robyn, brings this amazing birthday hat that she has made and puts it on my head. It is fantastic!

Hat #3:

10:42am I look up from my desk to see my cute sister in law in front of my desk. She says, "I need to you to hold the door open so I can bring in your present, but you have to close your eyes!" I open my eyes to see the most fantastic birthday cake! It's huge, and has a flamingo on it! A flamingo! And feathers, and buttons! It was a happy cake! And her and my mama had also made me a birthday hat! I put it on, and I love it!















11:12am Kristi and I arrive at her salon to do my hair, (PS- love having a sister in law that doubles as a beautician!) We spend three hours on this project, having a great time! She rocks at what she does!













Hat #4:

5:52pm PF Changs is the restaurant of choice for birthday dinner. Those lettuce wraps rock my world.
6:16pm My bestest friend Amber Marie arrives. With hat in hand! Adorable hat, PINK, and perfect! I wear it through dinner. Chase is embarrassed.
6:55pm We finish dinner with a wonderful chocolate cake. Compliments of Toddy, Topped with berries and what Chase refers to as "gangster sauce" (no one knows what that means....) and a mini strawberry cheesecake with a candle, compliments of Changs.





























10:12pm The birthday comes to a close. It was a great day. full of happy hats. Fun hats. Great cake. Great Elvis, and wonderful people. I return to the hat in which it all began, and we cruised the canyon on longboards.

It was a very happy day!

22.

In six days I turn twenty two. When I was little, I remember thinking that twenty two was so old! But I have now come to the conclusion that twenty two is a completely pointless age. There are some birthdays that you cant wait for because they actually have great things that come along with them. Like when you're little and you cant wait to turn eight because that's when you get to be baptized and it's your special day. Then there is sixteen. You just cant wait to be sixteen. How fabulous are you now that you can drive and cruise main with your friends, and look super hot driving your mom's car? Next is eighteen. eighteen is great because that's the age that you can throw at your parents when they tell you that you cant do something. "I'm eighteen years old, you cant tell me what to do! I'm an adult!" And then they throw you a "when you live my house you will follow my rules" and you realize, hey- I can move out now! Next is twenty one. Twenty one rocks for obvious reason. Yes I can go to Vegas now and gamble and no one can say anything about it!! So then you go to Vegas with your I.D. in hand just begging for someone to card you- and not one single person does. bummer. But you're still of age so it rocks. But twenty two? Twenty two? Nothing rocks about twenty two. just the up hill battle of getting older. No more meaningful birthdays. No more looking forward to a fun age. Nope- just the sad realization that you are getting older and no one cares. I say boo to twenty two...
Amber and I in Vegas 3 months after my 21st birthday. Nope we were not asked to see our I.D.'s . Not even once.

hope.

A couple of weeks ago I read a story, a tragic story about a horrible plane crash. Since the day that I read that story I have not been able to get it out of my mind. I think about it constantly and the huge effect it has had on the family and the followers of those who have heard it. The story of a wonderful woman and her adorable husband that she simply refers to as Mr. Nielson. On August 16th Stephanie and Christian Nielson were flying by private plan from New Mexico to their home in Ariziona when the plane went down. The instructor that they were flying with passed away, but the Nielson survived. But they are not ok. 30% of Christians body was burned and 80% of Stephanie's body. The recovery that they face is huge. The medical bills are in the millions. Stephanie, also known as Nie-Nie started a blog in 2005 to keep in touch with her family here in Utah. Even before this accident she had a huge following on her blog. She writes about raising her 4 children and the blessing of being a mother. She writes about the love she has for her husband and you can hear the love in her words. When I read it I was brought to tears. You can see what a fun mom she was. She writes about seeing her girls twirling in the living room so she moved all the furniture out of the room, cranked the music and let them dance. She writes notes to her Mr. Nielson about how she misses him so much while he is away on business. She makes a back to school feast for her girls, with crown and decorated tables- followed by a fashion show of new school clothes. Their story was recently published in New York Times and has had an effect on so many people. Her sister lives here in Provo Utah and has taken in her four children. She also has a blog called c jane run where she writes about updates of the Nielson and the struggle of it all. Stephanie had a tradition every year on everyones birthday, she would have everyone attach a wish to a balloon and send it up to heaven. This has caught on. There has been people all over the WORLD that have attached well wishes for the Nielsons to a balloon and sent them to heaven.

This picture is just from the people in Utah. I don't know why I have been so pulled in to this story but it really has touched me. I check almost daily for updates and new posts on them. I feel like I know them and their family even though I don't. I pray for them and truly hope that they can recover. I'm not the only one who has been pulled in by this story. There have been so many people that write about what a huge affect Nie-Nie has had on them. The way her blog gave them a whole different view on parenting. How awesome it is that one person can touch so many people by living their life the way the should. And seeing so much good in life. This is their cute family just months before the accident. It is so neat to see the way that their family has come togther to help with their children and organize donations. There is nothing in this world as great at family. I with this family the very best. I hope they can recover quickly.
(If you would like to help the Nielson's you can make donations at www.nierecovery.com.)

reasons unknown.

I have always said that every thing in this life happens for a reason. And I have always believed it. It has always made sense to me that there is deeper meaning to our actions than just doing them. Maybe its a sixth sense. Maybe it's serendipity, of fate. Divine intervention. Whatever it is, I believe in it. I believe that it happens because it has. It does. I may not know it at the moment that it is happening, but there is always a time, even if its weeks down the road, that you look at a situation, and see the result for it happening. You can see the good that that one encounter, conversation, argument or run in has brought. It is the simple things in our life, like running into someone you have know most of your life after not seeing them for so long and having it be just what you needed at the time. There is a reason. Having them do a simple action or saying a simple phrase that brings you a tiny bit of peace that you need. There is a reason. Meeting a new person and feeling like you have known them forever. There is a reason. There really is. We may not know it now. we may not know for some time, but we always find out. And when we do. It's an ah-ha moment. When you can simply say, I knew that happened for a reason. I look so forward to those moments.....