"it was such a pretty feeling"

On Saturday Kolton and I got to cross a little somethin-somethin off our bucket list.

go skydiving.

Check.

And can I just tell you that it was the most amazing/scary/crazy/terrifying/non-logical/bravest thing I have ever done?

So Kolton's brother Tyson has been talking about going skydiving for a while, but we would always just nod our heads and say "Yeah... we oughta do that sometime." Well, Tyson finally got sick of our complacent-ness and took action. He called Kolton and said he was making a plan for this weekend.

I'm more of a talker than a planner and I'm certainly not a do-er, so this was exactly the push we needed.

Tyson lined us all out and then we spent the rest of the week trying to talk other people into jumping out of a plane 13,000 feet above the ground.

I was real excited all week but when Saturday rolled around I was positively sick about it. I didn't really know what I had gotten myself into. But we loaded up and headed down to Ogden.

As we got closer and closer my stomach got fuller and fuller of butterflies. I couldn't even talk about what we were doing and tried to forget altogether why we were all crammed in a car headed to Utah.

(that didn't work so well.)

I think the thing I was the most scared of (besides the parachute not opening) was the thought of standing on the edge of the wide open door of an airplane speeding through the sky and seeing the ground below.

Seriously. Just take a minute to picture that scene with the clouds rushing by the open door and you'll feel a little bit panicked too.

When we finally got there we unloaded out of the cars and all the girls talked about how nervous they were while the boys stood nearby trying to look tough and not the least bit ruffled.

We finally walked into the place and had to sign our lives away to the company. It was then that I started to think about the life insurance policy we had turned down a couple months ago and wondering if it was too late to set it up.

When we were FINALLY done intialing and signing and proclaiming we did not hold Ogden Skydiving responsible for our imminent deaths, we split up into our groups and then did a whole lot of waiting....

We were the last of our group to go and even though the other people had told us how much fun it was, I was still nervous as all get-out.

Then all too soon it was our turn to get suited up and load into the plane.

We scooted into the teeny tiny airplane and took off. Probably the worst part of the whole experience was the airplane ride. It was so bumpy and turbulent-y and it just made me so nervous! We just kept going higher and higher and higher until we were up in the clouds. My legs were shaking like little leaves. It was then that they decided it would be a good idea for us to jump out. I was the very last one so I had to watch as they tossed out my dad, then Kolton, and then Tylee. I was sick to my stomach by the time my guy (whom I was firmly strapped to. Uncomfortably closely strapped to. Too close for comfort to another man who is not your husband strapped to.) started scooting us forward I was preparing for a grand-mal panic attack. Luckily I had gone to the bathroom about fifty times on the ground, so that wasn't a problem. But I was dangerously close to losing my cookies and backing out. But we just kept scooting and scooting and when we reached the edge of the open plane door I could see wisps of clouds rushing by and I knew immediately that the last thing I could possibly do at that moment would be to look down. So I didn't. My guy had instructed me that on the count of three I was to tip my head back as far as possible and go into a backbend. I might have jumped the gun on tipping my head back but it was the only possible way I could think of to keep my sanity by not looking about how far away the ground was, and the open door, and the rushing clouds.

I don't even think I heard the one, two, three, when all of a sudden we were leaving the airplane and falling and falling and falling-really, really fast.

It didn't take me very long to become unparalyzed with fear and open my eyes and realize how completely awesome this was. I was having the time of my life and I can still feel the enormous amount of pressure on my chest as I zoomed through the air. We were just falling and the ground was so far away and oh man! I typically stay away from potentially dangerous things that could possibly spike my adrenaline, but Wow! What a rush! That's the only way to describe it.

Then I felt my guy pull the cord and we were pulled up by the parachute and I was so relieved that it had worked. (sooo relieved.) And that part was awesome too! We were just floating and turning and so high in the air and I could see everything. I loved that part. But it made me a little nervous when my guy reached around me and undid a little strap. He assured me that I was still buckled in tight, but I felt a little looser and a little nervous-er too. But once I got used to that, everything was still awesome.

Then all too soon the ground came rushing up (much faster than I thought it would) and we had a bit of a rough landing, skidding on our bums and all. When I stood up my legs were still quite shaky and I had a sticker in my finger (luckily that was the worst injury of the day). I walked over to Tylee, Kolton, and my dad and we walked back together exclaiming again and again how awesome that was (how many more times do you think I can use the word awesome? There's just no better descriptor in my vocabulary!)  

Just look how happy we are! :)

It was definitely something everyone should do once in their life.

a bad thing happened

So remember the beautiful orchid I was so excited/proud of?

Well, a bad thing happened.

The orchid has lived on a little ledge/half wall that semi-separates our dining room from the living room. This is the optimum place for it because I have a clear view of it from almost any point at the house so I can stare at it in wonderment whenever I feel the urge (often).

So last Saturday I was being a good little wife and mopping the floor. I was going at it rather vigorously when I felt the back of my elbow connect with something. I flipped around trying to figure out what it was and then time slowed down.

I watched helplessly as the pot containing my most prized possession at this point in time fell off it's little ledge. I tried to reach over the ledge to swipe at it, but this was completely ineffective (not surprising if you have ever witnessed my slow reflexes).

So I just watched as it fell to the ground.

And then I went to pick up the pieces.

Two of the beautiful blooms had fallen off and there was bark all over the carpet. But the worst part was that part of the stem (vine?) had snapped. Not completely in half, but enough that caused my heart to sink to my stomach.

I'm not kidding you-I was about this close to bawling my eyes out.

But I pulled myself together and started cleaning up the mess. I scooped up as much bark as I could to put back in the pot and then vacummed up the rest. As for the two blooms, I stuck them in the pot along with the bark. I just couldn't throw them away!

I had no idea what to do for the stem. So I fixed it the best I could until Kolton came home. Then I used some of his electrical tape to tape the pieces together. I don't know if it'll work, but it's kind of the only option I had. 

I also had to move it to a better place that the tipsy ledge. So it now sits on our table next to the couches where it's not so easy to see from every point of the house. But ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

(P.S. don't mind the plant and pot directly behind the orchid. That is actually another orchid that my grandpa killed and I have been trying for two years to bring back to life. Obviously I have been unsuccessful. But that's a story for another day.)

And that my friends is why I am never mopping my floor again.

In the month of May

1. My Grandpa Mickelsen got married to sweet Quenalee...

in Hawaii!

and we got to stay with my family while my parents went to Kauai for a week. we love Quenalee so much and I think she is just the perfect fit for our family.

2. I went to a pig weigh-in for the first time in probably four years. and i remembered how much i don't like those/do like them. while my parents were gone we had to take the kids and their pigs to the 4-H weigh in. i haven't been since i was actually in 4-H, but it was about the same. the pigs were still stinky and unpleasant. however, i forgot how invigorating it is to grab a pig by the hind legs and drag them into/out of a trailer. i don't feel the need to repeat this anytime soon though.

3. we had a lovely mother's day. kolton fixed me a nice little breakfast and gave me a beautiful orchid i've been dreaming about.

i absolutely love it and have spent a lot of hours in the last month just staring and admiring it.

4. I went to state track! I went down with my family (kolton had to stay home, the loser) to boise for tylee's last track meet. and i was sure glad i did because she did absolutely amazing! she was a state champion in all three of her events (2 mile, 1 mile, 800) and broke a whole lot of records.

it was super neat and so much fun. and to top it all off the boise sun fried my poor little neck. my neck was stained green for a couple days from all the aloe vera i applied and reapplied.

5. I went to two mission homecomings of high school friends and made a fool of myself when i bawled like a baby. i was just so proud of those boys! i feel like their mother! but they did so great in their talks and it was really great to see them after two whole years.

6. i survived the week from h-e-double hockey sticks.

for real.

i had a couple tests that week and just so many assignments! i literally was running nonstop from 7 in the morning til 10 at night with no time to sit down or even stop to go to the bathroom it felt like! the house was a wreck, my internet wasn't working so i spent most of my time at my parent's using their internet, the thought of making dinner never even crossed my mind, and it was just really, really bad.  

one night that week i came home from my parents late at night ready to fall into bed when i walk in the door and smell the distinct scent of pine-sol. and there was kolton-mopping the kitchen floor. this probably should have cheered me up (that's certainly what he was trying to do) but instead i just fell apart.

i felt so bad that he had been out at work all day and then had to come home and mop the kitchen floor because his wife was too busy to even think straight. so i just cried and begged him to stop because i would do it...sometime...

he didn't stop of course, and instead finished the floor and then let me cry on his shoulder when he was done. then he sent me straight to bed.

when i woke up the next morning, my outlook on life had significantly improved. (isn't that how it always goes?) and the rest of the week went by and i was somehow able to finish everything on time. that was a true miracle.

7. this isn't really something that happened to me, but i just found it too hilarious not to share.

so the other morning i am driving to rexburg when i pass a bunch of high schoolers on bikes. later i passed kids on motorbikes, then horses, more bikes, a unicycle, and finally-the icing on the cake was when i passed my old principal on her bike riding to school.

the whole school had decided to drive anything to school other than their cars. when i passed the school parking lot there were no cars. only horses, bikes, and motorbikes. i got such a kick out of this and it just really made my day. i even called kolton to tell him about it but he just didn't find it nearly as funny as i did.

anyway-that's all. i know that there were a lot more awesome things that occured in the month of may, but i can't remember them right now so this list will have to suffice. and i'll try to be a little more updated from now on...try being the operative word here.