Flying into my 30's!

This will probably be pretty long but I can guarantee you it will all be worth it in the end!  I have to start with a few things that didn't take place on my birthday.  The day before the big day I came down with the flu and was suffering pretty bad.  I have never been able to throw up not pregnant or sick.  I would love to be able to but for some reason it doesn't come up.  I am a perfect dry-heaver I can gag with the best of them first team all American!  My muscles hurt I was sore weak the whole nine yards.  I very rarely get sick I think that has to do with being a mom and your body just knows that sickness and motherhood don't go together.  I pushed through and made it to bed that night with no expectations for the next morning whatsoever.  I woke up to breakfast in bed (or it could've been lunch considering that Ryan let me sleep in until 11) although I couldn't stomach it down it was a sweet thought.  I came out to the kitchen with 30 roses waiting and a sweet card telling me to be ready to go in an hour.  Ryan really wanted to keep everything a surprise but I am not big on stuff like that and insisted that he share his plans with me.  After some gentle coaxing he gave in a told me that we were going skydiving.  I have always entertained this thought but never thought it would truly come to fruition just a dream or death wish I can't figure out which.  When he told me though my stomach instantly flipped and all I could think of was how to get out of this situation.  He quickly informed me it was already paid for (come to find out that was untrue but his was of getting me to go) I hesitantly agreed.  So we hop into the car me with applesauce in hand hoping to settle my nerves just a hair.  I decided against taking a valium for fear of falling asleep mid fall and leaving my landing up to the instructor carrying dead weight.  So I went into this with only tylenol and a stomach empty and upset.  When I get nervous I tend to speak without thinking and needless to say this time was no exception.  We drive our way out to Casa Grande and pull up to a hangar.  Two guys were walking in with shirts that said "staff" on the back and I wanted to turn around right away.  The first guy (boy) looked no older than high school age and the other one I outweighed.  Not the best signs!  We went inside and yes these fine men were our instructors.  I must preface the rest of this story with the fact that these were the absolute nicest guys and the best place to have an experience like this.  Truly genuinely great guys!  Still didn't ease my fears that one was only 22.  However he informs me that he has been doing this since the ripe old age of 12 and he is very qualified.  After watching my brother and sister in laws experience with their skydiving I thought I had an idea as to how this would work.  I was dead wrong.  My expectations were that we would go inside have a training class watch an instructional video try on our jumpsuits and see if we qualified for this adventure.  My realization was that we went in signed papers listened to Tom tell us how to arch and where to put our arms then we climbed into our harnesses.  By this point I think I had lost all sort of brain power and was just rolling with the punches.  Now please don't think that I sound terribly worldly but I wore my favorite velour suit thinking that we would put jump suits over our clothes and it would be no big deal I was wrong.   They told us that most landings you skid to a stop on your butt and to just hold your legs up and wait for it.  I have never wanted to change out of something that I adored so much and put on my grubbies so bad.  I couldn't stop thinking about possibly putting a hole in my favorite pants and exposing myself in the meantime.  Back on track now... They are taking videos of us and interviewing us and introduce us to the plane all at the same time and we are on our way.  When I say plane I don't want you to get your hopes up.  I was comfortably sitting in my instructors lap while Ryan was at my feet and his instructors lap.  It was a tight squeeze in a plane that had an awful lot of duct tape in it.  Now correct me if I'm wrong but I swear that duct tape was made to hold boxes together not planes.  I was told that this was special duct tape and that it did it's job rather well.  No need to worry!!!  At 10,500 ft. above the ground (2 miles) a plane door opens.  Now for any of you that are LOST fans this usually means that you get sucked out of the plane and plummet to the ground.  He (my new best friend and close encounter partner Geoff) informed me that this is all a Hollywood myth that you cannot get sucked out of a plane regardless of how high or fast you are going.  It made me feel al little better until he told me to stick my feet out the door and onto the wheel stair.  For any of you that haven't done this, something just will never feel right about stepping out of a plane that is smaller than your car while it is 2 miles high.  I chose to go first with Geoff because I thought if I didn't that I wouldn't do it.  That actual jump is probably the worst part because your stomach initially does that roller coaster drop but it only lasts for a few seconds.  I can't say that it was the most flattering video of me considering the nostrils that flared to the size of a small child and the flappy cheeks.  Although it looks as though I am screaming, trust me when I tell you that no noise whatsoever was escaping my mouth.  I couldn't make one ounce of sound!  I was so cold that it was hard to think about surviving through the fall.  When the cord is pulled for the parachute it is just like movies...  It yanks you so far up and you can feel the wind fill the sails so to speak but it was truly HEAVENLY!  I would do this part for the rest of my life if I could.  To float in pure serenity and silence was surreal.  I can sincerely say that Heaven has to be something like that it was that beautiful.  Now don't be fooled I couldn't enjoy it that long due to the overwhelming nausea that had creaped up on me.  Geoff quickly noticed and shut the camera off and said (I quote) "If you are going to throw up do it under your arm, but don't worry I have been puked on several times it will be our secret!"  He didn't know that I lacked the ability to actually chuck but I was dying to gag or something.  I did make it down without hurling and actually we had a perfect landing on our feet and all.  No sugar coating it, it was a good 4 hours until the nausea passed but I have come to the realization that it was worth every minute.  Don't get me wrong I don't think that I could do it again but I am so glad that I did do it this once.  I think everyone needs to experience this (unless you have a weak bladder, heart, lungs etc.) at least once in their lifetime.  Ryan is excited to go again and has already talked several friends into joining him (I will meet him at the landing zone).  We quickly got a ride back to the hangar and they made our videos while I recovered on the couch.  What a super experience and a great group of guys to do it with.  Best of all I got to make a memory with my best friend Ryan.  He always goes out of his way to make memories and keep things exciting.  I love him dearly and will write more about my birthday experiences and gifts later.  Right now your eyes and my fingers need a nap!  Love to all...