Putting the Pieces Back Together

There is not much this week for my goals, but I finally began working on my puzzle again. I thought I was missing a few border pieces (after my Cat's killed my puzzle), so I searched the box for more pieces, and were unable to find them.  I began counting, to ensure that we had all 1000 pieces and reworked the border to see if I had done anything wrong. It turns out I had put a few pieces together incorrectly.  Problem solved.  This puzzle is much more difficult than the last ones I did.  A lot of the colors are very similar.

After about a month off, I am finally running again.  The first time, I was on a treadmill and only did two miles.  It is so much more difficult on a treadmill!  Wednesday, I headed outside and did 4.6 miles!  It felt great!  I would have gone further, but needed to lift weights too, so there was not enough time to go further.  Next run, I hope to hit seven miles (or more).  I can't believe how close I am to the half marathon.

My dad's birthday was on Friday, so I decided to take him skydiving!  He had no idea what we were going to do, so it was pretty exciting.  On Saturday, I had him meet me at my office, and we headed over.  As we got off the freeway, we could see the skydiving signs.  The look on his face when he realized what we were doing - his smile - priceless.  I love seeing my dad happy! Jessica was also with us, and this was her first time skydiving too!  It turns out it was -10 degrees F at 14,000 feet.  Absolutely freezing!  They gave us gloves and put us in cool little suits to help keep us warm.  My dad was the first one to jump.  It was weird watching him fall out.  I knew he would enjoy it.  My turn came up shortly after.  Not before Batman (my skydiving instructor), told a few awesome jokes:  What is the hardest part of skydiving - the ground.  Dyyying. By now, you should all know I am a fan of bad jokes.  Finally, we got to the door, and headed out!  The moment is always weird falling out, because you have to get used to breathing with all of that wind.  At 120 miles per hour, we were free falling for one minute, the shoot opened, and we glided (for four minutes) back to the ground.  I was able to steer, which was fun, but a little insane, because I was loosing the feeling in my fingertips from the cold.  By the time we made it down, I could hardly feel them.  It was another great trip!  If you ever choose to go skydiving, the Parachute Center is awesome.  I highly recommend Batman or Dan from New Zealand as your skydiving instructor. If you are going for the first time, request Cory Hall for your video or photos. He did mine and my dad's photos and video.  Both of them turned out amazing!

This weekend, I had a lesson in listening to God.  It was actually pretty amazing.  At The Open Door, a youth program that  I assist with, my friend, Aly (YouthQuake AD), shared of a time when she was feeling sad, and God told her to smile at the next person she sees.  She was not feeling like it, but did it anyway.  The man she smiled at turned around and asked if she knew Jesus.  He said he could see God all over her.  Absolutely amazing.  During this show, I had felt that God was telling me to mend a broken relationship by walking over to someone, hugging, and just giving love.  After much debate with God, I finally did it.  A relationship was repaired that night with love.  It felt great.  <3

I am prepping for our college group this week, and the focus is about tradition.  We often let our traditions get in the way of an actual relationship, and can sometimes keep us from really following what God says.  Sometimes, we may not even notice it.  It is interesting that this is the focus, because I had just been thinking about this subject in regard to prayer after I prayed over our dinner tonight.  I am used to praying over dinner, but am I really talking to God, or am I just doing it because I am used to it?  I really feel like 2013 is going to be a year of development.  

Finally, I want to feature Bucket List Publications.  This is a site I stumbled upon through Instagram.  This is an online magazine that is a lifetime worth of experiences.  This couple has devoted their lives to adventure and experiencing new things.  Check it out.  They are doing some amazing things.

In other news:  "All the pandas in the world come from China. When a baby panda is born, by agreement, it is sent back to China via FedEx."
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-jennilea

Fearless Skydiving

Updates:

Last Monday, I announced that I would be avoiding Facebook for 1 week.  I successfully avoided it, and this has been one of the best weeks of my life.  I realized how dependent I am on my phone and social networking, so being away from it was very freeing.  I also noticed the dependency that others have on social media.  It takes away from face to face conversation, and regular contact with friends.  I made more of an effort to communicate with people I care about.  It was pretty great.  The plan is to keep this going.  Only Facebook in small increments.

Next on the list it to play a card game at a casino.  I played Black Jack on 10.10/11.12 at Thunder Valley Casino and ended up leaving with $20 more than what I started with.  So awesome.  I also learned a few little tricks, so hopefully I can get even better.  The dealers are really nice.

Finally,  the biggest event of the week:  Skydiving!  I went skydiving at the Parachute Center with my amazing friends, Katie, Nick, Nic, and Nand,  My instructor was Dan, from New Zealand.  He dove for his first time in 1999 and has been doing it ever sense.  He has only been in California for a short period of time, and moved here because the Skydiving opportunities were better.  He was awesome.  I highly recommend him!
In the days leading up to skydiving, I found that I was not nervous.  I figured that the nerves would start to settle in the day of, but it never happened.  Throughout the entire thing, I found myself excited rather than freaked out.  The airplane ride up was relaxing, and falling from 14,000 feet was amazing!  My first thought as we exited the plane was "woah, I am seriously falling from the sky right now!"  It was exciting and unlike anything I had ever experienced.  After 1 minute, the parachute opened, and it was instant silence.  Peaceful.  I realized something in this moment:  Fearless.  Not once did I think in fear or doubt that I would be okay.  This is the goal of the my entire Day Zero Project.  Have I overcome my fear of heights?  Needless to say, I cannot wait until my next trip down! Dan let me steer a little bit, with was fun, and we did some twists and turns.

Now, the moment you have all been waiting for:  The video of my skydiving adventure!

45 Goals on the list have been completed!  719 days left!

This week, I will be running my first 3 mile run in prep for the Run For Your Lives Zombie 5k and Obstacle Course, which is this Saturday.  I can't wait!

In other news, "Karoke means 'empty orchestra' in Japanese."  In the words of Ted Mosby, the architect  "It's that hauntingly beautiful?"
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-jennilea

Accomplishments and Upcoming Events

Recently checked off the list:
Learn to drive stick shift.  Katie has taught me to drive a manual.  While I couldn't survive if I had to drive in San Francisco, I can still get by here in Sacramento.  I learned to drive in Charlie, Katie's cute little bug.

Next, I have been training the last 7 weeks for the Run For Your Lives Zombie 5K and obstacle course in Southern California.  I have until October 20th!  I've been going out to jog 3 days a week and see improvements with each day.  So far, the most I have jogged, without stopping, is 2 miles in 22 minutes.  My goal is to be able to run 10 minute miles, so I am close!  This week, I will be challenging myself with a 2.5 mile run in 25 minutes (hopefully).  I am excited for the challenge, although I know it will be tough.
My ultimate hope is to get through the entire 5k without stopping - and to survive being eaten by zombies.

Finally, last month, I added wanted to hear from readers on what they feel I should add to my list, as I do have a few more spots open.  I ended up with 2 suggestions - both of which were added to my list:

1.  Skydiving
2.  Adopt a family for Christmas from one of the "Dear Santa" letters at the post office

I absolutely loved both of these ideas!

First, skydiving is one of those things I have always wanted to do but been too scared to accomplish.  I even considered adding it to my list, but then decided I wouldn't be able to do it, so it never made the cut.  This list is all about conquering my fears, and heights is the biggest one.  I am doing it.

Second, Adopt a family for Christmas from one of the "Dear Santa" letters at the post office.Fund the project with solicited donations.  I was unaware that this was even a thing.  I love to help people, so this is perfect!  I have also decided to pair this challenge with my college group - this way, we can make an even greater impact.

In other news:
"The 57 on Heinz ketchup bottles represents the number of varieties of pickles the company once had."
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-jennilea