skydiving & internship

This week was easily one of the best weeks. It has been so much fun and I'm realizing so many things. About myself, about others, about life...about everything, really.

The second month of the year is almost over and it's already probably been the best year ever.

Where do I begin?

MIRANDA'S 21ST BIRTHDAY
Last week was Miranda's 21st birthday so of course we had to celebrate! Miranda has a twin brother, and although she had the best 21st birthday celebration ever, I can't imagine what it was like celebrating without him! I feel like Sarah and I have been planning our 21st birthday for forever, whether our plans changed from Vegas to Disney, or neither since we will probably have finals on our birthday. But that's besides the point. I can't imagine celebrating a birthday apart.

Rachel and I decorated Miranda's door with streamers and balloons and waited for her to get back from the bar. There was lots of silly string, cake fights, and laughter once it became it midnight and Miranda got home! We had plans to go to the beach for the sunrise but we were all too tired and the weather wasn't worth it, so that is still on our list of things to do.

We went out to dinner for Miranda's birthday and she even got sparklers in her cake! Then we had a private party at Bar 360. We got there early and enjoyed the place to ourselves for a little while then spent the night with a bunch of our friends. Granted, by the end of the night it wasn't a private part anymore, it was still a great time! I am so glad I could help celebrate Miranda's 21st birthday with her. :)

SKYDIVING
So if you know me, you know that I'm not the bravest, most experimental, adventurous person. Yeah I like roller coasters and I'm occassionally try new things. But jumping out of an airplane? Me? Not likely...or so I thought.

At the beginning of our trip, some people had mentioned the possibility of going sky diving during our time here. I would listen to them talk but never thought I'd even want to be part of the conversation.

Last weekend Tara had mentioned going skydiving so I had begun to think about it. On Tuesday, Rachel told me she was going to go sign up for skydiving after class. Without hesitation, I asked her to wait for me to get my credit card. I wanted to come! I signed up and chose not to tell my parents until afterwards. Only a few of my friends knew beforehand. Matt and Eric had told their parents, but Rachel, Tara, and I chose not to until after. When we got there, they told us it was common for people to do that haha

We got picked up around 7:30am on Friday and drove to Byron Bay. Once we got there, we hung out for a little while and watched some of the skydiving videos that were playing until it was our turn. I started to get a little nervous but I was surprisingly really calm. We were all really relaxed considering what we were about to do, but we were all so excited to be doing it! After a little while of waiting, we got our skydiving pants and harnesses and learned the banana peel position that we would be taking when jumping out of the plane.

We got on the plane and 15 of us packed on to one little plane. Originally we all kinda decided on an order we wanted to jump in, but once we got on the plane there wasn't really any way of securing that order. It actually wouldn't have mattered because all 5 of us were out of the plane within a total of less than 5 minutes.

It took about 20 minutes to get up to an altitude of 14,000 ft, which is the highest you can skydive in Australia, which gives you about a minute or so in free fall once you jump. I got a little nervous when we were in the plane but I was so excited. I couldn't believe what I was doing, but I was ready!

Once we reached 14,000 ft it was time to jump! They opened the door and out we went, one at a time. I went 4th so it was cool to see people go before me. Once it was my turn, we got up to the door, got in position, and out we went! There was literally no time to think about the fact that I was jumping because I was focusing on being in the position. When you jump, the position has your head tilted back, so I wasn't even able to look down! Probably a good thing.

My diver told me to keep my eyes open, scream as loud as I wanted, and just have fun! I intended to do just that. I opened my mouth ready to let out the loudest scream...but nothing came out. We were in free fall for about a minute and I can't even describe what it felt like. It was so unreal and I was honestly so happy. I had a smile on my face the whole time and I was so excited. I didn't even think or worry about the parachute or landing. The minute in free fall felt so short but I enjoyed every second.

Once we reached a certain altitude, he released the parachute. I was very relieved! It was so awesome to be able to take in the scenery, relax, and collect my thoughts about what I had done. After a few minutes parachuting, we had a safe landing, thank goodness.

There were computers at the skydiving place so I e-mailed my parents right away and said:
"Hi Mom and Dad! Guess what I just did?I went skydiving! I was gonna tell you earlier but I figured I would save you a panic attack and wait until I actually went. I'm alive! I loved it! I will have pictures and video later :)

Love you!Michelle"

My mom called about a half an hour later with plenty of questions and wasn't mad at all! She was actually happy I waited to tell her until after haha

It was such a great experience and I'm so happy I did it! I would totally go again sometime in another place! If you want to watch my DVD then next time I see you we will have to watch it! Pics are up on facebook!

INTERNSHIP
So I had my interview a little over a week ago and for the past week I have been so anxious to hear back about my internship. On Friday morning, I got an e-mail saying that I got the internship! I will be interning with Universal Music this summer!!!! :)