Sky's the Limit

I have several bucket lists:
- Things to do in Dallas
- Things to do in my 20's
- Things to do before I die
- Countries to visit

Skydiving was at the top on all the "things to do" lists. So when the skydiving Groupon was available, I jumped at the chance to, well, jump out of a plane. I shot out an email to some of my friends in town, and Tim and Daniel decided to join for the adventure.

After watching a home-shot movie about safety precautions we were in line for our tandem jumps. That is, until the wind picked up. After hours of waiting for the wind to die down playing rummy, ping-pong and eating food (FYI- if you ever find yourself at Skydive Dallas, do yourself a favor and get the quesadillas and steer clear of the burger), we decided to come back another day instead.

Months later we returned and finally had a chance to jump. 60 second free fall. Completely exhilarating, especially as I was dangling my legs off the side of the plane looking 10,000 feet down. I think I found a new hobby (although I'll need to save up for 15 years to partake).

My tandem jumping partner

Tim me and Daniel

Out and Away with a BANG!

Fare thee well, Massachusetts. I am leaving to travel the country (and more importantly get a job)!

The weekend before I moved, my friends and I went to Cape Cod for a weekend of grand laughs, beach time, seafood cookouts and yard games.





Sunday came before we knew it, and my sister and I loaded up her Wrangler with all of our belongings. We only purchased the car a week before, so we were just getting used to the idea of the Jeep "zipper" world. And that's when we realized that we didn't know much of anything, and we couldn't zip up the back windshield. When in doubt, without a clue? Use duct tape. Isn't that always the solution?



It seemed to work until we were on the road for about 2 hours, when the back suddenly flew open on the highway.

Luckily we stopped at Bell's Auto Interior in Greenwich, CT where the nice guy fixed it for free! And what a pleasure it was- because a few hours down the road it started raining like crazy. Not sure the duct tape would have held up in a storm...

New Vids.

From Omaha, NE to San Francisco, CA we drove through seriously gorgeous scenery in The Great Plains and The Rocky Mountains. We managed to have our fair share of exhausted laughter on this 28-hour journey over two days.



After spending the weekend in California, we headed West for my first time in Vegas. We only had 30 hours in this sin city, so we had to cram in as much as possible before leaving for Texas.

Last Weeks in Thailand

Delayed, I know. But bear with me...

I feel like my blog wouldn't be complete without a synopsis of my last couple weeks in Thailand. After I finished English Camp, my teaching obligations were done, and I could do whatever I wanted with my last 30,000 Baht... And I picked island hopping! I had already been to the islands on the West side of Thailand in the Andaman Sea. Now it was my chance to check out the islands on the East: Samui, Phangan and Tao. Talk about a whirlwind of events.

I set sail on an overnight ship with my friends Simone and Amy where we slept in a room with 30 people on small mats covering wooden decks. At sunrise we arrived on Koh Samui and took a taxi with two Brits- Faye and Tom. We liked them so much that they stayed with Amy and me for the remainder of our island hopping adventures. Samui was perfect for kickin' it on the beach, going to drag shows and going on exhausting runs in the middle of the day (hey, equator heat).



We learned that a half-moon party was happening at Koh Phangan that night, so we quickly hopped on a boat to the next island for this epic party in the jungle. Thailand is all about "moon parties" - half moon, full moon, new moon. It's crazy. Phangan is known all over the world for having the best moon parties, so obviously we had to go. We showed up to drum&bass tunes, neon colors, and wild travelers from all over the world. It was the most insane party I have ever imagined.





And last, but not least was the island of Tao- famous for the sea turtles and crystal clear water, perfect for scuba diving. We took a taxi to the opposite side of the island where we stayed on a private beach. Instead of going on an expensive tour, Simone and I rented a kayak, fins and masks for an afternoon of snorkeling. Man, I wish I had an underwater camera. After we beached our kayak on some rocks out in the ocean, we swam with the most exotic, colorful fish of all sizes. The coral looked like a cross between The Little Mermaid and a Beatles movie. I kept thinking, is this real?

Creativity Galore

The best part about downtime- from life, from work, from school- is trying new things.

I've been doing small projects for my Dad, but I still have a tremendous amount of free time in my unemployed state. This has given me the opportunity to focus on my creative outlets... writing, singing, painting, creating personalized greeting cards like these...






And the newest addition- acting.

This past week I had two consecutive night shoots as an extra for Anna Faris' latest flick "What's Your Number?" It was really interesting seeing how much behind the scenes work goes into a movie. Plus, I got to see Anna Faris and meet Joel McHale!! IMDb says the movie will be released in 2011- so I'll let you know if I'm seen at all....... big screen style.

Road Trip Goals

Our goals on this grand road trip were simple- save&enjoy.

What does that mean?

Save.
Free lodging. The entire 2 week trip we stayed with family and friends... and sometimes friends of friends of friends.

Sometimes halfway into our 16-hour driving days we thought, Wait, we don't know anyone in [fill in city name].

And that's where social media came in.



And it worked like magic every time. We never had to pay for a hotel. Thanks friends! (And friends of friends of friends)

Enjoy.
With the money we saved, we did awesome things! Like buying crepes in Haight/Ashbury... and purchasing $13 dresses at a thrift store for Vegas... and grabbing fresh produce at roadside stands.

Roadtrip 2010- California Style

Amy and I decided to go on a 2 week cross-ish-country roadtrip in this general route: Chicago, Omaha, Salt Lake City, Sacramento, San Francisco, Newport, San Diego, Vegas, Flagstaff, Amarillo, Waco, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago.



Please enjoy our video from California- eating food, enjoying the scenery, catching up with friends and being the ultimate tourists. Mission: Go South for Coachella tickets.



But sometimes when "foolproof" plans... well, fool us... we get to make new and equally exciting plans. After missing out on Coachella tickets (if you watched the video), we called my friend Adam and stayed with him in Newport for the weekend. We spent the weekend at the beach instead of the desert and had mimosas instead of bottles of water. Sadly, the days in California were over. Next stop: Vegas.

Here are some shots from Newport.