Skydiving

I FINALLY went skydiving this month! I've been wanting to do it since I watched a friend jump ten years ago (I wasn’t old enough to jump at the time) and I finally decided that this was the year. And I figured why not do it as a birthday gift to myself. And what a birthday gift it was…

Quite a few people showed up to watch me fall from the sky. My hubby was of course there along with my mom and about 5 people who are like family to me. Some were much more nervous than others!!

First things first, the flight to get up to altitude was absolutely amazing!! My love of flying has been cemented in my brain!! The views are breathtaking!  You could see forever.

Now for the fun part (throwing a little sarcasm in my ‘voice’) the free fall. It went so fast but it was nothing but insane!! The instructor said it best “Your first jump is sensory overload”. When you jump out of the plane, you’re told to expect 70-80 mph winds…then you free fall at terminal velocity. It’s so hard to breathe…or it could be because I was somewhat in shock about the free fall, haha.

Then the chute is pulled and you’re yanked upward…and all is peaceful. You don’t hear a thing, you just float through the sky and look around. My tandem guy (John) pointed out our shadow on the ground, it was so tiny! He also pointed out some of the towns below us which was neat.

Then for the landing. which I have to say was a complete blur! We touched down nicely but then the chute caught a small gust of wind so we were kind of running backwards with it until someone grabbed the chute to stop it.

I am VERY glad I finally jumped! Will I do it again? As of now I’m undecided. I was trying to fight back motion sickness so I don’t think I enjoyed it quite as much as I could have. I think if I could guarantee I wouldn’t feel sick, I think I would definitely try it again. But I’m super cautious since I definitely didn’t feel good. So we’ll see what happens, if nothing else, I’d L-O-V-E to go take a ride in the plane and take pics!

Cake Decorating

Cake Decorating Class is officially over; I have been given my certificate of completion! And my nicest cake came out of my last class.

Overall it was a very good experience. I am far from being professional but I definitely learned a lot of new and useful techniques.

Here are a few miscellaneous handy tips I learned:

Cake

Cake release is best used with delicate white cakes since Bakers Spray tends to make darker

Lowering the oven temperature keeps domes from forming on the top of the cake - bake for the same amount of time

Can also bake with flower nails to keep dome from forming

Icing

Whip store bought icing to make it twice the volume and easier to decorate with.

To apply icing to sides of cake, use a side to side motion.

For a smooth icing crumb coat, dip spatula in near boiling water and wipe off. Pull extra icing on the edges towards the center of the top. Both techniques smoothes the icing. Can also icing then after 20 minutes (time to crust) gently rub Viva paper towels (or copy paper) over surface.