Taking Flight

Ever looked down, dangling from hundreds of feet by a few strings? Just in case you are curious: it is like a bad dream that becomes an exhilarating reality as soon as you pull the ripcord!

Little Matthew celebrated his 11th birthday this weekend at a race car amusement park called Speed Zone. After eating pizza, cake, playing video games and racing go-carts, we decided to have a little adult entertainment!

Across the street from the park sit some very intriguing, stomach-turning, breath-taking adult rides at Zero Gravity. My little brother decided to get away from KU for the weekend and headed south. Since Nick had been racing all afternoon he felt like Ryan should participate in the terror instead of him.

It took me a while but I talked Ryan into this stomach-
dropping ride. We were wrapped into this lovely gear and cranked up to the top of the yellow tower you can see in the photo.

Wow was it terrifying! We were tied to a ripcord and Ryan did the honors. We got to the top and both froze. It took Ryan a few delayed seconds, but all of a sudden, without warning, my stomach was no where to be found.

We dropped like a brick so fast you could barely process any thoughts. I was gripping Ryan's arm so tight and screaming pretty loudly. I'm surprised we didn't fall out because it sure felt like we were going to. It was so liberating.

We had a strategy for Fred & Ginger. What if the speed was to fast and we lost my prosthetics? Can you imagine? I really worked through the process and there was a foot pedestal that locked everything in.

Albeit, it still felt really unstable. I highly doubt the staff has ever had a quadruple amputee conquer this ride!

Never give in to your skepticism in the face of a terrifying challenge! Everyone needs a little shock like this just to remind ourselves that we only live once.

We were able to get some great footage, so we will try and get that uploaded as soon as we can. Too bad Fred & Ginger didn't detach and take flight themselves. That would have been a great news story if they ended up on the highway. :)

Love,
Jen

Climbing the Hill

This past weekend was full of celebrating and overcoming flight delays. Nick, Matthew, the family and I stomped around Kansas for my youngest brother Ryan's graduation from KU & my cousin Sarah's graduation from KSU.

We went from one campus to the next and never skipped a beat! We even got a little time on a boat at my mom's friend's lake home on Lake Quivera. It felt like Fast Times at Ridgemont High.



This picture with my dad was after I managed to walk up a rather large hill to see my brother. It was steep but I had faith in Fred & Ginger and just told myself that I had to find a way. Guess what? Side stepping worked great.

As I was side stepping up the hill and getting a funny look from my dad I just smiled and told him that I was reinventing the two-step. :) The ceremony was all outside. It was a beautiful day.



The above picture are my very proud parents with my two comedian brothers, who never pass up a picture or a laugh. The picture below is of my gorgeous cousin Sarah.



Nick, Matthew, Ryan and I were able to tour the campus and it is such a beautiful university. There were so many terrain changes for me. By the end I felt like getting a scooter and just riding.

I was, and am, a very proud sister & cousin and thank you for all your prayers in getting me to this special day!

Love,
Jen

Coffee With a Paralympian

I had coffee with a medal winner, a Canadian medal winner, and a top female athlete of the year and then found out we use the same prosthetist!

Small world, huh? I had the best time tonight talking about Bejing and the skills that paralympians have. Let me introduce you to Stefanie Reid.

She was in Bejing this year for some good competition. She was so great to talk with and had such an inviting, non-assuming manner about her. She has traveled all over competing in track & field and is only 24.

She recently moved from Canada with a degree in biochemistry and life sciences! She is training 5 days a week for her next paralympic competition. Visit the Canadian Paralympian website to learn more.

She lost her foot in a boating accident and has since put her life back in order and found her calling. I really enjoyed getting her perspective on many things and may even start yoga with her? We shall see!

Thanks to my special friend, Somer, for getting Stephanie and I together!

Love,
Jen

Jamie, Diana Ross & Flight of the Conchords

I want to share with you that my new friend Jamie (who I went to see in Houston) has finally checked out of the hospital and is back home in Austin.

I'm so happy for her and her family. She has not been anywhere but her hospital bed for 5 months! You all know I can relate to that!

We saw Diana Ross at the Symphony Center last week and had a great time. She didn't sing, she just talked with us, the audience, and the moderator. It was intimate and eye opening. She didn't divulge a lot of scoop, but she did give a bit of advice I thought was worth repeating.

She was asked if she had always wanted to be a "star" and her response was something like this: "A star? No. I was always a hard worker, studied what I was doing and was dedicated to my craft. Because of those things the star came." Even though a celebrity like Diana Ross seems larger than life, all of us can identity with trying to find our own paths or calling.

I don't necessarily have my path planned but I do know what I want to avoid. I've always believed that spending time on things we are good at and having a passion will show its fruits in all kinds of unsuspecting ways.

We have had so much rain lately. This is one thing about being with Fred & Ginger, they don't move as quickly as you would think. I really wish someone would come up with a prosthetic that has roller skates built in. Quite possibly not the safest idea. :)

We went to White Rock Lake festival and loved being right on the water. We ended up leaving within 35 minutes as the sky looked like one big dark cloud. O'well. We are going with several friends to see Flight of the Conchords tomorrow evening! It should be a great time! If you are not familiar, look them up. They are talented and hilarious!

I have always been an active person but feel really happy to know that my desire to want to stay busy and be out and experience life has not changed. I'm dealing with challenges daily but find that giving in to fear or frustration would only make me a person I'm not.

Cheers,
Jen

A Day in the Life

I was was entering a building in downtown Dallas (after 15 minutes of trying to park) when I hear someone yelling. I didn't really give it much attention (if you spent much time downtown you would know why) until I walked in and was told I was going in the exit and had to go to the front of the building.

No big deal but I was thinking, signs would be nice. I'm sure I was the 100th person of the day to do this.

Anyway, I reverse my path and soon realized the guy who had been yelling had been yelling at me. He had obviously designated himself as the head of the welcome crew!

The closer I got to him he asks "do you not speak English?" Ha, apparently everyone responds to his yelling. :) Since I didn't he thought I didn't speak English. He had been trying to tell me I was going in the wrong door. Shame on me, right?

Well, not so fast. The whole time I was conversing with him I had my arms crossed. As I head in, he proceeds to let me know exactly how many steps I would be walking up (17 to be exact) and where to go. I let down my arms to wave and say "thank you." You would have thought he saw a ghost. He saw my hands, or lack thereof, and was visibly bothered.

My immediate thought was to say something and then I realized: he doesn't know any better and it is human nature. Consider your situation, sources and intellect of the circumstances you face. I was appreciative of his help.

Good thing I didn't react or let it get to me because I needed my energy for the next obstacle. For starters, I hadn't had coffee, not a good thing in my world. I am walking into the parking garage that took me 15 minutes to get to (and I only had to go across the street) when I start realizing I may have difficulty getting out. I get in the car and drive through a maze. I get to a gate and it's not for visitors. UGH. I had to back up and turn around while cars are entering and go the other way. Really convenient.

I finally find another way out. But, your not going to believe, it was $5 and I only had $4. I can't use the debit card in this particular machine as I can't pull it out, and they didn't have anyone to monitor the gate. Solution? There was a # to call for emergencies but I'm in a parking garage and no cell reception. What genius came up with this plan?

I finally got enough reception to have a 30 second conversation and ask that someone help me. The only good part is they took $4 instead of $5 but they took a bit of my mind too. She said they should have someone to monitor the garage 30 minutes after I would get out. Big help.

Whew, finally made it home but what a morning. I strategized, held my thoughts together and tapped into my zen all before 9 AM.

My true thoughts on this? If you can keep a secret: I was paying a speeding ticket. Maybe this was someone telling me to slow down!

Love,
Jen