Skydiving.....Inside!

Bill surprised me a couple of weeks ago by taking me indoor skydiving for my birthday. Bill has been REAL skydiving before and loved it. He is a major adrenaline junkie and will try just about any extreme sport.
Me on the other hand, not so much.

I'm a therapist. I treat people with injuries for a living. A majority of these people fall into one of two categories for how they got injured:

1. Got drunk and did something stupid/fell.
2. Injured themselves participating in some kind of sport.

Number 2 is the reason why I am not so quick to climb up the face of a cliff, bomb down the side of a mountain on a bike, or jump out of a perfectly good airplane.

Marriage is about compromises and since Bill knows I will not be jumping out a plane anytime soon, indoor skydiving is a good alternative.

Our adventure began with the all important safety brief where we got to learn how to control our movement in the tunnel. I was worried that I would freak out once I got inside and bounce off the walls so I was happy to learn that the instructor was going to be with me the whole time.

Next we got to suit up!

We were lead into an adjacent building for our "flight". We got to watch the group before us have their turn in the wind tunnel. It looked so cool! I was so excited for my chance to be blown up into the air.
When it was our turn to head in I got so nervous!! I was still not convinced I wouldn't smash my head into the wall.
The package for each of us included 2 one minute flights. We both did pretty well with controlling our movements. We floated up and down and did turns. For a little extra money our instructor would hold on to us and launch us up to the top of the tower at the end of our flight. I figured I made it this far so what the heck!

We couldn't take our camera inside but here is a picture of someone else's flight so you get the idea of how it works. High powered fans blow up from underneath up to 100 miles per hour!

Our flight instructor developed a little man crush on Bill. He approached us after we were finished and told us we did very well controlling our movements and offered to give us private lessons. Quite the salesman. Coming down from our adrenaline rush we were definitely in to it.

We will be back!!

Edinburgh for the Weekend :-)

One cool thing about working in England is that they have many "Bank Holidays" throughout the year. During my first month of work we had 4!!

For the Royal Wedding we got a 4 day weekend so after my big adventure in London on Friday we headed up to Edinburgh, Scotland to enjoy the other 3 days.

The weather was amazing the entire weekend. Sunny skies and gorgeous green countryside to gaze at on our 6 hour drive north.

North of Newcastle, we started seeing signs for Hadrian's Wall. I'd heard about it from history and according to a very reliable source called Wikipedia, construction of the wall started around 122 AD during the Roman rule of Emperor Hadrian. There are several theories as to why the wall was built. Most think it was meant to serve as a base of defense to keep the Scots from attacking England or to serve as a way to control immigration and manage customs for trading and taxation.

We found a visitor center run by the English Heritage Trust (of which we are members-YAY!) so we decided to stop and have a look.


It is so beautiful here in the spring! Here is a shot of the area around the grounds.

We walked down the path to the river where the wall used to cross. There was a bridge here at one time in history that was part of the wall. You can see ruins of the wall on the other side of the river.

Very windy outside on this day. Here is me conquering the wall!!

Back into the car and on the road. It was just a little bit further to the border and we were in Scotland!!!

View of the Scottish countryside from the border.

We got into the city and checked in to our B&B. We were starving so we hopped on the bus and went to the coast to try to find a place to eat along the water. This is a little harbor in front of the restaurant. The tide was out and the boats docked here were beached. Hope they didn't need to get anywhere quick!!

After dinner we took a haunted tour of the underground vaults. These vaults are a part of a bridge that was built in the late 1700s. Originally, these vaults were used for taverns and other shops. As conditions deteriorated, the businesses moved out and the poorest citizens moved in along with brothels and the most dangerous of criminals.

Our tour guide told us some very scary stories about things that happened in those vaults. I couldn't wait to get out of there!!!

The next morning we walked into town and climbed a very big hill to the top of the Royal Mile for a visit to Edinburgh Castle.


This is us in the square out front attempting a self portrait. This is the only way I get Bill in pictures!! I'm working on it!

We headed in and took a tour of the compound. Because of it being on top of an old volcano, the castle has amazing views!! The grounds have been used as a fortress in some form since 600 AD.

The oldest (intact) building in Edinburgh is up here, a chapel built in 1130 named for Queen Margaret, mother of King David I who built the first castle on the rock.

The outside of the chapel is a bit plain, but the stained glass windows inside are lovely.

The castle served as a fortress and also a prison. We toured an exhibit of the history of the prisoners of war that were held here which included Americans.

This is a wood jail cell door. Notice the American flag carved into the door by one of its former residents.

The castle has several examples of guns and cannons used throughout history to protect the fortress. Look! One named after me!

One view looking towards Arthur's Seat (the mountain in the background) of the city.

Edinburgh Castle is at the top of the Royal Mile. We walked down the entire street checking out shops along the way as we worked our way down to the bottom. At the end of the Royal Mile is Holyrood House. The Scottish residence of the Queen. She is not here often so the home and the grounds are open for tours.

Front view of the house.

The guard shack in front of the Palace. Bill can hardly fit in it with those guns!!

Holyrood Abbey, what is left of it anyway. The Abbey was built in 1128. Many of the Kings of Scotland throughout history are buried here.

Palace gardens looking toward the Abbey.

It was such an amazing and beautiful day. People were outside everywhere enjoying the weather. We decided to join them and laid on a hill in a park looking up toward Edinburgh Castle and napped in the sun for an hour. We were tired after all that walking!!

Our view from the hill looking up toward the castle.

The next day before we left, we headed over to hike Arthur's Seat. We were met with yet another awesome view of the city.
View from the bottom and across the way.

It was a tough climb!

Good thing I had some help!!

Looking back down the trail.

We made it! Enjoying our spot on the mountain.

We loved loved loved Edinburgh. Such a great city. It was an unexpected treat!

USA Part Deux. San Diego for BT and Joe's Wedding

One of the best excuses for travel is a wedding. It is the reason for my first, second, and upcoming third trip back to the US since moving overseas, so yeah, I love them!

The wedding of Brittney Taylor and Joe Cournillaud brought me back to San Diego for the first time since I left last July. It could not have come at a better time. By March I was pretty homesick after a long cold/wet winter in England and some tough times around the holidays.

The day of the wedding turned out to have perfect weather and I was so excited to see so many of my friends that live all over the US in one place!

The lovely setting.

BT, I know you are thinking these are not your flowers and you are right! I didn't get a picture beforehand so I found this one online. I wanted to share the breathtaking setting with everyone reading this :-)

Here comes the bride!

They wrote beautiful vows to one another. I am constantly in awe of people who can do this with such grace. I would have turned into a blubbering mess if I tried to do this at my own wedding.

You may now kiss the bride!!

Mr. and Mrs. Cournillaud :-)

Cocktail hour. The first of many Pi Phi photos that night. Here we are still looking classy posing in front of the vines.

Later in the evening when we were able to snag a photo with the lovely bride.
SISTERS!

With one of my besties, Jordan.

Finally got a shot with just me and the bride. How gorgeous is she?? :-)

Dancing the night away.

Some of my favorite San Diego girls.

Yeah, we managed to have a pretty good time.

Thanks BT and Joe for throwing a great party! So happy I got to celebrate with you!!

Royal Wedding: Prince William and Catherine April 29, 2011

Never in my life have I been surrounded by more hype for a single event. I mean the hours and hours of television reporting devoted to speculation about "THE DRESS" alone was a bit ridiculous. But, I cannot lie. I was totally captivated.

Confession time. I was IN LOVE with William when I was 13 years old. I will admit (EEK!!) that next to my Keanu Reeves posters ripped out of BOP magazine (hey the movie "Speed" was really popular and he was super buff in the film) were pinups of Prince William. I specifically remember one of the articles talking about how he would be permitted to marry a commoner, even if they were American!!

My princess aspiration was born. I mean, what girl hasn't had that fantasy at some point in their life?

So that particular William and I were not meant to be, but there was no way I was going to miss his big day when I live so close!!

I convinced my friend Jessica to join me in this endeavor and she was (thankfully) equally up for the adventure of taking on the madness of the crowds with me. The base arranged for a bus to take us down to London and we were dropped at the London Eye. We got to town around 7:30 am expecting to be met with massive traffic, but it was eerily absent. Perhaps it was too early or people were deterred about the prediction that millions would be there trying to get a glimpse of the couple.

We crossed the bridge to Big Ben and the Westminster Abbey area and were met by the first of many bobbies and other security personnel.

Bobbies in front of Big Ben ensuring that no vehicles were crossing into the area.

The parade route was already 4 people deep and we decided that we were not likely to get a very good view of the happy couple if we stayed in this area. We walked around to the front of the Abbey to see what kind of view we could get there. There was a multi-tiered structure where the press was set up so that was out.

The best view of the front of the Abbey we could get pre-ceremony.

We made a command decision to move towards Buckingham Palace so we could see the first kiss on the balcony.

Crossing the parade route. This was around 8AM. Already so busy!

We walked through St. James Park on our way to the Palace. This was my first time walking through this area of London. The park was so beautiful. The spring flowers were in full bloom.

Crossing a bridge in St James Park looking toward the Palace.

After testing out a few spots, we found our way around the gate and wall to a spot off to the side of the main square in front of the palace and inched our way closer and closer over the next 5 hours we had until the scheduled balcony appearance.

We made it!! Me and Jessica.

During our wait we got glimpses of cars leaving the palace including the families of the couple headed to the ceremony and the palace guards gearing up for their parade march.

Guards on parade.

The crowd was quite subdued for the most part. That was until the t.v. cameras started panning and then the flags came up and everyone went wild.

They played the audio of the wedding ceremony to the crowd. When William and Kate said their vows the crowd cheered!!

The parade route ended at the Palace. We got to see the cars come through and head inside. As time drew closer to the balcony appearance, people started going nuts trying to get closer to the square. There was a 20 foot drop off behind the wall we were standing next to, but that did stop people from trying to climb it for a better look.

One of many dare devils making the climb. Security caught every single one of them and sent them back out.

And then after a 2 hour bus ride, fighting our way through crowds, and standing in one spot for 5 hours, the big moment finally arrived. At the last minute a spot on the wall opened up and I was able to jump up on it so I could get better shots of the couple. Thank goodness!!

Here they are, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge!! It was so worth the wait to see them for myself. They were gorgeous!!

The QUEEN!!!!!

The family and bridal party.

The moment we have all been waiting for, the KISS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Royal Air Force flyby.

I took about 50 photos of them up on the balcony. I just kept shooting and shooting because I didn't want to miss a moment. It was truly magical to feel the energy and love of the crowd for these two people. A day I will never forget for as long as I live.

And to Prince William, my former crush, I'm glad you found your Princess :-)