Year in Review 2010

Well, it's been quite a year, and sticking with blogger tradition I'm going to do a year in review. I'm a follower, not a leader ;). Only kidding of course.

But first, I have the last Reverb10 prompt to think about: December 31 – Core Story What central story is at the core of you, and how do you share it with the world?

As I've said through most of my posts this past month, the theme of 2010 was definitely learning. I'm grateful for every experience I've had this year that's taught me a thing or two about who I am, who I want to become, and who I want to surround myself with in the process.

Now, let's get on with the 2010 Year in Review...shall we? I tried to include a picture or video from each month. As you can see, I need to start taking more pictures again...

January

This was a month of adjusting and anticipating for me. I'd recently moved in with the first boyfriend I've ever lived with (which turned out pretty well, given that we are now engaged), and I spent the last days of the month traveling to warmer climates for, you guessed it, skydiving (video). This was also the month that I experienced my first cutaway, saving my own life. Pretty fun!

February

I started the month still on our 10 day Florida vacation, skydiving in Z-hills (video). Then it was time to get back to the grind. Finishing out the winter by reminiscing over all the fun things we did on our vacation and editing video.

March

The first half of the month I went up to Michigan to spend time with family I hadn't seen since the holidays and to celebrate my grandfather's 80th birthday. This was when I really realized how much I miss my grandparents by living so far from home. I made it a point to start reconnecting with them on a regular basis. So far, I've done a pretty good job of this each time I head home.

This month I also got the last addition to my skydiving tattoo...for now ;)

April

The skydiving season really starts to pick up as the weather gets warmer. But my boyfriend and I head down to South Carolina for a visit with his aunt and some skydiving action in a new city. We had a great time and came home with an open invitation to go back. Hoping to take advantage of that again this year. This was also the month where I really started to ramp up on the Jump for Diabetes promoting. I did a lot of outreach in my spare time for the event and, having just cut the final check to the ADA yesterday, I can honestly say it was well worth the work!

May

I got a couple offers for sponsors for the Jump for Diabetes. Not only that, I was asked to write a legit review on my blog and I got my first advertiser. This was a good month for Skydive Chick. For my birthday, we headed out to New York to skydive at a place called The Ranch. It was a fun weekend away.

June

This was a huge month for me in terms of skydiving. I started flying a wingsuit, which I haven't done much of in the past 6 months, but I was all about it in June and July! Then I was able to demo a much smaller canopy on a trip down to one of our favorite Ohio dropzones. It showed me that I wanted a 120 square foot parachute...bad. Unfortunately, this was also the month that I lost my grandmother. Though, as we joked at the funeral, this was her way of finally getting my cousins, aunt and uncle from California together with the rest of the family. It'd been too long...I miss them all!

July

This was a HUGE month for learning for me. Between the death of my grandmother and the loss of a couple friends (who, really, turned out to be not such great people after all) I really took a step back to evaluate what's important in life. For the first time I saw myself and the life I was leading. I saw that I was really living up to the spoiled little sister of the family, and that I was doing only what I pleased, whenever I wanted. I made a promise to myself to make my family and (true) friends more of a priority in my life, and skydiving, a little less. It was the first time I said to myself, "there's more to life than skydiving," and truly believed it. I also realized that I'd been slacking on my photography and yoga. At least I was able to re-commit to the latter.

August

Jump for Diabetes was here at last! We raised nearly $10,000 for an incredible cause (it all went to the American Diabetes Association, earmarked specifically for diabetes research). On top of that, people had an amazing time. Even with the rain we experienced, we were able to celebrate, enjoy good times and give away over $10,000 in donated skydiving gear in our raffles. Thanks to all who participated! (video)

September

Labor Day weekend we headed down to the Work Stinks! Boogie in Southern Ohio to celebrate our one year anniversary by jumping out of airplanes. Cool! Not only that, we got engaged on that first skydive. On top of that, we had our engagement photo shoot with Norman Kent. Be sure to check out the video here.

October

Another skydiving boogie, this time in Los Angeles at Skydive Elsinore. I was able to keep a promise to my California family that'd we come out for a visit. Weather was weird, so not nearly enough skydiving happened (video) but it was great to spend a week with my cousins and my aunt and uncle, and make some great new connections in the skydiving world. I need to make this a tradition. Then, we came back for 4 days before the big move to Chicago. The rest of the month was spent getting adjusted.

November

Lots more learning this month. Recommitted to my good friend yoga. Started working out regularly, played lots of racquetball. Skydiving came to a screeching halt when the weather turned sour. We've yet to find a local dropzone that will toss you out of an airplane even in the winter...still looking.

December

This month went by too fast. Between the holidays and the transition from my office in Cleveland to becoming a Chicago staff member I had my hands full. Not to mention planning for all the great things that will happen in 2011, like a wedding and more travel. So much on the horizon.

Here's to hoping that 2011 just keeps getting better.

Cheers!

Ashley

Reverb10 - Day 30, Gift

Okay, can I just point out that I actually accomplished this challenge?

I know, there's still one day left, and I'll be sure to do so tomorrow, but c'mon, how awesome has this whole thing been? I love reflecting on the past and making plans for the future, so this was right up my alley (shouldn't it be right down my alley...think about it).

Anyway, here we go!

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Day 30

December 30 – Gift Prompt: Gift. This month, gifts and gift-giving can seem inescapable. What’s the most memorable gift, tangible or emotional, you received this year? (Author: Holly Root)

I love giving gifts, getting them has always felt weird. Bragging about them has felt stranger.

Aside from things like my engagement ring and the beautiful Om symbol necklace my fiance bought me for Christmas, I'm going to have to say that the gift of support is the best one I received this year.

This came from a number of different people in my life, friends, co-workers, family members. But what hit me the most was the support I received from my fiance with some life-changing opportunities. Not only was he completely on board about moving to Chicago, but he found a way to make it work for him in the long run as well.

Since then, opportunities of all shapes and sizes have been thrown at me, and he's been there for me through every decision, 100% - even when the impact isn't so positive for him.

That's true partnership right there, and I am so grateful to have someone like him in my life. So really, that's been the best gift this year.

Cheers!

-A

Review: Creative Wellness

Alrighty, so let's dive right in to the review, then we'll touch on the past couple prompts from Reverb10....you didn't forget already did you?

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A few weeks ago I headed home on a Thursday evening to spend a long weekend with my parents. There wasn't much planned, just a get away from the city and relax type of trip.

During this time I went to a place called Creative Wellness for a massage. Now, in college I lived just down the street from here, so it wasn't uncommon for me to come get deep tissue and therapeutic massages to keep my body nice and loose during runs.

But it'd been a while since I'd gone back, so I thought I'd make a last minute appointment for a relaxation massage. And let me tell you, I'm so glad I did.

Adriana was the only therapist with an open slot so I took it. She was absolutely incredible! I told her in the beginning what I was looking for and she nailed it. I walked away from that massage feeling more relaxed than ever. I even had a difficult time making it back to my car - I felt like I was melting.

The massage was average price for what you might expect, and worth every penny. Really, ever massage I've ever had there, even those sometimes painful deep tissue or therapeutic massages have been incredible.

Creative wellness also offer things like chiropractic care and other natural wellness, plus they have a cute little store inside the door with tons of yoga items and essential oils, so be sure to check them out. :)

On the way home I got this rush of energy and felt rejuvenated. Anyway, if you're ever in the East Lansing area and in need of a nice, relaxing massage, head over to Creative Wellness and ask for Adriana...you won't be disappointed.

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Reverb10 - Day 2

So yesterday's prompt was a difficult one. In fact, I didn't even Tweet about it because I was stumped.

December 2 – Writing. What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it? (Author: Leo Babauta)

In other words, what distractions in your life take away from your writing. And well, I can't really say there's anything that doesn't contribute to my writing. My thoughts are pretty well echoed over at my lovely friend Sydney's blog.

But, so I have my own answer, it's this: my wandering mind.

I have this tendency to over think everything, to have a million things going through my head at once, many of these ideas conflicting with one another. I've always been known to be an easy person to persuade, because on a lot of issues I'm still trying to figure myself out. Going back to day 1, where Learning was the theme of this year, I've made great strides in my progress, but I'm still getting there. I'm even starting to reintroduce yoga and meditation back into my daily life. It takes time and practice to get to know yourself - and I've found, these practices really clear my mind for some of the best writing I've ever done.

Reverb10 - Day 3

December 3 – Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors). (Author: Ali Edwards)

Really, I'm supposed to only pick one moment? Well that's not an easy task.

Immediately upon reading this my mind jumped to the marriage proposal during skydiving...that's bound to make someone feel pretty damn alive.

But the more I pondered it, the more I started to overrule that first judgment. Mostly because, last January, I almost died. Okay, so it's not quite that dramatic.

While traveling to Florida for a little warm weather skydiving, I was testing out a new parachute and something went wrong. Something went really wrong. I looked up at what was over my head and knew it was bad. I had one option, but cut it free and deploy my reserve. After all, you do have a perfectly good reserve parachute ready for cases just like this.

So I cut the bad parachute away and before I knew it a wonderful, perfect reserve was above my head. I landed it perfectly and at the moment my feet touched the ground I felt more alive than ever. Colors seemed brighter, I was filled with adrenaline and couldn't stop smiling. Hugs came from my fiance and others we'd connected with on that trip. Everyone had concern and relief in their eyes - some were even filled with excitement from watching from the ground.

I felt my reserve for the first time. It was crisp and slippery - not like the nylon you're used to touching. The smell of jet fuel was in the air and early morning dew was still on the ground. All things I'm not sure I would have noticed on your average skydive. But more than anything, I was truly in the moment.

With less than 100 skydives under my belt I not only knew what to do in this emergency situation, I did it successfully.

It was a story I told for quite some time...and one you can read here if you'd like to hear about it a little more in depth (and a little more technically, too).

So there you have it.

At what moment in 2010 did you feel most alive?

Cheers!

-A