Adventure is Out There!

I hope everybody had a great Independence Day! I hope no one got sent to the hospital needing to have fingers sewn back on or burn treatments! I had a great night with B at his dad's house.  We had a nice relaxing night, full of burgers and sparklers and family and watching the fireworks show that they did at Sports Com.

I was going to do a blog dedicated to last night, but I had an awesome dream in which I was basically a proverbial genius.  I was giving a presentation on my summer vacation to my class, and I said "I've found that when you try new things, you get more confident!"

Thank you, dream Larissa for the inspiration.

I'm not one who likes to branch out and try new things.  I like to go to the same circle of restaurants where I order the same things.  I like to have a daily ritual.  I like to relax at home and play games or watch netflix and cuddle with my cat.  I'm not so adventurous.

Where I live- literally and metaphorically.  Basically my life. 

At least, I wasn't.  Until I met Blake. He has made me do crazy things like ride ALL the scary rides at Dollywood, endure the Ferris Wheel and little spinny air ride at a parking lot carnival, and when we go to Cancun he has plans to make me go scuba diving.  And when we first started dating, he told me he was going to take me sky diving.  What a jokester!

Starting this blog was terrifying. Continuing to write it is terrifying.  I get nervous every time I get on to check the stats.  Daily questions to Blake include "What if people don't like it? What if they stop reading? What if they start judging me for what I say?" the list goes on and on.  But when I see that my first post has had almost 200 views, I get super excited. And confident!

When B and I went on our honeymoon, my parents also went on theirs.  Yes, they've been married for 34 (?) years, but between my dad being in the army for the first part of their marriage and then having 6 kids at home to take care of, they never had time to actually have one.

Well. I called my dad one day to ask him what we should do about a nail in the tire, and he informed me that my mother, the woman whose intense fear of heights I inherited, went parasailing. And she LOVED it! When we got back, her face shone and her smile was perhaps the biggest I've ever seen while she was showing us pictures of their trip and talking about that adventure.  She gained confidence!

My parents are seriously the cutest!

Trying new things and having adventures is also a way to spice up your life and relationships. (Cosmo says adrenaline-producing adventures are good for your.. love life!) My friends and I will always have the bond we forged on the scary rides at Cedar Point (which first opened me up to riding roller coasters- emotionally and literally.  Until the very last ride, I had kept my eyes closed the whole time.)  And I'll never forget the intense adrenaline rush I got every time B and I rode the Eagle ride at Dollywood, while I was squeezing the life out of his hands!

Ah, Magnum.  The ride where I finally opened my eyes and put my hands up! Yay!

You don't have to start out big.  It can be branching out and trying a new restaurant or even just a new food- If I hadn't branched out and tried sushi a few years back, I would not have one of my favorite foods!

It can be saying hi to someone in your class.  It can be finding a recipe for cannoli and trying to make them yourself (I'll let you know how it goes!)

Or, in the case of Blake Taylor, it can be doing life-dangering things like jumping out of an airplane with nothing to stop you from splatting to the ground except a big piece of fabric.

Men.

My husband, who sky dove in a suit.  I'm going to need a good life insurance policy!