Blogging holds a special place in my heart. Writing has always been an outlet for me. It’s cathartic to sit down and type out your thoughts, opinions, emotions – on any subject that might tickle your fancy (do people still say that?).

When I started SkydiveChick.com in 2009 it was because I was incredibly passionate about the sport – and I still am to this day. I wanted to share it with the world. I wanted this site to be a destination for anyone interested in hearing about skydiving from someone who does it on a regular basis. It was, and continues to be, as I get about an email a week from people who stumble upon the blog and want to know more about the sport. It’s heartwarming to know that I have inspired others to jump into this sport (no pun intended), or provided guidance to students and other fun jumpers in the sport – it’s also quite flattering. *Blushes*

Of course, that was never an intended purpose of the blog, but I’d be lying if I said my audience didn’t keep me coming back to write on a regular basis.

Since the birth of SkydiveChick so many changes have occurred in my life – I graduated AFF, started traveling to boogies, switched from RW to freeflying, met my husband, started wingsuiting, moved to Chicago, switched careers, switched dropzones, adopted a dog, got married and now I’m staring the 3rd winter since I started skydiving in the face – and let me tell you, Chicago winters are the worst. Through the whirlwind that my life has been these past two years, I can honestly say my outlook on life as well as my lifestyle has changed – and I really want my creative outlets to mesh with these changes. I’m happier than I’ve ever been and I’ve got some great goals for my near and not-so-near future, but where does blogging fit into that mix? Do I want to continue focusing on skydiving, or is it time to make SkydiveChick more of a lifestyle destination? Given that my life isn’t just about skydiving, shouldn’t my blog reflect that?

One thing that hasn’t changed is my desire to write. With my daily commute via public transportation I’ve been lucky to have extra time (not spent behind the wheel every morning and evening) to do some reading, which actually makes me want to write more. However, with everything that’s changed, I find my time for blogging just isn’t as available as it once was. Which brings me to my dilemma – to write or not to write.

I’ve taken quite a few weeks off, as you’ve likely noticed, but it’s been much needed. I still must admit that I’m unsure if I’ll be returning to blogging at SkydiveChick on a regular basis, or if this return will be short lived. I guess it’ll depend on how this feels – because as much as I love knowing that my writing is benefiting others, I have to think about what that means for my writing as a creative outlet. If I find that my return to the blogoshere continues to be a mutually beneficial experience, then you can count on my regular blogs posts once again. If it becomes a burden on my creativity, then you might just have to settle for Twitter updates and the occasional witty Facebook post. Of course, if I do start to disappear again, you might just find more of my work over on my Flickr page.

I guess we’ll just have to see where life takes me.

Blue skies!

Ashley

p.s. – a couple pictures from my recent wedding below (for those who are interested). Thanks to Ms. Amanda Huebner for being our wonderful photographer on our special day!

Truth is, even though I’m super busy these days, that’s never stopped me before. I’m sort of at a loss for what to talk about.

This has been a strange skydiving season for me, with the wingsuit training and now I’m back enjoying freeflying again. I’ve recently turned my focus to others, rather than my own improvement, as I help friends stick their sits and quit backsliding.

I have to admit, I do love helping people find that freeflying sweet spot, so to speak. And no, that doesn’t change my perspective on wanting to get my ratings to instruct. This is still my weekend hobby after all, and I’m more than happy to pay for my slot and help others work out their kinks. It’s satisfying and incredibly enjoyable.

Other than that, life has been a whirlwind, between work, moving and planning an incredibly special event. Part of me fears that I’ll be a bit bored after October, but hopefully I’ll get a welcomed vacation shortly there after

Recently I’ve been reading a blog written by a fellow skydiver who is currently deployed in the military. He’s chronicling his accounts as a military surgeon, it’s incredibly interesting but I have to say it gives me a bit of writers block. Not so much in the traditional sense but I’m at a loss for words on how to write some frivolous skydiving blog post after reading about the intense life experiences he’s currently enduring. It’s humbling – to say the least – as a human being and as a writer.

If you’re interested, here’s a link to his blog.

Blue ones!

Ashley

Photo by Kevin King http://flickr.com/photos/divemasterking2000

One of the things I love most about skydiving is that it’s a constant learning experience. Even after you master one discipline, there’s always a new challenge on the on the horizon.

I’m a true believer that you can always improve, no matter how good you are at something.

That said, in order to improve, you have to be open to it.

Sometimes our skydiver egos can get the best of us, and rather than taking an objective look at our mistakes and soaking up the knowledge to improve, we throw out excuses to pad our egos.

Sure, nobody likes to cork out their first sit of the year, or be the guy who comes plowing into the formation and takes everyone out. And certainly, no one wants to be the guy who crashes his first landing of the season in front of the whole dropzone (yep, I was that guy this year), but making excuses for these things doesn’t do anything but hurt you, in the long run.

Personally I’ve found that sometimes simply owning your mistakes, acknowledging your areas for improvement, can do more for your ego than sitting around defending yourself while everyone rolls their eyes. So what, you f-ed up…we’re all human!

This time of the year, as we’re all a bit rusty from the long winter months, the learning curve tends to be a bit steeper as we get our wings back. As well all know, muscle memory only lasts for so long, so spring time can require a bit of re-training for those parts of the sport that seemed to come so naturally last fall.

It’s also important to remember that if you are a bit nervous about particular skills after a long period off, it might be best to ease back in with a few easy planned jumps, like 2, 3 or 4 ways. Hell, if you’re really concerned, do a couple solos so you can focus on yourself and get those butterflies out. In the end, no one is going to fault you for being overly cautious and concerned about the safety of yourself and others - especially during the early parts of the season.

Just one more reason to keep the beast that is the skydiver ego at bay – it could save your life.

Blue skies!

Ashley

As you can imagine, there were some pretty intense butterflies going on, but given that it was sunset load and I did a simple 2-way freefly I was confident it’d be a good jump.

Sure enough, once that door opened my adrenaline took over and we had an incredible freefly (sorry kids, no video this time, what with my new BoneHead REvolve and I don’t have a Contour to mount…yet).

I have to admit though, my muscles are a bit out of practice. Sure, the sitfly came fairly natural and my brain was firing on all cylinders (until the landing, but we’ll get to that) but I couldn’t help but think to myself that the wind seemed stronger than usual. The triceps are definitely feeling it, though I’m guessing it’s a combination of the freefly and packing a virtually brand new parachute, which is always a slippery struggle.

After separating from an awesome 2-way I tracked and dumped around 4 grand, just to give myself plenty of time to get adjusted. My opening was beyond perfection so the extra time wasn’t exactly needed, but better to be safe than sorry.

The winds were a bit breezy up top so I turned in around 700 ft to start my downwind, performed a beautiful flat turn to get myself lined up perfectly where I wanted to land.

I was coming in all excited when, at about 15 feet, my brain stopped. Completely froze right then and there. Which means that my toggles made it to half brakes and stopped. Needless to say, what could have been a nearly flawless skydive ended in not-so-graceful fashion and a leg strap that needs a thorough scrubbing.

So I walked away pumped about the freefall and a bit red faced from the tumble. But, it solidifies my need to get in a canopy course stat. My confidence under this new 120 isn’t what it was with my previous Sabre 150 and Triathlon 135. I went through this once before in my skydiving career, being a bit of a headcase on landing, but this time I refuse to let it get the best of me. I know what I’m doing, or what I should be doing, so seriously, what’s my deal?!

(Note: Sometimes, giving yourself regular pep talks is all it takes to get your head out of your a$$ and get with the program.)

Regardless of the minor stumbles in the road, I couldn’t be more excited to get back into the sport that I’ve become so passionate about. I walked away that evening not only with a huge smile on my face, but feeling the weight of 5 months of stress on the ground slipping away. It was as if it I left it all in the airplane just prior to exit.

Sometimes, there’s just nothing better than a good skydive to make you appreciate your life. Can’t wait till the next one!

Love and Blue Skies!

Ashley

Every year when Christmas cards start arriving in the mail I get the feeling that I really should have sent some out too. Some years I do, some I don’t.

Most I don’t, really.

I did in college, but for some reason I moved away from it once I was out on my own.

And of course, now I’ve made some great skydiving friends who are sending me these wicked cool holiday cards and I’ve sent out jack squat.

So, I’m sending y’all this – consider this my Christmas card. I’m even leaving you with my two favorite skydiving photos from this year, courtesy of Norman Kent and our engagement photo shoot.

Posts might trail off a bit here in the next couple weeks, as I’m sure my readers will too as they head out to visit family or off to really cool places like Zhills (ehem Ms. Owen!) so if I don’t talk to you, hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a very safe New Year!

Love and Blue Skies!

Ashley

I’m one of those people who will watch videos and read articles on skydiving (and any other adrenaline sport for that matter) any chance I get. I’m also the girl who waits not-so-patiently by the mailbox for the latest issue of Blue Skies Magazine and Parachutist every month. What can I say, I’m an adrenaline and words junkie.

I also do my best to keep in contact (though not as close or as often as I’d prefer) with those members of the community who made an impact on my life. These are the people who continue to show me the skills – both in the sky and on the ground – that it takes to be the skydiver I want to be.

What I have noticed is that, even though I’m not getting into the air as regularly as I’d like, skydiving continues to teach me about the person that I want to be – and honestly, about the person I don’t want to be.

This sport filled a huge hole in my life that I didn’t know existed until that first jump. It showed me what it means to be passionate about something. More than that, it showed me what it means to be passionate about life – all aspects of life. In the last year and a half I’ve gone from excited student to obsessed newbie to balls to the wall traveler to happy, content me. There was a point where I looked at what I was doing in skydiving and said, “you know, I love this sport, but I’m not willing to sacrifice who I am to be this badass freeflyer” or whatever it was I was going for. Surprisingly, skydiving has shown me how to appreciate all the non-skydiving things in my life a little more than I ever did.

Believe it or not, skydiving has also had this way of humbling me a bit.

HUH?!

I know it sounds bizarre, given that most skydivers you meet are more than happy to talk only about how great they are and they’ll show you their videos for hours even when you clearly don’t care. I’ll be the first to admit I had this same mentality at one point as well, but when you step back and notice these people you call your friends and dz family, and all you hear is them rambling on and on about themselves and criticizing others, it doesn’t paint the prettiest picture of our community – the one we’ve grown to cherish so much.

This is something I didn’t fully realize until I visited dropzones and attended events where the atmosphere was different, where the people I was interacting with were some of the badassest around, but you’d never know it from talking with them.

These are the people that truly make an impact on our sport. It’s not the skygods, or the people who are obsessed with the videos of themselves and their friends in the sky. It’s the people who make each moment and jump special for the people around them. The only way to describe it is a generous spirit. These are people that don’t have to try to be the people they are, they’re not going out of their way to help others or to be extra nice and welcoming, they just are – it’s their nature. You can’t help soaking in some of that positive energy just by being around people like this.

And of course, this goes beyond skydiving, but it’s at the dropzone where ideas like this have solidified themselves in my brain. One more lesson learned from skydiving. How has skydiving taught you about the type of person you want to be?

Love and blue skies!

Ashley

This is one day of the year where it’s totally acceptable to dress up in a funny costume and go out in public. It’s the one day of the year you legitimately get to be something that you’re not.

But for me, I dressed up as exactly what I am…let me explain.

We went out to the dropzone on Saturday, even with high winds. Gusts weren’t really in the equation, but the uppers were in the 40s. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a fan of the winds, so I grounded myself. That is, of course until the DZO and his wife wanted a second sunset load full of freeflyers and confirmed that the winds had calmed significantly.

All I have to say, is thanks Carolyn for making me go!

Then I packed up, or rather, trash packed up, and morphed back into the wind pussy that I am.

Yep, I went as a wind pussy for Halloween.

The party was small this year and people were a bit hesitant to get their costumes on, but once Andy came strolling in as one of the yip yip martians, the rest of us followed suit.

The food buffet was yummy and I even joined in on the party with a tequila sunrise or two, a rare occasion for me!

Thanks to Greg Drogaline for being the party photographer for the evening.

So what did y’all do for Halloween this year?

Blue skies!

Ashley

Custom teal with black ribs, one white and one black cell. LOVE!

Thankfully, CSC has plenty of riggers on staff that don’t mind helping a girl out. Though I’ve seen slinks put together a couple handful of times, I’m still not confident to do it myself. What can I say, I like to have someone who really knows what they’re doing make sure I’m squared away.

Between Doug (the dzo) and two rigger friends it was hooked up in no time. The hard part, was that first pack job. Ugh! Even though I was packing a 120 into a bag and container sized for a 135, it was still a bitch to get in there. It took me 2 attempts to get the slippery ass canopy into the bag, and another three attempts to get my container closed. But let me tell you what, it was worth the struggle.

That first jump was a three way freefly fun jump with Rick and Stephanie. We did a knee lock exit, of sorts, and broke off into a campfire sit. I have to admit my head wasn’t totally in the freefall as I was anticipating deployment.

I was going to pull a bit high, but by the time we broke off and I felt I’d sufficiently tracked away, I was at 3 grand.

The opening was a bit squirrely, with a long, long snivel but sloppy pack job could have lots to do with the weirdness. Once I got situated under canopy I was in heaven. Once again I had a canopy that responded to my direction and I managed to get to the ground in a decent amount of time. The flare was nice and strong…light winds and the landing was tip toe.

I couldn’t be more excited about this canopy. Thanks PD!

It’s too bad that the end of the season is so near. I just might have to plan a warm weather trip for the near future…any suggestions?

Blue skies!

Ashley

Five days in Southern California, delayed flights coming home, early morning for catching up at the office….needless to say I’m a little drained today.

But, that won’t stop me from giving a recap of the Chicks Rock boogie! Though I ask you to give me a little compassion on my writing skills as they aren’t up to par with only half a sleepy brain at work.

Anyhow, the 5 days we spent in LA were a blast! We showed up to the boogie on day 1 (Thursday) with high hopes to get in a handful of jumps while my aunt, uncle and cousins (the reason we were in  LA to begin with) were all at work. Well, though we could see the blue skies, this nasty system sat over Skydive Elsinore and kept us on the ground.

So, we tried again on Friday. One jump and weather rolled in…so we headed out a little early.

Saturday the weather played much nicer and we were able to do some more skydiving. I was even able to get onto the sunset all-girls tracking dive with Melanie Curtis (aka, Melsinore). Which, can I just stop for a moment and say, what a cool freakin’ chick! Not just because she’s a totally badass skydiver and swooper, but because she has every reason to be arrogant and full of herself and she’s about as far from that as you can get! She did her best to include so many different girls on the all-chick jumps throughout the weekend (must say, I felt pretty great having her ask me to join the sunset tracking dive) and I’m amazed at how many names she was able to learn in such a short event. On top of that, when we ran into her randomly at the Carl’s Jr. by LAX, she didn’t hesitate to stop and bullshit with us for 10 minutes or so. And that girl knows how to throw a pretty great event!

Throughout the weekend we ran into people we’d met elsewhere, lots of badass skydiving chicks, mingled with the ladies at Blue Skies Mag and some of my favorites (read: Kelly and Gail) over at Infinity. The vibe was very chill and everyone was so friendly. I even heard a story on the packing mats that if you’re going to have a cutaway, Elsinore is the place to do it — apparently they’re quick to retrieve your main, freebag, and even you if you land off. That’s always comforting to hear! Definitely a place I’d like to visit again soon.

Needless to say we had a great weekend (aside from the intense heat that I wasn’t used to, but that’s an entirely different story altogether). Wish I had more than the one video to share, but my pictures from the nigh swoops didn’t come out, so you’ll have to live with that.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Love and Blue Skies!

Ashley