Oh how much I love a good hiatus! Enjoying these pauses and waiting to blog until I have something to say has truly made life MUCH simpler. For the last half of the month of January it’s been busy, busy, busy. I feel like I’m in my 20s 😅 Haha, jk, but 2023 sure has spun into a different gear. Let’s get into it 😊

I’m going to kick off the first part of the write up with a fun event me and RJ attended with his family…Mardi Gras Ball! We had the best excuse to dress up all fancy like and come enjoy the food and festivities with his parents.

The Ball was put on by my dad in laws high school alma mater St.Augustine High School in New Orleans. They’ve been around since 1951 and you can immediately feel the camaraderie the moment you step into their atmosphere.

I have to admit, I didn’t know it was THIS big. Over the years RJ would mention going to golf tournaments they would host and other fund raising events, but I didn’t put two and two together until we attended this particular event.

This Mardi Gras Ball was the 3rd annual one and there were so many people in attendance! We had drinks, enjoyed live music, and we even took the dance floor for a spin lol. Towards the middle of the event we participated in a fun raffle to win $1500 worth of wine and spirits.

To enter the raffle, we gave a donation and then were given these fun light up rings to show our participation. The game was Heads or Tails. We chose either to put the ring on our head or tail and then the announcer flipped a coin. Whatever it landed on, if you had guessed right, you were still in the game. We didn’t win (thankfully 😅) but it was fun.

Following Mardi Gras Ball, the next weekend we got hyped up to celebrate the misters birthday. Over the years I have learned that he seems to prefer experience based gifts rather than material based gifts. Since he had been talking about going skydiving for the longest, I thought it would be the perfect gift for him.

Now don’t get me wrong, I had a teeny bit of ulterior motive in getting him this particular gift. My thought was if he does it now and gets it out of his system, I won’t have to worry about him wanting to try it out later in life (You will see further in the story, but my plan utterly failed lol).

The morning of his birthday we drove past DFW to the Dallas Skydive Center in Caddo Mills. This location has really great reviews as well as competitive pricing among other similar experiences. Driving up, we eventually landed on the gravel road that lead straight to the petite air strip and warehouse hanger.

Skydiving is no joke. The paperwork mister had to fill out was very sobering. Even with all the reassurance, it still makes one think about how serious life can be. Nevertheless, he was ready to face the challenge head on.

After checking in we met Cruzie the skydiving instructor for the day. Cruzie is an expert jumper and has logged like 1,000 jumps! He had a lighthearted attitude, plenty of goofy jokes, and aimed to make RJs first jump as comfortable as possible. He even tried to convince me to jump too, but ya girls feet needed to stay firmly on the ground.

He got the mister all strapped up with his proper gear, gloves, and eye protection. We were the only ones there since it was in the morning so that gave RJ plenty of space to get a grasp on his training for the tandem jump.

It didn’t take long before the plane was fueled up and ready to go. This was it! Time to jump! A few facts about the skydive…he would be jumping from the plane at 10,000 feet in the air, he would be falling at roughly 142 mph, and it would take around 30 seconds to fall before opening the parachute 😅.

A few waves as the plane headed off and I found myself looking up in the sky waiting to see the dot that would be my husband and Cruzie free falling towards the ground.

It felt longer than I anticipated. The plane circled twice, climbing higher in the air with each full round. On the second curve the jump finally happened! I found myself tensely squinting into the sky praying for all to be well. FINALLY I was able to spot them waaaay off in the distance. I saw the parachute floating closer and closer back towards the hanger. They swooped in with a perfect ease of a landing and I took an unknowingly held breath.

I was so happy to have my guy back on the ground. He was so in shock of how much he enjoyed the jump, it took him a moment to get the words. His adrenaline was pumping and within moments he was already talking about wanting to do it again lol!!

As he took his gear off, over and over I said I couldn’t believe he did it! That’s super brave and I was so proud he accomplished something he’s been talking about doing for years. We thanked Cruzie and the staff for an excellent jump and now I know I’ve created a monster for sure 🤦🏾‍♀️

So after jumping out of planes what more is there to do?? Party of course! The following Saturday we got all semi dressed up for a Kick Back evening with the misters Community Frontline group. The event was at the lobby bar inside one of our favorite spots in Fort Worth, Hotel Dryce.

The best part is since it was RJ’s bday weekend, I went ahead and booked us a convenient room at the minimalist styled hotel so we could truly relax afterwards.

We spent the night socializing with great drinks and great company. Community Frontline basically packed out the whole lobby lol! It was nice to catch up with friends, meet some new people and get to know the community RJ advocates for with his bros right here in Fort Worth.

All in all, it has been a blast kicking off this new year. We have so much more to look forward to in 2023. Let’s get it 💪🏾