one time, i went skydiving

anyone who has known me for a long time, or, frankly, even not that long of a time, is probably aware of my strong propensity for self-preservation (and a comfortable sleeping environment), which is why my activities of late have been such an exhilirating mystery. i assure you, i do not engage in this type of behavior regularly. but, as it happens, i jumped out of a plane on saturday.

and, happily, i lived to share the experience with you!

there really are no words to describe the butterflies in my stomach as we climbed in a small plane to 13,000 feet. or how quickly i went from sitting comfortably on a bench to hanging out the door of an airplane. or what it felt like when the first, intense gush of wind hit my face and i realized i was flying. or how incredibly beautiful everything looks when you are floating above it. or what a complete badass (pardon my language, but sissy words will not do when the topic is jumping from a plane!) i felt like when i landed safely on the ground and realized: i did it! i jumped from a plane! i dove through the sky! i did it!

no words.

but, luckily, lots of pictures! (they are still worth 1,000 words these days, right?)

title: the excitement builds. (a series)


{mastermind devin}


{allison and ashley}


{nate}


title: please stop making jokes about your last wishes. (or, wasn't playing a song called "death upon impact" in the car enough for you?)



title: sign (your life away) on the dotted line. (a series)








title: suiting up. (or, a jumpsuit? yes, please! a series)







title: my middle name.



title: all aboard. (or slight panic begins. a series)







title: up, up, up. (or, the only way out of this plane is to jump)



title: let me show you to the door. (or, i don't remember this part at all)



title: holy %&$#, i am about to jump out of a plane!



title: holy %&$#, i just jumped out of a plane! (or, the beginning of the scream heard from the ground)



title: the least-graceful backflip ever executed midair (or, frances loses control of all appendages. but not her bladder. a series)







title: freefall. (or, who knew plummeting 8,000 feet in 60 seconds could be this fun? or, i can't stop screaming. a series)




{meeting up midair with photographer, sergio}


{tandem master, fish, strapped to my back}

title: meanwhile.



title: from the ground. (or, i'm the one in blue. a series)





title: sliding into home. (a series)







title: survivors. (or, remember how we just jumped out of an airplane? a series)











title: all in a days' work. (or, adventure suits me well, don't you think?)

today i did this

more soon.

live, from the ywca!

my board hosted our every-other-monthly (is there a word for that?) "successitea" brown bag discussion at the ywca yesterday, and, thanks to the media contacts of board member julia, the television news came! a discussion topic of "women in office: why it matters" a few days after the announcement of a female vice presidential candidate probably didn't hurt either.

anyway, check us out!

after months of low attendance at these events, it was great to have a full house and a solid discussion about what women can and should be doing in the political process. and, coming a little closer to our individual dreams of world domination and international celebrity (is it just me?) was icing on the cake. join us next time, won't you?

i'm glad they called me on a mission

it was five years ago yesterday that i entered the missionary training center and got ready to ship out for 18 months as a missionary in japan. and it was just today that one of my freelance clients asked me to tone down the "sex and alcohol metaphors" in some copy i had submitted. how are the mighty fallen!

going on a mission had never been a serious consideration in my life plan (problems with 19-year-old boys as the boss and all that), so no one was more surprised than me when it became clear that serving a mission was just the thing i needed to do. i am not totally convinced i would do it again (it is always harder to do things once you know what you're really getting into), but i also wouldn't trade it for anything, not even a husband, a bunch of babies, a nice house, a graduate degree or a higher paying job. or anything else that people managed to acrue while i was knocking on doors and eating fermented bean paste. a lot of the most important things that i know, and a lot of the most important things that i am, came from that mission.

for example, i know that cap'n crunch with chocolate milk for every meal is just plain not good for you. (the elders taught me that one.)

i know that a handwritten letter can make everything seem better.

i know that you can still love people even when their choices hurt your heart over and over again.

i know that running a hot plate, a microwave, a fan and a stereo at the same time will kill the power to an entire japanese apartment building.

i know that, a lot of the time, when things get really, really, really hard, something better than you could have imagined is just around the corner.

i know that God loves all his children.

i know that there is no such thing as a "last chance."

i know that you can dip your meat in raw egg, eat it and not throw up on the branch president's rug.

i know what it is to experience true, and well-earned, joy.

i know that i can survive even the bitterest of disappointments.

i also know that i can survive even the bitterest northern japanese winter.

on a related note, i know that you can wear one pair of thermals, three pairs of nylons, one pair of regular tights and one pair of wool tights and still be able to bend your knees.

i know that if you pray for answers, they will come.

i know that you can learn to love just about anyone.

i know that a well-tied kimono will make you pass out from lack of oxygen in less than 20 minutes.

i know that no matter what language you are speaking, or attempting to speak, if what you are saying is good and important and true, it will always be understood.

i know that i can do hard things.

and i am grateful for it.

frances cake, take nine: the more caffeine! edition

a little while ago, emdawg went to tennessee for work and came home with stirring tales of the coca-cola cake she had eaten there. think such a thing is too good to be true? think again!

as sunday was rainy and cold and there was no work the next day, we determined to make this mythical dessert on our own. a recipe was surprisingly easy to come by; in fact, there were several to choose from. i went with the one from southernfood.about.com, because that seemed like a pretty reliable source for something like coca-cola cake. also, the recipe called for melted marshmellows to be added to the cake batter, which was intriguing and ultimately oh-so-tasty.

the only catch was, thanks to the storm, there was no power at my house. so we made the cake at em's instead.

for something as high-falutin' as coca-cola cake, the process was pretty simple. we did have to melt some of the ingredients in a saucepan, which i guess could have been tricky. and we had to make our own buttermilk. not quite as impressive as the time i had to make my own mayonnaise (true story. and it wasn't even disgusting), but worth something i guess.

the best part was watching all the other ingredients fizz when we added the magical coke itself.





(sidenote: my mom has a friend who has trained her kids to call coke "the brown juice" so she's not embarassed when they ask for it in public. i think of that every time i think about coke, which is pretty often, and it always makes me laugh.)

em and i have been friends for a while now, so there wasn't a whole lot of "getting to know you" to be done. i already know, for example, that em loves robots, the number five and pizza with pineapple. she also loves all things electronic, and is currently having a torrid affair with her iphone. she loves great music and live concerts and she doesn't like to sit with her back to doors or windows in public places because she grew up in the ghetto, and the ghetto will make you afraid of things like doors and windows.

i did manage to learn a few new things about emily while the cake baked, but she asked me not to include any of them in this post, in case she decides to run for public office some day.

we baked the cake to absolute perfection.



and then it was time to make the frosting! which was guaranteed to be delicious because it included large amounts of powdered sugar, butter and... coke!





in addition to the creation of a dessert that includes everyone's favorite beverage, the night was red-letter since it was only the second time em had worn her new "high five" shirt. em likes to refer to pretty much all social interactions as "high fives." she also really likes it if you come up to her and high five her shirt. so try that next time you see her.



the final product was everything we could have hoped for and more. it even took the edge off the hurricane gustav coverage we were watching.



and yes, i realize i look slightly insane in this picture. but you've just got to realize, coca-cola cake can do that to a girl.

salt flats, sunrise

first, there was a text message from elliott: "come sleep on the salt flats friday night. 9pm depart. come back at sunrise."

next, i decided this was an adventure not to be missed.

then, briana and i put on our pajamas and loaded up our (minimal) camping gear: sleeping bags, pillows, a tarp (graciously procured for us by emily), water, headlamps, courage.

afterwards, we drove and drove and drove to the west and west and west in nathan's sturdy jeep, towards our destination, a small road off the freeway that google earth had promised would lead us to the flats. we kept our eyes peeled for "no trespassing" signs. we saw none.

suddenly, we were there!

accordingly, we parked the car on a breakwater, loaded the gear onto our backs/shoulders/waists and began walking and walking and walking, for three long, flat, dark miles, away from the car and the maniacal hum of the freeway. when we decided that we had arrived, we stopped, threw down our tarps and slept soundly on the salt.

by and by, the glorious sun arose, and our world looked like this:







slowly, our little colony awoke to greet the strange and stunning morning.





















whereupon, we concluded that waking up in the great expanse of nothingness was better than anything we had imagined or hoped for.







subsequently, bathroom breaks were in order. but the flat(FLAT!) expanse of the salt flats(FLAT!) affords little privacy, no matter how far you wander. and so our tarps were put to a different, most practical use.



(also, a word to the wise about peeing on the salt flats. get low (it splashes!) and move often. the salt flats do not absorb.)

ultimately, it was time to leave our temporary and alien home.

and so, we traversed the great expanse of nothingness again. rested. renewed. awed.













the end.