ocb217

That's awesome!! Congratulations! Audra

I love that show! Audra

Reminds me of a guy who tried petting a wild alligator. Audra

I also can't upload an avatar. Audra

A few people have told me I should sign up on facebook/myspace... Maybe it's just me, but the last thing I want is to have all of my family & coworkers knowing absolutely everything I do. One of the girls I work with enthusiastically added our boss to her friends list. WTF? Is she crazy? Audra

I like their music, but that video is just a little bizarre. Audra

My two favorites: ADR - Ain't Doin' Right. Used when an animal lacks any real signs of illness but the owner insists there is just "something" wrong. (I admit I've used this term to describe problems with my own pets) SBI - Somethin' Bad Inside. Used when we don't have any effing idea what is wrong, other than the fact something is really wrong internally (usually used to describe things seen on xrays or ultrasound. "What do you see, doc?" ... "He's got SBI"). Audra

I have family in Wisconsin. Nothing like tours of a cheese factory/paper factory. Audra

I have to disagree - I also avoid phones whenever possible. My family, friends, coworkers, and my employers all know I'm not going to answer, so if they must call, they leave all the info in the message.. cause chances are I'm not going to call back either. It's not unusual for me to lose it or forget it for days or weeks on end. But hey, at least I don't discriminate -- I ignore all calls equally! Audra

Thanks for the welcome! I'm curious - My thinking is that in the end, blowing money at skyventure or doing tandems is about equal to saving up and spending money on AFF. Everyone I've talked to, however, disagrees. Am I just being blinded because I want to get back up there so badly? Audra

Lucky break indeed! I'll be the geek -- that's a male midland painted turtle. Audra

Hey everyone! I've been lurking on here for a while but I've been putting off doing an intro post. Why today? I'm not really sure. My name is Audra. I'm 20 years old and live on the east coast of Florida where I attend a community college and work at a veterinary clinic. Both of my parents have been skydiving and most of my mother's family are skydivers. Being terrified of heights, I wasn't really 'into' the idea of jumping from a plane so I never really thought about it and it never came up. That is, of course, until that fateful day... One of our sales reps at work took us to SkyVenture Orlando. I actually didn't even want to go but was forced against my will to attend "just the dinner, you don't have to fly!" Once there my coworkers threatened forging my signature on the release form so I caved in and decided to fly. Who knew I'd become completely, uncontrollably obsessed. After that one flight I began to go for 4-minutes just about twice a week until I couldn't afford it anymore. That was way back when I was a full-time employee and not attending college. Amazing how much it kills your personal life... I went down to once every week, then 10-minutes every other week, every few weeks... now every couple of months. (Any SVO employees on here? I'm the one who used to bring in cookies/brownies/etc all the time ) As for doing the "real thing," on the very first load on January 1st I did a tandem in Lake Wales with my uncle and a long time family friend with me during freefall. It was incredible!! It just kills me to not be getting my AFF done. Skyventure is a GREAT alternative but I'm convinced if I don't go to SVO for a few months I'll manage to get enough saved up for AFF. The odds are against me, though, as college is a never ending black hole for cash. My family is also against me skydiving while I'm in school and I don't have health insurance. Total freakin' bummer... Still holding out hope that I may get back up there soon, though... Maybe I'll see y'all out there! Audra