Meaningful Quote

"We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face"

-Eleanor Roosevelt

Deer in the Headlights

Yes, its ok to laugh at me...

Date Night(s) With The Cabinet

I have had a date scheduled for many years with the multiple boxes that contain nearly all the music I acquired while I was in school (the first time) as well as copies of some of the more technical symphonies I've played over the years. The boxes themselves started yelling at me from the inside of my closet declaring that they were cashing in my rainchecks about. Who am I to argue with the boxes that live in the same room as my underwear. They could have a field day if they ever decided to get even...

I made a trip to Target to buy a file cabinet and set to work. At first I was naive enough to think it would take only a couple evenings. I was wrong. It has been over a week and I'm still sorting. I would go so far as to say that I am only a little over half of the way through. And my living room is a mess of stacked piles.

The tough part is that most of the music is actually photocopies from my professor's files and therefore are just 8.5" X 11" sheets of paper with no titles. There are random sheets all over! Sorting them requires a quiet room so I can sing the tune to myself and then rack my brain as to the composer, piece and movement. (Having background music playing makes the process longer.) For example, I need to be able to look at a sheet and determing that its the 2nd page of Beethoven's 9 Symphony 4th movement unlabeled. Needless to say, its pretty time consuming.

The good news is that I will never have to do this again. And I'll be able to find everything quickly rather than searching through 3 boxes to find the last page of the last movement of that concerto I learned 7 years ago. It'll be great!

Unexpected Adventures

The other night I left my headlights on when I went into the gym. Two hours later when I came out, my car battery was completely dead. It was already an old battery prior to moving to AZ but it had also been baked in the Arizona sun for a year. It was so dead that jumping it didn't even work. That started the evening on a very long adventure. Let me explain...

My friend came to give me a jump start: it didn’t work. Neither of us had tools on hand so we figured we would go to the car parts store and pick up a battery. Then we would go to the church building where the singles were playing volleyball until all hours of the night. We went to the car parts store and they had NO idea which battery to get since I didn’t bring in my old one. So we went to another car parts store and successfully purchased one 5 minutes before closing (10pm). And then it was off to volleyball! We thought for sure that out of 35+ people someone would have tools on them. Not so! A girl said that she lived around the corner and that her dad had lots of tools which seemed like our best option. In the process of asking around for tools we had gathered quite a crowd that wanted to help/hang out. The total came to 7 people. We all tramped over to the house where her whole family came out to see who was there. 20-30 minutes later and after 2 or 3 family stories about dad and his tools we finally left to go back to the gym for my car. There, the boys seemed to think they could do a better job of replacing the battery then the engineer. Silly boys… tools are for girls! Once I took over, things went pretty smooth. But I didn’t get home until way after midnight. And on a night I was planning on going to the gym and going to bed early, that was significantly later then I wanted. Everything worked out in the end.

Except for the fact that the money I was planning on using for trapeze was eaten by a car battery.

Trapeze Show!

I was lucky enough to catch both my tricks at the show. I've got some great stuff in store for the next one but it might not be for a long while since my sister is coming home (to Colorado) from her mission on the date of the next show. Maybe if you're lucky you'll see some videos of practice instead.

Just as a side note, I had been Scuba diving all day out at the lake. So you can only imagine how exhausted I was. I slept well afterwards. :)

Enjoy!


Whip Catch - 26 June 2010


Split Catch - 26 June 2010

My New Hobby - Flying Trapeze!

A friend of mine from work has been taking a flying trapeze class for the last two months and has since convinced me to give it a try. And I sure am glad she did. I'm hooked! I went in for an intro course last Monday and have since decided to take the 8 week course myself.

Here is the rig on my first day. For scale, you can see one of the employees climbing up the ladder to get everything set for us.  I have to admit that when I pulled up in the parking lot the first day I was a little disappointed.  I had pictured it being a lot bigger.  But once I got up to the platform I realized that it was plenty big enough. 

 

The first 3/4 of the night they have you swing by yourself in a trick called the knee-hang then dismount in a backflip.  At first I thought, "I won't even do a back flip on a trampoline! How am I supposed to do one off a swinging bar?!?!" I asked all sorts of stupid questions.  And after I did it for the first time I realized that all my worry was completely unprecedented.  In any case, here is a video of my first time.  Unfortunately, my camera gal didn't quite catch the takeoff due to technical difficulties. 

Hmmm.  That didn't work.  Looks like it won't let me upload more than one video and the one below is way cooler than my first attempt so we'll stick with it...

Technically, you are supposed to start with one hand on the bar and then simultaneously jump off the platform while reaching your second hand from the platform cable to the bar.  I had some problems with that. Freud would probably have some interesting things to say about not trusting one's self or some jargon like that.  But my argument back is, how can you trust yourself to do something you've never done before?  Anyway, my inability to trust myself to get my other hand to the bar midflight is why they had me start with two hands on the bar for the video below.  When you do a catch, you have to have the timing right in order to successfully intercept eachother so if you hesitate you screw the whole trick up.
Below is my final swing of the night.  I was able to complete the catch but couldn't quite get back to the bar.

When I get better I'll put more videos up.  :) 

Have a great day!

doh!

This morning was a typical morning.  I rolled out of bed and wearily walked into my kitchen.  I quickly finished the dishes that I had left to soak over night and started the dishwasher.  Once that was underway, I turned around to gather the necessary components for my typical breakfast of champions: bowl, spoon, milk, cereal.  The first two were no problem.  But when I opened the fridge, my milk wasn't there.  I was completely confused!  I knew I wasn't out, for I had just had some the previous day and it was still half full.  I looked around on the counter tops looking to see if I had accidentally left it out.  I looked on my dining table, my desk, my coffee table...  it was nowhere!  I even wondered if I had had a neighbor come in and take my milk and nothing else.

Until I looked up.

That's right ladies and gentleman.  I had put the cereal in the fridge and the milk on the shelf.  Such is my life.

An Evening of Fun

'nuf said.

Experimenting in the Kitchen

Those of you who know me can attest to the fact that I've never been much of a cook or home-maker.  The latter is something that I, frankly, won't care about until I have someone to share my home with.  However, the former is something I'd like to get better at.  On the other hand, I'm an awesome baker!  Which happens to be a byproduct of having a sweet tooth.  But actual healthy food has been limited to chicken casseroles and scrambled eggs.

Lucky for me, I have recently bought a couple AWESOME books full of recipes that serve one person!  I especially recommend "Serves One" by Toni Lydecker.  Most of the recipes serve 1-2 people and are designed to be prepared in under 30 minutes.  Its perfect for those of us that live on our own.

(Side note.... Its raining outside!  It NEVER rains in Arizona!)

With this newly formed goal in mind, I have combined the kitchen essentials from all of the books I've purchased and my own limited experience and come up with a list of things that I think would be helpful to have laying around the kitchen for my cooking pleasure.  I have X'ed the things that I already have in my kitchen.  As you can see, I've got a long ways to go.  Feel free to use it as you see fit.  Or even suggest things you couldn't live without in your kitchen!  (Keep in mind, these should be things that keep well.)

I look forward to sharing my kitchen adventures with you in the future.

Asian seasonings

    Miso

X Soy sauce

    Teriyaki sauce

    Instant hon dashi

Condiments

X Mayonnaise

X Dijon

    Mango chutney

X Salsa

Fruits

X Lemon/Lime

   Cranberries, raisins (dried)

X Seasonal

Grains

X Rice (2 varieties)

    Couscous

X Oatmeal

X Cornmeal

Herbs and Spices

    Dried Oregano

X Parsley

    Thyme

X Rosemary

X Sage

   Italian Seasoning

X Basil, dill (fresh if possible)

X Salt (sea)

X Black peppercorns

    Bay leaves

X Cinnamon

    Cumin

    Ground and crushed red pepper

    Sesame seeds

X Seasoning blends

Hot Stuff

    Dried chiles

    Asian chili paste

X Tabasco sauce

   Ginger root (frozen)

Misc.

    Anchovies (canned in olive oil)

X Bacon

    Beans and legumes

X Mushrooms (fresh or dried and frozen)

    Pine nuts, Almonds, Cashews

X Onion family

X Pasta (one long, one short)

X Potatoes (red-skinned, Yukon)

X Olive oil

X Veggie oil

    Balsamic Vinegar

    Toasted sesame oil

X Tuna

X Salad Makings

X Corn (frozen)

X Honey

X Chocolate Syrup

X Breads

X Cheese (Parmigiano-reggiano and 2 other types)

X Eggs

WoT's that?

The Wheel of Time resumes today!  Yeppee!

Keepin' Busy

Since I moved to Arizona I have suffered through a completely new environment, lifestyle, climate, job, friends, no family etc. I have kept myself extremely busy to keep my mind off being homesick.  To my surprise, it has worked rather well.  I am now participating in a plethora of activities.  These include: training for a marathon, ballet class, institute, institute choir, ward choir, Chandler Symphony, rock climbing, pool (billiards) and jigsaw puzzles.  Since I've moved here I have put together 4 big puzzles.  I had help on 2.3 of them from my good friend Rachel (visiting from Omaha) but I still think its an amazing feat.  Unfortunately, I neglected to take pictures of the first 2.  I have, however, taken pictures of their boxes just so you can see what I've been up to.

 This was the first one I put together and probably the hardest.

 

This one was done with the assistance of my friend Rachel (750 pieces)

Rachel helped sort the pieces. There were 1500 total.

 

This one was the same brand as 2nd one up above.  It was 750 pieces.

And you know a puzzle has satisfied your puzzle crave when you can pick them up!

(Photo courtesy of George)

Hey! At least I don't have a gizzilion cats!  Perhaps I'll make another trip to Wal-mart this coming weekend...

Saving the Planet

In Boulder, alternate energy sources are abundant and you will VERY rarely see someone actually throw anything away that can be recycled.  Cardboard, newpaper, aluminum cans, glass bottles, junk mail, milk cartons, juice containers, and even the cardboard box tampons come in!  You name it, they recycle it!  It not just about recycling.  Its about water and fuel and pollution and open space and so on.  Here in AZ, it seems that the standard thought process is about a decade behind when it comes to preserving our natural resources.  Don't get me wrong; people still think of it. Just not nearly to the degree they do in Boulder.

I have decided not to let the fact that I live in AZ deter me from my Boulderite sense of energy awareness.  So yes, I still recycle.  And yes, as soon as its not 110 when I get off of work, I'll be commuting on bike.  But the most recent decision I have come to, is that I am going to line-dry all my clothes.  I first thought of it when I noticed that you cannot turn on the light in my laundry room without a fan turning on.  I cleverly deducted that the reason behind such mandatory air circulation was because a dryer heats the air you are paying $$$ to cool with A/C.  Hence, the fan to draw out the hot air before it seeps into the rest of the apartment simply to get cooled back down.  My conclusion?  Skip the dryer all together and hang your laundry.  I found a convenient rack that can hold almost a full load  (I don't want my personals hanging off my balcony, anyway) and it collapses nicely to be stored when not in use. (The one I have is similar to this: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11072972)  So yes I'm saving energy, but that's not even the best part!  My clothes dry QUICKER in the AZ summer sun then they do in the dark confines of man-made dryer.  Ironic, eh?

I guess I should mention one thing to AZ's credit. I noticed that my water heater is located outside in the storage closet off my deck.  It makes a perverse sort of sense...  I already miss the snow.

Pushing Through The Pain

Some of you may be privy to this, but others may not be.

I am training for a marathon.

Why on Earth would I ever do such a thing? Well, its simple really. I'm doing it for cancer research. I found a program called Team in Training that trains aspiring athletes while raising money for all types of Blood related cancers.

Check out my website: http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/pfchangs10/kogilvi0a1

I can honestly say, its not a lot of fun to actually get up at 5:30 AM almost every morning to run just so I can get my mileage in before 1) it gets "hot" (typically its about 80 deg in the mornings) and 2) so I'll have time to cool down so people don't ask me why my face is so red. When I work out, my skin goes from almost translucent white to bright red!

Although, its not fun, I am already starting to see the benefits of running on a consistent basis. My legs are solid muscle and I seem to sleep 9 times better than I ever have in the past.

I am now on my 4th week of training and therefore have worked up to about 4 miles on my long runs. I can only imagine how I'm going to feel once I'm up to 10 or 15 miles. The first mile always sucks, but as my coach says, it does not suck as much as a round of chemo. As long as that holds true, I'll keep running toward the finish line!

p.s. Feel free to contribute to TNT on my website! (Link is above)

Like buttah'

I recently started using my counter-top butter container again. For those of you unaware, a butter container is the second best invention in the history of the world. (The first being the wheel.) It is a porcelain container that keeps your butter fresh at room temperature. You put 1/2 inch of water in the container but the lid is a large enough to mash a stick of butter inside of it. Thus, when you place the lid on the container, the butter is sealed from the air, protecting it from spoiling quickly. Butter at room temperature ALWAYS!!! Its genius! No more cutting little tiny pieces and taking so much time spreading the butter that your toast goes cold before you eat it. S'wonderful!!!

The reason why I said "recently started using, again" is because there is a delicate balance that must be upheld when one lives on their own. You see, although the container offers air-tight protection, nothing can maintain butter indefinately; even the freezer. When I first got my porcelain chassis, I would put an entire stick of butter in the lid. Unfortunately, (and fortunately for my heart) I do not eat a whole stick of butter very quickly. I learned relatively quickly that rotten butter smells almost as bad as rotten fish. Seeing how this is not a scent Victoria's Secret would pick up in its next round of perfumes, I decided to quit using it until a future date when I had a family to help me dispose of the butter in a manner more pleasing to the senses.

When I moved into my new apartment and ran across my porcelain container as I was unpacking boxes, I decided to give it one more shot. This time, I only put in about 1/3 of a stick each time I refilled. It works! I can now get through my butter without the rancid disposal process.

Saved by the Dogs

Moving to a new location means that one has to endure weeks of constant name/face recognition exercises. I don't really mind it. And I'm relatively good at it. (Relative to the majority of the population.) But today as I got home from work I ran into one of my neighbors in my apartment complex. I could remember her dogs' names but I could not remember hers! Krista? Kristina? Kristen? I have no idea. But for some reason I could remember that her little brown chihuahua was Hollywood and her big black Saint Bernard was RockStar. The worst part? She remembered mine! The best part? I think she didn't notice that I didn't know her name since I called out to her dogs. I guess you could say I was saved by the dogs.

First Impressions

I am officially relocated. I will move into my permanent apartment on the 18th. It'll be my very first personally funded apartment.

At work, I've finished the two day corporate training orientation that all new hires are required to take. Now I have a mountain of procedures and documents to read and tons of acronyms to learn. Yeehaa. (Notice my lack of optimism.) One important thing to mention is that the job I was hired for is not the job they put me in. To make a long story short, the program they hired me to work on was called KEI and I was going to be doing work in their Design, Integration and Testing (DI&T) group. Turns out that the KEI program was a defense contract that got canceled a few months back. Unfortunatly, when the contract was canceled, so did my original job position. So rather then resending their offer, I was then moved from DI&T to the Electronics Components group. I'm not complaining since I know some people who don't even have a job yet. It just would have been nice BEFORE arriving.

My new ward is huge! The Relief Society is so big that they can't fit us all in the RS room. We have to meet in the chapel. After the small size of the ward in Colorado and the small branches all around the Denver area, it was kind of a shock. But the biggest difference I've noticed is that the people here aren't as focused on education. Most of the people I've met are either working in a "non-degree required" job or are slowly working toward something indistinguishable at the local community college. There are exceptions of course but its difinitely something that stands out as a difference between a student ward and a singles ward. (That and the "m" and "w" words gets thrown around a lot more here). That being said, I hope I get a calling (soon).

All and all, AZ looks like its going to work out; as long as the summers don't diminish me into a smelly pile of goo.

Love to you all.

I get an "F" in Making Decisions

How come every time I go to the fabric store to make an article of clothing I come out empty handed? I mean EVERY TIME!

I haven't been able to choose out any fabric and a pattern to accompany it for at least the last 5 times I've decided I wanted to make something. There are too many choices! (Ok, I admit, I can pick out patterns...) My philosophy has been that if I'm going to go to the trouble of making something, it has to end up being one of my top 3 favorite things in my closet. Its too much pressure!!!!!

Picture Time!

Here are the pictures I promised. The video will be compiled once I have the DVD NASA promised us!

The team as Kristian presented our Test Readiness Review.


Boarding the flight!
I was extremely excited!

Kristian, myself and our experiment as we were climbing to altitude.


I believe this was on the second parabola.
I honestly don't remember looking at the camera.


This is my favorite shot.
At least, when it comes to my facial expressions.


Getting down to business.


Another shot of the experiment in
the early parabolas...my hair is still up.


I was fascinated with Kristian's inability to keep his feet down.
(He got yelled at for it a lot!)


The crazy mermaid hair!


I'm not sure what the face was all about but its kinda funny.
The girl in the corner was our NASA mentor.


Me having fun floating after checking that cameras were still rolling.


Another experiment pic.


It was fun to just let your arms float!


Kristian with his feet up... AGAIN!


Kristian with his feet down.
ITS A MIRACLE!


No words needed...



This is a shot of another girl on another team
but you can see me in the background having a good time!


I'm having a good time!


Here's a camera shot that gives an idea of the overall cabin size.


Near the end of the flight.
I know this because people are looking out the windows.


A special hello to all my family and friends!


All of the individuals that were on our flight.

Who Said Gravity Never Faileth?

Wow!

Microgravity is awesome!

My first words as I floated toward the top of the cabin for the very first time was "Whoa! Oh, my goodness!"

There is so much to tell and words are not sufficient. I guess I'll start by saying that I don't have any awesome zero G pictures to share with you yet. Why? Because I simply was having so much fun during the zero G segments I forgot. And the only pictures I did remember to take looked like this:



The good news is that NASA had 5-6 people on board whose sole purpose was to take video and still shots of us in zero G. They came by several times and I remember posing for multiple shots. Also, we had Heather from Marshall Space Center taking pictures AND our NASA mentor, Ashley, taking video of just us. I think between all those people, I'm pretty well covered. We'll have access to those pics in the near future at which point I'll post them here. In the mean time, I want to document everything I remember.

We loaded the experiment onto the aircraft yesterday and got everything ready so that all we had to do is climb on board and take off in the morning. I'm reminded of that primary song that goes "Saturday is a special day, its the day we get ready for Sunday..." Although, it was technically a Monday going into Tuesday the premise still holds. So much preparation goes into the flight in the days that lead up to it that everything just can't be done without careful planning! We also were issued our fight suits (with our very own name tags!) and watched (quite possibly) the most cheesy video on avoiding motion sickness. In addition to all that, we had to go through Physiological training last week involving lots of lectures, a Pressure Chamber experience to become acquainted to our own personal symptoms of Hypoxia (lack of oxygen) and pass an exam of that knowledge. The quote I gave Heather to put on the NASA website is:

“The chamber experience was nothing like I've ever experienced before! I could feel my brain become less effective as time went by. Processing information became unimportant to me as I progressed in my symptoms. I was aware that I knew the information that was being asked of me on the worksheet; however, I was unable to make myself focus and retrieve that information. As time continued, I began to care less and less and eventually gave up and stared blankly into space before being told to put my O2 mask back on. My symptoms mostly consisted of dizziness, blue fingernail beds, apathetic attitude and tunnel vision.” - Me

The morning of the flight we got to Ellington Field and attended a few preflight briefings instructing us on aircraft safety, the correct method to vomit into a bag while in zero G and given our motion sickness meds. The meds are so strong that they document who you say your Designated Driver will be for the remainder of the day.

The aircraft itself is the Boeing 727 configured specifically for zero G flight. The rear of the aircraft has about 6-8 rows of regular seating but then the rest of the craft is outfitted with nothing but padded walls, ceilings and floors. There were very few windows. In fact, the only windows were the windows on the emergency exits. The flight crew actually closed the blinds on the windows in the early part of the flight so that we wouldn't look out the window, see the horizon at a 45 deg angle from what we thought was down and become sick. Near the end of the flight during a 2G stretch I took a gander and was amazed. My body was being pressed directly into the bottom of the aircraft but the horizon was not in the same direction. It was cool!


(The aircraft we flew in - a Boeing 727)

Once on board the aircraft, we took off and started climbing to altitude. Once in the air we were immediately instructed to set-up our experiments. We then were asked if we were a GO/NO-GO for parabolic flight. Once all teams checked in, the pilot took us into a steep climb that created an acceleration of about 1.8 Gs. That means that our bodies felt like they weighed 1.8 times what they weigh on the surface of Earth. I remember being overwhelmed with the anticipation of what was about to happen. And then…

Gravity Stopped!

All of a sudden, I started drifting upwards. It was so unlike anything I've ever experienced before! I was expecting the stomach knot that you experience at the top of a roller coaster but that didn't happen at all! One second I weighed twice as heavy as usual and the next I was drifting toward the ceiling with only the slightest push off. I remember feeling slightly dizzy for a few seconds the first time but the brain learns quick! I remember thinking to myself not to make any sudden movements and to stay calm. After the first parabola I found myself on the opposite side of the cabin after hitting the floor and the ceiling multiple times. I still don't know how it happened!


(The display of the current number of g's the aircraft is under and the parabola number)
*Photo Courtesy of NASA*

The hyper gravity segments were maybe not as exciting as the zero G segments, but they had their own appeal. You could just lay on the floor and relax. Most people laid down to avoid sickness but I found I didn’t have to. I just had to sit still. It was its own kind of fun. On one of the 2G segments I decided I’d like to stay standing just to see what would happen (the flight crew remained standing so I wanted to too!) but I was promptly tapped on the shoulder and told to sit down. They know best and I didn’t want to get sent to the back so I obeyed. I did find out that I was more prone to disorientation when looking around in 2Gs then when we were weightless.

After about 3 parabolas (we experienced 32 total- 30 Zeros, 1 Lunar and 1 Martian) I had a pretty good idea of how to move around. We were able to brace ourselves and begin work on our experiment. The first trials of our experiment went pretty well. We were able to get our systems started with relative ease. We noticed right away that our 2-mass system was not functioning as we had hoped. It was not entering into the second mode rotational mode at all. However, the 1-mass system that was fixed on one end functioned perfectly. Upon inspection of the apparatus on the ground, we found a blob of brass that had been sticking out and interfering with the rotation. We filed it down, however, the following flight showed no improvement.

Initially, I had my hair tied back in a bun with a clip securing it. I decided about the 5th parabola to let loose! I thought I would get a few pics and then put it back because it would get in the way. But once it was down, it was such a surreal feeling of having it float around my head I decided to let it be for the remainder of the flight. Heather told me after the flight that I looked like a mermaid in water. My hair was fluffy and light even compared to the other girls up there. I guess it’s a good thing I got up extra early to wash and blow-dry it!

We also were able to do some pretty awesome demonstrations for our Outreach video. One of the coolest ones I did was letting go of a water bottle and it just staying exactly where I left it. I know it sounds cliché but I really think that was one of my favorite parts of the flight. Inside the water bottle, the liquid stuck to the interior walls. We wanted it to ball up, but I left too much water in it for that to happen. The surface tension was too strong. Also a girl from one of the other teams wore a Supergirl outfit under her flight suit. During the flight she unzipped her flight suit pulled out the cape and did a flying pose. I can’t wait to get a view of that on the photos in a few weeks!

I quickly learned that if I reached up at the beginning of each zero G segment I would save myself from bumping my head on the ceiling. It became second nature such that even if I had strapped myself down in preparation for the zero G I would reach up when gravity disappeared. It must have looked rather funny because here I was, strapped to the ground with my hands reaching for the sky for no reason!

I always had about half a second in the beginning of each parabola of disorientation that was borderline dizziness. It always cleared up quick and I NEVER felt sick. Every time we topped the parabola I thought to myself, “The enemy gate is down!” from Ender’s Game and things came back into focus. I do remember thinking about the 24th parabola that my stomach was there. But it wasn't a nauseous feeling or even a queasy feeling. I can't really describe it. It was just an awareness that my stomach existed. Perhaps it was the wonderful drugs they gave us. As our flight surgeon said, "Better living through chemistry." I heard that 4 people got sick on the flight. I never saw any of them because I was having too much fun. I do remember seeing the flight doctor (Dr. Fitzpatrick) rush by with blue medical gloves on. I can only assume he was on his way to help someone.

I mentioned earlier the benefits of the motion sickness meds. But here are some disadvantages. You crash, and you crash hard after the first few hours. I had to take a quick nap in the afternoon! Also, I've had a VERY dry mouth all day. Which means I'm probably the most hydrated I've been in ages since I'm guzzling water to trick my brain into thinking my mouth is just fine. They warned us that this was a common side effect and as such, they provided hard candies for the flight. I grabbed a bunch of Wintergreen Lifesavers and had one in my mouth almost the entire flight.

The flight crew was very helpful. There were a couple times where I lost control and couldn't get my feet down. The flight crew just very calmly guided my feet back down and made sure that we were all safe. Kudos to them! They did a great job!

As we were flying back to the field, I was very sad. I know that the flight could've been twice as long and it still would have been too short. I would venture to say that the flight crew has the 2nd best job in the world.


(Heather, Kristian and I after our flight)

In general, it was the most fun thing I have ever done. It was WAY worth the effort I put into getting into the program. I'd do it all over again if I were still in school. In fact, maybe I'll go back and get another undergrad degree just so I do it again! I'm sure my dad would appreciate that. :)

As I write this, its been over 12 hours since I got back on the ground. I'm sad that I probably won't ever get to experience that again in my lifetime. There are moments in life that our life altering events: kindergarten, HS Graduation, the first kiss, marriage. I truly believe this fits nicely into that category.


*Photo Courtesy of NASA*

Turnin' Over the Dirty Work

To follow my happenings this week in Houston, follow this blog...

http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/freefalling