And They Pay Me To Do This...

I have so much to remember from this week. On Sunday it was still summer and I was wearing a sundress and when I finally returned from what really was like a dream at 2am Saturday it was chilly and the leaves were falling already.

 

I had a week of a lifetime. A dream of mine achieved.

 

Here is a little clip... it was absolutely amazing.

More to come!

Pinch Me, This is Really Happening!

I'm exhausted. Months of preparing our hardware, writing reports, building, testing, and FINALLY it is here. Tomorrow I get to go on this...

and feel zero gravity, just like the astronauts for 40 parabolas of 40 seconds each of weightlessness. Alan Shepard only had about 6-7 minutes total of this experience. And he was strapped down in a seat! I am over the moon excited!! I have a flight suit. I was hanging out all day in the NASA Ellington Field hangar preparing our rig. I need to pinch myself.

I wanted to take a second to write down how I am feeling. A whole lot right now. Nervous. Excited. Hoping my family isn't too worried (Jared and Julie). Wishing Dad was with me. But I am mostly excited. Like a 6 year old little kid the night before Christmas when you just know that Santa is going to bring you the thing that you have wanted the most... in like forever. What I have ALWAYS wanted to do, I get to do tomorrow. So freaking cool.

Fingers crossed for a successful flight with no injuries, a safe take off and landing, good data on our experiment, and mostly, a super fantastic amazing I can't believe I have the job I have day with tons of good videos and photos floating in zero gravity. No vomiting would be great too.

One Week From Today

I've been busy. Crazy busy at work, home, and life. So to catch up with my work news... here is a little video of some of what I have been preparing for these past 3 months... and what I will be doing one week from today. 

I am beyond excited! Fingers crossed I won't vomit!

Myrtle Beach Snapshots - Day 5

Yay! for another beach day!! It was a bit overcast so the kiddos stayed longer than expected.

We hit Garden City Beach where we played in the sand, splashed, found a starfish, and had a great day.  After a few naps and showers we headed to Barefoot Landing for walking around, dinner at an Italian place, and of course, a carousel ride.

We even had some late night shopping and ice cream!

Myrtle Beach Snapshots - Day 4

I don't have many photos for today... we seemed to take is slower, be in the water more which means fewer photos. Jeff and Grace hit the road back to VA and we split up for a few hours with Mom and Dad looking at houses, lunch for the girls at a French Bistro, and the mall for Joey's family. After some more pool time, we celebrated "Tequila Tuesday" with the worlds worst margaritas at a local Mexican place. At least it was great company.

Myrtle Beach Snapshots - Day 3

Monday we spent the morning at the pool. Just lounging around enjoying the sunshine!

A funny thing about my family... they don't really go to the beach all that much, even during a beach trip! I could spend every day out in the ocean, laying on a towel, building sandcastles, you name it. Just being out there looking at the waves makes me smile. But I really, really have to convince them to go to the beach more than one day. Well, this afternoon I got them all to go!

After the full day of sun, we hit Murrell's Inlet for a seafood (sorry Dad!) dinner overlooking the water. In addition to the "I-actually-got-a-version-of-the-photo-I-wanted" picture, were these gems.

I especially like the four "Stein" kiddos with our people. :)

Sadly this was Jeff and Grace's last night on vacation with us but we were so glad they came, especially over Grace's birthday!

Myrtle Beach Snapshots - Day 2

Back to the recap of our days in Myrtle... Day 2 and we were off to the aquarium on a cloudy day where some of us found ourselves inside the oyster shells,

We saw the sharks, turtles, turtles, jellies, and more!

Next was Broadway at the Beach with Jello shots, Dino-riding, and merry-go-rounds

 

And silliest of all Tiki Jim's faces!

Next we headed to mini golf where Mom kept getting holes in one, and finally some of us even made it to the beach!