I realized that the email I submitted to be a finalist isn’t on the site.  Here is what I submitted to be considered in the skydiving contest.

My name is Amy Peterson and I live in San Diego.  I recently started following Lesley’s blog and was thrilled to see San Diego listed as #5 in her list of the greatest cities she has visited.  San Diego truly is an amazing place and some days I can’t believe I actually live here.  I am a native Iowan and moved to San Diego in 2003 after my husband I got married.  In 2007 we moved back to Iowa after having our first child.  We thought we should be closer to family since we had started a family of our own.  However, 3 short years later and another addition to our family, the pull of San Diego was too strong and we found ourselves packing up our house and moving back to the West Coast.  We have been back since November of 2010 and have no plans of ever leaving again.

The first time I thought of sky diving was when I was 18.  A company was offering a sky diving package for $75 and my brother and I discussed doing it on a weekend when my parents were out of town.  I immediately got butterflies in my stomach and the more my brother and I talked about it, the bigger those butterflies got until I’m pretty sure there was something the size of an eagle flapping around in my abdominal cavity.  That was all I could take and I bowed out.  If I was that nervous just talking about it, I didn’t think there was any way that I would be able to actually jump out of a plane.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago and I was reading Lesley’s post and I got those butterflies again.  I got it in my head that I needed to take advantage of all that San Diego has to offer and if it means jumping out of a plane, well, then so be it.  I was just telling a friend last weekend about how I was thinking of sky diving as we discussed our fear of heights that has developed as we have gotten older.  I suggested that if I went sky diving, it would resolve me of that overwhelming feeling of having to jump whenever I am in a high place.

I don’t know that I’m any more deserving to win this fabulous prize than anyone else, but I will say that it will definitely be the most adventurous thing I will have ever done and possibly will be for the rest of my life.  I have learned to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves and the timing of this contest was a little too perfect.  All I can guarantee is if I am chosen as the winner, some hilarious video and photos will result from my jump.  My hands are cold and clammy as I’m typing and my heart rate has significantly increased the closer I get to sending this email.

I’ll be anxiously awaiting March 12th to see if I am announced as the winner.  In the meantime, I’ll have to put it out of my head or run the risk of talking myself out of an amazing opportunity!