MORE PICTURES from 14,000 feet:)

This is right before I jumped, AH! The wind was insane...this is why i look like an inflated ballooon, i haven't had THAT much bread!

I don't remember having this horrified look on my face, I promise its just out of shock!

SKYDIVING IN THE ALPS!

WE'RE ABOUT TO FLY THROUGH THE AIR..LIKE THIS!

These were the girls I jumped with!
The whole group!

Well, this was probably the best weekend of my life! I, Kasey Musgrave--little miss play it safe, scared of glass elevators, rollercoasters, heights in general, JUMPED OUT OF A PLANE AT 14,000 FEET! AH! okay, I'll rewind a little bit.

Wednesday night, one of our guy frinds, Zach, came in to try to convince Austin to go with them, and somehow I got into the picture because I said once that it would be amazing. So then he tried to get both of us to go, and being the people pleaser I am...i finally said yes! (picture me laying in bed under my blanket shaking terribly out of fright of what I had just commited myself to!) I had said at one point that it would be amazing to do this because I would watch our friend's videos...but yeah right! Like I would ever do it! And don't worry, it was not out of people pleasing that I said yes, I was totally committed to proving to myself that I could, and I know I would regret it if I never did it. So as we ran to tell our friend Natalie we were going with them I continued shaking...for a good hour! I was the source of entertainment for my friends because as we watched everyone else's skydiving dvd's I sat there curled up. shaking. haha It was quite a sight I'm sure.

Moving on, the next day consisted of me calling dad and telling him, getting permission, and making sure my very worrisome mother didn't find out until AFTER I jumped and was safe! Some people saw my secret as a horrible thing to put my dad through, but if you know my mom...we new what we were doing!

Okay, so finally Saturday came! Our group of 6 woke up and left for the GORGEOUS Interlaken, Switzerland. After a 4 1/2 hour train ride we had arrived! I tried to eat a blueberry muffin, but that didnt' go over so well...so I decided to keep the food to a minimum for the sake of my stomach! We ate a little bit of pasta just to keep us from getting hunger pains, and then we were picked up my Skydive Switzerland and transported to the air strip. I was super nervous, but at the same time I knew there was no turning back..that was actually never even a thought in my mind even with nerves! Everything happened really quickly once we arrived at the hanger. There was a group of about 20 of us tandem jumping, and we went through about a 5 minute breifing on what to do! Thats all! haha thank goodness we didn't have too much responsibility! We split up into groups of 3 because that's all that can fit in the plane. The other half of our group was first, and they were probably up in the air about 30 minutes after we got there! CRAZY! So they went up, jumped, landed, and loved it! At this time I wasn't nervous at all! I was SOO ready to do it! My group had to wait about 2 hours before we could jump, but I never really got too nervous!

FINALLY, it was our turn! We got strapped in our harnesses very quickly, and took off to the plane! Oh! did i mention...Interlaken Switzerland was covered in SNOW!!!! EVERYWHERE! They said this was the best day to jump in a long time, and the snow had only been there for 3 days! It was incredible from the ground...I couldn't wait to see it from above! So, we trek across the landing strip of SNOW to our plane. The propellers were going: It was so loud and windy as we all piled in. The jumper I was going to be attatched to said that we were last in first out! So we climbed in last...my spot on the ground was parallel with the sliding door. I don't know how we all fit in this tiny space, but we scrunched in! It took us about 15 minutes to make it up to 14000 feet. Finally, we were there! My jumper explained that he would open the door, look out, then open it completely, then the camera guy would jump out onto the wing, and I would slide around and hang my feet over...I would get in position, and then one, two, three, JUMP!

So door opens, and all goes as planned. I completely got FREAKED OUT when the door opened and we hovered over NOTHING! I was soo scared, but the fact that I couldn't do anything about it helped me just say WHATEVER LETS DO IT! I am sitting with my head back, arms on my straps, arched back, and he yells HERE, WE, GO! and on go we fall foward! (crazy thing is i've lost my stomach about 3 times just whie typing this!) I screamed as we flipped out, and honestly I don't remember what happened until I reached a stabilized position of free-falling on my stomach! As soon as I saw land I was perfectly fine! It's the hardest feeling to describe: I lost my stomach a little bit jumping, but from then on it just felt so natural! It was INCREDIBLE!

We free-fell for 41 seconds, and then he pulled the chutte. Apparently that pulls you up incredibly fast, but after some major jerks you just feel like your sitting still in the air. It was crazy! I felt a little light-headed at this point, but it went away very quickly..what a rush! We did spirals down which did more for my stomach than even jumping out of the plane! The view was UNBELEIVABLE! Everything was snow-covered, the sun was out, no clouds! It was perfect! It was actually FREEEZING, but it never bothered me at all...who can complain about freezing wind when your falling from a plane? Not me! Then he tapped my shoulder and i raised my legs into a pike position as we landed. This consisted of going like straight down towards the ground and sliding into the foot of SNOW! It was CRAZY! We were all going crazy hugging and screaming! It was seriously the BEST experience of my life...so rewarding!

So, now I can say I've been skydiving over the Swiss Alps! I have thought about it all day today, and wish I could do it again! I can't wait to get my DVD so I can see myself doing it, because I still can't beleive it! One of my friends who did it a few weeks ago watches his dvd at least once a day! This was definitely one of those life-changing, defining moments in my life. I'm so thankful that all went well. Our group was so amazing! On the train ride that morning we read some scriptures just to ensure us that we were going to be okay! It was so nice to experience God's beauty with 5 other people who are as enthralled as you! I'm so thankful for a safe day!

Well, all is well. Mother knows and continuously thanks me for not telling her! It was seriously the BEST day EVER! I'm still in shock, and it makes me SO happy to just think about it! Just as everyone said, it has definitely changed my outlook on things. I mean afterall, jumping out of a plane puts other fears into perspective. So basically, I LOVED IT! YAY for skydiving!

sorry this was so long, and i'm sorry to those of yall who read this and then have to hear it all again from me in a few weeks...i'm pretty sure it'll still be all I can talk about:)

have a blessed day!

...gonna find out who's naughty and nicee!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Naughty and Nice trying to pull apart Gaston and Belle.
All us Pi Phis!

Yesterday was Halloween, and we sure did it up big here at Heidelberg! Germany doesn't really celebrate halloween, so we were very limited on costumes. So, being the creative students we are we all came up with some very unique costumes. The 2 hours before dinner everyone was going NUTS running around raiding closets, drawing mustaches on boys, and curling hair.

Austin and I become REALL creative and decided to take a metaphorical route for our costume. We decided to be 'naughty' and 'nice'...from the santa clause song of course. Nobody beleived that we could pull it off...ohh but we did. We all met for dinner at this restaurant at the castle, and we came a little late and everyone died laughing when they saw us. They were very impressed.

Other costumes included: love, hate, babies, angel, devil, christmas tree, sigmund frued, guys dressing up as some girls here in short running shorts--sorority sweatshirts--headbands--and the girls sunglasses, lindsey lohan (she looked exactly like her!), gaston and belle from beauty and the beast, randal from the kids show recess, and the most creative....the IPOD shadow man! you know, the black shadow in all the commercials that dances around with his white ipod. They painted him black except for the apple sign on his cheek...it was amazing!

Our evening consisted of dinner at this amazing restaurant (chicken breast with lemon sauce...amazing!). Everyone was in costume--it was a blast! Then we cleared the middle of the room and had a dance party! We danced straight for about 2 hours to a huge variety of music. We all decided that it was the best halloween party we'd ever been too. Then we came back to the haus and a few of us started watching The Gaurdian, but then we got tired and went to sleep.

All in all it was a GREAT first holiday here in Heidelberg. Tonight Austin and I pushed our beds together, and are decorating our little 'nook'. Its really exciting! But I have to go now, I'm being summoned to jump on our new big bed!

54 days and still loving every minute!

Well well well...I'm ashamed to say that I am a horrible blogger. I will really try hard to be better, promise! Okay, where to start. Well since I last blogged I have been to Cinque Terre, Venice, Vienna, and Prague! (Can that get me off the hook for not blogging?!) I'll try to give a quick update on each place...

Cinque Terre is a combination of 5 coastal towns...each made up of mediterranean colored buildings with clothes hanging on clothes lines outside every window. This is one of the most beautiful places I've been! Our group consisted of 4 heidelbergers and we met up with 2 friends from florence! Out of the 5 cities (Monterosso, Vernazza, Manarola, Corniglia, and Riomaggiore) my favorite was Vernazza. This is the first town we hiked to (this is no little hike..it took us 2 1/2 hours of mostly uphill...who would have thought our Mediterranean vaca would involve lots of sweat?). Cinque Terre is in the region of Italy where Pesto was created...so of course every meal almost consisted of either pesto pasta or pesto pizza..it was to die for! I also had my first glass of wine here. It was white...I practically had to force it down...I'll update you on my wine drinking when we get to venice! We also got to SWIM in the Mediterranean Sea! Pretty monumental! All in all it was an amazing weekend!
The trip back was rediculous...one of those all-time european adventures you hear so much about..quick synopsis:
1. we left monterosso at 8 pm in pouring rain.
2. we get harrassed by 2 creepy italian men...(don't worry we had body gaurd jared with us)
3. 2 creepy men followed us off the train and waited for us to get back on our connecting train which was delayed. Here we were also bombarded by crazy Italian men...gross...asking us to stay the night? By this time we were stuffing our extra socks up Jared's sleeves to make him look even more threatening.
4. We show up in Bologna (which we pronounced as the processed meat balogna) thinking we missed our train, but luckily it was delayed 3 hours...so we sat in a crowded room in Bologna, Italy with 3 loudly snoring Italians for 2 hours. Finally we got on our train and ended up in Heidelberg at 5 pm.
A great 20 hours of traveling I must say.

The next weekend a big group of us went to Venice for my friend Anna Debord's birthday! She lived in Abilene until pre-K, and apparently we use to play together when we were little! Venice was incredible! It was exactly as you would picture an Italian city...no cars..just water...and tons of little bridges! Some highlights were seeing the pigeons, actually enjoying a glass of merlot...and then having another haha, the boys surprised us and bought us roses in St. Mark's square all lit up at night with music all around (so cute!), walking around the city, taking water busses, and eating gelato while dangling our feet over the edge of the peer! It was a great trip!

The whole next week was spent in Vienna for our educational field trip. We got to stay at a nice hotel with only one roommate, a sauna, and BATHTUBS! It was great to get to spend 5 days in one place and not feel rushed. Vienna originated the coffee house, and so we went to one at least once a day! They are everywhere, and always full viennese people just hanging out! What a life! The city was gorgeous, and big enough not to get bored..yet easy to get around. I rode on my first subway here! The last night we ended with a Mozart and Strauss symphony! It was so fun! But during the trip I started getting sick..so the flight home was less than fun. I spent all day Sunday resting and sleeping...and then by tuesday everything was good! See mom, I told you I didn't have to go to the doctor haha

This past weekend I went to Prague! Its amazing how different each city is. I went with 3 girls and 2 boys...it was quite the fun group! We stayed in an apartment type place...and when we checked in we decided to take a quick nap...that lasted 3 1/2 hours! Guess we were more tired than we realized! We walked around and saw the Astronomical clock. Its the coolest clock I've ever seen..soo much detail! We found a place to eat...and then we walked around some more. Finally we ended up drinking wine and playing cards back at our apartment. (We have become obsessed with the card game, Bum.) The next day was freezing, but the views were gorgeous--all the greenery was now either orange, red, or yellow! It didn't feel like we were in Czech at all. Luckily most people spoke english...I tried learning some basic phrases on our 10 hour train ride, but the fact that they dont like to put vowels in their words is not for me. Jkdsymgni? I don't think so. We visited the Largest castle in the world, the Prague Castle! It's more like a palace...really the only thing that has spires and is tall is the cathedral. We spent most of our time in the gardens. It had a great view of the whole city of Praha that was full of fall colors. We also went on the Charles bridge...its a huge bridge with lots of statues...very pretty! A major moment on the trip was when we found CHEERIOS in the grocery store! My how excited were we! The box was too big for my backpack so I carried them around proudly in my arms...they were a very sufficient snack for mornings and on the trainride back.

Well, we're caught up! I wanted to post pictures, but for some reason I can't right now. I will try to later! Now, I'm sitting in my room enjoying my fun-fetti haloween cookies that my mom and sister sent to me! This is definitely a highlight of my day seeing as it consisted of a german quiz, a history midterm, and a 3 hour long stats class! I'm about to walk down the hill for dinner, and then I'll struggle to make it back up and study for yet another German quiz. But oh well, this is Europe! The whole house is getting closer...it's amazing how we live in one place. It really is crazy to say goodnight to people everynight, and then goodmorning...we roll out of bed and eat breakfast together not caring what each other looks like...we study together...we have church together...we legitimately live together like a family. It's so hard to describe it, but its amazing how close I feel to everyone! Well, thats all for now. I'll try to post pictures soon! Tschuss!

54 days and still loving every minutee!

Song wars + Autobahn = major bonding...

Yesterday, Wednesday, we took a group excusion to the little town of Trier. Its about a 3 hour drive, so we left pretty early for a very crammed day of sighseeing. We saw St. Paulin church that was not too exciting from the outside, but the inside is probably about 45% gold! It was amazing! We walked around most of the time with one of our professors, Dr. Lerner, who told us the history of everything. In the main square my favorite part was all of the flower vendors! There were flowers of everykind for so cheap, it was so fun to look at all of them! We then went on a tour of the Church of our Lady (a huge huge church...it took us about an hour to get all theway through).
We had a fun day, but then as we got back on the charters to head home we made it about 2 hours and then came to a dead stop. There had been an accident on the Autobahn...so we sat in the exact same spot for 1 1/2 hours. We ended up making the best of it--we split the bus in the center and played a song war game (one side sings part of a song..the other side has to follow with a song from the same artist)..it became so intense! We played this for the whole time we were stopped...and then we decided to have wednesday night worship on the bus. So we sang about 5 songs and finally we started moving! So we were convinced it was our singing that helped us move! haha..whoo knows...but then we ended up singing the whole last hour home. We sang for a total of 2.5 hours straight! It was soo much fun!
The best part was that our German classes were cancelled for this morning because we got back so late! So we got to sleep in--what a blessing! It ended up being a greatt trip!

Now i'm off to the MOVIES! yes, an english movie theater! I dont even know what movie we're seeing, but as long as its in a theater i'm there! I'll post pictures soon!

Pictures!

Our hostel room!
We are all three obsessed with coke. An addiction that is okay because there are no refills!

My NAME! move over Mt. McKinley! (too bad it means cheese...and thats now my new nick name...'cheesy' musgrave..i also get guta, bree, cheese bread, and swiss)

There were cows coming down the steep road up to the Eagle's Nest...apparently just a normal daily routine in the Alps!

MY FIRST TIME TO TOUCH EUROPEAN SNOW! it was exciting...and defenitely not the last time.

The Sound of Music group at a stop that had nothing to do with the movie? but it was gorgeous none the less!

This pic is more for my parents who just thinkk i'm a picky eater:

My new FAVORITE thing in the whole entire world. Apple Strudel! (i had to sneak a picture in the midst of devouring it...it was completely gone in the end)