Prior to the weekend, I contacted Nick to see if he would be available for my check dive.  I felt like Nick and I had been on a long journey together and we were so close to finishing.  Nick was with me on my first AFF jump. he was with me when I broke my ankle, but more importantly he was there to put me back in the air when I recovered.  It seemed fitting that he would be with me when I earned my license. Nick agreed to be at the drop zone on Sunday for my check dive.  Yay!  (I didn't realize that he was giving up part of his vacation to be there. A huge group of the people from the drop zone were having a party that weekend.)

Before I left on Saturday, I packed a rig and put my name on it. Today, I would be jumping my own pack job! Exciting and scary at the same time! Early Sunday morning, I signed in at manifest and ran through the hanging harness with the other students.  I put together everything I would need for the skydive - the rig, a jumpsuit, helmet, altimeter & goggles.  I was ready!  

When Nick showed up, he was looking a little rough around the edges!  I'm sure he was exhausted from hanging out in the sun all day on Saturday and staying up late with his friends.  I was so happy that he was going to go with me!  We discussed the check dive requirements.

After I did the spotting, Nick would leave the plane first and I would dive after him and dock. Check my altitude, do a 360 to the left, check my altitude, do 360 to the right, check my altitude, and do a backloop.  If there was more time, we'd play "Monkey See, Monkey Do."  When I was geared up and and we were walking to the plane, he said "You've got this." 

On July 10th 2005 (exactly 1 year after my first AFF jump), I boarded the plane for my check dive.  When I landed, I received my A license stamp!  Here's the page from my log book:

As soon as I was finished my debriefing, Jennifer asked me to do a three way with her and Jamie. On that first jump, we got 6 pts!  Pretty amazing since my goggles came off!