Scuba Certification: Part 3 - "And Then There Were Two"

This is not an actual picture of me, but I think that this was the expression that I had going into our first open water dive.  The certification process consists of prework, a written test, a few hours of classroom instruction, 1 1/2 days of training in a pool, and then a series of 4 "open water" dives which are usually done over two days.

In Minnesota that means that you get to head over to your nearest lake for you open water dives.  Keep in mind that our lakes are not very clear or very warm - especially in October.  Unfortunately we waited until the very end of the diving season to get our training done.  This meant having the pleasure of squeezing into 7mm wetsuits (you normally wear 3mm), and wearing gloves, socks and a hood to try and keep warm.

Gloves can suck as you are a bit clumsy in them and it is harder to manipulate things with your hands- especially under water.

Hoods can suck as it feels like your head is being squeezed and most importantly, you often get your mask stuck on them so they make water continuously leak into your mask.

The socks I am totally fine with because my feet are always cold.

I was feeling pretty apprehensive about the whole thing and we had a 45 minute drive to the lake - plenty of time to fully psych myself out.  Because it was chilly the instructor was in a hurry to get this whole thing over with.  Unfortunately a good way to make someone who is already anxious feel even more anxious is to rush them.  I panicked before we even went under the water.  I started to swim to shore.  I was done with SCUBA.

Mark was pretty good about the whole thing.  He was hoping that I just needed a little pep talk like the last dive and that I would go back.  I told him I was done.  I said that I barely felt comfortable in the pool and absolutely don't feel comfortable in the open water.  Luckily the instructors stayed back and let him make up what he missed so that he was able to finish his certification.

At least I tried.

My First Grouse

I am sure that this will come as a surprise to many people, but I am a hunter.  I have both deer hunted and grouse hunted before.  I will not say that I am a very successful hunter as today was the first time that I actually shot something.

I didn't grow up hunting despite my upbringing in Iowa.  My Dad was not a hunter.  Instead I picked it up as an adult.  Our first November together, my ex-husband announced that he was going deer hunting.  Me being interested in trying new things and new experiences announced that I was interested in knowing more about this deer hunting.  I borrowed some gear and gun and froze my butt off in my stand and even helped clean a deer.  Unfortunately I was never lucky enough to shoot a deer on my own.

After my divorce I dated someone who grouse hunts.  I decided that I may like this more than deer hunting in that you get to move around a lot more.  Also it is earlier in the year so the weather is nicer.  I am not the quickest on the draw and my ex wasn't essentially patient enough to wait and let my try to take a shot, so our hunting trips never ended up in me shooting any birds.

Mark's family has some land up north - way up north.  No, not a cabin, and no there is no lake.  Just land.  They have a large outbuilding with a bunk room and they park their RVs up there but no real running water and limited facilities.

Their land isn't that great for deer hunting but has a lot of grouse.  He and his family have shot quite a number of them over the years on their own property.  Luckily Mark is patient, and grouse aren't very smart.  He helped get me lined up so that I could shoot my own grouse finally.  I even got a second one later that day :)

Scuba Certification: Part 2 - "And Then There Were Three"

I was determined to power through the second day of SCUBA training.  Today was "worst-case scenario day".  Today is the day where you get to practice for all of the bad things that could happen to you while diving.  I survived having my regulator knocked out of mouth and having to have to fish around to retrieve it.  I survived having my regulator go into free flow and having to "sip" the air bubbles.  I survived having my air shut off and having to use my buddy's regulator.

I (barely) survived snorting water up my nose from my mask.  I actually got into some trouble here as I freaked out and shot up to the surface.  Which, in 10 feet of water is OK, but is extremely not OK on an actually dive (coming to the surface too fast is how you get "the bends").  I wasn't doing very well with the water in the mask thing.  This actually isn't completely uncommon for new divers.  It is one of the many things that you need to get over in order to SCUBA.

I made it through day 2, but barely.  One of the last things that you need to do is to perform a short no-mask swim.  I know some of you are freaking out just picturing this.  How are you supposed to dive without a mask!!!  You actually only need to mask to see better underwater.  Your nose will automatically seal itself while underwater - babies do it instinctually - adults must somehow forget this basic skill.

Since I was still freaked out about the water in my mask thing I was of course freaked out about swimming with no mask on.  I ended up having a crying anxiety fit and wanted to give up.  Thankfully Mark and the instructor were very patient.  Talked me into not quitting, and I did my no-mask swim without any issues.

Scuba Certification: Part 1

I feel like this is a good representation of how I felt on our first day of SCUBA training - flipped over, out of sorts, out of my element.

Mark and his best friend Andy had a great idea for our upcoming Maui trip - we should all get SCUBA certified!  I have to admit that I had never thought about it before.  MN isn't exactly a divers paradise - unless you like the idea of ice diving or diving into lakes with pretty much zero visibility.  To date I haven't really had any beachy vacations, so I hadn't really even snorkled before...but I do like the water and am a decent swimmer so it sounds interesting.

The bad thing about SCUBA certification is that you have to do a lot of prework before you even get into a pool.  And, that this prework is basically the worst-case scenario guide.  By the time I get to the pool I know about 75 ways that I could be seriously harmed or even killed by SCUBA diving.  This is not a good confidence builder for me.

It probably wasn't good that Andy's wife Andrea wasn't entirely on board either.  I think that our anxiety kept being fueled by the others anxiety.  Both of us were really having a hard time getting used to this whole breathing under water thing.  You have to admit it is a little unnatural and freaky. While we were still having problems in the 3 foot section, our husbands were already at the bottom of the 10 foot section playing around and karate chopping at each other.  There was definitely some disparity in our reactions.  I made it through the end of day 1 (barely).....Andrea did not.

Renaissance 2010

This year our friend April joined us for the Renaissance Festival.....we had a blast

 

 

Andy & Cassandra's Wedding

2010 was the year for weddings.  The third of the year (our second as an engaged couple) was Andy & Cassandra.  The whole crew made it up to Brainerd, MN to celebrate with them.  It was a good time.

The Dress!

The Dress!

After what felt like a never-ending search (I know I looked at no less than 5 bridal shops and hundreds of dresses online) I found "the one" at The Wedding Shoppe in St. Paul, MN - Pronovias "Ideal" from their 2006 collection.

It was everything that I was looking for and more - Cathedral train, Spanish lace, beautiful beading, a pretty and flattering fit-and-flare shape, and yet very light.  It seemed to float around me as a walked.  So what that we were planning a destination wedding in Maui - I still wanted a beautiful dress that I felt beautiful in.