SCUBA: Day 2!

Here are a couple of photos from Day 2 of open water diving, this time in the Gulf (Bird Bay, Sarasota). It looks so warm, doesn't it? It WASN'T. The water was only 53 degrees!!! Also, there was zero visibility due to the morning rain. I had extreme difficulty making out Brett's hand signals, even when he was literally right up against my mask. But you know what? WHO CARES! I'M SCUBA-CERTIFIED NOW!!! It's tropical destinations & warm waters from now on.

I'm cold already & I'm not even wet yet:

2 wetsuits and a hood. Stylin'.

Heading to the water... (I'll omit the photos of the in-water portion 'cause, well, we're underwater & you can't see us anyway!)

After the dive:

Check out the size of my smile—any bigger and it might break my face!!! I'm so happy and excited because although I've always wanted to try Scuba, I thought it would never be a reality for me since I couldn't swim and was pretty fearful of trying to learn. I have to give a LOT of credit to all the great instructors who helped me get there: Lindsey & Andrea, who taught me to swim through the JoCo Parks & Recreation program, and Barbara & Brett, my dive instructors (The Dive Shop in Merriam, KS and Ocean Pro Dive Shop in Sarasota respectively).

And a special shout-out: Mom, Martha and Kelley were each kind enough to each give up a whole day of their vacation to drive me all over Florida to finish my certification. (I owe you guys a pina colada when we go to the Caribbean!)