Lifescouts Friday: CPR, Hot Air Balloons, Parades and more!

Happy Friday everyone! Hopefully everyone else's weeks have been a bit less crazy than mine, but its over. Its finally over. So, without further ado, its another edition of Lifescouts!



CPR
In high school, in order to graduate you were required to take a health course. Not only did this cover basics like nutrition and "family planning" but it also covered things like CPR. One of the requirements in order to pass the teacher I had was that you had to get CPR certified by the end of the semester. It really wasn't too difficult, all you had to do was to take a test and (on a practice dummy) perform CPR. While I've let my certificate lapse, I still remember how to do it.

Hot Air Balloon
When I was in the 7th and 8th grade, I was in band and I also lived in DC. Three times a year, our band would travel all over the northeast to perform in competitions (which we always won, I would like to brag). During these trips, we would spend one day competing, one day at an amusement park and another day doing some other "learning" activity. One of these competitions was held in New Jersey. Our "learning" activity was spending the day at the zoo. This zoo also had hot air balloon rides. While we didn't get to actually go anywhere, it was a lot of fun to go up.

 Driving
I've been driving since I was fourteen. Actually I remember when I was, like, four and I would get to sit on an adults lap and "drive" while they drive.... But I guess that doesn't really count. So I've been driving for the past eight years. Maybe its because I live in the US and especially in a city that doesn't have a major public transportation system, but I really don't see what's so "badge worthy" of driving.

SCUBA Diving
In August 2010, I learned how to SCUBA dive. Austin's cousin teaches SCUBA diving, so he obviously taught us how to dive. We both wanted to get be PADI licensed divers before we left for our honeymoon since you can't dive unless you've been licensed and certified (and who wants to do that when you're on a vacation!?) It really was a great experience and although I am sad to say that we haven't done anything with our certification lately. Maybe its time to get back in touch with Curt about going diving come spring....

Be in a Parade 
Throughout high school and junior high I was in band. In high school, this meant I was also in the marching band. Aside from being able to go to band camp which is actually a lot of fun (seriously, have you ever played soccer on the roof of doors with a ball that was on fire?) and playing at games, we also were in the parades at Christmas and whatnot. While being in the parades in the summer in your band uniform and walking for ten miles and playing and keeping in step wasn't so much fun, hanging out with everyone afterwards always was.

Day 20: A hobby of yours

With work being what it has been the last couple of months and the wedding creeping closer every day, I haven't had a lot of time to indulge in any hobbies that aren't wedding or work related. Its sad, but my life is pretty much revolving around those two right now. And with the weather getting cold, I haven't been able to participate in one of my favorite hobbies: SCUBA diving.

Austin and I took lessons over the summer in order to become SCUBA certified and it is one of the greatest experiences you could ever do. I'm hoping that after the wedding (possibly on the honeymoon) we'll be able to go diving more. We haven't had a chance to go anywhere exciting. Yet. But I'm sure that will change once we can start buying our equipment and going out more on our own. And for anyone out there that might be interested in learning, just remember that it is a lot of work to get certified. And it is a very expensive hobby to have. The equipment will last you for years and years, but that doesn't change the fact that the up front costs for the essential equipment is a bit steep. And to get a good dive instructor will cost, but I think its worth every penny.

Scuba Diving!

Austin and I are one step closer to being certified divers! We met with Austin's cousin, Curt, in order to start our certification process to learn how to dive on Sunday. I've been driving Austin crazy for as long as I know trying to get him to go out and learn how to dive with me, and we're finally doing it! Curt is one of the partners at A-Team Scuba and is a fabulous teacher! We didn't go into open water, but we did spend the day in the pool learning the basics and how to use the equipment. Even though Austin was nervous, he even managed to have fun doing it!

It didn't take us long to be swimming around like pros, and I know we're both excited to go out to open water and start diving. We're both looking forward to being able to get out of the pool and see everything in the water. Even though it was only a pool, it was still a lot of fun. I recommend it to anyone that can swim! Its an experience that you wont ever forget.

And if you're in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, I recommend A-Team Scuba, and not just because they're family. Unlike most SCUBA training, A-Team will actually give you a lot of one-on-one time to ensure that you fully understand and are comfortable with everything. There will be more to come as we continue with our certification and eventually start to go on more trips in order to go diving!