~The Regulator VS The Snorkel~

Ok...so that last post was more then what I call depressing and I'm sorry for that, so onto something much more entertaining. So the Monday after I found out that I was not longer pregnant, Randy and I went to Scuba Utah to do a Scuba Discovery. Like most people know...I'm pretty much scared to death of water, so I really wanted to test the scuba diving thing before signing up to get certified. It was a blast, and I couldn't believe how easy it was and how relaxed I was. So I signed up. Monday was my first class and pretty much things went pretty easy. The regulator I had was more difficult then the other ones that I had used, so that made things tough (it hesitated before actually delivering oxygen), but besides that, things went well. Wednesday was my second class and it was slightly more difficult. Now this time the regulator I used was perfect...but the exercises that we had to do that were more difficult. One of the first exercises that we needed to be able to do was to switch our regs out with our snorkel while under water (although still at the surface)...yeah...those of you who are thinking this sounds hard...you're SO right! So I take off, swimming across the pool, and I take 2 breaths on my snorkel. I switch to the reg with ease...however, after taking 2 breaths on the reg I go to switch back to the snorkel...and oh yeah...even after attempting to clear it I still get a mouth full of water when I inhale. I choke to the top and try again...and guess what? It happens again. Can I tell you how much fun that wasn't? I just hope that I NEVER have to do that after I certify (which I can't imagine why you would). Needless to say...I hate the stupid snorkel and much prefer the regulator!!! So after that was had to go to the deep end, inflate our BCD's (which are like life vests that you can inflate or deflate depending on whether you want to float or sink) and then take them off, sit on them, lift our hands up so the instructor could see, and then put it back on (keep in mind that your tank of o2 is attached to the BCD so it's pretty darn heavy). So I finally get it off, but because the BCD was too small for me to begin with, I had a really HARD time keeping it under me, so mostly I was sinking...bad. I'm trying to get it back on, and it's just not working, the shoulder straps were so tangled that I couldn't even find them...so I'm kicking and wailing my arms, trying not to drown, and of course the 7 people around me just sit there and watch. By the time I finally got my BCD back on I was like wheezing like I had just finished a soccer game. I never knew that scuba diving was such an aerobic sport. ha! Anyway, although some of the exercises are super tough, the scuba diving part is so awesome and I can not wait to go in Mexico! It's going to be awesome...hopefully similar to this!!