An Unexpected Lesson

Healing Hearts Ranch

This summer, Danielle and I are traveling to Montana to spend some time in the saddle; my graduation gift to her.  Today, we are both very excited about this trip, but it definitely didn't start out that way.

Danielle has always been very naturally comfortable around horses, and like many children do, she learned everything and anything to do with them very quickly and easily.  She took lessons for a couple of years, but eventually had to stop for awhile.  I don't think there was a moment in time when she wasn't yearning to return to the saddle.

I on the other hand have never been comfortable in the saddle.  In fact, I have been just the opposite.  I could fool most people, appearing calm and courageous, but inside I was terrified.  This is a huge admission for me because I don't think I've ever admitted being even a little scared of anything.

I decided I had better take some lessons before departing for this summer vacation that I'm supposed to enjoy.  Danielle had already started lessons at Healing Hearts Ranch in the fall of 2012, and at the same time she volunteered to help them with their therapeutic riding classes.  We both agreed to make a couple financial sacrifices so that we could take riding lessons together, and I'm extremely happy we did this.

Heart Strides Therapeutic Riding

Someone else will have to tell you whether or not I'm riding well, but I can tell you that I'm loving my lessons.  I was sure I would never want to canter by choice, and definitely feared an accidental canter.  Kristi, our instructor, uses tactile and illustrated techniques to teach, which works well for me.  She could see right through me, sensing my fear and my tension.  She reminds me to breath, use soft hands, press and release, and so much more.  I'm no longer afraid of a canter, in fact, the only things I fear now are the mistakes I might make that send the horse the wrong message.

I'm always excited about our Monday riding lessons.  With each lesson I learn a little bit more about myself, gain confidence, and enjoy the precious time I get to spend with my daughter.  Today, Kristi taught me that my grandson is not an autistic child, he's a child with autism.  Leg yielding, one hand and gentle reining, a few laps at a cantor, and a more compassionate vocabulary; definitely love my Monday lessons.  You can learn more about Healing Hearts Ranch on their web site.

Staying Fit In 2013

Our family has been running together for three years now. We’ve all run the TCM twice (full, half, and 5 K), a few Warrior Dash runs, a few Rock-n-Roll runs, the Resolution run, Valentine’s Day Dash, and the F5 St. Patrick's Day Dash. In October 2012, while running a six mile obstacle course, I fell from and obstacle and broke two ribs at the two mile mark. Of course I finished the last four miles because I don't believe in quitting or giving up.

The run and two broken ribs cost me a lot including a trip to Indonesia, a few months of scuba teaching, and of course no running or any serious work outs until my ribs healed. As 2013 approached, Steve and I decided to switch gears a bit. We did some reading and picked a few marathons and running events that would be more meaningful or fun.

Our first marathon this year is the Tacoma City Marathon on Sunday, May 5th. We've run the half twice, but decided it was time to run the full marathon this year to celebrate with our fellow Maniacs in this 10th year anniversary of the TCM. They changed the course for the marathon this year, “flattening it out,” but Tacoma is not flat and no matter how hard you try to find a flat course, it’s still an up and down hill city.

Spartan Race

In August, we are going to set aside our long distance running shoes to run the Pacific Northwest Spartan Race on Saturday, August 3rd. Steve, Sean, Taylor, Adam, and I are running as the Foolish Five. We are hoping that Danielle, Tiffany, Joel, and Gabe will be there cheering us on as the boys push me up and over every obstacle.

Marine Corp Marathon

On Sunday, October 27th, Steve and I will travel to Washington DC to run in the Marine Corp Marathon. As some of you know, my dad is a Marine, and he's a pretty special man to me. I'm so proud of everything he's done in his life, and I'll be taking all of the strength he’s given me to DC to run this marathon. We know it will be an emotional run with our wonderful military service men and women lining the route, but with my dad’s strength and my husband’s encouragement, I’m going to try to set a personal best at this run.

As an added bonus, both Steve and I will be running to raise donations for the Semper Fi Fund. Please consider making a Tax-deductible contribution to our efforts today. Every donation, both large and small, is truly meaningful, and you have the power to make a real difference in an injured or critically ill service member’s life.

SemperFi Fund

Route 66
Marathon

Our final run of the year will be the Route 66 Marathon.  Steve likes the look of the finishers medal, so this run will be one of our “for fun” runs. In the cold of November, we will travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma to run this marathon. Doesn't this sound a little crazy? Let’s travel in the winter to a very cold location to run 26.2 miles for fun so that we can pick up one of the coolest looking finishers medals.

Hopefully, this schedule will help us reach our goals of fitness, fun, and time spent together.

A Great Day Out With My Family

We decided to take the whole family scuba diving yesterday. That's five divers; Steve (my husband), Adam (my son 17), Taylor (Steve's son 15), and Danielle (my daughter 15). We own almost enough gear for all five of us to dive; five tanks, four dry suits, three undergarments, four regulators, mask, snorkel, & fins for all of us, almost enough lights so that we all have a primary and a back-up light, almost enough weight for all of us to dive in our wonderful cold Puget Sound water, gloves, hoods, clips, computers, whistles, knives, and a few scissors. We packed the truck early Saturday morning, and jumped in the car to catch the matinee Iron Man 2 in Olympia. On the way home we stopped at Cabella's to pick up four fishing licenses (it's almost Ling spearfishing time), then over to Taco Del Mar for a quick bite to eat, back to the house to pick up the truck.

Still short on gear, we headed up to TL Sea Diving to grab two undergarments, one dry suit, one regulator, and top off a couple of tanks. The day was sunny and warm when we arrived at our favorite local dive site; Redondo Beach, WA. We unloaded all of the gear and started setting up. First problem, Taylor’s outgrown his BCD and there’s no way to make it fit him. I’m smaller than him so we trade BCD’s. Second problem, “mom, my tank only has 1800 psi.” Third problem, “where are my boots?” Already in my thermal protection, I jumped into the car and buzzed up to the dive center and returned in record time; all problems fixed.

PADI Underwater Scooter Specialty Course

Danielle and I were diving the first dive of the PADI DPV Diver specialty. She’s been waiting for a long time to take this class and she’s very excited. She and I entered the water first and entry was smooth. We made our way on the surface to the drop point and descended down the line to approximately 20 feet…pitch black and murky. The plankton bloom is in full swing and we can see each other as long as we are no further apart than six inches.

The dive was fantastic as far as skills and communication go. Using only my compass and site familiarity, we worked our way over to the PVC diamonds, some 400 yards from our entry point, and with some serious luck we found them. Danielle was stuck to me like Velcro on neoprene, and we scootered through the diamonds both demonstrating and performing the DPV skills. I held onto my DPV while we did the tandem skills in fear of losing it because of the bad viz. Finding the final diamond, we took a compass heading for the Geo-dome. Inside the dome we fine tuned some of the DPV skills. The visibility cleared a bit in the dome, but it was pitch black and our lights seemed almost useless.

Nothing to see and all skills completed, we took a compass heading for our exit point and zoomed back into the murky no-viz water, stopping only once to complete our three minute safety stop. Not a great dive, not even a good dive, just one of those dives where the best comment was “we made it out, never got lost, and stayed together.” Danielle and I climbed the stairs and started disassembling our gear.

Less than five minutes later the boys popped up and we rushed out to meet them to help them carry their gear in. Their dive was similar to ours….

The purpose of their dive was to give Adam and Taylor some experience setting up, diving with, firing, reloading, and maintaining their spearguns in preparation for their UW Hunter Specialty. They got into the water just minutes after we did, swam over to the descent line, and dropped into the murky water below. Steve found the large rope marking the path to the carousel, and moving at a snails pace, worked his way deeper hoping for better viz. Having moved only a few feet, Steve turned back to check on the boys…he found one, where’s the other? He moved his light within an inch of Adam’s face and scanned. Just as he figured out it’s Adam, Taylor’s light came into view. They continue this slow pace until they were 70 ft deep…and the viz was still awful. They stopped and settled into position to fire their guns.

During the descent, Adam determined that his dry suit and semi-dry glove configuration wasn’t working. He was slowly adding cold water to his suit through his right hand glove. He really wanted to try out the speargun, so he ignored the cold water entering his suit and pressed on.

Taylor, not having a lanyard to attach his speargun to this BCD, was extremely nervous that he was going to drop the gun and lose it in the murky landscape. Instead of moving into a diving position, he dove in a vertical position during the entire descent. He laughed to himself that if someone saw him they would think they were seeing Neptune himself with his speargun in one hand and his light in his other hand.

Not wanting to actually hit any fish, Steve searched an area with his light to be sure it was void of all life, and then he gave Adam the OK to fire his gun. After firing, retrieving his spear, and reloading his gun, Steve gave Taylor the OK to fire his gun. Taylor fired, retrieved, and reloaded his gun, and they all made their way back to their exit point.

With all the gear loaded into the truck and car, we discussed options for dinner and returned home to clean our gear and settle in for the night. The best part of the day started once everyone had finished devouring their dinner. One at a time we each took turns recounting the dive from our own point of view, everyone laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes. Turns out even a not-so-good dive can turn into a great dive when shared with family.