Shotguns and Adrenaline

This past weekend Tyler and I went down to Las Vegas to visit my oldest brother Josh and his family. We always have a blast with them. This time my brother took us out shooting with his 12 gauge shotgun. Now, I’ve always been terrified of guns. My mother basically engrained it in my head from a young age that touching a gun equals death. So all my life I’ve stayed away from them. Although Josh and I were raised in the same household with the same mother he does not share my fear. In fact, he served in the army for a time when he was younger so he’s actually very educated when it comes to this stuff. Tyler loves shooting guns and finally got me to touch one this summer when we were camping with his family and I kind of really had fun with it. Hitting most of the targets, I’d say I have pretty good aim for a beginner. I didn’t shoot anything bigger than a 9 millimeter so this 12 gauge shotgun was obviously A LOT larger with a bigger kick.  We went up into the mountains behind Josh’s house and the first time they put it in my hands I could barely hold it right, it was so big and heavy.

                      If I look terrified.....it's because I was

I had heard enough horror stories about guns like these kicking back into people’s shoulders and giving them horrible bruises, so I was a little apprehensive. My brother assured me that if I just held it tight in the right place, I’d be fine. He also had me put a backpack on so I could make sure I positioned the gun in the right place by holding the gun up against the strap of it over my shoulder, it also added a little padding which I liked. I insisted that the two of them shoot first so I could see what it was like before I actually shot it. Despite having my ears stuffed with cotton, the sound alone scared me to death. After both Josh and Tyler shot a few times it was my turn. They both made sure I was holding the gun correctly and then told me to go for it.

I felt my heart start to pound against my rib cage and my legs started to shake. “Ok, here I go, 1..2..3…….” I couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger and looked back at my brother for encouragement. He nodded his head in approval so I turned my attention back to the plastic bottle I was supposed to aim for and said “k, I’ll do it this time. 1..2..3…..” All this counting I was doing was psyching me out so I started mumbling to myself that I needed to stop counting and just pull the trigger, I can do this, I can do this. Finally, my shaky hand found the nerve to pull the trigger. It literally took the breath right out of me. I think it was more the adrenaline than the gun but after I fired I took a deep breath in making a surprised noise in my throat (I ended up doing this every time I shot the gun). I didn’t realize until all I saw was dust flying through the air that at the very last second I had instinctively closed my eyes. Obviously, I didn’t hit the bottle but I wasn’t that far off. I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t hurt at all, but the powerful kick did send a shock throughout my entire body causing me to shake even more. Tyler loves seeing me try new things like this so he was ecstatic and I think my brother was just impressed that I did it at all. I shot two more times trying to keep my eyes open but failed so I didn’t hit anything. That kinda bummed me out but I was glad I shot it at all and even more glad the gun was out of ammo so I could hand it over and let the two of them go at it. It was crazy to watch them because they were both so good.

Our targets.....yeah, like I'm going to hit something that small.

 It had been kind of over cast all day and when we saw lightning off in the distance we decided we better take a few last shots and go home.  Josh had seen an old closet door lying on the ground so he set it up as the final target.

This time Josh and Tyler both tried shooting from the hip. We were in a hurry but I didn’t want to leave without hitting anything and this seemed like a target more my size, so I asked if I could try shooting at the door from my hip. I think Josh was taken back that I was asking to shoot it again (frankly so was I) and said “yeah, of course”. So he showed me how to hold it down by my hip and then I shot it. The first two times I missed but the third time was a charm and Tyler looked at me and said “you hit it!” I just looked at him and said “...I closed my eyes”, we both burst into laughter. I was satisfied that I at least hit something so we packed up in a hurry to get out of there before it started to rain. After all that, my shoulder was a little tender and did end up bruising but it wasn’t bad at all. I have a feeling this won’t be my last gun shooting experience, Tyler’s already talking about taking me to a shooting range, which I think I’d be ok with.

Josh has an adorable 2 year old, Ellie, that we love spending time with! So I, of course, have to add pictures of her.

She's such a beautiful baby, she looks so much like her gorgeous mama. We love having them close enough that we can go visit for the weekend!

Bowling Champs!

So for the past 14 weeks Tyler and I have been in a bowling league at Miracle Bowl in Orem. Before I met Tyler I bowled for fun every once in a while but never gave it too much thought and wasn't very good. Tyler's been an amazing bowler for a few years now and when he asked if I wanted to be on a summer league with him and his friends Kevin and Tim Schippers, I was just flattered he asked and jumped at the opportunity. I didn't expect it to be so much fun! Now, this was a handicap league (hard to explain but they take your average and then add a certain number of pins to your score each game to even the playing field) which helps explain how it was possible we won 1st place ;) As time went on I became more and more invested and even ended up buying my own bowling ball and shoes....yep I'm one of those people now.

 Tyler had been using a ball he got from a yard sale so we got him a new one too.

When I started out, just breaking 100 was an accomplishment but by the end of league I had a high score of 182! My husband is an amazing teacher, so my improvement is thanks to him. Besides our trophies (pic to come) we got magnets with our high games and series. Our fridge is now littered with them.

I feel like that's pretty good for a beginner in their first league. But, Tyler's blow mine out of the water!

Now for the best part, our 1st place Trophies!!

My favorite part is that mine has a woman on top instead of a man!

The whole team!

I also got one more thing that I wasn't expecting....

I got the women's high score! (with handicap...but still) I got this score the very last game when I bowled my 182+110 handicap=292. Tyler knew I was getting this and I had no idea. Apparently he was so excited all night telling everyone I was going to be so surprised. I was on cloud nine when they gave it to me!

All of our winnings. We did get a little money which was nice but  we were more interested in the bragging rights of a trophy.

We had such a blast! I love that my hubby and I have hobbies we do together. Sharing this with him made it ten times better. How many couples can say they won first place in a bowling league their first year of marriage?

This definitely won't be our last league. Hopefully more trophies to come!!

One Year Anniversary!!

August 13th was our one year anniversary and it could not have been more amazing. Tyler made me breakfast; waffles with peaches and cream, yum. Then he said, I didn't know if you'd want chocolate or flowers so I got you both. Then he held up a super sized back of pretzel m&ms and a dozen rozes....haha! My heart just melted. So after an amazing breakfast and a few too many m&ms we took off to Park City where we had reservations for dinner that night. We decided last minute to do the alpine slide and zip line. By last minute I mean as we were falling asleep the night before....well, Tyler was completely asleep and I was lying awake due to my over active thinking, a common occurance for me. Tyler can fall asleep in 2.5 seconds and it takes me a lot longer than that, depending on the night, it can be an hour or so. Anyway, I'll occassionally shake him awake with an idea and that's exactly what I did. Hey....hey babe....with a faint yeah I blurt out in excitment wanna do the alpine slide while we're in Park City tomorrow?....sure. Considering the situation I felt satisfied with that answer and fell asleep. So, during breakfast I reminded him of the half asleep conversation and we headed up there right away.

This is the best pic we got of the alpine slide because we forgot our camera in the car. Over 3,000 feet of pure sliding fun. So, after eating some lunch we hopped in line for the slide. Just the wait to get on the ski lift to get up to the top was about 40 minutes. This whole time I'm trying to calm myself about having to go on the ski lift. I know I'm a disgrace of a Utahn because I've lived here my whole life and never been skiing or snow boarding....I know pathetic. I don't really have a fear of heights, it's more a fear of sitting in something that's suspended in the air by a cable that I feel could snap at any moment and if I were to sit forward far enough, I'd fall right down to my death. This is also why ferris wheels and I do not get along. If it were fast moving it would be over before I had time to really think about this, but it moves so slow it's really all I can think about. Anyway, as we were getting on the ski lift the attendant asked, do you want the lap bar down? All I said was, yes please, but what I really wanted to say was are you crazy?! Of course I do! That's all that's keeping me from falling to my death and you give it as an option?!! You people need to take some sort of safety course. The ride up was smooth with no stops and I became pretty comfortable, it was actually kinda relaxing....if I didn't look down. When we got to the top, we hopped off, grabed our sled looking thing with wheels and headed over to the slide. A short line and a few minutes later, we were off. It was so much fun! There were a few drops that took my breath away but for the most part it was a pretty calm ride. As soon as we were done on the slide we headed to the zip line which meant another ride on the ski lift which I wasn't so nervous about anymore. Half way up, I turned to Tyler and said this is actually kind of relaxing. 2 seconds later the ski lift abruptly stopped and my hand holding Tyler's turned into an instant death grip while the other one clung to the pole of safety across my lap. I gasped out loud and just closed my eyes, what if we're stuck up here?!! Tyler reassured that we'd be going in a few seconds.....and we did start moving again, so my grip on him loosened. As we got off the ski lift and headed towards the zip line we saw it was going to be about an hour wait. Now I'm one of those people that will sit down just about anywhere in public and my feet had already had enough, so about 15 minutes in to the wait I sat on the bridge we were standing and waiting on and scooted along on my butt as the line moved. Some people would call that lazy, I just think it's smart and I'm glad I did because that hour wait turned into more like 2 when they ran into some trouble. Because of the wait and sitting down, I had kinda zoned out and didn't really see too many people go down, so when it was almost our turn, I stood up and had a rush of adreneline as I saw how far and high the zip line was. Now, I know what you're thinking, why would I agree to go on the zip line where I'm strapped to a tiny cable going 45 mph 110 feet in the air? Good question....I think it's cause I'm getting such an adreneline rush from the fast fall that I don't have time to worry about if the line snaps. It's before hand, looking at it that I get really nervous. As I'm getting strapped into my harness I tell the guy to make sure he buckles me in tight, he throws part of the harness over my shoulders and says there you go and I say in a distressed tone, I didn't even here it buckle! I could hear the people behind me chuckle....but I was serious. He could tell I was a little nervous and just laughed as he finished strapping me in. Tyler was strapped into a harness a few feet to my left and as I look at him with terror in my eyes I hear the attendant say Ok, let me see your hands. Being obedient I loosen my death grip from the ropes holding my harness to the cable thinking he wants to make one last safety check and before I know it the gate in front of my feet has swung open and I'm falling. All I can do is scream and want to curse that guy for tricking me. My hands soon move back to the death grip on the rope and the screaming stops.  As I'm flying through the air all I think is this is so cool!! Tyler soon flew by me curled up in a ball to be as arodynamic as possible. When I get to the end, all I could do was smile. I loved it!! As we walk off my legs were still wobbly from the adreneline.

This is the view from the top of the zip line. (No those aren't my feet, this pic is courtesy of the internet)

Next was dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. We both love steak so this was the perfect place! We started out with an ahi tuna appetizer which if anyone knows me really well they know I can't stand tuna from a can, even the smell makes me want to barf. However, I realized that I love it raw! There's no fishy taste!! It was amazing and we devoured it. Our steaks were to die for and the banana cream pie was amazing. One of the best meals we've had. It was so gorgeous outside so of course, we had to take a few pictures.

Being married is soooo much fun! This has honestly been the best year of my life. I love my husband so much and I'm so excited that I get to spend eternity with him.