#9 Swim with a shark

Part 1:

I received a phone call about a year ago from my older brother Jeff. Our parents had always wanted to go to Hawaii but had never made it. Jeff explained how he wanted to send our parents there as a Christmas present and wanted to know what I thought, and I was all game! He called back a couple days later saying that his mother-in-law was going to let him use points for a penthouse there and that we all might end up going as a family. Of course I was even more excited to hear that! I went home after that phone call and googled “swimming with Sharks in Hawaii.”

Once we told our parents, I sent out an email with a link on it to the shark website I had found asking if anyone would like to do it with me. I got no response, as expected. It took about 4 months until my brother and sister-in-law decided to do it with me. We reserved our tickets for an 8:30 AM shark dive and I was filled with excitement!

April 22, 2013 was a cloudy Monday morning. We woke up very early to drive an hour to North Shore where the tour was. The drive there was so much fun. We sang and quoted funny things and it was just great! When we arrived, we had a hard time finding the boat but eventually did. Some people were walking away from the boat so we asked them how it was. They said it was awesome and they saw a few sharks. This was disappointing to me as the website said they had about 30 sharks show up on average.

We got on the boat and it was so small and I instantly wondered if this was some sketchy operation. They collected payment and we were off. There were 2 guys and the one who wasn’t driving the boat gave us some shark facts on the drive out. We saw spinner dolphins and they were so cool! Then we saw a whale which is rare at the time in the season that we went. Its tail flipped up out of the water and it was soooo neat! Already, the boat ride had been great.

Our guide told us it was a perfect day to go which surprised me because of the cloudy sky. He said the visibility would be awesome and the water was still pretty warm. We arrived and the guy driving the boat pulled up to the shark cage and we tied our boat to it. While he was explaining how to get into the cage safely, Jeff told me to look around the boat and there were tons of sharks swimming around us. It was SOOOO cool and became real to me what I was about to do. The guide knew it was on my Bucket List and that I was incredibly excited, so told us to go first. We went in groups of about 6 people and we each had 20 minutes which I thought would be a jip, but it ended up being the perfect amount of time!

Ammon let me take his underwater camera and I am so grateful he did. I hooked it onto my goggles and turned it on. I went into the water and it was the perfect color blue. It was absolutely gorgeous! And what was more gorgeous than the water color? The Galapagos sharks that were swimming around me. There were probably 12-15 of them and they came so close to the cage it was incredible! I was so happy and felt completely at peace, never like I was in any danger. They are beautiful creatures and I was in complete awe to be in their presence. They are so strong and powerful but calm and peaceful at the same time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chgqyUKRXZk&feature=c4-overview&list=UUEf-LzTQd-lykJNdH58Iw1Q

Our guide told us to dive down to the bottom of the cage to hear the whales and we did. It was awesome. I put my hands and legs out of the cage hoping to touch one of them but was never able to. I started to get cold and right about then, our time was up. We got out and had a nice warm solar shower which was perfect! I asked the guide if I could touch a shark since he was doing it, and he said no. L The other group went into the water and it started to rain and they only stayed in about 7-10 minutes so I was grateful we went first.

Part 2:

Ammon called me one day and said he had just bought a Denver Daily Deal to get scuba certified and asked if I would like to get certified with him. After some thought and convincing words from Ammon, I decided it was a good investment. Getting certified was a blast! If you ever decide to do it, I recommend doing it with a friend, so much fun.

After we got certified, Ammon got his mission call and was leaving in September. We decided we should do something epic before he left, and of course, I wanted it to involve sharks! We decided to dive with the sharks in the shark tank at the Denver Aquarium. I wanted to one-up my Hawaii shark experience because this time, I would not be in a cage. Our CEO John Horan and a funeral director Marcus decided to do it with us as a last hoorah with Ammon.

We got there and had a tour with our guides. The scariest part, once again, was seeing the sharks swim around before we got in the water. This was a very strict and organized dive. We didn’t really do much swimming, we got to kneel in about 5 places and observe the sharks around us. It was INCREDIBLE though! They are used to humans and got so close to us but were never aggressive or anything. It was such a neat experience and I loved not being in a cage.

Me scuba diving

3 sharks that were over Marcus and I

I love this picture because it looks like the shark is going to bite our heads off in the background. This gives you an idea of how massive they are though.

Marcus, Lisa, Ammon, and John

I think they were both neat experiences and I’m glad I was able to do both. The great thing about Hawaii was that it was in Hawaii and you got to see the sharks in their natural environment and go on a boat and overall the experience was incredible. I loved the shark tank because there were several different species of sharks and I loved not being in a cage. The next thing I want to do is go scuba diving with sharks without a cage. I think that would be the best of both worlds. Basically I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of swimming with sharks. They are soooo incredible and beautiful and I wish people could see them like I did because I think it would clear up a lot of misconceptions people have about sharks. They are magnificent creatures!

#21 Be on a TV show

Joe, Presley, Craig, Glen and I decided to go on the Price Is Right while in Los Angeles last summer. We got there at 9 in the morning and didn’t get done until 5. They were doing 2 tapings that day and we were the second one. When we showed up, there were maybe 3 people in line ahead of us so we felt good about that. The line is outside along a sidewalk outside of the studio. It got really hot and we waited there for a long time. Luckily there was a gas station across the street so we were able to get snacks and cool down a bit. The guy finally came out to say that we were going in. There was something called priority tickets which means if you didn’t get to go to the last show, you get a priority ticket and if you have a large group, you get one as well. There were so many people going in front of us that we thought we were never going to get in, even though we were at the front of the non-priority line. They let in 300 people per show and only 9 get called up and only 6 of those 9 get on stage so we knew our chances weren’t good. We were finally able to go in and we were given a number.

I was excited to get to go inside the studio but no, that wasn’t the case… We still outside and in line but we had benches and were in the shade so it was definitely an upgrade but I still felt like a branded animal. In this line, we were handed waivers we had to fill out and sign. Some of these questions asked if we had been on other TV shows and if we knew anyone working for CBS or anything like that. Once we handed those in, we got to watch a lady write our nametags and that was pretty cool! We then got our group of 6 and took a group photo. Ours was pretty lame so we didn’t buy it. Joe, Presley and I were the only ones who made shirts.

The next phase of the line were the interviews. I had been warned about this part by a friend who won a game on the Price is Right quite some time ago. His advice to me that day was to “stick out” and be “memorable.” He also said they usually just asked what you did for a living so I felt I already had a 1-up working in a funeral home. We could see all the people getting interviewed but they were far away so we couldn’t hear anything. We met some Mormons in line which was funny. They said they just knew we were LDS. Finally it came time for the group interviews and just like we expected, he asked us what we did to which I replied, “I am a disposition specialist.” Confused, he asked me to expound and I told him I worked in a funeral home and everyone laughed. Pretty much everyone else in our group answered that they were students. He asked a couple of them what their favorite games were on the Price Is Right to which Craig answered, “Hole in One… or TWO!”

The next line section is when we had to turn in all our personal belongings such as cell phones and everything we had on us. Then we sat down on benches again but this time there was a TV and we watched about half an episode of the Price Is Right. Finally it was time to go in!!! We were so excited! The first thing I remember about the studio is that it was freezing cold. We were seated in the back row to the left of the big $ sign in the audience. I was in-between Craig and Joe. The studio was incredibly small and you couldn’t even see the ceiling because it was covered in hundreds of lights!

The announcer guy who reads all the info about the product gave us some FYI’s and “please do not’s.” Some of them were like, “Don’t be that person that turns around to all their friends when trying to make a decision, just make it and go with it.” He also introduced the applause/cue the audience guy. He was pretty energetic! He then explained how everything would work. The guy who interviewed us would write the names of those he chose onto big poster board type paper and hold them up while the announcer read the names. While he was going through this, I suddenly felt incredibly sick and was just trying not to throw up. I don’t know if it was the drastic change in temperature or what but I had finally made it into the room and felt miserable. I was sad about this and said a prayer that I would feel better and soon I did.

Drew Carey finally came out and the show started like that. We were cued to cheer and be excited as they called the first few named. By this time, I had already forgotten about the cards with the names written on them and couldn’t hear who was getting called down because it was so loud! All of the sudden, I look up and see Craig Hammond written on the poster board. I look to my left where Craig was seated and he was GONE! He was already half way down the aisle and I had missed it. He didn’t even hug us or celebrate with us, he just left and we were in shock! His name was the second to be called. Joe said, “I KNEW SOMEONE IN OUR GROUP WOULD GET CALLED!!!”

After the first 4 people were called down, the show started. The models came out with 3 pairs of designer sunglasses. Craig bid the highest, like $800, and the actual retail price was over $1,000 so Craig got called up. Joe and I flipped out and were jumping up and down (pictured at the end.) It had literally been 3 minutes and Craig had been called down and was on stage already! I was completely in shock, it was going so fast!!! I kept telling Joe, “He was sitting here a minute ago. Craig’s chair is empty, Craig is ON STAGE!!!”

The curtain opened and there was a Harley motorcycle. Craig played the game Push Over and had to get the right price into the red zone. He was looking at us and I was just sitting there with my hands over my mouth, I had NO idea! Craig guessed the price was $1749 but the actual price was $1170. Craig lost a Harley! L

It came time for him to spin the wheel and the girl before Craig spun $1.00. Craig spun twice and got a 15 and 20 so his Price is Right experience was over, and he had 3 pairs of designer women’s sunglasses to show for it.

The girl who spun $1.00 won the show and left with like $80,000 worth of prizes and money… so crazy! As we were walking out this lady said, “Oh I am pissed. I waited in line all day long. I spent so much time and that was such a waste of time. I have nothing. Oh I am so pissed.” I feel like if Craig hadn’t gotten called up, I might have had those same feelings, haha.

We retrieved our items and were calling people like crazy while waiting for Craig. He finally came out and we were cheering for him. He then said, “I’m not supposed to tell anyone about this until the show airs in November or I will lose my prizes.” We all looked at each other awkwardly since we had already called so many people. We got in the car and Craig said, “Oh what the heck?” and called a ton of people telling them every detail. He still got his prizes by the way and was planning on selling them but still has them right now.

It was fun and I think everyone should do something like this, but once was enough for me!

 

Presley and I early in the morning eating goldfish in some random store!

After we realized Craig got called up.

Craig coming out of the studio!