Emily and Matt

Our honeymoon was Matt’s first time to Hawaii. Near the top of the “things that we must do” list was go snorkeling. This, however, did not sound like much fun to his new wife. She had flashbacks of snorkeling with her family in the Bahamas. As I recall, my mask let water in, I swallowed who knows how much salt water and spent every last ounce of energy trying to stay afloat.

This time, as I donned my mask, and my breathing was restricted (scary stuff for an asthmatic) I could feel an oncoming panic attack. Then I saw my husband, looking ever so cute in his mask. His excitement radiated as he was perfecting the specs of his gear. During my time with Matt, he has encouraged me to overcome my fears. Suck it up, Emily, it’s time to snorkel!

Boy, do I ever look excited…

We decided not to spend the $40 on a waterproof digital camera. To me, it was a lot to pay for pictures of fish and me looking totally dumb in those goggles. We noticed most of the families with little ones jumped at the opportunity, while the newlyweds shared a look of “yeah right” during all the sales pitches.

In the end though, I had a great time. My mask fit well, the fish were cute and a floaty belt eased me drowning fears. I think Matt had a great time too and turned out to be a pro fish spotter. (I would confirm this, but as I type this on the plane, he’s engulfed in the in-flight movie.)

 

Another postcard-ready view of island beauty.

 

While the fish were cute and all, I would say my favorite part of the day was saying hello to one of my favorite animals, the green sea turtle! I fell in love with the cute green guys when I did a report on them in the fourth grade. Our assignment was to write about endangered animals, what they are like and how we can save them. (I fail to remember how a 600-ish pound turtle can float and swim on those little fins.) Well, I hate to brag, but they are now off the endangered species list! My teacher must have realized the pure genius of my report and the brilliant protection solutions I drew up (don’t eat turtle soup and have birds and other animals not eat their eggs and babies) and sent it on through to a peer-reviewed journal  or animal group or something. Yes, that’s exactly what must have happened.