There's a First Time for Everything (11)

This past Saturday, I got to do something that I've never done but have always wanted to do...shoot a gun! I guess the opportunity to do so has never really come up, which is surprising for someone who grew up where hunting is fairly popular. A couple years ago, my Young Women's group went shooting, but for whatever reason I wasn't able to be there. Luckily, I finally got to this past weekend! My roommate, Brie, has a co-worker who enjoys shooting and was willing to take us. So that's exactly what we did! He came and picked us up and off we went to this open mountain range to meet up with his roommates. I still have no idea where we were, but it was beautiful!

Utah always surprises me because I never expect it to be so flat and deserted. You'd think by now I'd be used to the fact that there are no trees and that aside from the mountains, everything else is completely flat. The cool thing about that though is that you can see for miles! Once we got to our shooting location, we had to quickly find another spot because the people next to us were shooting very close to us. I was actually kind of scared for my life because you could literally hear the bullets zooming by us. Brie cracked me up because she pretty much instantly dove behind the car for cover, but to be honest it was completely necessary! I've never been so genuinely scared of being shot in my life, which I now see is a true blessing. However, once we moved locations we were completely safe! (So don't worry, Mom and Dad...if you're reading this!) 

Seeing that it was our first time, Brie and I listened to a brief set of instructions and gun safety (honestly we weren't told much) and then we were handed our first gun. Somehow it was decided that

I was to go first, so I positioned the shotgun properly and braced myself. Once I pulled the trigger, I was completely surprised at how easy it was! Don't get me wrong, I know pulling a trigger is easy...it was the kickback that I was worried about! But the gun I first shot with wasn't very strong (sorry, I don't know gun terminology) so it wasn't bad at all! I actually really enjoyed it, regardless of my lack in ability to hit any of the targets. The guys we were with on the other hand, had very good aim. They took turns throwing "clay pigeons" in the air and shooting them as if it were effortless. Maybe someday I'll be able to shoot that accurately! Aside from the first gun I got to shoot, Brie and I also had the opportunity to shoot with two other guns. The second one we used, had a much stronger kickback. Brie went first this time and her reaction was priceless! Unfortunately, we didn't get it on camera, but I can assure you that it was quite funny. All in all, both of us had a really fun time shooting for the first time and I can't wait to do it again some time!

Another adventure that we had was going off-roading. This wasn't something we had planned on doing, but I feel like spontaneous happenings always turn out to be more fun anyways! Like I said before, I don't exactly know where we were, but I do know that we were right next to Utah Lake. As we started driving, we got stuck going up this steep and rocky path. It took a while to maneuver our way up it, but after a good fifteen minutes we managed to make it up. I'm not going to lie, it was a little scary because we were really high up and there were no railings to separate our car from a very steep and long drop. But my fear quickly subsided as I looked out the window and witnessed the most beautiful sunset I've seen since living in Utah. The last rays of sunlight shined down on Utah Lake and the colors of the sky against the mountains was such a pretty thing to see. I kept trying to take pictures, but iPhone cameras can't do that sight justice! We drove all the way up to the top, next to some sort of observatory, and I got to walk around and look out over the valley. It was actually pretty cool to see BYU from a different point of view than what I'm accustomed to. Needless to say, the view was amazing and it was a great reminder that I'm blessed to live in such a beautiful place!

I'm so glad that I got to experience shooting a gun, it's been a long time coming. Hopefully I'll get to go shooting again this summer! Also, you might not be able to see it very well, but the reflection of the mountains on the lake was breathtaking. I find it kind of funny that even though there wasn't much, I still walked in more snow while on that mountain top than I've pretty much walked in since living in Provo. Apparently this winter has been the warmest Utah has seen in twelve years! I'm not complaining though! I'll take this warm winter over snow any day! Oh, and if you were wondering...