State Fire Testing

Last Saturday we had our big state Firefighter test. Talk about nerve wracking! We have been in class since March, and I was so burned out. It was a Haz-Mat, Firefighter I and Firefighter II class all crammed into one, with one long marathon test day.

There was last minute cramming all around.


We had 2 written tests in the morning followed by a long afternoon of practical tests. We had to do put our SCBA's on in under 1 minute, roll fire hose in under 1 minute, put a "car fire" out, crawl under the garage in full gear to simulate a confined space escape, raise a ladder, demonstrate extrication, and a few other skills.


Mindi, Jason, Andy and Kyle not taking the test seriously.



There were a few breaks to cool off (and cram for what the next test would be!)





Our whole class...thrilled to be done!


AND....I got my letters back from the state a few days ago and I passed all my tests! WOOT! It was a long and exhausting class, but I'm so happy it is over (and that I actually passed)

I'm not even going to apologize this time for my lack of all things blog. Because an apology would suggest that I intend to not do it again. While that may be my intent, its probably not very plausible, so lets all just accept that fact and move on.
So, here we go....

We spent a nice warm July 4th weekend in St. George. We got to see Jaiden again and I bought her the cuest 4th of July outfit ever.


It was over 100 degrees the entire time we were there. We got to lay in the pool, go shopping, BBQ and play Wii.



Jason was pretty smitten with Jaiden. Maybe we will have to get ourselves one of those soon.

All about me, from A to Z

A-- Attached or Single? Attached to a big brown guy

B-- Best Friend? Jason (aforementioned brown guy)

C-- Cake or Pie? both!

D-- Day of Choice? Any of the 3 days I have off

E-- Essential Item? Phone, camera, makeup

F-- Favorite Color? Green

G-- Gummy Bears or Worms? Sour gummy worms

H-- Hometown? Pleasant Grove, UT

I-- Indulgence(s) anything white chocolate

J-- January or July? July

K-- Kids? Not yet

L-- Life is incomplete without? My camera, my family, dessert

M-- Marriage Date? May 10, 2006

N-- Number of siblings? 5, Steve, Drew, Ashley, Kaden & Kamber

O-- Oranges or Apples? cold, hard apples, pulpy orange juice

P-- Phobias or fears? Drains

Q- Quotes? "Stop it."

R-- Reason to Smile? I'm going south for the 4th, and its going to be hot hot HOT!

S-- Season? Spring, Summer, Fall.Basically anytime without cold.

T-- Tag 5 People?? Anne, Julie Ann, Kelli...anyone else who reads this and hasn't been tagged yet?

U-- Unknown Fact? I can sleep for 12+ hours after a graveyard, no sweat

V-- Very Favorite Store? The mall (it encompasses most of my favorites)

W-- Worst Habit? Procrastination

X-- X-ray or ultrasound? X-ray. Ultrasounds are all squishy and messy

Y-- Your favorite food? Fettuccine Alfredo

Z-- Zodiac? Saggitarius

Also....


OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets


so, there's that.

Today I got one of the worst calls I think anyone can ever go on. I was sleeping when my pager went off around 9 am. The dispatcher came across the radio sounding very stressed...which usually means a "good" call is coming.

"Rescue one, respond on an agency assist, have reports of shots fired and an officer down. Repeating shots fired, an officer and another suspect are both down."

My stomach sank and I wanted to vomit. I don't think I have ever gotten dressed so fast in my life. Jason and I sped to the station and took the rescue lights and sirens to the call, 2 towns over.

When we arrived, I expected chaos. Thats how big incidents always seem when you are working from the other end of the radio (the dispatch chair.) I expected everyone to be running around and orders being shouted; pandemonium at its finest. When we walked into the scene, though...it was calm. Somber. The suspect had been shot dead by other officers and was still laying on the pavement. Blood covered the vehicle, the sidewalk, and a trail leading to an ambulance where other fire personnel attended to the officer. He was shot twice in the head. His clothing had been cut off and still laid on the sidewalk, in a grisly outline of where his body had fallen.

An officer who knows Jason walked up to us in tears. He hugged Jason, and broke down. This was his third officer-involved shooting that he had witnessed in his short career. I turned away to keep myself from tearing up only to see 2 officers behind me, sobbing and hugging each other.

It was surreal. Many of the officers I know and work with on a day to day basis are some of the toughest guys I know, and yet this happened to a very experienced officer in the blink of an eye.

I hope and pray this is something I never have to dispatch. I hope I am never on the radio when an officer calls out "shots fired, officer down". I hope, and yet I know it is something I can't avoid forever. As long as I am in this line of work, the chance of me having to stay calm and coordinate the response during the worst day of someone's--or many people's--lives gets greater and greater. It makes me a little sick.

Keep Capt Harold Terry, his family, and the rest of the officers who work day and night to keep you safe in your prayers tonight, won't you?

Reason #372 I love my husband (and why he is sometimes a nerd) (and also some recent happenings in our lives)

Behold, the Onion Tree. I was cleaning out the fridge tonight when I came across this. I sent a pic to Jason at work so he could see and appreciate the fact that we don't clean out our fridge enough. He called me immediately. "DON'T THROW IT OUT! You didn't already throw it out, did you? Get it out of the garbage!"

...errrr, ok.

Apparently, he knew we had this little science project in our fridge all along. He even waters the little produce bag it calls home in the back of our crisper. He has been waiting for me to get my planter box out to try my hand at gardening again, at which time he wants to plant it and watch it bloom, so we can harvest our own onions. (I should mention the planter box I have is small. Like, really small.) Wondering if Anne & Jason would mind sharing a spot in their much bigger gardening box with our budding beauty? Let me know. I'm not sure how long I can stand looking at this every time I open my (newly cleaned out) fridge.

In other news, Jason and I have been busy but have had lots of fun this week. It was Strawberry Days, which always calls for fun times around town at the the fire department.
We went to the rodeo and hung out with Anne, her Jason, and the Carnies. Jason also ran in the 5K and marched in the parade Saturday morning. (I was totally bummed I couldn't participate, but I had a wedding that day. Which totally rocked, by the way. But you will have to read about that on my photog blog in a week or two.) Jason and I were also on 4wheeler patrol Friday night for the rodeo and carnival. Unfortunately nobody needed our services, but that did not stop me from feeling like a total badass while we rode them around town :)










(some of these photos may or may not have been shamelessly stolen from Anne's blog. Used without any permission whatsoever.)

Also, I am very pleased to announce that Jason and I now have soft water! (totally lame, I know. Seriously, though, I could not be more excited about this) We had this little baby installed this week, and it is a dream come true.

My skin feels better, my clothes smell cleaner, and my bathroom fixtures have never looked shinier. I think the sun shines a little brighter and the birds chirp a little louder, but that could be just me.

We also FINALLY decorated one of the walls in our house. I know I took step by step pics of it, but I don't have them right now, so you will just have to settle for the finished product.

(don't mind the crookedness and overall awfulness of this picture. It is 5 am.)
I'm really pleased with how it turned out. We bought and painted some baseboards, cut them to make a "frame", painted the wall inside it a different color, and voila! (when I say "voila", I also mean it took 2 trips to Home Depot, 3 trips to Rod Works, lots of wall putty, and a very patient husband for this to come together the way I envisioned it)

The Injury

So, in preparation for this post I have looked high and low for a clip from "The Office." Its the one where Michael grills his foot in a George Foreman. Alas, I couldn't find the clip anywhere (YouTube has never failed me! What to do?) so you will have to make due with this re-cap. (However, I fully recommend you track down a copy of The Office Season Two and watch it for yourself. It does not disappoint.)
Anyway, it's one of my favorite episodes. Last week, I came home from work to Jason's feet looking like this:



...Unfortunate accident with a lean, mean, fat-grilling machine, or a simple sunburn from a long day of fishing and his favorite wal-mart sandals?


YOU decide.

Because sometimes, you need a little something to make you feel better about your own family.