Back when Dave & I were dating seriously and talking about getting married:
(about this time...this picture makes me laugh and sick at the same time. First we look so weird and gross and little. Dave looks like he is 5 and just woke up. I look freaky but my arms are really skinny so that is a plus. Its just weird, I'm glad we don't look like this anymore)
he informed me he wanted to work in Law Enforcement, specifically FBI.
I immediately cried and told him if he wanted to do that he wasn't marrying me.
And that was that.
It was never spoken of again.
I won.
He loved me enough to give up his dream without argument. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for me to realize I loved him enough to not let him give up his dream, regardless of my reservations.
So it began...in June of 2008 Dave applied for the Border Patrol. He had always wanted to use this as a stepping stone to get into the Federal system and eventually do FBI. He was scheduled for his testing in July of 2008, however we had recently moved up to Washington, and he had just gotten a job at a Credit Union he really liked.
So of course, once I came around, he started to get hesitant about it, and ended up not going to the test and withdrawing his name. Of course I was secretly relieved, but still willing to be supportive in whatever he ended up deciding.
By the beginning of the next year (2009) I had been working and had really started to hate my job. I dreaded going everyday, I was sick of the Washington rain, and I was just bored with life. I wanted a change and ironically enough, the Border Patrol had just opened up another hiring. So this time around, it was me wanting Dave to apply, as I saw it as a way out of our boring lives.
Dave applied in February 6, 2009 & tested in March. He did really well on his tests & we were excited. They told us it would be a 4-6 hiring process, so we were sure we would be gone by the summer.
The next few months consisted of more tests, oral boards, medical exams, ect. and me being obsessed with researching all of the Stations we could be sent to. I still have the spreadsheet I made of every city on the list, its population, crime rates, if we would live there, and how far the closest town was that we would live in if the answer was no. I even printed off maps, locating every possible place we could go so I could visualize exactly where we would be. I'm kind of crazy, I know. Thank you dad.
So to say I was just supportive would be an understatement. I was SO excited for this adventure. The summer came and went and we hadn't heard anything. It was then we started to realized the government time frames are more like....LIES. So we just waited.
On September 17, 2009 we found out Dave had successfully passed everything and was now officially on the waiting list to be called and assigned an area. We were sure he would be gone by Christmas (they have to go to a 5 month live in academy in New Mexico, we were sad about this but were willing to do it if it meant Dave getting his dream job).
In October of 2009, I'm pretty sure it was conference weekend, Dave and I were talking on the couch one night and out of no where I told him I didn't want him to do Border Patrol anymore.
It really was out of no where. Before that moment, I never had one hesitant thought about it. I was so excited. I had researched the job obsessively and knew the dangers of it. But I was still so excited.
So this coming out of my mouth was just as shocking for me to hear as it was for Dave. And what was even weirder was that it was so absolute. I wasn't just getting hesitant. It was like all of a sudden something clicked and I had absolutely zero desire to continue in that direction.
Of course this stressed Dave out a little. This had been our plan for almost a year and we were getting so close to a job offer, and I was pretty much just asking him to get a new plan.
I think he must have felt some of what I felt too though, because he was very understanding and very okay with not doing it. We decided going that route, even if it did eventually lead to his FBI dream, wouldn't allow us to keep our priorities in order. Goverment Law Enforcement would mean a lot of time away from home, long hours with border patrol, and lots of travel with FBI. Although it was a dream, it was also just a job and I think we both wanted to keep the important things a priority.
After talking to people, and of course me doing more research, Dave decided to pursue local Law Enforcement and applied for 16 police departments in Washington.
He tested well and interviewed with 6 or 7 of them.
(one of the many drives up to the Seattle area for oral boards...he was really nervous for his first few!)
I was able to go with him to every one of them. We spent the drives practicing his "tell me about yourself in under a minute" trying to word it so perfectly, but trying to make it not sound scripted - they don't like that. I either sat in the lobby or in our car everytime waiting for him, and when I would talk to the people in the lobbies, or Dave would mention I was with him in his interviews, they were always impressed that Dave had that support. I was always kind of worried he would look like a baby, like he was too scared to go to an interview alone, but we have heard millions of times that you cant make it in this career without support so I think it just looked good :) We always celebrated with lunch or dinner after and drove around all the the cities looking at houses and dreaming of our futures.
Dave always did well, ranked well on the ones we found out about, but it never went further than that. With the economy a lot of departments would decide not to hire. Or Dave would be one spot past the number they were hiring.
Needless to say, it was frustrating.
Neither of us ever wanted to stay in Washington long term, but figured it would be easiest to get hired on there, and after getting a few years of experience, transferring down to a city we wanted to live in forever. We (we meaning I, and Dave being the best and doing whatever I say) wanted sun. I've always hated the rain, the cold, the clouds aka Washington.
So, since we weren't getting any immediate luck with Washington departments, we started to look outside the state. Again when I say we, I mean I. I was obsessed (are you noticing a pattern here? I'm kind of OCD) with looking up what departments were hiring, and then researching the cities. I also sent in most of the applications for Dave because I was too impatient to wait for him to do it.
I applied to a ton of departments across the country for him, and then we started recieving all of the invitations to the tests, and we realized we couldn't really afford to be flying him everywhere week after week.
So we went for what we really wanted. SUN.
We flew down to San Diego and he tested well with them. When it came time for him to fly back for additional testing, they informed us they werent actually hiring right now and didnt know when they would be, but they were just making a list of qualified applicants. We didnt want to waste our time or money with it being so up in the air so San Diego went off the list.
Then we started to look in Arizona. My sister was trying to get my whole family to move there, and I am very easily persuaded. If you tell me something is amazing, I will believe you and also think it is amazing.
This worked when she told me to look into Arizona.
I fell in love just researching it, however NO departments were hiring at the time.
I filled out interest cards for every department in the Phoenix valley, so we would be notified when they were hiring.
From everything I read, it seemed like where we were meant to be. The weather was number one, I LOVE the sun and the heat and palm trees :). The housing market here was insane and we would be able to afford a house. And I guess that's about it.
In August Gilbert, AZ started testing so we flew down for a few days and I basked in the sun all day while Dave had tests, interviews, etc. We fell in love immediately. Not only with the city but the department as well. After being to so many different departments and Dave interacting with a lot of them it was interesting to see how different they all were. Some we were really impressed with. Some we had no desire to go further in the process with.
We were very impressed with Gilbert & we wanted it to work so bad with them. Dave put it well tonight as he was writing an essay, that we were hopeful but not optimistic, as nothing had been working for us.
We went home and waited.
We've gotten very good at waiting.
A few weeks later I was researching departments in Arizona again and saw that Scottsdale was going to be testing soon, but for them you had to apply and then they would only invite the most qualified to the test.
Dave applied, but we once again weren't very hopeful, especially for this because he has no experience in anything law enforcement related. We didn't think he would be one of the "most qualified".
A few weeks later he recieved his invitation to go to Scottsdale & test. I'm not going to lie, by this point it was kind of getting old. We had spent so much time and money going to all these tests and interviews and nothing was working. It was starting to seem like a waste, but we decided he needed to go because we didn't want to have any regrets.
Scottsdale was the first place I didn't go with him to, because it was really last minute and we had been to Arizona just the month before.
On September 11 he went to the test he found out 700 people had applied.
Out of those 700, 400 were considered "qualified" and came to the test.
He did well on his written and beat all his numbers and times in his physical test.
He had his oral board a few days later, and felt it went good, but you never find out.
And then he came home.
And then we waited.
We had kind of lost our excitement by this point.
And we had nothing else lined up for future departments we would look into. So we were starting to wonder what we were going to do...Obviously nothing was panning out so maybe it just wasn't meant to be.
By the beginning October we hadn't heard anything from anyone, and I decided we had to do something else. This wasnt working.
So I pretty much made Dave apply for other jobs. He didn't want to. He was more hopeful than me that something would work, but at the same time knew we hadnt had the best luck with this field, considering it had been almost 2 years since we had started to puruse law enforcement career path.
He even went to an interview in Portland for some financial job. They wanted to offer him a job but Dave didn't want it, he was just going to make me happy. He was still holding out for one of the departments to work out.
We had a bad week that week. I was mad. I felt like our lives were going no where. Nothing was working. I was convinced it was just not meant to be and Dave wouldn't let it go.
On Sunday, October 10th, we finally sat down and talked and decided to pursue something else.
We had done everything we could for a full year and no one hired him, it was time to move on. We talked about different things he could do, talked about getting his masters, pursue firefighting (something else hes wanted to do), etc.
Being a cop was now out of the picture.
Monday, the 11th was a Holiday.
On Tuesday I was at work and called my dad and talked to him about different things Dave should look into and the process of becoming a firefighter. I even told my Dad we were done with the police thing and if someone called him and offered him a job he would most likely turn it down.
Funny funny life.
Dave called me about an hour later.
His exact words were (or pretty close to):
"are we sure we want to give up on the police thing, because Scottsdale just called and wants me to fly down immediately to finish up the process so I can start the academy on November 15th"
uhhhhhhhh. whoops. So I might be a little emotional and impatient and demanding and bossy and I'm a giver upper.
Luckily Dave doesn't take me too seriously.
So it was no surprise when I was completely excited within one second.
To make a long story short (hahaa that was a joke. I'm aware this is a novel but I want to remember the details!) Dave flew down to Scottsdale 2 more times for a background interview, medical tests, a polygraph, a psychological evalutation, a second physical fitness & ride along.
Everything cleared on Monday November 8th & he was offered the job.
We moved to Scottsdale on Thursday & Friday that week.
He started to 2 week pre-academy on Monday the 15th, and the actual Arizona Law Enforcement Academy on the 29th.
To say it was rushed would be an understatement.
It was insane.
But we wouldn't have it any other way.
We spent 2 years waiting to hear from anyone and everyone.
I think we deserved for this to happen insanely fast :)
And now that we are here, and the craziness is kind of slowing down, we are realizing just how blessed we were. From everything we have learned about this city and department, I can honestly say if we had a choice of anywhere in the country to live in and work for, this would be it.
There are so many amazing things about this place!
Life is amazing how things just work out perfect and you don't realize it until the end of a long road. When we moved up to Washington shortly after we were married, we didn't know what we were doing and neither of us had jobs for a little while (some of my best memories :)). Dave was able to get a job at a credit union and he loved working there. The amazing part was, he was very open and honest with his boss and coworkers about being in law enforcement, and from the time he first applied for border patrol, everyone he worked with was 100% supportive. Dave had to take off A LOT of work in order to attend every test, interview, medical exam, fly to different locations, etc. and everytime something would come up, his boss would change around the schedule to make it work. His coworkers would offer to work on their days off so he could go to interviews. They were AMAZING. Seriously, the way they treated him is unheard of. I dont know of any company or boss that would bend over backwards to try and help you leave the company :) We will forever be grateful for that job, because had Dave not gotten that job, I dont think he would have been able to get to his dream :)
Although it has been a LONG road getting into a career and we have spent a LONG time wondering where in the world we would end up and what Dave would be doing, I wouldn't have changed a thing.
I loved being able to be a part of the whole entire process. I loved that I killed his dream and then become nice and make it OUR dream.
I loved being able to experience every up and down with him, as we had MANY.
We are so thankful we didn't do border patrol, and so glad that the process is SO insanely long, they JUST contacted him (yes about 22 months after he applied).
We are so thankful none of the other departments worked out (right after things were official with Scottsdale we heard from 2 more departments wanting to continue in the process with Dave...so glad Scottsdale happened first!)
We are thankful it took so long, and it wasn't just handed to us. It has made us appreciate this so much more, and we know that will come in handy in the future.
We know there will be hard things that will come with this career, but we are aware of that, and know that this is where we are supposed to be and what Dave is supposed to be doing.
So we know, that any challenges this career brings, we will without a doubt be able to handle because it's right.
They had a family day the day before thanksgiving, so the 6 guys they hired and their families could meet and learn more about the job.
They told us they were given permission to hire 13. They had 400 test for the positions. And they hired 6. Less than half of what they were allowed to hire.
They made sure we knew they didn't just draw names out of a hat. They thoroughly looked at each applicant and they hired the 6 they did because they knew they could do the job well.
There is so much peace knowing you're where you're supposed to be.
Dave is now one week into the Academy and it has been quite the experience for him.
(dave & his bald head first day of the academy!)
He already has a list of funny stories that I wont even try to type because that would make this long post longer.
He's gotten in trouble and screamed at, but hes also done really well in things and been rewarded. They say the first week is the hardest and now that its done, we know he will be okay and do really well!
Until his graduation our lives will consist of everything academy (shining boots, ironing clothes, studying, memos, essays, packing lunches, making shirts, running to the store a million times to get the nitpickiest things, and trying to find time to relax so dave doesnt explode.)
Last night we were able to enjoy Scottsdale for one of the first times sine we've been here! We went out to eat & walked around the shops at the cutest outdoor mall, all decorated in christmas lights with christmas music playing. And the best part: It wasnt cold :)
PF Changs
Ended the night with delicious Frozen Yogurt
Dates feel much better when you are neglected for a whole week before :)
Just kidding...
Dave has done a great job and paying a little bit of attention to me everyday as he focuses on getting through the academy.
I could not be more happy with where we are at in life & could not be more proud of him!
(about this time...this picture makes me laugh and sick at the same time. First we look so weird and gross and little. Dave looks like he is 5 and just woke up. I look freaky but my arms are really skinny so that is a plus. Its just weird, I'm glad we don't look like this anymore)he informed me he wanted to work in Law Enforcement, specifically FBI.
I immediately cried and told him if he wanted to do that he wasn't marrying me.
And that was that.
It was never spoken of again.
I won.He loved me enough to give up his dream without argument. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for me to realize I loved him enough to not let him give up his dream, regardless of my reservations.
So it began...in June of 2008 Dave applied for the Border Patrol. He had always wanted to use this as a stepping stone to get into the Federal system and eventually do FBI. He was scheduled for his testing in July of 2008, however we had recently moved up to Washington, and he had just gotten a job at a Credit Union he really liked.
So of course, once I came around, he started to get hesitant about it, and ended up not going to the test and withdrawing his name. Of course I was secretly relieved, but still willing to be supportive in whatever he ended up deciding.
By the beginning of the next year (2009) I had been working and had really started to hate my job. I dreaded going everyday, I was sick of the Washington rain, and I was just bored with life. I wanted a change and ironically enough, the Border Patrol had just opened up another hiring. So this time around, it was me wanting Dave to apply, as I saw it as a way out of our boring lives.
Dave applied in February 6, 2009 & tested in March. He did really well on his tests & we were excited. They told us it would be a 4-6 hiring process, so we were sure we would be gone by the summer.
The next few months consisted of more tests, oral boards, medical exams, ect. and me being obsessed with researching all of the Stations we could be sent to. I still have the spreadsheet I made of every city on the list, its population, crime rates, if we would live there, and how far the closest town was that we would live in if the answer was no. I even printed off maps, locating every possible place we could go so I could visualize exactly where we would be. I'm kind of crazy, I know. Thank you dad.
So to say I was just supportive would be an understatement. I was SO excited for this adventure. The summer came and went and we hadn't heard anything. It was then we started to realized the government time frames are more like....LIES. So we just waited.
On September 17, 2009 we found out Dave had successfully passed everything and was now officially on the waiting list to be called and assigned an area. We were sure he would be gone by Christmas (they have to go to a 5 month live in academy in New Mexico, we were sad about this but were willing to do it if it meant Dave getting his dream job).
In October of 2009, I'm pretty sure it was conference weekend, Dave and I were talking on the couch one night and out of no where I told him I didn't want him to do Border Patrol anymore.
It really was out of no where. Before that moment, I never had one hesitant thought about it. I was so excited. I had researched the job obsessively and knew the dangers of it. But I was still so excited.
So this coming out of my mouth was just as shocking for me to hear as it was for Dave. And what was even weirder was that it was so absolute. I wasn't just getting hesitant. It was like all of a sudden something clicked and I had absolutely zero desire to continue in that direction.
Of course this stressed Dave out a little. This had been our plan for almost a year and we were getting so close to a job offer, and I was pretty much just asking him to get a new plan.
I think he must have felt some of what I felt too though, because he was very understanding and very okay with not doing it. We decided going that route, even if it did eventually lead to his FBI dream, wouldn't allow us to keep our priorities in order. Goverment Law Enforcement would mean a lot of time away from home, long hours with border patrol, and lots of travel with FBI. Although it was a dream, it was also just a job and I think we both wanted to keep the important things a priority.
After talking to people, and of course me doing more research, Dave decided to pursue local Law Enforcement and applied for 16 police departments in Washington.
He tested well and interviewed with 6 or 7 of them.
(one of the many drives up to the Seattle area for oral boards...he was really nervous for his first few!)I was able to go with him to every one of them. We spent the drives practicing his "tell me about yourself in under a minute" trying to word it so perfectly, but trying to make it not sound scripted - they don't like that. I either sat in the lobby or in our car everytime waiting for him, and when I would talk to the people in the lobbies, or Dave would mention I was with him in his interviews, they were always impressed that Dave had that support. I was always kind of worried he would look like a baby, like he was too scared to go to an interview alone, but we have heard millions of times that you cant make it in this career without support so I think it just looked good :) We always celebrated with lunch or dinner after and drove around all the the cities looking at houses and dreaming of our futures.
Dave always did well, ranked well on the ones we found out about, but it never went further than that. With the economy a lot of departments would decide not to hire. Or Dave would be one spot past the number they were hiring.
Needless to say, it was frustrating.
Neither of us ever wanted to stay in Washington long term, but figured it would be easiest to get hired on there, and after getting a few years of experience, transferring down to a city we wanted to live in forever. We (we meaning I, and Dave being the best and doing whatever I say) wanted sun. I've always hated the rain, the cold, the clouds aka Washington.
So, since we weren't getting any immediate luck with Washington departments, we started to look outside the state. Again when I say we, I mean I. I was obsessed (are you noticing a pattern here? I'm kind of OCD) with looking up what departments were hiring, and then researching the cities. I also sent in most of the applications for Dave because I was too impatient to wait for him to do it.
I applied to a ton of departments across the country for him, and then we started recieving all of the invitations to the tests, and we realized we couldn't really afford to be flying him everywhere week after week.
So we went for what we really wanted. SUN.
We flew down to San Diego and he tested well with them. When it came time for him to fly back for additional testing, they informed us they werent actually hiring right now and didnt know when they would be, but they were just making a list of qualified applicants. We didnt want to waste our time or money with it being so up in the air so San Diego went off the list.
Then we started to look in Arizona. My sister was trying to get my whole family to move there, and I am very easily persuaded. If you tell me something is amazing, I will believe you and also think it is amazing.
This worked when she told me to look into Arizona.
I fell in love just researching it, however NO departments were hiring at the time.
I filled out interest cards for every department in the Phoenix valley, so we would be notified when they were hiring.
From everything I read, it seemed like where we were meant to be. The weather was number one, I LOVE the sun and the heat and palm trees :). The housing market here was insane and we would be able to afford a house. And I guess that's about it.
In August Gilbert, AZ started testing so we flew down for a few days and I basked in the sun all day while Dave had tests, interviews, etc. We fell in love immediately. Not only with the city but the department as well. After being to so many different departments and Dave interacting with a lot of them it was interesting to see how different they all were. Some we were really impressed with. Some we had no desire to go further in the process with.
We were very impressed with Gilbert & we wanted it to work so bad with them. Dave put it well tonight as he was writing an essay, that we were hopeful but not optimistic, as nothing had been working for us.
We went home and waited.
We've gotten very good at waiting.
A few weeks later I was researching departments in Arizona again and saw that Scottsdale was going to be testing soon, but for them you had to apply and then they would only invite the most qualified to the test.
Dave applied, but we once again weren't very hopeful, especially for this because he has no experience in anything law enforcement related. We didn't think he would be one of the "most qualified".
A few weeks later he recieved his invitation to go to Scottsdale & test. I'm not going to lie, by this point it was kind of getting old. We had spent so much time and money going to all these tests and interviews and nothing was working. It was starting to seem like a waste, but we decided he needed to go because we didn't want to have any regrets.
Scottsdale was the first place I didn't go with him to, because it was really last minute and we had been to Arizona just the month before.
On September 11 he went to the test he found out 700 people had applied.
Out of those 700, 400 were considered "qualified" and came to the test.
He did well on his written and beat all his numbers and times in his physical test.
He had his oral board a few days later, and felt it went good, but you never find out.
And then he came home.
And then we waited.
We had kind of lost our excitement by this point.
And we had nothing else lined up for future departments we would look into. So we were starting to wonder what we were going to do...Obviously nothing was panning out so maybe it just wasn't meant to be.
By the beginning October we hadn't heard anything from anyone, and I decided we had to do something else. This wasnt working.
So I pretty much made Dave apply for other jobs. He didn't want to. He was more hopeful than me that something would work, but at the same time knew we hadnt had the best luck with this field, considering it had been almost 2 years since we had started to puruse law enforcement career path.
He even went to an interview in Portland for some financial job. They wanted to offer him a job but Dave didn't want it, he was just going to make me happy. He was still holding out for one of the departments to work out.
We had a bad week that week. I was mad. I felt like our lives were going no where. Nothing was working. I was convinced it was just not meant to be and Dave wouldn't let it go.
On Sunday, October 10th, we finally sat down and talked and decided to pursue something else.
We had done everything we could for a full year and no one hired him, it was time to move on. We talked about different things he could do, talked about getting his masters, pursue firefighting (something else hes wanted to do), etc.
Being a cop was now out of the picture.
Monday, the 11th was a Holiday.
On Tuesday I was at work and called my dad and talked to him about different things Dave should look into and the process of becoming a firefighter. I even told my Dad we were done with the police thing and if someone called him and offered him a job he would most likely turn it down.
Funny funny life.
Dave called me about an hour later.
His exact words were (or pretty close to):
"are we sure we want to give up on the police thing, because Scottsdale just called and wants me to fly down immediately to finish up the process so I can start the academy on November 15th"
uhhhhhhhh. whoops. So I might be a little emotional and impatient and demanding and bossy and I'm a giver upper.
Luckily Dave doesn't take me too seriously.
So it was no surprise when I was completely excited within one second.
To make a long story short (hahaa that was a joke. I'm aware this is a novel but I want to remember the details!) Dave flew down to Scottsdale 2 more times for a background interview, medical tests, a polygraph, a psychological evalutation, a second physical fitness & ride along.
Everything cleared on Monday November 8th & he was offered the job.
We moved to Scottsdale on Thursday & Friday that week.
He started to 2 week pre-academy on Monday the 15th, and the actual Arizona Law Enforcement Academy on the 29th.
To say it was rushed would be an understatement.
It was insane.
But we wouldn't have it any other way.
We spent 2 years waiting to hear from anyone and everyone.
I think we deserved for this to happen insanely fast :)
And now that we are here, and the craziness is kind of slowing down, we are realizing just how blessed we were. From everything we have learned about this city and department, I can honestly say if we had a choice of anywhere in the country to live in and work for, this would be it.
There are so many amazing things about this place!
- The academy is not a live in one, so Dave gets to come home everyday! We will never have to spend 5 months apart :)
- The weather! We went out to eat last night and were seated outside! On December 3rd! Its supposed to be 80 degrees tomorrow....I thought it might be hard to adjust to not having a freezing winter and it wouldnt feel like christmas. it was NOT hard to adjust to. I LOVE it.
- Scottsdale has been ranked in numerous magazines/websites as the number 1, 3, 9 (im sure more) place for families, to raise kids, safest, etc. in the COUNTRY. Although when we buy a house it wont be in Scottsdale, I could not be more grateful Dave is working for this City!
- The Police Department is VERY family oriented & wants to make sure all of the cops put family first, which is not exactly normal for this type of career.
- They have also told Dave in Scottsdale he will be able to be the happy friendly nice cop 95% of his career, and only have to "get tough" 5% of the time. Once again, NOT normal, but PERFECT for me and Dave, because he is SO the nice guy and wants to be the nice guy, and I am a paranoid wife.
- The shopping here is the best. There are like 10 malls within 5 mile of where we live. I might be exaggerating, but probably not.
- The housing!!! is SO cheap. and beautiful. And I cant wait to buy a house.
Life is amazing how things just work out perfect and you don't realize it until the end of a long road. When we moved up to Washington shortly after we were married, we didn't know what we were doing and neither of us had jobs for a little while (some of my best memories :)). Dave was able to get a job at a credit union and he loved working there. The amazing part was, he was very open and honest with his boss and coworkers about being in law enforcement, and from the time he first applied for border patrol, everyone he worked with was 100% supportive. Dave had to take off A LOT of work in order to attend every test, interview, medical exam, fly to different locations, etc. and everytime something would come up, his boss would change around the schedule to make it work. His coworkers would offer to work on their days off so he could go to interviews. They were AMAZING. Seriously, the way they treated him is unheard of. I dont know of any company or boss that would bend over backwards to try and help you leave the company :) We will forever be grateful for that job, because had Dave not gotten that job, I dont think he would have been able to get to his dream :)
Although it has been a LONG road getting into a career and we have spent a LONG time wondering where in the world we would end up and what Dave would be doing, I wouldn't have changed a thing.
I loved being able to be a part of the whole entire process. I loved that I killed his dream and then become nice and make it OUR dream.
I loved being able to experience every up and down with him, as we had MANY.
We are so thankful we didn't do border patrol, and so glad that the process is SO insanely long, they JUST contacted him (yes about 22 months after he applied).
We are so thankful none of the other departments worked out (right after things were official with Scottsdale we heard from 2 more departments wanting to continue in the process with Dave...so glad Scottsdale happened first!)
We are thankful it took so long, and it wasn't just handed to us. It has made us appreciate this so much more, and we know that will come in handy in the future.
We know there will be hard things that will come with this career, but we are aware of that, and know that this is where we are supposed to be and what Dave is supposed to be doing.
So we know, that any challenges this career brings, we will without a doubt be able to handle because it's right.
They had a family day the day before thanksgiving, so the 6 guys they hired and their families could meet and learn more about the job.
They told us they were given permission to hire 13. They had 400 test for the positions. And they hired 6. Less than half of what they were allowed to hire.
They made sure we knew they didn't just draw names out of a hat. They thoroughly looked at each applicant and they hired the 6 they did because they knew they could do the job well.
There is so much peace knowing you're where you're supposed to be.
Dave is now one week into the Academy and it has been quite the experience for him.
(dave & his bald head first day of the academy!)He already has a list of funny stories that I wont even try to type because that would make this long post longer.
He's gotten in trouble and screamed at, but hes also done really well in things and been rewarded. They say the first week is the hardest and now that its done, we know he will be okay and do really well!
Until his graduation our lives will consist of everything academy (shining boots, ironing clothes, studying, memos, essays, packing lunches, making shirts, running to the store a million times to get the nitpickiest things, and trying to find time to relax so dave doesnt explode.)
Last night we were able to enjoy Scottsdale for one of the first times sine we've been here! We went out to eat & walked around the shops at the cutest outdoor mall, all decorated in christmas lights with christmas music playing. And the best part: It wasnt cold :)
PF Changs
Ended the night with delicious Frozen Yogurt
Dates feel much better when you are neglected for a whole week before :)
Just kidding...
Dave has done a great job and paying a little bit of attention to me everyday as he focuses on getting through the academy.
I could not be more happy with where we are at in life & could not be more proud of him!
5 comments:
Monica thank you for the post. We, too, have been waiting a long time for dreams to come true. I loved to read your story about persistance and patience and faith and I am very happy to hear that it did work out happily!
Good luck to Dave as he begins his new journey!
i have spreadsheets too. it runs in the family. sign up for neighborhoodscout. you have to pay, but you will love it. i love it and you should too.
i am so glad that things have been able to work out perfectly for you guys! i have the hardest time learning patience- i think that is what happens when we need to learn it :) your reward was definitely worht waiting for and the appreciation is so much more so than it would have been had you just been given it up front. good luck getting adjusted and everything!
Yay for you two!!! That is awesome that Dave, and you, stuck with it and it's paying off! Can't wait to hear more about the academy :) And glad you went to PF Changs for a night out! (someday i'll go and try their lettuce wraps i hear about so much;)
I'm so glad everything worked out! And I'm so glad you shared it all with us. It's so fun to see the process it takes to go through everything. And that you were able to make it through! So I read the entire thing from start to finish...does that make me a true friend? I think so.
ps. I really want to come visit you in the sunshine! It's getting a little depressing over here...
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