My Turn to Brag

HE DID IT! You are looking at one of Salt Lake City's newest firefighters!

For those of you who don't know this already.....my husband is amazing! Not only does he work hard around the house fixing it up for me, but he works hard ALL the time! When he sets his mind to do something, he works hard to accomplish his goal. This being said, last September he decided he wanted to change his career. He had been going to school for construction management, and decided he wanted to be a firefighter. That caught me a little off guard to say the least. By April he had graduated from the fire academy and started testing for fire departments, which is VERY competitive! We just found out that he is going to be hired by Salt Lake City and we couldn't be more excited, and I couldn't be more proud!

I feel so lucky to be married to such a wonderful guy!

Check out other posts about Steve:

Guess who has two thumbs.....

Shout Out to Captain Steve!

One of our new favorites!

Somehow Steve and I have gotten really out of shape! Our friends Alan and Kara mentioned that they had been hiking the Y a few times a week for exercise, so we decided that we would tag along. One of our goals as a couple was to be in good enough shape to do a much harder hike by the end of the summer. We hiked with Alan and Kara a few times, Dave and Logan, and then when Steve's sister Jamie and her husband Andy came out to visit they also came along. We like to start right around 7:30pm so that we will be at the Y for the sunset. Needless to say, we have some really amazing photos of Utah Valley that I thought I'd share.

When Jamie and Andy hiked with us.

One of my favorites!

I mentioned before that one of mine and Steve's goals was to be in good enough shape to do a much bigger hike, but this is not just any hike! We wanted to hike to the summit of Mt. Timponogos, the 2nd highest peak in the Wasatch Front. This is approx a 16 mile hike round trip, and the best time to make this trek is at night. Our good friends Alan and Kara, who I've posted about before, came along and made this journey with us. We started at about 2:30am from the trail head that is just above Sundance. After about 4 hours of hiking, we made it to the Saddle.

Just as the sun was rising.

Just being ourselves.

One of the most breath-taking views I have ever seen.

After watching the sun rise and resting for a while, we continued on to the summit. About another hour later we were there! In one direction we could see all of Utah Valley including he Great Salt Lake, and in the other direction we could see all of Heber Valley. It was amazing!

At the summit!

There is a glacier on the back side of Timp that you can sometimes slide down, saving a lot of walking down some really rough terrain. We thought that we would give it a shot, and we were pleased to find out that it was a perfect time for us to safely slide down. It was soft enough that we were in complete control, and it was a blast!

At the top of the glacier.

We slid down from the very top!

Since we hiked up in the dark, coming back down was fun because we were able to see just how beautiful the trail was. At a few points during the hike you walk through meadows of wild flowers that are absolutely gorgeous! And I lost count of how many waterfalls we passed. As hard as this hike was, it was absolutely worth it!

One of the meadows.

Look how happy we are to be hiking down and not up!

This picture does not do this waterfall justice! It is the one that is near the beginning of the trail, and we are planning on hiking to it again within the next few weeks and I will try to get some better pictures. Steve grew up in Hawaii and we both agreed that this waterfall looked like it could be in Hawaii. It was covered in beautiful green moss and was breath taking! It was an adventure that we will never forget!

PS-It took us about 9.5 hours round trip!

4th of July

For the 4th of July Steve and I had a few BBQ's with family and friends, and then went up on the side of the mountain and watched the fireworks from Stadium of Fire. They were beautiful, but we were far away. It just wasn't the same as being close enough to smell the fireworks. I love that smell! Good show, but it just didn't feel like the 4th. We had made plans to go to the Salt Lake Bees game the next day with our friends Alan and Kara. Little did I know that there would be a fireworks show after the game! So we sat in the grass seats and enjoyed the game.

Kara and I

It was sooooo hot outside!

After the game, they announced that everyone who was seated in the grass area would need to go down onto the field because they were going to be launching the fireworks off behind where we were sitting. So we were able to take our blankets onto the field and watch the show from there! We were so close that when we laid down, the fireworks were right over us! I had to put on my sunglasses because ashes were falling on my face and I didn't want them to get into my eyes! It was so much fun and I think that this may become a tradition for us!

All of us in left field before the show

Fun in May

In May I turned 25, so to celebrate we had some friends over to have a fire and play Rock Band. It was so much fun! I can't believe I'm 25. Sometimes I feel like I am still in high school, but then I remember that I am in far worse shape now than I was back then! Here are some pics from my party. I was the photographer and got some good ones of Steve rocking out!

One of the things that Steve and I love about living in Utah are the mountains! We love going for rides up into canyons. One weekend we decided to go up to Sundance and walk around. We like to watch the glass blowers. Steve always says that that is something that he wants to learn how to do someday. Sundance is a beautiful place to go, and there are fun little shops to walk through. It is such a beautiful setting.

Catching up......

So while Steve was finishing up at the fire academy, I decided it was time to get a new job. Now, I had been considering this for a while, but I hadn't come across anything that I felt was right. So I stopped looking. Then I got a call from a friend who said that she knew of someone who was looking for an office manager, and I knew that this was the right move for me! I started the end of April, and I love what I do and the people I work with.


So....new job, Steve done with the academy, and what do you think we do to celebrate? Go camping of course! We love to go camping....actually Steve proposed to me where we would always go camping and off-roading in Wallsburg. This time we went with a group of friends to Five Mile Pass. It was really cold, but we had so much fun! With Steve being gone so much while he was in the academy we didn't get to spent much time together, and so now we enjoy being together even more than before! I love my hubby!

Aren't we cute!

Stuff We've Done This Year

So after much consideration we have decided to join the blogging world. We didn't feel much of a need to have a blog since we don't have any kids yet, but I decided......why wait? So here we are. We have been very fortunate to do some fun and amazing things, and we want to share them with you all. Here are some of the things that Steve and I have done this past year:

Last December Steve and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary. We were able to stay at a beautiful cabin in Timber Lakes, outside of Heber City, UT. It was beautiful and very cold!

Us in front of the cabin.

Timber Lakes....Beautiful view!

Me!

In January Steve started the Utah Fire and Rescue Academy. Despite his decision to show up to his very first class with a full beard and mullet (keep in mind this training is military-like), he was chosen to be the Class Officer. Being Class Officer is kind of like being the Captain of the class. He loved what he was doing and graduated in April.

My honey in his gear

RCA Class 48

Me spraying the fire hose

Steve and I next to Engine 3 on Graduation Night

Now I'm going to jump ahead for a second. For those of you who don't know.....becoming a firefighter is really competitive, and it's definitely not easy! Now, getting a job that is the hardest part. Fire departments test about every 2 years. It starts with a written test and if you make the cut there are at least 2 to 3 more steps before receiving your rank. Now when the department is ready to hire they will hire in groups of 10-16 depending on how many positions are available. They hire in order off of the list that was compiled from the testing. For Salt Lake City Fire about 560 people tested. They had approx 164 make the list and my husband was among these numbers. Not only was he among these numbers, but he is #4 on this list! I am so proud of him and it is looking like this fall Salt Lake City will hire and he will officially be a SLC firefighter. We can't wait! I am so grateful that he has found something that he loves to do!

That is all for now, but there will be more to follow. We have been very busy this summer and have a lot of catching up to do, but right now it's time for bed.