I have compiled a list of 10 reasons I enjoy being back in the wonderful Dub-J. Enjoy.
10. As much as I loved roommates, being back in a house that is almost always quiet is absolutely WONDERFUL.
9. I do not have to drive 45 minutes back and forth to work every other day.
8. Having my Mom's homecooked leftovers in the fridge. Mmmmmm....
7. Getting woken up by my dad saying to have a good day and then he kisses me on the head! (awww!)
6. NO UTAH COUNTY TRAFFIC!!!! HOOORRRRAAAAYYYYY!!!!!
5. The closest store is no longer Wal-Mart. (Wal-Mart scares me a little bit.)
4. WIFI Internet.
3. My bed here is about 10x cozier than my bed in Orem. And I have a cute dog named Sophie who cuddles with me every night! (Sadly none of my roommates ever came and cuddled with me at night.)
2. I live closer to all my siblings and niece and nephews!
1. My handsome fiance is now 15 minutes away...not 30. :)
Oh, and being back in WJ means school is over. It will resume in August, and I already know who my new roommate is! Life is good!
-KT
Monday, April 30, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Ode to the ROOMMIES!!
As finals week has suddenly fallen into my lap, I cannot help but think what a bitter-sweet time this is! It's been a fantastic semester, full of late homework nights, lots of brownie eating, a cute guy named Phil, and enjoying my time with my lovely roommates. And it's officially my last week in STUDENT HOUSING!! Let's be honest for a sec. I have LOVED my roommates. Despite the rough patches we've had because of my clean freakiness, we have had some good times together, and I am really going to miss them! But at the same time, I am very excited to be able to go to sleep at night and know there will not be people running and screaming through the hallway outside my room. I'm excited I will not have to walk up 8 flights of stairs to get to my apartment on the top floor. I'm excited to be back home where my Mom buys delicious food. I'm excited to be back home with my dog Sophie. I'm excited that I will not have to drive 40 minutes from Orem to work in West Jordan every other day. But I won't lie, there are things I will miss. I'll miss washing my face with Kirsten every night. I'll miss listening to Rylee's dramatic, but very entertaining stories. I'll miss Bri's sneezes. I'll miss always having a friend around, and a girl to talk to about my problems. I'll (secretly) miss the people running and screaming through the hallway. I'll miss watching Chopped with Kirsten. I'll miss my view of the hotel view outside my window. I'll miss my squeaky desk chair. And I'll miss the college life of late, LATE nights, and running around like a crazy person! But it has been a fun year! I have experience the "college life," and I enjoyed it! I definitely did not like it at first, but I have come to love it, and I will miss it! But...being with the guy I love is just fine with me! :) A roommate for eternity that I can KISS!! What fun! I sure have enjoyed this life of mine! It's been a fun year, and definitely did not turn out the way I thought it would! I expected myself to be back here in my apartment next year, and maybe even the year after that, until I graduated. Well...life's a journey, mine just took a little unexpected turn! But a very good unexpected turn! I cannot wait to see what life is like a year from now! I'm excited to see what will happen in the live's of my cute roommates, and where they will be in a year. I'm grateful for them always putting up with me. I'm hard to live with. I'm a neat freak. I go to bed early. Etc. Etc. But they were always my friends, and I love them SOOOOO much! :) Thanks for the fun year girls, you are amazing people, and I was very blessed to have you in my life the past year.
-KT
Monday, April 9, 2012
K9s and guns and dope...OH MY!
All of us had a dream in Kindergarten that we look back on now and say, "WOW! What in the world was I thinking!?" I look back on my Kindergarten dream and say, "I think that was a pretty legitimate dream for a 5 year-old!" What dream is it? Oh just a little thing called POLICE WORK! I want to be a police officer. A tazer-carrying, gun-shooting, report-writing, fast-driving police officer. And I am doing everything within my power to pursue it!
I blame my dad for my fondness of the criminal justice field. He's been a police officer since "before I was a twinkle in their (Mom and Dad's) eye." I have always admired that fact that no matter how stressful, sad, scary, or sleep-deprivating police work is, he sticks it out and keeps going - generally with a positive attitude. :) As a little kid I loved going to the department and hanging out with him at work. Generally I would just draw him pretty pictures on his big white board on his office, but I don't think he understands the influence those simple office visits had on me! (Right now my Mom is reading this thinking, "WHY DID I EVER LET HER GO!?!" ) I liked hearing the different stories going around, I liked the atmosphere of the department, and let's be honest, I liked the cool uniforms they wore.
Fast-forward a couple years, and police work kept coming and going in my life. I would want to be a cop, then I would change my mind and want to be a dolphin trainer or a President of the United States. But when I was 16, I had the opportunity to spend a week at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia for the Youth Leadership Program. I spent a week studying law-enforcement...and I loved EVERY SECOND OF IT! It was then that I knew that law enforcement was what I wanted to do the rest of my life! (Again, my Mom is reading this and saying, "WHY DID I EVER LET HER GO!?!")
I did not have many opportunities in high school for law enforcement, but I continued to move forward with the idea that I would major in it in college, which I have! Obviously you cannot just major in "law enforcement," but criminal justice is about the same thing! I have loved my classes I get to take through my major. I remember sitting in a couple classes just smiling the whole time. We would be talking about murders and bank robberies and I would just look like a kid in a candy shop! Kinda sick, right? Right. Oh well...someone's got to enjoy it! I have loved learning about how different cases have brought about different laws, or how police officers are supposed to handle different situations, or juvenile law. All of it is very interesting, and is good because the only math I do is how many MPH someone went over the speed limit. Phew. I think I can handle that.
Recently I have had lots of fun with law enforcement! I did a ride along for school the other night with an awesome K9 officer my dad lined me up with! Her name is Amanda and we just had loads of fun! The night started and we just drove around and got to know each other. Then someone ran a red light and she just took off in her big K9 truck! It was fun! She pulled the guy over and came back to me and asked if we should give him a ticket. I looked at her like she had just asked me if we should kill someone, and she looked at me like it should be an easy decision! I told her no, (and everytime I look back on it I wish I would have said YES!) so we let the guy go and continued on. She said she was testing me on my decision making. I suppose I passed. We drove around A LOT, and for the most part neither of us talked, but I enjoyed every second of it. I loved hearing the calls coming over the radio, I loved waiting for something exciting to happen, but mostly I loved driving around and knowing people were either thinking, "Oh I am about to get in a lot of trouble," or, "I'm glad my city is a safer place because I see that police truck." I look forward to the day when it will be ME in the drivers' seat. A couple hours after we started, a call came over the radio about a man on the loose that was threatening to attempt suicide and also threatening others. Turns out Amanda was closest to the situation, and when we were driving through a neighborhood this car FLEW out in front of us and took off. She gets on her radio and says, "I need a description of the vehicle." Turns out the suspect was right in front of us! She flips a U in her big truck and takes off. Honestly, through the whole situation I was more scared we were going to hit someone, not that I was going to get shot or anything. Anyways. So we get the car in a parking lot, she yells at me to stay in the truck, and she gets out. Gun drawn, yelling, "PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!!" oh it was INTENSE! My heart was racing, and of course I just had a smile on my face. I'm sure if I was holding a gun I wouldn't be smiling, but I was right in the middle of what I have wanted to do my whole life! Of course I loved it! The guy got on the ground, and a moment later a couple other cops pulled up with their guns out. It was awesome. They ended up taking the man to the hopsital to be on suicide watch. Later that night a call came on the radio that a suicide-watch man had escaped the hospital. Yep. He was ours. Don't worry, they caught him! We also had a DUI that night, which I just sat and laughed because the guy was so drunk. But it was really cool to see a field sobreity test. I loved it. LOVED IT! It was just fun stuff, and definitely cemented the fact that police work is without a doubt what I should go into!
I have also been able to do the Sandy City Citizen's Academy, which basically I go each week and earn a different aspect of police work. The first week we did narcotics which was really cool! I loved learning about the ways the drug trade works, and what police are doing to stop it. Last week we did arrest control, knives, and K9s. Arrest control was stinkin fun! They had a guy in a big suit called a "red man." He looked like the stay-puffed marshmellow man from Ghost Busters, but dyed red. We got to beat him up with asps. (The big stick police carry for those of you who are not "police term competent.") I laughed because he kept punching me and it was just funny looking! Then I was suppose to yell at him too but he was yelling things at me like, "You're just a fat pig! I hate police!!" So it was funny. And he was red. And fat. Anyways. K9s. I love them. I love them the most! I have always loved dogs, and have secretly always wanted to work with them, but I have also always wanted to work in law enforcement, so let's just smoosh the two together and put me in the K9 unit! It's just amazing to me that a dog can be trained to do all that those dogs can do! They are extremely obedient, talented, and loyal to the death. To have the privellege to have a partner like that would be a dream come true. (And they don't complain or talk back.) K9 officers have a bond with their dog that is just AWESOME! Oh I would love to work with them! Anyways, so at the citizen's academy we got to put on the big fat suits and "run." Run is a relative term here because running in those fat suits is like running with your feet attached to your hips. You cannot MOVE! I am sure I looked like a penguin and moved about as fast as a sleeping elephant. So I started "running" and I probably went about 20 feet when all the sudden my feet flew out from under me, and I was flat on my back! About a half a second later, I felt the dog yanking my leg off, and I just started laughing! I couldn't help it! I was in a fat suit with a dog ripping my leg off! I am sure it would not be funny if the dog had his teeth ripping into my thigh, but since that was not the case, I have every right to laugh! And it was Amanda's dog, so I felt like we were already friends and now he wanted to kill me. Amanda finally pulled him off of me, someone helped me up, and I waddled back. When I got back everyone was laughing because I guess the dog had knocked my feet completely out from under me and then had to go back and get me because he had hit me so hard! That's cool. I loved it! I love the citizen's academy, and I am looking forward to each week!
I will continue to study criminal justice at UVU until I am 21 at which point I will apply to POST and go through police training! Woo hoo! I am very excited! Right now I am mostly working on my physical fitness. Lots of push ups, and lots of running. I will take down a 250 pound man on crack. Just you wait.
-KT
I blame my dad for my fondness of the criminal justice field. He's been a police officer since "before I was a twinkle in their (Mom and Dad's) eye." I have always admired that fact that no matter how stressful, sad, scary, or sleep-deprivating police work is, he sticks it out and keeps going - generally with a positive attitude. :) As a little kid I loved going to the department and hanging out with him at work. Generally I would just draw him pretty pictures on his big white board on his office, but I don't think he understands the influence those simple office visits had on me! (Right now my Mom is reading this thinking, "WHY DID I EVER LET HER GO!?!" ) I liked hearing the different stories going around, I liked the atmosphere of the department, and let's be honest, I liked the cool uniforms they wore.
Fast-forward a couple years, and police work kept coming and going in my life. I would want to be a cop, then I would change my mind and want to be a dolphin trainer or a President of the United States. But when I was 16, I had the opportunity to spend a week at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia for the Youth Leadership Program. I spent a week studying law-enforcement...and I loved EVERY SECOND OF IT! It was then that I knew that law enforcement was what I wanted to do the rest of my life! (Again, my Mom is reading this and saying, "WHY DID I EVER LET HER GO!?!")
I did not have many opportunities in high school for law enforcement, but I continued to move forward with the idea that I would major in it in college, which I have! Obviously you cannot just major in "law enforcement," but criminal justice is about the same thing! I have loved my classes I get to take through my major. I remember sitting in a couple classes just smiling the whole time. We would be talking about murders and bank robberies and I would just look like a kid in a candy shop! Kinda sick, right? Right. Oh well...someone's got to enjoy it! I have loved learning about how different cases have brought about different laws, or how police officers are supposed to handle different situations, or juvenile law. All of it is very interesting, and is good because the only math I do is how many MPH someone went over the speed limit. Phew. I think I can handle that.
Recently I have had lots of fun with law enforcement! I did a ride along for school the other night with an awesome K9 officer my dad lined me up with! Her name is Amanda and we just had loads of fun! The night started and we just drove around and got to know each other. Then someone ran a red light and she just took off in her big K9 truck! It was fun! She pulled the guy over and came back to me and asked if we should give him a ticket. I looked at her like she had just asked me if we should kill someone, and she looked at me like it should be an easy decision! I told her no, (and everytime I look back on it I wish I would have said YES!) so we let the guy go and continued on. She said she was testing me on my decision making. I suppose I passed. We drove around A LOT, and for the most part neither of us talked, but I enjoyed every second of it. I loved hearing the calls coming over the radio, I loved waiting for something exciting to happen, but mostly I loved driving around and knowing people were either thinking, "Oh I am about to get in a lot of trouble," or, "I'm glad my city is a safer place because I see that police truck." I look forward to the day when it will be ME in the drivers' seat. A couple hours after we started, a call came over the radio about a man on the loose that was threatening to attempt suicide and also threatening others. Turns out Amanda was closest to the situation, and when we were driving through a neighborhood this car FLEW out in front of us and took off. She gets on her radio and says, "I need a description of the vehicle." Turns out the suspect was right in front of us! She flips a U in her big truck and takes off. Honestly, through the whole situation I was more scared we were going to hit someone, not that I was going to get shot or anything. Anyways. So we get the car in a parking lot, she yells at me to stay in the truck, and she gets out. Gun drawn, yelling, "PUT YOUR HANDS BEHIND YOUR HEAD!!" oh it was INTENSE! My heart was racing, and of course I just had a smile on my face. I'm sure if I was holding a gun I wouldn't be smiling, but I was right in the middle of what I have wanted to do my whole life! Of course I loved it! The guy got on the ground, and a moment later a couple other cops pulled up with their guns out. It was awesome. They ended up taking the man to the hopsital to be on suicide watch. Later that night a call came on the radio that a suicide-watch man had escaped the hospital. Yep. He was ours. Don't worry, they caught him! We also had a DUI that night, which I just sat and laughed because the guy was so drunk. But it was really cool to see a field sobreity test. I loved it. LOVED IT! It was just fun stuff, and definitely cemented the fact that police work is without a doubt what I should go into!
I have also been able to do the Sandy City Citizen's Academy, which basically I go each week and earn a different aspect of police work. The first week we did narcotics which was really cool! I loved learning about the ways the drug trade works, and what police are doing to stop it. Last week we did arrest control, knives, and K9s. Arrest control was stinkin fun! They had a guy in a big suit called a "red man." He looked like the stay-puffed marshmellow man from Ghost Busters, but dyed red. We got to beat him up with asps. (The big stick police carry for those of you who are not "police term competent.") I laughed because he kept punching me and it was just funny looking! Then I was suppose to yell at him too but he was yelling things at me like, "You're just a fat pig! I hate police!!" So it was funny. And he was red. And fat. Anyways. K9s. I love them. I love them the most! I have always loved dogs, and have secretly always wanted to work with them, but I have also always wanted to work in law enforcement, so let's just smoosh the two together and put me in the K9 unit! It's just amazing to me that a dog can be trained to do all that those dogs can do! They are extremely obedient, talented, and loyal to the death. To have the privellege to have a partner like that would be a dream come true. (And they don't complain or talk back.) K9 officers have a bond with their dog that is just AWESOME! Oh I would love to work with them! Anyways, so at the citizen's academy we got to put on the big fat suits and "run." Run is a relative term here because running in those fat suits is like running with your feet attached to your hips. You cannot MOVE! I am sure I looked like a penguin and moved about as fast as a sleeping elephant. So I started "running" and I probably went about 20 feet when all the sudden my feet flew out from under me, and I was flat on my back! About a half a second later, I felt the dog yanking my leg off, and I just started laughing! I couldn't help it! I was in a fat suit with a dog ripping my leg off! I am sure it would not be funny if the dog had his teeth ripping into my thigh, but since that was not the case, I have every right to laugh! And it was Amanda's dog, so I felt like we were already friends and now he wanted to kill me. Amanda finally pulled him off of me, someone helped me up, and I waddled back. When I got back everyone was laughing because I guess the dog had knocked my feet completely out from under me and then had to go back and get me because he had hit me so hard! That's cool. I loved it! I love the citizen's academy, and I am looking forward to each week!
I will continue to study criminal justice at UVU until I am 21 at which point I will apply to POST and go through police training! Woo hoo! I am very excited! Right now I am mostly working on my physical fitness. Lots of push ups, and lots of running. I will take down a 250 pound man on crack. Just you wait.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
.64 Carats.
My boyfriend loves me. Enough to ask me to marry him. WHAT!?! And I said yes! Woo hoo! And I know the next question besides, "CAN I SEE YOUR RING!?" is, "How did he propose!?" So I thought I would share the story here!
It was on Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012. The weather was almost TOO perfect! Beautiful blue skies, a light breeze, ok enough. Phil and I had just finished at a lacrosse game for the team he coaches, (WHICH THEY WON!! GOOD DAY FOR PHIL!) and we were supposed to go meet his brother and sister-in-law for dinner. Phil got in the car and said, "Hey let's go for a walk or something." I said no because time was running out and we needed to get downtown! He then said he needed to blow off some steam and just go for a walk! I said, "Phil, just blow off steam in the car! LET'S GO!!" Then he said we'd just be a little bit so I agreed. He took me to a little park in Herriman that had a cute little pond with nice rocks all around it, and then a trail that went down a hill that looked like a good place for rapists to hang out. So he decided to take me down that creepy trail. Looking back now, I guess he acted a little jittery, but he didn't ever act nervous, so I really did not expect ANYTHING! I had no clue he had a ring in his pocket! Anyways! So we walked down this little trail and he kept trying to put my hand in his coat pocket, but I kept pulling it away and finally turned and said, 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" And he grabbed both my hands and put them in his coat pocket and said, "Just...rub my belly!" (Inside joke!) That was when I felt THE BOX. Inside I was freaking out! I just wanted to pull it out and put that ring on my finger! I did not even think it was real!! But I asked him, "Philip, what is this? And if they're earrings, I'm going to be so mad!!" He started laughing and then walked a little way further and got down on one knee and asked me to MARRY HIM!! I was laughing I was so nervous and excited, and he said, "KATIE! I'm trying to be serious! You need to be serious too!" I said I was being serious. Then he really asked me and I said yes and he hugged me and kissed me and then we were talking and I realized I still hadn't seen the ring! So I said, "Um...can I have the ring now!" He said, "Ya I was waiting for you to ask!" Then we walked back up the little trail, but I of course had to hold hands with my right hand so I could admire the pretty ring!
When we got back in the car he told me we were meeting up with my family around 9:30 that night; he had already set it up. So I didn't bother texting them and we headed down to City Creek to meet up with his brother and sister-in-law. When we got there we walked around for a minute and then ran into his dad and little brother! They said they were going to dinner at Cheese Cake Factory! Weird...Phil and I were going to Cheese Cake Factory! He had invited his whole family! I was really excited because I wanted to talk to them about EVERYTHING!! When we met up with his family and started talking, Phil leaned over and said, "You should go talk to those people!" I looked over and my brother Matt, my Dad, my Mom and my niece and nephew were sitting on a bench! WHAT!? This night just kept getting better! Then the rest of my family showed up!! Am I not marrying the best man on the planet!? He had sent out emails to all of my family and all of his family so we could all have dinner together!! Seriously I wanted to cry! The proposal and the ring were WONDERFUL, but having both our families together for the occasion just made everything PERFECT!
My ring is BEAUTIFUL. My sister and I had gone shopping and found it at Shane Co. Of course I was in love with it! It's a pear shaped diamond with a band that has cool engaving stuff in it. It's so shiny! I don't think I have stopped looking at my hand today! It's amazing how much more beautiful a ring is when it fits! I love it!
I am such a lucky girl! Phil is such a wonderful man who fits in with my family so well! I am very lucky to be marrying into a family like his! They have always treated me so well, and I look forward to getting to know each of them better and spending lots of time with them! I know I will always be surrounded by people who care about me!
August 21st will be a big day! I'm so excited to get planning and going on everything! Life is wonderful! I have my Prince Philip, a beautiful diamond ring, and an eternity to look forward to :)
-KT
It was on Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012. The weather was almost TOO perfect! Beautiful blue skies, a light breeze, ok enough. Phil and I had just finished at a lacrosse game for the team he coaches, (WHICH THEY WON!! GOOD DAY FOR PHIL!) and we were supposed to go meet his brother and sister-in-law for dinner. Phil got in the car and said, "Hey let's go for a walk or something." I said no because time was running out and we needed to get downtown! He then said he needed to blow off some steam and just go for a walk! I said, "Phil, just blow off steam in the car! LET'S GO!!" Then he said we'd just be a little bit so I agreed. He took me to a little park in Herriman that had a cute little pond with nice rocks all around it, and then a trail that went down a hill that looked like a good place for rapists to hang out. So he decided to take me down that creepy trail. Looking back now, I guess he acted a little jittery, but he didn't ever act nervous, so I really did not expect ANYTHING! I had no clue he had a ring in his pocket! Anyways! So we walked down this little trail and he kept trying to put my hand in his coat pocket, but I kept pulling it away and finally turned and said, 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" And he grabbed both my hands and put them in his coat pocket and said, "Just...rub my belly!" (Inside joke!) That was when I felt THE BOX. Inside I was freaking out! I just wanted to pull it out and put that ring on my finger! I did not even think it was real!! But I asked him, "Philip, what is this? And if they're earrings, I'm going to be so mad!!" He started laughing and then walked a little way further and got down on one knee and asked me to MARRY HIM!! I was laughing I was so nervous and excited, and he said, "KATIE! I'm trying to be serious! You need to be serious too!" I said I was being serious. Then he really asked me and I said yes and he hugged me and kissed me and then we were talking and I realized I still hadn't seen the ring! So I said, "Um...can I have the ring now!" He said, "Ya I was waiting for you to ask!" Then we walked back up the little trail, but I of course had to hold hands with my right hand so I could admire the pretty ring!
When we got back in the car he told me we were meeting up with my family around 9:30 that night; he had already set it up. So I didn't bother texting them and we headed down to City Creek to meet up with his brother and sister-in-law. When we got there we walked around for a minute and then ran into his dad and little brother! They said they were going to dinner at Cheese Cake Factory! Weird...Phil and I were going to Cheese Cake Factory! He had invited his whole family! I was really excited because I wanted to talk to them about EVERYTHING!! When we met up with his family and started talking, Phil leaned over and said, "You should go talk to those people!" I looked over and my brother Matt, my Dad, my Mom and my niece and nephew were sitting on a bench! WHAT!? This night just kept getting better! Then the rest of my family showed up!! Am I not marrying the best man on the planet!? He had sent out emails to all of my family and all of his family so we could all have dinner together!! Seriously I wanted to cry! The proposal and the ring were WONDERFUL, but having both our families together for the occasion just made everything PERFECT!
My ring is BEAUTIFUL. My sister and I had gone shopping and found it at Shane Co. Of course I was in love with it! It's a pear shaped diamond with a band that has cool engaving stuff in it. It's so shiny! I don't think I have stopped looking at my hand today! It's amazing how much more beautiful a ring is when it fits! I love it!
I am such a lucky girl! Phil is such a wonderful man who fits in with my family so well! I am very lucky to be marrying into a family like his! They have always treated me so well, and I look forward to getting to know each of them better and spending lots of time with them! I know I will always be surrounded by people who care about me!
August 21st will be a big day! I'm so excited to get planning and going on everything! Life is wonderful! I have my Prince Philip, a beautiful diamond ring, and an eternity to look forward to :)
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