SAR training

SAR training early Saturday morning at Aspen Grove. 9-1 we split into groups and covered 4 different areas, snowmobiling, medical, building anchors, and patient packing, then avalanche where we used out beacons, shovels and probes to find victims. Way fun! Got home showered ran to work about 2:20, about 3 my pager goes off I run out of work up to Tibble Fork up AF canyon where a sledder broke their leg. He got to the ambulance before we had to step in. So that was that. Got a high five from Greg and drove back to work. It was a crazy crazy day. So today on my day off I am relaxing!!! Well deserved.

I really need to start bringing my camera. I always forget. So here is a picture that my back is in. haha I'm on the far right. I will get better pictures one of these days. It's just not what I think of when I am doing rescues.

First call out

This is where I spent my first night on Search and Rescue. I got my pager the 6th and this happened the 7th. It was a long night. All the first years have yellow jackets. The guy filmed us all in the big group talking. What a fun night. Glad it was a successful rescue.

http://connect2utah.com/search-fulltext?nxd_id=125997

SAR practice anyone?

This was how I spent Thursday night...
We had a great night out last night. We started in Grove Creek Canyon at 6pm. Starting temps were 18 degrees w/ slight breeze. Perfect conditions for an evening run. A 2.25 mile loop of tracks of a "lost" trail runner were put down to follow. Like usual, Troy busted a move on all. All but 1 made it back in the required 40 minute cut-off time. A quick knot review was done while waiting for Shaun to arrive. Shaun then spent 45 minutes teaching avalanche skills. An introduction to beacon use was done. We then headed to the Manilla Pond for some ice rescue training by PGFD. We used their inflatable boat and exposure suits to rescue a couple of victims not quite prepared for their 34 degree swim in the pond. Next, we headed to PGFD for a 30 minute lesson about hypothermia.
I am glad we got a few pictures of that night. That survival suit I am wearing was incredible. I am not to sure about the one size fits all but it worked for me and was so fun! It was about 13 degrees at this point but with the wind chill it felt like 0.
I get my pager, rope, webbing, and lots of other goodies Thursday night at the team meeting. Let the adventures start. I was bummed to not have my pager over the Holiday's. They had so many call outs I wish I could have gone on. They even got called out on the couple that went out Christmas day and didn't return. I am sure you heard about it on the news. It was a tragic story. Wish I could have participated though.

SAR

7 Sheriffs sitting at a table staring at you, judging you, asking what you would bring to the team, telling you how demanding it is and how much time it takes, and giving you scenarios to see how you react... Here I am thinking I blew it upset that they don't even know how bad I want this and how much I really could offer to the team and how dedicated I would really be. I'm pretty sure when they asked what I could bring to SAR I just froze and all I could think to say was "I have a lot to offer ". Duh. But my mind went blank and I kept trying to think of words but nothing was coming. I just kept thinking about all the sheriffs watching me judging me the whole time wondering if I could handle SAR. Needless to say I left that interview thinking I had no chance because I felt like in 15 min they couldn't really understand who I am and what I really have to offer. On Wednesday I learned differently. I MADE IT! They are giving me a chance! I screamed when I hung up the phone after talking to the head sheriff. I don't think anyone else understands my excitement but I told everyone anyways cause I was so happy! When I got to work I just started calling managers and telling them. This next year is going to be a lot different and I can't wait. I will constantly be wearing a pager and carrying a radio in my car with all my equipment ready to go when they need me. I have training 3 times a month on top of the call outs. My first year I have to attend 40% of all the calls. I can't wait. I made it. I get to make a difference and do what I love. What could be better. :)

Colorado!

Boulder Colorado

Lara & Eric

We took a lot of weird pictures.

Dinner the first night we just took weird close ups of our faces. We had some good laughs.

I had a few days off this week and Lara and Eric were nice enough to open their house to me. They just moved here last week. I love Colorado. It is so pretty! We had such a fun time! We went swimming, out to eat, to the mall, Boulder, Denver, and more. It was such a nice relaxing weekend. Well worth the drive. Lara and I also hung up and put all the final touches on her apartment. Something I love to do. Organize. :) We are about to go to Witch Which ( A really yummy sandwich place my sister got me hooked on. I got excited when I saw they had one), then to World Market then I will start my drive home. Good way to end the summer. Love you guys! Thanks for being so sweet and letting me crash with you for the weekend!

Zion

Just having a fun weekend!

Some friends we met while there.

Birch Hollow

Amazing sunset on the drive home

Hiking in.

Niece's at Ikea

Kelsey

Alea was so cute! She was so scared when I first threw her in a bin with rats and mice.

Tyler, Kelsey, Alea and my mom and I went to Ikea the other day to hang out and bet some picture frames for me. We had a lot of fun and got some cute pictures.

WT Party! I mean 4th of July Party

Look at Kelsey's face! haha I love it.

Scott being Scott.

Lara, Christin and Tony

Jill, Kelsey, Alea, and Grandpa.

(white trash) 4th of July party in the front yard.

A lot more people came then I had thought. It was so fun. Families from all over the neighborhood were going on walks and would stop by and say hello and make a smore over the camp fire. It was so much fun. Good food and good company. Thanks everyone for coming!

Watching the Fire works with friends!

Lara and Eric

Me

My favorite picture. Cause They had no clue I was there.

Stealing at work...

Caught someone stealing at work... good thing her little girl had some morals! In the bathroom at work I overheard the little girl ask her mom if she had bought the North Face coat she was wearing and never heard the answer, but it was a clue when they took off out of the bathroom without washing their hands that something was up. She felt pretty dumb when I was standing at the front doors looking at her. By then a manager had made it obvious we knew and had taken the coat off. Why would you steal with your little kids and husband!

The beds over the past month

We slept in a parking lot. We were going to do a canyon here the next morning and asking the neighbors if it was alright to sleep in the parking lot right by there house. They didn't care and were happy we asked. Those are my fun thermals I have on. Very colorful.
Free camp site. No one else was here. A guy kept driving by us looking for his lost dog. It had been lost for 10 days. This is also where Van threw a rock at a possum. They were on the car right by us.
Just the side of the road. Right before you get to the Bay of Islands.
Crouch's family room. Members we found in North Shore. This ended up being our home base. We spent 3 weekends with them. Such a nice family.
Tori's bedroom. This was on flat island. They let me use there daughters bedroom. So nice to have a bed!


Car. We slept in the back of the family's car. They let us use there car while we traveled around Great Barrier Island. It was so cold this night. Van is in the green bag curled up.
Margette got us a backpackers place to stay in one night while on the island. This was so nice of her and unnecessary. We were used to sleeping on the side of the road. But I loved the night we had beds! I couldn't complain.

Beds over the last month. A lot of people have asked where I was sleeping while I was traveling around New Zealand. I tried to get pictures of most the places. So here are some. I don't have all my pictures with me right now but you get the idea. It was an adventure. Showers were a little harder to find but not bad. Water we would get out of the local restrooms in towns or wherever we could find a place to fill up a couple bottles to last us a night or two and then we would just repeat the process.

Fishing on Flat Island

We fished a lot the week we were on Flat Island. We would fish as the sun was going down and bring it home and Margarette would cook it up. One night she spent hours in the kitchen just cooking fish different ways not knowing which we would like more. I had to take a picture of it. It all looked so good! She was such a good cook. Must be amazing to have all those fish right at your finger tips every night. Talk about FRESH! Yummy! All but the raw oyster I ate. They got a kick out of watching me play with and then eat the oyster. Yuck. Not my favorite.

Last day in New Zealand

This is Margarette. She was amazing. It was so fun to stay with her and her family. She treated us like her own kids. It was wonderful.
Flying by the pilot!
Ben, Van and I about to fly back to Auckland.
We stayed on the little flat island in the middle of this picture. The whole island is only 148 acres. 7 holiday homes of family members who don't live there. They are the only ones the live there all year around. What a different life that would be. It was so fun to spend a week with them.

What a way to end our time in New Zealand. Margarette the lady we stayed with on the little Island off Great Barrier Island flew us back to Auckland! She didn't feel like driving us all the way to the ferry Sunday afternoon so she bought us plane tickets! We flew home with her son who came out to do some fishing with us. We flew home in a little 10 passenger plane. I got to sit next to the pilot! This was such a fun day! It was so beautiful! I thought about my dad a lot while I was flying. He would have been freaking out. He hates heights. But I loved every minute of it.

Shopping in Texas

I think my Texas trip has been very successful. I have shopped and shopped and shopped. Thanks to my sister we have done some damage. I love all my new clothes. I had a lot of fun. Now I just need my hair done. It has been feeling a bit gross and very long lately. I think it was a good idea to stop here on my way home. It's always fun visiting the sister. Plus I haven't seen them for awhile. All the kids are so cute and grown up. It's been fun.

Dolphins in New Zealand

The last week in New Zealand my friend and I traveled to Great Barrier Island. Where a family picked took us to an even smaller island. To get to GBI you can take a 5 hour ferry ride or fly for 30 min. We choose the ferry because it was a lot cheaper and we weren't in a hurry. Dolphins always show up to ride with the ferry. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. They were beautiful just coasting along with the front of the boat. It was so peaceful to watch. I loved it. Van being 6'4 got a sweet picture of me right when the dolphin was jumping. My hair is a bit crazy from the wind but I love that picture. What fun memories. I had to add the video so you could get a better idea of what I am talking about.

Coming to an end.

On Monday I am going to get in a car with 2 friends and drive all over New Zealand for 3 weeks. We have some fun stuff planned. I am really excited. I think we will be camping most the time. Which should be exciting. We will just be finding different spots around cities to sleep. Haven't figured out how I am going to shower. Those are just details I will have to figure out on the way. I have lots of stories I will have to tell when I get the time. I have loved my time in New Zealand. I have grown a lot in many different ways. I am ready for this time to end though. I am ready to leave Invercargill. I am looking forward to the time to travel and relax with some good friends. Then Disneyland, Texas and back to work. Thanks for all the support from everyone while I have been here.

Kayaking in the Borlands

I am the blue one in the middle with a yellow helmet... I know we all look the same.

Probably one of my favorite pictures so far. I did nothing to it. Just wanted the red to show up and this is what I got. My artistic side has been coming out in photography.

See blue with yellow helmet... me... haha and I have to say when we were getting into this position I had no clue it would look this cool. I love this picture. Kayaking in the Borlands was amazing. I had to keep reminding myself that I was in NEW ZEALAND KAYAKING! I love it here!