Week 18!

Holy cow, can you believe it's week 18? Sorry for the lack of updates recently, R and I have been ALL over the place. We looked at each other this weekend and realized we haven't spent more than 20 hours in our apartment together at any given time in over a month. Just busy bees during the holiday season!

Anyways, R has had such a fantastic month at the academy and I have so much great news to share with you all.

• R is officially done with ALL driving tests! He passed 11-99 a few weeks ago so we can officially cross driving off our list.
• R also passed the 3 major tests at range in his first attempts. Pistol, shotgun and AR 15. So so so proud considering R had never shot a gun before entering the academy!
• He also passed basic stop and felony stop. 
• Up next we have scenarios in the coming weeks, so continue praying for R on that front.
• They got OC (Pepper) sprayed on Wednesday of last week. It was painful for them, to say the least. But in all honesty, they were all whooping it up together afterwards, I think it's a good bonding experience... haha. 
• They will get tased this Tuesday!

And the best news of all is that they get 2 days off for Christmas! So R will get to come home on Wednesday night. Very very excited about 4 days off in a row again. We plan to have lots of family and friend time Wed-Fri but the weekend, we're going to take some much needed time to ourselves. 

The unfortunate side of the academy is that the number of cadets in CTC III-14 is officially under 100. It's getting harder for the cadets to say goodbye to each other after 4 months together, but it is a sad reality. I am happy to say R's roommates are still hanging in there too, which I'm so grateful for.

So those are our updates prior to Christmas, I hope you all have a wonderful time with your families this holiday season!

Week 15, here we go!

I cannot believe it's week 15! What a whirlwind.

It's been a busy few weeks for R and I. 2 weekends ago now, we took our first weekend trip (in 3 months! If you know R and I, you know that's a long break in trips. We venture out of town often). R flew down to Anaheim to join my sister and I on a Disneyland trip. We booked his flight for Friday night and then he flew back Sunday afternoon. While in Anaheim, he also had the opportunity to see many of his former coworkers and friends, who were so excited to see him. Many of them were instrumental in R's decision to go for CHP and for that we are eternally grateful. He's fortunate to be surrounded by so many excellent role models in the law enforcement field and I know we couldn't do it without their support! It's always really fun to see everyone's reaction to R because he's down over 50 lbs since he started 3 months ago so it always takes everyone by surprise. I know he misses his old coworkers quite a bit and it was such a treat to see them together again.

Then we had Thanksgiving week and the cadets got 2 extra days off to make it a long holiday weekend! We had 4 glorious days together, most of which was spent with family and cuddled in bed with our dogs. Honestly, it was extra difficult to get R to go back on Sunday and from what I'd heard from other cadet wives, he wasn't the only one. R needed a lot of extra encouragement to keep his spirits up on Sunday night and I was more than happy to give him that needed push out the door.

I think I've said this before but what has surprised me most about our experience with the CHP academy is how easy it is for me to push R to head back every Sunday night. In 15 weeks, we've had our share of tearful goodbyes and I treasure every single second we get together but I feel it with my entire being that R is meant to be an officer, and that gives me the motivation to make sure he packs his bags every weekend. And there are so many weeks that I know if I gave R just an inkling I wanted him to stay, he might do it. But that's not going to happen. Not on my watch. We're making it to the end!

Anyhoots, here's the latest update:

• The biggest and best update is that R passed HIGH SPEED!!! He had his 3rd attempt on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and when he got home and told me he passed, there were tears in my eyes. Now we're 1 away from the EVOC tests being over with.
• For anyone wondering, at high speed R was driving around 120 mph.
• He also passed the PPP, which is a physical test of some kind. He was super proud about that.
• They've been spending a lot of time at range and R has shot at least 3 types of guns already. 
• The new cadet class comes in next Monday. Can't wait to welcome CTC IV-14!
• They're testing for PMA (arresting) this Thursday and Friday, send them all your good vibes.
• He is no longer the cadet with the highest BMI. ;) 

And R has Wednesday liberty so I'll see him tomorrow night! Can't wait. 

Thanks for reading!

E