Big Change

There has been a pretty big change in our lives over the last couple of weeks. If you're on Facebook, you probably already know that Josh lost his job at Midvale last week. It happened really fast and we're still not exactly sure why. He'd been doing well in training but over the last week he worked, his sergeant said that he was having a hard time dealing with stress and if something didn't change within the next couple of weeks, he would be let go. It was a hard time, but Josh took it in stride and started thinking of ways he could make those changes. Needless to say he never got the chance to implement these strategies.

His boss called last Monday and told him not to come to work the next two days. Then he was to come in on Wednesday morning and meet with his boss's boss in plain clothes. That was a pretty big blow and Josh called his boss again on Tuesday wondering how bad it really was. His boss told him to bring all of his gear so he wouldn't have to make two trips. That night, he packed up everything. When I saw this and saw the finality of my husband's dream being taken away, I started to cry. It was like he was given a glimpse of his future and then it was taken away and I was heartbroken for him. Josh was pretty calm about it though and kept reassuring me that everything would be okay.

Wednesday morning came even though we were both wishing it wouldn't, and I waited anxiously at work to hear from him. I got a phone call about mid-morning and found that what we had feared did actually happen. Josh was let go and had to turn in everything. The only explanation given was that he wasn't able to pass their training program. The odd thing is that he didn't even get a chance to finish their training program-he still had a couple weeks left and then was to be evaluated to see if he has passed.

As I write this, I'm still shaking my head in astonishment. Josh gave 110% every day of his training and learned so much. I know he improved since starting as a brand new rookie and it was sad that he wasn't given a chance to become a police officer.

Josh's optimism has remained intact in the week that has passed. He's kept busy doing things around the apartment and working on the car and truck. He's been applying for jobs and continues to be the wonderful husband that he always has been. Right now he's looking for any job, but he'd still like to be a police officer and I know he would be an incredible asset to any squad. I'm so proud of my husband for the way he's handling this trial! He has no ill-feelings towards anyone at Midvale and is constantly looking towards a brighter future.

I'm sure the next little while will be tough, but we're determined to come through it with flying colors. And Heavenly Father is already watching out for us. I've been able to think of many blessings since this has happened:

1-We weren't able to buy a house. I know that sounds like a bad thing, but I think this would be a lot harder financially if we had to worry about a mortgage and property taxes and everything that comes with owning a home.

2-We've been able to spend more time together as a couple. My favorite thing to do is be with Josh-it doesn't matter what we're doing-and it's been really nice to have more time to be with him. :)

3- We've been able to spend more time with our families.

4-We've been able to ride the motorcycle more. It saves time, gas and money and is soo fun to ride!

5- We're learning to rely more on each other and our Heavenly Father.

6-We're learning to use our food storage more wisely.

7-We're discovering a lot of free and inexpensive things to do around Salt Lake.

Anniversary Inn

A few weeks ago I surprised Josh with a trip to The Anniversary Inn. Neither of us had been there before and I felt like we needed a little getaway. Work had been really stressful for Josh and we haven't taken a vacation in a long time so I reserved a room for us one Friday night. It was so fun looking online at all the types of rooms available and how much detail and effort are put into each one. During my search I found that they were having a special so I was able to get a more expensive room than I had originally planned. Once I had reserved the room the website offered many other things I could buy to make the night perfect. There were a TON of things available, but I chose a few of the not so expensive things. I had rose petals spread around the room and a little, rubber ducky put in the bathtub. I also ordered a movie pack with popcorn and treats.

It's a good thing I only did this two nights before because I wouldn't have been able to keep it a secret from Josh any longer than that! I packed a suitcase that morning and after Josh picked me up from work he asked what I wanted to do that night. I told him we should probably get dinner before going on our getaway. He was completely surprised and after we picked up our things, we grabbed dinner at a drive-through and headed to The Inn.

We went to the one that used to be the Salt City Jail. The outside isn't much to look at because they've kept the original building, but the inside has been remodeled and it's incredible. We stayed in the 49er Suite which was like a log cabin. The bed frame was made of logs and across from the bed was a fireplace with a pretty mantle and the TV above that.

When we walked in the room there was a bottle of apple cider chilling in an ice bucket. Two pieces of cheesecake were in the fridge and the flower petals were spread throughout the bedroom and into the bathroom. The bathroom was incredible! It was designed as a gold mine. The walls were rock and there were three steps that led to a huge Jacuzzi tub with a mine shaft above that was a waterfall and the shower. The sink was on a mine car and they had the softest, biggest towels and robes. The toilet was in an area that looked like an outhouse complete with a moon carved into the door.

We had a great night just being together and away from the world for a few hours. The staff was really nice and provided us with anything we needed or wanted. Saturday morning we got breakfast in bed which was soo nummy! It was served on a nice tray with flowers and we each got 2 drinks of our choice, yogurt parfaits, a cinnamon roll and ham/cheese croissant. I totally recommend this hotel for anyone celebrating an anniversary or just wanting to get away for awhile. We had a blast and the atmosphere was incredible.

May Happenings

Hi everyone! I hope May has been going well for you! We've been busy working and having fun. Last Thursday, the 6th, we went to an awards banquet for the Midvale City Police Department. All of those working in the police department were there along with their spouses/significant others. Neighboring police departments took their calls for a few hours so everyone could attend. All of the officers were in uniform and the spouses in dresses or suits. It was held at a reception center called The Woods and was really elegant. There were several tables set up with pretty linen and the finest glasses, plates and silverware. We started off the night by watching as the color guard brought in the flag and then everyone said The Pledge of Allegiance. It was a stirring sight to see the respect given for our country. Dinner was incredible and it was nice meeting the people Josh works with. The mayor and city council members were there and the mayor came and introduced herself to us. During dinner Stephen Covey spoke and then the awards were presented by Scott McKane from Fox 13 News. It was such a neat night and I was so proud of Josh and of being his wife!

That Saturday, May 8th, we participated in Race for the Cure. Josh and I walked the 5k with our friend, Tami. I couldn't believe how many people were there! They said about 20,000 people attended and we were in the middle of those doing the 5k. The throng of people probably stretched for 2 miles. Along the route were cheerleaders and bands from several different high schools cheering us on. It was so neat to see that many people participating in such a worthy cause! We saw several funny shirts including "Save Second Base" and "Of Course These are Fake-The Real Ones Tried to Kill Me!"

That night we went on a double date with our friends, Matt and Christy. We went to their house in Springville and made pizza and watched the Jazz game. What a hard fought game! And soo sad! I wanted to cry after it was over! It was great to see them and I'm glad that Josh and I still date even though we're married!

Time to Catch Up

Our life has been pretty eventful the last few weeks and I finally have time to blog about it. Josh is at work right now and I have a long night ahead of me, so I'm going to update our blog and let y'all know what's been going on with The Woodlands.

Josh loves his job as a police officer! He's been training for three weeks now. They have been hard, long weeks, but he loves learning and being out on the street. His first week was physically draining because he had to experience what he will be doing to criminals; he had to be tased and sprayed with OC spray (basically pepper spray). I felt so bad that he had to go through those things! He says the spray is the worst and he would rather be tased any day.

He's been out on the road with his training officer a few times and he's also gone through EVO (emergency vehicle operations). During that week he learned how to clear an intersection when he's rushing to the scene and how to chase a criminal along with several other driving techniques. He will be with his training officer for about 3 months. Once he passes all of the things he needs to, which is scheduled for July, then he'll be out on his own. He has a rotating schedule, so he'll never work every weekend (yay!) and he does work crappy shifts, but we expected that since he's the rookie.

It's been hard having him gone so much, but I've tried to fill that time with various activities so I don't get lonely. I truly treasure the time we do get together since that has decreased considerably! One good thing, though, is that Josh was able to test out of his online math class. He was worried about how he'd do training and school, so he took the placement test and passed with flying colors. He'll go back to school but only when he knows his set work schedule.

Now to tell about fun things we've done that I haven't blogged about yet. On March 6th, we saw The Zac Brown Band in concert. It was at The Rail Event Center in Salt Lake. It's not the best venue-in fact it looks like a converted warehouse-but we had a really great time. They are such an amazing band! If you get the chance, you definitely need to see them live! We got their about an hour-and-a-half early because there were no assigned seats; it was all general seating. The doors weren't even open when we got there and there was a huge line waiting to get in.
After waiting for about 45 minutes, they finally opened the doors, and then made us stand in 2 lines-girls in one, guys in another. They did this because they searched us before we could go in. They looked through purses and bags but also patted us down. I couldn't believe they did that! Here's the lady who searched me.
Once we were in, we found there were no seats-it was standing room only. There were a TON of people packed into the space and we ended up standing in place for about 3 hours. It was totally worth it, though! All of those who weren't drinking alcohol stayed on the ground floor while those who were drinking had to go on top. Here's the line on just one side of everyone trying to get to the top.
Because we were there so early, we were really close to the stage. We were able to see the band and their opening act really clearly. The show started about an hour late because the band had just gotten here from Colorado. There was a huge snowstorm the day before and the road was closed so they had to leave their van, which held all their instruments and gear, and fly in so they could make it. The van arrived sometime during the show because it was parked outside when we left. The band had to use borrowed instruments and sound equipment, and still did a fantastic job.
We had some pretty funny entertainment while we waited for the concert to start. We watched a drunk woman who was holding two beers and leaning over the railing. She kept swaying back and forth and we were betting with the people around us that she would spill on the people below. She never did end up spilling on anyone, but there were a lot of close calls. Here's a picture of her. It's not very clear, but you can totally tell how drunk she is.


We also took a "staycation" for a few days in March. We had taken a few days off the week of spring break to go to the Grand Canyon, but it ended up being the same time that Josh was finding out about Midvale, so we didn't go. We still had a great time being able to spend that time together, though! And we were able to go do things around Salt Lake that we usually don't have the time to do.

On Thursday, March 18th, we went to the State Capitol. Neither of us had been there since they remodeled it and Josh wanted to see the Fallen Officer Memorial that is on the grounds. The first thing that we did was take a free tour. It was so neat to see the inside of that amazing building. It is so beautiful and the architecture is incredible!
The memorial was really neat! We were both pretty solemn as we read the names of those officers who had been killed in the line of duty. I think we were both silently praying that Josh would never end up there.


We also went to the Utah Museum of Natural History that day. I never realized how many neat (and pretty inexpensive) things there are to do so close to home.

The next day we went to the dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. It is the biggest museum I've ever seen. It was so neat to learn about all the different dinosaurs and when and where they lived. There are also a ton of hands-on exhibits so it's a great place to take kids.

After seeing the museum we went to the farm that is also at Thanksgiving Point. There are a lot of animals in outside enclosures that you can pet and feed. We had a great time seeing horses, cows, alpacas and others. The goats were my favorite though. As soon as they saw Josh coming with food they all rushed the fence and started bleating at him to give it to them as quickly as possible.

Introducing Officer Joshua John Woodland

On Monday morning, March 29th, I was able to watch as my amazing husband was sworn in as a Midvale City Police Officer. What an exciting time! I have been beaming ever since-I am so proud of him! A long-awaited dream of his has been realized and how happy I am to have been able to share it with him!
Even since before his graduation from the police academy (pictured above) Josh has been searching for a job. It's been well over a year and has been a difficult journey. Many resume's and applications have been completed without much success until Josh received a call from Midvale back in November. He had actually applied with them back in January. They have an open recruitment hiring process which means anyone can apply and then when they have an opening, they go through those applicants. A panel interview was set up for the first part of December and Josh was given a score based on his application and several aspects of the interview. About a week later, we received a letter stating that he had passed and they would be contacting him with further information, but for the time being, he needed to fill-out a background packet.

This packet ended up being a TON of work for both of us. When it was all said and done, it had been an entire week of work, and it was 39 pages long. They wanted to know so much, I was surprised that they didn't require a sample of his blood! Needless to say, neither of us want to do that again, so Josh has put several copies of it in our fire-proof safe.

The packet was turned in just before Christmas and we didn't hear anything again until the middle of January when he was called to do a P.T. test. This he passed with flying colors; he completed each part of it without problem and he tied for completing it the fastest. Again Josh was told they would contact him, and the next we heard was actually from his friend, who had also applied. She had received a letter stating that they didn't want her for the job, and for several days we waited with bated breath for the same letter to come. It never did (thank goodness!) and soon we heard from our neighbor that they were working on his background check. She had left us a note saying that an officer had stopped by, asking her about Josh and what he was like. She said that he was always nice and respectful with her (thanks, Kelly!) and a few days later, Josh was called to do a drug test. He had passed the background check and was continuing on the path to being hired. This was about the middle of February. After the drug test was a voice stress analysis test-which is pretty much a lie detector test except they analyze the pitch of your voice. And last, but not least, was the psychological eval. This was a grueling, 4 hour test in which Josh had to answer over 1300 questions using the infamous bubble sheet.

10 days later, on March 15th, the results were back and we found out that Josh is not crazy. Always a good thing to know about your husband! He was asked to meet with the chief and an appt was set up for the next day at 2pm. That entire day I was a nervous wreck. In fact, I think I was more nervous than Josh was! Josh had said he would call me the second it was done, so when 3 o'clock came around, I was starting to worry. At that same time, our receptionist came back to my desk, saying that there was a package for me. With a questioning look, I grabbed my cell phone (just in case Josh called) and went up to the front. There was Josh still in his suit, holding this beautiful calla lily.

I let him back and everyone asked how it went. All of my friends at work have been waiting along with us for him to get a job. His first answer was that he didn't know yet. Okay, I was prepared for more waiting. We had already been waiting for 3 1/2 months from that first interview. My friends kept asking him what had happened and he finally said that he had good news and bad news. Good news: he was offered the job! Yahoo!! Bad news: he's getting paid less than he does now. The last part didn't make any difference to me-I was so happy that he had gotten a job! I actually squealed when I heard that and people came out of rooms, looking to see what had happened.

The next day he was fitted for uniforms and a bullet-proof vest and he bought other things that he would need as an officer. It was so exciting to get the process started! He also turned in his notice at American Express.

Fast forward a week-and-a-half and that brings our story to Monday morning. At eight o'clock we were sitting in the police station along with his mom, Kim, awaiting the moment that he would be sworn in. We were introduced to the chief and some fellow officers (who were really nice!) and then we headed to the courthouse. Once there, Josh had to raise his right hand and repeat after the person doing the swearing in (I don't know who she was) and promise that he would uphold the constitution of Utah and the United States and abide by the police code of ethics. After this, the chief was going to pin his badge on, but then he offered to let me do it. I was so excited! It was harder than it looks, but I finally got it on, and then he had to sign some papers to make everything official. What an amazing morning! I know Josh will be a wonderful police officer!

We never could have made it through this trying time without the prayers and faith of all of our family and friends. I know all of you have been sending us your love and support and prayers and we are eternally grateful! Thank you for showing us so much love!! We love you all!! And are so glad to have such wonderful people supporting us!

We also know without a doubt that this couldn't have happened without the blessings of our Heavenly Father. We've been praying with each step of this hiring process and He has been there all the time. He has looked out for Josh and although there were many times that we were frustrated, sad and wondering if this was the right road to go down, Heavenly Father has answered our prayers and Josh has realized a dream. What a wonderful Father! He knows what is the best path for our lives, and He has truly been looking out for us!

My 30th Birthday

I really wasn't looking forward to my birthday this year. I was pretty much dreading turning 30 and was hoping everyone would just forget it. I had a lot of fun in my twenties and now they would be gone for good. I would also be in a different decade than Josh and didn't want that to happen. No one listened to my woes and celebrated my birthday anyway, so I have officially turned 30.

There were many celebrations for me this year. On Valentine's Day, my family had a birthday dinner for me, my dad, and my brother-in-law. Everyone from my dad's side of the family was there and we had a really nice dinner. Of course there was dessert and singing and then presents. I was VERY spoiled this year! I got a lot of cute clothes that I've had fun wearing, as well as a gift certificate to Olive Garden and a new book.

A week later, Josh's family had a birthday dinner which also included me. We had another great dinner and dessert, and then I was spoiled once again. I can't believe how much both of my families love me! None of them cared what my age would be; they just wanted to celebrate and let me know how much they loved me. I feel very honored to be apart of both of these wonderful families!

The week leading up to my birthday brought some teasing at work. My friend, Esther, would stand by my desk and chant "3-0, 3-0". Then she put this post-it note on my desk so I couldn't forget what would soon be happening.


She also gave me a cute card the day before my birthday which basically told me not to worry and that being in my 30's would be great. It was really sweet!

I also received a card from my mom and dad in the mail the day before. It was a nice surprise!


On my birthday, I awoke to my incredibly sweet husband making breakfast. He is the best cook and always spends a lot of time making sure everything is perfect. It was really yummy and he even cleaned up afterward. Then he gave me his present. It was the best present anyone ever gave me! He gave me this beautiful card which told me he didn't care how old I was and that nothing had changed and he would always love me. It made me cry by how much love he showed me. He's such a blessing in my life!

He also gave me a gift certificate to get my teeth whitened. I had mentioned that I'd like to do that awhile ago and he had remembered, saying it was the only selfish thing I've ever asked for. I've had a really hard time ever since we got married when anyone asks for lists for my birthday or Christmas because Josh gave me everything I've ever wanted when he said "yes" at the altar.

Later that day we celebrated with some of our friends at Fat Cats. We were going to go bowling, but it was closed that day, so we played at the arcade instead and then had pizza at The Pizza Factory. Everyone was really sweet. They either gave me the tickets they won or got me prizes with their tickets. We were just like little kids again, redeeming our tickets and picking out prizes. Josh and I got a set of funny glasses and a water baby. Our friends, Caron and Sarah, got me an awesome pen that I can hook to my purse and some army men for Josh to play with.


The rest of the day was spent snuggling on the couch with Josh (my absolutely favorite thing to do!). It was a wonderful day and I'm so grateful to everyone who helped make it that way! I guess turning 30 wasn't so bad after all!

AutoRama 2010

On Friday night Josh and I went to the AutoRama at the Expo Center. Josh loves cars and was like a kid in a candy store. He drooled so much that night, I'm surprised he didn't slip and fall!
The car above is a 30's or 40's Ford Roadster. Josh loves the color combination and would love to paint the motorcycle like this car.

I couldn't believe how big the event was. There were hundreds of cars, trucks and motorcycles in the biggest showroom at the center. It was fun to walk back in time and see the old vehicles restored to their former glory.

Josh's very favorite is the original Chevy Camaro. He likes it because of it's curves. He says it has hips and looks like a woman. What a silly husband I have!

I wish we would have written down all of the cars we took pictures of because even my car-savvy husband doesn't remember each type of car. But we took pictures of the ones that really caught our eye. This next one was the first one we saw. I thought it looked really neat, but not very drivable. I couldn't see how anyone would be able to see out the windshield. Josh patiently explained that it was meant to be a show car and nothing else.



We couldn't believe anyone would want to "soup-up" a Suburban. There were also some neat little contraptions at the show. These two were my favorite. First there's a motorized bar stool and the second is the coolest wagon I've ever seen. I wish my wagon was like that when I was young!