Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Best Independence Day Week Ever

So I had a very busy and eventful fourth of July week. It was really fun. My girlfriend Kelsey invited Max Tracey (Max's girlfriend) and I to her family's house boat on Lake Oroville. Lake Oroville is located about 70 miles north of Roseville out past Marysville. So Max Tracey and I got up early on Tuesday and left for the lake. When we got there Kelsey and her Dad Brent were there to meet us at the dock with there boat. We then road out to where there house boat was parked on the beach. We were introduced to everyone and got ready. So at about 11 o'clock we hit the water and went out wake boarding. It was so much fun Kelsey absolutely rocks on the wake board. I got out there and did okay but could have done better. Max (who his first time got up right away) was having trouble getting up and when he got up he had more trouble staying up. Tracey decided that she didn't want to try it. Bryson Kelsey's little brother got on and did really good. Than Brent got on and absolutely rocked. He is really good. It was amazing to watch him. Than we decided to go back to the house boat and have lunch so I got to wake board the whole way back to the house boat. I did awesome the second time. I got a lot more air, jumped further across the wake and did some board grabs while in the air. It was really fun.




Me trying to catch some big air...

Kelsey catching some sick air.





Since Max didn't catch any air here is a picture of him catching some rays.




We got back to the house boat had lunch and Brent made some adjustments to the boat so we could do wake surfing. Wake surfing is where you get on a board that looks like a surfboard but is about the same size and shape as a skim board. So you hold your feet on the board and get up there are no holds to hold your feet on so you can move you feet around a little. Then you go outside the wake and pull yourself closer to the boat with the rope so your about six or seven feet away from the back of the boat. Then when you have steadied yourself you throw the rope to the people on the boat and surf on the wake the boat makes. It is really fun and feels like you are really surfing but the wave never ends. Kelsey went first and she totally rocks at it. I went second and got up my first time. After a while I was able to let go of the rope. Kelsey says that most people don't let go of the rope their first time so I think I did pretty good. It was so much fun. Max got up and had a little trouble staying up but he did really good. Kelsey's sister Riley went and she was really good as well. Then Brent went on and he totally rocks at it he was doing three sixty's all over the place he is really good at it all.



I couldn't look at the camera without crashing...
Brent Kelsey's Dad
Tracey Max's Girlfriend


After that we went back to the house boat and got cleaned up and went to the Kenny Chesney concert at the Sleep Train Amphitheatre. I don't like country music but Kelsey was there so I wanted to go. We were all feed a really good BBQ dinner at the concert. Than we went and took our seats and waited for the concert to start. Max and I decided that the only way we were going to have fun was to act like Kenny Chesney was our favorite singer in the whole world. It was hard but we all had a really good time trying to have a good time. The concert was really fun because Kelsey Max and Tracey were all there to enjoy it with me but when we left I was definitely ready to go. It was fun but the music sucked. We left and Max Tracey and I went home and Kelsey went back to the boat to finish off the week.

Wednesday came and I lounged around the house being very sore from all the wake boarding the day before. I changed the brakes on someones car before going to the Crawford's for a BBQ. It was so hot outside I couldn't wait to go swimming at the BBQ. I got to the BBQ and went swimming for a little while while Richard made Jonesie Burgers. Jonesie Burgers is 1/4 pound of meat with diced onions and provolone cheese laid on top than another 1/4 pound Patti on top of that. Than you cook the meat and melt another piece of cheese on top of it all. It is really good. You don't think you can eat the whole thing when you look at it but once you start you can't put it down. After dinner we swam a little more and than as it got dark we went back to the house and did fire works. We had our own to light and we also could see the fireworks from sunrise mall. It was a great night but it would have been awesome if Kelsey could have been there with me.

I was really sore the rest of the week so I didn't really do much. I just couldn't wait until I could see Kelsey on Saturday night. I was planning on asking her to be my girlfriend so of course it was that much harder to wait. On Friday I went swimming with Max and Tracey and than we went back to the house and made smores in the back yard. It was really good and really nice. Than on Saturday Kelsey got back from the lake and we went out to a movie. We saw Transformers. It was such an awesome movie I really enjoyed it and seeing Kelsey after such a long time was really nice. I missed here a lot. So to give you a little background on Kelsey and I since I haven't talked about her at all except to Gideon and he just knows about her from church, Kelsey and I meet in February at church. She had just got back from spending four months in Australia with a BYU group. We hung out every so often as we had a lot of the same mutual friends. Than we started hanging out a lot in March or April and started to like each other more and more (me liking her more than she liked me). So Saturday she got back late from the lake so she had to meet us at the movies. Before we left at home I had wrote on the ground in front of the house "Be my girl?" with Fourth of July Sparklers. And left one out with a lighter. After the movie we came back to the house and as we walked up I said "Oh whats this" as I picked up the sparkler and light it. I waved it around in front of what I had wrote on the asphalt earlier that night. "What does that say" and I had her read what was written on the ground. It was awesome. She said yes. It was the perfect ending to a perfect week.

So that is my Independence Day week and it was really fun and the best I have ever had. It was really hot as we were going through a heat wave but I had plenty of access to water to cool me down, get a tan and just have a wonderful time.

Saturday, July 7, 2007

It's Been A Long Time

Well it has been a really long time since my last post. A lot has happened since then. I have moved back to California and I moved in with George. I lived with him Amy, Amy and Gideon (and of course both of the kids Kate and Sarah). I lived there from February to April. I than got a job working in construction for a painter and moved in with Max and his family. I have since quit working for the painter and am know looking for a job. I am making a little money here and there doing some work for Richard (Max's dad) whenever he needs it. I am so grateful for all the love and help that the Crawford's have shown me. I would not be able to make it through this tough time in my life if it weren't for them.




I have made tons of friends that are good influences in my life leaving those that are not behind. I have meet a few people that I know will be life long friends.


I am currently trying to become a police officer for the California Highway Patrol. My application to test for the police academy has been accepted. What I need to do to get into the police academy is pass a series of tests. The first test witch will be on July 21st is the written exam. I need to know basic knowledge of reading, writing, spelling and reading comprehension. I feel like I will do okay with it. Two of my friends have taken it and barely failed (but English is not there strongest subject) so I think I should do fine. There are books that I can buy that will help me study for the exam. Than a few weeks after that there will be the physical test. I have to do a series of strength tests witch I feel I will complete rather effortlessly. Than there is a background check and a voice stress analyzer test (lie detector) where they make sure you are telling the truth about all your information and that you are not with holding anything about your past that would disqualify you from the process. With the background check if you don't have any felonies the main thing they look for is that you are trying to do good and be responsible. So I am a little worried but I think that I will be okay. Than after I have completed the tests thus far I will go in front of a panel for a final interview and physiological test. Where they will interview me and make a final decision of whether they will let me into the academy or not. By this time it will be the middle or end of September for the interview. They will send me a letter if I am accepted approximately five weeks after the interview. In that letter will be the date of when I report to the academy. There are four times a year that they bring in new students so I figure based on the knowledge I have gathered I would probably be going around January some time.

The academy is six months long. They will teach me everything I need to know to be a police officer and than they will give me a job upon graduating. I will get paid 28,000 dollars for the time in the academy and a starting salary of at least 56,000 dollars a year after I graduate. The academy lasts for six months. During that time I will be working from 0800 hours to 1700 hours after that time I will have personal time to study and exercise. I will not be able to make or accept any phone calls. I will be able to recieve and write letters. On Wednesday I would be free to leave the academy from 1700 to 2359 and friday at 1700 to sunday at 2359. So I will still be able to have some freedom and I will still be able to go to church. The academy is located in West Sacramento so it is not too far from here. After getting into the academy by the time I need to report I will need to make sure that I can run three miles three times a week with an average of nine minutes a mile, be able to do 50 push ups, 75 sit ups, and four pull ups. If I do not meet the physical standards I will be put on a strict diet until I can do all those things. If I do not pass a writen test in the academy my leave privlages will be revoked and I get one chance to retake the test. If I fail on the retake I will be terminated from the academy. They are very serious about the testing. I am very excited and I hope that I can get in to the academy.

Well that is all I have to say for now. I had an awesome fourth of July week and once I get all the pictures I will post another and tell you all all about it. I hope I will be able to keep you all more updated on my life.