Catching Up: Graduation & Beyond!

From the beginning they engrained it in our brains: the days are long but the weeks are short.  My goodness, isn't that the truth!

Here we are, post graduation, and K is already smack dab in the middle of his 1st week of break in. I on the other hand have already made in through my first semester of three in my nursing program! My passing grades should be a good enough excuse for my absence on this blog throughout the second half of K's academy ;) My vision for this blog started out as a place to include every detail of this CHP journey, but my school program is more grueling than I could have imagined, and I am much more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type of gal these days!

In short, graduation week was hectic and incredible. Wednesday morning was the traditional Cadet Capitol Run where all 78 cadets ran from the academy to the state capitol, escorted by a motorcade of officers. My dad and I were able to watch them leave the academy grounds at 0530 and then drive over to the capitol to wait for them. It was fun meeting some of the other families, and it all started feeling very real!  Wednesday night there was a cadet party held downtown and K and I got all dressed up for this which was really fun.  I met lots of cadets, officers, wives, and girlfriends and it was all a bit overwhelming but also exciting to meet some of the guys K will be working with! On Thursday I spent the entire day at the academy for the Family Support Seminar where I heard a lot of helpful information about what life as a CHP family is going to look like. It was really helpful that they offering this seminar, because it really does feel as if we are walking into unknown territory! After the seminar I helped K pack up his room and that felt so strange, especially for him! This week didn't even really feel like academy life because K got to stay with me Wednesday and Thursday night and the officers weren't treating them like cadets anymore. He left really early for the academy on Friday morning to prepare for the big day - graduation!

I thought for sure I would cry on graduation day, but I was just too happy for tears! The ceremony was really special, and my in-laws, parents and I got to go up on stage and take pictures with K and the CHP commissioner after he received his badge. It was such an amazing feeling to witness my husband plus the other 77 cadets receive the badges they had worked SO hard for endlessly over the course of 6 months. Following the ceremony inside the gym, we all went outside in the courtyard for the badge pinning ceremony. The cadets get to chose who pins the badge to their uniform, and having the privilege of pinning K's badge felt so surreal.  That was truly a monumental moment that we will look back on for years to come. After that we went back to my parents house for a party with lots of friends and family - we are blessed by so many people who have supported us along this crazy journey!

K had ten days off before beginning his first week of break in which is this week! "Break in" is essentially three months of on the job training in which K will be paired up with seasoned officers called field training officers (FTOs). These three months are much more stressful on the new officers than the academy was.  Now they are actually on the road expected to remember everything they have learned while remaining safe.  This first week has been mainly orientation type stuff, but K did write his first ticket today! Exciting for him, but not the unfortunate driver who received said ticket ;) His commute to his office is terribly long right now, but this weekend we are moving into our new place! We haven't had our own place for a year and a half now, and we simply can't wait to have a home together again. We are moving to a town right in between his office and my campus, so we are splitting the commute and neither of us will have to drive too far. These are exciting times and I have to remind myself to soak up these times and not wish them away. Although this season has been our most challenging and continues to be, I am thankful for all the Lord has been teaching us and for the tangible ways He has revealed himself to us through it all.

Below you will find my somewhat confusing notes that I jotted down during the second half of the academy. I am posting it more for myself to remember the order of events, but I tried to add some interesting tidbits :)

As always, we love you guys and appreciate those of you who have stood beside us through allthecraziness...you know who you are ;)

-- D


Week 14:
- The cadets spent Saturday at a group home in Sacramento hanging out with the kids and cleaning up the grounds, painting, etc.

Weeks 15 & 16:
- I think it was the weekend of week 15 that we had our last weekend together before I started my weekend clinicals. Basically from here on out K and I only spent a few hours on Friday nights together because he was only home on the weekends but I had 12 hour shifts Saturday and Sunday...not ideal!

Week 17:
- K and the rest of company B got pepper sprayed on Monday and he said it was TERRIBLE. This stuff is more concentrated than the stuff they actually use in the field, so the cadets get quite the experience!

Week 20:
- Qualified for rifle? This was his second attempt, he had to remediate but you can't fail out at this

Week 21:
- Lost 3 cadets in K's company to scenarios
- K's company had night shooting

Week 22:
- Scenarios!
- K only had to remediate on the building search scenario; the rest he passed first try
- One of his two roommates failed and went home Thursday night :(
- They lost 5 cadets from company A and just 1 from company B during scenarios

Week 23:
- He got tasered on Monday! Ouch!
- His class finally got Senior status on Thursday March 31 just in time for April!
- Got their tailored officer uniforms back! (their "tans")
- Had to go to the academy on Saturday to walk through the tear gas...so sad, but he said this was not as bad as pepper spray or taser

Week 24:
- Didn't get a lot of sleep this week, but for the past few weeks he has been able to randomly text or call me throughout the day
- Currently have 79 cadets left

- Started practicing for graduation ceremony 

- Got 2 gigs on Thursday :(

- Wednesday restriction this week cause he didn't pass his Spanish final but he finally passed Spanish this week (you can't fail out of the academy on the Spanish final so we weren't too worried)

Week 25:

- Got his badge number!!! This number will stick with him throughout his career as an officer and after he retires no one will ever have the same number as him

- Got dinner/coffee together Wednesday night 

- They lost a cadet to an LD test :( Pretty rare to lose one this late in the game

Week 26:
- Very chill week, mainly had graduation practice
- Had meetings with the other cadets that are headed to the same office as K after graduation

Week 27: GRADUATION WEEK
- Wednesday: capitol run in the morning and cadet party at night
- Thursday: Family Support Seminar
- Friday: graduation day!