Week 4

It's Tuesday of week 4!  I am so excited to be able to say that on Friday we are 1 month down!  YAY!!!!!  What an amazing feeling to know that we are still staying strong and feel confident that we can do this.  I didn't feel like posting yesterday or Sunday and I am so thankful I didn't because I am in a much better mood today.  Sundays and Mondays are just hard.  Simply difficult to get through.  I've just excepted it for what it is and am thankful that tuesdays and the rest of the week is better.  S is in pre-school on tuesdays and its Grammie day!  My mother-in-law takes care of the boys for me every tuesday, which is a huge blessing because I get a whole day to myself.  I don't know very many stay at home moms that get such a special treat!  It's wonderful to be able to run around without unloading the boys and dragging them around in this heat!  I also get a kid free house to crank up the music and get the bleach out!  Tuesdays are bathroom cleaning days at this house!  Well "most" tuesdays.  :)  I had a meeting last night for my moms group at church (MOPS) and had a wonderful time getting to know some of the girls a little better.  I have the privilege of serving with an amazing group of ladies and am really looking forward to this year.  Funny story from Sunday.  After Josh left S again cried and wanted to follow daddy to academy school.  So I explained that we were not allowed at daddys school and couldn't go so S took a deep breath shook off the tears and said, "Mom it's ok I can handle it!"  :)  Love his 4 year old mind.  He reminds me during the week that he is the man of the house until daddy gets home so I don't need to worry.  He will take care of me!  :)  So precious.  Josh is doing outstanding!  (that's what he is suppose to say if someone asks how he is doing)  but really he is doing good and staying strong.  The work load is increasing but he is doing great.  He cant wait to get to his first short term goal...this weekend, 1 month down!  Life is still a crazy wild emotional ride but it's our life and we are in it together.  So encouraging to know that I am not alone!  :)

With Love,
Trina

Almost Friday

Tomorrow is Friday and it seems forever away.  This week has gone by pretty slow considering everything we've done.  S started pre-school and loves it!  Tues night we had S's favorite meal (french toast) thanks to Katie!  We had a great time hanging out and going swimming, thank you again guys!  Today is my dads birthday so he came into town and we caught up for lunch.  Love it when he hangs out.  The boys have so much fun with him.  For those of you that don't know my dad he turned 53 today but has the energy of a 5 year old and according to S he turned 5 today not 53!  :)  My dad is always there for me along with every other family member of mine.  I was reminded today how blessed I am to have such a strong support group through all this, family and friends included.  They are really making this craziness duable.  So if I haven't told you guys thank you enough, thank you!  I love you.  I'm looking forward to tomorrow.  I purposely try to hold things off to do around the house until Friday because the busier I am the faster the time goes by.  Staying busy is key.  If I'm bored I can easily get into a poor pity me mood and that is not good.  I refuse to be unhappy no matter what.  Monday was a bad day.  Didn't go to the gym.  Didn't go anywhere.  Very bad day.  The good news is tues, wed and today were much better.  :) 

Josh is hanging in there.  Hes looking forward to coming home tomorrow and spending time with the boys.  His biggest struggle has nothing to do with the academy, not that it isn't a struggle in itself of course, but the toughest thing for him is being away from home.  Its a huge adjustment.  He will get through it though.  Hes very thankful he is busy so he doesn't have too much time to think about it.  I pray nightly that he can shut his brain off to get some sleep.  Day after day he puts his head down and does what he is asked to do.  I am so thankful for a hard working husband!  It sounds like we have a lot to do this weekend so I'm hoping that he can find time to rest a little bit, if not at least we will be together during it.  Is it Friday yet?!  .......soon enough!

With Love,
Trina   

Week 3!

Well here we go week 3!  We had a much better weekend than last.  I felt like we had more time to just relax and enjoy Josh being home.  I'm hopeful that every weekend will just get better as we find a good routine to get stuff done.  Our goal from here on out is to finish all our "to do's" on Sat. so Sunday we can actually relax and have a somewhat normal family day! (If there is a such thing in this season of our life.)  It's nice to wake up on Sunday and know we are packed and all ready to go so we can go to church and spend stress free time with friends and family.  When I think that we are already on week 3 I am excited because we have two weeks behind us and looking back they actually went by pretty fast.  I have to be careful not to think about how many weeks are ahead because in doing so I feel like we cant do this.  I cant take care of our boys by myself until Feb!  So when I start feeling like this I take a deep breath and try to find short term goals.  Josh is thinking the same way.  We have to remind each other that we just have to take it week by week.  Short term goals will lead to the end goal.......Graduation Day!  The start day of a whole new life for us.  The last two Mondays have been Josh's hardest days so I'm hoping that today will be the first "good" Monday for him.  Sunday nights are the hardest for me and the boys.  When daddy left both boys cried and S yelled at me to follow daddy to academy school!  Moments like this make it seem too difficult to handle but thankfully the Lord has given me the strength during these times to get through them.  We decided that cake pops would make our tears go away.  :)  So with a starbucks g-card (thanks to my amazing neighbor! :) we all enjoyed a little treat.  I haven't had much motivation today but I'm doing just fine.  Tomorrow is a big day for us.  S starts pre-school!  Yay!  He can't wait.  My week has already filled up with places to go and friends to visit which makes it so nice!  I do so much better if I have a reason to get dress and out of the house.  L is down for a nap and when he wakes up I am making myself go to the gym.  Its been way too long since I've worked out and I need to get back into a healthy routine.  I don't want to go because I feel like I have no energy but I know I will feel better if I can just make it there!  I cant wait to hear from Josh tonight.  I am so proud of him! 

With Love,
Trina      

Its Friday! :)

We love Fridays!!!!!!  We have had a great week.  Josh has passed all his exams and even got 100% on one of them.  He has called every night this week which really makes a difference.  Just hearing his voice can get me through until the next phone call.  The bad news is Josh is sick.  His throat hurts and he is congested.  His roommate had the flu in the beg of the week so we are praying it doesn't turn into that.  He is loading up on Vit. C and hopefully this weekend he can get some much needed rest! 

The boys and I were blessed with another meal last night.  We went over to my Father in laws for dinner and went swimming.  Such a fun time!  We are still trying to get S to really "enjoy" swimming.  No success yet!  We know for sure he will not be an Olympic swimmer!  hahaha  We had a surprise visit this morning from Uncle Jake!  He brought donuts by for the boys!  S said, "it must be Friday!"  :)  For those of you that don't know, Josh use to get donuts for the boys every Friday as a special treat!  Last Friday was the first non-donut Friday in a long time so this morning was really special.  Thank you Uncle Jake! 

Well I better get going.  Theres lots to do today and the boys are done eating their donuts.  Time to dust, vacuum, grocery store, sign making, balloons to blow up :)..... all kinds of fun stuff to get ready for Daddy to come home tonight!  YAY! 

With Love,
Trina 

Halfway through week 2

We are halfway through week 2!  Yay!  The week has gone by pretty fast for us.  Mon night I went to MOPS registration and it was filled with lots of laughs and great fellowship.  I am soooo looking forward to this year.  Josh called while I was there and sounded not so good.  He was exhausted both mentally and physically.  Phone calls like that are difficult to handle because all I really want to do is break down and cry and tell him I'm so sorry but instead I take a deep breath tell him I am so proud of him and remind him he can do it!  I reassure him we are doing great and S just thinks his dad is the coolest man ever!!!!!  I agree with S!  :)  It def helped getting a phone call like that when I was surrounded by amazing women of Faith.  Thank you girls for everyone who prayed for Josh.  Last night when he called he was high spirited and back to his normal self.  If there is a such thing as "normal" up there. 

Yesterday was a great day for us.  The boys and I had a fun day with Grammie at the water park, panara for lunch.....YUM and tumble-tap class for S.  After that the boys and I ate a fabulous home cooked meal thanks to some amazing friends, Gary and Vanessa!!!  I even got to take left overs home!  Such a treat.  Ive discovered that I do not cook for just me and the boys.  We have had lots of pb&j, mac n cheese and pb&h (honey).  So thank you again Vanessa for the "real" food.  :)  

Great news!  Josh passed his first test!   Yay!!!  He is doing great even if he doesn't feel like he is always.  Everyday we are closer and closer to graduation day which is very exciting.  Last week was so much harder than this week so that is encouraging.  I feel like I have a lot more control of my emotions this week.  Thank you Lord for giving me the strength!  I'm looking forward to hearing Josh's voice again tonight praying he has a good day!   

With Love,
Trina  

Week 2...here we go!

I am so thankful we live close enough for Josh to come home most weekends.  We had a crazy busy but overall great weekend.....that went by way too fast.  The boys and I were so happy to have him home.  S hardly left Josh's side!  He wanted to help daddy with everything and pretty much followed him wherever he went.  He even wanted to help him study and when I suggested he should watch a movie and let daddy be for a min he said, "no thank you mom.  I'm going to watch daddy do his homework."  How do you say no to that?!  :)  Josh is doing great.  He has the perfect attitude and outlook on everything.  I am so proud of him!

So my goal this week is to try not to be so emotional.  I really am doing ok, just extremely tearful.  It's starting to affect S though so I need to be careful.  He told Josh that he took care of me and kissed away all my tears because mommy cried a lot.  On Friday night when I told him we were going to pick up daddy he looked at me and asked, "Does that mean you are not going to cry anymore and be happy?"  That is a little too much added stress for a 4 year old!  I need to be taking care of him...not the other way around!  So that is my goal for week 2.  Hold in my tears as much as possible around the boys.  I know there will be times we all cry together and that is healthy but last week was a little too much.  Looking back at the week though I think to myself it wasn't really that bad and it went by pretty fast.  So I'm going to try to remind myself this week that it too will be over before we know it and Friday will come and we will get to spend the weekend with Josh.  So here we go week 2!

With Love,
Trina    

Day 4

Trying to stay happy.  No phone call tonight.  :(  I have to remind myself that I am very lucky that he was able to call the other nights.  Its just really hard not knowing how his day went or how he is feeling.  The good news is I will get to for sure not only talk to him tomorrow but SEE him!!!!  Yay...I cant wait!  We have a huge calendar in S's room so he can cross off the days.  I have the days that daddy comes home marked with a big smiling face so before S went to bed tonight and crossed off today he saw that tomorrow we get to see daddy.  He was sooooo happy.  I had to explain that it wouldn't be until really late tomorrow night but we would wait up for him.  :)  I'm not sure if his little 4 year old mind really understands all this but so far he is doing pretty good.  He has cried a few times for Josh but overall hes doing great.  L is too little to understand.  This morning he called for dad and when I went into his room I reminded him that daddy was at his CHP school.  He looked at me and said oh.  :)  That was that.  Going to try to get some sleep.  Still a little hopeful that a phone call might come before 10.  Not very much time left so I doubt it.  (Sigh)  This is hard.

Trina  

Days 2-3

We are all doing good.  Josh has called home both nights and sounds like he is adjusting well.  He has spent most of the last 2 days in the classroom and has a lot to memorize.  He was shinning his boots tonight as he was talking to me because he has no "free" time.  They start the day at 4:30 am and don't stop until 9:00 pm.  At 9:00 is when they have time to study and prepare for the next day!  It's crazy!  He is the perfect man for the job though.  Lack of sleep and too much on his plate to handle.....that's my man!  :)  He has to do PT in the morning and I will be setting my alarm tonight to wake up and pray for him to have the endurance and strength to do every last push-up, sit-up, mountain climber, jumping jack and whatever else he has to do.  I know he will do great.  Josh is very strong. 

As for me and the boys, we have had pretty normal days.  I almost forgot to take the yard trash out yesterday until I heard the truck and quickly pulled the trash can to the curb.  Another thing I don't ever think about doing because Josh always did it.  Hopefully I wont forget Friday for the waste trash.  :)  The good news is I haven't forgotten to feed Shelby (our dog).  Josh was worried about that one.  I killed a spider today which is huge for me!  Thought about calling someone then quickly got over my fear and went for it.  hahaha  L is a little under the weather.  I'm hoping its just allergies but we will see.  He slept 14 hours last night and took a 2 hour nap today and had no problem going to bed at 8 tonight!!!  I must say this morning was really nice and quite.  S and I relaxed on the couch watching a movie while I sipped on my coffee.  Hoping L feels better in the morning.  We made prayer cards for Josh today.  S folded them up and put them in his back pack so we can randomly pull as many as we want throughout the day and pray for what the card says.  I better get some sleep tonight.  I promised Josh I would start memorizing the codes so I can help him study this weekend.  I haven't told him I started blogging and I don't think I want to.  The last we talked about it he gave me the name for the blog but I told him I wasn't going to do it.  I want him to stay focused on his stuff and not be distracted by home.  When he graduates he can catch up on the next 6 months.   The days are long, nights even longer, eyes are still puffy but I know in the end it will all be worth it.

With Love,
Trina

Intro and Day 1!

Hello, my name is Trina and I am starting this blog because my husband Josh just started the California Highway Patrol Academy.  For those of you who don't know us here is a little info and for our family and friends who do know us I hope this will be a way to keep you posted on how we are doing and prayer needs.  This October we will be celebrating 7 yrs of marriage and we have two boys S who is 4 and L who will be 2 next month.  We started this journey over 3 yrs ago when our first son was 8 mo. old and here we are today one day down of the academy life!  I have never blogged or even thought about blogging before but after following another cadets wife's blog (peasant living) who is currently half way through the process I quickly changed my mind.  She has inspired me in so many ways and I hope I will be able to do the same for someone out there who will be or is currently going through this craziness too.  I do not plan on filtering my thoughts on this blog.  I am not going to pretend that this process is easy because after only one day into it I can tell you it is extremely difficult!  However, we serve an Amazing God who gives us Hope and through this process I know he will bless us. 

Day 1:
We survived!  :)  Josh and I were blessed by family as we were able to spend the whole weekend up in Sacramento together.  We had a great weekend.  The craziness began for us on Sunday as we attended the CHP orientation along with what felt like 500 other people!  I am not sure how many people are in Josh's class but somewhere around 160.  I want to share just a little story on how the Lord as already blessed us.  Like I mentioned earlier I have been following another cadets wife's blog and so has another cadets wife.  She and I last week commented on one of her posts thanking her for the blog and informing her our husbands would soon be joining hers.  So here I am at orientation with around 500 other cadets and their families and during break I start chatting with a wife who is sitting directly behind me.  Come to find out she was the other blogger who commented on the same blog I did!!!!  what are the odds?!  God is so good.  I gave her my info and we have connected since then.  I ask that you would keep their family in your prayers as well.  Her husbands name is Brian and they have 3 girls.  If any specific prayer requests come up I will let you know. 

So last night I received an unexpected phone call from Josh!  I just started crying when I heard my phone ring and saw that it was him.  I quickly took a deep breath held my tears in and answered like everything was going great at home.  He was tearful and sounded overwhelmed and just exhausted.  He reassured me that he was doing great and can do this.  I am so proud of him!  For those of you that don't know Josh he can do anything he sets his mind to and he never gives up.  He knows what he wants and goes after it.  Josh never settles for second best and is always eager to grow and follow where the Lord leads him.  He has only been gone 1 day and I already miss him like crazy.  It was a huge blessing just to hear his voice last night even if it was for only a few min and to know that he is ok.  He told me they had one cadet who already dropped out.  I look forward to hearing his voice again.  He said he was doubtful they will be able to turn on cell phones again until Friday but then again he wasn't suppose to be able to turn it on last night either.  So you just never know.  In the meantime I will try to get a grip of these tears and go on with my days.  Thank you to those of you who are praying for us and care enough to read and follow this blog.  We appreciate you very much. 

With Love,
Trina