Hey everybody. Hope this finds you all doing great.
2011 was another wonderful year for Wendy and I. We had a lot of fun and got to go see more new places. Its fun still being in the first years of marriage.
Wendy is still enjoying her job doing urgent care for kids. She works most evenings which means we get to spend time together during the day. Believe it or not, but I do mange to keep myself busy even though I don’t have a job. I just don’t see how families with both spouses working find time to get things done. This summer, Wendy got more interested in biking, and she joined me on some bike rides. I’m glad that she can share my joy in bike riding.
Speaking of bike riding, I had to buy a new bike this summer as my old one had frame issues I wasn’t aware of until a local shop pointed it out to me. After a lot of sweat and work, I finally was able to make it to the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon this summer riding my bike. Last summer I was only able to make it up part of the ride. It was a big accomplishment for me as I rode up the road several times a week. I was also able to do some bike riding with my neighbor this summer as well. It was fun getting to ride with other people this year. Enough about biking.
We spent another week in AZ this year to go see my beloved Cubbies at spring training. Wendy was able to go to a conference while we were down there so her job payed her way. Unfortunately this year my Cubs were abhorrent. I stopped watching baseball before the summer even started as I was so discouraged. To make things worse, I had to hear about the Cardinals winning the World Series. Ugh! Maybe I just needed to take some time off from baseball as I’m looking forward to next season already.
Later on in the Spring Wendy and I made a trip back to our homes to visit with family. We spent a few days in San Antonio, TX (Wendy’s home town), and we spent a few days in Madison, MS (my home town). I’m pretty sure that is the last time I will cast my shadow on the state of MS as my parents have decided they are going to move out to UT. They are in the process of fixing up and de-cluttering their house so they can put it on the market come spring time. It will be nice to have family nearby. My parents have made three trips out to UT this year looking at homes and getting to know the area. They’ve also brought 3 trailer loads of stuff to put in a storage facility. Guess that means they are putting down roots. We don’t know when they will move yet, but they want to get their house sold first before that happens. Its a pretty big deal as they have called central Mississippi their home their entire lives.
My brother Chris and his wife Lisa left Virginia this year. Chris got a job back in California with the Air Force. They are back living where they were in Palmdale before they moved to Virginia. Chris will be teaching test pilots how to be test pilots. On their trek across America, they stopped in at our house for a few days. It was nice getting to visit with them.
During the summer, Wendy and I took a road trip out west. Yeah, I know, we live out west, but there’s more West past us. We drove through Nevada (Reno, you are a disgusting little town) and toured around Northern California. It was a fun little trip and we got to see some great sites.
Our big trip this year was a backpacking trip to SW Colorado. We spent 6 days on the trail in the Weminuche Wilderness. It was an awesome trip. Wendy said it was the most hardcore trip she had ever been on. It was a route that had been a dream of mine for several years. It was a tough hike, but we had a lot of fun.
We also made another short trip down to southern Utah to visit Zion National Park. We went in early fall so the temperature was perfect. There was a lot of beautiful scenery down there.
The week before Thanksgiving this year we flew to Tulsa, OK to visit with Wendy’s grandmother and more of her family. We had a great time. I think Wendy enjoyed showing me off to her family. Grandmom June is a wonderful person.
I’ve spent the last year and a half on the hiring list for Salt Lake City Fire Dept. I started as #13, but they only hired 8 people during this two year list time. I have sat at #5 since then. Unfortunately, the list is set to expire here soon, and I’ll have to test with them again. Its very frustrating as I am in a good hiring position, but the city budgets haven’t been conducive to hiring. Stupid economy. I’ve tested a couple of other times with other departments, but have had no success. I’ve decided its time to step up to wearing the big boy pants, and I’m going to go to paramedic school. Starting this January, I’m going to be taking a couple of classes (Human Physiology and Medical Terminology) at the local college for prerequisites so I can apply for paramedic school that would start in Jan 2013. I hope that getting this will help improve my chances of getting hired. I’ve also come to realize that I really do enjoy the medical side of firefighting. It will be a while before all of this happens, but I’m starting the process now.
As you can see in the photo this year, we got an addition to our family. Her name is Daisy. She’s a German Shepherd/Lab mix, not quite a year old. Madie and her have become friends, and we’ve enjoyed having her around. Benjamin, the cat, was not so excited about our decision, but all the kids are getting a long peacefully now.
My parents are out here for Christmas. My brother and his wife will be coming in tomorrow. It will be a full house here at the Cotting residence, but its nice to be surrounded by family.
I hope this finds you all well and hope that the next year will find you even better.
Jason
