Friday, October 12, 2007

eleventh..

i realize that i haven't blogged on a lot of cool and not so cool stuff that have been happening in my life in the past few months.. i thought i'd go back and update on whats been goin on..

i'll start with the cool..

1. when shannon and i moved to california this past april (northern cali, felton, santa cruz area) i decided that now was the time for me to pursue a long life desire to be a firefighter.. it just so happened that the Felton Fire Department was looking to hire on more volunteer firefighters.. i decided to apply, went through interviews, a physical, and got accepted..

2. we witnessed the beautiful marriage of casey/shannon mara.. it was a really fun wedding and i was so honored to be a part of it.. the live carter band rock the house and i represented the aisea taimani limbo skills.. oish..

3. went to arizona to meet the new nephew.. awesome time with the family.. got the nephy some baby jordans.. every young man needs a pair of 23's..

4. from az, i flew to virigina to take part in the tim/courtney fair wedding.. went fishing in the ocean for tim's
bachelor deal.. realized that i was a master fisherman, but for only six hours in the atlantic (they were small fish but still fish that i caught).. it was so good to reunite with friends from johnson bible college (the school i went to from 2004-06)..

5. shannon and i found a church that we really like and we got involved with a newlywed community group that has been really special for us.. there are 8 couples total so it makes for a real good time.. everyone brings something different to the table so its awesome..

6. i have really been enjoying the firefighting.. the training has been awesome and i am learning more and more about the fire service.. i am lookin to make a career in firefighting so it has been very exciting to pursue somethin wholeheartedly that i believe i will be doin for the rest of my life and that i also feel called to.. i got CPR and 1st responder certified and am now going through my EMT-Basic course to be more involved in our medical calls here in felton..

the things about being a volunteer firefighter, its as if i get to do 95% of what normal full-time firefighters do but just without the income.. i dont mind the financial aspect because i still get paid per call and training session (1 per week) but the biggest thing is i get all the experience now which is very valuable.. we have two full-time paid positions there (the chief and an engineer) and about 30 of us are volunteers with other full-time jobs.. some of them work as full-time firefighters elsewhere and volunteer there on their days off.. im just a carpenter/firefighter..

7. in california, there is CALFIRE.. calfire was formerly known as CDF (california department of forestry and fire protection).. calfire is pretty much firefighting but wildland firefighting (all land/brush/wild fires/non-structure fires).. i decided to try to get on with calfire as my new full-time job for the 2008 season.. i have to finish my EMT, and take 2 other classes before i can interview in february..

8. now through the blessing of health/dental insurance, i have been able to go to the dentist office after a 10+ year absence.. its been too long.. i have cavities and wisdom to pull..

9. shannon got to go to arizona to see the family and co/throw a baby shower for kerry and tracey's baby ryan due really soon.. while she was gone, i decided to visit my big brosky aisea in santa monica, ca.. it was a lot of fun and we ended up goin with LA younglife leader retreat over the weekend i was there.. i got to help my bro with worship and i also went paintballin for the first time.. i learned the harsh reality that in paintball, the nice guys finish last.. i will show no mercy the next time..

now for the not-so-cool..

1. when shannon and i moved here in april, she got pregnant.. many folks knew that already but most didnt know that we also had a miscarriage after the first month.. shannon got really sick and i had to take her to the emergency room.. it was a scary and painful time but we have been able to receive healing and comfort from the situation.. mount hermon (where we live and shannon works) gave us a baby redwood tree to plant here on property to take care of it.. that was really nice of them..

2. i got in a wreck that totaled our audi that we only had for 4 months.. it was the day after shannon's birthday.. not the kind of surprise she was expecting.. we did however end up buying a brand new 2007, 4 door, honda civic with only 5 miles on it..

3. i joined a church basketball league and on the first game i busted my knee up really bad.. i wrote the details of it on the last blog.. due to the injury i now have plenty of time to blog.. bitter sweet..

4. the injury has put a huge time crunch on me with trying to get my classes completed before the CALFIRE hiring period.. if i dont heal in time for the classes, then i wont be able to apply, therefore i will not be able to get on as planned until the 2009 fire season which fumbles my/our financial plans for the next year.. it puts a challenge on paying for our new furniture, school loans, new car loan, dental expenses, knee surgery, and on top of that, doing it on one source of income while im not workin..

wow, that was a whole lotta but to say the least, it has been as interesting first 6.5 months in california and its been challenging but god has been good and faithful and we trust him with our lives and future.. i plan to not have to write a blog this long ever again..

shalom..

vtaimani..

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