I'm Sorry, And You Are?

I'm sorry, and you are?
Oh! My social life!
I hardly recognized you! So good to see you again. It's been far too long.

Yep you guessed it! I'm back on day shift. 6am-4pm. MTW and every other Sat. Sun. And yes, that does mean I have a four day weekend every other weekend. And that's this weekend. And yes, I'm stoked.

I absolutely LOVE day shift. Tons of people at the office, lots of paperwork, follow up with doctors and families, and plenty of cases. Wow that sounded like sarcasm. It really wasn't. I really do love all of those things. Still not sarcasm. Just take my word on that, okay?

It had been so nice to see live people again. I can hear you laughing, but seriously. I feel like a human being again, not a vampire. It's baffling how much difference a few hours can make.

Changing gears, I wish I could express to you how absolutely mind-blowing it is to think that I have found something as amazing as The Summit Denver. Obviously it was completely God's blessing, and it just amazes me every time I think about it. To the point of tears. They are my family. They keep me in line. They care for me when I can't care for myself. And they encourage me to protect and advance the mission. Not to mention they're all just super cool people.

I know you guys are waiting for me to post about my cases. I've had a couple of interesting ones, including a homicide. But it is definitely still an open case because we can't find the guy who did it. We know who he is, but that's about it. Let's just say I'm now besties with the Mexican Consulate and watching kids attack a pinata with a metal bat makes me cringe. And I know I promised a story about the case that really got to me, but because I'm aware of who reads my blog, you'll just have to ask me about it in person.

Okay, I think I'm going to close with my most recent favorite lyrics by one of my favorite bands:
"And there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears,
And love will not break your heart but dismiss your fears."
-Mumford and Sons

Let the adventure continue!

I Fail At Blogging...

So it's been pretty much forever since my last blog. Almost two months. And a lot can happen in two months. And it has...

So we had three month evaluations at work. They went well for the most part, but my bosses recognized that I wasn't exactly comfortable going out on scenes. (Honestly, I was terrified. The idea of someone depending on me to make huge decisions got to me. I still feel like I should be in high school.) Anyway, so one of the senior investigators has been following me the last two months "just to help build my confidence". Yeah, something like that. Really all I needed was the fact that my bosses could see the lack of confidence I knew I felt. Once I knew they could see through me, I stepped up my game. And things have been fantastic ever since. In other work news, I have been working the most horrendous shift imaginable: M-F, 7pm to 4am. So basically I get home around 5, sleep until 4 because my body is confused and needs more sleep, get up, shower, eat and go back to work. All of that equals exactly zero social life. But not to fear! I switch back to days in one week, and I could not possibly be more excited!

There was one span of about ten days were I had a scene call everyday. And none of them were anything typical. But because they are open cases I can't share much about them on here. I'll just give you a few teasers: CO (not Colorado), carving knives, youtube videos, gloves that weren't quite long enough, more than one ravine, cornfield, beetles, bathtub, and still undetermined. So far since I've started working, I have had 153 cases and 23 scene calls.

At church lately we've been going through the books of 1 and 2 Timothy. This is some counter-cultural stuff, y'all. This last week we talked about the exclusivity of Christianity. It was heavy, and Bryan got really fired up, which was awesome and quite appropriate. One thing that struck me is his island analogy. In school one of his professors talked about the island of salvation. Each religion has it's own way to help you swim to the island. They each have some process you can go through or list of rules to try and keep that will get you to the island. The thing about Christianity is that there is no way for you to get yourself to the island because you are dead. The only way to get to the island of salvation is for Christ to pick you up, throw you over his shoulder, and carry you the entire way, then resuscitate you once you get there, bringing your dead body back to life. That is the beautiful part. You cannot save yourself, plain and simple. But God desires for all men to be saved, which is why Christ died on the cross: so he could carry us to salvation. The most important part about this is that Christ picking you up is the ONLY way to get to the island. All the other ways will fall short, leaving you to drown in the shark infested waters. Once we acknowledge this and believe it in our hearts, we must respond with a fiery passion to see our unbelieving friends come to Christ. If we acknowledge that Christ is the only way, we must then acknowledge that all those who don't know Him will not find salvation and will not go to heaven.

The Summit Denver family has taught me so much since my move to Colorado. I could never thank the Lord enough for their encouragement and support and love.

I think that's enough for now. Hopefully I'll update again soon. I finally had that one case that got to me emotionally, so be looking for a post about it soon.

Let the adventure continue!

Where To Start...

So much has happened since the last time I blogged.  I'll try to highlight the main parts...

Ummm... okay where to start...

Work has been pretty boring up until this week. In three days (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) I put in 12 hours of overtime. Monday we had a staff meeting and staff pictures. We even took the picture with the US flag on one side and the Colorado flag on the other side, looking just past the camera with our head tilted and our chin up. Imagine it. You know what I'm talking about. Yeah that picture. Tuesday I got a case right around 2pm and didn't get back to the office until 4 and still had 5 reports to put in the computer. Got home about 8pm that night. But Wednesday, that was the icing on the cake. As I'm walking out the door at the end of my shift at 4pm, I get a case. But not just any case. I got a plane crash. Granted it was a single occupant plane that could probably fit inside my living room, but it still took me 5 hours, so Wednesday was a 15 hour day. I was definitely useless on my day off on Thursday. Friday I started my new shift: 7pm-4am. Yep, the exact opposite of what I've been working. And that's Monday through Friday for the rest of the month.

This past weekend I went home. It was great seeing all of my family and friends. mani/pedi, lots of good food, tea on Friday with my loves, sitting out by the pool. It was a good weekend. There were a couple of parts that weren't exactly ideal, but a lot of maturity and growth resulted. Sometimes growing up sucks, but it's necessary to move forward.

It was good to get back to my Denver family this weekend. I needed their encouragement and hugs after the week I had, and they never fail to deliver! Lately we've been going through a series called "Movement" at church that has been looking through the cities of Acts and the radical movement of Christianity through them, then connecting them with Denver. One thing that I took away from our discussion on Athens (Acts 17: 16-34) tonight was this: Medicine, science and technology have changed over the last 2,000 years. We're believe we're more "enlightened" than our parents were, and they think the same about their parents because these ideas are constantly evolving and changing. The Gospel has not changed in 2,000 years. Today, just like 2,000 years ago, the Gospel answers all of the questions of the most intelligent minds that ever lived. We as Christians can rest in and be confident in the consistency of the Gospel.

Watching the fireworks on the Bryant's roof tonight with the church reminded me that this is exactly where I'm supposed to be. It almost brought me to tears. I am so very blessed.

I think that's enough for now.

Let the adventure continue!

Birthday Week!

So my birthday was Tuesday! I am now 23 years old. So weird.

Tuesday was a fantastic day! Boss bought me lunch, Sarah bought me dinner, fam sent me cupcakes and flowers to the office, boyfriend sent me flowers and chocolates, gparents sent me money, Vicky sent me Starbucks giftcards, Angie sent me a card! And of course tons of texts, phone calls and facebook wall posts!

This week I had a four day weekend off work, and it has been very much appreciated. I love my job with all of my heart, but it can be very exhausting. So this time off has been fabulous. And this week at work I have learned from the mistakes I made last week and have had several personal victories. No one else may know about them, but they restored my faith in myself and that's a good feeling.

Last night was my birthday celebration with my church folks. We had planned on going to the Rockies game, but it was sold out. So we went out to eat then back to Amy Mac's for cake and games. It was such a blessing to have so many new friends want to celebrate my birthday and being to flexible when things didn't work out. There were 20 of us! We had a blast just hanging out and getting to know each other a little better. At one point I just had to sit off by the side and take everything in. It's absolutely unbelievable how much the Lord has blessed me through this move to Denver. I still can't even believe I'm here. It amazes me.

For those of you looking for a really interesting case review, I haven't had any yet... But don't worry! It's coming! I can feel it...

Let the adventure continue!

So I Had A Case...

Wednesday morning about 8am I had my very first scene call all by myself. Just natural, nothing crazy, but it was unattended at a home so I go out to the scene. It started off well and I did everything I needed to do and the roommate was very cooperative and understanding and kind. The decedent was a grown man who passed away upstairs so I requested help from the office to get him to the van. Long story short, I knocked over a potted plant. The roommate exploded. For the next 30 minutes or so I heard various phrases including the F word and numerous ways of telling me I'm incompetent at the top of her lungs. Luckily I was still upstairs and was simply overhearing these things, so she didn't see me burst into tears and break down. Before it was all over, the office, my boss and the county had been complained to, and the sheriff's office and fire and EMS had been dispatched again. Throughout the whole process I was continually getting more death calls and my boss was calling to figure out what was going on. It was a complete nightmare. By the time we got the body into the van the roommate had calmed down and I apologized to her and told her to please call me if she needed anything or had any questions. Then I took off.

One of the most unique and challenging things about my job is that I get to interact with people at their most vulnerable point. They have just lost someone very dear to them and their world has crumbled. What makes it challenging is that the grieving process takes many forms. And anger is one of them. I know that the roommate did not mean the horrible things she said to and about me, but that doesn't make it hurt any less. But she is hurting right now. She has just lost her best friend. And I had to remember that when I spoke to her after the fact. At this point, it was my job to show her the love of Christ instead of what was actually going through my head. I don't know that I accomplished that as much as I could have. She was still angry when I left, and I was still very hurt when I left. I still am now.

Everyone has their thing. Something they are insecure about. For some people is weight, for some it's beauty. For me it's competence. You can say just about anything to me and it might bother me a bit, but tell me I'm incompetent and you've thrown the fatal punch.

I will have bad days like this. But the minute I start doubting myself, I start doubting the plan that God has for me. He has prepared me to do this job. He has given me all the tools and characteristics I need to be great for His glory. I just need to constantly remind myself of that.

Thank you to all of you who have encouraged me. I am forever indebted to you.

Let the adventure continue!

Long Time No Blog

It had been far too long since I've written on here.

Barry came to visit! We went to the zoo and a lot of fun restaurants and had a great time. Of course it was so good to see him. It was really hard to take him back to the airport yesterday.

And not only did Barry leave yesterday, but I worked from 0900 to 2400. (9am to midnight for those of you who don't read military time). It was a long long LONG day for sure. And I was busy. And yes I had to be back at work at 8am this morning. And somehow I'm still functioning at an acceptable level...

Hung out with Sarah from church tonight. We always have fun together. I love my church. So very much. And I officially joined last Sunday! So excited to have found a family here in Denver.

Got an iPhone today! And my own cell phone plan! I am such a grown up.

I still love my job so much. I love my church so so much. And I absolutely love Colorado.

Let the adventure continue!

13 Things You May Not Know About Me

1. Even though if people ask I tell them I watch it, I have never seen an episode of Bones.
2. I wish it were different, but I really do not like going to the gym, so I don't.
3. Dead bodies don't bother me, but gross dishes in the sink makes me gag.
4. I've actually only been to New Orleans twice.
5. Modern Family might be my favorite TV show ever.
6. I feel most comfortable when I'm in a bathing suit on a hot summer day.
7. Chocolate and John Mayer always make me feel better. No matter what.
8. One day I hope to own a fully articulated skeleton, for professional reference purposes of course.
9. My dream car is the car I have right now: Black Ford Edge
10. I absolutely love water parks. Like, LOVE water parks.
11. I know how cool my job is. But you can continue to remind me.
12. I'm terrified/excited to experience my first REAL winter here in Colorado.
13. I'm really good at English. I'm an awesome speller, I can BS my way through any paper, and I'm a sucker for good grammar.

Let this amazing adventure continue!

Now What?

So the past several weeks at church we've been studying Jesus' life through the book of Mark. (I got here at the end of the series). We came to the conclusion that following Jesus completely requires a response from us: a complete lifestyle change. We started a series last week that looks at the all the components of our life and how they change. Tonight we talked about our budget, and this is what Bryan said that stuck out to me (paraphrase):

2 Corinthians 8:8-15, especially verse 12

verse 12: "For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have."

We should give according to what we have, not according to what we do not have. There will always be something that we want but don't have. If we do not give generously, or at all, because of what we do not have, we are insulting God. We are saying "God, once you get your act together, once you take care of business, I will give back to you. Once you give me what I need, I will do what you have asked me to do." As if God sacrificing His son on the cross to cleanse you of your sin wasn't enough. As if God giving up his only child to make a way for you to spend eternity in heaven with Him wasn't enough to deserve our everything.

God doesn't need our money. He wants us to be able to share in the blessing of giving to His kingdom. He doesn't want something FROM you, He wants something FOR you.

Loving this adventure. Let it continue!

Where Do These People Get These Ideas?

Happy Cinco de Mayo friends!

I hate that it has been so long since my last post. Things have been amazing! I absolutely love Colorado. It's beautiful and the weather has been fabulous! A little chilly, but that's definitely okay.

Okay so, LSU girl and I are basically besties. She is so fun! We have lots of plans to do lots of fun things. I am so excited that the Lord has placed her in my life with absolute perfect timing. It's so nice to have someone to go through this "new place, new people, new life" thing.

Went to get my new Colorado driver's license today. I would post a picture of it, except it takes them 30 days to send it in the mail... Definitely wish they printed it on the spot like in Shreveport... Lame.

Okay so, I finally got all of my work clothes figured out. Women's EMT pants (and they're sexy, let me tell you), a polo with the department emblem. and brand new black cowboy boots! I told everyone at the office how excited I was about my new boots, and most of them gave me a funny look or a "um... thats... nice..." I usually gave them a funny look back. Well I wore them for the first time yesterday and was showing them off. Everyone I showed them to gave me a "OH! Those are actually nice!" To which I replied "What did you think they were going to look like? They're work boots." And everyone gave me their own version of "glitter" or "bling-y" or "multicolored" etc. Of course I replied with a look of confusion and "what do you think Southern people are actually like?" They were all expected some crazy hot pink bedazzled fashion boots. Oh how little they know...

Speaking of Crazy Coloradans, here it's "soda pop" or "pop". And you lay your head on a "pellow". And the proper pronunciation is "Colo-rad-o" not "Collar-ahdo". Still getting used to that one. They also claim there is a good Cajun food restaurant here. We'll see about that...

Today I'm working the 1700-0100 shift (military time= 5pm-1am). Which means I have the day time off. It'll be nice to get a different experience. Not to mention it'll be just me and the evening investigator at the office. She's really cool and we'll definitely get along. Hopefully we won't be bored tonight...

I think that's enough for now. Here's a quick calendar of awesome things coming up:
May 13-15: Heading to Austin for Ally's wedding!
May 19-23: Barry comes to visit!
May 25-29: Mom and sister come to visit!
May 27: I'm officially deputized and given my badge!

Let the Adventure Continue!

You Wouldn't Even Believe!

Wow. I didn't realize it has been a week since I last updated my blog! Things have been crazy busy at work. I've been doing intake and release of bodies, putting them in the cooler, typing up reports, logging personal property, taking death calls and assisting with autopsies. Last night I actually worked 3 hours late, so I didn't get home until after 8.

I'm really distracted right now. Lots of things to think about. Bills are due, getting my first paycheck on Friday, need to go shopping for ugly work clothes.

Things with Barry are fantastic! He's coming to visit me the third weekend in May. I can't wait!

Okay, so I was at my new church on Sunday talking to some people, and in walks a girl wearing an LSU sweatshirt! Born and raised in Baton Rouge, graduated from LSU and actually moved to Denver the same day I did. And she works down the street from me in Brighton. We're basically besties now. So amazing how things like that happen.

My boss invited me to go with her to church on Friday night to a Good Friday service. I'm so blessed to have a boss that loves the Lord as much as my boss does.

Hopefully I'll be able to update more this weekend!

Let the adventure continue!

I Love The Sound Of A Bone Saw In The Morning...

Oh my gosh. I love my job!

The first few days have been awesome! My coworkers are fantastic! 4 girls, 4 guys. 2 ex law enforcement, 2 ex paramedics, 2 people who have experience with this office, and 2 (including me) who have experience with other offices. Ages range from 22 (me) to late 40s. It's a very diverse group! And they are all very normal very cool people!

The first day we had a boring seminar about life insurance and retirement and learning about the county. Then we started going over our job description and getting to know each other.

The second day, we got to watch two autopsies! They were pretty cool. Nothing too crazy. One was an overdose, so we looked at different artifacts of that. The doc took out the spinal cord, which I had never seen before, and that was really neat. The other guy was a long time smoker, and had signs of emphysema and arteriosclerosis. These are diseases I have always heard about, and knew theoretically their affect on the body, but to actually see it in real life, completely changes everything. It makes sense now why they are such a big deal. It just helps you understand the disease even more. And that's just cool. That took about 3.5 hours. After lunch we finished reviewing the Colorado Revised Statutes that govern our office.

Today was a little rough. The morning was fine. We just reviewed our role as a death investigator and looked at a powerpoint of photos from decomposition cases. However after lunch we started messing around with the vans. We pulled out the prams (the gurney things that paramedics use) and practiced with them. They're a little trickier than you might think. I was fine when there was nothing on it, I was even fine when they put a bunch of boxes on top, but when one of my coworkers jumped up there? Not so much. I almost dropped him like, 4 times. I started getting frustrated, and that just made things worse. I finally got it, but not before much aggravation.

Overall the first few days have been amazing and I am so excited to start getting into the real stuff. Oh my gosh. I love my job!

Let the adventure continue!

Beyond Blessed in Brighton

     Whew! What a week. Mom and I left Louisiana on Monday morning, I drove 10+ hours to Salina, KS for the night, then got up early Tuesday morning and I drove the remaining 7+ hours to Colorado! We got to Colorado a little earlier than expected, so we went and bought all my furniture! Wednesday morning we went and signed my lease and moved all my stuff into the apartment. Trips to Target and Walmart followed, and we went back to the hotel for the night. Thursday the furniture was delivered! It's awesome! Then mom went grocery shopping while I unpacked everything. Friday the cable guy came and set that up, and I had my drug test. It was beyond awkward. Dad and Parker got in on Friday night, and we went and got my TV. Today Dad got me a patio set and hung all my pictures and curtains. Dropped all three of them off at the airport about 2 hours ago, and now I'm sitting at Starbucks jacking their internet until mine is set up in my apartment on Tuesday.

Now time to elaborate...

There is absolutely nothing in Kansas. There was one highway we were on forever. We passed an exit sign at the beginning, and at the bottom it said "Next exit: 76 miles". Awesome. We finally got close to the exit and saw a sign that said "Gas-Phone-Food-Lodging". However, when we actually got to the exit, we saw where all of those things used to be. And of course the next exit was 54 miles with the same result. That aside, Kansas is actually quite beautiful.

We bought my furniture on Tuesday night. The man that helped us was a cute elderly German gentleman named Lucky von Riesen. He was so helpful and adorable. My furniture is beautiful. I'll update pictures soon.

Okay, my drug test. Obviously I had to give a urine sample, which I've done before, but this was the most awkward experience ever. First of all, it was two guys. One of them was training the other. He explains everything to me, asks me to remove all my jewelry, and hands me a cup. I have to go in the men's bathroom. I can lock the stall door, but he has to stand in the door to the bathroom to monitor me. I have four minutes to complete the test, and he'll give me a one minute warning. I'm not allowed to flush the toilet or wash my hands. When I'm done, I hand him the cup, and have to sign and read a bunch of stuff. No telling how many people have used those pens without washing their hands. Finally after all of his awkwardness, I'm allowed to go wash my hands, but he has to flush the toilet. I feel like if he hadn't been so awkward about it, it wouldn't have been so bad.

Brighton is such a beautiful place. The people here are all so nice and helpful. I love it here.

I am so freaking excited. I am simply overwhelmed. My apartment looks amazing, and Monday I'm starting the job I've been dreaming about since I was a little girl. (Creepy, I know) All of my hard work has finally paid off! The Lord has blessed me beyond measure. And Dad has given me so much: the plane ticket to interview, plenty to live off of so I can save my first couple of paychecks, an amazing apartment full of beautiful furniture, but mostly the support and encouragement to fulfill my dreams and the Lord's will for my life. I can never thank Dad enough for that. And I will be forever grateful to the Lord for how he has blessed me.

And Barry has been so supportive through the whole thing. I don't know what the Lord's will is for this relationship, but I care about him so much and hope this works out. I could definitely see this working out. :)

Well here we are! You're all updated.

Let the adventure begin!

It's Facebook Official

Okay, so I may or may not be an hour and a half ahead of schedule this morning. Woke up an hour before my alarm, and got ready quicker than I expected. Mom is still in her robe, and I'm totally okay with that.

I updated my Facebook this morning to reflect my new place of residence and my new job. I couldn't help but smile. I'm pretty much the coolest person you've ever met.

This week had definitely been a roller coaster. And while I'm absolutely going to miss people, I know this is exactly where I'm supposed to be. My most difficult good byes were my grandma and the boyfriend. I haven't seen my grandma cry for as long as I can remember, and she teared up 3 times. It almost did me in.

Saying goodbye to Barry was very difficult. I mean, obviously. But I think what made it more difficult is that I got a sense that he doesn't have faith that this can work. "Everyone" has told him he's crazy, and he probably is. But I think he's starting to believe it. The hardest part is that we don't have a long term plan. Our relationship is too young for that. I hope that he'll focus on us and leave "everyone" else to themselves.

But now it's time for an honest to goodness road trip, shopping for brand new furniture, setting up my brand new big girl apartment, and starting my dream job! It's going to be amazing, especially because God has designed it just for me.

Let the adventure begin!

I'm So Old

I went and spoke to my little brother's biology class at my high school alma mater this morning about forensic science. Seeing all my friends younger siblings made me feel so old. Not recognizing them until halfway through my talk made me feel even older. The last time I saw these kids they were in third grade, and now they're sophomores in high school. Also realizing that half the teachers I had are no longer teaching there also made me feel old.

They loved my stories. I talked for almost an hour and a half. Their favorite thing was the anthropology. When they realized that males have a hook on the back of their skull and that they could actually feel it on their own skulls, they got really excited. The girls felt left out. So everyone ended up feeling everyone else's head, including the teacher. That's my favorite. They were full of questions. Some of them were being silly, but I think I handled that well. I actually enjoyed it a lot. I definitely don't think I could be a teacher. God bless those souls who are teachers.

Today is Friday. I move on Monday. I haven't packed. Enough said.

Let the adventure begin.

Xanga For Adults?

So it was suggested to me that I start a blog since I'll be moving to Colorado and getting a new job, etc. Blogspot was recommended, so here I am! It kinda takes me back to middle/ high school when everyone was so into Xanga. Those were the good ole days, weren't they?

But now we're all grown up. Getting jobs, moving away, and some of us are even getting married! Where on earth did the time go? It seems like just yesterday we were all watching Clarissa Explains It All and rocking the jelly shoes...

I move to Colorado in 5 days. I can't even believe it. It's going to be such a change! The culture, the climate, everything. Not to mention I'll be 1,000+ miles from the people most important to me. But this is such an amazing opportunity to have my DREAM job. It's going to be amazing, just different.

I can't believe how much the Lord has blessed me over the last 4 months: amazing friends, family and boyfriend who have been nothing but supportive, an awesome Lifegroup to encourage me, and now this job. It's mind blowing, really.

Well I guess that's it for now. I'll be sure to keep you guys updated as I move to Colorado and start my job.

Let the adventure begin.