Finally in Arizona

We are both, finally here in Arizona. We were able to find someone to rent our place so I packed up everything and Nate came home on Aug. 29 and we packed the truck then left. We got to our new place on the 31st. So now we are here living in Mesa, Arizona and are so excited. Nate is working at the Universtiy of Phoenix, and I am working part time at U.S.A gymnastics. I get to teach levels one, two, and three. And the ages are from 5-12. I'm really excited! If I can't get as many hours at the gym then I want, then I will be looking for another job. Our house is so cute and I am so excited to be living here. It is in a great area and we are a couple of houses down from Nik and Annessa, (Noah's Twin brother and family). We are also only fifteen minutes away from Noah and Giselle. We are excited to see what opportunities this move will bring. And we also want to thank everyone who helped us move, we really appreciate it. As a New September Resolution, or whatever, I, Celeste Fisher, promise to blog so much more than our lame every couple of month blogs. We Love You ALL!!

P.S. I will post more pictures once we have decorated and unpacked everything. Also, just in case you were wondering, those are real Palm trees right in our backyard. just FYI :)

Done With Day 2

Day 2 is over and things are looking good. Today was the physical fitness test at 6:30 this morning. It went really well. I even did better then I thought I would. The minimum standards to pass are 17 push-ups in a minute, 27 sit-ups in a minute, and a 1.5 mile run in 15 minutes and 35 seconds. We started with the push-ups. I paired up with another guy from Utah. I was able to get 59 push-ups done. I figured I'd get somewhere near 40 at the most, but I was shocked that I was able to keep going. It must have been the adrenaline. I had the highest number of push-ups so that was good. I was able to get 41 sit-ups. I thought I would struggle the most with this and would have liked to have done better, but come to find out I was the third highest out of the group. By the way, there was probably 20 guys who were trying. The run was last. This is what I thought I would do best on. To my surprise, it was the hardest thing for me. It could have possibly been the heat, or an all asphalt track, and the fact that we did all three right in a row and I put a lot of effort into the push-ups and sit-ups. I ended up finishing the run in 12 minutes and 6 seconds, so I did really well, but I was in the middle of the group. I was just hoping to one of the leaders, but I guess I shouldn't complain.
An hour after the fitness test I met with Detective France for my background interview. It was about a two and half hour interview where he asked me all kinds of questions about my background. Drug usage, alcohol usage, employment history, criminal history, and all kinds of random questions. It was a little tense because you pretty much have to tell him all the bad things you've done in your life, big and small. Luckily I don't have too much to tell, but it's hard because you're nervous that you might forget about something you did and then remember on the polygraph. They use these notes for the polygraph. It went well and I'm scheduled for the polygraph tomorrow morning at 8. I'm a little nervous but it should be no big deal. This is my last step for this trip. Once this is done, I wait for a couple weeks and they will send me a letter telling me if they are going to continue with the background check, or if they are going to pass. So I'll be on pins and needles waiting for a couple weeks, but hopefully it will all go well.
Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who is supporting me. It really helps a lot to know that all the people I love and care about are pulling for me. Thank you so much for the encouragement. It has given me the extra boost of confidence that I needed. Thank you all so much and I love you all.

Day One Is Over

Just an update on what's happened so far on my police officer journey. Today I took the multiple choice part of the Mesa police exam. It started at 8:30 this morning. It was 2 hours long and 100 questions. The minimum passing score is 70%. It doesn't sound that hard. I thought I would be able to get through it pretty easily. Well, the test was a lot harder than I thought. I was really nervous while taking the test because I wasn't real sure that I was going to pass. It took me one hour and fifty minutes to finish. Luckily, I scored an 81 so I did pass. I was hoping for a higher score but I was just glad I passed it. It was a really hard and intimidating test but now it's over and I'm on to step two.
The second part of the process was an oral board interview test. I met with two officers on the hiring board for the police department. The interview started at 1:30. They asked me 8 questions. Most of them were just like a job interview; Why do you want to be a police officer, what makes you qualified, why are you better then the other candidates, etc. The other two questions were situational questions where they gave me two scenarios and asked how I would respond to each one. I really felt like a did a good job during the interview. I felt like it was easy and I breezed through it. I could be wrong but when I walked out of the interview I knew that I had passed. The two officers met for about ten minutes to discuss my answers then called me back in. They told me that I had passed and would be moving on to the next step. I asked if they could tell me what I scored on the interview but they could not tell me. Hopefully I got a high score. I really felt like I did.
So the next step is tomorrow morning at 6:30. It's the physical fitness portion of the test. I'm not really worried because I can do the minimum pretty easily. I'm just going to push myself to try and get a really good score that will look better to the hiring board. I'll let you know what happens. So far so good though.

Mesa Police Exam here I come!

The time has finally come. I leave for Mesa on Friday to finally take the police exam. I've been waiting for what seems like forever, but it's finally here. I'm starting to get nervous now because I've been planning for the future as if I passed the test so it would be quite a disappointment if I don't pass.

Just thought I'd go through the process of what's going to happen over the next week and a half. I'll try to be brief so this doesn't turn into a book. Here's what each day looks like.

Saturday July 12th--Test workshop. A three hour class to go over the testing process and strategies to pass.

The actual testing process begins on Monday. The first test I take is a written multiple choice and reading and writing test. This will test my short term memory, reasoning, common sense and observasional skills. This is the test I'm most nervous about. It's not something you can really study for. I have a prep guide but it just goes over strategies and test taking techniques. With this test it's almost like either you got it, or you don't. Right after I finish this test, it will be scored and if I pass I will be scheduled for an interview test with two or three hiring officers.

In the interview test I'll be asked situational questions, what would you do if... They will also ask about my personal character. Basically just like a job interview. It's a chance for me to convince them I'm a qualified candidate. The officers will also score this right away. If I pass, I move on.

The next step is the physical fitness test. This will be the day after the written and interview test, Tuesday morning most likely. I'm pretty comfortable with this test. I have to do 17 push-ups in a minute, 27 sit-ups in a minute, and 1.5 mile run in 15 minutes. Doesn't sound too difficult does it? I've been working out the past couple of weeks and should be able to get through this done with no problems.

After the fitness test I will be scheduled for a psychological exam and a polygraph test during the following few days. Once those are done and they will begin an extensive background check. This is when the waiting game begins. The background check can take anywhere from 2 to 4 months. They'll be contacting old neighbors, teachers, employers, co-workers, family, friends, anyone who I may have had contact with. So if someone calls you and asks questions about me, be sure to talk me up. I could use the help.

Once that is all done and they determine I am a qualified candidate, I will be placed on an "acceptable list". The hiring detectives will refer to this list as they are filling spots for the upcoming academy classes. Hopefully everything will go well and I will be in the next academy class that starts in January.

That's it. No big deal right? It's a pretty quick and easy process. I'm excited to get started with it at least. If at any point I don't pass one of the steps then the process stops. I can retest but there is a waiting period of either 3 or 6 months. Not sure. Hopefully all will go well and I'll be starting my lawenforcement career in January. Just wanted to let everyone know what i'll be doing the next week and a half. Wish me luck!!

Girls Camp!!

As many of you may know I was released as the Young Women's President a couple of weeks ago. It truly has been tougher than I thought. I miss all of my girls and the leaders that I have worked with. Well this past week it was girls camp!! It was held at Heber Valley Girls Camp and it was so AMAZING!! I was only able to go up for the last day, but I had so much fun. When I first got there we went on a two mile hike, which is where I realized that I am out of shape, (I tried not to show it though). After the hike we were able to eat lunch and have some free time, where we could talk and hang out. I had so much fun hanging out with all the girls and doing crafts. Later that evening we had some awesome dutch oven dinner before testimony meeting. Testimony meeting was and has always been an incredible thing. I was so proud of my girls and the things that they shared. They have such strong spirits and are great examples to me and other girls. I am really sad that I was not able to go up for the whole week, but that one day was so much fun!!! I have loved this ward, calling, and the girls and leaders that I have had so many great experiences with.

Update

Obviously we're not the best bloggers ever seeing that it's been over a month since my last post, so I'll have to update things a bit. Not even sure where to start. Celeste and I are playing a waiting game right now. We're kind of in between a few different things right now. I'm still planning on going to Mesa, AZ and applying with the police department. They just posted their next test date which is June 28. I'll be heading down for a week or so to go through the whole testing process. There is five or six different steps in the whole process. I'm trying to prepare myself now by getting in better shape and learning as much as I can. If everything goes well and I get accepted into the POST program, I'll start the academy in January. Celeste and I have been trying to decide what to do until then. I had a phone interview the University of Phoenix to work for them as an enrollment counselor and we are waiting to hear back from them. I've heard that they are going to offer me a job, but they have to do a background check and they are still in the process of doing that. If it all goes through, we'll be moving down there as soon as possible. In the mean time, I just started a new job here a couple weeks ago working for a company called North American Services Group. They are an industrial cleaning company. Right now I'm working out at the smelter for Kennicot copper mine. It's pretty crazy out there. I have to wear a facemask with a respirator pretty much all day. I work a pretty crazy schedule too. I wake up at 4 am so I can be up there by 5. I'm supposed to get off at 2 pm but most days I'm there until 5 pm. Twice I've had to work until 10 pm and don't get home until 11:30, but the overtime pay is great. It's a pretty crazy job that I didn't think I'd ever do, but I can deal with it because it's a temporary thing. If I don't get the job at University of Phoenix, then we'll stay here and I'll find something a little less crazy. My biggest hope is that everything goes well with the police officer testing. That would be a dream come true for me. I've always pictured myself doing that. I have what I like to call a hero complex. I've always wanted to be a "hero" and help people. I'm excited and nervous about it all at the same time. As I said with all of this going on right now, we're playing a waiting game. I think we'd both like to have a baby but we feel like we need to wait until we know what's going to happen in the next year or so. I was told it's best not to have a baby while I'm in the academy because I can't miss very many days. So once I know if I get accepted or not we can know if we should wait or not. That's the latest and greatest with us. We'll keep things updated a little better as things come up. Wish us luck!

Mesa Arizona

As many of you know I was in Mesa this last weekend to check out the police department about getting a job. I went down on Thursday night and stayed with Nik and Anissa Rasheta. Nik is Noah's twin brother in case you didn't know that. That night we just spent the night talking and I asked a bunch of questions about being a police officer. Friday morning Nik and I went to the police station and he gave me a tour. I also was able to talk to a recruiting officer. She told me it's a good time to be applying. The city needs to hire 100 new officers this year so she said as long as I'm not a dough head, things look good for me. Good news. That night we picked Noah up at the airport and spent the rest of the night at home. Saturday we went and played sand volleyball for Anissa's birthday. It was a lot of fun. Afterwards we went to Anissa's sisters house and jumped in her pool. Nik and I changed there and went to the station for Nik's shift. I did a ride along with him for his entire shift, 3 pm to 1 am, that night. It was a lot of fun. It was a busy night and we kept getting call after call. We didn't really get to do anything too crazy though. We did bust a girl for possession of cocaine though. All in all it was a good night for me and it pretty much just sealed the deal for me. I'll probably go down around August/Sept to go through the testing and application process. Then I'll hopefully start the academy down there in March. I could start the academy as early as Dec. but for Celeste's sake we'll hope that I can start a few months later. In the end it was a lot of fun. I loved the city and the area down there and think it's the perfect place to live for Celeste and I. Big thanks to Nik and Anissa for letting me come and stay with them and for taking care of me for the weekend.