Disguised blessings?

Sometimes blessings come in disguise. Had I not been turned down by one of the police agencies I applied at in September I would not have come across a job posting that my local city has posted for a Public Information Officer position. I came across the position last Sunday while looking at a website that I had been referred to after being turned down by the aforementioned police agency.

The reason this interests, and excites, me is because of my college education, prior work experience, and where we live. For those who don't know I studied broadcast journalism/public relations in college and worked for nearly 5 years at a major market tv and radio news station. Plus it's for a position in the city where I currently reside.

Keep in mind that I've only applied for this position and have yet to even be interviewed. I'm hoping for that interview so that I may be able to list what I can offer to the position and hopefully obtain it. It will be nice to finally be doing something with my college education and I won't feel that my time in school was wasted. Wish me luck.

October 2009

October has come and gone. I'm another year older and still working at the same job I had at the beginning of the month. I had prospects with 4 law enforcment agencies at the beginning of the month but, now those aren't looking too good. The local Sheriff's department had hoped to hire some recruits to start in October but that was put on hold because funding from the federal government hasn't come through. The city of Casa Grande told me that I neglected to submit an information packet along with my application, so I wasn't chosen for that either. I was told that out of the nearly 200 applicants only 78 had submitted the necessary packet. I didn't feel too bad after hearing that. Oh well, lesson learned. Another agency, Chandler City, had told me that I failed the report writing part of their test. I have no way to know if it was due to grammar or lack of experience in report writing. Then finally Border Patrol for the northern border. I passed the test, which was very difficult, and am still waiting to hear back from them. Ideally I would like the Border Patrol because it could possibly enable us to move closer to family.

Halloween was good. Darcy dressed as Snow White and I procrastinated and waited until the day before Halloween to get a costume. It all worked out though.

I'm looking forward to being able to spend time with family this Thanksgiving. I've also got a few other potential career prospects and hope that things go well for me.

September '09

It appears Darcy has been updating this blog. I'm going to add some comments myself. September was an up and down month for me.

As many of you know I have been applying for law enforcement jobs left and right when positions open up. At the beginning of September I was excited because I came across two agencies that were hiring. One agency I completed the physical fitness requirements with no problem and the testing with no problem, or so I thought. I received an email a few weeks after testing that I had not been selected because, "all report writing tests have been graded from this recruitment and your report writing test did not meet the minimum standards to pass." I'm still shaking my head at this because I wrote my report similar to the example they had at the test and the instructions said that I didn't need to have experience in report writing. I can only think that my grammar may have been bad. I know that my english grammar is not the best at times but, as one who studied journalism & public relations in college, it is decent. I was told I could reapply in the Spring of 2010.

The second agency turned me down and I later found out why. I needed to submit a background packet with my application. Keep in mind all other agencies I've applied with have asked for this packet much later in the hiring process. Needless to say I didn't submit the packet and was therefore turned down for the position. Lesson learned. I will pay more attention in the future.

There is a good side to things though. I did apply for a federal law enforcement position, which I took an extremely difficult test for, and passed the initial test. It wasn't a very high score but nevertheless I did pass. This is a position that could possibly enable Darcy and I to move closer to family so it's the one I'm wanting the most. Cross your fingers for me.

Utah football has started and the Utes are off to a 3-1 record so far. No BCS bowl this year but keep up the winning and we'll see you in Las Vegas in the post season. Go Utes!

Life...

Okay, so I have gotten a lot of harassment lately about not updating my blog. Well I have two words...Life happens. So I left off with coaching baseball and my wonderful bruise and that was in May.

The last day of school I went to Amazing Jake's with the Jr. High kids and while I was there I received a call from my step-dad saying my mom was in surgery getting her kidney transplant! Then I got 2 more calls, one offering me a job in Tooele, Ut and another offering me a job in Maricopa.

So school ended in June and I took a new job at a different school working in the same buildings that I have worked in for the last 2 years. I helped Legacy move out for a week and then flew to Utah for 3 weeks to help my mom recover. The week I came back I immediately started working with Pathway Preparatory Academy (my new job) trying to get things up and running cause it was a new school this year. I left for Girl's camp for a week and then had to report to work for a mandatory 2 weeks training before school started.

Needless to say - I didn't really get a summer break this year. Last year I caught up my blog during the summer and this year I didn't have time at all!!

So now school has started, I am teaching mostly grades 3-8, I am the athletic director, I'm coaching volleyball, and I am still in charge of Activity Days for our primary. So I am still extremely busy. I do love my new job though; I actually enjoy going to work again! In a nutshell that is what is going on in my life.

Brad on the other hand is just working - still printing checks - and working out daily. He is really trying to get back in shape and has been taking physical tests for several law enforcement agencies around the valley. When he first started he had to take them 2-3 times but now when an agency advertises they have openings he can pass the test on the first try! I am really proud of him! We just keep hoping one will come through.

All in all we are doing well, just keeping busy and moving forward.

Coaching Baseball

1 pitching machine + 1 6'0" 160 lbs homerun hitter = A bruise on Darcy's thigh.

Friends are the best!

Of course I can't post about a trip to see my friends without pics of the friends!

Me, Jenny, and Karrie with our all to famous disgusting picture!

March Madness

So my cat thinks she can do what ever she wants. I had my shorts on the bed and she decided to climb up and get in them and just hang out.

My friend Krystal had never walked around the Hoover dam so when we were coming back from Utah we stopped and stretched our legs cause it was a beautiful day!

Progress on the new bridge...I can't wait until it is finished cause we got stuck for an hour in traffic both ways!

The beginnings of girls camp. Our first pre-hike. (I totally just descovered a new feature with verizon that I can send pics to my on line account and play with them before I save them - way too much fun!)

Spring Break in Utah

This is my younger brother Daniel who can grow a full on beard over night!

While I was in Utah my family went bowling and teen wolf barely beat me!

So Brad decided he wanted a hat signed by the Utah Football Team and I waited in the bookstore line for 45 min and gave up. I went to the other side of the line and had one guy sign it - the first guy you see in the pic is actually the last guy who was signing stuff and he looked bored so I asked if he would sign it so I didn't have to wait in line. So ya...the whole thing was pointless, I waited in line forever and got one scribble on a hat from a guy who we don't even know.

The main reason for going to Utah over spring break wasn't to go somewhere cold while everyone else was going somewhere warm...my best friend's little sister was getting married.

Congrats Bethany and Tory!

Fashion Show

The Stake we are in decided to do a fashion show throughout the century and I was asked to be in it and I chose a hideous (not my color) dress just so I could do the hair!

This was the first one I tried on but it was a bit tight around my rib cage so I called my friend Kristal to try it on and it fit her perfect - I love this polyester suit!

Full body shot - yuck! I really hate pleats - nothing against the dress I just don't do pleats and this was a time period where they didn't show off the body and any way shape or form -Frumpy is a good word to describe it.

These two shots are of the whole group. We had so much fun and it turned out great!

I think my favorite is the 80's chick or the polyester 60's - 70's suits.

Renaissance Festival

The Festival was about an hour drive from our house and it was worth checking out - we only went cause we had discount tickets but it ended up being a lot of fun.

If you look to the right of the picture you can see two girls in stocks they were getting drenched with water and it wasn't very warm at the time.

This was a joust to the death! (reenactment of course)

More jousting - our side was rooting for the emerald and silver guy.

I have always loved the word "Didgeridoo" and we saw a whole bunch of them and had to take pictures!

Yep there were elephant and camel rides too! Those things are huge!!

Pictures from the last month

These girls are my cousins that I grew up with (they lived a block away from me) we had so much fun and we had the chance to meet up again in Kingman a week ago and it was so good to see them again! I even got a drink named after me at the DamBar & Steakhouse - if you ever go there ask for the DamDarcy Lemonade - it is fantastic! We had such a good time.

Sorry these next pics are kinda gross but some people asked me to post them because they wanted to see them. I had knee surgery Jan. 16th and am doing really well now but here are some of the pics of what I first saw when I took off my bandages.

The writing on my knee says, "Yes" and my initials "DE" so they could make sure they were getting the right knee under the knife.

For our 3rd anniversary Brad took me to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake and we had a very nice candlelit dinner with this as our view. It was so sweet of him and I am so lucky to have a husband who loves me so much and does so much for me!

So we decided that since we were in Utah we HAD to go sledding - I don't know why the picture turned out so blue but you can get the gist of what we were doing. It was fun but WAY to cold!

Slacker... I know!

So I have been so incredibly busy lately. We went to Utah the first week of January because my mom was suppose to have her kidney transplant but it didn't work out (we enjoyed being with family anyway though). Then as soon as I got back - literally - softball started and I went straight to practice from the airport. That has kept me really busy and on top of it all I finally had my knee surgery. Some day I will get caught up on posts and pictures but probably not until this summer! My knee is great though, it is just a little stiff from a bit of swelling that hasn't gone all the way down, but it hasn't hurt really at all! I am so lucky and I can't wait to be able to jump and use stairs again without pain!!!!! YEAH!!!! Anyway just a quick update from the Ellis home.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve in Ajo Santa visits the town square. He appears in the bell tower and then rides in his sleigh down the street to the main center of the square where everyone can see him and get a goodie bag.

This pic of the bell tower was taken with my phone too while we were waiting for Santa.There is Santa appearing in the bell tower.

They have the Jr. Cheerleaders walk in front of the sleigh and cheer Santa on.

Here is Santa in his sleigh - the kids love it!I am the one in the big blue coat getting my goodie bag - we got an apple, orange, cracker jacks and a chocolates. I love small town Christmas celebrations!

Gifts and the bonfire

This is what we give to the Moore family and after I made it I think I am seriously going to make us one because it turned out way cuter than I expected. It is something they can use for birthdays, baptisms, something they did well at school, etc. I got the idea off of the "As You Wish" website and my friend helped me by cooking it at work (she is an art teacher).
This is our new Christmas gift - a nice counter height 9 piece new table and chair set (we actually got it used from a friend's mom who is getting remarried and has to consolidate and had to get rid of it so she gave it to us for a really good price) we love it!!
This is our other Christmas present - we really needed a more reliable car and we found a good deal on a Honda Civic so we took it. Brad is letting me drive it and I love it!
My car hit 200,000 like 2 weeks ago so I had to take a picture of it. All the pictures in this post are from my new phone - I just wanted to point that out for fun.

When we got to Ajo on the 23rd we had a huge bonfire. Scott and his brother spent like all morning gathering big logs and building a huge tepee type structure to burn. Like 25 people came and we had hot chocolate, candy canes, and cookies. It was so cool.
You can see a surburben behind the bonfire in this picture.
This pic has Brad standing in front of the bonfire as close as he could stand cause it was way hot.

This was right after we lit it so it was still growing.

Some more catching up...

Halloween - what more can I say? I have awesome hair!So I didn't plan on dressing up for Halloween but last minute I remembered my favorite thing to do in high school to dress up is to rat my hair crazy big... so I did it again. The sad thing is that it takes me less time to do this to my hair than it does to straighten it in the morning.

For Christmas this year we went to visit our AWESOME friends in Ajo! (Thanks so much for inviting us down!) We had a lot of fun. On Christmas Eve we went coyote hunting and Brad and I each got one. (I will try to post the video of us hunting when I get it.) For those of you who are not from around here coyotes are over populated and carry diseases and so it is encouraged to kill them.

The Moore boys and the bubble grill.


So I am sure you have heard plenty about our cat, well Scott thought it would be funny to get Brad a giant book of Cats. (I got the terror furball for him because he loves cats so much.) The latest on Holly is that she chewed the lights on the Christmas tree 3 times (and Brad spliced them back together) , one day we came home and the tree was no longer standing vertically it was now horizontally flat on the ground - she completely knocked it over, and last but not least - SHE ATE MY NEW PHONE CHARGER! I had to go by a new one for $40 and I had only had the new phone for 2 weeks.

Labor Day - Tombstone

So I just realized how much I haven't posted. I have been so busy with school and now I am coaching the Jr. High girl's basketball team that I haven't done much else. I am going to try to catch up for a little bit.

Well...for Labor Day (ya I know it was clear back in September) we decided to go to Tombstone with some friends. We then went to get something to eat and explore things. Shot some guns and went on a mine tour. All in all it was worth a day to go and see it but I doubt we will be going back terribly soon.

Funny story though, so we knew Brad's grandma's birthday was coming up so we thought it would be nice to send her a postcard to say Happy Birthday. Well we got a generic one that said Tombstone on it and had a few pictures and wrote a little message on the back saying we were thinking of her and wanted to wish her a happy birthday. Well Brad's family took her out for breakfast and when they brought her back home she was disappointed that everyone was leaving so soon and then started complaining about a few things. At the end of her complaint list she added, "And Brad and Darcy sent me a post card with a tombstone on it because they think I am so old I need a tombstone!" When I found out I started laughing so hard because that isn't what we meant at all. I felt really bad (Brad thinks we should go to Death Valley for Christmas :)Thats right the blue paint was mine and yes I meant to hit one in the head the other 4 were all in the heart. I love shooting!

These are some pics from the Boothill Cemetery.
I peeled this prickly pear fruit with my fingernails and then ate a bite of it off of the cactus. They aren't very good warm - try 'em cold.

My CRAZY Family

Now you can see where I get it from...This is my dad and brothers hanging out on a ledge in southern Utah.
My dad and brothers playing with dolls in a department store (mind you I was not with them at this time - they were completely without supervision).

This is me and my brothers and yes I do have a freakishly long tongue.

These are pics of my dad who is obsessed with orange more than I am obsessed with purple. The top one is him snowboarding (he is the one who taught me how to board) and the bottom is when he died his hair neon orange this summer. His nick name is Caption Orange and its even on his license plate as "Capt O" he is really obsessed.

These are my brothers who are twins just "hanging out" on some rocks. Notice the crossed legs in the top picture he was trying to show how comfortable he was.
Now you can all understand why I am a little different - its genetic :)

The Wave

My Dad

Me taking a snack break.

My little brother Zach trying to look cool.

Us after the hike

So the first week of August my Dad, 2 of my brothers, and I decided to go hiking in southern Utah near Big Water, UT to this place called The Wave. It is incredible! I know this is like 2 months late but I had to post them because they are awesome pics (don't know why they posted so small sorry). You have to get a permit to hike here and they have a random drawing (lottery type style) every morning they day before you want to go. My dad didn't get a permit on the online lottery so they went and camped out and waited the morning before we went and got one!
I was so tired when we got to the top so I took a little nap in this amazing place!
Notice the blue skies? Right after we took pics - we were there probably 10 min - it started to cloud up and looked like it was going to storm bad so my dad bolted and started running back and we all tried to catch up. It was a tad bit frightening but way fun.

This is a pic of the 4 of us before we started the hike. We almost didn't make it because it had rained the night before and the road there had this big wash which filled with water and we couldn't get our cars over. Then this Durango pulled up (they were renting it) and the ranger convinced them that they could make it over so we all piled in the Durango and crossed it (some crossed by foot and then got in). I think there were 10 people in there, 2 from London, 2 from Germany, 2 from Florida, 2 from Colorado, 1 from Utah, and me from Arizona. It was so fun!This is a picture of us in front of the big wash.

Random Picture

So I was tagged by Scott and Candice Moore to post a random picture. So to play the game go to your Picture File and pick the 4th file open it and pick the 4th picture and then write a post about it.

This pic is of Brad and me in front of the Pantheon in Rome. We were trying to balance on this ball thing in front of the building - it took a couple of tries to get a good pic. Oh and I just have to add that I am so incredibly excited that Rome is getting a Temple!! They have been working so hard over there to have one in their own country and they deserve it so much. We are going to try and go back again to see it!

I tag Jeff & Marni, Tracy, Karrie, and Gailine

The 3 Day

Ok so I need help! I am trying to do The 3 Day where I walk 60 miles in 3 days but I only have 7 weeks left and I am no where near the fundraising goal I have to have to participate. I am planning a couple of fundraisers in the next couple of weeks and one is next week at Applebee's in Awatukee on Wednesday Oct. 1st from 5-8 p.m. It is called Dine to Donate and they will give me 10% of the bill from every customer who brings in one of my flyers. I tried to attach a flyer to this post but I couldn't figure it out so if you want one leave me a comment with your e-mail address and I will e-mail you a flyer. Thanks so much to all who can help! Also if you can't make it to one of my fundraisers but would still like to help visit this website:

http://08.the3day.org/goto/darcy.ellis

Thanks again so much for any help you can give!
(all donations go to the breast cancer foundation)