It's been a LONG while!... over 3 years to be exact!

It's been a LONG while!... over 3 years to be exact!

So much has happened in my time away from the blog.  Hubby made a department change, I made a job change and we bought a house... just to name a few.....

 Hubby has been with his new department for over a year now. This move was necessary for our family life and our marriage.  The commute was wearing on both of us (him especially) and the dept that hired him and put him thru the academy has their officers begin in the jail, like many county law enforcement departments do.  This was a great learning experience for both of us. He very much enjoyed his time there, met lots a wonderful people and really grew in his law enforcement career. Hubby had no interest however in staying in a jail for his career. He always wanted to be a police officer on the streets. So I knew he would end up patrolling streets, I just didn't want him in the city where he was in the jail.  So he began putting in applications to make a move to a dept closer to home and to patrol the streets. 

 It was a dream and long term goal for him to work in the town where he grew up.  Unfortunately for me, it wasn't my first pick because we raise our family there.  I had heard so many stories, and I of course had my own stories of horror in my mind. Along the application process with the other departments he applied  I spoke to so many officers, officers wives and so on about him working in the town we live in.   The main consensus was that it was not a problem and all had lots of wonderful things to say.  There are many officers that live and work in the town we live in.  Although not so small any more, it still feels like a small town where everybody knows each other some way or some how.  In all my conversations there was one thing that stuck out to me and I called Hubby that day to give him the "OK" to move forward with his application in our hometown.  A fellow police wife and friend said, "He WILL work Christmas, some day. At least if he's in town he can come home for dinner." This was huge for me.  As you may have read in previous posts Christmas is my favorite holiday and it's one that we always host as well.  Up to this point we had probably been the luckiest law enforcement family EVER, for his first 3 years he didn't work a Christmas.   

So it was decided, he would apply to work in the town we live.....He was very excited about this but I had my reservations.