Big Milestone

It began on February 23, 2009. With a number of little milestones behind me I still had yet one more big milestone to pass. After almost two months my hard work paid off on April 15, 2009. I passed my National Registry EMT-B Exam certifying me to be an EMT-B anywhere in the United States.


I am ecstatic, yet it seems so surreal to me still! I would have never dreamed of getting to where I am now in the short amount of time that I did. My training is definitely not over, but has become a lifelong training of learning and gaining new skills and experience. I am excited to put what I learned into practice to help other people in need.

Current Certifications/Trainings

EMT-B
Wilderness EMT
Medical Person in Charge
Wilderness First Responder
Whitewater Rescue Technician
Fire Fighter I Training
First Aid
CPR

No matter what age you are, everybody still dreams. Go after your dreams! The road might be long and it might be difficult, but there are rest stops along the way and the destination is more than you ever dreamed it would be. And even if you don't fully reach your dreams, the journey is worth every step because that is what molds you.

"It's not the destination that is important, it's the journey"

in⋅tim⋅i⋅date – verb:

to make timid; fill with fear; the feeling of discouragement in the face of someone's superior fame or wealth or status etc.

I can't remember a time in recent years where I felt as intimidated as I did when I entered the classroom for the orientation of a 3-day Whitewater Rescue course and saw more than a dozen of middle-aged men sitting around the tables, creating a U-shape, filling the room. As much as I tried to mask the fear in my eyes it could have easily been cut with a knife it was so thick. Taking a seat and trying to avoid eye contact with anybody I learned that the majority of the men present were river guides from Solitude Float Trips in the Grand Teton National Park. The other men that made up the remainder of the group were two fire fighters and four BYU-Idaho Recreation faculty members. I was the ONLY girl and the ONLY person with basically no experience on whitewater.

I began to wonder, "Why am I here?" "Do I really need to take this course?" "Will this course really help or make a difference in my future desired profession?" "Will I even use these skills?" "Could I get a full refund if I dropped out tonight?" . . . "I don't want to be the one who impeeds everybody else's learning because of my lack of experience." "I am sure everybody already knows the basics of whitewater rescue and are looking for more advance techniques but won't be able to because of me..."

My mind was reeling. I seriously contemplated excusing myself from this course. Despite the intimidation that was weighing on my chest like a ton of bricks causing the labored pounding of my heart to echo in my ears, I held strong; 3 days strong. And I don't regret one minute of it.

Most members of my team that I worked the closest with during the course. I am on the left fully decked out in my wetsuit that amazingly kept me warm in near freezing water temperatures.

The gang rigging up a Z-Drag to pull an entrapped kayak out of the water. Note the snow in the background; we had received several inches days before the course began.

The next two days on the river were extremely educational as they were filled with an in-depth look at reading water, recognizing and avoiding hazards, quick rescue techniques, boat-based rescues, dealing with boat wraps and entrapments, technical rescue systems, and a varity of practical scenarios. Not only did I learn many valuable skill and techniques, but I gained a new confidence in myself with this additional life-saving knowledge that has allowed me to be that much more prepared in the case of a white/swift water emergency.

I am grateful for the patience of my fellow classmates as well as their desire for me to learn and succeed right along next to them. I am grateful for my instructors from Montana River Guides who were able to meet the needs and educational desires of everybody despite what level of training they previously had. And I am grateful for all the encouragement and support I received from others which gave me the additional courage to face my fears and do it anyway!

One Day of Permission

There is only ONE day a year that I have permission to pull pranks without getting in trouble. I take advantage of this day as much as I can! This year was no different; I had a hay-day. Everybody who found out about the pranks I had up my sleeve all said the same thing, "Poor Krissy." Yes, poor Krissy is right. To no fault of her own (except her choosing to live under the same roof as me) was the target of the majority of my pranks. Here's how it went down, prank by prank:

1. Vinegar in Krissy's nalgene bottle: I ended up doing this twice because I wasn't sure if my first attempt worked. In Krissy's own words to my first attempt, "I didn't drink the water, I SPIT IT OUT!" Unfortunately I got a little too vinegar happy the second time in which Krissy detected it immediately after unscrewing the top, BUT she was out of a nalgene bottle to drink from while at school all day long.

2. Food coloring in Krissy's washer fluid: I give myself a pat on the back for how smooth I was with this prank. Not knowing if we had washer fluid in the garage or not, but knowing that Krissy organized it while I was gone, I asked Krissy if we had any. We both went out to the garage and found it. I then asked, "I'm filling up the washer fluid in my truck, would you like me to put some in yours a well?" BINGO! As her back was turned out came the food coloring. Smoooooth. (She still hasn't discovered her altered washer fluid color yet).

3. Surran wrap over the toilet seat: Classic prank I know, but I've never done it before. I thought I'd give it a shot. It back-fired. After coming home from school she was quite cautious due to the two vinegar incidents - cautious enough to see the surran wrap over the toilet. She took it off, relieved herself, and then put it back in to try and get me to fall for my own prank. Not so much.

4. Surran wrap on her Conditioner and Shampoo bottles: I unscrewed the tops of her conditioner and shampoo bottles and put a double layer of surran wrap over the hole, then screwed the tops back on. She hasn't discovered this yet because....well....she hasn't showered since that morning.

5. Frozen toothbrushes: I took her toothbrushes (yes, that is plural because she has several) and put them in a cup full of water and stuck it in the freezer. I was not home when she went to bed and so I sent her a text telling her to look in the freezer before going to bed. She apparently had tried to go into my room to search for her toothbrushes (but I had locked it) and then remembered that she had one more toothbrush that I happened to miss.

6. Short sheeted her bed: Another successful prank. Her only comment on this prank the next morning was, "Good thing I'm already short!"

7. Exhaust pipe: This is one of my all-time favorite pranks. It works everytime! Krissy was nervous about me doing something else to her car and so she made sure she locked it. Right after I asked if she had a potato. She willingly and without question gave one to me. I cut a hole in the middle, stuck a whistle into the hole, went into the garage and shoved the potato into her exhaust pipe. She didn't use her car until the next morning when she left for class. I was in the kitchen when she left and as she drove off I could hear the sweet music of that whistle blowing. I was on the floor laughing! Later I asked her how her car was and her reply, "What did you do to it!?! It makes a weird whistling sound now!"

8. Squirter: I put a rubber band around the squirter in the kitchen sink and aimed it just right so when Krissy turned on the water it would be a direct hit, no fail. She still won't admit that she was tagged by the water, but there is no way around it. She kept the rubber band on the squirter to try to get me to fall for this prank as well, but again...not so much.

Other pranks to another person:

1. Exhaust pipe: I put a balloon over my friend's exhaust pipe. In effect the balloon was to fill up with exhaust and then pop to simulate a tire popping. It failed miserably.

2. Shredded paper: I was going to put shredded paper into the vents of the car, but the vents were doubled layered - vents horizontal and then vents vertical. I couldn't get the vents off or put the shredded paper into the vents. I ended up stuffing the shredded paper between the ceiling of the car and the visor, so when the visor was pulled down all the shredded paper would fall out. This was a success!

3. Vinegar in the water bottles that were in the car

4. Food coloring in the washer fluid

I had a lot more ideas written down on a piece of paper that I wanted to do but I didn't have enough prep time the day before to get everything ready to go through with them. All in all I had a great time with the pranks that I did. It is still fun because some of them haven't been discovered yet and so it has been an ongoing thing, which makes it all the more entertaining.

Whoever created and established April 1st and April Fools Day....THANKS!