About Me

I am no stranger to living in the world of firefighting.  My father has been a firefighter for 37 years and I grew up living the lifestyle of a fireman’s daughter.  Man, did I love it.  My dad was the coolest, everyone loved firefighters.  When my dad and the other firemen would come to school in the fire truck to teach us about fire safety, the kids thought I was the coolest kid in the class.  When my mom would take us to the store and a fire engine would be there shopping for the night’s supper, we would chat with the firemen and everyone would stare.  When I went to high school, it was still cool to have a fireman as a dad. I would take friends over to the firehouse for dinner and hang out.  However, this also meant that firefighters knew me, so if I was somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be usually my dad would receive a phone call and I would fess up and be grounded.  When I married my husband 13 years ago, he was an electrician but he knew that he was supposed to contribute to this life differently.  So, one year ago he applied and was accepted into the spring 2014 fire academy at Poudre Fire Authority.  Now, I am a wife of a fireman and the lifestyle is a little different.  I am now responsible for the household 24-hours a day and sometimes longer if my husband is running late on a call or is called in for overtime. I am a single mom to two beautiful boys on some days and nights and will spend holidays alone and acting as Santa Clause without the support of a partner.  I look back on my childhood and cannot believe that my mom has done this and is still raising five kids and our families.  How did she do it all these years?  How did she hold the household together?  How can I be like her with only two kids?  Why were there not more places for spouses, partners, and families to share resources and support one another?

I want to share my life experiences from planning birthday parties, finding good daycares and schools, and how to maintain a strong faith in God, your marriage, and this profession that is so demanding.  I hope through my blog posts, we can grow together and become stronger supporters to the men and women behind the boots.