This is going to be long

HI! I'm alive! I'm so not good at this blogging thing. So, let's catch up shall we?

Work is amazing. I LOVE, absolutely LOVE my job. I mainly do case work for SLANT(state-line anti narcotics team) but also help them with busts. When we do a bust I help them go through all the evidence, look for any ties to other cases/suspects we have and so on. Analyst work. The more I see what they do and the more I work with these guys, the MORE I want to be a cop. I'm trying but with one department laying off 21-35 cops next month and the state not looking to hire until next year, it's kinda tough. So I'm working on improving my scores for testing and being as prepared as I can be. I'm also abusing this job and taking all the training, classes, experience they'll give me. I take my POWER(Police Officer Wellness Evaluation Report) next month which is 1.5 mi run(easy peasy) 1 bench press, 31 sit ups and a sit 'n' reach. Once I finish that I will test with a PD in December and hopefully again in Jan. Someday....

Today I ran another 5K. I got a personal record(PR) of 34:47. Which surprised me because it was COLD! I'm talking probably freezing or less, but oh well. I "ran for the athletes" with the Aurora, IL police department. We raised $9,000 for the 2011 IL Special Olympics. The best part was when the last runner crossed the finish, he was a teenage boy with special needs. I had passed him and his mom as she helped him with his inhaler and he gave me a high five. I told him to keep going. 30 minutes or so later, he came around the bend for the last 1/4 of a mile, the police department and fire department ran around and formed a group around him and he started running, they encouraged him the whole way. Every person who was there crowded the finish line; clapping, cheering, whistling and he sprinted. He crossed the finish and threw his hands up in the air in victory. It was amazing. And some race photos.





















Lastly, my spaghetti recipe by request. We like spicy but I wanted to make sure it tasted "italian" so here's the list of what I used.

Jar of generic meat sauce
1 lb of ground beef(browned)
1 bag of pepperonis(chopped)
Now, spices are approximate, I recommend using them to taste.
1 Tbsp basil
1 tbsp Oregano
1 Tbsp Cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp Chili powder
1/2 Tbsp sea salt
1 Tsp black pepper
1 clove garlic
1/2 white onion(minced)
1/4 C of low fat cream cheese to make it creamy(Thanks Maria for the tip!)

I browned the ground beef then threw everything in the crockpot, put it on low for 4 hours then warm until dinner. It was amazing and it got the husbands seal of approval(which is huge b/c he has no taste buds/sense of smell).

Now I'm off to nap then out with friends later. Have a great weekend!