Investigator-in-training

About 4 months after losing my Dad and my mother-in-law (both in April 2011), I woke at 2:33am to my dog growling.  He was standing on the foot of my bed, in a fully attentive stance with bristled back, growling at my bedroom doorway.  In the doorway was a man-shaped solid shadow.  No features, but solid black, darker that the open hallway behind it.  Immediately, all I thought of was my children who have bedrooms off the same hallway, and I hurdled myself out of bed at this "person".  But it dissolved in thin air as I reached it.  Only then, did it occur to me that I didn't have an actual human intruder, and contrary to how you might think I would react, I felt oddly at ease, now that I knew we weren't having a home invasion.  I checked the whole house, then went back to bed.  My husband had no idea what I had seen, and I didn't need to get into it at that time.  I told him the next morning, and he didn't say much, but did tell me he believed me.

There are a lot of written sources of information on the paranormal out there...
I have exhausted my local library system of their books (not many to start with),
and so many other books are just collections of stories of hauntings... which really doesn't give me much information to process or new things to learn.
Websites are, well, unreliable at best.  Entertaining for sure, but in the paranormal field, you could find anything out there and it could be fact or fiction.... just not what I am looking for.

If I really wanted to find more information and understanding, I needed to find a paranormal group in my area, and get involved.  This is a first-hand experience kind of thing, but not something you can do by yourself (and my husband and friends are all pretty creeped-out by the whole idea).

In the fall of 2011, I found a lecture offered by a respected non-profit ghost-hunting group in the Sacramento, CA area, and was SO impressed with their knowledge and level-headed approach to their client-based investigations.  I took notes at that lecture like an over-enthusiastic college student.  I stayed and asked questions. I learned a lot, including some recommended books, and respected figures in the paranormal field, historically and modern-day.  And they weren't accepting any member applications.  Pooh.  I tried to find another group in the area with the same non-profit status and ethical values as a group, but had no luck.

I tried to stay in contact with them, hoping to be available whenever they would take on new recruits, e-mailing, following their website and facebook page, and communicating with them.  Then a TAPS Academy lecture was scheduled nearby, and an investigation at Preston Castle (an old, closed-down reform school, an early version of juvenile hall for boys) afterward, and the group I wanted to break into was helping facilitate the event.  I signed up immediately.
Again, I learned a LOT at the lecture portion, including some intriguing quantum physics (and some recommended books on the subject, which are now on my nightstand).
But the investigation at Preston Castle was my first real investigation, and I was SO excited.  I did 8 hours of investigation that night, using my digital recorder and a K2 meter (to detect electro-magnetic field fluctuations, which can be man-made, natural, or also theoretically ghost-related).  I was exhausted, but also felt great... I was learning first-hand what I have been wanting to learn about.  And I needed to continue.

I started to e-mail the group, and finally "broke them down"... they were finally able to take on a new investigator, on a probationary basis.  I completed my application and crossed my fingers....

As part of the fall 2011 lecture, the group offered a recreational (as opposed to client-based) ghost hunt opportunity at a historic hotel in Placerville, CA, just a few weeks after TAPS Academy, and only a few days after I applied to the local group.  Lucky for me, they interviewed me and accepted me as their newest investigator when I arrived for that investigation.

To date, I have caught some interesting EVPs, and have felt and seen some things that I have no explanation for.  But I have also rationally explained some things that had others jumping or claiming "ooo... I think that was a ghost" too.  I like to debunk... find rational explanations for things.  Heck, it's in my genetics to just dissect things until I understand them, so debunking is second-nature.

I have a long way to go, but I finally feel like I'm on my way.
Thanks for following!