Tom and Dana Wallace both drive white Ford Crown Victorias, not exactly the car of choice for couples in their mid-20s. But the vehicles come with their jobs.
His has a blue Orem police logo on the sides. Hers has gold Utah Highway Patrol beehives on the doors. He is a police officer. She is a state trooper.
While there are scores of two-parent working families in Utah, there aren't many in which husband and wife both wear badges and chase bad guys for a living.
The Wallaces get a double dose of high stress, job satisfaction and low pay.
"I don't know how we make it work. We just do," Dana said. "Like everyone else, you find a way to make it work because you have to."
The police cruisers are not often home at the same time. Dana, 25, currently is working the swing shift; Tom, 25, is on graveyards. Sometimes he manages only three hours of sleep. Their schedules are usually offset to allow at least one of them to be with their 10-month-old daughter, Jade. When that isn't possible, Dana's younger sister fills the gap as a baby sitter.
Despite the daily anxiety of being cops, they say the most difficult thing about their profession is finding family time.
"It's hard to get a couple of days to get together," Tom Wallace said. "That's 100 percent true," Dana adds.
The Wallaces say doing the same job helps their relationship. "We understand each other. We know what's going on. I think it makes it a lot easier for us," Tom said.
Both see themselves pursuing long careers in law enforcement because they believe what they do makes a difference.
Tom wanted to be a cop since he was a kid. Dana, the daughter of a retired state trooper, set out to be a probation officer but became intrigued with police work while at Utah Valley State College.
They didn't know each other well at American Fork High School, where they graduated in 1997. They started dating while she was attending the police academy at UVSC and he had returned for a physical training class. They married in October 2002.
The couple tries to avoid talking shop when they're together. Neither shares with the other everything that happens on their shifts.
"There are some things I don't tell Tom, and I'm sure there are some things he doesn't tell me," Dana says. "You just don't want to stress (each other) out any more."
Tom did flip on his police radio late one night to monitor his wife going after two suspected car thieves. It's not something he usually does when off duty, but an officer friend called and told him he might want to tune in.
He listened as Dana chased one man on foot through an apartment complex. The most anxious moment came when Tom didn't hear her voice crackling over the radio for a minute or so.
"That was a little frightening," Tom said.
Dana had come face to face with the suspect, her finger on the trigger of her pistol. The man stopped in his tracks, reached into his waistband and then ran away.
"I almost shot him," Dana said, adding she didn't see what, if anything, he pulled from his pants.
The Wallaces knew there would be nights like that when they entered the police academy.
Tom has had his share of hairy moments but doesn't care to talk about them. Dana recalls one in particular, though she won't fill in the details.
"But I'll tell you it was scary. A trooper ended up on my doorstep, and it scared the crap out of me."
A trooper at the door usually means something grave has occurred. Tom was all right in this case.
"I really don't worry about Tom a lot because I know he knows what he's doing," Dana said. "One thing I know, no matter what happens, Tom's going to come out on top."
Tom says the same about Dana.
"I'm not worried about her being out there working. I trust her."
E-mail: romboy@desnews.com