Florida trip Part 2

Brady's interview with Nova Southeastern University began at 8am and ended at 3pm. I dropped him off and then went back to the hotel to lounge/relax/get caught up on The Bachelor {my guilty addiction pleasure- doesn't it suck this season? I think I think that every season}

We had late check out at 1pm, so I checked out and went shopping {mostly just tried on a million things} again. Seriously, shopping without kids is ah-mazing, even if you don't get to buy a ton. Brady called to let me know he was finished, and I went and picked him up! After chowing down on some Chipotle and getting the blow by blow of how the interview went, I dragged that guy back to the store and made him make the final decision on which items to purchase.

We picked up some snacks and headed to the beach one more time to watch the sunset before we had to fly out. It was beautiful at dusk. Is anyone surprised?

A kite boarder!
I feel an emotional connection to kite boarders from my short time in  Cabarete, DR (Kite Beach)

Friendly game of b-ball

Jellyfish! Jellllly fish
(have you seen that youtube vid? so dumb that its a little bit funny, and now I can't say Jellyfish without thinking of it)

A totally random shot of me on a life-guard thing (what are those even called?!).

So here is where we stand on Decision 2013: B+T finally goes to medical school-
The last time I wrote about med school we had it narrowed down to 3 schools. About a week before this interview we made a small step forward by formally declining two of the schools and declining all but one more interview. Meaning we made the decision to go to Marian (IN) and accepted an interview at Nova SU. If he is accepted to Nova (FL) then we will make the final decision between those two.

Friends have said "Doesn't having a beach a few miles from your doorstep make the decision easy?" and the answer is no, it makes it so much harder. The 2 places we are deciding between could not BE more different. Whatever we choose there is no in between. If we choose IN we are getting to live in the heartland of America, have a porch and 2 car garage (something I've been dreaming about for a realllly long time), seasons and be at a smaller school with an amazingly personal administration and community. If we choose FL we're getting warm weather year round, the beach, cultural diversity, and a larger, more established school with all the benefits that go along with that.  If you're married with kids you can understand why IN would be enticing, and if not then you must think we're crazy for having a hard time deciding.

His interview went really well. I will brag on him for a minute here because he deserves it. So far, every school that he has interviewed at has accepted him. If you know him, you know that he is a people person and maybe you wouldn't be surprised that he does really well in interviews, but beyond that he is so genuine. I like to think that this is why 'people' like him. Medical staff, doctors, professors, The Chief of Surgery- they all love him and converse with him like he's already their peer. He has had some amazing experiences at interviews. {In one interview the Dean of the college of medicine was shaking all of the med-school hopefuls' hands at the end and simply saying, "thanks for coming", but when he got to Brady he grabbed his hand with both hands and, addressing him by name, said, "Brady, thank you so much for coming. I really hope you choose to come here". Though this was unique, the experience he's had at all the schools has been pretty similar. Okay I'll share one more- when he received a phone call from the head-of-admissions of one school they told him he had the highest interview score and was the first person they were calling to issue and acceptance} I know that the way they treat him in medical school will be a far cry from the way they treat him now, but I felt like this was a blessing for him and me. When I heard him describe his experiences each time, it was the first time that I've felt that without a doubt this is what he is meant to do, and this is right for us. Even though we've taken the "really long road" to get here and "married with 2 kids" is not the typical med school student, the excitement in his voice when he talks about his future brings tears to my eyes because I haven't heard him talk like that in kind of a long time. This is gonna be hard. Not just the decision, but medical school in general. And before you start to wonder, "does she know that he's the one that will be going to school, not her", the answer is yes I do! But, I've gotten so spoiled with having him home a lot, and that's about to get ripped away. As if that won't be enough of a slap in the face, we're also moving away from family, and friends. We literally will not know a soul. I moved by myself to college, but I did have some family there and another huge difference is that I was young, single, selfish, and naive. Now I'm the Wife and Mom. I don't get to be so selfish and I have so much more responsibility. And now I'm crying. This is 6 months away and its starting to hit me. I wrote earlier about feeling like I have friends for the first time in a long time, and now when I feel totally comfortable here I have to leave. I still believe that Heavenly Father has a plan for us and I know these difficult things are what shape us and push us to reach our potential. I'm grateful for my knowledge of the Gospel because without it this would be terrifying. Change is hard, but with His help, I can do hard things.