New season of life

Wes and I are about to enter a new season of life in the coming year.

Residency.

As all of you know, Wesley is currently in medical school. He is starting his 4th and final year and we are so thrilled to see the light at the end of the tunnel. After he graduates in May, he will begin his residency. Residency is 5 grueling years of long hours at the hospital, minimal pay, and lack of sleep. 

This new season is going to be fun, challenging, tiring, and...in a different state.

Yes, we are moving. 

I have never moved, I have never lived out of my 4 square mile box, I have never been more than 2 miles from my family, I have been at the same church my entire life, and I am nervous/excited about this change.

Wesley has gone back and forth all throughout his schooling on what area of medicine he wanted to practice. He knew without a doubt that he wanted to be a surgeon, he was just uncertain about the type of surgeon he wanted to be. After praying about it, talking it through with other doctors and getting opinions from directors at his school he has chosen to become an orthopedic surgeon. 

Orthopedic surgery residency programs are very competitive. Most programs interview close to 30 prospective doctors and hire only 2-4 per year. All of the programs Wes is applying to are out of state. (there are currently no programs in Arizona.) Thankfully Wes did so well on his board exams, and he is in the top 10% of his class, making him a very competitive candidate for any program he applies too. 

So in the next few months Wes is going to do "audition rotations" at 3 of the hospitals he is applying to for residency. Each audition is 4 weeks long and is a way for him to show his face, work hard, and impress the socks off the directors. The 3 places for these auditions are: Riverside, CA, Las Vegas, NV, and Columbus, OH.

The upside to Riverside and Las Vegas is that we know people who live in/near those cities. We are hoping that the boys and I can come to where Wes is for a few of the weeks he is gone to spend time with him and to see the cities we may potentially move too. 

As nervous as we are about the coming changes, we are excited to see where the Lord leads us, where he places us for 5 years, and the new people we are going to have in our lives. 

We would love for prayers of wisdom as we make big decisions for our family. Moving to a new city is going to be hard for us, but we know we will adjust and hopefully we will feel right at home where ever we are. 

We are also trying to figure out what to do with our adorable little home. We know it will not sell for what we payed for it, so we are looking into all our options. 

We are excited for our future, and I am so proud of Wes and how hard he has worked to get to this point. Dr. High is going to be an amazing orthopedic surgeon and I can't wait to see him in his first real job next year.