The Results are In...

And we're very pleased to announce that we will be moving to a house in Alton Park. In Arapahoe County. In Denver. Hooray!

Dusty matched here for his neurosurgery residency, so we'll be here for at least the next seven years. We are THRILLED to be staying in Denver. We love the area, and it's close to many of our friends and family. And Dusty loves the program. He really felt like Colorado would provide the best combination of training and family/lifestyle needs...not that any neurosurgery resident (or neurosurgeon, for that matter) really has a great lifestyle, but the program isn't malignant like so many other programs across the country.

Our other exciting news is that we really will be moving to Alton Park--a little subdivision about a mile directly south of where we're currently living in Lowry. We're currently under contract on a cute little home in that area and, as long as things keep moving along smoothly, we're hoping to close in the middle of April.

Life is never boring. Isn't it wunderbar?

Pre-Opened Envelope

The Letter says Denver

The match

So, it's match day today. You'd think that graduation would be the most exciting day for medical students--four years of torturous psychological beatings (many self-inflicted) culminating in the bestowal of the MD degree. Actually, for me, graduation is a distant second in importance to match day. Who cares if you're an MD if you haven't been trained to do any specialty? It's the residency training that makes all the difference. In today's world, the MD degree just gives you permission to start that training--a formality, if you will. Match day is the day that your dream of becoming a real practicing physician comes true. Since neurosurgery residency is seven years, I'm barely more than half way done with my training if I count med school and undergraduate studies--residency is the time I'll really mature as a physician. Match day is the day that I feel like all of my hard work, the hours of toil, the early mornings, the sleepless nights, the stress, the anger, the joy, the frustration, and the satisfaction of helping people culminates into the promise (in writing) of a neurosurgical training program putting their confidence in the fact that they think I'll make a good neurosurgeon. I think we'll match here in Colorado, which is my first choice. I'm confident that I'll get good training here. There are so many opportunities for excellent training at this program and I'm excited to take advantage of them. But, I've also been very fortunate to be invited to many of the best training programs around the country and if I don't match here, I know I'll be going somewhere where I will receive excellent training. I just feel blessed to have matched.

Our Laughing Girl

Our life has been full of insanity for the past several weeks. Whose life isn't?--That's what I'd like to know.

Thankfully, we have our Ella Joyce to keep reminding us of the important things...like laughing. Or, maybe it shoule be classified as controlled hysteria.

She's our wild girl. A bit like her mama.