The plan. . .

4th year. It is coming, and it has been the topic of much of our phone calls at lunch, date night, and late night talks. It is so nice to finally have the plan.

4th year for podiatry students means leaving Des Moines and traveling around to different programs for rotations. And then one of those programs will be where they will spend a three year residency.

So much of our conversation is to what programs Troy should rotate at. There are a total of 225 programs (haha, yes I counted) and they are located in every state in the U.S., except Wyoming and Idaho of course. A lot of them are on the East coast and in California.

It has been so hard trying to decide where to go, because not only does Troy need to go to a program that will be best for him but we need to decide what part of the country we want to be living for the next 3 years and maybe even longer since most people end up staying where they do their residencies because they get to know doctors and have job offers.

So with that said and with much research on programs and prayer, here is the plan:

In the beginning of May we will pack up and move to Shelley, Idaho where me and he kids will be living in an apartment close to family. Then in June we will all go with Troy to Minneapolis, MN and will stay all of June and hopefully some of July with him in an extended stay hotel or already furnished apartment. Then me and the kids will head back to Idaho.
So in June, July, and August Troy will be in Minneapolis.
In September he will go to Columbus, Ohio.
In October he will rotate at Cincinnati, Ohio.
In November he will rotate at Greeley, Colorado.
In December he will be in Salt Lake City, Ut.
In January he will be in Seattle, Washington.

At the end of January he will then fly to Texas to interview for a residency program. (This is where all the students will go and people from the programs so they can interview all in one place.)
And then finally for Febraury, March, April, and May he will be able to be with us in Idaho. He will just set up some elective rotations with local doctors, finish his capstone project for his masters program and take one of those months as a vacation month.
Then at the end of May we will come spend a couple days in Des Moines for graduation!
Sometime in June we will be moving to one of those places for the next 3 years (and probably more!) of our lives.

Whew! Kind of crazy and exciting. Yes I am also already dreading being away from Troy for that long. I spent a month away from him this summer and I missed him a million times more than I thought I would. But with the girls being in kindergarten and how much it would cost to travel with him, we realize this will be the best thing. I am looking forward to living closer to family for a year! And we know that Heavenly Father has guided us and led us in these decisions, just like we know we were supposed to be in Iowa. It is all in His hands!