some answers.

So we’ve understandably had lots of questions thrown our way about our med school endeavor. Figured I’d address them here and give an update.

First and foremost: I pronounce it “Cuh-RIB-ee-en”. “Care-uh-BEE-en” is generally gross, only allowable when saying “Pirates of the Caribbean”, and has no place in any other context.

Second, no, we still haven’t decided on a school. For one thing, we’re still hearing back, and for another, there are lots and lots of things to take into consideration. We’ve already narrowed down the list substantially, but a final decision will require more time, more research, and more pondering. For now, it’s sort of a muddled mess involving comparisons of costs of living, the schools’ clinical opportunities, the island’s accessibility, populations, LDS communities, crime/literacy/infant mortality rates, island amenities, etc etc etc. Hopefully it will become more clear within another week or so.

Third, most apartments in the Caribbean are furnished, so we don’t need to worry about shipping everything we own there. We’ll take some clothes, bed and bath linens, an air mattress, and some personal items with us. We’re selling most of our furniture (it’s all old, anyway) and storing the rest of it in Idaho in my parent’s crawlspace. Thank goodness they consented – the cost of public storage in Tucson is absolutely ridiculous. Look it up if you don’t believe me. Even with the cost of shipping everything to Idaho, we’ll still be saving thousands. We’re sending it all up by freight. My sister Annie and her husband Steve will be taking our new couches until we return (thanks, guys!!). We searched for three years for these couches and they’re the first ones we’ve ever found that we both agreed on. Jon was so particular that he’d write off an entire set if the height of the ottoman wasn’t perfectly even with the height of the couch cushions. An inch or two above or below and it was all over, no matter how much I loved them. With the fear of another three years of couch shopping looming in my mind, I would do almost anything to hang on to these. Luckily Annie and Steve live not an hour from where our freight truck will be delivering our things, so with the help of my dad’s Dodge, it won’t be hard at all to get them to their home.

And finally - our cars. We're undecided. We're selling the Jeep for sure, but the Mazda's future is still up in the air. I'm not sure Jon could ever part with it.

Sorry for the boringest post ever. I'm rewarding you for putting up with it by revealing something truly embarrassing about myself. The following song is my ultimate guilty, guilty, guilty pleasure. Don't judge me. It makes me happy. I want to dance to it on the beach.

You'd be lying your face off if you said it wasn't catchy.