this blog is about to get even awesomer

So, we’re moving to the Caribbean! It’s for sure for sure. Jon got into med school (I know! You didn’t even know he was applying! We’re tricky!) for the fall semester. Where, we’re not absolutely certain. So far he’s been accepted to three, with more sure to follow in the next week or two. He's going to be an MD when all is said and done, and we're living in the Caribbean for 20 months starting in September. He does his basic coursework there (classroom stuff) then he finishes up in the States. Or Canada, if we so choose.

We didn’t tell a soul we were even thinking about it. Not even parents. It was sort of a shock for my poor mom (“Jon’s going to med school. In the Caribbean. And he already got in. Will you take our dog for a while?”). Sort of a lot to spring on a mother all at once. Luckily, everyone is really supportive, and yes, my parents are happy to take Penny. Though I still feel torn up about it. But between pet import laws, the cost of shipping, etc etc (it’s a long story that may or may not have involved me crying for two days after reading about dogs being euthanized in Caribbean airports), we decided it just won’t be possible to take her with us. My parents have two other dogs and a large acreage and she’ll be happy as a clam there running around and eating horse poo to her little heart's content, so I’m getting more and more used to the idea. She’ll probably hate me when I try to take her away. I’m imagining me dragging her to the car and her nails slicing the asphalt of my parents’ driveway.

Anyway, this is something we’ve been thinking about for a long time, and when Jon lost his job it was that final push we needed. We’ve been researching nonstop and feel confident in our decision. We’ll be leaving Tucson sometime in July to spend a few weeks in Utah, Idaho, and Alberta, and New York (seeing the new baby!) before we take off for good. The amount of stuff we have to get done between now and then is giving me permanent angina. Please come visit us when we're there. Srsly. Open invitation.


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PS- Completely unrelated: today was a big day for my little blog! Aside from this announcement, my brother-in-law Kyle caused some buzz over the Rexburg names list (below) when he posted the link to his twitter AND Facebook accounts…exposing it to about 1,000 people combined. Then these guys picked up on it, too. See my twitter feed for more info.