In my mind, this blog post was supposed to be a bit different than how it's gonna go.
I thought about starting it off by linking to this post so you can remember how much I enjoy Florida now and how much I absolutely love being around family.
I then thought about how I was going to post directly after that link a little something that would go like this..
"We are moving to West Palm in June for J's rotations!!!!!! We'll get to enjoy sunshine, beaches, outdoor restaurants/bars and be around family whenever we want. I'll get to be the aunt who picks up the kids for slumber parties at our place, and bring them to the circus. (Yes, I really thought the circus, haha!) I'll get to be in my nieces lives for the first couple years and whenever J has to leave town, I won't ever be lonely! ...ahh, can't wait!"
That's how it was supposed to go...in my mind.
But, you see, his school has a lottery system for rotation placements. I knew that last year only 9 slots out of 12 in West Palm filled up so I thought we'd be fine. I also didn't think that J would get picked third from last in the lottery. So, instead, we were told where we'll be living for the next 2 years. Where is that place, you ask?
Good ole Warner Robins -- also known as 'Middle Georgia.' Oh, you've never heard of it?! Just so ya know where it is..here ya go :)
My first impression when we pulled off the highway to check it out -- cotton fields and used car lots with shiny garland in abundance. Oh boy... What the heck is this Florida girl going to do when my husband is super busy?!
And it wasn't until just recently that my mind began changing.
We both signed up for this journey together. We knew what we were getting ourselves into (well, for the most part) and we knew the medical school ride wouldn't be an easy one. We knew there would be good times, bad times, miserable times, lonely times, proud times, etc. as well as lots of sacrifices being made. We were excited for this little adventure in life and anxious knowing that we actually had no clue where this journey would take us in a few years. This just so happened to be one of the 'not-so-happy' times in the journey. And while I cried the day I got the text saying "I was picked third from last...see you in Warner Robins," I knew deep down that this would all be okay in 'x' amount of time. And it is. It's okay because I've come to realize that this is just another part of our adventure together..and I guarantee you I will grow to love taking photographs of cotton fields :)
And as our luck would have it, a few short days following this news, I was offered a promotion at work. One I had to turn down -- just a part of the sacrifices being made on this somewhat unique journey. But for every sacrifice I make, J is making one too -- we just have to remind ourselves that we are in this together. The same goes for every marriage -- there are always sacrifices being made in so many different ways...it's all in how we deal with it. I am certainly not experienced in that department nor have I handled everything the way I should have..but I'm learning to accept and appreciate the little things more and more as each day passes.
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So here we are, with less than 5 months of our Atlanta adventure left -- and we are doing everything we can to make the most of it. We had a date night in Atlanta Friday night, and the med school's winter formal Sunday night. A night out with friends came at just the right time.
We started off with fondue at Dante's Down the Hatch
These friends make me realize just how much I am going to miss this moment we are in now.
We continued on at the formal -- at a beautiful rooftop venue in Atlanta.
We ended the evening at an Irish Pub, followed by a 3 am Waffle House trip with friends, and a slumber party at a cute boutique hotel. High School formals all over again :)
Except we are older now..and truly appreciate each and every moment we get like this! And we try to look at life a little differently. Like believing there is a purpose for everything and believing 'Everything happens for a reason' -- I've also learned that this quote is one of those 'easier said than done' kinda things. But it just takes time to believe it.
Although I kept believing this blog post was supposed to be a little bit different, I'm going to simply say -- after a few weeks of dwelling on our less than thrilling news --I believe that everything happens for a reason, and this blog post probably went exactly as it was supposed to.
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So, who's visiting us in Warner Robins..aka The W, as J and I have nicknamed it?!