Residency...The Big Q

For the next 4 years in the Porter Household, we will be living in...........(drumroll, please)..........

TUCSON, ARIZONA!!!!!!

Ryan and I were pretty shocked to see Arizona on our match letter, but we are really excited to continue our life together in the hot AZ sun.

Here are out TOP 10 REASONS we are psyched for the University of Arizona:

1. Sunny weather 340 days out of the year. We LOVE the sun!

2. Ryan gets to use his newly learned (and mastered) Medical Spanish language skills.

3. Joshy will be bilingual! (and maybe his mommy, too!)

4. Great Tex-Mex restaurants. Boy, do we ever miss those! (What's up with Charlottesville Mexican restaurants, anyway?)

5. Stadium-seating movie theaters without sticky floors and broken chairs. (Sorry C-ville, but you had that one coming!) We honestly haven't been to a movie theater here since our 2nd month of arrival. We feel so out of the loop, movie-wise.

6. We are moving back west! We are SO NOT east-coasters. We have sorely missed newly built apartment buildings with all those perks.

7. Affordable housing! Although we are probably not going to buy a house, we can rent a nice 1300 ft. townhouse for under $1000 a month. Plus we get a dishwasher, washer/dryer hook-ups, a garbage disposal, pantry, big closets, covered parking, swimming pool / hotub....etc....etc....(can you tell that we're REALLY excited to move!?!)

8. It is a really great residency medical program for OB/GYN. Ry was 1 of 4 people chosen for this program. He will work with a small group of residents (16) and wonderful doctors. Out of all the programs Ryan interviewed with, he liked the people here the best. That is extremely important when working 78 hours a week (on average) with them.

9. We are closer to our family and Utah friends. We may not BE in Salt Lake, but we are a mere 14 hour drive away (beats a 4 day trip by far!) and an hour flight. We really are hoping that since we'll be closer, we'll have a lot more visitors (hint, hint)

10. Our newest baby (due September 17th) will be an Arizonian! :)

We just wanted to say thank you to all of our friends and family for your love and support for us on our next upcoming adventure. We have received a lot of love, hugs, and congratulations from our Charlottesville friends and it means SO much to us. We will miss you immensely!

This medical school/residency process can be tough on all angles. We will continue to NEED your support for the next 4 years. We feel like Tucson, Arizona is the place the Lord wants us to be. We have felt His love and support and know it is right. We hope and pray that our family can feel the same peace about this as we do. We love you all!

Go Wildcats! :)