Life

I have so much to update on and I'm going to do them all on separate posts just to keep everything straight.

So last time was a little dramatic. To say the least. Danny took his DAT two days after that post and to say he did well is an understatement. This kid got in the 92nd percentile of anyone who takes the DAT. I could not be more proud of him. He worked so hard and it all payed off for him. When he called me after he left the test (results are immediate for the DAT) and he told me he got a 21 I had to stop myself from crying. It was the biggest relief I have ever heard because with that competitive of a score he will get in somewhere and I'm positive of that. So that was the best day to date...then it got even better a month later. Danny called me to say he got his first invite for an interview to not just any school but to University of Florida...our number one pick!! We were ecstatic. Danny is up to SIX interviews. We are so excited and I could not be more proud of him.

His interviews include...
1-Florida
2-Nova Southeastern (another Florida school)
3-Case Western (Ohio)
4-VCU (Virginia)
5-Marquette (Wisconsin)
6-UNLV (Las Vegas)

How awesome is that! I'm so proud of him.

So after Dan had gotten his third interview I was starting to get a little sad and I was convinced that I wasn't going to get one...then at 2 in the morning the emails came!! I have THREE interviews so far!

1-Midwestern (Chicago)
2-Midwestern (Arizona)
3-University of Colorado

Now you might be thinking those Midwesterns count as one interview. Not really. They interview, accept and reject completely separate. Even more of a difference is the AZ campus is only a three year program instead of the usual four year. So yes, you bet I am counting them as separate interviews. But I think they are trying to test my dedication because my Chicago interview is Sept. 28th and my Arizona interview is Sept. 30th. So I'm going to be a traveling fool! But I'm so excited!! I feel bad because I tell everyone and they probably think I'm being annoying and bragging but honestly I didn't think I would get even one interview so I'm just crazy thrilled! I'm a little nervous for the Midwesterns because they are group interviews and I haven't talked to one pharmacist who has had a group interview. And then Colorado is one on one---yikes. Stressful to say the least. To be honest I interview quite well usually so hopefully this won't be an exception. So if you'll notice we still don't have interviews that are in the same state-so hopefully there are more to come.

People keep asking me if I have a gut feeling on where we'll end up...and I do. If I was a betting girl (which those who went with us on the cruise know that I am :)) I would say we end up at Midwestern, AZ. I'd be surprised if Dan didn't get an interview there...or to ASU which is close by, so we'll see. It's still really early. For example, University of Washington doesn't even interview til February. So we are very grateful and feel very blessed to be getting interviews already.

Honestly. One person we owe a huge thanks to is Dan's brother Randy. He is at UF doing his residency in Oral Surgery and has been through this whole process and helped us so much with choosing where to apply to, personal statements and most importantly applying early. Next of course is all of our parents they have been so supportive and amazing with helping us out. We have lived at home with my parents so we could save up for this year...which ended up being even more expensive than planned. And thanks to our parents we can still have a savings because of all the help they have been...seriously forever indebted. Because everything is so expensive...applications, DAT/PCAT, supplemental applications, flights with only 2 weeks notice and the worst is yet to come....when schools accept you there is usually a small window (like a few weeks) where you have to accept or decline their offer. If you accept you have to pay them a retainer to hold your spot. These can cost upwards of $1000! Thank goodness those won't be for a while. This has been a stressful experience but I feel like we are finally getting to the fun part. And it finally feels real. A year from now we will be living somewhere else. On our own. Just the two of us.

I'm so excited!

Dan and I really are doing so great. I have an exceptional husband. He's the best man I know. We've been married a year and a half and I can honestly say we don't fight. And it's not because things get bottled up and we're going to explode one day because we definitely have discussions about things but it's never an argument. We've never had to apologize for mean words said. We are just really happy together. Something we have tried from day one to incorporate into our marriage is the Proclamation to the World. and specifically when it says...

"Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities."

These nine things can guarantee a happy marriage. I think the main one I take from this list is respect. If you are in an argument with your spouse and your yelling...stop and think...one of you is probably not respecting the other if you are yelling. I don't think I've ever seen Danny yell. At anyone.

Lately I feel so blessed with my life and the decisions we've made together. I can't wait to see where we end up next year. All of the speculating about where we are going is so worthless when I think about it. We know that we'll go wherever is going to be best for us and that if we end up in Wisconsin (eek) there is going to be a bigger reason for it.