Tony has been working on his masters\/PhD for going on 6 years. \u00a0He applied to 15 internship sites and traveled to 11 of those sites for interviews. \u00a0I helped him pick out what jacket, pants, tie, shirt, shoes to wear each time he left. \u00a0He traveled for 3 straight weeks in January, sometimes only coming home for one night to repack his suitcase and then leave again the next day. \u00a0It was an exhausting time for him, and for me, as I realized during that time that we truly do have a partnership when it comes to household needs, dog parenting etc. \u00a0 I missed him tons!<\/p>\n
After ranking his choices we waited somewhat patiently. \u00a0I picked up extra shifts at work, and threw myself into organizing an adoption shower for a close friend. \u00a0Yesterday morning, February 17th, Tony got an email with our placement for next year. \u00a0 I woke up early per usual, and was downstairs with the pups when Tony came running down the stairs, excitement on his face. \u00a0“I got an email- so that means I matched!” \u00a0Apparently there are some unlucky ones out there who do NOT match, leaving them in a sort of limbo in between years of hard work and graduating. \u00a0Thank goodness he matched! \u00a0His top two choices were in Kansas City, a place near and dear to my heart, and we had been toying around with the idea of living there since his interviews.<\/p>\n
He read the email. \u00a0I saw a brief period of disappointment on his face, followed by a small smile. \u00a0“it’s not my #1, but it’s my #2. We’re going to Kansas City!!” \u00a0 And then I started crying- very unexpectedly. This internship has been hanging over our heads for YEARS. \u00a0 We’ve had so many date night conversations surrounding this year, speculating whether or not we’d be able to stay in South Bend in the home that we’ve made for ourselves for an extra year, or whether we should be crazy and pick a random city like Seattle or somewhere warm for me. \u00a0 In the end, he allowed me to narrow down the cities where he could apply. \u00a0I picked cities where\u00a0we had friends or family, because honestly people make the place more than the hOuse, the weather, or the\u00a0work. \u00a0 This match email made our move a reality. \u00a0I knew it was coming- but it was always so far away. \u00a0It even feels like yesterday when I would say “next year” when I referenced our move. \u00a0 I love my job. \u00a0I have been incredibly blessed to work day shift and feel human for the last 3 years. \u00a0 My coworkers are my family and friends here- and I will miss them dreadfully.<\/p>\n
Kansas City has been near and dear to my heart since our first meeting. \u00a0 After surviving nursing school (because who actually enjoyed that?) I was incredibly lucky to take my first job in the Children’s Mercy Hospital NICU in Kansas City. \u00a0 I was a very green new grad, but was surrounded by nurses of all ages and backgrounds who shared a\u00a0common passion for NICU excellence- a passion that I have yet to find a match for. \u00a0These nurses inspired me to believe that I would never do any other type of nursing. \u00a0 Why did I leave? \u00a0I longed to be closer to family. \u00a0I remember\u00a0that an encounter between my Corolla and a snow bank pushed me over the edge one winter. Plus- \u00a0I met a boy, who turned into Mr. Right, and Kansas City was just a little too far away for us to give us a\u00a0fighting chance.<\/p>\nTony’s first visit to KC, in my pre-sunscreen days<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nOur first Royals game: Summer 2011<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBasic Plaza fountain picture: Summer 2011<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
When I think of how it has been SIX years since Tony started this program, it seems as though that should feel like a long time. \u00a0But it has gone fast. \u00a0In those 6 years we have done a lot of living. \u00a0We got married. \u00a0I commuted from South Bend to Chicago for two years to keep working at Lurie Children’s with some amazing people. \u00a0We got a puppy. \u00a0Then we got another puppy. \u00a0We’ve dealt with heartache. \u00a0We’ve made bucket lists for each season to keep on enjoying life when our natural instinct was to stay home in our own heads. Time flew!<\/p>\n
Our relationship began in Kansas City, and in July we will head back there! \u00a0We are both very excited that our lifestyle will not change too much. \u00a0 We can rent a cute little house with a fenced in backyard for our fur children and explore the many new aspects of Kansas City that have popped up since I’ve lived there. \u00a0My resume is in serious need of updating- but for this weekend we\u00a0are just going to be celebrating!<\/p>\n
KANSAS CITY HERE WE COME!<\/em><\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tony has been working on his masters\/PhD for going on 6 years. \u00a0He applied to 15 internship sites and traveled to 11 of those sites for interviews. \u00a0I helped him pick out what jacket, pants, tie, shirt, shoes to wear each time he left. \u00a0He traveled for 3 straight weeks in January, sometimes only coming home for one night to repack his suitcase and then leave again the next day. \u00a0It was an exhausting time for him, and for me, as I realized during that time that we truly do have a partnership when it comes to household needs, dog parenting etc. \u00a0 I missed him tons! After ranking his choices we waited somewhat patiently. \u00a0I picked up extra shifts at work, and threw myself into organizing an adoption shower for a close friend. \u00a0Yesterday morning, February 17th, Tony got an email with our placement for next year. \u00a0 I woke up early per usual, and was downstairs with the pups when Tony came running down the stairs, excitement on his face. \u00a0“I got an email- so that means I matched!” \u00a0Apparently there are some unlucky ones out there who do NOT match, leaving them in a sort of limbo in between years of hard work and graduating. \u00a0Thank goodness he matched! \u00a0His top two choices were in Kansas City, a place near and dear to my heart, and we had been toying around with the idea of living there since his interviews. He read the email. \u00a0I saw a brief period of disappointment on his face, followed by a small smile. \u00a0“it’s not my #1, but it’s my #2. We’re going to Kansas City!!” \u00a0 And then I started crying- very unexpectedly. This internship has been hanging over our heads for YEARS. \u00a0 We’ve had so many date night conversations surrounding this year, speculating whether or not we’d be able to stay in South Bend in the home that we’ve made for ourselves for an extra year, or whether we should be crazy and pick a random city like Seattle or somewhere warm for me. \u00a0 In the end, he allowed me to narrow down the cities where he could apply. \u00a0I picked cities where\u00a0we had friends or family, because honestly people make the place more than the hOuse, the weather, or the\u00a0work. \u00a0 This match email made our move a reality. \u00a0I knew it was coming- but it was always so far away. \u00a0It even feels like yesterday when I would say “next year” when I referenced our move. \u00a0 I love my job. \u00a0I have been incredibly blessed to work day shift and feel human for the last 3 years. \u00a0 My coworkers are my family and friends here- and I will miss them dreadfully. Kansas City has been near and dear to my heart since our first meeting. \u00a0 After surviving nursing school (because who actually enjoyed that?) I was incredibly lucky to take my first job in the Children’s Mercy Hospital NICU in Kansas City. \u00a0 I was a very green new grad, but was surrounded by nurses of all ages and backgrounds who shared a\u00a0common passion for NICU excellence- a passion that I have yet to find a match for. \u00a0These nurses inspired me to believe that I would never do any other type of nursing. \u00a0 Why did I leave? \u00a0I longed to be closer to family. \u00a0I remember\u00a0that an encounter between my Corolla and a snow bank pushed me over the edge one winter. Plus- \u00a0I met a boy, who turned into Mr. Right, and Kansas City was just a little too far away for us to give us a\u00a0fighting chance. When I think of how it has been SIX years since Tony started this program, it seems as though that should feel like a long time. \u00a0But it has gone fast. \u00a0In those 6 years we have done a lot of living. \u00a0We got married. \u00a0I commuted from South Bend to Chicago for two years to keep working at Lurie Children’s with some amazing people. \u00a0We got a puppy. \u00a0Then we got another puppy. \u00a0We’ve dealt with heartache. \u00a0We’ve made bucket lists for each season to keep on enjoying life when our natural instinct was to stay home in our own heads. Time flew! Our relationship began in Kansas City, and in July we will head back there! \u00a0We are both very excited that our lifestyle will not change too much. \u00a0 We can rent a cute little house with a fenced in backyard for our fur children and explore the many new aspects of Kansas City that have popped up since I’ve lived there. \u00a0My resume is in serious need of updating- but for this weekend we\u00a0are just going to be celebrating! KANSAS CITY HERE WE COME!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-journey-to-parenthood"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/IMG_1906.jpg?fit=3024%2C4032&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8oEBX-cD","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=783"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":798,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783\/revisions\/798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/IMG_7598-1.jpg?resize=225%2C300\")
He read the email. \u00a0I saw a brief period of disappointment on his face, followed by a small smile. \u00a0“it’s not my #1, but it’s my #2. We’re going to Kansas City!!” \u00a0 And then I started crying- very unexpectedly. This internship has been hanging over our heads for YEARS. \u00a0 We’ve had so many date night conversations surrounding this year, speculating whether or not we’d be able to stay in South Bend in the home that we’ve made for ourselves for an extra year, or whether we should be crazy and pick a random city like Seattle or somewhere warm for me. \u00a0 In the end, he allowed me to narrow down the cities where he could apply. \u00a0I picked cities where\u00a0we had friends or family, because honestly people make the place more than the hOuse, the weather, or the\u00a0work. \u00a0 This match email made our move a reality. \u00a0I knew it was coming- but it was always so far away. \u00a0It even feels like yesterday when I would say “next year” when I referenced our move. \u00a0 I love my job. \u00a0I have been incredibly blessed to work day shift and feel human for the last 3 years. \u00a0 My coworkers are my family and friends here- and I will miss them dreadfully.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/IMG_1413-1.jpg?resize=300%2C207\")
![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/IMG_1507.jpg?resize=300%2C225\")
![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hopemeetsjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/IMG_1520.jpg?resize=300%2C225\")