“Sleepless in Seattle”

Friday, January 8, 2010

I can tell I’m going to need a nap today. I haven’t gotten much sleep the past two nights even though I’m exhausted. Like I used to tell my parents when I was little, “I can’t turn my brain off.”

Derek and I came to Washington on Wednesday. Originally, the purpose of our trip was to celebrate our 10 year anniversary; Southwest had cheap tickets to Seattle, and although we’ll be moving to Washington in July, I don’t foresee any romantic weekend getaways for a while since we’re leaving our kids’ best babysitters behind (our amazing extended family!) So we thought we’d come check out this city that we’ve heard nothing but good things about, but also take advantage of being in close proximity to our future home and do a little preliminary house hunting.

In August of last year Derek signed a contract to work for the hospital in Sunnyside, Washington beginning in August 2010. He has a scholarship obligation to fulfill and in exchange for tuition for medical school he committed to work in an underserved community for four years. (Meaning there aren’t enough medical providers in a given area; usually the communities are one of two extremes—inner-city urban or very rural.) So we knew taking the scholarship would mean some uncertainty as to where Derek would be practicing upon finishing residency, but it would also mean I would be able to stay home with our young children (two of whom were born before we even started med school.)

Derek’s ecstatic about the position; he’ll get to practice full-scope family medicine (meaning inpatient and outpatient medicine for children all the way through elderly patients) as well as surgical obstetrics. (He’s been training to do c-sections this year, which he loves.)

We’re both very happy with the geographic location; I’ve always been intrigued by the pacific northwest, and because we’ll be living in the south-central part of the state, we’ll get 300 days of sunshine per year and a dry climate like we’re used to. My only other stipulation was that we go where the church was strong; there is a temple half an hour away in the Tri-Cities area.

What has really sold us on the community is the warmth with which we’ve been greeted from the very beginning. Starting with the hospital’s fantastic physician recruiter, Tom, who is so warm and genuine and treats us like royalty. Upon finding out that we’re LDS, Tom introduced us to LaDon, the human resource director for the hospital who is one of the friendliest people I’ve ever met, and incidentally will also be our bishop—and his wife, Sandi, the hospital chaplain, who was also an immediate friend to us, introducing us to everyone one in the ward and coordinating an impromptu get-together just so we could meet other families.

Since we arrived in Sunnyside late Wednesday afternoon, we’ve already become acquainted with four young families and feel like we’ll become fast friends. We had dinner last night with five LDS couples (including Bishop and Sandi) and we continue to be amazed at how instantly and how warmly we’re being welcomed. It’s thrilling to meet so many likeminded people so immediately and to know that we have common goals in raising our children and building up the community and to foresee building friendships by working together.

This is certainly one more evidence of Heavenly Father’s guidance in our life.

Time to get out of bed and go for a run through downtown Seattle with my best friend and true love of 10 years!

Running through Pike Place Market

Running along Puget Sound

* I LOVED running through this city. Geographically interesting, artsy, beautiful. Running is the best way to see a city. And then we stopped for a YUMMY breakfast at this clever little (3 2-person tables) waffle shop. So much fun! Seattle is my new favorite city!