Exciting News!!!

This week was CRAZY! We have been going going going ever since MATCH DAY and it has been an incredible adventure so I need to break down what has happened!

First: We matched in Orthopedic Surgery at Scott and White (through Texas A&M) in Temple, Texas!!!! This was our very 1st choice out of 11 interviews. Even though all of the other programs were awesome and in cool cities (hello, San Francisco!) we truly felt that Temple was the right place for our family to be while giving Ben the best training and surgical experience. Here are some awesome things about Temple:

 1. Lake Belton=lots of family outings boating, skiing, swimming, in crystal clear water only a few min drive from our house
2. Tons of families=so many chances to make friends in a strong religious community
3. Small Town Texas=southern charm, southern hospitality, and great BBQ!:)
4. Super close to Austin, Waco, Round Rock, Dallas=all the fun, Texas-y places to go
5. Great outdoors/running community=I can *hopefully* find a running club to join and we can go camping on the weekends (something Ben has really missed living in Houston)
6. Clean, Safe, and No Traffic!=i'll finally feel safe again (i'm tired of inner city chaos!)

One other thing about Temple goes right along with our EXCITING NEWS....We are BUILDING A HOUSE! We may seem really crazy, but trust me we did our research:) We'd known that we wanted to go to Temple for over 2 years so we literally researched a good part of 2 years. We talked to several realtors, watched home sites like Trulia and Zillow very closely, and went out to visit Temple a handful of times to see houses. We also talked to other Residents in the area, other medical couples and found the exact neighborhood we wanted to move in to. After looking at pricing, we decided to go for our dream and build! Our little house will be 4 bedrooms, 2 baths and on a 1/2 acre lot so our backyard is HUGE for Kaden to run around! 

This week we drove out to Temple to take a peek at the progress of our house! EEK! By the time we left all that is done is the framing (they've had crazy rain spells) but we are crossing our fingers that it will be done in time for us to move in! It might get a little too close...but we are hopeful!

After spending a couple days in Temple we had to drive back to Houston for a day for Ben to tie up some loose ends. We also lost our car keys, had issues with our storage unit, and almost didn't make it out to Austin on Friday. Good thing we did because I had an amazing Half Marathon experience at the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort in Bastrop, TX. The race was super super HILLY and I mean literally the first 9 miles had steep hills. I about died...but still pulled out a good time with an average of 7:31 per mile. I got fourth place and was bummed because 1-3 place got prizes:) haha I'm remarkably competitive and though it pushes me, I also need to learn to be satisfied with my victories. 

For anyone who ever wants to visit the most beautiful scenes in TX, go to Bastrop or Austin. It is simple breathtaking there! Also, Kaden got to pet a Llama and as you can tell was terrified:)

The rest of our days were spent eating delicious Texan food, lot's and lots of coloring, and finding the biggest rock we could!:)

We have 4 weeks left in Houston and then off to DisneyWorld, Oregon, and then Utah to play school-free while our house is built!! We will miss our Houston friends but are SO excited for the next chapter in our lives!!