Summer 2012

 Summer 2012 was not the most relaxing summer for us.  We completely remodeled our kitchen.  I spent much of my summer eating lean cuisines, shredded mini wheats and endless PB&J sandwhiches.  It was okay though, because it was completely worth the new kitchen. 

 We also had alot of other stuff going on- As most everyone knows, the reason we moved up here was because there is a program called the NHSC that provides student loan repayment in exchange for working at clinics that are very rural, and therefore are in dire need of more healthcare providers. It is a government run program- and in a few short years we could have our massive student loan debt completely gone.  The way it works is that it "opens" once a year for applicants (MD's, PA's, DO's and NP's practicing at a clinic that qualifies for loan repayment) and then several weeks later you usually get an approval, and then several weeks after that you are cut a nice fat check to go towards your loans. You can reapply after two years and do it again and again- up to 7 years if you need to. So- the program opened up in January and John got in his application. We expected we would have an approval sometime February or March. We'll April rolled around and we began to get a little nervous. John contacted the NHSC several times and they informed him they couldn't see anything wrong with his application, and to just hang in there because it was just taking a little extra time.  Finally it got to be June and once again John called and the NHSC informed him that he should get a decision within a week!! Yippee!! We'll 3 weeks rolled by and we started to wonder why they were being so slow. So we decided to fast and pray that we would get an approval shortly. We'll we did our fast. And we did not feel good. In fact, to put it mildly, we felt very unsettled and confused.  We continued to hold out hope and wondered if maybe it was just going to take longer than we wanted it to.  Sometime in August the NHSC put up on their website that all Loan Repayment approvals would be handed out by September 30th- as that is the end of their fiscal year. We sat tight throughtout the entire month and September 30th rolled around and we were not approved.  John can reapply late spring 2013 when the application cycle opens back up.  But there is no reason to think we will be approved then either, as his clinic has too many providers receiving loan repayment from the NHSC right now. The clinic director told John that he has never seen a provider not be approved.  I'm not sure how to take that. To say that this is financially devastating- pretty much sums it up. However- to say that we weren't excited that we were free to move home, would be a lie!

 So we have made the decision to move back home to Salt Lake. It could end up taking us quite a while, to sell our home, find a job and find a home in SLC. But if you know of anyone looking for a PA....  I know a really cute one. (He's good at what he does too:)

Snow cone stand!!! Kelly and I did a snow cone stand with the kids. We had 2 customers, and we mostly sat in the shade and ate snow cones all day. It was one of the nicest days all summer!

 lets put the hose on the sidewalk and flood it till its full of muddy water and then jump in it and make a hideous mess!

Sam learned how to walk this summer. He has a really cute little swagger.