Married to McDreamy?

If you don't watch Grey's Anatomy, that is the nickname for the neurosurgeon played by Patrick Dempsey. So I guess this is my very unofficial, unpublic announcement that Drew has chosen his specialty. We are very excited, but Drew still has trouble saying it outloud and personally I am still wrapping my head around it. I've known it was his first choice for a while, but we have kind of been waiting to make the official decision. The reason why it is such a big deal is because it means that we will most likely be saying goodbye to Springfield as long as (God willing) Drew gets accepted into a neurosurgery residency program. This is because SIU (Springfield) does not have a neurosurgery program.

I've only been at my job for nine months now, but the thought of leaving there makes me sad. And I feel guilty admitting Drew's selection because it is far too premature to say anything to them. Afterall the residency process does not officially begin until August; we will not know where we are going until March of 2009 and we will not actually be moving until the end of May 2009. So you can see my dilemma because it serves no purpose to tell them yet, but at the same I want to share the news.

The reason why we are ready to admit this big decision is because Drew has started his applications for sub-Internships (sub-Is). These are basically 4-week "away" rotations that he will do this fall or sometime in his fourth year. So right now Drew is in the process of filling out applications to do neurosurgery sub-I's at Northwestern, University of Chicago, Rush and University of Illinois - Peoria. The hope is that if you do sub-I's with a hospital, and make a good impression it will increase your chances of getting a residency there. As of now our hope is to end up in Chicago, but we will also be looking at programs throughout the midwest and possibly in Florida. And as a backup Drew will probably apply for the general surgery program in Springfield. There is a lot more info as far as what all this means now that he has decided, but I think I've covered enough for tonight!

Can you believe it - Drew is gonna be (God willing) a brain surgeon!?