How we got here...

On the Doctor's wife blog she was talking today about
the beginning, the acceptance story, and how we got here.
Which got me thinking about where our journey began that brought us here. And so tonight, lucky you get to hear about how we got here. My husband and I knew of each other in college, but we didn't really know each other. We finally "met" a little over a month before graduation, and it was the week he had found out he didn't get into medical school. I had no idea at the time but I was the second or third person he told; I guess he knew right away he knew I was someone he could trust. Looking back now I don't know what would have happened if he had gotten into school that year.
We started dating that summer and it didn't take long for me to realize I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this man. That fall he supported me emotionally through my first semester of law school at Northern Illinois University. At the same time I tried to help him fill out his medical school applications for his second time. I remember calling him daily to hear if he had gotten anything in the mail. I had even purchased him a frame for him his first acceptance letter. Then one spring day, to our (for the most part) excitement he was accepted to Southern Illinois Medical School - the only problem was it was at the opposite end of the state (7 hours) from where I was attending law school! A few weeks later he did get a second acceptance letter from a Chicago (closer) school notifying him that he had been placed on a wait list. It was also around this time that he proposed. I was so excited about the excitement of marrying the man of my dreams, I don't think I ever thought about the journey he would me taking me on.
I continued to hope and hope that he would get into that Chicago school. No spot ever opened up and before I knew it we were moving him to oh-so-far-away-Carbondale, Illinois. Somehow he managed to survive his first year of medical school while I balanced 18 hours of law courses and wedding planning, all while we were 7 hours apart at opposite ends of the state. Before we knew it he was taking his final first year exam, packing his backs and making the seven hour drive up to our rehearsal dinner (yes all in the same day - someone screwed up when reading his curriculum calendar!).
We spent that summer as newlyweds living with my parents so that I could work and we could live rent free. In the fall of 2007 we moved to our first (a one bedroom) apartment in what some would call the armpit of Illinois; Decatur. Five days a week for five months I drove an hour each way to finish my last semester of law school at the University of Illinois and my darling husband drove 45 minutes each way to Springfield to attend his second year of medical school. Thank goodness January came quickly and (with me) being done with school we were able to move to (a much roomier 2-bedroom apartment in) Springfield. And somehow by the grace of God I passed my Illinois bar exam by studying on an Ipod, and I managed to get the wonderful job that I have now (and have had for 11 months now). And while I never thought I'd end up living in Springfield Illinois, I cannot deny that it all worked out, and I'm extremely happy. I guess I have learned that sometimes the plans God has are a lot better than the ones I had in mind. Please remind me of this as we begin to apply for residencies this fall!