Why Phoenix?

Have you ever made a decision and then questioned it? Unfortunately that's what I do.....all. the. time! Every big decision comes with a giant "did I make the right choice?" question mark. You name it, where to go to college, who should I marry, when should I have a baby, where should we go for residency..... And the bummer for me is that I usually don't have this really great "feel good" moment about these decisions. They are usually made with thought, sometimes a little research, and a huge leap of faith. The fortunate thing is that so far my leaping has been pretty good. But still, I have to question and right now Phoenix is in the hot seat. When it's 112 degrees outside and I'm living in my parents home (granted it's very comfortable and we love it here, but I do feel a tad bit sheepish about it), and I haven't made any friends, and there's not a whole lot to do with my 11 month old in this heat, and and and and I find my self wondering "now why did we think that we needed to rank Phoenix number one?"

Choosing residency isn't like any other job. With typical jobs you apply to a bunch of different places, see what your offers are and take your pick. With residency you apply and then you rank. You have to decide based on one short interview day where a program should rank on your list and the residency program does the same to you. The lists are put into a computer system and then boom! you're matched. Tim and I had a heck of a time deciding on his rank list. Taking Tim's grades and scores into consideration, we felt like Tim had a pretty good chance at getting one of his top choices, but you can't get too comfortable with things like that, you never know. Still, we had to choose. It was a pretty interesting process as we talked about living in Boston and having an "adventure" on the other side of the country where the winters are freezing and the summers are humid. Or living in Salt Lake, close to some of Tim's siblings and my Aunt. The list took many different shapes but in the end the hard decision was where to put San Diego and where to put Phoenix. We had fallen in love with San Diego (for obvious reasons) and with our friends who had become family. But San Diego is a four year program and we would have to move out of our affordable student housing into a much more expensive place. And so we ranked Phoenix #1 and that's what we got. We got our #1. And I know while we should be jumping for joy that we are where we wanted to be there is still a part of me that wonders if this was the best choice.

Here's the silly thing about questioning already made decisions, most of the time it's a waste of time. What's done is done and it's up to me to make the best of it. So here it is in typical Sydney fashion, a list of why Phoenix really is the best decision. Because as sad as I am that I am not taking Oliver to the beach and Sea World or even on walks outside because it's too blasted hot, there are some pretty great things about Phoenix and well, it's our new home!

1) My family is close by and sometimes we are a little too in each-other's business, but most of the time we're the best and there will be nothing better than spending time with them when Tim is working crazy long hours and on holidays.
2) I really to love to swim. And as great as the ocean is, there is something to be said about clear chlorinated water that doesn't have living creatures creeping around you that could potentially eat you :)
3) Squaw Peak is this great little mountain that I have been hiking for forever and I love it! It is the perfect 60 minute workout and I get to do it with my dad which is so fun
4) The desert really is beautiful
5) Have you ever spent a winter in Phoenix?
6) Oak creek canyon is only two hours away and it's one of my favorite places on earth
7) Monsoon season, real legit lightning and thunders storms that bring a warm rain
8) We are only 6 hours from San Diego so we are still in driving proximity :)
9) Tims residency is only three years, that is going to fly by
10) It's good to be uncomfortable, that's when you grow