Harrogate, Tennessee pronounced Hair-a-Git

You may be wondering more about where we will be living since you have probably never heard of it before. When I found out where we were going I instantly googled Harrogate and I was floored, it is so gorgeous! Looked like a beautiful city with tons of shops. Then I realized I was looking at a photo of Harrogate in the UK. Harrogate, TN is also very beautiful but lets just say doesn't have quite as many shops or people...more like cows.

The population is about 4,000 and I wouldn't  be surprised if that included medical school students and their families. Yes, Rexburg friends, Harrogate is 6 times smaller than Rexburg. There is one apartment complex there but really it isn't the nicest so we opted for renting a house. In our hunt for a house we found several on about 40 acres with livestock on the property, thank heavens we found one that doesn't. 

Tom's school is about 3 miles away from our house. He is going to Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine. You guessed it, the university is all about good ol'  Abe Lincoln. They have parades for Lincoln and you will see several Lincoln monuments and quotes all over their campus. In looking at the school website I found this little tidbit;

 "Grant-Lee Hall Ghost: Constructed as the luxurious Sanitarium of the Four Seasons Hotel in the 1890s, Grant-Lee Hall burned in 1904 and again in 1950. Stories are told of a woman in a red dress who appears and knocks on doors in the residence hall. Some say that she is trying to warn residents to escape before those historic fires destroy the building!" 

apparently part of the school is haunted, hopefully our house isn't! Harrogate is really beautiful with tons to do outdoors. You can even go to this place and stand in all three states ( Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee) at once. The people so far have been very friendly. I have already talked to the bishop and he said that 90% of the ward is med school students and their families. I am really excited about that, I think it will really give us a better chance to make new friends.

The town does have a walmart and several mom and pop type stores so that is really good. It will be so fun to live in and experience a new place, plus we will be much closer to Tom's family. I am so excited to move to Tennessee, it will be such an exciting journey. 16 days till the move!

Great Things to Come

Having had a blog in the past I know I am not that great at blogging, but I feel like it is important to document our next chapter in life because....... 

TOM IS GOING TO MEDICAL SCHOOL!!!

Of coarse, like any nervous wife would, I have searched the web for any tips from other medical school student wives but really there isn't much out there. Who knows, maybe someday my stories and words can help calm another spouse of a newly accepted med student.

Tom starts the program at the end of July so we are moving to Tennessee July 1st! I cannot believe how soon that day is coming. We have been waiting so long for him to get accepted and to be able to say where we are going, it feels so good. His years of hard work have paid off and he has a chance now to achieve his dream. The application process has been so difficult and expensive, I guess it is only just a taste of what will come. He is so smart I know he will do great. Honestly, while we were at BYU-I together I became very jealous of his intellect. Naturally, because I had a biology emphasis and he had to to take premed classes, we ended up taking several of the same classes together. Most people think that is cute but oh, most of the time it just made me frustrated. I would study for hours for a test, he wouldn't study at all and he would still get a much higher score than me. And then there were the days were he would try to teach me something I didn't understand from my chemistry class. Oh boy, ladies, all I can say is just hire a tutor. He did great, it just didn't click for me when he would try to teach me then we would both just get frustrated. Then there were times when we would disagree about a topic we heard in class, 90% of the time though he was right. He just is so smart and capable, I love that man. I am so lucky to marry someone who is so intelligent. 

I'm going to try to write honestly about what happens so the story of our journey is accurate. So, honestly, as much as I am excited to go to Tennessee and to get him going with his schooling I am equally terrified. I am so nervous about making new friends, about living in such a small and foreign town, about finding a job, and about having to give up so much time with my husband. I am a little bit of a clingy wife  so this change will be interesting for me. I have heard from some people that you won't see them at all, all week when they have tests (which she said is about every other week) and from others that it should be about 9-5 (I think that would be too good to be true). Guess I will know in the next few months. 

So excited for our journey into the next chapter in life. I'm excited to actually be living in a house and hope I can have a garden! I'm excited to go see Tom's family before it all starts. Mostly I am excited to be able to help support my husband in any way I can to achieve his dreams. It will be incredible to watch him grow as a person and hopefully into a successful doctor.