Though most people that actually read this blog I also email or talk to on the phone regularly but I just thought I'd take a few minutes to give a brief update of our first 2 weeks in South Dakota. We were welcomed to the frigid north on Friday April 24 with SNOW, yes SNOW! It was crazy to leave a state where it was already hitting the 90's and flip flops were mandatory to arrive in a state where a light jacket is STILL needed for any outing. We stayed with our friends the Erkens for 2 days before we were able to close on our new house! It is very exciting to be a home owner! While it was nerve racking to buy a house "sight unseen" it ended up being exactly what we wanted and more. The location is great, the space is great and it suites our needs perfect. Of course, there are some minor cosmetic things that we intend to change and updates we plan to make but what house comes perfect? Unpacking still has not been completed as i spent the first week and a half studying for my NBCOT exam which I took on Wednesday May 6. I'm very glad to have it over with but will be relieved when I find out if I passed. As far as work, I was offered 2 jobs last week, one of which I declined and one I accepted! The one I accepted is not a full time position yet but the manager thinks that by the end of the summer I will be full time. It's at the pediatric facility here called Children's Care. It's an amazing facility with great therapists and would actually be exactly what I was doing during my last clinical rotation. I figure I'd rather work PRN (as needed)/part time and do the job I really want than work full time in a position I'm not very crazy about. The hospital has also contacted me about 2 positions they have opening and I'm trying to maybe work it out to work part time there but we'll see. Todd has gotten all "in processed" and is getting settled into his new squadron. He likes it a lot so far and will start flying next week. We have our first squadron function tomorrow so we'll get to meet a lot of new people which we are very excited about. I'm very excited about the fact that there are 2 wives in our new squadron who are OTs!! One works at Children's Care and the other works at the hospital. Other than that we haven't gotten to do a whole lot yet due to unpacking, in-processing and of course my board exams but that will soon change with the warming weather and getting more settled. Overall, Rapid City is A LOT better than Abilene! There is lots to do and the scenery is A LOT prettier. Some observations to date:
-The black hills are called the black hills because they are covered in trees and look black from a distant.
-Gambling is legal in South Dakota so there are casinos EVERYWHERE!
-If you're from Wyoming you refer to people from South Dakota as a "rabbit choker".
-There is a big difference if you're from "east of the river" or "west of the river"... the river being the Missouri river.
That's all I got for now! Hopefully we'll have the house put together with our new furniture soon and I'll get pictures up on here or emailed!