…And now we live in Blacksburg!

If you hadn't heard it yet, SURPRISE! We’re living in Blacksburg, Virginia (aka the town of Virginia Tech) for the next nine months while Drew finishes up his Engineering degrees and completes his prerequisites to apply to physician assistant (PA) schools.

This isn’t at all the path we thought we’d be on and I never ever expected to live anywhere besides Maryland/Delaware but the Lord’s plans truly throw you for a loop sometimes and there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it! For years leading up to our engagement, until August 2020 (about 4 months into being engaged), Drew’s plans were to finish up his mechanical and biomedical engineering degrees, graduate, and start his career as an engineer in prosthetics. We’ve been talking over the timeline of things since before he even started classes freshman year, and our plans were to get a condo close to home and start our lives together just a few months after graduation! BUT, just weeks before starting senior year at VT, Drew sat me down and told me he actually hated engineering and didn't want to be an engineer. LOL. I basically told him I didn't care what he wanted to do, but he had to do something because the wedding was 8 months away.

I can’t blame him for not wanting to pursue engineering as his career- he always talked about it like a dark tunnel. He would graduate college, and most likely have an hour+ commute into D.C. everyday to sit at a desk. That was his experience with both of his summer internships during college- literally 2+ hour commutes everyday, sitting at a desk working on a minuscule part of a project that he didn't even get the full picture of.. not to mention harsh old-men bosses who couldn’t care less. I could go on forever about the stress we dealt with as a couple over the summers because his jobs were so awful. His most recent engineering internship took a rough turn and the stress and anxiety was making Drew sick to his stomach.

When he came and told me he didn’t want to go into engineering for the rest of his life, it made sense. He wants to do something where he can use his skills (he’s so stinking smart!) and actually help people and feel like he’s making a real difference. Definitely feeling the pressure of the wedding approaching, my mom, Drew and I sat at our kitchen table everyday for nearly a week scouring the internet for career ideas, how much additional schooling he would need, where he could go, etc.

Drew ended up choosing to peruse PA school- a similar path to becoming a doctor, but it doesn’t entail a residency program so you aren’t in school until you’re 30. Physician Assistants can see patients, perform surgery (with a surgical fellowship), even open their own practice! As long as they’re technically under the guidance of a doctor within the same practice. The opportunities are seriously endless with PA school and it’s so fun listening to Drew toss around ideas of what he might want his career to look like in 5, 10, 25 years. It’s awesome to hear him actually excited about the future instead of dreading sitting at a computer all day.

For PA school, he had to add on another semester at Virginia Tech to complete prerequisite classes for his applications. After he finishes the prerequisites, he’ll have to work in a patient care setting (i.e. work in a role at a hospital doing hands-on work with patients) for a minimum of 1,000 hours, but some schools say their applicants have an average of 2,700 hours. CRAZY. So after graduating with his undergrad from VT, he’ll be busting his booty to get as many hours as he can before applying to schools in the late summer (of 2022).

We’re prayerful that Drew’s hard work will pay off and he’ll get into a PA school we both love for a start time of Spring 2023. BUT, the Lord’s plans take charge and if they’re not the same as our own hopes, He is still good. This is such a stressful and overwhelming change but i’m so excited for all it means for Drew.

Also very excited for spring 2022, when we finish our time in Blacksburg and get to move back home! I love our apartment so far (although it still needs quite a bit of personalizing) but this town is just not for me…everyone here likes to hike (not for me), the closest J.Crew is 4.5 hours away, and the Ulta here is ALWAYS out of stock in the Lancome lash primer. Like, ALWAYS. The pros? A lot of quality time with my new husband, Millie has become the cutest college-town puppy, and the nail salon down the street is amazing because they cater to college girls ;)

Watch out for all my flannel recs over the next 10 months! HAHA

LOVE,

Jaime