Time to Share Our NEWS!

We're moving.

And not just to a different part of town.

We're moving to... Minnesota.

This is not a joke. Minnesota will be our home in a few months. In order to get a grip on what part of the country soon to be my residence, I had to google "Minnesota." I'm serious. I am embaressed to say that I didn't know where Minnesota was. (In my defense, I somehow skipped the middle school geography class everyone and their uncle's brother takes - not sure how that happened, but nonetheless I am still horrible at knowing my country. Maybe when Jackson gets gifted those Leapfrog games designed to educate young minds about our world, I can - for the first time in my 28 years of life - become an informed citizen). To be brief, my research revealed that it is "UP." And it is "UP" enough to receive snow in mid April.

Let me start from the beginning (as Julie Andrews always sings, "It's a very good place to start"). Scott has been in investigation mode for a few months now. The capital campaign with which he has been charged at The Wellington School is coming to a close in the next few months. This timing, coupled with his desire to branch out in the fundraising world, made for a great season to make a transition. But it's hard work, this transition-making. I say this as an onlooker. I didn't have any hard work, except for offering moral support as Scott diligently prepared cover letters, tailored resumes, interviewed by phone, traveled all over for face-to-face interviews. Geez. He did a TON of extensive work to get the job he got.

WHICH IS... A position working with the world famous medical center, The Mayo Clinic. He will be a development officer, working to match up donors with their passions within the hospital. The "mother" hospital is based in Rochester, Minnesota (our future home - WEIRD to say!) and there are two other satellite sites: Jacksonville FL and Phoenix AZ.

And I yearn to explain maybe a little more about this job search. That kind of explaining requires me to start a little before "the beginning" of Scott's quest. It means I need to go back to Duncan. Sweet Duncan.

Scott had always believed that the most important value for individuals to "make it" in this world was education. The whole bit: knowledge = power, or at least a shot at success. After having worked with youth in a variety of ways in his 20s (ha, I can say that because the 20s for Scott are OVER!)(He worked in youth ministry, then for a nonprofit teaching inner city youth financial literacy and now finally at an independent school), Scott decided his growing experience in fundraising could be best put to use in a university or college. He wanted to raise money to allow young people to educate themselves. Quite a commendable goal, I think. He had been doing a little dabbling with job postings at Ohio Wesleyan, Emory in Atlanta, and even Otterbein.

Then came Duncan. After we lost our little guy, Scott sat long and hard with his career ambitions. He felt as though he was changed by Duncan. And one of these changes was a shift of philosophies about what contribution matters most. Whereas he still believes that education is the key to success. He now believes that kids gotta be healthy before they can be educated before they can succeed. Plus, Nationwide Children's Hospital will forever be sacred ground for us, and we know how much a hospital like that can change lives. So that led him on this really intense search within the pediatric hospital world. He applied and was considered by Chicago's, Cleveland's, Ann Arbor's, and Atlanta's Children's Hospitals. And one day, out of the blue, he learned about this great place called Mayo. He didn't know much about their pediatrics unit (and as it has turned out, that's because it hasn't been grown or developed as intentionally as their general medicine and research) when he first applied, but it didn't take much of the "Mayo vibe" to make its overall commitment to values, integrity and success quite attractive. We traveled there the first week in April for a couple nights. This was his first "live" interview (a 9 hour one!) and my/his first visit to Minnesota EVER. There is something pretty special about that little city. The bug bit me too. And by the end of our stay, we were wooed by what Rochester and The Mayo Clinic had to potentially offer our family.

Only we didn't have an offer.

Not until this past Thursday, coinciding with one from Rainbow Babies in Cleveland. We have chosen The Mayo Clinic. And it feels good.

The only way that it does not feel good is that - although considered momentarily - it doesn't look too realistic to pack up each special person to me from Columbus and haul their tails to Rochester too. Ugh. That's the toughy.

But, otherwise, we are ecstatic. It just feels right.