Potato Land vs. Cajun Country

Welp. The verdict is in.

I officially accepted the offer to intern at St. Luke Children's Hospital in BOISE, IDAHO!!!
...a packet containing more information should come in the mail within a week or two. (Yeah, I'll be working at camp in Arkansas by then, but Momma will take care of everything that I need while I'm out of state.)

To give a bit of background information about my choice for Idaho, I have three friends who live there, and one of my friends (or twin, as we like to say, since we share a birthday) from Nicholls, Kim, will be moving up to Idaho in the fall, as well. She and I visited Idaho for Fall Break last year, and we had an absolute blast! I loved the environment--it was gorgeous, clean, and just a great overall area. During the visit, I also toured St. Luke's and met with a CLS there. (Apparently they remembered my visit.) So basically, I have been looking forward to moving to Idaho for quite a few months now; it was definitely at the top of my list, and to receive this offer so soon was great. Everything just seems to be working out in my favor...let's hope it stays that way.

Oh, and, I'm super excited because Kim and her parents invited me to join them on their cross-country (west?) road trip to Idaho in July. Kim'll be moving all her stuff up there and we will look for a place to live during this time. The timing is perfect, too, because we'll leave July 7th, and I'll get a one-way ticket home to be back in time for CBC Staff Training which starts July 14th.

As for the offer to interview at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, I called today to decline the invitation. The reason I gave was that it would be too difficult for me to arrange an interview with me leaving for camp so soon. Thankfully, the CLS there was super nice about everything and said she understood, that they have considered offering phone interviews, but they really believe it's important for potential interns to visit the site and meet everyone. Ah well. At least she was nice about it, right? (And, if I do ever decide that I'd like to experience life in Ohio, I can always go to OSU for graduate school.)

Today, Mom called to tell me that I received letters from two (previously) potential internship sites. Arkansas Children's had written to notify me that I was not chosen for their program, and Our Lady of the Lake (in Baton Rouge, LA) said that I did not meet their requirements (whatever that means). To be honest, I'm rather content with the whole situation. I would prefer that I did not get into these sites, then have gotten accepted and wondered whether I made the right choice. These are just two more examples of how everything seems to be falling into place.

I'll be sure to continue writing about all things internship-related, as I am sure you're curious to see how life pans out. :-P

In other news, I have finally finished packing all my stuff at my apartment in Thibodaux, and will be spending the night at Annie's (my roommate) house in Luling tonight. Tomorrow morning, I shall pick Benjamin (!) up from the airport in New Orleans, and head back to Thibodaux to meet my parents so that I can move everything out of the apartment. During Benjamin's visit, I plan to serve as Cajun Tour Guide Extraordinare. We'll have boiled crawfish, jambalaya, gumbo (?), beignets, 4-H ice cream (!), authentic Louisiana strawberry beer from Abita Springs, and a few other secrets that are still up my sleeve, at this point. My goal is to make sure this Louisiana adventure is one he never forgets! Hahaha.

Alrighty, Annie's serving brownies with mint chocolate chip ice cream...'nuff said.

Bonsoir.
-Lauren