Officially...

I have been MIA from the blog for a bit and probably will be for the next while. Other than having the worst cold of my life, the season is busy, with birthdays, holidays, school and family, it's a constant whirlwind I call life.

But for now I thought I should fill you all in on some really important and big news for the Johnson family!

We are starting our fourth year of dental school, we are on the home stretch and will be moving back to Utah in less than 9 months! Four years ago I would have told you this day was so far away that I couldn't even imagine it. Now that we are close, I can say its gone by quick! I should keep this in mind for future things...

Nate's been plugging away in his school studies, being a diligent little dental student and creating happy patients. He's enjoyed "most" of his schooling, aside from actual sit down and listen - class time and as most of his class mates can say, Nate is usually asleep at that point. He has spent the majority of his waking hours at school and then spends any free time wondering up to the perio clinic.

You see, Nate was the first out of his family (other than dear old dad) who wanted to be a dentist. He will be sure to tell you this. Why? because both of his older brothers are now practicing dentists, but Nate, apparently had been dreaming of dirty teeth and nasty breath for years and is adamant he was the first! He's always enjoyed dentistry, I suppose everything about it but his love for it changed... slightly.

Nate had developed a love for perio. Honestly I am going to have to have him write down on here, why... he loves perio so much. You know once I wanted to be a hygienist and then realized that I couldn't stand nasty gum disease and halitosis. All dentists will deal with this, some more than others but no one more than a periodontist (and probably his hygienist). I'll have to explain what exactly periodontists do, its really more than just a gum gardener, as they call them. Implants, surgery, extractions, treatment of gums, roots and bone... and so much more. But often periodontist are the butt of all jokes. Although they go to schooling for longer then a general dentist, they are often the low man on the totem pole.

Alright, anyhow. Nate had been thinking about perio. We had talked some about the possibility of applying before summer and it never really stuck, summer passed and so did the deadline for application, a friend of ours, who is in the program, again prompted Nate to still apply even though it was Late (he had been suggestion an application weekly). After a quick, "just do it" from me. He applied.

A few days later he had an interview that he nearly missed. The secretary and Nate got their days mixed up. Nate had just happened to walk into the perio dept, where the secretary informed him his interview was that morning. Frantically Nate, borrowed our perio friends car, headed home for his suit and walked into an interview unprepared in his head.

We worried about the interview, the fact that we had thrown all our eggs in one basket (we only applied to UK) and that, if accepted we would be throwing away a dental practice that others would give an arm and leg for.

We worried for a while, until this little letter came in the mail. I tried my hardest not to open it or even let Nate know that it had come. No need to let him stress about it at school.

There ya have it, it's official, Nate has been accepted into the University of Kentucky Perio program and we will be staying here for an additional 3 years, making it 7 years total!

We are excited to break the mold so to speak and make our own adventures. Nate is excited to venture in this field and feels good about his decisions. Our future is somewhat uncertain and that is kind of scary but we both know it will work out how it's supposed to.

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P.S.... I have to be honest, this whole photo shoot thing was a set up. As I mentioned Nate decided to apply late and got an interview shortly after, however shortly after that, we got word he was accepted but kept it on the down low until we received this bad boy. I just needed to document it and made him go along with it. He did well. Officially it's official now! We have known for months, but just had to wait a bit to tell. Yeah for us!