Southwest

There are so many things I love about the southwest:

Exposed rock

Big Skies

Hot days and cool evenings (in the South, the evenings are not cool because of the humidity...)

Huge mountains

Canyons

AND........

$200 round trip tickets on Southwest Airlines.

AWESOME!

When Mark and I saw those prices, we finally decided to take a vacation to Arizona this summer. We are planning on staying for four weeks. We were having a hard time deciding whether or not to go for several reasons. 

The primary reason is that Mark applied for and might be awarded a paid research position this summer. With our car on its last legs we need the money pretty badly. 

The secondary reason is that I am slated to start intense fertility treatment this summer, including 2 oral medications along with an injectable medication and regular ultrasounds to monitor the development of my follicles.

A third reason is that I only have a 7 week summer and I did not want to spend so much of it away from home. 

The fourth reason is financial. We can't afford to go unless we stay for at least 4-5 weeks (to recoup the living expenses at our parents houses... :)

We had actually decided not to go about a month ago for those reasons. But Mark came to me the other night (before we found those cheap tickets) and asked me to reconsider. He said he really felt strongly that he wanted to go to Snowflake. He said he felt it would help him fully relax and unwind so he can be ready for his second year of medical school and step one of the USMLE (a HUGE test 2nd year medical students take that affects what kind of career they will have in medicine). I was not convinced. I REALLY wanted to start my fertility meds this summer and get the ball rolling with that, especially because I might not have the health insurance to do it next year if I can't be rehired due to financial hardship in my school district. He told me if that was my only reason he might be a little bitter this summer but that he could manage and still have a good summer. I told him I would think about it. 

And I did think about it. And I thought "You know what, Mark is more important than my unborn children. He is my family right now. We have waited and tried for 3 1/2 years. What is another month? And if I loose my health insurance and we have to wait until Mark is in residency, then we have to wait and that is that. I would rather have a happy husband. I should not abandon my stewardship now for what I might have stewardship over later." 

With those thoughts in my head I got online to look at airline tickets and the first ones I found were $200 round trip tickets per person. WOW. You can't DRIVE for that price. So I showed them to Mark and he said "Let's think about it for a couple of days." When I told him my reasons for going (see paragraph above) we decided to go for it. So we did. And now we are going. YAY!

We still do not know whether or not Mark is going to get that research position. We are kind of hoping he doesn't so we can just go to Arizona. But we decided it will be a win, win, WIN (10 points if you know where that quote comes from) situation either way. Right now we are staying for a month. If he gets it, we will simply change our returning or departing flight so we will only be gone for two weeks, which we will be able to afford because he will be getting paid AND because Southwest doesn't charge you if you change your flight (unless it is a more expensive flight of course, and then you have to pay the difference). I will be able to continue my fertility medication, and we will take a vacation to Disney World or the beach. We will also be able to build up our savings. If he doesn't get the job, then we get a month long vacation with our families. We will get to visit BYU and Utah during that time. Mark will be able to have a fully relaxing summer where he just gets to study and read and rest to his heart's content. I will get to see my mom and visit my dad's grave and maybe help her finally choose a headstone for it. So you see, no matter what happens it will be a win, win, WIN situation. 

Hooray for Southwest!