Hermsiton

Ever heard of Hermiston, Oregon?

I'd never heard of it before...but that's where we're going to live for the next year!

The Radiological Science Program at OIT finally had the draw for externship sites on Friday. It was a very nerve-wracking experience for Ryan and I. We had been hoping to go to Missoula, Montana, but that site dropped out a few weeks before the draw. So we switched our sites to Medford, Oregon - which is a nice city, not too far from where we live now, that has an LDS temple and would put us closer to my grandparents.

The draw process goes like this:

1. All of the externships sites are written on individual strips of paper and put into a bucket
2. One site is randomly drawn from the bucket, and whoever would like to go to that site puts their name in a separate bucket
3. A student's name is drawn from that bucket, and they are then assigned to that site
4. If no one puts their name in for a site, then that site is held for the end of the draw
5. Once you are assigned to a site, you cannot put your name in for any other sites
6. If two people are willing, they may switch sites the following week

So, Ryan had the list of all the sites, and he had ranked them on desirability. There are sites all over Oregon, a few in Washington, one in Alaska, and even one in Australia!

Hermiston was actually one of the very first sites drawn out of the bucket, but it was the only site that no one put their names in for (obviously it's not seen as a very desirable site), so it was held for the very end...

Ryan put his name in for six or so sites, but it was never drawn. At the very end of the draw, we were assigned to Hermiston (and obviously no one will trade sites with him...)

I know that Klamath Falls isn't shown on this map, but just so you know, right now we are living almost on the California border (about where that blue line (river) crosses it), and Medford is pretty close, located on the red line (major highway).

So, with a lot of faith, we will be moving to Hermiston this summer! We know that God will send us where we need to be, and we are trusting in Him.

Good things about this:

• Nicole is super excited because Hermiston is known for their watermelon (one of her favorite foods)
• We will be about 4 hours closer to home! (Rexburg, ID)
• There is an LDS temple only 30-45 minutes away (which is a much shorter drive than the almost two hours it takes for us to get to the Medford temple from KFalls)
• We'll be close to the Columbia River -- beautiful!