Colorado or Bust!

Finally I can do a post about our future after graduation now that I know for a certainty what we are doing. The last several months have been so uncertain for us with the job search. It has been a big roller coaster ride for us since last November when I thought I had a job secured in Coeur d' Alene. I had some good job offers in the Spokane area since last summer and we really thought that we were going to end up there, but things fell through and didn't end up working out for us. We were so bummed because we had put so much research and effort into securing a job for me. Granted, I have been fairly picky about the job I am going to accept, but I figured that after all the schooling I have done I deserved to be picky.

Well, after things in Spokane didn't work out as I had hoped, we went back to the drawing board to start applying for some more jobs. Denver and Spokane were always our top two options. After receiving some promising offers in Spokane last summer, we focused our efforts on the Pacific Northwest and quit looking in the Denver area. With the new developments two weeks ago concerning my job offers in Spokane, I went back to square one using all my resources to find job offers in a hurry.

In my search there was only one offer in Spokane, which was a corporate dental position, none in Idaho, one in Utah, but more than a dozen in Colorado. I sent my CV to all of those practices two weeks ago today hoping to get a reply from some of them. I was really nervous too because this is really late to begin looking for a job considering that I graduate in May.

Much to my surprise I got a reply from Dr. Miller in Colorado Springs within a few short hours. We talked on the phone for quite a while and I really like his practice philosophy, his personality and the opportunity it would give me as an associate and potential partner down the road.

I booked a flight out to Colorado to meet him and his staff and check the area out. I landed on Wednesday and was scheduled to fly home today, Saturday. I have been very fortunate to take off time from school on such short notice because I have been done with all my requirements for a while now.

When I got there, I loved both the city and Dr. Miller's Practice. I followed him around his office on Thursday to see the system that he uses and to get to know him and his staff. It went great and he offered me the job. It is actually the best offer I have received too.

This is a view of Pikes Peak (14,115 ft) from Colorado Springs.

This is my boss, Dr. Miller

We went snow boarding up at Breckenridge on Friday and had a blast. The sun was out all day and we had blue bird conditions. It even snowed several inches on Thursday, so we had some powder still. I really enjoyed the resort, the terrain, and the views were unsurpassed. I couldn't get over how many peaks over 14,000 feet are located in such a concentrated area. I even rode up the highest chair lift in North America, Imperial chair lift. It takes you up to 12,840 feet. What a great day on the slopes. That's my kind of job interview.

While I was there I saw the place we are going to rent for our first year until we find a house to buy. It is a cool 3 level townhouse by Palmer Park, a nature preserve. The best part about this- we will be paying $300 a month less to rent this than we are currently paying in Baltimore. It is a two bedroom, two and a half bath townhouse with an unfinished basement and includes a garage. Very cool indeed.

And our last bit of great news is that we bought a car! On Friday my dad's friend Kip Wade won an auction for us on a silver 2005 pathfinder. It is completely loaded-black leather interior, DVD player, heated seats, adjustable pedals, 7 passenger seating, 4WD, Bose sound system. Basically if Nissan offers it on a Pathfinder, we got it. It only has 40,000 miles and we got it for a little under $21,000.

We are so excited to have a great job, a new place to live, and a new car. We are moving out the the first of June. As the early gold miners in the 19th century said, "Colorado or bust!"