my future

With all of the free time that I have here in Spain, I have started to contemplate what I plan on doing with my life when I return to the states. Before I left Kentucky, I planned on coming home in June, hopefully working at GSP as soon as I got back, then finding a job for a year while I enjoyed the Kentucky life. I applied to 2 graduate programs on a whim, with the thought that I could defer my admissions if I got in. But now that I have four months until I return home and the decisions are looming closer in my future, I have rethought what I want to do.
Now, I have my plane ticket home for July 9. When I get home, I hope to take a month or so to visit friends and enjoy reuniting and building back up relationships at home. From there, I'm pretty set on going up to Washington, D.C. for the next two years. One of the grad. programs I applied to was George Washington University's Master's of Tourism Administration. They are one of the only schools to offer this Master's, and I would be able to specialize in Sport Management. This would be perfect for me, as I could potentially work in international sports. It would also be my best lead-in to my dream job: working for the Olympics.
There are many other Fulbrighters whom I've met here in Madrid that have lived in DC and/or are going to be in DC in the future years. From hearing their stories of the city, while it may be expensive, it sounds like my ideal place to live. Every time that I have visited there in the past, I have thought about how much I could see myself living in the nation's capital. Now that the opportunity has arisen, I have to take it.
One big concern that I have, outside of the money of course, is probably seen by many as a trivial one. But if I move to DC, I need to be able to take my dog Archie with me. I've had him for a little over a year, and have only been able to fully spend a couple of months with him. I appreciate my parents taking care of him, but if I go to DC, he has to be able to come with me. Living in an apartment wouldn't be ideal for him, but I've always heard that the city is very dog friendly. So in my apartment hunt, I'll really have to take that into consideration.
The program would be 2 years, and really seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. I know that if I pass up this opportunity, I might always wonder what would have happened had I gone with my heart on this one. So, it looks like Archie and I will be moving to DC for the next 2 years!