My baby girl just finished her first week of college! We drove her to BYU-I a week ago today and got her settled in. Then we drove back. In a day. That is a story in itself. But before I get into that, I can hardly believe that 18 years of childhood have gone by in a flash! She was my first natural birth after I took a Bradley childbirth class. I had her older brother first, with an epidural. After that I decided I would go natural the next time after hearing people rave about it. (That is another story in itself which I shall save for another day).  She was also my first baby who I nursed past a year, and then tandem nursed too, with her baby brother. I’d like to say those things contributed to how wonderful and smart she is, but we can never know really.

She is a great young lady who has a strong testimony of Jesus Christ and his restored gospel. She is kind, smart, and helpful. She works hard and is friendly. I am really excited for this new phase in her life. Here’s a picture we took before we left her apartment. We don’t look super chipper because it has been a long day, getting up early at 5 AM to drive to Idaho, helping her unpack and shop, me teaching a class over the phone, and then going to the parents’ meeting of the new students that BYU-Idaho offers in the fancy, large “I Center” which is equivalent to the Marriott Center at BYU-Provo, except it doesn’t have a basketball court at the bottom. After the meeting, we actually didn’t say good-bye yet, because she wanted us to take her to the local thrift store to get some clothes for her because she had “nothing to wear tomorrow.” Sigh. I was ready to bark, “You mean after months of knowing you were coming here and having a job and working and using the family car you have never gone shopping for clothes?” I had wanted her to get this clothes shopping done before she left but apparently she didn’t get to it. I was so tired, but out of pure love for her I didn’t bark or complain but agreed. So we drove to the D.I. in Rexburg and had fun. Being at D.I. at 9 PM with a three hour drive ahead of me was my parting gift to her.

After we first moved her stuff in earlier in the day we helped her unpack. We got her some dishes at the D.I. back home before we left. I think she has great taste. She said she got all Type 4 colors and styles for her dishes! Like I have said in previous blog posts, she is really getting into the Carol Tuttle energy types.

She found this cute kitchen hand towel at D.I. When I saw it hanging on the oven door I had to smile. It just looks so feminine, cheerful, and homey! It’s not really Type 4ish, however.

This is her new bed in her new place with a desk below the bed. I love the functionality. I was happy to see that she brought her toe shoes as a reminder of all she has accomplished in ballet. She also brought her Princess book that dh and I gave to her for Christmas a few years ago.

We got to meet her new roommates and all the moms of the roommates. They are sweet girls and ladies. Two of the girls were daughters of moms who were best friends in high school in Tennessee, and they were daughters of men who were good friends and business partners. I don’t think the girls had ever met before, as they grew up in CO and PA. So this sets a new vision for me, to encourage my children to be college roommates with my best friends. That sounds like so much fun!