BYU
He was obviously more nervous about a new school and going from class to class and so we went through his schedule a few times and said hi to all of his teachers. I think both kids have good teachers this year and I am hopeful that they will both have a great year. Getting up so early is the worst but once seminary starts, all three kids will be out of the house by 6:45 am and I'm a free woman until 2:30 pm. I much prefer the 9-4 schedule of elementary school but since this is forced on me, I am going to try to make the most of it.
The really unfortunate thing was that Josh was really sick and just not feeling well Monday especially but also Tuesday. I was nervous about whether he could come on the trip with us and about what was wrong with him. He has been low-level sick for months now and so fatigued and achy muscles and in my heightened emotional state I started wondering if he had leukemia like my friend, Jana, who thought she had the flu and then didn't come home from the hospital for three months. I had suggested maybe he was iron deficient like I discovered I was a few months ago but my inner self was freaking out. He went and got blood work taken and got a good sleep that night and we hoped for the best.
Tuesday I made breakfast and it was so nice to just sit around with my kids and chat and be together. Then it was go time on packing. I got myself packed (that took all of 15 minutes) and then I helped Lily for awhile. She was sorting through all of her clothes and deciding what to take and it was a process but we got all her stuff packed in two big suitcases, one medium, one small and then I had her backpack for my personal item and Josh and I both had a few of her things in our carry ons. We sat around in her room talking for a while and it was nice.
Then I took the kids school supply shopping and picked up groceries. We were also able to meet up with the Rays for our traditional last day of summer ice cream. This year we only had time for Sweet Frog but it was fun to catch up and eat a treat. Then I took Brandon to baseball practice and Curtis went to XC and the girls watched a rom com together and then they made us dinner so it was ready when the rest of us all got home. Afterwards Josh gave each of the kids a blessing and it was really powerful. He mentioned in Lily's multiple times that she was prepared for this next step in life and to be confident in her preparation. Then we all got to bed since we had to get up so early and everyone was anxious.
Wednesday I got up about 5:15 am and was ready and packed up to go by the time the other kids needed to get up for school. I felt so terribly guilty about missing the first few days of school, especially since it was Brandon's first day of middle school, but that was just how the timing worked out. Thankfully, my friend Noreen, who loves my kids and has been a wonderful support to them for the last decade, was willing to come stay at our house while we were gone. She was here at 6:15 am and then we left at 6:30 (thankfully Josh was feeling well enough to come). I thought it would be hard for Lily to say goodbye but she was very calm and collected. Emma and Brandon were really sad though so we left quickly and Noreen stayed with them to get them on the bus and make sure Curtis got off okay. Then after school Missy came and picked them up and they hung out at her house for the afternoon and then Noreen picked them up and took Emma to her youth activity and brought Brandon home. The fact that Curtis can drive made the whole thing possible because he went to school, stayed for XC, then went to the Henderson's for his youth activity and then picked up Emma and brought her home.
Thursday and Friday they just went to school and hung out here and then Saturday Curtis did his own thing and the other two hung out with the Wiests all day (Brandon and Joel went to a baseball clinic) until we got back that night. Noreen was such a help and I was so grateful she was willing to show up for us.
So back to our adventure. We drove up to the airport and got all the bags checked in and made it to the gate with no problems. I had been so nervous about the morning and how it was all going to work out but it went really well. We had an easy flight and got to SLC about 12pm. We went straight to this plaza right near my sister's house to get TCBY, go to Deseret Book and Target for a bunch of things Lily still needed. Then we drove down to Provo and checked into our hotel and went to Cafe Rio for dinner. Josh was unfortunately not feeling great and was shivering and only ate a tortilla and rice and I was worried about him but he took Advil and soldiered on.
We decided to go walk around campus and find all of Lily's classrooms, which was fun. She has a science class and then a lot of dance classes plus a religion one and a freshman required one so we found all of them and just enjoyed walking the campus and reminiscing. She was very patient with Josh and I as we both told her stories. Thankfully Josh started feeling better too as we walked around. We went back to our hotel and watched a Seinfeld and went to bed.
Thursday we were all up way too early but we got all ready and made it to the check in place for her complex and no one was there as far as a line or anything. I had imagined hundreds of freshman and things being chaotic but we got there early enough I think that Lily just walked up and got her keys and then we were the only ones moving her into her apartment so it was easy to pull up next to the curb and unload her stuff. Her roommates had all moved in already so we had to be quiet but we got her stuff in and then we help her set everything up for a few hours. Her roommates are super nice and they were helpful and I was impressed with the new Heritage buildings; much nicer than the ones I lived in that they tore down. The new buildings are huge too compared to what I lived in. Lily has a great view from her apartment and people were moving in all day so I'm glad we picked the earlier time slot.
She was pretty much moved in by 11:30 when my sister came down with some stuff we had ordered to her house and then we all went to lunch at Zupas. We get there and there was a long line but my sister was like, wait, I know these girls. It was the BYU women's soccer team, which includes my sister's niece so that was fun. We had a nice lunch and then we went to the bookstore and got Lily's books for class and game day t-shirt for football games. Then we went to the grocery store and that was a bit painful but we got her a ton of food and hopefully set her up well for the semester. Then we took it to her apartment and got her all set up in the kitchen and then we went to the temple. I had never been to Provo City Center before (well, Josh and I had stake conferences there back in the day before it was turned into a temple) and it was beautiful if not a bit of a maze. It was so nice to be able to go with Lily one more time for now and hopefully help her feel comfortable going on her own or with my niece or a friend later. We got pizza at a place Josh wanted to try and it was good and then we dropped her off at her apartment for her first night as a college girl.
Friday Josh and I were lazy and it was so nice. Lily had orientation all morning so we watched a movie (Remarkably Bright Creatures, which was excellent), went for a walk around our old apartment complex (we lived on the right in the middle) and talked and hung around. That was when we got the phone call about Josh's blood work and we were very relieved to find out he was critically low on iron. It was a relief to have an explanation and a solution that we hope will help him feel better over the next few weeks.
Then we got her last few things at Target and went to campus to look around the bookstore at a more leisurely pace. We got Jamba Juice (I used to get it all the time as a freshman with Mindy) and we sat and watched all of the freshman walking around in their groups. We got free lunches because they had so many extra after the kids were done eating and that was sweet and so we were sitting on a bench by the library eating when Lily came by. Luckily she didn't see us at all but it looked like she was having a good time and that made us happy. We tried to visit our buddy who is a chemistry professor but he wasn't there so we walked around the library and then decided it was time to go get brownies at the Creamery. Lily was done with what she was doing and said she would meet us there. She beat us and as soon as she saw us she came and gave us a big hug and started crying. She had held everything in and was so calm the whole time but at that moment she was feeling lost and out of place and alone. We talked and I got brownies to take home and then I suggested a drive so we went up to Bridal Veil falls.
Lily loves water like I do and I think it was calming to her, that is until a crazy wind/rain storm came along and we ran for our lives back to our car. It was nuts; we walked leisurely down the trail and when we got to the falls we heard a strange crack and the wind kicked up so much so that the falls were not falling anymore, they were blowing and so we turned around and on the way back there were four trees that had fallen over and a ton of tree debris was on the trail that hadn't been there ten minutes before. It started raining about two minutes before we made it to the car so we got a bit wet but by the time we made it to Provo, the storm was gone and it was sunny again. We went to get papusas at the same place Josh and I used to go to when we first got married and then we dropped Lily off and went to the stadium for the You are the Y night while she walked over with her roommates.
It was a really cool event. The freshman class was all given a blue T-shirt to wear and then they formed a Y in the south stands of the stadium, which took awhile. Then there was a show and it was super fun. Vocal Point performed, then Noteworthy, then President Reese spoke and he said exactly what Lily needed to hear; YOU are the Y, you are this university, you belong here. It was really moving and I appreciated what he said. The mayor of Provo came to welcome everyone, Living Legends performed and then Cosmo came out and a guy from the athletic department taught them some of the football traditions, like what to do on a first down or on a good defensive play. Our quarterback, Bear, came out and introduced all of the freshman football players and then the marching band came out and played the fight song. It was awesome and I totally cried through the whole thing. I was emotional about my time at BYU and how special it was and also how happy I am that Lily gets to be a part of it all. Then there was a drone show and it was super cool. It had started to rain at one point but held off and so we got to experience the whole show. Josh and I just felt like we couldn't have left Lily in a better place. We met her back at her apartment and she was feeling so much better. She was calm again and so happy and excited so that show was just what she needed. We gave her a big hug and told her how much we love her and then we walked away; both Josh and I cried but we pulled ourselves together by the time we got to the car and went back to our hotel.
Lily then sent me a text that she was devastated and I thought, we've only been gone ten minutes, but turns out she lost one of her favorite earrings and that's what had made her so sad (insert eye rolling emoji here). Josh and I left Saturday in the later morning and had an easy flight and then drive home. Everyone was home waiting for us and excited to eat the mint brownies I had brought and tell us about their first few days of school. Josh has been taking iron pills and eating whatever iron-rich foods he could find but he has still been sick so I still do wonder if something else is going on. We are both hoping he feels better soon.
Sunday I really missed Lily but we called her and talked in the afternoon and it was fun to see her smile and cute face. It is hard not to want to look at her location and wonder what she is doing. I've gotten a few texts though telling me how social she is being. She went to a dance and got a boy's phone number, she had a great experience at church and is excited about her ward, she went out on a walk with a roommate and met a friend of hers so they went to their apartment and met a bunch of people and so on. She has one roommate that has a mission call and leaves in January for Japan and they are from all over the country so that's cool. One is on scholarship for ballroom dance and one is minoring in contemporary. We met three of the five and they were all super nice girls so I'm excited for Lily. Go Cougars!
Comments
Post a Comment