A big event happened in April that was a long time coming... I graduated from BYU-Idaho with my bachelor's degree! This took me a long 8 years of online classes. It was very hard and sometimes not enjoyable. At other times I loved the classes I took and really learned things that I felt I could actually apply to my everyday life. A couple of things kept me going as a struggled at times to complete classes and continue my education through some trying years for our family. First, I wanted to be more educated. I wanted to learn things that I could apply to my everyday life as a wife, mother, daughter, a member of the community, and whatever role I might play in my future. I feel that the classes I took were geared toward this and made my degree really mean something to me even though it was a little unconventional or may seem useless to some. Second, I wanted to be a good example to my child and future children that education is very important and you need to do what every you can to make sure you get all the education you need and want.
We arrived on Thursday afternoon and left on Saturday. It was a quick trip and wasn't all smiles but it was worth it to go walk at my graduation. It had it's rough moments because CJ and I had come straight from spending almost two weeks at my parents house and CJ was ready to go home. He was grouchy most of the time in Rexburg because of this. We had some really memorable moments regardless.
CJ had lots of energy Thursday afternoon after a 4 hour car ride from Utah. We let him run wild on campus and he had a great time. We spent the afternoon walking around campus visiting our old favorite spots and seeing what was new. So much had changed! They have built new things all over and most of our most memorable places didn't exist anymore or had changed. This was sad to see but fun to see the possibilities available to so many students as they are expanding so much.
This is the Kirkham auditorium where I would walked across the stage to receive my diploma. When I found out this is the place I would walk I was filled with so much joy and right then was over the moon that I had actually made the trip out to walk. This building was so special to me because it is where I spent the most time while I attended this college from 2005-2007. This is the building I danced in. I went to numerous dance classes as well as performed many dance concerts on this stage. This made up for all the change that had occurred on campus making things feel so different as we toured the campus.
This is where daddy spent most of his days while attending the school.....the gym. He worked at the front desk at the gym and loved his days there. The desk was still there but the gym was not. It was just an empty room that they seemed to be changing into something else. It was neat that at least the desk was still there. Very sentimental for daddy.
This was a room daddy had a lot of classes in and those new chairs looked pretty cool. CJ sure like to sit in them. One day maybe you will chose to go to this school CJ....
This is the I-Center and it is one of the new buildings and it is ginormous. This is where my commencement took place and Elder Rasband spoke at my graduation. It was very grand walking in line into this room to take my seat up front at graduation.
We were exhausted after walking all over campus and it showed as we waited for our food at Wingers.
We stayed at a hotel in Idaho Falls right across from the temple. It was a beautiful sight!
It took driving around campus a few times to remember where this sign was. I knew it was on campus and but couldn't remember exactly where but I was determined to find it because I wanted a picture in front of it!
After getting a few more pictures Friday morning we went back to Idaho Falls to have lunch with Mark and Debby Spaulding who were so kind to come out for this occasion. They took us to lunch where CJ was pretty grouchy but a delicious lunch anyway. We then went back to the hotel and changed for the graduation event that started at 5:00.
I had to wait for awhile in the I-Center gym until it started and Jeff tried to get CJ ready to sit in the auditorium but it wasn't working. CJ was done and so grouchy. CJ ended up chasing him around campus trying to keep him happy while I enjoyed the commencement speeches in the I-Center. After about an hour we walked over to the Kirkham auditorium for the convocation. By the time the convocation started it was past CJ's bedtime and had thrown many tantrums. It was hard to enjoy myself when he was so miserable but we managed to still get a good picture like I wanted. Jeff did an amazing job and taking care of CJ so I could just try to enjoy myself and not worry about CJ.
By the time the convocation started it was past CJ's bedtime and had
thrown many tantrums. It was hard to enjoy myself when he was so
miserable but we managed to still get a good picture like I wanted. Jeff
did an amazing job and taking care of CJ so I could just try to enjoy
myself and not worry about CJ. One of the few times he was happy was right after the convocation ended (it helped he had just had a bag of skittles haha) and he ran up to me and I hopped on stage with him and got a picture. I love this picture so much! CJ is one of the reason's I did this and I hope that he comes to know how important an education is.
