700 Miles to Sanity

I love BYU. I promise I do. I love the people I have met here and the classes I have taken and the skills I have learned. I love that its in the mountains and I've learned to snowboard in the winters and camp in the summers. I love that every class I have been in is some how related back to the Savior from New Testament to Microbiology. I love that the buildings are all named after apostles and prophets and that all the other students have the same standards as I do. But sometimes I just need a break.

I live in a neighborhood where the streets are named things like "Cherry Lane" and "Apple Avenue". I live in a place where an increasing crime rate is equivalent to an increase in parking tickets. I live in a place where we warn against immorality with clever little sayings like "Rubbing backs in the front room leads to rubbing fronts in the back room..." I live in a place where we compliment our athletes by telling stories about how "One time the BYU basketball team was walking on the beach and looked back and saw only one set of footprints" (Thank you Jimmer Fredette). And I'm fairly certain that when I walk across the stage (and I do mean when) that Cecil will hand me my diploma only after asking me how much money I owe the testing center (don't ask), whether or not I participated in extracurricular activities (hence, my senior year last ditch attempt at water polo), and just how many devotionals I attended during my undergraduate years (shoot, was that required?).

Sometimes its just good to know there is life outside of the bubble.

We got in the car Thursday night ready for an adventure, which by definition is anything more than one exit off I-15. We ended up in Wendover Nevada in a Casino called The Nugget. No, of course we do not gamble, or drink, or appreciate waitresses in skimpy outfits. But we will take a hotel room for an excellent price! (Thank you Richard and Marilyn!) Friday, after Evan got some more practice with those tire chains he loves so much, we had a great evening with the Fox family catching up, visiting Dr. Fox's chiropractic, and watching videos of Evan's state wrestling tournament. I've actually never seen a wrestling match so it was cool to finally see what Ev dedicated so much time to in high school. I know those videos were from 2006. And I already knew he took 3rd in State (impressive huh?). But I still felt myself tensing up during his matches hoping he would pin the other kid! Great. I'm going to be one of those soccer moms who bites off all her nails in the first quarter.

Saturday we hung out with Richard and Marilyn all day walking through historic downtown Folsom in little art galleries and antique type shops. Then we went to lunch and a movie. It was absolutely perfect, the sun was out, the grass was green, and we got in some quality family time. I really have the best in-laws in the whole world, I got so lucky! It is so funny to hear the three of them talk about teaching, Evan was explaining how its hard to get his students to ask or even answer questions because they are scared they will say something their friends think is "stupid". Richard told us he was teaching a remedial science class one time which was full of kids who had a difficult time passing. They kept calling each other "stupid" all the time while he was teaching and one day he got so sick of hearing them degrade each other that he finally just said, "You're all stupid! That's why you're in here. Now quit telling each other about it!" Haha I could not stop laughing!

Saturday night and Sunday Brittany and Brandon and Amy and John came over with their kids and we just had family dinners and hung out and talked. This is seriously my favorite thing to do. There is absolutely no where I'd rather be than with our family just spending time together, not to mention with my adorable nieces and nephews who I kind of want to steal. Only kind of though, not quite ready for full time yet.

So I just wanted to say a special thank you to my wonderful in-laws for making our trip possible, to Dr. Fox for saving Evan's back, and to the Fox family in general for saving my sanity. Can't wait to see y'all again soon!

Comments

  1. sounds heavenly...but I'm SO glad you're back.:)

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  2. We LOVED getting to have a surprise visit from you two. It's always so much fun when you come. We miss and love you guys!

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