I'm So Excited For Her/I Don't Want to Let Her Go

Returning Isabella to college brings out the bipolar in me.  My emotions range from one end to the other and often I can be experiencing both simultaneously.  After coming home during the Spring semester and then staying home for the Summer Semester, I wasn't prepared to get used to her living at home again just to send her back.  But alas, I am excited for her, but I am sad for me.  I want to see her spread her wings, but I will miss my buddy. 

So in a massive send off we went to visit some places we hadn't been before.  We went to Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs, Pike's Peak, Breckenridge, and then into Utah and Idaho to visit friends and family.  Touring with just one kid is super fun and gives them so much control to pick what interests them.  

Last leaving is always a tear filled goodbye. Both on her part and mine. In the end though, I know she is exactly where she needs to be doing exactly what she needs to do. So Travis, Isabella, and I spend the last few days trying to stock pile as many cuddles as we can to last us through the separation.  Love you Princess Pei Pei.

Course Corrections

Nothing changed my life more dramatically then deciding to attend college in Idaho, approximately 2,000 miles, 32 hours driving, and 6-8 hours flying away from my home, from birth, in Spring Grove, Pennsylvania.  I arrived on a Saturday to campus and my housing for the next month or so before I moved to my more permanent fall semester housing via my brother who had gone there.  He took me around the town and left for the four hour drive back to Provo, Utah where he lived.  He was the closest family member to me. 

So it was I found myself at 6 in the afternoon on a July day feeling sorry for myself in my loneliness.  As a social person, a Saturday night with no plans, no friends, no prospect of friends, I felt utterly lost.  Listening to the laughter and playing of other college kids in our front yard did nothing to disperse my loneliness.  So I did what any person should do...I watched with open stalker like tendencies for a bit before I threw myself out there and asked, "Can I come play with you all?"

They happily included me in their group of friends who had all come to college together from Texas.  Eventually the guys from our group left to go home, and the girls and I trickled into one of the apartments of our four-plex front.  We then embarked on the exciting journey of getting to know someone new.  We asked and told each other all about our lives, the major high points.  We ended up staying up most of the night talking.  I knew is was a great start to what I felt would be lasting friendships, and I wasn't disappointed.

The next day these girls stumbled up to campus with me, where my future husband, Travis, would "shush" us.  We giggled endlessly and prepared for the first day of college the next day.  In that short summer term of five weeks I was able to go bridge jumping, caving, to the sand dunes to play tackle football in the leech infested water holes and participate in a hundred more adventures with these girls, including a late night traveling WWE style wrestling tour put on for my future husband. We would form an intramural football team, called Big Booty where our theme song when we arrived on the field would be "Who Let the Dogs Out".  We would take that same core group of girls and play countless other sports.

And through those girls I met many others.  Our circle of friends expanded over and over until, I had a huge network of friends who I adored.  I had met the man of my dreams, whom I would later marry.  I would alter my life plans just enough to get me to where I am today, which is exactly where I was meant to be.  It may have been terrifying in some ways, but it was the best decision of my life. 

And still I see and love these girls, though not as much as I would like.  Here's hoping that we can get a 20 year girls only reunion going in the next couple of years with all of us. 

In All Seriousness,

Can life please stop and slow down for a moment?  It's going way to fast.  For the sake of recording here is the rest of the summer that was never mentioned...or maybe it was, I don't remember!

In no particular order...

Training for a half marathon - imagine my physique improved too

Going to corn mazes

Laying in rope spider webs

Taking tractor rides

Making beach day trips

Acquiring lots of blisters

Even blood blisters

Going out west, Utah

Participating in the library's summer reading program

Having roller-skating parties

More beach shenanigans - Love The Beach!!!

Visiting our Alma Maters

Attending the G. Whiting family reunion in Yellowstone

Hiking, biking, climbing and lots of outdoor fun

Look at those Whiting men!

That Little Green Monster Called Jealousy

*  I'm not a jealous person typically, I swear, but based on this story you may never know it.

I arrived at college at 17, alone, 4 hours from the nearest relative or known acquaintance and without a car to get me to them.  The Saturday before the semester started, my brother ceremoniously toured me round the campus now known as Brigham Young University-Idaho, back then it was called Rick's College, afterwards he left me with the promise that I would be fine. 

Almost immediately I met and made lifetime friends.  And the next day, I happened upon the man I would marry.  Although the journey was not so simplistic as all that.  But back to the gist of my story.  BYU-Idaho is the consummate outdoorsman or outdoorswoman location.  It is filled with geological wonders including a cold desert, learned this term through my field biology class thanks Tate Carter, world's best Professor - (still a facebook friend), Sand Dunes and mountains.  Most of the fun you have in college here will be self made creative fun involving the great outdoors and a great capacity for mischief.  As you can imagine I excelled in this environment. 

On Day 2, I met Travis and we started a courtship.  I had been to the Civil Defense caves, sometimes called the Ice Caves but those are actually different - most just don't know it.  One particular night Travis was calling to ask if I wanted to go there with him.  The catch: although we were dating we were not dating exclusively and this other girl was asking him and his roommates to take her and her friends.  Because we were nigh unto exclusivity and I think he feared the wrath I might bestow, he called to give me the option to go with assuming I wouldn't be able to go with such late notice.

And like any girl worrying that someone was in my territory, I jumped at the right to stake my claim. Travis would be by to pick me up in less than two minutes.  He lived in the building right behind mine. This is how I ended up in this place (below), at night - close to 10pm (I don't believe I ever visited this place in daylight hours despite hundreds of visits) in shorts, flip flops and a t-shirt (okay maybe it was a tank top - I can't really remember).  Note the rocky entrance, yeah this is the biggest space probably throughout the whole place.  There is no clear path, but lots of tunnels that circle back on one another and lead you back to the entrance, sometimes not depending how adventurous and small you are.

As you can imagine those rocks are sharp, a lot of time is spent crawling and slithering around,   likewise at night gives an extra dimension of challenge and Rexburg is next to never warm and this cave was even cooler than the outdoor night temperature.  This particular night we had far fewer flashlights than people and so I largely wondered through in the dark tripping and feeling my way along.  I ended up with cuts and scraps all over my improperly outfitted self.

But I remembered the effort at being a good sport and not complaining, pretending a proper mix of athleticism and competence, but not above needing help at just the "right" moments.  I remember being purposefully cheerful and the life of the group (read fun, witty) despite hating most of those moments in that cave that night because I had been having fun with friends before Travis called.  Having my skin shredded by the unforgiving surface of a dark cave was no walk in the park.  But alas we finished and headed back to our homes.  I don't remember the way the night ended, probably something as common place as making out in his truck or a petty fight over my jealousy and actual disinterest in the evening's activities. 

Regardless this place holds a dozen very strong memories.  So as I assembled a list of things to do and see while at BYU-Idaho for a friend who will be attending in the fall, I was reminded of this one.  Almost fourteen years later, I have to smile recalling it.  Because jealously really is an ugly emotion and most often friend to no one.  I wonder if Travis even remembers this night and what he would remember.  Despite it not being my best and brightest moment, I still hold it in my heart with fondness, because that experience among a million others has built this rock solid marriage of mine, that I wouldn't trade for anything in this world or any other.

Rick's Will Live On Forever

Many people ask me about Rick’s College. It was where I went for my first two years of college. Yeah it has a funny name. People joked about going to Sam’s college, etc… When they heard it was in Idaho, I would get a lot of comments like “Yeah you are ‘da ho!” Clever I know. Perhaps I surround myself with some lesser scholastically minded individuals. Regardless the college is now known as Brigham Young University – Idaho. It’s a legitimate 4 year college, accredited, etc…it just had a crazy name back in the 90’s when I went.


When people ask my general consensus is that I loved it. I think everyone should go. Sure there were dumb activities such as Prayer Meeting(s), despite meeting my husband at one, and sure they give fake assignments like Family Home Evening Moms and Dads for our little college groups, but overall all these social events they thought up lead to a great education and a whole lot of friends and fun.

So when I was asked to come up with games for Women’s Club of Manheim meeting, I went to my old arsenal of Rick’s college standby favorites. And it didn’t matter that the demographic of these two groups is largely different. Fun is fun and watching someone shove 8 full size marshmallows in their mouth and then try and talk is fun. Doesn’t it look fun?