Utah trip

  It's funny that my mom posted about my experience deciding where to go to college, because I've felt the itch lately to do so!  She put it so much better than I could, so I'll just talk about this past weekend, which sealed the deal on the whole thing.

Cameron, me and Troy

  Thursday night, I flew out to Provo to spend the next couple of days there checking out campus, and  just making sure I wanted to be there next semester.  It also helped that I was able to see all of my friends from the mission, and spend time with them.  I stayed with Troy and Cameron (formerly known as Elders Murphey and Lundin, who were in my MTC group), and we had a blast.

  Friday was all about business.   went out to lunch with my future roommate's parents (he's still on a mission), and I was able to meet them.  Elder Hooker was my favorite companion, and I can see why he is such an amazing individual.   His parents were great.  I was then able to go meet with my academic advisor, and discuss with her the classes that would and would not transfer.  I then headed to the transfer office and ACTUALLY got them transferred.  It was such a blessing, because I have heard that BYU is pretty stingy about transfer credits.  It'll be hard, but it looks like I'll still be able to graduate in two and a half years!

This was the sunset when we came out of the temple.
How awesome is that!

  That afternoon I was able to go to the temple, with a bunch of mission friends.  What an awesome experience.  It was particularly great for me, because if you want to get inspiration from Heavenly Father, the temple is definitely the place to do it.  I already got my answer a month or so ago that I needed to attend BYU, but I just asked one more time whether or not I should attend BYU.  There was such a feeling of 

peace when I was considering it, and I knew that I had my answer. 

  After that, it was PARTY TIME!!!  That night we ended up going to see The Dark Knight Rises at the dollar theater.  If you haven't seen it, I thought it was amazing, and highly recommend it.  Of course, it's a three hour movie, so we were out until one AM seeing that.  What do college kids do after a late movie?  We went to Denny's!  Of course it's super busy in Provo at one thirty, because nothing else was open (one of the kids I was with commented that it's probably one of the only times they actually make money, and I would have to agree.  It was packed.)

  Saturday I saw Randy, and we went out to breakfast (I honestly didn't eat a homemade meal in Provo.  There was one in Alpine, but that's different.)  We went to a Provo mainstay, Kneader’s with MASSIVE all-you-can-eat French toast.  Neither of us ate very much, so I have to go back at some point and try again.  It was delicious. 

  For the afternoon, there was only one thing TO do; watch the BYU game.  Now, I do not like BYU football.  To me, they are a team that is always trying to play with the big boys, but they never seem to be able to do so.  They always choke in a big game.  Despite that, one of the reasons I am so excited to be going to BYU is the fact that they have a football team AT ALL that I can watch.  BYU played Notre Dame, who is extremely good this season if you haven’t heard.  BYU actually held up their own throughout the game…until the fourth quarter, when Notre Dame rolled right over them.  Sigh….it was okay, because Michigan beat Michigan State, woot!  That night I went on a date, and just spent the last little bit of time that I had with friends.

  Sunday I had the chance to go see Uncle Mike and Aunt Katrina, and their family.  I’ll be seeing them a lot more in the near future!  I went to church with Ashley, which was enlightening.  I was happy I got to see the ward, and decide if I wanted to live in that apartment complex (I don’t.)  We then went to her parents’ house for dinner, which is always fun and I got my one home-cooked meal.  After that I went to the airport and flew back to DC. 

  I did not want to leave when I came back.  The friends that I have, the school….I was incredibly happy while I was there.  While it will be so sad to not be close to home, I know that this is the right decision for me, and I’m happy that I had the chance to experience it this past weekend.