The beginning of another year of college for my kids. There's always some anticipation about this event for me that has nothing to do with actual scholastic progress, and has only a little to do with my children leaving me once again. No, the anticipation comes from the move.
I feel like I do it every year--help some child (and in a few cases, children) move into their new digs at school. For a few Fall terms, Mark and Hannah have just continued living where they were living in the spring so it's no big deal, but normally, it's an event for sure.
This year, it was returning Glo to BYU after being on her mission for the past year and a half. It just so happened that Hannah was moving out of her apartment (the rent was going from $365 to $510/month) into Helaman Halls for the last four months of her college career, so I knew I would be double-tasked.
I envisioned it taking days to get Glo packed here at home, but as it turned out, she left most everything in Utah with either Mike and Katrina or the Mechams (possibly more on that later). So, there wasn't much to put in the back of Greenie. In fact, for the first time, the car wasn't full to the gills with stuff, but instead there was room to keep our food in the backseat and room to lay down in the passenger seat.
And speaking of Greenie, he was making a permanent move as well. After ten years of being my faithful car, Greenie was going to live out his retirement in Utah with Glo. She needs a car, and we certainly could never buy a car like him for the $2,000 we could sell him for. Plus, Glo has gotten in an accident already, and I worry about her on the Utah roads. Greenie will take good care of her.
I made plans to get our hair done in Pennsylvania the day before we were supposed to leave for Utah, and thankfully a sinus infection reared its ugly head that day as well, so I got my meds before we headed off across the country. But holy smokes, I sure was glad that I had the three following days in the car so that my body could just rest and get better.
A year and a half ago, when Glo left on her mission, I bought her a pair of Maui Jim "Pineapple" sunglasses (teal frames with brown lenses). I seriously love them. For my gift to myself for losing 30 pounds, I decided to buy myself a new pair of sunglasses....and guess which ones I chose? ;-) At least I went with slate frames and grey lenses!
Unlike times before when I've driven Hannah's car, Greenie sailed across the miles. Glo was exhausted from staying up late too many nights with her brother playing video games, so for the first day, she just slept. I listened to "The Invisible Man", our current book club book. But once she got about seven hours of sleeping in, she was ready to listen as well, and work on her cross-stitch (the one not started by John for "The Scarlet Letter"). The Invisible Man isn't very long, so we started in on "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" by Suzanne Collins, and we spent the next day and a half listening to that. It was an easy drive, and it was good to be with Glo. She pumps the gas, and tells me it's okay to get off and use the restroom every hour ;-) And Glo found her song of the summer: Supalonely by Benee. Everything along the trip was Supa_____. We were supatired, or supahungry, or the book was supagood ;-)
I also had the fun idea to collect as many flavors of Faygo as we could along the way. I mean, we could basically check any convenience store/gas station when we stopped, but unfortunately, the flavors ran out before the first day was even over....
And kudos to Glo for remaining the hyper-organized person she was before her mission. I look at her suitcase, and it's a study in everything having a place:
The girls weren't supposed to be able to check in to their apartments until the next week, but I had Glo call her HA and ask. No problem. She could sign inas soon as we pulled in and collect her keys. Oh how thankful I was! That meant we only had to drag her stuff up three flights of stairs to store it in her room instead of storing it at a friend's house and then moving it all again next week. Of course, the biggest pain was pulling into the handicap spot in front of the residence hall, using the key card to get access into the hall, and then using the actual key to get in her room. Doing that multiple times gets multiple frustrating and that is why I dread these moments in my kids' histories.
I have seriously moved so much furniture, and suitcases, and clothing bags up or down stairs, and don't get me started on all the Target runs I have made for items. And I'm not alone. As I drove away, I saw other parents doing all the same thing--dragging those laundry baskets full of random items down the sidewalks and up the stairs. Ugh, it's exhausting.
This year, many supplies are completely out at all the big chain stores because of COVID. Finding a router for either of the girls, or a printer for Glo? I couldn't even order them on Amazon to be delivered! I finally found ONE printer (yes, just one) in American Fork at a Target, and I reserved it immediately. And thankfully there were two rather expensive routers there as well.
What a blessing it was too that Hannahcould move her stuff into Glo's room as well as store her stuff in storage in the basement. Unfortunately, she had already moved a bunch of her stuff into her friend's apartment that we had to move out again in a couple of days, but it's okay--it wasn't ALL there already.
And cleaning out old apartments. We had to help Hannah pack her last minute things, and we left her to clean out what she needed to for inspections. Again, it's the same thing every time, and I will not miss these moments.
But you know, I was so happy to be there again. The gratitude my children feel having me there is palpable. There are constantly telling me how thankful they are, or giving me hugs, or sending me texts afterwards. And knowing how tired they are about it all, I'm so happy that I can give them the support they need.
In fact, I wasn't sure that I actually needed to go this year, but there were multiple moments where the Spirit whispered something to me, and I took care of it, and it turned out for the much better. I think that's the beauty of being a full-time mom--there's a connection there between me and my kids and the Lord that all works together.
At the end of it all, I ended up driving upwards of 34 hours. I drove them all so that my girls could rest, relax and just enjoy the journey, because in the end, isn't that one of the reasons we mothers exist? To teach our children to enjoy the journey?
I don't see me needing to make this trip again, considering I have no more missionaries to send out and no more cars to transport, but you better believe if I'm needed, I'll be there.
I feel like I do it every year--help some child (and in a few cases, children) move into their new digs at school. For a few Fall terms, Mark and Hannah have just continued living where they were living in the spring so it's no big deal, but normally, it's an event for sure.
This year, it was returning Glo to BYU after being on her mission for the past year and a half. It just so happened that Hannah was moving out of her apartment (the rent was going from $365 to $510/month) into Helaman Halls for the last four months of her college career, so I knew I would be double-tasked.
I envisioned it taking days to get Glo packed here at home, but as it turned out, she left most everything in Utah with either Mike and Katrina or the Mechams (possibly more on that later). So, there wasn't much to put in the back of Greenie. In fact, for the first time, the car wasn't full to the gills with stuff, but instead there was room to keep our food in the backseat and room to lay down in the passenger seat.
And speaking of Greenie, he was making a permanent move as well. After ten years of being my faithful car, Greenie was going to live out his retirement in Utah with Glo. She needs a car, and we certainly could never buy a car like him for the $2,000 we could sell him for. Plus, Glo has gotten in an accident already, and I worry about her on the Utah roads. Greenie will take good care of her.
I made plans to get our hair done in Pennsylvania the day before we were supposed to leave for Utah, and thankfully a sinus infection reared its ugly head that day as well, so I got my meds before we headed off across the country. But holy smokes, I sure was glad that I had the three following days in the car so that my body could just rest and get better.
A year and a half ago, when Glo left on her mission, I bought her a pair of Maui Jim "Pineapple" sunglasses (teal frames with brown lenses). I seriously love them. For my gift to myself for losing 30 pounds, I decided to buy myself a new pair of sunglasses....and guess which ones I chose? ;-) At least I went with slate frames and grey lenses!
Unlike times before when I've driven Hannah's car, Greenie sailed across the miles. Glo was exhausted from staying up late too many nights with her brother playing video games, so for the first day, she just slept. I listened to "The Invisible Man", our current book club book. But once she got about seven hours of sleeping in, she was ready to listen as well, and work on her cross-stitch (the one not started by John for "The Scarlet Letter"). The Invisible Man isn't very long, so we started in on "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" by Suzanne Collins, and we spent the next day and a half listening to that. It was an easy drive, and it was good to be with Glo. She pumps the gas, and tells me it's okay to get off and use the restroom every hour ;-) And Glo found her song of the summer: Supalonely by Benee. Everything along the trip was Supa_____. We were supatired, or supahungry, or the book was supagood ;-)
I also had the fun idea to collect as many flavors of Faygo as we could along the way. I mean, we could basically check any convenience store/gas station when we stopped, but unfortunately, the flavors ran out before the first day was even over....
And kudos to Glo for remaining the hyper-organized person she was before her mission. I look at her suitcase, and it's a study in everything having a place:
The girls weren't supposed to be able to check in to their apartments until the next week, but I had Glo call her HA and ask. No problem. She could sign inas soon as we pulled in and collect her keys. Oh how thankful I was! That meant we only had to drag her stuff up three flights of stairs to store it in her room instead of storing it at a friend's house and then moving it all again next week. Of course, the biggest pain was pulling into the handicap spot in front of the residence hall, using the key card to get access into the hall, and then using the actual key to get in her room. Doing that multiple times gets multiple frustrating and that is why I dread these moments in my kids' histories.
I have seriously moved so much furniture, and suitcases, and clothing bags up or down stairs, and don't get me started on all the Target runs I have made for items. And I'm not alone. As I drove away, I saw other parents doing all the same thing--dragging those laundry baskets full of random items down the sidewalks and up the stairs. Ugh, it's exhausting.
This year, many supplies are completely out at all the big chain stores because of COVID. Finding a router for either of the girls, or a printer for Glo? I couldn't even order them on Amazon to be delivered! I finally found ONE printer (yes, just one) in American Fork at a Target, and I reserved it immediately. And thankfully there were two rather expensive routers there as well.
What a blessing it was too that Hannahcould move her stuff into Glo's room as well as store her stuff in storage in the basement. Unfortunately, she had already moved a bunch of her stuff into her friend's apartment that we had to move out again in a couple of days, but it's okay--it wasn't ALL there already.
And cleaning out old apartments. We had to help Hannah pack her last minute things, and we left her to clean out what she needed to for inspections. Again, it's the same thing every time, and I will not miss these moments.
But you know, I was so happy to be there again. The gratitude my children feel having me there is palpable. There are constantly telling me how thankful they are, or giving me hugs, or sending me texts afterwards. And knowing how tired they are about it all, I'm so happy that I can give them the support they need.
In fact, I wasn't sure that I actually needed to go this year, but there were multiple moments where the Spirit whispered something to me, and I took care of it, and it turned out for the much better. I think that's the beauty of being a full-time mom--there's a connection there between me and my kids and the Lord that all works together.
At the end of it all, I ended up driving upwards of 34 hours. I drove them all so that my girls could rest, relax and just enjoy the journey, because in the end, isn't that one of the reasons we mothers exist? To teach our children to enjoy the journey?
I don't see me needing to make this trip again, considering I have no more missionaries to send out and no more cars to transport, but you better believe if I'm needed, I'll be there.
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