Rexburg & BYU-Idaho.

Words. I hate words. Words cannot express the feelings I'm feeling right now. Every emotion in the book!

Leaving to go to Rexburg, Idaho (a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, Idaho) January of 2011 all I could do was cry. I was so sad because of the life that I was leaving. Stepping out of my comfort zone and out of the car at my *new* home my nose felt funny. My nose, you ask? Yes, my nose. Something I had never experienced before... My nose hairs froze! That was a first, but no where near a last.

That first semester was rough. Maybe rough is an understatement. I really struggled.

I hated the snow. I hated the brown scenery. I hated being away from family and friends.

I loved BYU-Idaho. So, I was torn. To stay or to leave.

I decided to leave. Best decision of my life.

Really, you ask? YES! From the moment I stepped on campus at Mt. Hood Community College back home in Oregon I knew without a doubt that BYU-Idaho was where I needed to go back to. So, I finished out at MHCC and swallowed my pride and applied and went back to BYU-Idaho, where I belonged. Was it hard? Absolutely. Do I regret it? Heck no! Why was leaving BYU-Idaho the best decision of my life then? I didn't know what I had until I didn't have it anymore.

I went back April of 2012 and haven't left since. Rexburg has a special place in my heart. It always will. 

What changed? My attitude. My attitude changed to appreciate the now, to appreciate and look for the beauty in all things. Even though I was away from family and friends I could make new friends and Skype my family. Even though most of south eastern Idaho is brown, campus is green and beautiful. 

“Cultivate an attitude of happiness. Cultivate a spirit of optimism. Walk with faith, rejoicing in the beauties of nature, in the goodness of those you love, in the testimony which you carry in your heart concerning things divine.”

-Gordon B. Hinckley

Now, I graduate with a bachelor's degree in 28 days and I'm not ready to leave this little Rexburg safety bubble I've learned to love. 

Not to mention the spirit so strong on campus that I take for granted everyday of my life. In 29 days I'll be on my way back to Oregon, where things are unsure, where I don't have a safety bubble, where I have to leave this amazing life that I live here.

Here's to: growing up and moving on, to starting the next chapter or phase of my life, to trusting in the Lord with all my might, to having faith that He will provide a way for me to become the daughter that I need to become, to leaving what has become my own personal "sacred grove". 

I know that this experience will make me stronger, better, and closer to my Father in heaven but that doesn't make it easy. I'm taking what I've learned and who I've become here and shining forth my light. It won't be easy but it will be worth it.

To my hands down favorite place to be, I love you and I will miss you but I will never ever forget you.