Nostalgia is Already Setting In

I am leaving BYU next week. In 8 days. The last four years of my life have been spent here. I made many friends here, I did some crazy things, I cried a lot, I found a major I love, I met my husband here. So much of my future will stem from the decisions I made during the last four years at BYU. My years at BYU made me. I was listening to Miranda Lambert's song "The House That Built Me" last night, and it sort of applies to my years at BYU. Just change the lyrics to "The School That Built Me." True, high school affected me a lot, but college changed my life.

I've learned so much about myself at BYU. From the boys I've dated, the classes I took, the friends I made... I've changed so much from the 17 year old girl that moved into a small apartment south of campus in August of 2007. I'm stronger, smarter, and more wise. I'm not as insecure. Hindsight is definitely 20/20. Things didn't turn out as I thought they would that August day, and I'm all the more grateful for that. Like John Lennon said, "life is what happens while you're making other plans." I learned to trust in the Lord and His timeline with my whole heart. College was the hardest and best thing I've done so far in my life (marriage aside, that's definitely #1!). I cried a lot, I learned a lot, I loved a lot.

I'm excited to move on, and I'm so happy that I have Kyle at my side. And I'm excited that we will have these past years to remember together and to laugh at together. It hasn't really hit me yet that I'm graduating. That I'm going to be done with school. That we are moving away. Maybe during the graduation ceremonies it will. Maybe when we're driving away in a moving truck. We'll see.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had to go to BYU. BYU was the only school I applied to, it's the only school I've ever really wanted to go to (minus a few weeks my senior year of high school when I wanted to go to Westminster for some reason, haha). It's been perfect for me, and I'll always remember it.