Monday (Jan. 3rd) was packed full! It took all day to get Ethan moved in, fees paid, & all those fun little things needed to get done to get him ready for college.
(I kept this picture even though it is blurry because it shows more of his living room).
I am thankful I was able to be there for him. It sure brought back a ton of memories being back on campus (Ricks for me, BYU-I for Ethan).
I guess I didn't think of taking more pictures of campus, shopping, & all the other activities we did because of the COLD weather--and the fact that we were going a hundred miles an hour to try to get everything done!
I want to write about my day so I can remember (& maybe one day Ethan will appreciate that I have these thoughts & memories written down) this important day in Ethan's life.
(These pictures are all of Ethan's bedroom--we decided to pay a little extra so he could have his own bedroom. There will be 3 other boys in his apartment.)
The morning started out "slow"--we left about an hour later than we planned. As soon as we got to Rexburg, we checked Ethan into his apartment. After unloading all of his stuff, we found the campus map & walked (hiked uphill) to the Manwaring building to get his I-card. Surprisingly, there wasn't a line of people until after he was already getting his ID card. Then we headed to financial aid in the Kimball building (which was 1 building south). There were numerous lines, so we picked one to stand in & I sent Ethan to the information desk to figure out which one we needed to be in. While he was gone, I started looking through the school newspaper & found the page on financial aid. I had just figured out where we needed to go when Ethan got back & told me we were in the wrong line. Thankfully, the line we needed to be in was short--we only had to wait for 1 person in front of us.
After making sure everything was paid for & getting a check for his housing, we headed back to the Manwaring building to pick up his books. When Ethan registered for his classes, it was advised to reserve his textbooks--the bookstore pulls the books that are required for his classes, boxes them up, and has them all ready for you. So we got in the short line (only a handful of students in front of us) & got a box of books. And instead of having to try & sell them back later, we just return them back to the bookstore. So we are in reality "renting" the books. It appears to be a much simpler process then when I got my books (searching the shelves for the numerous books needed, paying outrageous prices--esp. for new books, trying to sell them back for a few dollars at the end of semester). For this semester, his books cost about $150.
After getting his books, we hiked (downhill) to his apartment. Then we drove the 10-15 minutes to Wal-Mart. And can I say NEVER go to Wal-Mart on the first day of college!!!!!!!!!! It was PACKED!! It would have been nice if we had been able to get all of his "stuff" before we got to Rexburg, but that was not the case. But even with the shoulder-to-shoulder, cart-to-cart traffic at the store, we were able to get everything he needed (at least for a few days) & $200 later, got it all back to his apartment (after a quick stop thru Arby's drive-through). We hauled his stuff into his room (and Benjamin was a great helper!) & then Ethan got his computer working (w/internet) so he could finish his apartment check-in.
I was getting a diaper bag out of the van to head back up to campus for the Get Connected orientation when I discovered Ben had a stinky diaper. Since it was so cold, the wet-ones were frozen, so I just used wet paper towels. We made it to the Hart gym & started searching for Ethan's I-team group (#7). {Each new student was assigned a group based on where they live & ward they will be in, with 2 mentors--"older" students. They had lots of activities & helps for the 2 days before classes started}
We finally found his group & sat in the gym. Pres. Clark spoke to the students & parents, and then they held a question/answer session. After that, they had the parents hug they student, & sent them off to a bbq while a parent's meeting was held.
I have to say that Benjamin was exceptionally well-behaved during the 2 hours I was in the meetings. It wasn't until the last 10 minutes that he started being a noisy. He even folded his arms and wanted Ethan to whenever someone new spoke (because they closed "..in the name of Jesus...." & he thought it was a prayer).
I do appreciate the spirituality that is felt & conveyed all over campus. And Pres. Clark talked about that also. He said it isn't often that you can feel the Holy Ghost wherever you go on campus--classes, buildings, library, etc.
I know this post is extra long, but I'm going to go ahead & finish my day: We were asked to turn off our phones during the meeting, so when I turned it back on, I saw that Rusty had called. So I called him at the same time I was trying to get Ben a (hundred) drink(s) from the drinking fountain. I needed to get to the distribution center, DI, & Wal-Mart (shopping for me) before heading home.
So I had to carry Benjamin a bit farther that expected (and my left arm was stiff & sore the next day!). By the time we got to the van & heading towards the stores, I realized it was Monday & the church stores close at 6 on Mondays (FHE night). I made it to the distribution center at 5:58 & they let me sneak in & buy my scripture pencils (but they were out of the CTR rings). Benjamin had fallen asleep, so I had to carry him at the stores.
I went to Wal-Mart (which was still busy, but not as bad as the afternoon) only to discover I had lost my list. So I was trying to remember what I had written down over the last couple of weeks (& couldn't), so I just grabbed a few things I knew we needed, and headed back to Ethan's apartment (after a dinner stop at McD's--I figured that would be a shorter stop than Subway). He didn't have a backpack, & so I found him one at Wal-Mart.
After I ate my dinner, I dropped Ethan off at the Hart gym for another activity with his I-team (introducing family home evening groups) & headed home. I had Benjamin bundled up, wrapped in a blanket, & the heater on high, but the van really never did warm up (which is hard to do when the window is still duct-taped & the temp. is around 0). So we were both chilled when we got home around 8:30. We both had hot chocolate (I had 2 mugs) & I finally warmed up around midnight.
It was a great day!
