Eighteen years ago...

It was 1991. I was getting ready to go off to college. I was only 17 - wouldn't turn 18 until two months in to the fall semester. But I was SOOO ready to leave home.

As a good Mormon girl does, I applied to both Ricks College and BYU. I wanted to go to school out of state and church schools were my only option because of the cheaper tuition. I got accepted to both schools and had to decide where to go. My mom had gone to Ricks for a semester and loved it.... my dad had gone to BYU for a semester, too. I'm sure I could have gone either route and loved it. But in the end, Ricks won the contest, mostly because they offered me an academic scholarship and BYU did not. The lure of free tuition was more than I (or my dad) could turn down!

Here is me and my roommates: Amanda, Payslie, Julie and me!

Family Home Evening Groups... seriously, who let me leave the house with that **cough, cough** sweater on???

More FHE fun... I wish I could remember where this was... I really have no idea!

It wasn't until I went to college that I learned to eat many things I wouldn't eat at home. Mustard was one I remember very clearly... why mustard, who knows... I also learned to eat pringles on deli sandwiches and Julie taught me how to make the best cinnamon rolls ever. Amanda taught me to make Sweet and Sour Chicken and Payslie taught me how to fry things in ground up cornflakes! And one day, I'll tell Pays how I botched her Refrigerator Roll recipe...

First snow... AWESOME!!!! Us California girls loved the snow, while everyone else just put up with it.

Me on my 18th birthday... mom and dad sent money, which I spent on new scriptures, a planner (daytimer, remember those????), and a Ricks sweatshirt. Check out all the snow... my roommates took me to Wendy's for dinner and we made snow angels out in the courtyard.

The focus of social life in the winter at Ricks was all about Dances. Here's a picture of Payslie with a brilliant idea she came up with to ask a FHE brother to a dance...

And the next day, we woke up to this on our front porch... see, guys can be creative, too!

I decided to do this post, because just this week, I found Payslie and Julie on Facebook. Yeah, I know, I like FB a lot more now than I used to.... I haven't been in touch with really either of them since I got married and now, all these years later, I totally regret that!

So, here's to you ladies... in tribute of a fantastic, fun, silly and rewarding Freshman year at College! I'll never forget it!

Road Trip, Part Three: Rexburg

Here is the newest addition to my favorite College Town:

Poor picture, but this is the complex that Eric and I lived in after we got married. We had half the football team in the next building and one time when our car got stuck on the ice in the driveway, they came out and lifted our car up and pushed it up the hill into the parking spot. They were awesome!

Greenbriar is still there! This is the builing Eric lived in during his single days.Dorm 4: my former residence, on campus. I loved living here. It's now named the Edna I. Ricks hall. I guess the numbers got to boring once Ricks became BYU-I.

The four kids sitting on a grassy hill that used to be a street in between the Manwaring Center and the newer John Taylor building (shown in the background.) This was the street that I skidded through a stop sign in the wee hours of the morning when there was too much ice on the road. Icy roads and winter conditions are the basis for most of our fun stories we tell our kids. No matter how much they plowed the roads, they would always ice over at night.

Decsendants of John Taylor, UNITE!

Taylor with the portrait of his name sake. Can you see any kind of resemblance? Come On... he's only Taylor's great-great-great-great grandpa.

The highlight of the day for me was the Bookstore. When I heard that Ricks College was being "upgraded" to University Status, I went online trying to find some fun memorabilia to purchase before it was too late to get anything with the Ricks College logo on it. I was entirely unsuccessful and completely bummed that all Ricks College stuff seemed to disappear. When we went into the bookstore, they had a small corner that was dedicated to "Ricks College Memorabilia". They didn't have much, but I did get a t-shirt and a license plate frame that says Ricks College Alumni. They also sold the infamous yellow Ricks shirt that Napoleon Dynamite sports on the big screen. I tried to get Taylor to buy one, but he chickened out. If you can't drive the distance to visit the store, but want some Ricks College stuff, visit the online bookstore by clicking here.