BYU Education Week

Earlier this year I had the realization that I'm finally at the stage of life where I could go to BYU Education week without much trouble, now that all my kids were in school full time and most take the bus! I wondered who I should go with and immediately thought of my old BYU roommate, Stephanie Hobbs! We haven't really kept in touch much except Christmas cards. She's not on social media and we've only gotten together twice since I got married. But she is someone I consider a life-long friend. I went to BYU not knowing a soul and was so nervous. God was so good to me when he made her my roommate. We had the best time together in the dorms and clicked the moment we met. We regularly stayed up late into the night talking and loved being roommates. Luckily, when I asked her if she could come, she said yes! She lives in Logan right now, so just a couple hours from campus. It was her kids' first day of school this week, so she left one night to be with them on their first day, but then came back for the rest of the week. I flew into Salt Lake on Sunday afternoon and took an Uber to Provo. I had maybe an hour or two to unpack before Stephanie showed up. She knocked on the door and called out something like, "I'm here!!" and so many memories came flooding right back!! She sounded exactly the same! It made me laugh! We shrieked in excitement and hugged and picked right up where we had left off! It was such a surreal feeling to be 40, in the same Helaman dorms from 20 years ago, with my same roommate! The only difference was that we lived in Chipman Hall, with the floor shared bathrooms. Now we were in David John Hall with Jack and Jill bathrooms adjoining the room next to us. 

Heidi and Kara were roommates down the hall from us that we were good friends with all year.

I was in absolute HEAVEN all week!! BYU campus is magical. It just is. It's as beautifully landscaped and maintained as temple grounds. I love college campuses in general, but BYU has my heart. So many good memories. Plus, this time of year the weather is perfection. I was constantly basking in the beautiful temperatures. I love learning and self-development. Having a whole catalog of classes to pick from for a solid week was mana to my soul! You know another realization I had near the end of the week? It was SO NICE being around people who were all dressed modestly. Praise the BYU dress code! Spend a summer in my neighborhood and you get pretty tired of everyone being in next to no clothing all the time. Every day I ran into cousins and friends. So much so, that Stephanie started making comments about how it seemed like I knew everybody! I guess that's what living in Mesa/Gilbert will do. 

My friend, Millie Owens, told me I had to go hear Crystal Bowman speak. She is a therapist from Gilbert that Millie is friends with. I was hooked after one class! So much good information about how to raise emotionally resilient kids. I actually ran into her at the airport on Saturday and asked her a little about her degree and how she became a therapist. She went back to school at 40. She was so nice to me and even offered to be my mentor. Wow! 

Stephanie and I got dinner at Bombay House on Monday. My dad had taken us here one time when he was in town for work. We had felt so special being treated to a nice dinner! The mango lassi drink is my fav! 

Such luxury being able to go jogging outside in gorgeous weather in the mornings!!

We got to hear Elder Renlund speak at the Tuesday devotional.

Briefly walked into the art museum before going to dinner at the infamous Brick Oven for dinner! I ran into Olivia Evans and her mom there. 

Walking back up the long stairs by the Fielding Building we saw a slimy friend. I huffed up this staircase multiple times a day my last semester because my apartment was neat the JSF building.

Isn't this the coolest picture?!

Got to hear the renowned Robert Millet teach in the Wilkinson Center. He really is a gifted speaker.

Loved getting to hear Emily Bell Freeman speak at the Marriot Center with Brad Wilcox!

I also got to hear John Hilton III teach about voices in the Book of Mormon, but he was so popular his room was maxed out and I had to go to the overflow. He came in at the beginning to say hi and noticed me and gave me a wave! I felt very special. 

A class about the new hymnbook was very interesting. We all keep waiting for it be released. There still is no date announced.

I can't remember where we got dinner Wednesday night, but I do remember walking down to the Dairy Queen afterward for a treat! Steph needed to make some phone calls. I think this was the night she headed home for her kids' first day of school tomorrow.

After just having been in Israel, it was so interesting to go to a class about the Holy Land.

Finally got brave enough to wait after her class and get a picture!

Indulged in garbage food for dinner at the BYU Creamery haha.

Anthony Sweat's class in the Marriot Center was amazing. I wish I had gone to his classes all week!

Back to the Jesus class!

Intriguing class on intimacy.

For our final dinner we had to go to Los Hermanos! It used to be in downtown Provo but it burned down so we went to the new location by the mall. This was our go-to Mexican joint in college. I still remember the slice of tomato you always got as garnish.

We caught one more class in the Wilkinson Center after dinner then went back to the dorms and learned a dance for an Instagram reel haha! It was harder than it seemed and we laughed so much. She gave me a ride to the airport Saturday morning on her way back to Logan. I love Stephanie and was so grateful we got to have this time together!!