I Miss It

I'm not sure if I ever thought this would happen, but I miss Rexburg.  While most of my time there was like what I imagine Antarctica feels and looks like, it will always hold a special place in my heart.

Even though I only lived there for four years when I was already "grown," Rexburg feels like the place where I "grew up."  I left home, flew across the country by myself, moved in with five complete strangers, and was basically on my own.  I learned how to be responsible for getting to class on time and going to bed at a decent hour, how to prioritize my schedule and balance having fun and doing homework.  My testimony was strengthened and my spirituality grew as I read my scriptures and prayed more, attended weekly devotionals, took part in religion courses, served in church callings, participated in the open house and dedication of the temple, and sang hymns under the stadium with my fellow classmates.

Rexburg is the place where I discovered myself and what I wanted to become.  Through teaching and service opportunities I realized I wanted to be an elementary teacher.  I was immensely blessed in this choice, and was tutored under some of the best professors at the university.  I learned how to work hard and be completely dedicated, and I reaped many rewards.  Through the program and my experiences working in classrooms, I also learned patience, flexibility, management, creativity, and the ability to find joy in the little things and love every child I taught.

Even though we don't keep in excellent touch, Rexburg is where I made my truest friends.  I say it like that because we saw each other at our best and at our worst.  It's absolutely incredible to me how very different people can come together as strangers, but then really become each other's lifelines.  College wouldn't have meant near as much to me without the friends I made along the way.  I so miss staying up late talking and laughing hysterically, dance parties, celebrating special occasions like someone holding hands with a boy, everyone going together to eat at the galley, and just being there for each other.  I feel like the luckiest girl to have built such wonderful friendships.

I'll always remember taking part in some of my "firsts"--caving, ice skating, making my own dinner, carving my own pumpkin, Radio Reading , Latin dancing, driving a stick, cutting down a Christmas tree in the mountains, being bit in the face by a dog and canoeing at my roommate's family's cabin in Island Park, and four-wheeling on the sand dunes.


David and I also had our beginnings in Rexburg.  While we met in Indiana, most of our courtship was spent with me in Rexburg and him at home in Indiana.  We sent long emails back and forth for months, learning about each other's likes and dislikes, fears, hopes, joys, thrills, and dreams.  After we finally were in the same place and had a chance to really date, it was in Rexburg where he proposed to me.  He brought me to the apple orchard on campus, where the trees were in full bloom, then he took out a book that he wrote and illustrated about our courtship and read it to me.  Afterward he knelt down on one knee and asked if I would marry him. 

After spending our first four months as a married couple in Colorado, David and I moved back to Rexburg to finish our schooling.  We had some interesting experiences, living in what we termed the "bat cave" with two single beds.  : )  It was my first summer in Rexburg, and we enjoyed playing frisbee at the park, eating snow cones, attending the temple (which we had a perfect view of from our apartment), eating at the ever-delicious Bajio and Craigo's, and going to Horkley's to rent 50 cent movies with 2 cent candy.

We also had our share of adventures, as we went horseback riding on Indian Joe and Chuckwagon, and walked through "No Trespassing" signs, roaming aimlessly on our hike up R Mountain.  We made good use of the university's inexpensive entertainment, and went to plays, operas, dance recitals, and comedy shows.

Both of our parents and David's brother came to Rexburg for our joint graduation.  Dressed in our cap and gowns, we walked hand in hand, passing through the halls of the Hart, waving at our professors, nodding at our beloved President Clark, and sitting together to listen to Elder Richard G. Scott.

I will be forever grateful for the lessons I learned, the friends I made, and the experiences I shared while living in Rexburg.  I cherish those memories, and I hope that my children will be able to go back there and create their own. 

Rexburg is a little bit of heaven on earth.