BYU-Idado

My sister-n-law came to Boise over Conference weekend from BYU-Idaho.  It was so much fun having her back in our home.  We have been spoiled this summer with all the many times we have had Lance's family stay with us. It has been a lot of fun and my boys have loved every minute of it. They call her Uncle Camille.  Seems like they are calling all their aunts, besides my sister Rachel, uncle.
Camille didn't have a ride back to school so I offered to drive her and our friend Janet back up to Rexburg.  We left Sunday evening after the last session of conference and an amazing pre-Thanksgiving dinner at my parents house.  My brother-in-law Jason caught a ride with us too so he could buy a motorcycle from a guy in Rexburg also. So it worked out for everyone.
I was really excited to go back. It has been almost 12 years since I graduated Ricks College.  I was excited to see how much it has changed and how much  new growth there is.  I can't believe the change.  Once we got into town my memory of how to get around came back and we drove by all my old houses and apartments I stayed in.  It brought back a lot of really fun memories. I had a blast at school. Ricks College was by far the best experience compared to BYU Provo. Sorry BYU Provo fans.  This has nothing on you.
This first house down below was where I lived for the first year and a half I was there.  Yes, was and still is called the Sugar House.  Named after the daughter of the Phillipino Couple who lived in the upstairs house. Our front door was that little while door off to the right side.  Kind of creepy but it was the best place. I learned so much here. Met the most incredible friends. Fell in love for the first time, got engaged, experienced my first huge broken heart and just had some plain crazy times.

 This is where I spent my last year.  The Normandy Apartments. Mine was the very top floor all the way to the right.  That year was interesting. The best part was the friends I made with my roommates and the roommates who lived all the way down at the other end. It was a great place and I learned a lot too. It was a huge upgrade from Sugar House.

They aren't much. Not very fancy, but I didn't need fancy. Some of the best memories that I have were spent in these two places. Thanks to everyone who made it such a great place to call home.

Everything I remember is pretty much there.  It has either gotten a huge makeover, remodeled, condemned, or added onto. Plus there is a new temple that sits right on top of the hill so no matter where you are in Rexburg you can see it. It was beautiful.  At night it just lit up the whole sky.
So I stayed with Camille in her little apartment.  She lives in Royal Crest.  It is still there and it looks the exact same since I was there many years ago. I am sure they are still using the same couches, carpet and curtains.  It was fun to step in and be a college student for a small moment.  She has some really cute roommates and they all seem to be pretty good friends.  Capri, Camille's cousin let me sleep on her bed that night and I had the hardest time falling asleep, for a number of reasons, there was so much noise, no fans, and it was blasted hot.  But once I got past the loud noise, it became my noise maker and it put me to sleep. I got a good nights rest and the next day I toured around on campus.  It was beautiful.  It's changed so much.  Here is what I saw.....
     This is the Spori Building.  This is the art building. The original building burnt down to the ground about 10 years ago.  They replaced it and it is beautiful but not quite like the original.

This is the Manwarning Center or the MC building.  Here is the main building for everything. Resturants, book store, bowling alley, you name it. Completely different. I didn't even recognize it.  It is very large inside. Very pretty building and it will connect to this next building which is.......

The new Conference center they are building right next door.  It is literally right across the street to where my sister-in-law Camille lives too. It will be extremely large when it is done.  They are going to eventually have all the buildings connected with breeze ways. What a brillant idea since winter lasts about 8 months out of the year here.

Up on top of the Campus towards the intermeral fields sits this beautiful temple....

My brother-in-law Jason was telling us some interesting things about this temple. He got to tour it while it was still under construction when my sister and he were still going to school there.  I guess all the wood inside the temple comes from Africa and the chandelier in the Celestial Room comes from Romania (I think that is what he said) It was from somewhere over there.  Anyways, amazing stuff to hear when you hear about how far it travels just to be there. 

Then on Monday Camille went to her classes while I toured around a little bit on my own. It was so much fun. I felt like a college student. It was nice to be carfree and on my own. Then when Camille got down with her classes we drove into Idaho Falls to go shopping. We went crazy and stocked Camille's closet and cupboards up with all the fun things she needed.

Thanks Camille! It was so much fun to be with you. Let's do that again sometime really soon!!!!  Then I drove home later that afternoon just in time to put my sweet boys to bed.  It was a great trip. I didn't realize how much I missed that place. I recommend BYU-Idaho (It will always be Ricks College to me)!