New Chapter

This week is officially my first week as a stay-at-home mom. It was my first time not going to school at the beginning of a semester. It's a little sad; I really loved my BYU experience and going to class. However, I don't think I'll ever miss doing homework. During my final week of classes my professor shared this quote by Mark Twain:

We are at home again. We are exhausted. The sun has roasted us, almost. We have full comfort in one reflection, however. Our experiences in Europe have taught us that in time this fatigue will be forgotten; the heat will be forgotten; the thirst, the tiresome volubility of the guide, the persecutions of the beggars--and then, all that will be left will be pleasant memories of Jerusalem, memories we shall call up with always increasing interest as the years go by, memories which some day will become all beautiful when the last annoyance that encumbers them shall have faded out of our minds never again to return. School-boy days are no happier than the days of after life, but we look back upon them regretfully because we have forgotten our punishments at school, and how we grieved when our marbles were lost and our kites destroyed--because we have forgotten all the sorrows and privations of that canonized epoch and remember only its orchard robberies, its wooden sword pageants and its fishing holidays. We are satisfied. We can wait. Our reward will come.

To us, Jerusalem and to-day's experiences will be an enchanted memory a year hence--memory which money could not buy from us.

I felt it a great summary of how I feel about my college experience. One of the more important skills that I learned, as an English major at BYU, was to have a more open mind and view issues from different angles; to think more critically about issues and not judge others for their views, but rather to learn to appreciate them and see their view points. I grew so much intellectually as well as spiritually and I hope that just because I'm not attending classes I will continue to push myself to learn.

I'm looking forward to spending more time with Jordan even though right now it consists of constantly holding him and playing with the light switch or sticks.