Obligatory Pre-Birthday Post

So... It's my birthday tomorrow.

As many of you guys already know, last year I celebrated with 22 acts of random acts of service. From sun up to sundown, I ran all over Virginia attempting to complete these seemingly small tributes. And with the passing of another trip around the sun, I've been toying with the idea of continuing that tradition.

However, this year is a little different.

Why, you may ask?

Because this will be the first year I am celebrating without my family.

When we first talked about my going my back to school,  the biggest hurdle we discussed was distance. It's common knowledge to a lot of people that I wanted to be back out West. And despite their attempts at persuading me with glossy brochures and personalized phone calls, none of the schools in Virginia had much to offer to me.

More than anything, though, I feel as though I just wanted to return to Utah. Call it my pioneer heritage leading me home, or my subconscious desiring a new, spiritual awakening, I've always felt as though my time with the Beehive State was not quite over.

When I was contemplating the application process to UVU,  life as I knew it was changing.

• My older sister and her husband had just announced their pregnancy. 
• My little sister was in a serious relationship that was moving rapidly towards marriage. 
• My mom's health was stabilizing, which, compared to the following year, was a significant improvement. 

Everyone was taken care of in my family and I felt it was time to start pursuing my college career.

So I began the application in May. I wrangled together all my transcripts (one from my old high school and 3 separate records from my advanced studies at governor's school and my brief time at BYU ). I retook the ACT (excelled in English and Reading, bombed the Math section). I took Placement Tests and worked my butt of trying to get together enough money set aside to pay for school and the trip out there.

In the five months it took for me to finish the application, life was almost unrecognizable.

• My little sister had been engaged and was now single. 
• I was working two jobs and getting hardly any sleep. 
• Mother was unable to go up and down the stairs of our house. 
• And the arrival of my unborn niece or nephew would fall upon February... A month after I would officially start!

To be completely honest, I'm not sure how I survived those last 3 months of 2013. A lot of it probably stems from the coworkers and friends that supported me and my decision. But the majority of my sanity I attribute to my family. 

I'm not going to sugarcoat it: it's been a hard month. 

• My first set of roommates were of the "pot-smoking, food-stealing" variety and it got to the point that I only ventured out of my bedroom for two reasons: Class and to use the bathroom. (I later got them evicted, but that's a story for another day.) 
• I haven't made a single friend yet from any of my classes, which is rather impressive considering there are 30,000+ students that attend there. 
• Don't even get me started on Church! (3 hours of sitting by yourself is not enjoyable.) 

Despite all these minor setbacks, I know this is where I need to be. And I thank all of you for supporting me in my dream.