College . . . already

Over Spring Break Tylissa and I visited Montana State University and University of Montana. I am so blessed that she is a very reasonable young women and when she saw the price of out-of-state tuition she understands that she will have to stay instate and BYUI and BYU don't have her program so she is looking instate. She wants to be a forensic anthropologist. First we headed to Bozeman to MSU and she really liked it, however she is not looking forward to sharing a very very very small dorm room with another person. We took a tour of campus, tour of the dorms, met with an Anthropology professor, stopped by the LDS Institute, and shopped. It was a great time at MSU.


Tylissa sitting in the MSU library. This is very important to her.


Can you read what the sign says . . . she was very happy. She could not stop smiling. She really liked the feeling at MSU but it doesn't have her full program. It has a small Anthropology department with some forensic classes, she will have to get a Master's degree if she goes to Bozeman. Plus it is about 6 hours away so she will only be able to come home during the big holidays.

We next headed to Missoula, and we were so tired that it didn't start out very well. Bozeman was a more personalized trip and Missoula was a big UM day with hundreds of people so it was a slow morning sitting in a huge theater just listening to admissions, career opportunities, financial aide, you know the boring stuff. The tour of campus was cold and rainy so it was miserable and she hated it and did not want to go there, until the after lunch. They fed us at the Food Zoo which was amazing for college food service and then they had a question and answer period with current UM students. One of the students on the panel was a Forensic Anthropologist major so Tylissa perked right up and then spoke with her afterward. From there the afternoon really looked up. She met with the department head who was very honest that there is not a lot of job opportunities but she doesn't care because she really wants to study it. We went on dorm tours and tried to visit the institute but they had closed for the day. All in all it was a great few days, she loved it and is very excited to start the next leg of her journey. She just took the ACT this weekend and is scheduled for the SAT next month. She may be ready for her next chapter but then I will be stuck with just boys, I guess it is a good thing I have Maggie.

After heading back to Kalispell on Friday, we then headed up to Canada to retrieve the boys and save Granny, Grandpa Paul, and Kayden from them. I am so grateful that mom and dad just take the boys with no questions asked. Should we remind her now that Chad is planning of living with her the whole summer . . . ? We stayed for conference and then headed home. Again traveling in Montana is always exciting. For about 10 - 15 miles it was a complete whiteout and I just followed the car tracks in front of me, hoping the car didn't end up in the ditch. But it didn't last long and we made it through the mountains. Why does this always happen when Val isn't with us?

It was one of those trips were I was looking forward to going back to work just to rest. Fast and Furious, we wouldn't have it any other way.