I get the same reaction, though...
Idaho?!
I've discovered a lot of people either don't know where Idaho is or have no idea Idaho existed or get it confused with Iowa (you know who you are).
I think in each of our souls is a happy place. Somewhere we can retreat to when things get stressful at home or work. My happy place is always in nature. A wide open field of flowers or near a cheery stream with moss covered rocks, or overlooking a vast mountainous landscape. For some people, their happy place is in the hustle and bustle of city life. High sky scrapers and concrete oceans.
For years now my heart has ached for a more open and slower place to live.
Not a lot of people know how beautiful Eastern Idaho is. Most assume it's flat. However, there are the Rocky's on one side and the Tetons on the other. In the middle is the gorgeous Teton Valley.
Let's take a hike together.
Seriously. Excited.
Except for this part...
But nothing is perfect. We'll deal with it. I think Nova will go crazy for the snow, though. Whenever she sees some on TV she gets very excited. Snow and Rain, she loves them!
The Deets:
Mike entered into an online(ish) program through BYU-Idaho the fall of 2014 called Pathway. This was a huge thing for us because A) We knew for a while that we wanted Mike to earn a BS in Engineering, but also knew it was impossible by traditional means and B) We'd had some many educational failures when it came to Mike's degree. Pathways felt like it was heaven sent...and I truly believe it was.
There aren't a lot of options for people trying to go to college later in life and also provide for a family. He needed to complete a ton of prerequisite classes at community colleges before he could apply to a 4 year university. In order to get the classes completed and also still be able to afford the daily necessities of food, shelter, and WiFi, it would take him approximately FOREVER to finish just the prerequisite courses to transfer.
Figure one class per semester...8 prerequisites before being able to start any basic engineering classes...that's FOUR YEARS just to get those 8 prerequisites done. Three years if he could manage to get into summer classes, which is iffy because community colleges are seriously impacted right now and summer typically only offers the *super basics* like English 101 and Algebra 1.
I think Mike had about 12 classes at the community college level to complete before being able to transfer. The time it would have taken...mind boggling.
We tried having him to go school full time for one semester while I worked and brought home the bacon, but we quickly found that we were drowning in bills. Another fun fact: there's pretty much zero financial aid for community college and non-profit pay isn't exactly lucrative.
We had no choice but for him to go back to work. Our plans for the future seemed bleak.
Then, one Sunday, we had a special meeting in which a representative from Pathways came and spoke about the program. It was like God was literally pointing and saying "LISTEN".
It was too perfect not to be divine intervention. The saga of Mike's schooling woes had been long and arduous.
[[ The Saga, to summarize:
1) Community College (meets Laurel) and just taking a buncha music classes without any real direction (sorry, Babe, you know it's true). 2007
2) Stops school to work so Laurel can finish her degree at Berkeley. Cuz, you know, a theater degree is super important ya'll and I'm obviously putting it to good use. Totally worth it. 2009
3) Pursues dream and starts E'xpressions College for the Digital Arts (sound design program) 2010
4) Discovers it's about 90k per year, no financial aid available, only personal loans. And no one has ever gotten a personal loan for school and regretted it [insert eye roll here]. Ultimately, we made a heart-wrenching decision and pulled him out of E'xpressions. His dream. Shattered. Thanks over-priced non-accredited trade school. I send vague but slightly threatening glances your way. 2011
5) Himming and hawing. My relentlessly asking "What do you want?" and Mike saying "......." for about a year. 2012
6) Eureka! A huge break through. After a long deliberation, it's decided gleefully that Mike wants an Electrical Engineering degree. The reason it took so long to decide was because we thought it was unrealistic to pursue because we kept only looking at fast ways for Mike to earn a degree. EE is not a fast or easy degree, but one Mike truly yearned for. But, perhaps maturity comes from disappointment, because we said "Screw how long it's gonna take, let's put all our energy into this and it will work out." 2013
7) Nova is born. We realize we're stuck again because Mike can't go to school full-time and trying to get an EE degree part-time is impossible. Not hard. Im-poss-i-ble. 2013
8) Special meeting at church about pathways. Do three core classes, then you can be free to fully persue ANY degree the school has to offer. Plus, guaranteed admission. Some degrees you can do online, but others must be done on campus. EE = campus. We knew that meant moving to Idaho. 2014
9) We embrace the fact that we will be moving to Idaho 1 year from enrollment into pathways and start to mentally prepare. 2014.
10) Enrolls into Pathways. End of 2014.
11) And here we are 1 year (and a couple months) from when he enrolled.
MUCH faster than the community college --> transfer to four year school option.]]]
Yes, this degree will take the FULL 4 years to complete. It's that type of degree. It's demanding and hard and requires all your commitment and energy. He can't even have a minor because the degree is so demanding. But we're happy life is moving forward and that it's FINALLY allowing Mike to do something he loves.
He's never had The College Experience and though he's married with a kid, so are a ton of people at BYU-Idaho. I think it's the perfect environment for him and I'm beyond thrilled. I went to BYU-I for a stretch, before I got sick and had to come home, and I loved it. Now we'll have similar experiences and will be able to grow closer because of it.
We are now living in Ammon, a town about 20 miles outside of Rexburg (where the college is located). We chose this route for a few reasons:
1) Cheaper
2) Less of a "college town" and much larger, packed with the essentials, and feels more like an adult community.
3) I won't feel disoriented and like I'm reliving my college days.
There will be a clear separation of school and home life, something I really wanted for Mike.
We went to visit Idaho and the Rexburg area over the summer, in August, to scope things out and to let Mike have the opportunity to get to know the area and campus. When we were there, I felt slight anxiety at the thought of moving back. Perhaps it was the memory of being sick with Crohn's and far away from home, or maybe it was just realizing the move was really going to happen...I don't know, but I started to feel less excited about the idea.
Then someone proposed we live in Idaho Falls instead. Again, a huge revelation that was super obvious! The simple thought of living in a larger and more industrialized area was appealing. It's still a smallish town, about the size of Pleasanton/Dublin put together, but still much larger than Rexburg. It meant the feeling of isolation no longer plagued me.
Ammon is directly connected to Idaho Falls. Think of it like a newer and more hilly suburb of I.F. Honestly, when I drive toward the hills (with windmills on them) I think we accidentally moved to Livermore. Then we turn around and BAM, snow covered mountains.
So far, we are loving it. It's been less than a week, but our new place is great and Nova is adjusting just fine.
I severely miss my family and having such a great network of people around to help watch Nova...but sacrifices must be made for progress. We looked at our lives and said "This isn't what we want for the rest of forever..." and we made a big leap.
Mike is one of the smartest and most talented people I've ever met. His potential is off the charts. Pest control forever would have been a terrible fate for him. Not saying it's a bad job, I truly believe that all jobs are meaningful, it just wasn't where Mike was supposed to end up. That's what I mean by terrible. If you're stuck doing something that doesn't help you grow as a person or that you have no passion for.
We're scared about some aspects of the future...nothing is ever certain or guaranteed, but so many things have worked out strangely well since making this choice and I see God's hand everywhere right now. If we look for help, I know we'll find it. If we work hard, the Lord will make up the difference.
That's what faith is all about! But I also have to remember that faith without works is dead. So no sitting around waiting for things to happen. Push forward and work for them.
Thanks you to everyone who has helped us thus far.
Especially family.
I miss them already.
But onward...nothing changes if you don't move forward. Stagnation...icky.
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