The Salmons: November 2010

Well it's been a lonely week at home with Troy being away on a hunting trip and I figured it was about time that I post some seriously needed updates.

So it's a little sad that this big event took place all the way back in April and I'm only writing about it now, but I really wanted to document my feelings from my graduation day... well what I can remember 7 months later.

My last semester of college seemed to have sped by. I was super lucky to have made it through the whole semester without my pregnancy really getting in the way of my school work, although I'll admit that I threw out the pregnancy card once or twice. By the time my graduation date had crept up on me I couldn't believe the day had finally come!

It was an awesome day! I was so happy that my parents made the arrangements to be there for the ceremonies and really appreciated their support. Another huge highlight was not only having the Prophet there, but the entire first presidency! I actually got two thumbs up from Pres. Uchtdorf, or Uncle Dieter as I like to call him ;). Hearing from President Monson at the convocation and shaking his hand afterward was seriously a dream come true for me. I felt like the whole thing made up for me not graduating from BYU-Idaho and it was really special. A couple of days before the big day I needed to take a break from my studies and turned on the TV. I happened to come across the biography of Pres. Monson and watched as story after story was shared about all the individual lives Pres. Monson touched through his continuous acts of service. I was struck by all the good he's done in his life by just doing simple kind and thoughtful things for people. He was always so in tune with the spirit and always followed through with the promptings he received. I realized that I could easily follow his example and become more service oriented. After having that experience I was even more excited to hear him speak at my graduation. I remember feeling the spirit really strongly testifying to me of how proud Heavenly Father was of me for sticking it through and getting my degree. I got pretty emotional as I sat and listened to the prophet's encouraging words and felt my sweet little baby girl kicking away inside of me. I thought about how I hoped this accomplishment of mine would better the lives of my children and I again felt a waive of the spirit confirming that it would and that I had done what the Lord wanted me to. I know that I received a lot of help from above throughout my time at school and I'm so grateful for that. My time in college was a time of serious growth, I learned so much more about myself and what I can accomplish. My confidence soared and I realized that I had been cheating myself for many years. It was definitely not always easy and I was often pushed to my limits, but I'm so grateful for all the experiences I had and for all the fun I had in the process. It's still crazy to think that it's over and I don't have to worry about that paper I've procrastinated doing or the test that's looming around the corner! I thought it was pretty classic that on the day of my graduation I was worrying about a late project I still needed to hand in. I will never learn. Well anyways, I hope that even though I don't have to worry about deadlines anymore I will still push myself to continue to learn and grow.

So long college. Thank you for some of the funnest times of my life. Thank you for helping me find myself. Thank you for helping me find my husband. Thank you for your challenges, life lessons, failures and accomplishments. Thank you for great friends and great memories. I'll miss you, well most parts of you at least.

My first semester at BYU-Idaho - Winter 2006