A couple of weeks after the other kids started, we moved Lia up to Utah State. She was excited and ready, I was nervous and sad about this next phase of life. I wasn't nervous about her being able to manage everything, I was totally confident in her. I was just nervous in general about what her roommates were going to be like, about her living away from home for the first time, about her being safe, all of that. And I was sad about not having her around every day. I knew it was time and that it was the best thing for her, but it was not easy to let her go. She got everything packed and cleaned up in her room and said goodbye to Ollie. Laura and Megan wanted to come with Nate and me to get her moved in, so the five of us went and left Josh who didn't want to miss school and who agreed to take care of Ollie when he got home. When we got to her apartment I wasn't sure we could fit everything in that we brought with us, plus the stuff we bought at the store up there once we knew what else she needed. But, with everyone's help, we got her all unpacked and settled and went out to lunch. Her room was so cute and it was fun to do it together. When it came time to say goodbye, I didn't want to leave her, none of us did. I reminded her of all the friends we knew up there and told her to call one of them to get together that night. But, Lia didn't need to--she clicked right away with her roommates. We hardly talked to her the next several days because she was so busy hanging out with her new friends. I was so happy for her! I, on the other hand, spent the first few nights sleeping with my new minky blanket Nate got me. I asked him to pick one up for Lia on the way up to Logan (which he did--a navy and white checked one for Utah State) and he got one for me too to help me feel better about Lia leaving. He is sweet and thoughtful like that. The first few times I went to the grocery store after she left I got so sad thinking about the things I didn't need to buy with Lia gone. But, we settled into a routine and she did too. She met a new friend named Sarah at orientation and sent me a first day of school picture on her first official day of school. And she had Katie and Kathie looking out for her and was visited by Cameron and Sarah and their family and Darren and Sarah and their family those first couple weeks.
