Lily was only home for a couple of weeks before it was time to move her over to Birmingham to begin her new chapter of life at Samford. We are so excited for her! We've believed for years that this will be a great fit for Lily. It will take time to settle in and make new friends, but we are confident this is going to be such a great experience for her. It's going to be a big change for all of us though! To celebrate, our family had a wonderful dinner at Marcel a couple of nights before moving. This has become our go-to restaurants for celebrating happy times. It's always delicious.
There was A LOT to pack up.
We drove over on Monday afternoon and spent the night, so we could begin moving in on Tuesday morning. Lily was one of a few dozen students accepted into the University Fellows program. This honor's program will provide some incredibly interesting classes, many in the Socratic method which is what she has grown up in at Stonehaven. The Fellows have a retreat for a couple of days before all the other freshmen move in though, so they get to move in early. This was incredible and made the process so easy! We were able to park and unload right outside her door. Her roommate, Kenzie Schmerge, is also a Fellow, so this made it where they could move in and set everything up together. Thankfully too, we had a beautiful day. It could not have gone more smoothly.
Lily and Kenzie were assigned to Room 302 in Vail. I couldn't believe it; I knew this room well. I was in Room 313 in Vail, so this was right down the hall from me. On top of that, my college best friend, Tay Howell (now Drescher) lived in that room. I spent a good bit of time there! The really cool thing about this room though is it's intended for 3 people, so it's a lot bigger than most of the rooms in Vail. However, because they added a new dorm this year, a third roommate was not necessary. Lily and Kenzie get to have it all to themselves! It was a lot of fun setting everything up. The girls did a great job of coordinating their purchases, and they made a truly lovely room.
Lily's bed and desk set-up
The closet and wardrobe are full and neatly organized.
They made a great sitting area with their extra space, and they have a good fridge inside this beautiful cabinet.
It turned out so great; what a beautiful room! The picture below is of Lily's part of the room and the sitting area. It's taken from the foot of Kenzie's bed at the doorway entrance. Her desk area and wardrobe are to the left, and the fridge area is to the right.
All moved in!
Lily and Kenzie became friends at camp last year when they were both SALTs; they both worked as JETs there this past summer. It's really nice to have a roommate you already know, trust, and enjoy hanging out with. These two are going to have a great year!
Finally, it was time for us to say goodbye. It's really amazing all the emotions that are floating around. On one hand, we are going to miss having Lily at home everyday; we're thankful for texts, FaceTime, and the Marco Polo app. On the other hand, we are so incredibly proud of Lily and so unbelievably excited for the years to come while she's at Samford. We have no doubts this is where God wants her to be.
It was really great to get a picture later on of Lily, Kenzie, and two others hanging out together. The adventure begins!
Lily, Kenzie, and the other fellows left on their retreat the next day. They came back to school the next evening. The day after that all the other freshmen moved in, so campus life really begin to pick up. That weekend, many of the freshman, including Lily, went on a freshman retreat together. It was quite a busy start before school even began! When they came back, it was time for everyone to have fun at the Neon Party!
Finally, it was time for classes to begin. It was a gorgeous day, and I loved that Lily made a "First Day of School" sign! She's ready for a fantastic year!
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