College bound!!

Took our sweet daughter to college on Friday ... finally the day came ... I was just dreading it on Thursday, wishing it was over with!  The last time I took a kid to college was four years ago and it was to Hawaii -- by myself, no hubby -- and it was just awful leaving him there, watching his face as I left and missing him all the long flight home to San Diego.  I knew this would be a little easier because she is only 1 1/2 hours away ... but still, she's my baby and my daughter ... and so special because of those things.

Her friend had come over several times to help her clean up her room and pack, so I had no idea what the packing was like nor what she was taking ... here's what my house looked like that morning as it all started to come downstairs ...

Hmm ... what is she taking?  When our son went to school it was a couple suitcases worth of stuff, and that was it!  Trust me ... even if we had driven in a car, nothing much else would have come with him.  I will give it to her that she was totally organized and had everything downstairs before I could even think about helping her.  Sheesh, I was hoping it was going to all fit in the car ... I have a Honda Pilot, so there is a ton of room in there!

Just barely ... good thing no one else was coming except for the three of us.  We got on the road as planned, and almost made it to the first exit before she realized we had left her comforter and pillows at home .... eeeeeerrrrkkkkkkkk .... off the freeway and back home ... so only 1/2 hour behind original schedule ... for our family, that's on time!

Got up to Irvine with plenty of time to get everything situated ... her roommate hadn't checked in yet, so after some scrambling because of confusion over tuition and how/where to pay (long story), we found a suite mate that shares the bathroom area with my daughter, and got into their room and started unpacking ...

This is daughter's back half of the suite ... her closet is what is behind her bed ... see all the stuffed animals looking down on her bed?  I thought that was a perfect spot for them ... the closet is awesome!  Whoever designed these rooms at Concordia University was a genius ... closet is 12' x 12' with wrap around shelving and lots of space to store things on floor under shelves ... there is also a long bar to hang the clothes on, and when you open the closet doors (both her's, and her roomate's) it creates a divider between their spaces so they have some privacy.

No her quilt is not made by me!  Have you seen a teenager's room?  Have you seen a college kid's dorm room after their parents leave .... no good quilt is going in a mess like that to wind up who knows where!  The sweet fleece quilt hanging at the end of the bed is one my son's girlfriend made for daughter to take to school ... it goes really well with what she had picked for bedding, and girlfriend didn't even know what my daugther had chosen.

I did make the green pillowcase in the back and the cute little coral pillows in the front ... she picked out the Grass Shack pillow to remind her of home and the beach!  It was so funny because all the girls beds in the dorms where done with all these cute throw pillows ... then you walked by the boys' rooms ... comforters were on their beds only because mom's had made up the beds for them ... nothing else though and certainly no decorations ... girls are funny!

This is the back half of her space ... dresser at the foot of her bed, window that looks over the parking lot with a pretty view of trees, grass, and a desk and chair.  The door on the right is the access to their bathroom that they only share with two other girls.  Where the trash bag is hanging there, forward of that is the sink for their room ... it's in my daughter's half of the room ...

Here you can see the roommate's closet -- it is identically opposite of the other closet.

Look at that cute little girl ... not quite ready (she thought) for college and her parents to leave her, but she's ready!  See the bed pillow on her right ... she was so excited to buy that!  I bet she almost never uses it ... ha ha!  We never did get picture frames for the Greece prints that are hanging above her bed, but they were beautiful and reminded her of her heritage and our amazing trip over the summer!

After an exhausting day full of moving and walking back and forth across campus countless times, activities for parents, activities with students ... a closing ceremony complete with a motivational speaker who was incredible and followed by a yummy root beer float party ... a walk around campus and lots of reassurances ... we took a picture ... proud parents with a beautiful daughter ... she was scared and sad, but I know she will have a wonderful time and I am just so proud of her ...  xoxoxo