She's A College Student!

We moved Issa into Meredith on Saturday! Friday afternoon we finished the packing, and the best little brother ever helped us haul it all to the cars:

The Subaru was packed tight, but she had a lot of room in her car. Saturday morning, we joined Meredith tradition to decorate the cars:

"Next Stop: Meredith"

The move in process was so well-organized! There were specific time slots assigned by residence hall, floor, and room number. We had the 8:45 spot, and pulled in to campus at 8:40 where we were greeted by students waving signs. We were also given a color-coded parking pass that let us pull up right beside her building to unload. They had us unload everything in a pile on the curb and then move our cars. Security was there to make sure no one grabbed the wrong piles, and we had borrowed a neighbors big hand truck to move everything up to her second floor room, where she was greeted with this sign:

The boys hauled everything up while Issa and I started unpacking. Her roommate, Tess, was running late, so we had an our alone in the room, which was lovely. We got her furniture built and got the initail overwhelm out of the way. Their original layout didn't work because of plug location, but the revised plan came out well! Evan was amazing, and he even let me take a picture of him. This is actually Tess's side of the room:

Issa loves her cozy bed tucked against the wall:

And her desk has all of her nice things:

They have a great kitchen set-up, too:

We were a hot sweaty mess, but we got it finished by lunch:

We ate at the dining hall, got Italian ice from a food truck on campus, went to the bookstore to pick up her textbooks and some shorts (because she forgot hers), and made a target run for a bedside lamp, batteries, and one more power strip (which was not to be found). We had all of that finished by 2:30, which was perfect since she had her first orientation events at 3.

We got the first dorm update Sunday morning. The one cork board just wouldn't stay on her high wall, although she said she and Tess bonded over trying to make it stay there. It is now a great headboard:

I ended up running her some shorts, shower shoes, and a few little things she decided she wanted Sunday morning, but I was there for less than 20 minutes! She is slowly making the room her own, including this cure affirmations bulletin board above her bed:

My heart was so happy this morning when we got that picture and note that she and Tess stayed up way too late talking and decorating their room. Apparently there are now fairly lights along the ceiling.

I would be lying if I said I didn't cry. I walked into her bedroom and sobbed when I realized she had turned her little start lamp off, which she has never done since she bought it three years ago. We get text updates, and I'm so thrilled she is finding friends and having a great time! I can't wait to see what adventures await her.