Category: personal

camp counseling at hume lake // home to solvang post-africa // monterey getaway

a big part of my dad’s small family does or has lived in alaska, so i’ve had a fat state-crush on it for as long as i can remember. fifth grade state reports, postcards from my aunt, discovery channel shows. i’m all about it.

this past year, a girl named brea became one of my closest friends. she’s from anchorage. she is my infp soul sister, sociology major friend, and a sincerely thoughtful, wise, challenging, self-aware, joyful and important person in my life. she’s probably one of the only people i know that i can talk to non-stop for eight days and never grow tired of it. or run out of things to say.

when i was in SA, a girl named alivia lived in the room next to me. we quickly became super close. she’s from homer. she’s everything i would imagine when i think of ALASKA, incredibly smart and hard-working, silly, thoughtful and a very consistent friend. i loved hearing her talk about alaskan culture and her tiny hometown and her summers she spends living/fishing on her uncle’s boat. and taking crazy pictures with her all semester. and singing 95% of the time (usually les mis).

i JUMPED at the opportunity to fly up + visit two of my favorite friends. my eight days was a whirlwind of happy screaming because OHMYGOODNESSITSSOPRETTY, roadtripping, lizzie mcguire  movie soundtrack on repeat (#whynottakeacrazychance), rainy camping, lots of coffee and icecream and zero nutrition, de-briefing the past nine months with brea, glacier cruises (um glaciers are the craziest thing?! how do we not talk about them more?!?!), sketchy and VERY memorable hostel experiences, 4wheeling to livi’s family cabin (that they built. as a family. so impressive!), and moooooreeeee talkinggggggg. bliss.

alaska was all that i could have dreamed up and more. like, you guys. it is CRAZY. i don’t even know?? everything is so pretty. everything. everything is so big. suuuper majestic. i will definitely be returning.
i took a bunch of pictures but none of them do it justice. enjoy this jumble of alaska through my 5d + iphone:

i’m no longer a teenager!

i’ll try to spare you the detailed, introspective i’m-going-to-analyze-my-life-because-i-turned-20 ramble that is fairly standard for me (when i turned eighteen, when i turned nineteen) . i will say though, that as much as i dont looove birthdays, they do give me a perspective and newfound thankfulness for my life that i just adore. this past year has been huge and really transformative and i love feeling like i’m constantly growing and changing and figuring out who the heck i am (and whatever that means). this whole summer, actually, has been surprisingly wonderful and transformative and things just feel different. this past week was full of self-reflection after a beautiful six days counseling at hume lake (which i will blog on laterrrr), heart to hearts with a dear friend then late night runs for ben&jerry’s with my sister during the last hours of my teenage life. couldn’t ask for more.

my birthday day was lowkey just how i like it: up and journaling with the sunrise, coffee with my sister, letters in the mail, reading new books, lunch + carrot cupcakes with friends, trader joes shopping in santa barbara, and mexican food + netflix movies at home.

my giving love language is quality time + there is forreals forreals nothing i love more than having people over, cooking them dinner and hanging out…so my two-days-after nonbirthday dinner party tradition carried on this year. my dear friend and roomie kenzie travelled all the way up to hang out and be here with me this weekend + i actually can’t find the words to express my thankfulness for that and for her. i’ve just been overwhelmed lately with the love and friendships i’m surrounded by, no matter where i’m living. it is 100% the reason that this year especially has been so fantastic. thank you jesus for a year of change and really really hard times and overcoming fears and south africa and new friendships and transformation.
twenties: it’s nice to meet ya. wahoo wahoo woooo!!

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