My big kid life: Continuing the life of an adventurous "student": Happy 25th Birthday....Letter to myself 365 days ago

Work trip to Valdez

This is me, this is 25 and if this coming year is anything like the past year you’re going to be high on life!! You’ll make thousands of more memories. I’m really excited about this coming year. I know it’s going to be a good one. But for now, as I sit in a coffee shop on a rainy day in my favorite little town in the world I’m going to write a letter to myself 365 days ago when I turned 24..

Dear Erin Elizabeth-

Alyeska Resort- Alaska Jake, Erin, Utah Jake

You’re still in Alaska! Did you think that was going to happen? I know mom and dad didn’t really and you doubted yourself at times. A lot people keep asking ‘when are you coming home?’ Well this is your home. Sure you do miss the Wasatch Mountains, Ruth’s diner, skiing at Snowbird, and hanging out with friends; but Alaska will feel more and more like home. You moved here 2.5 years ago with 2 suitcases and now you’ve established a life for yourself. This year has made you feel much more comfortable living in a place that was pretty strange when it started. You’ve grown more accustomed to people wearing jeans to weddings, lots of bearded men, and staying up till 4 am in the summer when it never gets dark.

Anchorage sunset at 11:41pm with Mara

You had little ‘Alaskan’ moments this year- red neck camping out looking for grouse, eating reindeer sausages, partying with mushers the day before the Iditarod started, wearing your Xtra Tufts to go ‘snagging’ for reds, having a keen eye for bear and moose. This year will be filled with more memories all around Alaska. You’re going to go meet up with college friends in South East Alaska and Alaska Jake will come along. You’ll camp in Hope and will wake up floating in your tent because the tide rose so high. You’ll go fly fishing when all other plans get rained out in Talkeetna and Mat’s drone will get stuck in a tree. You’ll play trivia with new friends and only be able to figure out a few answers. You’re going to eat at 49^th State Brewery a lot because their set up is perfect with outdoor seating and a view of Denali and their food is good too. You’ll go fishing at 10pm and filet the fish in a rainstorm when it’s dark. You’ll camp on the beach in Homer and then drive back to Anchorage at 2am singing Taylor Swift with Mara. There will be nights that you just don’t want to go to sleep because life is so much fun and the sun is out all night long. You’ll take a taxi to a campground in Ketchikan after realizing that the airport is on an island and you have to take a ferry to even get to town. You’ll kayak with sea lions in Glacier Bay National Park and Jake will get a little freaked out. Riding 4 wheelers across the beach in Homer with Kiki will put the biggest grin on your face. You’ll go skiing with Brandan and crew and race each other down the mountain at 8pm. You’ll hike 3 miles across a frozen lake out to a remote cabin and spend the night with a blazing fire in the stove. Skating on the winter solstice will remain a tradition for the third year in a row. Kiki will come back with her husband for the Iditarod and you’ll have a blast doing Alaskan things and taking a million pictures.

You’re going to meet some pretty dang cool people Erin. People that will inevitably stay with you forever and will change your perspectives on things. A few of those people will include new friends from work and the mountain men. You’ll still be the youngest one in the office but you’ll make some pretty special connections with people from work. People that will go fishing with you and will volunteer for HOBY. The mountain men will show you what pure determination is. They’ll open your eyes to more adventures. They’ll make you hungry to do more, be more. They will make you laugh harder than you have in a long time.

You’ll have a day when you go for a run on the beach in Homer at the end of January and you will have tears streaming down your face because you are so grateful for the life you are living every day. God is so good. It’ll be one of the top highlights of the year because the sun will shine, the wind will blow through your hair, you’ll be alone and you’ll feel all of God’s grace.

You’ll continue having many weekends where you start with zero plans and end up having a phenomenal time. Angie, Kiki, Allyson, Mara and more will all come up to experience weekends like that. They’ll laugh when you pick them up at the airport and ask if they’re ready for an adventure. That’s still your favorite word by the way (adventure). You’ll continue enjoying showing off Alaska to all the visitors that come. This place is pretty amazing and you are still living your dream every single day.

HOBY will be a huge part of your life still. You’ve now touched the lives of over 100 Alaskan sophomores and they are bettering the world every single day. You’ll get graduation announcements from ambassadors, write letters of recommendation and celebrate in their successes when they tell you that they received enough scholarship money to go to their dream school. You’ll get more people involved with HOBY and they’ll realize the power of the organization.

Erin you love life more than ever before. You’re challenged every day by a new situation. You’ll read a lot of new books. Your friends will continue showering you with love no matter where they are in the world. You’ll know you are loved. You’re going to get a little bit better at making decisions, but there is plenty of room for improvement. You’re going to continue going to church alone for most of the year but then you’ll meet up with friends to go to some other churches. Your coworkers will tell you that they are vicariously living through you as you travel the world but make it back into the office at 6:30 Monday mornings ready to work. You’re going to experience the loss of your grandpa and that’ll be tough especially when you receive the call at work. You’ll long for one more whisker kiss but you’ll be full of gratitude that he lived for nearly 93 years and passes down a lasting legacy to fill this great earth. You’ll gain two other angels- Great Uncle Dale and Great Aunt Mary. What incredible examples they’ve been in your life and what a blessing to have them on your journey still. They taught you to smell every flower and appreciate them. I think that’s partially why you love flowers more than you ever have before. You’ll receive more flower gifts from friends and family and you won’t feel bad at all that they cost money and are going to die because you enjoy them while they’re alive!! You can’t spend your life not doing or buying something because the inevitable death is going to come; just embrace it.

Erin you’re going to work on opening your heart this year. Opening your heart to more people in Alaska. Instead of feeling like this place is still foreign and you’re probably going to leave try and let more people in. Embrace all the craziness everyday. I hope you truly realize how good you have it; I think you will. How blessed you are to have the family you do. The family in the lower 48 and the family in Alaska. You’re going to experience the birth of a brand new baby cousin and you’ll get to hold him in the hospital 10 hours after he was born. He’ll show you more miracles and the goodness of people. See that goodness even when you see crime all around you. You’re going to impress yourself. You are an incredibly strong and confidant woman; you can do anything! Keep believing in yourself and people around you will do so as well. Don’t be too afraid of anything because there’s not much to be afraid of. Light up the world!