My big kid life: Continuing the life of an adventurous "student": Happy 28th Birthday Erin....Letter to myself 365 days ago.

28 the great! Hey let's see if that rings true this next year. In the spirit of reflection here's a letter to myself 365 days ago when I turned a mere 27.

Vaccine dose #1- March 6 Alaska Airlines Center

Holy smokes you're living in what is being called 'unprecedented times', 'once in a lifetime, 'never before experienced'. There's a global pandemic that's been going on in full force since March. It's going to go on a LOT longer than people will imagine. In March 2021 you're going to get 2 doses of the Moderna vaccine for a virus that didn't exist just a short time ago. You won't experience any side effects from the shots, and no the government won't be trying to hack your identity. On March 18th, 2020 you woke up and started working from home. You decided to not wear any make-up for just that day, which turned into that week and that month and then you'll still not wear make-up for this whole next year. You'll spend your entire year of being 27 without putting on any makeup even though you never wore much before.

Otter Cove August 21-Graduation Day!

You thought you loved Pepperdine and your graduate program in management and leadership a lot but you're really going to love it as you live in this pandemic. You'll 'see' your classmates more than you'll see any other humans some weeks. You'll spend upwards of 10 hours per week via video conference with some of your classmates. You'll be mentally stimulated and will have a schedule to stick to. You will finish a 6-month project with I-5 Freedom Network helping them educate survivors of human trafficking. Your classmates will remain your close friends after you finish the program and your professors will continue to care so much about you and your whole being. You'll graduate from the first cohort of the MSML (Masters of Science Management and Leadership) hybrid program at Pepperdine. Even though you won't go to Malibou for a traditional graduation ceremony you'll spend that weekend in August in Kachemak Bay first on the deck of Lands End and then out at a cabin at Otter Cove where there will be no other guests. You wrote this goal down in elementary school, 'get my Masters degree' and 2020 will be the year you accomplish that goal.

Sailing! July 2020

You'll spend a night out anchored on a sailboat in Ressurection Bay on a girls sailing trip. You'll jump off the boat for a quick morning dip, and walk onshore for an evening beach walk. You're going to camp every weekend from May to October that you're in Alaska, 17 weekends in total. The rule is a new camp spot each time. Sometimes you're going to have really quick trips, 7pm-7am at Eklutna Lake, because of your school schedule and meetups with classmates or homework. There's plenty of daylight so you'll still play cards and go on bike rides. You'll end up pushing your camping limits and wake up in extreme frost in Hatcher's Pass in late September, and spend hours listening to the rain pound your tent at Rainbow Lake. You'll play more golf and play a course you haven't played before- Settler's Bay. You'll bike and fish. You'll attempt to dipnet the Copper River but that turns into more of a funny camp adventure. You're going to dipnet off Murph's homemade jet boat on the Kasilof and the boat will catch 28 fish in 3 hours. You'll catch 2 fish in your net at once! You'll end up processing all of that fish in the backyard and sharing it as presents to people.

You started walking at least 10,000 steps per day on May 1, 2020 and little do you know you're going to keep that up every day for the next year. These walks will bring you more joy than you realize at first. You'll listen to lots of podcasts, Brene Brown's Dare to Lead and Unlocking us will be among your favorites for walks, so will the Michelle Obama podcast, the SIP, and Outsiders. Sometimes you'll walk at 11pm in the summer, and in the winter you'll bundle up and put on a reflective vest. You'll go on long drives and listen to more podcasts- Armchair expert and How I Built This will be your favorites for long drives. Board and card games will become more a part of your life. Monopoly Deal and Splendor will be played almost

Dad, mom, Erin and TJ- Snowbird Christmas

weekly in 2021. Evolution, Dutch Blitz, Pit and Unlock will be played with small groups of friends as you navigate this pandemic and how to maintain an in-person social life. You'll play virtual games at work too like Scattegories and Pictionary. You're going to buy the Peloton app and do workouts daily. You don't have the Peloton bike or treadmill but there are so many other workouts, you'll especially love the outdoor running ones because it's like having a coach in your ear. You'll ski and have to wear a face-covering the whole time. You'll teach a few ski lessons with Challenge Alaska and see the joy on these kid's faces even while you're all masked up.

You'll do Whole30, well actually it's more like Whole46 for the entirety of Lent. Your church you've been going to for a couple of years, Heart of the City, will close down in July. You'll find Flatirons church in Colorado and attend that virtually on Sundays from the couch. You'll move and listen in a culdesac for the first time in your life. The change of scenery will have you living so close to a seemingly endless trail system that you'll get to explore on your own and with friends in person or during one of your many phone calls.

Castner Glacier Cave

You'll do things you've never done and will have some really great experiences- fat tire biking, ice skating as part of a video for the Coke Scholars banquet, HOBY virtual conferences for the WLC and for Alaska, officiate a wedding in a friend's living room, virtual games with friends and family around the world, staying at the Captain Cook hotel. You'll explore places in Alaska and play tourist in your state- Nancy Lake cabin #2, Eagle River Nature Center river yurt, Knik Glacier Lodge, and Castner Glacier. Your trip up to the Lodge at Black Rapids hiking on Castner Glacier while then seeing the northern lights and sitting in a wood-fired sauna will prove to be one of the most unforgettable and best weekends of your life.

Jake and Erin Central Park, May 2021

You'll travel Outside far less than any years past but you'll still get out. A trip to the cabin in Star Valley for the first time in 5 years, water skiing Hells Canyon, Lewiston, Salt Lake, Texas and NYC. You'll play pickleball with friends at Christmas time and go on walks because the pandemic and the guidelines and best practice of not being in close contact with people indoors.

Father's day Boise River float

Family golf at the cabin

Love ya grams. November 2020 Lewiston

You'll see grandma in Lewiston just before Thanksgiving. Goodness, waving at your grandma through a window and not being able to just hug her is rough, like crying in mom's arms rough. Using a phone to talk through the window to have a conversation. You'll send grandma mail and you'll call her and chat even though it's hard to make out her words since her stroke. She'll listen and very clearly end a phone call with 'I love you'. Grandma will ultimately move on to heaven on February 16 while family says a prayer and links arms singing Amazing Grace. You'll Facetime her shortly before as mom strokes her hair and holds her hand. One of the last things in her mouth will be a raspberry milkshake which brings a smile to your face. With God's timing, she passed on Fat Tuesday so you'll celebrate her by getting a milkshake for yourself and walking in the forest talking on the phone to Mur who has been there for every happy and sad moment of your life for the past almost decade. Goodness was she an incredible person, and what a legacy she leaves. You've got her middle name, and Elizabeth will never make you more proud than it does when you think of your almost 97-year-old grams and the life she lived.

Skiing. Lodge at Black Rapids

What a life you live Erin. A life of continuous self-discovery. A life where you are challenged and inspired at work. You'll have a lot of changes at work and you'll learn a lot- your boss will show you what it truly means to lead with empathy and vulnerability. You'll discover that one of your strengths is to 're-think' and you'll do that almost to a fault always trying to find the best ways to do things. And just like every other blog you've written, 'adventure' still is your favorite word and became more impactful this year. For someone like you who loves hugs and spending time with friends and strangers this will be a challenging year because of the pandemic, thank God you've got some people in your close circle. Cheers to you, and cheers to living this year that's crazy/wild/not normal/unpredictable/masked and yet amazing all in one. You're sooooo fortunate to live in America, and a place like Alaska where there are wide open spaces. You're extremely fortunate to not be lonely and to have medical care and a vaccine. Never take that for granted.

xoxo,

Erin