It Is YOUR Adventure

I am eighteen years old, fresh out of high school, and ready to take on the world. Well, honestly at eighteen, I don't know how ready you can be for what life throws at you. I promise you, you will surely crumble at one time or another. It is after you crumble that you really learn what you are made of. Believe me, I've crumbled. I don't know if it was the worst I will crumble in my life, but I know now that when something comes my way, I will be able to put the pieces together easier. I crumbled because I had to watch someone who I thought would be a part of my life until the day I died walk away by his choice, and it broke my heart. I don't regret a single part of that chapter of my life though, it made me who I am now. The biggest truth is, this is my life. This is my adventure. 

Tonight after dinner, my Dad and I went over to his friend's house. It was the first time I had met his friend and his wife. I did not expect to be there for nearly two and half hours talking and playing with their adorable dog. They both are very kind people who you can talk to very easily. My Dad started talking to his friend about fishing, and I started talking to his friend's wife about all kinds of things. Not going to lie, this conversation got me excited. At first it was just about how my summer has been, my travels, participating in 4-H and the state fair that takes place in our city, we talked about where she worked, and then we talked about my plans for the future.

My goal is to finish my Associates of the Arts this year, and then transfer to a four year university. I want to go to St. Martin's University in Lacey, Washington. I plan to study Elementary Education and become endorsed in biology and English. I also want to minor in creative writing. That's a lot, huh? Well, there's more.


It turned out the woman I had been talking to had traveled a lot when she was younger. She told me she had been to Holland, Kenya, Peru, and London. She also had been all over the country. Pretty fantastic, right? Well I then shared with her that I want to spend a semester in London, and another semester in Dublin. I also would enjoy being in a program like Teachers for America or Teachers Without Borders. I think it would very fulfilling to spread your talent and knowledge in a way that those programs offer. Well, throughout this conversation, the greatest advice I got was to go adventuring. She said to me "girls need to adventure, they need to have fun and see places. Don't be tied down."

Suddenly, something that I had been pondering for a whiled dawned on me...

I do not want to be tied down. This is something I have been dealing with figuring out for quite a few weeks now. A part of me is so comfortable where I am at. I love the idea of staying where I am. I love my home. I love how I know so many people here. It is so comforting. Also, I love the scenery here. Believe you me, I could go on for days about the way the mountains jet up into the air, and the tall green trees contrast perfectly against the blue sky, and the rivers that pool into lakes but all the water finds its way back to the ocean. It's magical to me. Plus, I live in the only state in the continental US that has a rainforest. Bragging rights! But, another part of me is so ready to spread my wings and fly. Maybe I wouldn't leave Washington, but maybe a new city. Lacey seems perfect. But I don't want to be tied down. I believe that if I was tied down, I would get restless. I would start wondering what I could have if I was not tied down. I have been the girl that would run to commitment. Less than three months ago, I thought that I had met the person I would spend my life with, and all seemed perfect. I know how exciting that feeling truly is. But I think I want to see more of life before I know for sure if I really am ready to settle down.

My big point is, this is my adventure. No one else can have this adventure. And I think that is pretty fricken awesome if you ask me. I don't want anything or anybody in life to make me feel small. You only get one life. Life is for living, so live it up, or else you might as well be dead, right? I feel really inspired to just go out and live this life. Nothing can bring me down. I've crumbled to pieces, life does that to you. I don't want to spend my nights crying myself to sleep again because I was scared that I had lost the one person who made me never feel alone. Yes, I did lose him. But maybe it's just for now. I don't know. And as scary as the unknown is, it is also crazy exciting. My biggest advice, is to go adventuring while you can. Before your time runs out and you are tied down and have to worry about bills, or the kids, or work, or making sure dinner is on the table before your husband gets home, go adventuring. You have plenty of time to be settled down and have other things to get stressed over. Now is your time to adventure. I know I use the word adventure a lot. I probably wear it out, but I cannot emphasis it enough. Turn your face to the unknown, take a risk, and just have fun. Besides, who wants to tell your kids boring stories that when you were eighteen, all you did was wait tables at the local diner, or that you were settled down before you even knew what it meant to be a little crazy? I want to be able to tell my kids about the glory days when I was eighteen running around the country, hiking in the Cascade Mountains, walking the streets of Seattle, and meeting new people. This is your life. This is YOUR adventure. Make something of it.
~Always,
Just a girl, trying to take on the world.

P.S. I will share about my day trip adventure to Seattle tomorrow! I am so excited!

'Tis A Gift To be Simple

Summer days come and go so easily, and so quickly. It is rather heartbreaking that summer is only with us for just a fraction of time. Summer is meant to be full of memories, the kind of memories you cherish for the rest of your life.

I am so lucky to say that I have been able to fill my summer with those kinds of memories. I spent a week on Maui with my cousin and we talk everyday about how much we miss being on the island. Then I spent two weeks in North Carolina, getting to experience the slow and laid back lifestyle of a small southern town. Then when I got back, though I was itching to travel again, I was able to stay busy here at home. The Pacific Northwest is thriving with plenty to do all of the time, rain or shine. I was busy preparing to participate in the Pierce County Fair with 4-H. I have been participating in the Fair as a 4-H member for the past 7 years, this year being my last year since I graduated. I like to keep busy, it keeps my thoughts from bottling up and pestering me too much. Speaking of keeping busy, tomorrow I am taking a fun little day trip with my best friend up to Seattle tomorrow, it will be a fun little adventure. Summer is ending far too quickly though.

I love keeping busy, the days that I spend laying on the couch watching television are wasted to me. Those days are saved for the rainy days that I know we will get in the next couple of months. Most of my summer days that I am not traveling are spent laying outside on the back lawn, reading a book, or writing, or playing with my dogs. There are plenty of simple things to be doing when nobody wants to go adventuring. Here are a few ideas; make friendship bracelets, read a good book, write a story, go for a run, go for a bike ride, walk around your town and discover something new, or find a new hobby like photography or painting. Don't spend your days that could be spent in the sun inside watching television or playing xBox.

One of my favorite quotes is "life begins the moment you step outside of your comfort zone." The days we have left of summer are very numbered, my best advice to you is to go outside and have fun. Go adventuring. Life is just another adventure, everyday, waiting to being.
~Always,
Just a girl, trying to take on the world.

I love days like this, the perfect puffy clouds painting the Washington sky.

Today, I spent the afternoon outside reading this great book!

I love being outside!

My biggest weakness, a beautiful day, and coffee.

Thoughts, Thoughts and More Thoughts.

I noticed that my facebook statuses might have been annoying people. I mean, it's summer and they probably just want to go about their day without having to think of any too deep. Which is fine. Though recently, I have had far too much to ponder. A part of me wants to just ask what the meaning of life is, of course I'd get the wonderful comedian of the group to shout out "42!" That person probably would easily be my friend. Who wouldn't love a person with a sense of humor? Honestly, my thoughts have been building up in my head, so I decided I need to share.

Traveling is a passion of mine I would love to pursue someday soon. I want to do it while I am still free and able to to go far away with out feeling bad for leaving someone or something behind. This summer I was lucky enough to be able to see quite a bit of the country. I spent a week visiting family in Hawaii and two weeks visiting my best friend in North Carolina. While in North Carolina, I got the opportunity to go to South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Mind you, I was only in the Appalachians, but it was a fun little road trip. I can now say that I have been to eighteen out of fifty states in my lifetime. After I got back from my two week stay in North Carolina, I admit, I was a bit homesick, (I was longing for Mt. Rainier and the freakishly tall trees that are a part of my home) I was more than ready to get back on the road (or plane) to begin traveling again. I soon picked up a map of the country and I threw a pin at the map. Next summer, if I stick to what the pin told me to do, I will be traveling to Austin, Texas. Along with seeing Boston and hopefully going back to Maui. I wouldn't mind all that traveling. I learned that the more I travel, the wiser I become. Travel is the one thing that you buy that makes you richer. Another part I love about traveling is that every time I return to my home in the Pacific Northwest, I am even more in love with it. Washington summers are the most beautiful I have ever seen. I believe that they are discredited and should be sung about in songs like country singers do about the summers in Georgia. But truly, that is besides the point.

As I was looking at this map, my mind began to wander. The United States of America is such a large country, we are truly so fortunate to live in a country with diverse kinds of land. The map seemed to fascinate me in an extremely exciting way. All on a piece of paper, the country was documented. Showing so many details, rivers, lakes, roads, highways, mountains, valleys and plains, all on one piece of paper. Suddenly, I realized that the map made everything seem so far away. If you were to zoom into the area that you live, it makes a drive that is only five minutes from your house, but on the map it makes it seem so far away. Now, I'm not saying that I could drive all the way from Seattle to Austin, Texas in a day. That would be crazy. But it's not like we can't drive or fly there. It's not like it's across the ocean from us. The world is not actually that big. It is just filled with a lot of people. And by a lot of people, I mean 7,118,279,573 people and we're all crammed into this small and very beautiful world. Crazy, right? Well, I think my point is, the country really isn't that big in comparison to the rest of the world or even other areas. Maps just make every thing seem spread out when they show every single detail, it all seems so far away. But the world is small. I have family and friends that live just half way across the country, on the other side of the country, or half way across the ocean. The maps that we look at just make us seem far away from the ones that we love, but are we actually that far away? How far would you go to be with the ones that you love?

So this was just my big thought of the day. Now don't get me wrong, I love maps. They are beautiful. Maps hold the paths that can easily unlock a new adventure. It's pretty magical. So this is just a little bit of what wanders through my mind. Feel free to ponder this as well.
~Always,
Just a girl, trying to take on the world.