Back to the Future...

Hey everyone! So, a lot of people have been wanting to know about my experiences in Alaska, and since internet is pretty much the only way for me to communicate (and even that's difficult), I figured I would try my hand at a blog. You might have to be patient with me though, because I've never done anything like this before. Okay...Here goes!





I found something I wrote about this time last year, and I think it is a pretty perfect way for you to get an idea of how drastically my life has changed in a very short amount of time.

       "Today has been completely disenchanting for me, and although there was no reason for me to expect anything more than that, I find myself wishing something exciting would happen. I watched Lord of the Rings last night, so I hold Tolkien partially to blame for those feelings. I catch myself wondering if there are people who really live like that...epic adventures, damsels in distress, kingdoms to rescue, Viggo Mortinson's on horseback...It sounds ideal, doesn't it? I could leave out hairy hobbits' feet though, and I don't think I would miss them too much. I think those kinds of daydreams just stand in direct contrast to my actual life, and it paints a painfully boring picture in my mind. I have class, I go to work, I study, and every once in a while, I'll cook a meal or watch a movie. Maybe I can delude myself into thinking that I'm a damsel in danger of being caught in the throes of an exceptionally petty lifestyle. What on earth am I doing? I want to go on an adventure. I want to be strong and start a fight. I want to sparkle and be a queen. I want people to look at my life and feel envy down to their toes. I want to be exceptional instead of average. But how do I get there? By daring to try, I suppose. Just like in Melville's Moby Dick, "What I've dared, I've willed; and what I've willed, I'll do!" I wish I could look myself directly in the eye and dare myself to live life to it's fullest potential. I want to be audacious, and face life courageously. I want to be my best.
All of you who feel that urge deep in your gut that can't be put out, that desire to widen your horizons and discover new capacities for living and growing, take heart. You're not alone. Let's you and I start a crusade. The only reason we aren't the people we should be is because we haven't dared to be. Why are we doing unimportant and uninteresting things? Some people will read this and will forget it thirty seconds later. Those people are the ones who are happy to drift along wherever life takes them, indulging themselves in feelings of self-expression. Danforth said "The line of least resistance makes crooked rivers and crooked men. Each fish that battles upstream is worth ten that loaf in lazy bays." Those kinds of people that prefer the easy way will never taste the thrill of adventure. I'm tired of waiting for an opportunity. Let's go make one instead."

    There you have it, folks- that was my life one year ago exactly. Want to know what I'm doing now? In the space of one year, I have followed a guy I barely knew (I'll get chewed out for that one) to Alaska, and I've actually survived up here for six months now. Go figure. The point to all this is...be careful what you wish for. A year ago, I would've told you that I probably wouldn't get married, and I was just beginning my own career in handling. If anyone knew how drastically different my life would be from my plan, they sure didn't tell me, but you know what? I wouldn't change one thing.