i did it...

i made it through the summer in alaska.

and i didn't come home early.

so this is my moment to boast to everyone who told me i couldn't do it.

because guess what,

i did.

ok i'm done now.

the point of this post is to show how alaska helped me.

first off it taught me that i can do hard things.

don't get me wrong, i said i can do hard things, not that i like to or want to. trust me alaska isn't my number one job choice for next year. but if i had to come back i could do it.

and now i know that i can do a lot of hard things.

things i never thought i could do before.

i thought about coming home at least once every single day.

and trust me i wanted to so badly.

but i didn't i made myself  find something good about alaska every day,

and in the end i ended up having a fabulous time.

alaska taught me that i love my family more than i ever realized.

[confession time]

when my parents dropped me off at the airport to come to alaska i was so mad at them that i refused to cry in front of them. 

everyone knew that i was terrified to go but i refused to let my parents see that.

the moment i couldn't see my parents anymore i bawled.

i sobbed on the first plane ride.

sometimes when i would go running i would just start crying because i missed my mom and dad so much.

and once hunter called me and mack called me later that day and i started crying because i missed them so much.

so hunter and mack you truly do not realize just how badly i missed you this summer.

pathetic but i'm crying right now as i am typing this because i miss them so bad and i am so close to being home.

alaska made me realize that my mom is my best friend.

my brothers are there for me when nobody else is.

i could be perfectly happy if my dad was the only guy i ever had to have in my life.

i realized that it's ok to randomly call hunter because i want to talk.

random skype calls from my dad are the best.

and i actually like the fact that other people think it's weird how much i tell my mom.

other things alaska taught me:

you can get sick of french fries.

the sun is awesome, but it needs to set and disappear at night.

seagulls are of the devil.

public bathrooms will never be ok.

i hate when people stare.

alaska made me realize who i am and what i believe.

my testimony has grown so much and i know what i want in life.

i've seen problems that i never want to create in my life and i've seen things i would love to bring into my life.

i know that heavenly father hears me.

he does what is best for me.

and he protects me.

alaska was a good experience for me,

and to be honest i really enjoyed it.

i met people i will never forget.

i laughed and i cried..

don't worry i laughed more than i cried.

i found out who i was.

and most importantly,

i was O.K. in the A.K.

........and i did it! [: