//2013//

Emma,

twenty thirteen was a good year for you, it really was. Just because I'm shaky right now, and my mind is remembering the sad parts, don't believe it that is was anything less than exactly according to plan. Girl, this was the best year of your life up until this point. This was the year you discovered your favorite music (your soul sounds like indie music and the sigh everyone makes after a laugh.) This was the year you discovered adventure and quickly made it the most frequently used word in your vocabulary. This is the year you learned how to speak up for yourself, though you certainly need more practice, so far letters aren't seeming to work very well on teenage boys. This was the year you bought way too many pairs of shoes, and loved every single one of them (two more pairs came in the mail today, and they are some of the best.) This was the year you got a car and a job, and what a great car, and what a perfect job they are. This was the year you fell for Alex and shared a too brief best friendship with Neal, but in the end it was all the other friendships that came from those that were maybe the whole point all along. Or maybe God just wanted you to have a really amazing summer. This was the year you passed off the biggest bucket list item you've ever had. This is the year you learned age doesn't matter when it comes to connections, and Mo and Sister Thomas become some of the biggest blessings in your life. This was the year you started to actually think about the presents you buy people. This is the year you perfected the art of day dreaming. This was the year you blew everyone's mind and left high school for bigger dreams. This was the year you started loving hats. This was the year you found your need for travel, and the stories of real people. This was the year you discovered that, unlike the rest of the world it seems, you can in fact go through an entire chap stick, but you have yet to keeping using the same composition notebook to the end, for beginnings are too lovely. So far it's the endings that have been ugly. Good thing so much is eternal. This is the year you became a serious dreamer. This is the year you soaked your bedroom carpet with salt and thankfully did it all in waterproof mascara, but through it all you learned to love and live for emotion, good or bad you'll take it all. This is the year you started to notice your human experience, and wring it for every last drop.

Adventure on.