Grateful for Friends

There is nothing in particular that I am grateful for, so I'm going to talk about how awesome my friends are... and all the awesome places we go together. I went to Vegas with Beckie and Caitlin


I went to go see some pretty flowers with Jenna


And I get to go drive across the country with Becca soon. I'm pretty stoked. Not so stoked about trying to see a bunch of my friends in the next couple weeks before I take off for the forseeable future...

October Madness

10 days ago I took off in the car with my mother. We knew a few stops, but had some playing to do in between. We ended up going to Eugene that first night, a place I hope to never see again. Then we went to San Francisco and played tourist for a few hours and hung out with Stefanie, the intern who lived with my parents my Freshman year of college. We were at a bar in downtown San Francisco when the Giants made it to the World Series. It was pretty sweet. Then we went to Huntington Beach via Merced. I got to hang out with Erica (friend from HS) and her husband Matt, which was fun. We went to the beach because my dad had a conference down there. Two nights in the Hilton on the beach? Yes please! My mom and I went out to a bar that night for dinner and I got carded, which led to me receiving a free dessert. Best getting carded that's ever happened to me. And as long as we were only 20 minutes away, we went to Disneyland for my birthday. 25 on the 25th, and I must say, my birthday was indeed golden. And I have pictures of me and many Disney characters to prove it. The next day we went to Ruby's on the pier. It's over 1800 feet from the road next to the beach out to the restaurant, and it's all alone out there. Pretty rad. Walnut Creek and my Godparents were calling our name, so next we headed back up to the Bay Area. It's always good to see Scott and Nancy. We spent a couple days with them then went on to Bend to see Scott, Alissa, Owen, and Josh. Those boys are super fun. And my brother and sister-in-law ain't so bad either. We were there for three nights then headed back to the Seattle area today.
My mom and I drove 2713 miles and spent about 42 hours in the car. Good times.

oh, mexico

just got back from Mexico, where i did in fact hear james taylor sing about it, which made my day. it wasn't really all that great. i mean, i did get to hang out on the beach a bit and chill, but i went to clean out my grandpa's house of personal things, so it wasn't super fun. better in mexico than somewhere that it is only 30 degrees. so now i'm in seattle until the new year. i think one of my favorite parts of being in seattle is that i'm going to be able to see the new bond movie. there's only a few times that living in haines, and, thus, not having a theater, bothers me, but when a new 007 movie comes out, it for sure tops that list. so i'm stoked. i'm sure i'll post my review of the movie later :)

My week with my fam

I spent the whole week down on the Oregon coast with my mom. Scott, Alissa, and Owen were there for the first part, and my dad was there for most of it, minus a short trip to Mexico.
The weather was pretty bad, but we had a good time doing puzzles and watching the olympics in the condo. For the Maxwell opinion on NBCs coverage, click here.


Me and Owen

Oregon Sunset

my family

i'm hanging out on the oregon coast with my family. my brother and sister-in-law are here and my mom, but right now my dad is on his way to mexico to visit my sickly grandfather who is apparently dying. it's good to just hang out with the family for a bit though. my nephew is soooo fun, and i got to hang out with my niece before i left for oregon on saturday. she's getting big. i like my fam.

Not in Seattle

Well, I'm not in Seattle right now, but I'm not in Alaska either. I decided to give myself a break from life and come to the Bay Area to hang out with my Godparents and their family. So I roamed around San Francisco yesterday and today I'm hanging out in Walnut Creek. I sat for a while yesterday at Pier 39 and wondered about what I should do with my summer. Should I go to the Dominican Republic? Should I go to Greece? Or should I just wander around the US stopping wherever I know people? Which one would I regret not doing the most. Not necessarily which one would I like to do the most, but which one would I look back on and just think, "If only I had done that..." So, I think about the future but try to not let it consume my thoughts. I'm still trying to take things one day at a time. Easier said than done in some cases, but I sure as hell am growing because of it. So, life is good. Not because anything has happened to make it a better day, but because nothing has happened to make it a bad day. Things could be a lot worse.
And on the Haines front, it looks like I'm not going back for a while... like until the fall or so. It makes me sad, but it'll be good too.
oh, and check this out... hilarious!