a letter to my (future) self

Dear Heather, 
Today you are sitting in a very warm apartment. You are 21 years old. It is the second day of July (can you believe June is already over? You can't). Instead of sitting inside all day, today you took yourself on a little adventure. You biked all around town - through neighborhoods, through downtown, through the woods, along the river. You went to the park, laid out a blanket, ate a very crunchy apple, and spent two whole hours doing nothing but reading in the sun.

Now, you're sunburned. Way to go! Don't you know how important sunscreen is by now? 

Tomorrow, you finally get to visit Seattle for the first time. You're pretty excited. You and J get to stay for the whole weekend (Can you believe you both got the weekend off!? You can't!).

Yesterday, you and J went on a 12-mile bike ride.

Right now, your favorite movie is Breakfast at Tiffany's. You could watch it a hundred times without getting tired of it. Your closet is color coordinated. You like the smell of lavender (J thinks you like it too much - lavender hand soap, lavender candles, lavender lotion - where does it end!?). Your hair is long, all the way down to the middle of your back. You like to ride bikes. You're going skydiving soon (sorry mom)! Your favorite snacks are strawberries and avocados (not together, of course). You recently discovered that you no longer hate onions.

Despite the fact that they are always chipped, your nails are always painted. Today, they are white. You like the sound of rain and the smell of fire. Chocolate cake is still your greatest pleasure in life. (You're not ashamed). Frank Sinatra is one of your most-played artists on iTunes. You and J recently finished every season of Law & Order SVU and you've since moved on to Seinfeld (your friends make fun of you for this).

You graduated from college a few weeks ago (by the way). You're pretty proud of yourself for finishing in 3 years (why shouldn't you be?). You still love Oregon. This summer has been a good reminder of why you first fell in love with this place. But, at the same time, you're ready to go. You're ready for New York (only a few more months!). 

For the first time in your life you're taking summer school. It's just the worst! (Remember?) You're working a lot and you like to complain about it (especially about having to work on Fridays, gosh darn it!) but in the grand scheme of things, you know you have it pretty darn good. 

As of a few weeks ago, you've been training for a half-marathon. (Future Heather, did you do it?! Did you actually follow through with this crazy idea?) It's pretty tough. Now that the weather is getting hotter you have even less incentive to go outside and run. But you know how proud you'll be if you actually get yourself to run those stupid stupid stupid 13 miles. (So far, you're able to run 6).

This year you've been stressed out a lot. Sometimes you make your life more stressful than it needs to be. J says you worry too much, and he's right. You know it. This has been a hectic, busy, and stressful year but you've learned some good lessons (sometimes the easy way, sometimes the hard way). You're getting better about picking your battles. You're starting to look at "the big picture" which helps make little problems seem even littler. You're learning how to balance your responsibilities. You always want to do it all - please everyone! take on every challenge! do everything! Hurrah! But more often than not, you stretch yourself too thin. This year, you've learned that it's okay to say, 'No thank you' to certain opportunities. Maybe you really can do it all! (But you shouldn't). You're still learning. 

You wonder a lot about the future. You're excited about it and a little scared. You tend to think that "things will just work out" because they always seem to. But will they this time?

You are in love with your best friend. 
Your friends (near and far) are one of a kind (the best kind).
And your family is something to be thankful for. 
You're enjoying this time of your life.

More later, 
Heather