21

My 21st year was definitely the best yet. I was blessed with the amazing opportunity to stay with a wonderful family and explore Chile with my magnificent friend who resembles Lady Gaga (at least according to Chileans). I slaughtered the Spanish language to natives, rode horses on the beach, admired expert graffiti, cried on 100 year old elevators, and learn an entirely new level of courage from going to a foreign country alone without knowing the language. Life changing.

I also helped my family move and rode down the Al-Can highway with my parents and one of my favorite people in this universe. He and I walked on a glacier, rode the train, watched sea lions, and endured constant companionship for five days. It was quite the bonding experience. I'm glad he can stand as a witness to my Alaskan life.

School has been wonderful. I've decided to be more open with my philosophical opinion only to discover that I've convicted my professors to think I may be smart. Wonderful trickery. I got to learn more about the bizarre depths of love and even was privileged to date a zombie. He was quite the gentleman. I have the most awesome circle of friends and am never left wanting for deep conversation or unshakable loyalty. We made epic music videos, melted crayons, watched a million years of LOTR, and even played paint twister. I can't imagine life being more fun or feeling more loved. Choir people are where it's at (ignore the poor grammar, I wanted to add some swag).

I became close to amazing people. My friend of epic proportions has put up with so much from me. She and I have danced our lives away at the Killers concert and at Maroon 5. Adam Levine totally sang to us and I count that as one of my greatest accomplishments. She has inspired me in a million ways. My other epic friends have stayed up all night working with me, have painted themselves entirely white for a basketball game, have watched and giggled at Castle, and have never been afraid to call me on the phone to close the distance between us. What extraordinary people.

Also worthy of notation is that I achieved my unpredictable life goal of meeting a General Authority, Elder Cook! He just randomly showed up at my ward (it was a random appearance for me, too) and I was able to shake his hand afterward where he told me he had liked philosophy when he took it in college. I may have chased him down the hall to catch him, though. Classy.

I got to play with my baby nieces and feel incredibly honored that they remember me. And I feel closer to my family than ever. I'm deeply grateful that I could call anyone of them at any time and feel a deep sense of love.

In conclusion, my twenty first year was beyond fantastic, the best case scenario in every way.

Taylor

Today my sweet brother drove up just to spend a few hours with his sick sister. He helped me get my car checked at the dealership and then hung out with me while we waited. For some reason, I feel most lost in the world when it comes to car maintenance. It helps that he's an expert. We ate those new fancy cooler ranch tacos (which will probably be my new constant craving to replace my need for cheeseburgers) and he told me crazy adventure stories of him almost dying in a spontaneous whim of fun. We owned the packed Fun Park with our arcade skills. I have no idea how he can remain oriented with those airplane games, I got dizzy watching. And he has fastest reflexes of the West and scored some 300 tickets just by hitting the button at the right time. We walked away victorious, he with a jumbo tennis ball and I with a Groucho Marx mustache set. What a wonderful few hours with the greatest brother.