This is dedicated to KC because she encourages me to do this, and I'm so grateful to her.

John Green, I read your book and I didn't love it but I'm alluding to it because I appreciate your work and its title really seems to fit with my experience.

This is also for Brent.

HOLY CANNOLI. (I'm inclined to use that expression because I worked at a beautiful place called Kneaders for a good portion of my recent life.) Holy cannoli, I haven't written in such a long time, people. And I'm a college student now. HOLLA! Life has been wild, man. Absolutely lit. And I'm even writing from my cutie new desk in my very own apartment room.

I was just in Alaska a couple of weeks ago. My family and I took a too-good-to-be-true cruise with Norwegian Cruiselines that visited a few blindingly gorgeous cities in Alaska and one in Canada. Actually, if it wasn't for my incredible uncle, we would not have taken the trip, you see, because he took us. Along with my mom's sister and her family, and my mom's parents. It was a family reunion of sorts, and one that was so sweet I actually shed a few tears on the way off the boat. I'd experienced something so magical, and with such good company, that I didn't want to leave. Not yet.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Do something with me? Come on this journey with me because it's the closest thing to my experience that I can give you. I truly, desperately wish you could see what I saw. So I suppose I'll try to describe it for you.

It wasn't all roses at first; my siblings and I have a hard time getting along oftentimes. We were all slightly in negative land because it wasn't a "tropical" cruise. We weren't going to get a tan. We weren't going to be beach bums. And so we hadn't really made it to where we wanted to be. I subconsciously started my Search. I started Looking.

While wearing my new sweaters from none other than DI, I walked off the ship many times into Wonderland. Deep green trees blanketed majestic mountains covered in a mist so consolidated you couldn't see the sky. It was a lovely mist, though. A mesmerizing mist that was straight out of a fairy tale (a perfect fit for me). The air was crisp, and the smell of salmon was potent in many places. And the little towns. OH, the little towns were inviting. People continually tried to sell us jewelry and overpriced souvenirs. Did we buy into that stuff? No way! (Well...I mean, we were on vacation, right??? I got an apron with a picture of a beaver chef that says "Dam Great Cook" and I'm obsessed with it).

Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau:

Alongside an expanse of green mountain land, a massive waterfall lead into a stretch of icy, glassy water. Across the mass, we could see an enormous painting. Different shades of blue and gray splashed across a canvas so large, it was hard to take in. But no, it wasn't a painting at all. It was a real GLACIER--imagine that word said in a British accent--that complimented the cloudy sky. That, my friends, is where I Found Alaska. I hadn't been getting along with my siblings, but then something changed. Aaron, my supa cute brother insisted on taking "sick pics" of my amazing sister Gabby and me. And all together, we reveled in the pure beauty before us. I had been Looking. But the search was now over.

Skagway (otherwise known as the place I enjoyed once I'd Found Alaska. Now I could just be there and love it):

Fallen Christmas trees lined the sandy shore near water that came up on high tides. On a hike to a river float, we saw bright red, spotted, poisonous mushrooms stick their heads through the mossy forest floor. Trees with thick trunks towered high and twisted with one another. Our tour guide, who was particularly swoon-worthy to me for his hippie vibes and Minnesotan accent, displayed his quick wit and kept us thoroughly entertained the whole time. (I know what you're thinking, but he was WAY too old for me.) We made it to the riverside and put on sturdy rubber boots. Then we entered the raft and let our guide do the steering. Everything in sight was gray. Not a mournful gray. Not a sad or disturbing gray. Not a lonely gray. An enchanting gray. A calm gray that makes you feel as though you've never been more peaceful in your entire life. A gray that reminds you of God, because He created it for you.