cancer

I can't tell you how much I hate cancer. I'm getting real reeeeal sick of it. It just hit Carlee, my third sister to get it. I have only three sisters. Three of my three sisters have gotten cancer.

It hit Lindsay about four years ago. Katie finished up treatment one year ago. Now, about two months ago, Carlee was diagnosed. All with lymphoma. Lindsay and Katie had the exact same kind of lymphoma: Nodular lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma. Carlee's is different. I'm not even sure exactly the type but I think it's peripheral T-cell lymphoma.

Katie and Lindsay went through treatment and were sick as can be. It was a horrible, horrible time. Now it's happening all over again, but worse. About a month ago, I took Carlee to one of her chemo treatments. They took her vitals and found that she had a fever. So they put her in the hospital for two days and postponed chemo. Well about two weeks ago she had another fever. They put her in the hospital for ten stinkin days. She has been so so weak and tired and feeling like crap all the days. They found out that the fever was being caused by the cancer, meaning that the two months of chemotherapy hadn't been working and the cancer had spread. They switched her to a different kind of chemo and it. better. work.

I have never been so scared in my entire life. And I'm pretty sure everyone in my family would say the same thing. I hate watching my best friends (who are my sisters) in so much pain and not being able to do anything about it. It's a horrible, helpless feeling. It doesn't seem fair that this is happening. Obviously. Nothing is fair, that's just how life goes. I know other families go through a lot harder things but man, I don't know how they make it. 

It's hard to trust that God knows what He is doing, but it's really the only thing that can get us through this. If I didn't know that God was aware of our situation and that He has a plan for each of us, this hard time would be a whole lot harder.

half of a marathon

i completed half of a marathon a few weeks ago. that's 13.1 miles, if you didn't know. i never thought i'd make it that far. but, i did! obviously. katie and i ran it. not together though, because katie beat me by like 25 minutes. after one mile she said, "see ya!" and took off. it's okay though, because i just kept going. it was like the tortoise and the hare. except the hare totally won, but the tortoise still finished. and it was actually fun! running down big cottonwood in the mornin. the last few miles got a bit treacherous, especially the last little bit to the finish line. i couldn't keep running! i had to stop! but i couldn't! there were too many bystanders! so i ran my little heart out and finished with a whopping time of 2 hours and 17 minutes!

lindsay, mom, dad, and a cute boy were waiting for us at the finish line.

after the big run i grabbed some powerade and pizza and got a nice little massage.

I can finally check that off my dear bucket list. But of course I'll do it again. I think.

(Sorry, these picz are kinda blurry due to phone camera lack of quality)

mt timp

 On Saturday, the sissies, pop, and I hiked up to Mt. Timp. It was treacherous! But also delightful. We awoke at 4:30 in the morn and started on the trail by 6:00. 

I suffered from multiple blisters on the trek back down the mountain. Seriously, my whole toe was a blister. It made walking a bit tricky. Tricky, indeed.

It was a lovely view, quite a workout, and some great sister-father bonding. Kewl!

part june // 10k

This month, Katie, Lindsay, and I did a 10k. We wanted to do a half marathon but then decided we'd better start with a 10k for fear of dying. We got up at 4:40 in the morn and drove down to Provo, hopped on the bus, and waited at the starting line. 

I like to live on the edge, so I used to porta potty while waiting to start.

They had some music playing to get us all pumped, but it was pretty quiet so it was more like background napping music. 

We walked to the starting line, 3-2-1-go! and we were off. I wanted to die the first mile. I have no idea why it was so hard! I had a horrible stitch in my side for about 4 miles that I had to hold with one hand continuously. When it finally went away I rejoiced.

Katie made the 6.2 mile run in 58 minutes, Lindsay in 1:04, and I finished in 1:08. Not too shabby, especially Katie.

Racing is becoming a big part of my life.

lumps clumps

Well, she's done it again. Little sister, Lindsay, got sick. She finished chemotherapy one year ago and what do you know? She has moved on from lumps to clumps. On Thursday she went to the doc for some chest tightness and they found a couple blood clots in her lungs, or as I like to call them, pulmonary emboli.

The doctor sang, "Are you gonna stay the night? Are you gonna stay the night? Ahhh ahhh ahh ahh are you gonna stay the night?" and Lindsay was like, "Fine".

So Dad and I brought some Cafe Rio up to the hospital. Katie and Carlee showed up and we all hung out in the wee hospital room. Katie, Lin, and I watched the Bach into the late evening hours and can I just say, I never liked Juan P. from the very beginning.

I slept over with Lin. They had a bench that turned into kind of a bed. Somehow I slept okay even though people came in throughout the night greedy for Lindsay's blood.

She was discharged the next day and has to shoot herself in the belly with some medicine 14 times in the next week. Then she'll take some Coumadin in pill form for many weeks and her blood will thin out a bit. 

What a bummer. But all is well.

 

Lindsay's account of the story is here.

katie jo

I have this sister named Katie. She is the middle child and is right above me. Right above me in many ways. 

Some of my favorite memories with Katie start from a wee young age of the single digits. Back when we shared a room. She was the best story teller. Most nights she would tell Lindsay and me stories. She would give us a synopsis of three different stories that she would make up on the spot and we would get to choose one story for her to tell. We loved the mysteries. 

 Katie and I used to go on bike rides all the time. She would ride on her big purple bike and I would follow her on my little pink bike. We would ride around the neighborhood, stopping at the neighbor's mailboxes to fill our bike tanks with gas. Cheapest gas I've ever gotten.

We were cute...

Years and years later, we transitioned from riding bikes and getting free gas at mailboxes to driving cars and spending four bucks on a gallon of gas. 

We both went to Utah State where we would go to dinner together weekly, usually at Panda Express and then we'd grab a small bite of ice cream at Coldstone. In the dead of winter. Now for anyone who knows Katie, this is quite significant. Katie thinks any temperature under 80 degrees is cold.

I would have to dub Katie the Snapchat queen. Her snaps really are the funniest. I would love to post some but I won't for fear of retribution.

Fall 2011

Katie's really good at calming me down when I'm stressed. She helps me realize my problems are nbd. So, that's a good thing. Katie is also very blunt and confident and even once told me that "any man that marries into this family will be marrying up".
So, there ya go. We're a pretty neat bunch.

moved to washington. brb.

On Thursday morning, Carlee and I headed out from Utah and drove the twelve hours to Vancouver, Washington where I will be living for the next half year. The scenery was quite barren and dead looking up until the last two hours. Even so, we had a lot of fun. We had some really goods chats and ate lots of m&m's and pop from McDonald's.

We arrived in Portland and decided to drop by the Portland Temple real quick. It was pouring rain. Pouring. It's a beaut, that temple. 

Friday morning we left early and drove to Astoria, Oregon. It was a cute little old coastal town, like straight from the movies.

 Next we drove down the coast to Cannon Beach. It was rainy and soooo stinkin pretty, that drive. And I'll prove it.

Cannon Beach was gorgeous too. It was cloudy and overcast and the waves were crashing so hard and loud against the beach. We saw the famous Haystack Rock.

I could have stayed there forever.

Don't mind my hair. It doesn't much like the coast or rainy Washington. It curls into little ringlets. So basically, my hair won't be straight again for many many months.

Next we went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We watched people making cheese, sampled a bunch of cheeses, and got some ice cream. It was pretty neat.

We drove around Portland a bit. On Saturday we decided to hit up Seattle. It was only 2 1/2 hours away, by golly! We went to the space needle. It was a whopping 22 bucks to get into! But it was really cool, and how can you not go to the space needle if you're in Seattle? Duh.

 We tried to see Mt St Helen's, but then realized we were almost out of gas. So this is as close as we got. You can see the back of it!

It was one helen of a view.

It was quite a nice trip with LOTS of driving. We drove about 1600 miles total! Sheesh.

So anyways, I think I will like this Washington place.

the eldest

carlee is my oldest sister. and sibling. the oldest of five kids. as such, her responsibilities are many. she is the protective one, she will scold you if you do something not very good, she will console you when you cry, and she will listen to your incredibly long boring stories. somehow, being the oldest gives you patience for that sort of stuff.



carlee and i are very different in some ways. but very similar in others. i usually get advice from her, and even though she's always right, i don't always do what she suggests. and sometimes i get bitten in the butt for it. but what can ya do?

that sister of mine is six feet tall with long slender legs that i envy and a pretty face. my legs are short and stubby. we have both agreed that i could take two inches from her and we'd both be happy. then i'd be 5'8" and she'd be 5'10". everybody wins, men included.



my favorite thing about her is that when i'm having a hard time or need someone to cry to, she will always listen no matter how long i cry to her for. also, we can talk/facetime for a very long time just because we don't want to get off. it's just a thing.

like all of my siblings, carlee is very motivated (i'm the least motivated of the fam). she has a masters degree, went on a mission, goes to the temple weekly, and finds ways to be productive all the days. this is very unlike me. i always have good intentions to be productive. but i end of facebooking or playing my guitar.

carlee, lindsay, me

carlee, like all of my family, is a travel junkie. however, since no one else can really afford to travel, carlee does it for us. this year alone she already went to china, korea, and has two more trips planned across the states! holy!

carlee is extremely stylish. not a day goes by that she isn't wearing excellent pants. and pants are the most important part of one's outfit, am i right? always.

i don't know where i'd be without her! haha, jk. i'd be in a carlee-less world. and that world would be dark.

some cool peeps

holy crap, i have the best friends. as i have made quite obvious, i hated this town that i moved to a few weeks ago. and even though i've gotten used to it and made some friends, i still miss my old friends. i miss logan. i miss south jordan. i miss everyone.

well, some of my friends have been so awesome and done some real nice things for me.

carlee and katie came up to visit me my very first full weekend here. they freed me from boredom and loneliness, and helped me make some friends. what catches, they are.

rachel sent me a huge package. the biggest i've ever gotten! on it said 'schmemily jenkins-poop'. i'm sure the mailman loved that. inside was a whole shopping spree of clothes along with m&m's, spree's, and a fish bowl with everything but the water and the fish. rachel made me promise to get a fish and name him 'totes', so i whill.

lizzie was in salt lake a few weeks ago and was driving back home to boise. i was doing homework in my front room when i hear a knock on the front door. no one has ever knocked on that door, or any door, since i have lived here so i was quite confused. i opened the door and lo and behold a cute little mexican lady was standing on my doorstep! it was such a good surprise.

and finally, last night i got a letter in the mail from my friend, jon. i never get letters! it really was the nicest thing.

i have the best friends/family/peeps.

a break

Things have been getting better up here. I've been pretty busy this week which has kept my mind off missing home. Carlee and Katie came up on Friday night to pay me a visit. It was just what I needed. Thank heavens for sisters.

We went to Five Guys for dinner, came back to my apartment and made f'zookies while playing Yahtzee, then had a long pillow talk.

Saturday we saw the new Superman, got Jamba's, and watched some people jump off a huge bridge into the Snake River (with parachutes).

We also saw some people standing next to their old van with a sign that said, "Need money and vegetarian food," or something along those lines. The part that got us was the 'vegetarian food'. When you're begging for food, you probably can't be that picky. Just sayin.

I am making my own hashtag on Instagram, #twinfailz. It's like Twin Falls, but fails, because it is of all the weird stuff I see around here. I tried to get a picture of those vegetarian beggars, but it was hard to be discrete. But keep your eyes out for pictures of my white trash neighbors, and all the other weird stuff around here.

oh yeah, i graduated.

I graduated college on the 4th. I have a Bachelor's of Science in Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Science. Wow, I sound smart. Not so. 

Mom, Dad, and the girls came up for my graduation. Andrew and KateLyn just moved to Oklahoma so they couldn't be there. 

Katie and I went to USU together for a couple years. So we had to get a pic of us sitting on our A's on the A.

 

The ceremony was only an hour, thank heavens! I got to wear the cutest outfit, as you can see!

Don't mind the blurryness...

The girls made me a hilarious candy gram for graduating....

College has been grand and I'm sad to leave it behind. But, sometimes, you just gotta.

festivus for the restivus

Today was Festival of Colorz.

It was grand, as always.

This year there was a little added spice, thanks to me. Everyone throws chalk at each other as you're walking by. It's socially acceptable at these types of occasions, duh.

I covered my hand in chalk and as I walked past different men, I would smack their butt and give them a nice little hand print that either looked like they got a spanking or a hittin on.

Soon, Lindsay joined me in this act. Then my roommate, Katie. It was a nice little train. I would attack, then Lindsay, then Katie. 

 Triple threat. 

We would smack and didn't look back.

We got many different reactions...

"Thank you!" 

"Niiiice," 

 An awkward "whoa..." 

Double takes.

Some looked around for the source, but it will be a forever mystery.

It was great fun, and we got all colored on. Weird, I know.

dunzo

Lindsay is 

cancer free. 

Today she got her port out. Hallelujah! 

It is about time. 6 months of chemo and over 7 months of having a port.

I hate to be mushy, mostly because I feel awkward, but too bad.

I admire that girl for being so strong throughout this. 

She did have her moments and it was hard. But heck, if it had been me I probably would have died of dehydration from loss of tears. It sucked, but a lot of good came from this and a lot of learning and growing, for the whole family.

Bravo, little sister.

presidents

Monday was Presidents Day. On Sunday we celebrated with a party of sorts. 

We had a festive photobooth with dress up items, as you can see below.

 

I live for this kind of stuff... festive themed parties.

Two of my favorite sisters came up, Katie and Lindsay. 

 Lindsay drew some pictures...

...and that's all there is to it.

one more

Lindsay just finished her second to last chemo on thursday. If my calculations are correct,
that means that she has one more left.

ONE.

Girl has been sick as a dog for the few days after chemo, which is so sad to watch. We practically shove food down her throat so she won't snap in half.

It's a necessary precaution.

Lin has her last treatment in two weeks, then she gets checked a

month later to see if they killed that crap.
you can go to her blog here.