try something insane once in a while

survival rule #3: always find some time to try something absolutely insane once in a while. my friend tina from back home and next door neighbor here in rexburg texted me last tuesday asking if i wanted to come home this weekend. i was like, "YES!!!!" and then she told me that she had just decided last minute and was going to surprise her family so thats what we did. we drove alllllll night thursday with another one of my friends, jane, and had such a party. well i was sleeping most of the time....but it was still a party. since we had to stop a billion times to pee haha. we made super amazing time though! we left around 11pm and got to tine's house at like 9:30am.

Portland!

It was so much fun surprising everyone! my whole family was shocked, especially my dad! almost every single one of them asked me, "what are you doing here?!" it was so great.

however, the main reason i went home was because one of my best friends, risa, (tine also knows her, tine's younger sister jess is another one of my best friends and they are all super close because of the private school they all go to- PHA) has cancer. its been so hard. we all just recently found out after she got her biopsy results back that she has the cancer pretty much all over. it has reached her lungs, liver, lymph node area, ovaries, and her whole pancreatic area is full of it- the doctors couldn't even really tell what was cancer and what wasn't on the results. i cried for like two hours straight once i found out and its been really hard for me to sleep and concentrate all the time when she, my darling risa, is always on my mind. and its hard also because i'm in idaho and she's back home in oregon, what am i supposed to do? pretty much all i can do is pray, fast, and love her. and let her know that. risa is as perfect as any mortal person can get. she loves everyone and is so kind. anyways, so PHA had their graduation friday night so i was able to go and see jess and risa graduate. and that was a huge blessing and something i will never forget! i have realized so many things about my life and future these past couple weeks.

and then on saturday my family and i went to the beach! i soo needed it! even though it exhausted me. and the weather didn't even end up too bad. and i have now decided that i'm a master at building huge sandcastles and that green apple is the best saltwater taffy flavor. i must get moooore.

my little brother eli and i and our bomb sandcastle! we had a battle of the sandcastles with my other brother joel, this was what it looked like before being destroyed.

cloudy but beautiful cannon beach!

And then the rest of my weekend was spent watching the blind side (such a good movie!) going to my home ward, taking a glorious super long nap, taking pictures of the whitaker sisters, (pictures will be up soon!) and going to my mormor's house and spending time and eating foood with my wonderful family. i adore my family. especially my cousins. :) they are the cutest things alive, no joke!

"i'm going to die without her!" -leah saying goodbye to me

All in all, the trip was so very worth it.