Relay for life

June 17th/18th

I am so far behind in blogging but I am going to get caught up! Thanks to the 2 comments I got when I said I was overwhelmed with blogging. I know its important and really its my only journal! So I am starting a new week and thought I would start on a good note! So be patient and enjoy my blogs!

After losing so many people to cancer this year I decided to do something about it. I wasn't going to just sit by and let it take away everything I love so much. My friend Satina sent out an email asking if anyone would like to join her in doing relay for life. She lost her brother to cancer and had the same feelings. I didn't really know what it was so I looked into it. Its an event that is put on every year to help raise money for cancer research. It happens all over the united states and there are tons of people that get involved. You basically have a team captain and a team and you try and raise as much money as you can.Satina was our team captain and asked if I would like to be a co captain with her. It was a ton of work and frustrating at times. I will try and explain what goes on so you know a little bit about it. On the day of the event you are assigned a place to set up your group for the next 24 hours. You can choose to sell things if you want or like this year was a game theme so you can have a game people play. The theme for our event was "Winning at the game of Life". I decided to tackle the food booth and sell tacos and taco salads, lemonade and homemade oreo's. I thought it was a pretty big hit the only problem was missing out on things going on because I was stuck in there. Anyway so its not really a race you walk on a track. We had ours at a high school so we just walked on the track. They start out with just the cancer survivors walking or being pushed in wheelchairs around the track. That was pretty emotional seeing all of those people and thinking about the ones I had just lost. After that you have to have at least 1 member of your team on the track at all times. We had people sign up for 1 hour slots. They made each hour lots of fun with different themes. Then they had a luminara ceremony which was really cool. We had previously sold these bags for 5 dollars and people could decorate them for their loved ones that either passed away from cancer or survived. I had my family members decorate some of them for our loved ones. We put sand in the bottom of them with a candle and then they were lit up.They were lined up around the track. It was really touching to go around the track and read them. It was a pretty emotional time but I felt good. I raised almost 400 dollars my self and our team raised close to 5,000. Our overall event raised 145,000 which was 20,000 past what they thought they would do. I am excited to do it again this year! Anyway that wants to donate towards a good cause I would love it!



Here is a picture of Kim who is in charge of the whole event, Satina, Trish and Rachel

My roommate Trish playing her uke around the track for her turn.

This is our banner our team was called Walking with Angels. We wrote all of those people we were walking for on there.

Here are some of the luminara bags that me and my family made.

this and that and relay for life!

Its been awhile since I did a post. I haven't really had anything to write about lately. My job is going about the same and I am keeping really busy with my calling. I am the compassionate service leader in the ward. I have never had the calling so it has really stretched my comfort zone. We have had a lot going on that I have had to organize. We had 2 babies born within 2 weeks of each other and a lady go in for surgery. The saddest was a 27 year old woman that had to get a double masectomy because of cancer. It broke my heart that at such a young age this would be the only option. Cancer has been a huge part of my life. It has taken more people then I want to count. I hate that there isn't a cure and it costs so much to do the research on it. I signed up to do Relay for life and it has been just what I needed to deal with all the death. In case your not familiar with it I will tell you. This is what the website says:

The American Cancer Society Relay For Life is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. At Relay, teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events up to 24 hours in length.

Relay began in 1985 when Dr. Gordy Klatt, a colorectal surgeon in Tacoma, Washington, ran and walked around a track for 24 hours to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Since then, Relay has grown from a single man’s passion to fight cancer into the world’s largest movement to end the disease. Each year, more than 3.5 million people in 5,000 communities in the United States, along with additional communities in 20 other countries, gather to take part in this global phenomenon and raise much-needed funds and awareness to save lives from cancer. Thanks to Relay participants, the American Cancer Society continues to save lives.

Pretty cool I think and worth the tears, sweat and sacrifice to do it. I am doing it in honor of my cousin that lost the battle this last year. I have a bunch of others I am walking for too including my grandpa that just passed away in February. I think it will be a neat experience and help me in the end. I will be sharing a few posts about it in the next couple months. I am excited to have the chance to do it! If you are interested in helping me out and want to donate to the cause let me know and I can send you and email where you can donate:)