My Weekend in 5 Photos

The long Thanksgiving weekend was so necessary. Even though you only get a couple extra days off for the holiday, with all of the shopping and sales and food and parties, it really feels like a solid week off.

I flew to Seattle from Wednesday-Saturday to spend T-Gives with my fam. My little sister flew up from Pepperdine, too. It was our first time seeing each other since she started school in mid-August, and that's the longest we've gone without hanging.

We did Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt's this year. My family couldn't wait to ask all about my Bumble dates. I didn't have too much of an update, as I'm failing miserably with keeping up with dating right now.

My Grandpa has been in the hospital with pneumonia. About 2 weeks after I moved to Boise, he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. That was shocking and has been a daily struggle to cope while not being there. We brought dessert to the hospital on Thanksgiving and stayed for a few hours. He's had a pretty steady stream of guests hanging with him in his room, but I could tell he really enjoyed having such a big chunk of family there all at once.

Since my sister and all her friends have been away at college, they got together to go ice skating and I tagged along. My sister and I no longer have cars at "home", so one of her friends picked us up. I really felt 18 again.

One of my best friends, Michelle, was also in Seattle for the holiday from New York! She's lived in Queens for about 6 years and we're rarely in Seattle at the same time. Wednesday night I invited a bunch of my friends out to drink and dance and hang. They say Thanksgiving Eve is the biggest 'going out' night of the year, and I ran into a ton of people!

I got to visit with my Grandpa 3 of my 4 days in Seattle. The past 6 or so years I've been really really close with him, so being away while he's sick has been incredibly hard. Up until I moved, we spent most Mondays together going to movies, getting pedicures and lunch, out for walks, or whatever he felt like doing that day. It was so nice to just sit and talk to him like everything was normal. But it's not normal. It's hard to keep it together while he's hooked up to machines. I cry every time I leave the hospital room or say goodbye on the phone. Dealing with cancer is one of the most hopeless feelings I've dealt with.. but I'm trying to focus on being present in each moment with him and appreciating every memory.