Response to "Merry CHRISTmas!"

A friend of mine in her blog shared how she celebrates Christmas. At the end she invited us to share how we celebrate Christ. So I thought I would respond with a post of my own. On that note, I would encourage you to check out my friend Alison's blog called "Hospitality Haven" http://alison.blogsome.com/ There you will find many wonderful ideas for entertaining as well as yummy meal ideas and more! Alright, so how do we celebrate Christmas: Here it is (well a small part of it anyhow!)

We do things differently in our home as well. First of all, our 3 yr old knows there is no Santa Claus (Insert *gasp* here). Now we take a lot of heat for this at times but I just don't see how lying to my child will help her. I mean if we let her believe in Santa what happens when she finds out that we lied about him? Will she think we lied about Jesus being real too? Just not worth the risk to us. So that is one thing we do, we tell the truth. That being said we still have fun with "Santa" we watch the movies and stuff...and she knows not to tell any of her friends that he is not real. Bottom line is she knows that we give/get gifts because of Jesus.

Another tradition we changed is the buying of chocolate advent calendars. You know the ones that begin on the 1st of December and you eat one chocolate leading up to the 25th? Well this year I bought a nativity magnet calendar. So on the 1st of Dec. instead of us eating chocolate and seeing pictures of Santa, trees, elves or any other commercially centered images that appear on the package, our daughter will look through the nativity images until she finds the piece with the "1" on it and she can place it on the fridge and then we talk about what it is...The first piece is the stable. By the time Christmas comes, we will be done putting together our nativity scene. :) I LOVE that.

We also don't do the whole big turkey dinner. We dial it down a bit by rotating who chooses what for the appetizer, main meal and dessert. For example one year we had stuffed mushroom caps, flauta's (now if this was "Hospitlity Haven" you would have the recipe but it's not! LOL! but if you want to know what they are ask) and chocolate fondue. It is great! IF we have another child then we will add a special drink of choice. I find it cuts down on work (sometimes) and the cost is MUCH cheaper!!

Last year my side of the family drew names for gift giving. This year we are not doing that at all. We all decided that it is too expensive PLUS the joy for us and them is being able to see them open the gifts we give, if we aren’t there to see it, what's the point? We are drawing names on Mike's side of the family with a cap on the spending limit. Our daughter is learning how to give and share and we want to nurture that as best we can. She has not really asked for anything for Christmas and we have not asked her what she would like. So no big lists of "Wants" in our house...She HAS however expressed an interest in wanting to GIVE gifts to family members, so as I said we want to nurture this. SOOO she shopped at our Thrift Store, she helped me wrap the gifts, and she put the bow on and picked the tag for the gifts. She was SOOO excited and I am glad we are able to teach her the joy of giving and giving sensibly.

Let's see...We also hang our candy canes upside down to form the letter "J" for obvious reasons...I am sure there is more we do but I can't recall more right now. Anyhow, thanks for helping me to reflect on how we celebrate Alison. I like the Gifts of Hope idea...Might do that next year! :) Have a very merry CHRISTmas everyone.

In Awe

Today has been one of those "Awe" days...You know the ones I mean? The ones where you stop and think "Wow, what did I do to deserve this?" That has been my day. Allow me to share it with you:

This morning started quite early as my whole family headed down to the hospital. Mike to get his dressing changed on his wound (ask me later). Me to get blood work done (I'll tell you a cute story about that in a bit) and Megan well...just because the couldn't stay home alone! So we were up and out the door before 7:30am! Reminded me of my college days...Glad those days are over. Anyhow, Mike stayed downstairs to get done what he needed and Meg and I headed upstairs to the lab. We got to the waiting room and there was a man there waiting to get his blood taken too. Megan and this man chatted off and on and then bluntly Megan says to the man "What are YOU doing here?" The man with wide eyes said, "Welllll, I don't know." It was obvious that he didn't want to or quite know how to tell a three year old that he was getting blood taken. Anyhow, after his reply he says to Meg, "What are YOU doing here?" Meg replied, "Wellll, I don't know either (pause) my Mom has to get blood work." The mans face was stunned. I chuckled...Here he was trying to spare her the gruesome details but nope not my girl...She just HAD to share. So along with the the blood work they needed a urine sample (T.M.I I know but it is part of the story) so while I was in the washroom doing what I needed to do, Meg decided to ring the "in case of emergency" bell! I was horrified!! So here I am trying to do what I am doing and yelling at the same time "I'M SORRY...THERE IS NO EMERGENCY" Meanwhile I hear the nurses chuckling. It was FUN! After that was done, we all went for breakfast before taking Meg to daycare and us heading to work. It was a nice morning.

Fast forward through the day...We are in the midst of an audit and that is going quite well. Tomorrow is the last day for it and I am glad this lady is here helping us! Such a blessing. It was a long day at work...As we were leaving work a man from our congregation came and dropped off an article for the paper that needed to be done (HUGE relief that it is done and that I didn't have to do it!) and then he handed me an old style kettle popcorn popper that he bid on at a fundraiser we went too. I REALLY wanted to bid on it but just missed it and couldn't really afford to anyways. I had asked to borrow it for our church family decorating night on Saturday and it turns out that they were giving it to me for Christmas anyways so they decided to give it to me earlier for Saturday. I was SO shocked and EXCITED! I was in awe. It makes the BEST popcorn! YES, I have already used it! Had it for a whole hour! LOL!

For weeks now our lawn has needed so much attention and we have not had the time to tend to it. It has been bugging us for so long. It added to the stress in our home because we would come home and see that it needed to be done so badly. By the time we get home we are SO exhausted and there was at least 2 days worth of work to do out in the yard that we just couldn't get to before the snow comes. Anyhow, we drove home on cloud nine with the article in hand and a brand new popcorn machine, to find another man from the congregation finishing up our lawn work! I could not believe my eyes!! The leaves were cleaned up, the lawn was mowed and he even cleaned the gutters on the house!!!! I stood there with my mouth hung open and my eyes stinging with tears. What had I done to deserve this? I stood in awe.

To top off the day, my cell phone has been missing for WEEKS I mean at least 3-4 weeks!! So odd for me to lose something like that and for that long...But as I was sitting here telling you my story, who should appear holding my cell phone? Mike. He was so happy to top my day off with that news! We have prayed hard that we would find it! Again, I stand...well right now I sit in awe.

My Funny Girl

Alright, so I have decided to catch up on some of the funny little things that my 3 yr old says...There are ohhh so many. I can hardly keep up with them! I try and write them all down but some unfortunately get missed. I will give you some of what I have. Enjoy!

Megan was "teaching dance" to her imaginary class.
Me: "Megan, what kind of dance do you teach?"
Megan: "Ohhh Roll over, Ballet and Wiggle."
(Insert chuckle here)

Someone asking Megan her how old she will be on her next birthday.
Lady: "So Megan, how old are you going to be?"
Megan: "5 and 4 too!"

On our holidays we travelled to see Mike's family. When we were there we had the opportunity to visit Mr. Musgrave's (a good friend of the family) new hotel that he built and owns. He invited us there to have breakfast with him. Megan was treated as a princess. Given gifts and the grand tour! A little while later she wanted to say something to Mr. Musgrave but she did NOT say Mr. Musgrave, NOPE! She addressed him as Mr. Muskrat! It was great.

Megan pretending to teach dance class (she does this often lately).
Me: "What time is your next dance class?"
Megan: "6-0-4-8…I better be on time!"
Ohhh to have that much time in a day!!

Well, that is all I am going to give you right now. Stay tuned...I have many more to share! :) Take care! Until next time...

Tough Love.

Ok, so the last couple of weeks we have been wrapped up in hamper applications for Christmas assistance. Seems early to some of you? Wellll, I wanted it earlier because this year is different from the others, This year I have a deadline for ordering turkey's. This is how else it is different: For many years clients would come in and fill out an application form...(which has been completely changed by the way...) but that is a different story! Anyhow, after filling out the form they would come back and pick up a voucher to go and buy groceries. This year is going to be MUCH more work because I feel REALLY strongly that we should be giving actual food hampers out. I was just unsure about giving people vouchers! Here is why: If people are coming to us because they can't make ends meet in the first place, why would I give them more money or what translates into money?? Yes, the vouchers had some guidelines like "no purchasing cigarettes, prescriptions, alcohol" but how do I really know that these kids are getting a nice Christmas dinner and not Mom and Dad's favorite chips and dip? I knew it was a problem when people were disappointed when they heard they were getting an actual hamper instead of a voucher. Some people actually turned the hamper down...Hmmm, a problem? I think so! Believe me when I say that a person/family would get a lot more in a hamper then what they would from a voucher! Now I know some people are probably thinking that I have no right to dictate how someone spends their money. I say WRONG! Where I am, my goal is to be accountable for all the donations that come in. People are donating thousands upon thousands of dollars in food and money. This is a VERY generous place! I want to be able to say where the donations actually went. Seems a litte hard butt for some but frankly, I don't care. I have a strong conviction about being accountable to what we are given so this is the way it will be done. Tough Love.

Now, here is the other side. For weeks now the deadlines for applying for Christmas assistance has been in the newspaper, on the radio, plastered on posters with handbills going out. STILL people are failing to meet the deadline. Now I review each case differently. For example, a single Mom who cares enough to call and tell me that she is working during the application process can arrange for a different time. It is evident she is working hard as she shows up in her uniform, frazzled from the days work. I have ZERO problems helping out. GOOD FOR HER! Or what about the 3-4 single Moms who have gone back to school and can't make the deadline? Of COURSE I will make room for them. Or even the person who CARES enough to call and say that those times don't work...Do I arrange another time? Yes. I LOVE responsible people! Now, I have some clients who show up on the WRONG day, AFTER hours wanting to fill out an application. The most recent person does NOT work and did NOT call. So I sent her away so she could come on the proper day and time. Yesterday was the last day and she did not show up, she did not phone (as many did to say they couldn't make it). So where it may seem harsh, I believe it is my duty to show some tough love. Unless she was in the hospital, sick or getting a job...She will not be able to apply for assistance. I just don't see how allowing her to fill out the application will assist her. All it would do in my opinion is enable her to keep believing that society owes her something. I WILL help her by teaching her responsibility. Now before anyone gets all freaked out...She does not have kids...I will never see a kid go without because of a parents selfishness. Some of my readers at this point may be completely appalled at what I am saying but TRUST me...Each case is different and in this particular case, the system is being abused. For the ease of your minds, this exchange of me telling her she can't apply is done very gently and with respect. There is dignity with it and it usually works out well.

People knew the deadline. What am I expected to do? Hold their hand? In some cases, I may have to...I am fine with this. However, a line needs to be drawn. My job requires a LOT of discernment and I thank God that He has given it to me. I am loving people into the kingdom with tough love.

The bottom line is...That for too long my community that I love has been allowed to use and abuse The Salvation Army. People in my community are experiencing tough love. The best part is, I am seeing results.

Whew...that was quite the post. Please pray as I continue to love my people here and assist them in ways that God has taught me. I am rejoicing that souls are being saved. I am excited that I am able to show the love of Jesus, meet human needs and I am SOOO stoked that we are becoming a transforming influence in this community! May God bless us all with a little tough love!

Cause for Celebration!

Alright...So here is what happened this week...We were so busy with the season and week that I found it so hard to spend a ton of time on a sermon. It did get done but it was done much later then I would have liked. I believe it went over well. The most exciting thing happened today at church during children's time. First to explain how we do children's time...During the service sometime, I call all the kids up to the front and I sit with them and tell them a bible story with an object lesson. It always goes with the theme of the service because currently the kids stay in the service. They sit at the back of the church in an area we made for them with table and chairs so they can work on their worksheets that go along with the lessons. Anyhow today, we did a Remembrance Day service and this time I knew what I was going to say but it wasn't as planned out as usual. Now I know why...God used this time to teach in a different way. I had ten kids up at the front and we shared about what Remembrance Day is and who veterans are and what soldiers do...Then we talked about Jesus as our spiritual veteran (theme of the sermon) and then I gave an appeal...One kid responded and I asked everyone to repeat the sinners prayer with us! It was so great! This kid has had a rough life and he is up for adoption....It was so nice to have him with us. At the end of the prayer we stood up and I hugged him and welcomed him into our family! Then we sang "My God is so Big!" It was really a wonderful lesson for me. The children's time was not over planned, and amazing things happened! Thank you God!

Here is a funny little story for ya...

During the weekend, our family went to A&W for supper. Sitting behind us was a cowboy. Well Megan in a loud voice says, "Mom! That man is a cowboy!!!" She got all quiet and thoughtful and said "I wonder if he rides cows." I wish you could have seen her face...Priceless!

Anyhow, life is going by one day at a time and we are taking all situations in stride. Mike and I are doing our first television interview for a local station here so that will be a new experience! I have one more speaking engagement to do this week. Another ladies group from around town! Should be great! Well, stay tuned...Looks like my blogging days are picking up again! :) Thanks for reading.

Good Advice.

A friend of mine gave me some good advice...She told me that I needed to update my blog. She is RIGHT!

I find that blogging is a great way for me to vent and share what is happening in my world. Right now, there is TONS happening in my world. If you are at all familiar with The Salvation Army at all...Then you will know what I am talking about. If you do not know, here is what I have on the go right now:

- taking applications for Christmas assistance (hampers & toys)

- getting ready for our kettle kick off which is on November 20th

- the kick off consists of a "Arrest Request" you may know it as "Jail and Bail" which is what the Cancer Society uses...Anyhow, many (20 now) high profile people in our community have agreed to allow the police to come and "arrest" them and take them to a mock jail that will be set up at our local Canadian Tire. They will be charged and thrown into jail where they need to call people in order to raise money to bail them out. This takes a TON of work because we need to get the jail, Sask tel donates the phones, food is donated for our jailbirds and the radio station comes on site and does their thing. It is great publicity and it will kick off our kettle campaign well! I am hoping for at least $10,000 from this venture.

- We are doing the "Adopt-A-Family" program which has taken a ton of time as well because I had to get the information packages all ready. Well worth it tho! Tim Horton's alone is sponsoring 3 families (any size)! :)

- Last year instead of Christmas hampers, vouchers were given to buy groceries. This year I feel that a hamper should be given...This means a whole lot of extra coordinating. PRAISE GOD the Wholesale Club will order our turkey's cheap and keep them at the store and accept vouchers for pick up. I also partnered with a small bakery down the street from the Church. They have agreed to bake fresh bread for the hampers! That is a lot of work on their part but it is worth it.

- With Christmas comes extra speaking engagements. I accepted two speaking opportunities and one of them takes place tomorrow. Prayers please.

- Mike and I will be on television next Monday for our local channel to talk about us and of course what is happening with The Salvation Army in Weyburn.

- Then the Holiday Train will be coming to Weyburn on December 18th. This train will have food that will be donated to our Food Bank. It stops here all decorated and lit up, has a live band and of course Santa Claus will be there!!! That will be nice.

- As with most Army churches, a lot is happening this time of year. On top of all of this, we had a fire inspection at both the Thrift Store and church so we are getting everything that needs to be done there done....as well we are prepping for an audit that is happening at the end of this month! It is soooo busy and I LOOOOVE it!

There is so much more happening here that I am sure is slipping my mind. I am enjoying my new life as an Officer. However at times I find myself feeling lonely. At times I miss living in the community we had at college. I would have a girls night, if I had girls here to do that. That all will come in time. Life here is wonderful! I LOVE our community and I love serving God in all ways.

Well...Thanks Alison for your advice. I hope this will satisfy until next time. :)

A New Life

Well I know it has been far too long since I have posted anything new. I apologize to those who have been trying to follow our journey in college. I will give you an update of my life over these past few months since we found out where we will be moving.

Most recently we signed our undertakings in the principals office. For those of you who do not know what these are, they are some of the promises we make to become officers in the Salvation Army. We also signed our covenant on Sunday which was a service I will never forget. Following this wonderful service we had lunch and kidette commissioning! It was so fun to watch the kids walk in with their sashes on and salute the commissioner! These have been days that I will remember for a life time.

We are getting ready to head to Toronto for our ordination and commissioning and I am really excited/a tiny bit scared. To think that God believes that I am capable to lead His people...I know I will not have all the answers but I DO know how to love people and lead them to the Lord so I can take comfort in that! The moving truck was here yesterday to pick our things up so now it feels so final. I have to remember to keep breathing and singing "One day at a time....Sweet Jesus..."

I am sure I will write more on this later but for now I will post some pictures and hope that you will forgive me for my lack of discipline. Blessings my friends.

Off We GOOOOO....

Ok so we are not going just yet. We do have a couple of months left before we travel to our new home in....Drum rolllll please WEYBURN SASKATCHEWAN!! I am SOOOO excited to go there. BUT, I am trying my hardest to finish well here in doing so, I must continue my studies and look forward to what comes next. I will keep you posted! Take care my friends...

Ray & Coral's Wedding Weekend

This past weekend we had the opportunity to go to Edmonton and be a part of Ray and Coral's wedding. Mike was a groomsmen and Megan was her Uncle Ray's flower girl! She was absolutely sweet!! At first we weren't sure if she was actually going to go down the aisle BUT...as soon as her Uncle Ray bent down at the end of the aisle she began her journey. Then when she started getting the "awwww..." reaction she began to "work" the crowd! She was truly sweet. The wedding was so beautiful and my new sister in law was a vision and Ray, well he was simply handsome!! BUT my husband takes the cake! HE was SMOKIN'!!! Sure glad I got to go home with him *Wink* Really though, it was a wonderful break being able to see different family members. Super refreshing.

Now we are back at college and we are only two days away from finding out where our first appointment will be! It is unbelievable! I am so excited to see where God and the Army has placed us.

Also I would like to ask you to pray for my best friends...I can't share too much about what to pray for but I CAN say that they have been trying to have a baby for many years. Please pray for peace and that a miracle would happen.

Well, I think that is all I have for you now. I am SURE I will have more a little later. ;) Take care my friends...HUGS.

An Array of STUFF!

Hey! So this will be a buffet of information for you...I am not promising a really great blog but I am giving you an update. Hopefully you will feel loved enough by just knowing what is happening in our lives. There will be some funny Megan stories and some details about commissioning as well as school. So let's begin with a funny Megan story (they are always a hoot).

While getting ready for daycare/school:
Megan singing in the living room while I am getting breakfast ready:
"I love you, you love me, I'M your happy fam-il-yyyy...With a great big hug and kiss for yooouuu, won't you guide my sleigh tonight!"

No kidding she had the tune DOWN PAT! LOL! That kid is sooo cute! Another phrase I want to throw in for good measure is how she asks to do something for a "few while" instead of saying a "few minuets." For example instead of asking "Mommy may I play for a few minuets?" she would say "Mommy may I play a few while?" Cracks me up. There are some phases she says that we correct right away but that one we haven't touched because for now it is just too cute! :) Alright, here is an update on college life, including commissioning.

Well, we are in our last week of classes and we are are headed into exams here next week. It isn't too bad because we only have one exam on Wednesday and one take home exam that I am half done. YAY!! Then after that, one more major paper to do and we are finished for a while!! Next Thursday my family and I are flying off to Edmonton to go to Mike's brothers wedding, it will be so nice to get away. It won't be too restful as both Mike and Meg's are in the wedding party and I am preaching on the Sunday but none the less it will be so nice to go home!

As for appointments...16 sleeps till we find out where we are going! YIPPEE!!! We are SOOOOOOOOOOO excited! Commissioning is coming up in Toronto fast as well. That will be fun too! All this is exciting because we can see an end to all the school work. I am ready to begin the real hard work! LOL! Of course I am going to miss the community I live in but I am trying not to think about that just yet *sniff, sniff*. I have made so many valuable friendships and I can hardly believe that I have to leave them. Ok, I am thinking about this too much so let me throw in another Meg story:

While playing "House" with her good friend James:
Mike:(peering into Megan's room, with a hushed voice) "Melissa come here quick...look at this.."
As I quietly peered into Megan's room, this is what I saw:
James was laying in Megan's bed with the covers tucked up to his chin as Megan knelt down by "his" bed with a bowed head and folded hands...she was praying softly for her "child."
She was the Mommy and he was the child and she was tucking him in for the night *SIGH*. This made our hearts as parents feel soooo good. Thank you Lord, we must be doing something right!

Anyhow, I am going to end of on that note. Enjoy this Easter season. May God bless you as you reflect on Him and what He has done for us. I love you ALL!

The Best Church EVER!

Ok, so today I went to the best church on earth! It required me to do a TON of work and I literally was surrounded by thousands of pounds of sand. That's right, I said sand. Today, I had the opportunity to rub shoulders with those people who make up this great city I live in. As I shovelled, bagged, tied and hauled mounds of sand, I got to know what kind of people live in Winnipeg. I worked along side retired firefighters who have hearts of gold and hands of steel. I worked with Hutterites who have determination and a work ethic like I have never seen before. I worked with the nuclear family who came out not because they would be affected by the flood but just because they wanted to help other people out. Now that is worship.

The point is, church can happen outside of a building. Church could and SHOULD happen outside of our cozy buildings that are heated just right, the lighting just so and pews and chairs ready and waiting. Instead of my normal church experience, I traded the building for an outdoor sanctuary, heat for God's warmth, lighting for sunshine and chairs for sand bag benches. The best part...I traded a spoken sermon for a living one. No amount of preaching could teach me more then what I learned today.

My Weekend

Well, the picture shown here displays how we spent our weekend. Poor Megan was sick once again! I am getting MORE then tired of all this sickness GRRRRR!!!

It made me feel better to figure out why all the sickness tho! See, when Meg started at her daycare she started in the baby room. Well we were told to expect a lot of sickness in her first year of daycare. So, we were not too surprised when she was sick a lot last year. Welllll....This year she has been just as sick, if not more. Then when I thought about it, she not only went from the baby room, she went to the toddler room where NEW viruses were. Then she was placed in the preschool room where there are a variety of kids who go to different schools so of course she is sick going to a cesspool of sickness everyday! Can't wait to get out.

I hope your weekend was better then ours. Later!

Just a Funny Conversation

At Applebee's:

Megan: (talking into a tortilla chip) "I got a pretty dress from Kassie!"
Me: "What color dress?"(I thought she said pink)
Megan: "Shhh, I'm just talking on the phone."

Seriously this kid is too funny! I wish I could show you her facial expressions on here but I can't! You will just have to take my word for it...She is priceless! By the way, the picture is the dress that Meg's is so excited about! You can see why...It is gorgeous! :) Thanks Tracy and Kassie!

Also, thanks to those who prayed for me, I preached yesterday and I felt the service went well.

Things are quite busy but I intend to enjoy the last few months of college before I head out on my own! Well Meg's and Mike will be there but you know what I mean. Sorry for the short post my friends maybe next time I will have more for you! Take care.

Another Day Under My Belt

It has been a long time since I have been back to school and today seemed long. I was home by noon bust STILL! Today was my Monday because I stayed home sick yesterday. YUCK! I went to the doctor's tho and got an inhaler and a prescription so hopefully that will cure me before I preach on Sunday. Almost every sentence I make turns into coughing! Could you imagine a sermon like that?!?

Now another conversation between Meg and Mike about uniforms

Meg: As we are getting ready for school "Daddy, what are you doing?"
Mike: "Just putting on my uniform."
Meg: "You are putting on your uniform?"
Mike: "Yep. That is what Mommy and Daddy wear to school and to church."
Meg: "Oh, OK Daddy."
Later on at the breakfast table
Mike: pointing to his clothes "So Meg, do you remember what this is called?"
Meg: "Ummmmmm, (long pause) ...your uni clothes?"

Again with the laughter.

I sure hope you enjoy these as much as I do! Well, I am off to write my sermon...Wish me luck and send up the prayers! Thanks everyone!

Reading Week

Well I am now on the tale end of reading week and it has not been a very productive one! A certain professor of mine would like to remind us all that "Reading week is exactly that...It is in fact for reading." Well, he would be very disappointed with how I spent my week. I am too actually. I have been sick for most of it! I have zero energy and I am finding it hard to do simple tasks like TALK!

Megan continues to make us laugh! I have a very close friend of mine who shares various conversations that she has had with her kids and I laugh so hard at times that I almost pee my pants! Anyhow, I wanted to start sharing some funny conversations with you by ripping off the way she does it. Hope you don't mind Shauna :) I just think you are brilliant.

At Breakfast one morning:

Me: So Megan what would you like for breakfast this morning?
Megan: Cereal.
Me: Would you like to try some Rice Krispies?
Megan: Ok Mom.
(I pour cereal in her bowl and add the milk)
Me: Can you hear the cereal saying "Snap Crackle Pop"?
Megan: (She puts her ear close to the bowl) Yep!
(After she is all done her cereal she looks at me with the most serious face)
Megan: Mom, may I more CRAPPLE POPS please?
And the laughter began!!!

Anyhow, that is all for now. Chat later. Oh about the 5am update, Meg has been sleeping in lately but we are all set to try the lamp and timer idea that Alison mentioned. So if we need to I will let you know how it works. :)

5 am? Really?

So, it has been a VERY long time since Mike and I have been able to sleep in. For some reason our lil' one has decided to start her day at 5am EVERY morning. WHY??? However, she is super polite when she gets up because not only will she call her little warning as she walks to our room "Moommmmyyy" but she will stand at our door and we hear the quiet (knock, knock, knock). Even more amazing is that she will just stand outside the door and knock until we give her permission to come in. I guess knocking on her door while she is playing has done the trick! So even though she is quite polite about her 5am start, I am NOT so polite. In fact Mike gets up with her for fear that I would lose it! When I am half asleep, I am NOT a nice person. I got up with her once and decided that no one let alone a 2 yr old should ever have to experience that.

(THIS JUST IN)

If you have been following my blog, you might remember my post "Silent Excitement"? Well it is not so exciting anymore. I just got off the phone with a lady who told me that the silent retreat has been cancelled due to a lack of interest! Can you believe that??? that SUUUCCCKKKSSSS! :( I find that very sad and disappointing. Anyhow, back to my original post.

In regards to our lil' early riser, do you have any suggestions? We have tried cutting out her nap but all that has done is make her grumpier at 5am! Plus they nap at daycare so I can't really control that part. Keeping her up later doesn't seem to work so I am running out of ideas. Do you have any?? Thanks for reading! Have a good afternoon. I am going to nurse my sick head...Did I mention I was sick? Well I am. Hope you are feeling better then I am right now...Sick and now disappointed. Great combo! I am going back to bed. See you at 5am! ;)

All the Rage.

So, yesterday my family and I went down to Costco and became members! I wanted to see what all the rage was really about. We only had about an hour to look at the whole store. Needless to say, it wasn't enough time. My first experience was not a pleasant one. The first strike is that they do not take Visa or Mastercard...Only Amex. :( Then we decided to check out only to find out that they don't give you bags. Then, we decided to get some of the yummy looking food at the concession so I finally found a table for us to sit at, stood in the long line only to find out that they only take cash! GRRRRR! I mean jump into this century will ya?!? It was a rushed, frustrating experience. Let's just say "all the rage" could be used in a different context. ;)

Well, since I am a sucker for punishment I decided to try it again today. I MUST say, that I was more prepared. I brought some bags with me, I made sure to take out some cash for a treat at the concession and we had a much better time! Megan and Mike LOVED going around to all the demo stands to try like five different juices, some cheese poppers, pizza, chips and the list goes on. I went into it with a better attitude and I found some really great prices. I feel better about my experience and plan to keep trying it out. Well that is my story for the weekend. Not all that exciting but at least it is something to read. :) Chat later my friends.

I Will Survive!

Well, I have almost made it through another VERY busy week. I am SURE it is only because of God's strength. Both Mike and I have had too many late nights doing papers and I am afraid that it is catching up with us. We will survive!

I wish I had as much discipline as last semester to get all my assignments done earlier but it seems as if things all pile up at the same time so the timing just doesn't allow me to do it. Again, I will survive.

I am getting soooo excited about upcoming events. Life enrichment retreat, silent retreat (by the way there is a possibility that this is not a go :( we shall know tomorrow for sure), some news...one way or another about my best friends (can't say too much), Ray's wedding and of course appointment day and commissioning. Sometimes the excitement and nervousness almost kills me BUT you guessed it...I will survive.

Well, I have to get supper for my family before I try to rest my all of the sudden achy body, just another thing for me to survive. Take care my friends!

Silent Excitement

Soooo the approval has come through!! I, along with another college buddy are off to a silent retreat in Feb! For three days I get to experience the pure bliss of silence. Now I KNOW what you are thinking...MELISSA being quiet??? HA! I just have to say, it can be done. I am really looking forward to this spiritual retreat.

Last year, our session had the opportunity be a part of a silent retreat for the day...I absolutely LOVED this experience and I am soooo excited to be able to explore this more. Now I know it is going to be challenging but I can do it. Back to a life of simplicity...No computer, no music, no phones, no family (as much as I will miss them)I am going back to the basics...God and me. I NEED this.

That's it for now... :)

A Bit of Life.

Not sure exactly what this post will entail...I am sure it will be a mixture of information.

First...Here is my disclaimer. Today is one of those days that I feel completely WRECKED! Meaning I am tired (my fault it was a late night) and when I get tired I get emotional. Today at school was so weird. I just felt like crying and there was absolutely nothing on earth wrong with me besides being tired. I felt so foolish and silly. Yet after being able to get away over the lunch hour, I felt MUCH better. Odd. Moving on...

I am so happy to be here at college and as each day passes I know I am getting closer and closer to the dangerous world that is waiting for me. I have heard from other friends that being out is great but they miss community living...I can see how that is possible. I am trying so hard to keep my head in the game, so to speak but it is getting difficult. There is so much excitement and anticipation for what the future holds. I must remind myself always that I am only guaranteed the time I have right now so I best enjoy every second of it! However, the assignments are not fun. I have learned that I learn well in a class setting but I don't really learn much by doing papers and such. I wish there were a way around them! :)

I feel as if I am growing. "Growing pains" is a very appropriate term. The closer I get to God, the more and more I see how sinful I really am. There are many areas in my life that I need/want God to work on, with my help. Yet I remain joyful because I KNOW that God cares enough to change me. I am a selfish person. With God's help I am changing PRAISE GOD! I am so excited that God has given me this opportunity to grow and lean on Him.

Well, that is all my brain will allow me to write for now. Thanks for reading. Take care my friends.

Hugs.

Back in the Game!

Soooo...It has been WAAAYYY too long since I have posted anything but I have to say, I have been inspired! I was catching up on the different blogs that I follow and I remembered how much I enjoyed doing this myself. PLUS it is a great way to share my thoughts and feelings and it is a great way to update the people I love about our life.

So here I am...It is 1:10am and I am blogging. I SHOULD be in bed but I am not. I have decided to write. However...This is not going to be long as I can almost hear my bed calling out to me. Just wanted to let anyone who reads this know that I have intentions of visiting here often. Hugs to you my friends. I promise the next post will be better...More of an update. Take care and goodnight *Yawn*.