home

I was at the Delirious concert last week and they were showing this power point during one of the songs. In it, there was a little guy climbing up the side of a mountain. When he first set out he was walking strong, upright on two feet...nothing was going to stop him. About half way up he got so exhausted he had to start crawling...moving slower and slower. By the time he got close to the top he was crawling so slowly he could hardly move at all. I'm pretty sure he wanted to give up, but didn't because he knew that the end result would be worth it. Well, he finally made it to the mountain top. He slowly stood up and stretched his arms out, "I made it! At last."
This reminded me a lot of just life in general. Sometimes it can seem too difficult...even impossible, but it's worth it. I mean, look at our end result. We get to spend eternity in heaven with Jesus.
I often get this picture in my head of what will happen when I get to heaven. Jesus is there waiting for me. He is kneeling down with his arms spread wide, just waiting for me to run to him. At first I am a bit hesitant, not knowning what he will say when I get there. What if he's not pleased with the way I lived my life? But as I get closer, my pace quickens and pretty soon I am running...straight into his arms. He welcomes me, "well done, Melody, well done." I feel the most wonderful feeling wash over and I know that I am finally home.

10 things I love

in no particular order...

1. my family: i don't know what I would do without them; people i can be completely myself with and who love me no matter what; sitting around the table with them and laughing about our days
2. my God: covered by a love divine, child of the risen Lord; to hear you say "this one's mine," my heart is spoken for...just one reason why
3. my best friends: because they are crazy, and don't mind if i am; because i can tell them anything and they still love me; because they make me laugh...
4. sunshine: everything is just better when the sun is shining; the world seems like a happier place - and because i hate being cold
5. the ocean: sitting by it, listening to it, swimming in it, walking by it, squishing my toes in the sand
6. an adventure: even if it is only walking to mac's in a downpour and getting totally drenched or taking hours and hours to get back from the airport because we are completely lost
7. music: listening, playing, singing, i think i love anything that has to do with music
8. a smile: but not just any smile; a smile directed at me, with a laugh hidden behind it; a smile that says i love you
9. my dog: even though he is crazy and in need of psychiatric help, he's my sweetie pie
10. memories: in any form...i love my scrapbook, it's so full of memories...and i love just sitting and talking with my friends remembering the "good ol' days"

Now as to who I'm going to tag...anyone who reads this and hasn't been tagged yet - you're it!

waiting...

Yeah, I know I'm it. I've been thinking about the 10 things I love but haven't had the chance to write them all down. Check back soon.

sprinklers

Ok, so the other day I was at work and I was going for a walk with the kids. The girls were running ahead and Robert was walking behind with me. We were walking by this one house when he suddenly said "uh oh" and got this really crazy grin on his face. The house we were walking past had this automatic sprinkler system and it turned on and started chasing us down the side walk. It was really funny. We screamed and just started running. The girls were laughing at us. I think it's kinda funny that he knew what was going to happen but didn't bother telling me. Maybe he figured it would be worth him getting wet if I got wet too. aaah.....kids

What Breed of Dog am I?

You Are a Golden Retriever Puppy

Tolerant, fun-loving, and patient. You are eager to please - and attached to your frisbee.

What Breed of Puppy Are You?

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name Lord
In every circumstance,
Every stage of life
For You are worthy

You give and take away...
My heart will chose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

My sister and I 

here it comes

Ok, so drum roll please. Here comes the long awaited update. Sorry I've been away from it for so long. I have about a million excuses, none of which are very good so I won't even bother with them.
Now what's going on with me? Not much really but as always I love life. I was talking with a friend the other day and I was telling him that no matter what is happening in my life, no matter how bad it may seem, I've never not loved life. I'm so glad God gave me that.
I belong to a great group of GIRLS and I have amazing friends. I'm not saying they never drive me crazy (see Shannon's blog) but I will never stop loving them.
I've also been blessed with a pretty normal family, immediate family anyway. They can always make me smile.
I'm still waiting to hear about school but I know that God will put me where he wants me. I'm hoping he wants me here though. I don't want to leave. I love my life here. I'm comfortable here. But I know if I leave it's because God doesn't want me to be comfortable anymore. He wants to stretch me and make me grow in ways that I can't grow here.
I guess that's enough for now. Random thoughts just coming out of no where, but it's been a while.

here

Ok, so I've been told by a very dear, dear friend that I have to update my blog. Take a look at the email I got from her.
UPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATEYOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGUPDATE YOURBLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOGYOUR BLOGUPDATE YOUR BLOG
PLEASE MEL UPDATE YOUR BLOG!!!!!!!! ;)and yes i know i'm crazy lol

And it was a lot longer then this. I deleted a bunch.
I'll write more later.

update

I have an update on my cousin. She had the surgery and everything went well. Last I heard she was in ICU recovering. The doctor's say that she will be fine. Thank you everyone for praying.

pray

I need everyone to pray for something. My cousin has chrones disease. She was in alot of pain so she was taken to the hospital where they discovered that her bowel had burst. She is scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning. Just pray that she will be okay and that surgery will go well. Also pray for her parents and sister....that they will be okay as well.

rewind

It seems like just yesterday was the first time that I met you. Since then so much has changed, but I'm still the same as I was before. Now that I know what's going on I can look back and see you. I made you wait as I turned away. If I could rewind and watch all my life just pass me by I would see you. If I could rewind I'd take back the lies and all of those time I hurt you. I don't know if I'll ever know how much I hurt you. Knowing that hurts me everyday. If I could rewind I would take it away and not make you wait. I wouldn't walk away. I wanna take back all those lies. I wanna take back all those times. I wanna show you with my life that I'm here for you.
-Pillar (with modifications)

smile

Last night was one of the best times I've ever had at street church. The quote of the evening:
"I haven't smiled this much in a long time. My cheeks hurt."
We danced for about two hours with barely even a break. I love to see new people come and really get into it. It was an amazing time.
Then we went to Tim Hortons for a couple of hours. We had napkin wars (don't ask). We sure made a big mess but then ended up cleaning it up. I guess we wanted them to let us come back next time :-)

Canadian Idol

I had quite the adventure yesterday. My sister and brother decided they wanted to try out for Canadian Idol, not really expecting much....just to see what it was like....and hey, you never know. I went along with them not knowing whether or not I was going to try out. We left the house at 4am and drove to Surrey. From there we took the skytrain to the Plaza of Nations. We got there at about 5:30. We waited outside in the freezing cold for four hours. My feet were numb....but it was still fun. Shane and Elayna (two of last year's idols) did a concert for us. Ben Mulroney was there....and he looks just as fake in real life. Nice guy though. After a few hours of being outside they said they were going to let the singers in but they didn't have room for anyone else quite yet. So I decided that I was going to be a singer. We were herded inside (like cattle) and given numbers that we had to wear pinned to our tummies. We all sat squished in this gym for hours and hours waiting for our audition time. It was quite boring but a lot of fun. I had my audition at about 3. My sister was right after me and then my brother was right after her. I was really nervous....even though I didn't really care whether or not I made it. Well, I didn't make it....I was so nervous that my voice was all shakey and stuff. We also had to sing acapello....I like singing with instruments to back me up. When that was done I waited for my sister. She came out and said that she didn't make it either. We sat and waited for my brother. Waited.....and waited....and waited. Finally I saw him come around the corner with that yellow piece of paper in his hands. I screamed....I was so happy that he made it. He's at the second set of auditions today....if he gets through that he goes to the auditions in front of the celebrity judges (the one's they show on TV)....and then if he gets through that he's off to Toronto in a couple of months. Is that not so cool! So I had a lot of fun....even though it was super boring....it was a neat experience. One I will never forget. Some of my friends who are amazing singers didn't get past the first round....I guess they're looking for something inparticular.

oasis

Just a little exerpt from a story I read by Kim Meedler

I was completely overwhelmed as I slid off Firefly's back and walked through the sooty black powder. My tears broke through my emotional dam in an uncontrollable flood. This was my special place, my healing chamber, my home. Now it was destroyed beyond recognition. "Dear Jesus, this is just like my life," I sobbed.
The puffy, black, soot billowed up nearly to my waist. Firefly and I had began walking a while when my racking sobs finally subsided into silent tears that streamed down my face. And then I saw it. In the vast expanse of black one tiny oasis of color survived. I moved closer and knelt down to inspect this tiny pink wonder. A little plant had risen through the ash and, defying all odds, dared to bloom in this world of black. Then I heard within my heart the unmistakable voice of the One who had knelt beside me so many years before. "You are right, child - this is just like your life. You see, I have raised you out of the ashes."

This story is about a young girl who lost her mother and father to murder and suicide. Her only comfort was riding through the forest near her grandmother's house on her horse. When the forest burns down she is overwhelmed by grief one more time.

As I read the words of this story it struck me that God can do anything. No matter how helpless your situation may be He will raise you from the ashes - when you let Him.

yahoo

Yeah for Shannon! She got accepted into school. I'm so happy for her. By the end of the year she will be a certified vet assistant. All that percerverance paid off girl! Anyway, I just had to write about it.
Now I just have to get into nursing school. I don't care where, I just want to go. Everything is falling into place so far. I guess I just have to wait and see. But I hate the waiting!!!! Aaaaaaah!

kids

I was having the most interesting conversation with a four year old the other day. She decided that I was going to be the kid and she was going to be the babysitter. We were going to switch clothes and shoes. We had quite the good laugh picturing me in her tiny little clothes and her in my bigger ones. I was going to watch TV while she folded the laundry and of course she was going to drive the van. I had quite the time convincing her that there was no way she was going to drive the van. Finally I told her that her legs wouldn't reach the peddals so it wouldn't work. She agreed. It was really cute. It got me thinking about what it would be like to go back to being a little kid. In some ways it would be great. Not a whole lot to worry about....don't have to work for a living, and absolutely no responsibilities. But I don't think I would enjoy it for long. I kinda like making my own decisions and having all the freedom that comes with that. Sure being a kid was great but I wouldn't want to go back....at least not permanently.

Bailey

Today was a snow day for me....no work and no school. My brother and I went, with our dog Bailey, to Griner Park. We have these crazy carpets and we can get going pretty fast. Well, there was no way that Bailey would get on the crazy carpets but he loved chasing us down the hill and then jumping all over us when we got to the bottom. I guess he was having a lot of fun because when my brother and I went to take him home he got this really pouty look on his face and didn't want a whole lot to do with us. It was really kinda funny.
Last summer a friend and I took our dogs to the lake. Bailey loves to swim!!! Even more than chasing crazy carpets. We were there for a couple of hours and then when we were ready to go it was like Bailey was mad at us. He sat in the back seat and pouted almost the entire ride home.
He's a great dog and I love him to pieces but he's not without his quirks. He hasn't learned yet that male dogs lift a leg to pee....he still squats. Also, when he is confused or afraid or any number of other emotions he pees....all over the floor. And then there is his ball. Anyone who has been over to my house has seen that ball. He will not play with any other toy....just that stupid red ball. Last summer I brought Bailey to church in the park so of course his ball had to come along. When I dropped him off at home both Bailey and I forgot his ball in the car. I headed out to Vancouver for the day with my friends and didn't realize his ball was still in the car. When I got home my parents told me that he had been looking around for his ball all day and then moping and whining when he couldn't find it. So pathetic!

dunno

So the holidays are over and it's back to the same old routine. But I guess if it were the holidays all the time that would get boring too. I really liked having the week or two off of school, work, and pretty much everything else. Now it's time to get to work. But I just can't seem to get motivated right now. I guess I have too much other stuff on my mind. Maybe that will pass soon. I've been thinking about new year's resolutions. I can't really think of one of my own. Maybe it's not that I can't think of one....but all the ones I can think of I don't want to do. Just being lazy maybe. I hate being lazy!!! Aaah...I need to get motivated. It's weird because I am usually very motivated after the new year. But not this year....at least not yet.

quiet

I just got back from the christmas eve service at my church. The house is so quiet...my family isn't home quite yet. I came in the door and my dog greeted me but there was no talking, no singing, no nothing. Something I'm not quite used to but nice just the same. The day has been filled with so much hustle and craziness. Shopping to do....cookies to bake....presents to wrap....and now it's just quiet. For a few more minutes....then my sister will dance in the door and my brothers will come in laughing about something. My parents will follow. We'll hang the stockings, probably make apple cider, and watch a christmas movie. Christmas the way I know it will begin....I like the quiet that is right now....but at the same time I can't wait!