It's Friday.....

Everywhere else in the world, people would be thrilled that it's Friday. Unfortunately for me, I'm not quite as excited! That means the end of our little road trip is almost over. This week has been so great. So nice and relaxing. It's been great to spend time with Rob, spend time with his family and also get to know some new people. I've had a great time here, Rob's relatives are so nice. They're hilarious and so much fun. They've been really great and accomodating for all of us. HOwever, tomorrow is Saturday, you know what that means? Means we pack up the car, head back over the boarder, back into reality and work again. Not that I'm upset to come home, that's not it at all. It's just I have enjoyed this so much! It's been so wonderful spending each day with Rob, now I have to go back to school where I'm lucky if I see him once a week. Bummer. Though, I think I have finally caught up on my lack of sleep from being at school and work all the time! I mean I slept all the way here, have slept a solid 7-8 hours each night and had a nap most days! We've all been sleeping alot. It seems thats the thing to do while in Alabama!!! I'm looking forward to sleeping a little more on the ride home tomorrow, then hopefully I'll be energetic and ready to go for Monday again!

Last night we played Cranium Pop 5. If you have never played it, you should! lol. It's so much fun! I love Cranium - the original game, but this one was even more fun! I've decided that I love game nights! lol. I think tonight we're going to try and play Guesstures - its a charades game! This trip, I have also played a game I never have before.......Guitar Hero! Now I love it! Rob's brothers have it for Wii (which is the gaming station I have) and see if I like it and maybe want to buy it myself!!! Dan bought it for XBox which is where we've been playing it these last couple days. SO fun!

Just a reminder to all of you guys at home - - Saturday is Fall Back....turn clocks back one hour! I'm going to be right on track for that because it's central time here in Alabama, which means that I'm already an hour behind!

Anyways, I think people are starting to get up, so I'm gonna get going! Please pray that we have safe travels back home this weekend. I will let you know once we have arrived! Enjoy your day!

xoxox

Money worries....again

Hi everyone,

I just thought I would write a little blog update to ask for a little prayer. This week has been incredibly good. It's been relaxing and been so great to spend all week with Rob and his family. However, this morning I was woken up by an early morning phone call. Unfortunately a cheque that I wrote to pay a bill a few weeks ago bounced. Now I have to pay a fee on top of that and repay October's fee and now with November coming this week have to pay that as well. I'm a little stressed becuase its alot of money that I don't have. I'm going to have to work a few extra hours this week when I get back.

I know that God is in control. I know that He will help provide for me. That's the thing, I know it in my head, I'm just doubting alot. Not that I doubt He is in control and that He will provide, it's just that I take things into my own hands and panic because I know I can't handle it. Please pray that I might rely on God for his provision. Also that I would not be too proud to ask others for help when I need it. Thanks.

On another note, Rob and I went on a date night the other day. We went to the movies to see "Where the Wild Things Are". It was cute, but not as fantastic as we had hoped. It was just nice to spend a couple hours just him and I, without everyone else. We don't have too much planned for the rest of the week. Some more visiting and relaxing which is just what I needed! I'll try to blog once more before we leave....if not, I will do it the day we get back to let you all know we made it safely.
Thanks for your prayers!
Love you all

Trip update

Hi everyone!
It's been a couple of days, so I just thought that I would let you know how our trip is going! It's fabulous! The last couple of days have been very relaxing and enjoyable. There has been lots of laughs and lots of chocolate! We've had fantastic meals and played alot of games together. We got to go boating on Sunday afternoon. It was so fun! Yesterday we spent the day doing a little shopping while a few of the guys played golf. So far today we haven't done anything! I did a little homework and the guys played some video games, but Rob's parents went out on a date, so the 4 of us kids are still in our pjs! Rob and I are going to have a date night tonight, I think we're going to go see "Where the Wild Things Are" in theatres. I'm really looking forward to a little him and me time. We don't have a ton planned for the next few days, I'm just really enjoying spending all week with Rob and relaxing as much as I have been able to.
I'll update again in a few days!
Love Missy

Alabama

Hey everyone!
Just wanted to let you know that we made it to Alabama safe and sound! Last night we packed and did a little visiting and running around until about 12:30, then Rob and I went to bed only to get woken up an hour later. We piled everything into the car and headed off. I fell asleep almost immediately and didn't wake up until we reached to boarder. I went back to sleep and slept another 3ish hours until we were woken to do breakfast. We stopped and ate at the Waffle House in Cinncinati Ohio. Then Rob and I watched a couple episodes of a TV show, then went back to sleep! Overall, it was about a 13 hour drive in total and I think I slept about 10 of the hours. It was incredible and made the drive go by super fast! Tonight, we hung out at the house, went out for pizza and played a few rounds of Scene It! It's been a good relaxing evening and we're about to hit the hay! I hear its supposed to be nice and warm here tomorrow so Im looking forward to some sunshine!
Just wanted to let you know that we made it! It's going to be a fun week! I will try to update a couple times to let you know how we're all doing!
Love you all!
Love Missy

Ordinary miracle

Hi friends!
I was listening to this song on the radio the other day and just thought I would share it with you. It's a beatiful song by Sarah McLachlan called "Ordinary Miracle". Its a simple reminder that miracles are happening around us each and everyday. Sometimes its hard for us to believe, but if we just pay attention to life happening all around us, it will help give us faith that miracles still happen today. The song goes like this:

It's not that unusual
When everything is beautiful
It's just another ordinary miracle today
The sky knows when it's time to snow
Don't need to teach a seed to grow
It's just another ordinary miracle today
Life is like a gift they say
Wrapped up for you everyday
Open up and find a way
To give some of your own

Isn't is remarkable
That every time a rain drop falls
It's just another ordinary miracle today
Birds in winter have their fling
But always make it home by spring
It's just another ordinary miracle today
When you wake up everyday
Please don't throw your dreams away
Hold them close to your heart
Cause we're all a part
Of the ordinary miracle
Ordinary miracle
Do you want to see a miracle?

It seems so exceptional
That things just work out after all
It's just another ordinary miracle today
Sun comes up and shines so bright
And disappears again at night
It's just another ordinary miracle today

One of the biggest miracles of all time is LOVE. The sacrifice and dedication made to those we love. More details coming about love in my next blog!

For now, I'm heading out - have to finish packing! We're leaving tonight for the states, I can't wait! I will write sometime while we're away so that I can update you on how we're doing!
Take care, enjoy study week (for those of you who have it!!)
Love Missy

Selflessness...the greatest gift

I just wanted to share a quick story about something that happened at work the other day.
I was doing my job like usual and shuffeling through people, sort of robotic like, I had my memorized speaches and was bagging super quickly. On every other occasion, with each customer, I try to make eye contact and comment on something they are buying, something about them personally or even about the children, but for some reason, this day I was not in a commenting mood. I wasn't being rude, I just wasn't carrying conversations with the customers like I generally do. About a quarter of the way into my shift, I had a lady come to my till. She was stunning. I believe she was India and was going to a wedding. (I assume that based on the conversation) She was dressed beautifully, she had on a pink and gold sari, she had jewels on her forehead, henna on her arms, and these amazing earrings. I took notice of her attire the second she started walking towards me. As I was serving her, I made a comment about how lovely she looked today. She said thank you very politely, I then made another comment about how nice her earrings were. At this point, she got very excited and said "Yes, you like?!". And I told her how they were very pretty and looked great with her outfit. She then proceeded to put her hands to her hears and said "You like, you can have!". She was about to take them right out of her ears and give them to me! I politely declined, but was in shock that she was just going to give them to me! No hesitation or second thoughts, she was about to take them out and hand them over knowing she would never see them again. I was completely in shock. I was so in awe that someone would do that for me. You don't hear stories like this anymore, of people taking things right off their own back's and giving them to someone else. It was pure selflessness. It was so cool to witness and see that first hand.

It got me thinking about selfishness. As Christians, we are supposed to follow the examples of love and selflessness that Jesus portrayed when he was alive on this earth. The lady was a great physical reminder to me of how amazing it feels to have someone sacrifice something of their own for someone else - a perfect stranger no less! It's a reminder of how blessed I am to know of and have accepted the love from the One who made the ultimate sacrifice for me.

This experience has had me thinking and evaluating alot lately about my own life and how I can live a more selfless life. Go forward with me, live a selfless life. Don't be afraid to do something nice for someone...you never know how it might affect them.

Update!

Hi everyone!
Sorry I haven't written in a while! Things have been crazy busy for me lately! I got up a little early this morning, so I thought that I would spend a little time updating you on things that have been going on with my life.

As you know, I have only one job now! They have been really great with hours, in fact, I had 34 this past week. Eeek! I was a little bummed becuase that meant I had to work all through Thanksgiving. Friday night I worked, Saturday I worked, Sunday I worked and even the holiday Monday I worked. I was able to head home a couple of times, I actually ended up doing alot of driving over the weekend. Rob, Ramsay, Mandy, Brandon and Mandy's friend Emily enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving dinner at my dad's on SUnday night. It was so wonderful! Rob (with the help of his wonderful mom) cooked turkey, potatoes, veggies and a delicious gravey. I drove home after work and got to sit down with all these wonderful people to a fantastic supper. It was a great night of football and food! I ate so much that I couldn't move! I'm sure some of you know the feeling I mean! I stayed over Sunday night, drove back to Vaughan on Monday morning, worked 8 hours (paid for time and a half!) and drove back to Cambridge again! This time I went to Rob's Oma's house. They had already eaten, but made sure to save a plate of food for me! Again, delicious! Despite all the work and driving I had to do, it was a great time spent with friends and family. I am so thankful for everyone who has an influence in my life. If you are reading this - I am thankful for you!

I am very blessed to have such awesome friends and family surrounding me. I thank the Lord for each and every one of you!

This week at school has been great! It's been a little crazy because I had a couple paper's due, and a presentation. Everything so far has gone by smoothly. The classes are really starting to pick up - with work loads and things. I have really had to work on my time management. Between working at the store, to getting homework done, to being able to still find time to spend with Rob and my new friends here at school. Please pray that I continue to do well in my classes and that I have good time management.

I'm also excited to share with you about my new friends here at school! There are a couple rooms of girls who live down the hall from me, who are also in my program. We've started chatting and hanging out alot, they are hilarious! I've really enjoyed getting to know them, and hanging out and just being able to laugh as hard as we do sometimes! Just last night, we had a lovely girls night! It started around 3pm, a couple of the girls came and hung out in my apartment for an hour, then we caught up with a couple of the other girls. We baked croissants, Halloween cookies, and pasta and watched a couple of shows on TV together. It was really fun, but by the end of the night we were all pretty tired and had had alot to eat! It was so much fun, we laughed alot and the food was great! Hopefully we'll continue to get to know each other and hang out much more!

Anyways, I think that's about it for now! Only one more week of classes, then it's Study Break. I'm very excited for that, as I will be going with Rob's family to visit some relatives in the states. I'm really looking forward to getting away for a week and being able to spend several days in a row with him!

Please continue to pray that I keep up with my studies, that the friendships continue to grow and that I don't forget through all the craziness, about all the blessings I have in my life.
Love you all! xoxo

Wonderful blessing

This weekend, I got a wonderful present! Rob's mom went out and bought Mandy and I this fantastic slow cooker! What a fantastic gift! She was concerned about our eating habits since we are both working and in school full time. Thanks Mrs. Hartholt! Can't wait to use it for the first time!!!

Mini vacation

Hey!
This week has been another crazy busy one! I had my training shift at the store on Tuesday, then dad came to visit on Wednesday night. He took us for dinner and we filled up on Pizza Hut...it was delicious! It was also great becuase we got left overs! Mmm.... And then when we came home he had gotten us a nice little gift! There is this new Wii game out (as pictured above!) that Mandy and I had thought about buying it for a few weeks, but it was a little too expensive for us. But dad surprised us and bought it for us! We tried it for the first time tonight! Sooo much fun! It's a great time waster! lol.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day....I have to work an 8 hour shift! Eeek! Hopefully I will be able to head to Cambridge after after and see Rob for a day or two this weekend.

This is just a short blog....hopefully I will do some more in detail soon!
Have a good weekend!!!