Author Archives: Melissa

happiness

Apples to fondue 

When I was pregnant with Jacob 16 years ago we joined a birth and babies class through the Rockyview Hospital. There’s still a group of us who get together with our now 15 year olds every once and a while and it’s fantastic. Things have changed and our babies have grown, but it’s so cool to have that connection to when things began. 

Tonight we had fondue and game night with two of the families from our group. We ate so much and laughed so hard. It was awesome. The kids laughed at how old we are, and when the games were brought out and we all had to scramble for reading glasses we laughed at that too. 

I am so grateful that this group of people has stayed in my life. It’s happiness. 

Our babies 

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Perfectly imperfect

Over the weekend we were talking about the Christmas concert at church. Before they started the pastor made an announcement that things  could be a bit messy, joyfully messy – there were little kids, big kids, and with that anything could happen. 

There was a comment that he had to say such things because someone would be sure to call and complain that it wasn’t a traditional concert, that it wasn’t perfect. 

My cousin said something to the effect that people miss so much when they expect perfection, and hat when things are imperfect is when the real joy is to be found. 

Isn’t that the truth?

If we spend our lives seeking perfection, we miss out on the joy that is imperfectly there, right in front of us. Nothing we as humans do is ever going to be perfect. We will waste our entire time here chasing an impossible dream. 

This morning I had a text from a cousin telling me to make sure I looked at the moon. As the boy and I were driving down the road I pulled over and had to stop and look at it. It was probably the best morning moon I’ve ever seen. The camera does not do it justice. 


And somehow we went from that perfect moment of joy to a huge fight. We yelled at each other for the next few minutes (doesn’t matter what it was about, it was stupid) and then came over the next hill and had to stop and enjoy this gift from God


It was a perfectly imperfect morning. Perfect in the beauty God created for us, perfect in that we took the time to enjoy it. Imperfect in that we fought over stupid things. Perfect that we realized we were being stupid and missing a moment of joy. 

Remembering that it’s not only ok but a good thing to be perfectly imperfect. My moment of happiness. 

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Imperial March

We have a new security gate at the entrance of our property. It has taken some getting used to as we can’t fly at top speed in and out anymore (this isn’t necessarily a bad thing). 

My cousin asked the other day how we were adjusting and I said it wasn’t bad. Yesterday I realized it’s not bad because I get to the gate and imagine I’m the queen entering or exiting the palace. I hum the royal march as I go through. 

But today I was telling Jacob about that and said sometimes it turns into the imperial march   And we looked at each other and started giggling. I downloaded the song on Spotify and we blared it as we drove through the gates 

It was the best thing ever. We laughed so hard – spontaneous happiness moment. Awesome. 

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What matters most 

Nothing is as important to me as the job I hold as mother of my kids. I’m flawed in it and certainly learn from it every day, but it is the biggest blessing and most rewarding thing I have ever been trusted with. I still look at them daily and can’t believe that God gifted them into my life. We are one tight little triangle 

In keeping with full moon weirdness, I made two trips to urgent care today – one for each kid. Different injuries doneat different   times, and they’ll both be fine, but it was a long and tiring day. 
In all of that I thought to myself thank God that I can be here for them. They have this solid foundation to fall back on, they know I’ll always catch their fall. I’ll move heaven and earth to make life as safe and happy as possible for them. It’s a process, but it’s getting better all the time. 

My happiness moment… knowing what matters most and being there for it. 

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Catch a glimpse of joy. 

Catch a glimpse of joy. That was the theme of the sermon in church today and also was the theme of my day. 

Our ladies group sponsored a family for Christmas. The mom came and picked up the items today and seemed filled with many emotions.  The lady who has been helping me with my own project gave me a little hug and said it’s like seeing what your dream is going to gift people isn’t it?  And it is, my little dream is different but hopefully will bring happiness to  lives in small ways. 

After that we shared some of our needs for prayer requests. Sharing is important – for the support and to remember that everyone has  their crap they’re dealing with. It’s a really special group of ladies I found at that church. God guided me well. 

The youth group did their Christmas celebration and it was full of glimpses  of joy. It was fun to see the kids so fully engaged and enjoying themselves. I sat with my uncle and aunt which was a moment of happiness in itself. 

And then the joy of the afternoon when we did our family Christmas tree hunt. It’s one of my favorite events of the year. This  year we had a good sized group and the weather kind of behaved itself. A million layers helped. 

I talk about it all the time, but I am so grateful for my tribe. I don’t know what I would ever do without them. It’s so heart warming to know that we come from this family filled with so much love. 

This is what happiness looks like:

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Kick off to Christmas 

We had our first Christmas party today. It was a big family one at my great aunt’s house (also in honor of her birthday). It was a house filled with family, laughter, and so many Christmas goodies. 

We had a talk on the way there about extended family, and how even if they don’t know you well they love you and want to know about you. It’s a concept my kids are still grasping, having spent almost all of their lives living away from any family. 

I think that point was driven home today though. I saw the boy really settle into a comfort zone as he sat and visited with some of the men in his family. He remembered that there is this big group of men in his extended tribe who really take an interest in him and want to get to know him.  And there’s just a different way that men bond, and I’m glad he gets to be a part of that. We have really good men in our family. 

I say it all the time because it’s true. I have an awesome tribe of people and I’m so thankful we were born into this. It’s happiness and joy and love. 

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Eddie the Eagle

Tonight the girl and I finally got around to watching Eddie the Eagle. I have wanted to see it since it came out in the theatres and I’ve been bugging the kids to watch it with me since it came on tv. 

Jenna loved it! She sat down with a pout, but within the first five minutes she was totally captivated. The idea of following your dream,  no matter what people say to you, really held her interest. She related to him all the way through the movie. 

Aside from loving his story, it brought back lots of good memories for me. I was in grade 12 when the Olympics were here and we were lucky enough to go to many of the events – including the ski jumping. So we watched Eddie the Eagle jump. 

My sister and I still laugh about how we drove our dad nuts. The stories were always funny, but now that dad is gone they are even more precious. The olumpics in Calgary are a really good time in my memory bank. 

My movie with my girl. Happiness. 

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Integration 

I had some work done today that kind of brought together all the energy stuff I’ve been doing over the last week. I have an awesome massage therapist in town, and ages ago I had made an appointment for today. It just so happened to line up nicely after all the unplanned energy work that has been presented to me. 

Cranial sacral therapy has always worked wonders for my body, but it’s never quite done what it did for me today. Of course, the last time I did it was 13+ years ago and I was not at all aware of my mind body connection.  It was like magic. I was lying there thinking hmmmm it’s not really doing much and then my whole body would go all tingly and I could feel things shift all over the place both energetically and physically. It happened several times, and was pretty wild. 

The Prana Vata issue I’ve been having of my mind racing vanished during my session. A few times I was bombarded by thoughts and then with the crazy tingle there would be what felt like a giant eraser go through my mind and the thoughts would be all gone. Then I was left lying there wondering what was I just thinking about? I have no clue. Even now I can’t remember, but the racing in my mind remains gone. Better step up then meditation to keep this on track. It’s awesome. 

I’m not totally sure what’s going on, but I know the last month or so have been full of huge shifts and changes. And as the universe always does, things have been lining up like magic to make it happen. It’s awesome and it’s my happiness moment. 

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