We.Are.The.Relentless!

Hello Blogers!

This past weekend my church hosted a youth conference, U- Turn, it was a success! We averaged about 80 youth throughout the weekend. Good numbers and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I had an awesome time, helped Kristen run the games Saturday afternoon. I also helped out with the coffee house. Got a chance to get to know the kids better and saw the youth grow in Christ.  It was a good time!

My youngest brother, Shawn, and three of his buddies have formed a band, they call themselves We. Are. The. Relentless. At our conference they had their debut show, it was awesome. Even though he’s my brother, I was still a little skeptical.I have to say I was impressed. One of their songs, Crooks and Castles, had the grooviest rifts and made me get up out of my seat, ready to party. I was pleasantly surprised! It was great to see them perform and I was so proud of Shawn. He has grown into an amazing drummer. Looking forward to see what becomes of their little band, I’m rootin’ for them!

I’ll leave you with some photos of the show. Hope you are all having an awesome week, and keep on rockin’ in the free world!

PS. I went to Grande Prairie on the weekend and while I was at the mall a dance Flash mob broke out, it was awesome! very cool to be a part of!
Melanie

SOTD:

Angel from Montgomery by: Bonnie Raitt

Thought To Make You Smile:

Sippin’ Chai tea on your front porch on a summer evening.

I'm back!

Hello there,

I’m back, and what a trip it was! Well I had an amazing 8 day vacation that took me to South America, Ecuador and Galapagos, to be exact. I was accompanied by 14 students and 2 adult chaperons. One of my best buddies, Lindsay, is a teacher at the high school where I work. Every couple of years he organizes a trip somewhere outside of Canada. He always needs a female chaperon, and I just happen to fit that bill (lucky me). This is the second trip we have taken together, the first being New York, the second Ecuador and Galapagos. I’m supper lucky to have gone. Even though there have been students involved, we have always had a great group kids that made the trips a joy (for the most part). 

Some of the highlights of my trip were: Straddling both the Southern and Northern hemisphere via the Equator line, Shopping in the handy craft Market in Quito, hiking the base of Cotopaxi, the Charles Darwin Research Center, hot nights on the pier in the isle of Santa Cruz, and the BEST mojitos ever. God! It was a great trip.


I love to travel, and I get this burning to plan the next trip as soon as I return from the one I’m on. I have a couple of places in mind for my next trip. Mexico is an option, and Barcelona is a desire. I’ll have to wait and see which one happens first.

I won’t bore you with all the details of my trip, but I’ll leave you with a few of my favorite traveling quotes and a few of my favorite photos from the trip! Thanks for following, fellow bloggers, hope you enjoy the photos!

Melanie

 “Travel does what good novelists also do to the life of everyday, placing it like a picture in a frame or a gem in its setting, so that the intrinsic qualities are made more clear. Travel does this with the very stuff that everyday life is made of, giving to it the sharp contour and meaning of art.” – Freya Stark

“All the pathos and irony of leaving one’s youth behind is thus implicit in every joyous moment of travel: one knows that the first joy can never be recovered, and the wise traveler learns not to repeat successes but tries new places all the time.” – Paul Fussell


SOTD:
Yer spring by: Hey Rosetta!

A thought to make you smile:
Only two months of school till summer break!

Ecuador and Galapagos

Hello,

Easter break is fast approaching and I, for one, am so excited for its arrival! I’m in need of a break from the regular routine and early mornings.  It’s now crunch time at school, this week is full of Easter celebrations, parent teacher interviews, and penny carnivals. Not to mention, life outside of school which is just as busy with friend’s visits, movies, cleaning, working out, and packing. I’m particularly excited for this Easter because I will be supervising a school trip to Ecuador and The Galapagos Islands. My self and fellow teacher Lindsay will be escorting 14 students on a trip of a life time. I’m looking forward to the cultural experience of Quito (world Unesco city) and the natural wonder of the Islands.

I’m slacking with getting my things packed, got to get on that. Guess that’s tonight’s job. Packing is something I don’t mind doing, it’s just finding the time. Now, unpacking, that’s a different story.  But I don’t have to worry about that for 10 day … or more :) I may not be able to write while I’m away but I’ll be sure to post about the trip, upon my return. Hope you have a great Easter and receive the gift of sunshine.
Melanie

            

 

SOTD:
First Taste by: Fiona Apple

A thought to make you smile:
Feet in warm sand