Melbel's midwifery

Life is good

2009-07-25T11:33:00.001-07:00

Hello world. Here's a quick update about my summer. I've been working full-time and training a new coworker for about the last month. Thankfully I'm back to part time so I can enjoy hanging out with friends and preparing for Baylor. I leave in less than a month! A great highlight to my summer was Amy coming to roadtrip with us for the 4th of July. We went down to the Guadalupe river and stayed in Brad's parent's river house with his whole family and several friends.

Chillin on the way home
classic pic

Brad and I

For some reson she's sad and I'm happy.

Silliness

Gorgeousness

Brad and the guys playing halo . . .

I liveth

2009-03-04T22:14:00.000-08:00

I've been accused of abandoning this blog. I normally only post when I have new pictures and I just haven't taken any pictures in a long time. Plus, school is keeping me in a state of overwhealmedness. Yes, I just made up a word. . .

I just must remember that as I've heard quoted, "God does not call the qualified; He qualifies the called." I just so happen to be in the getting qualified state. . .

Misery? NO MISSOURI!

2008-11-01T22:35:00.000-07:00

I've been having a blast visiting Amy. Here's some pics we took on her macbook so far. . . Enjoy!

Our reaction to the UT game

and more walking. . .

2008-09-23T11:33:00.000-07:00

Lately it seems that the verses that speak the most to me involve walking. Faith in God truly is a journey and I think that the metaphor of walking is used so much in the Bible because it reminds us that each and everyday there is something for us to do. We cannot stop and sit down every moment of everyday we must walk with God and follow in His paths.

"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." Proverbs 3:5-7

"I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness. When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble. . . Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil." Proverbs 4:11-12, 14

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns." Isaiah 52:7

"You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may for well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess."

Deuteronomy 5:33

"Eventhough I walk in the falley of the shadow of death, I will far no evil, for you are with me; your rod and staff, they comfort me." Psalm 23:4

"No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly." Psalm 84:11 b

"but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and hte blood of Messiah his Son cleanses us from all sin." I John 1:7

walking. . .

2008-09-16T20:53:00.001-07:00

Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.

Psalm 86:11

God's extravagant creation

2008-09-15T15:57:00.000-07:00

Earth laughs in flowers. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Hamatreya"

Israel

2008-08-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

So, when you take an international trip it seems people want to see pictures of your adventures. Too bad I never got pics of being stuck in airports for hours at the beginning. I was too lazy to dig my camera out. :) This time in Israel we didn't do as many touristy things and spent more time getting to know people and trying to find a laundromat. The latter we succeeded in as we wear leving to go to the air port. Go figure! Here are some pics of the highlights.

The Fam at Azrieli in Tel Aviv our last day in Israel
Wonderful sign in Shilo :)
This sign says "Shilo" and is at the entrance of the city
David and I at the Airport.
I saw this sign in Bet Shemesh. Who knew there was a branch there? I didn't see anybody playing "jungle" though

At the Mall in J'lem dad found a random screw on the floor and declared he found the problem with the middle East. "There's a screw loose!"
David and I at the Mall in J'lem.
David "tending his sheep"
Aren't we crazy
Dad shaking hands with "toot." Toot means "strawberry" in Hebrew

Mom and David
do you think we were bored?
Max Brenner!!!
Aubz on her 18th B-day at Max Brenner in Tel Aviv
my henna tattoo

"I switched glasses when your back was turned"
I took this picture
Ainslee and Thomas in front of a Jungle sign.
Me, Esh, Carl, Ains, Thomas at Aroma on Ben Yehudah
Shabbat in Tsafririm

Therapy

2008-07-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

Walking is good for solving problems -
it's like the feet are little psychiatrists. ~Pepper Giardino

My life is too boring

2008-07-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

Lately I've read a couple of books about an American families adventures growing up in the jungles of Peru. They lived with the Indians, like the indians for many years. They learned the language and the culture and the kids grew up feeling very at home in that culture. The books tell all kinds of stories about rafting and camping and "bright" ideas that they had. It does not sound particularly safe at all but it sounds exciting, eventful, and adventurous, and most of all DANGEROUS! Funny thing is it makes me want to go there and experience it. Yes, the book does point out how many times they almost died and how close they were to getting bit by snakes and how they did get attacked by bats and got hepatitis and polio and all kinds of things. The thing is they definately lived life to the fullest and didn't sit around bored. They took advantage of what God gave them and didn't waste it. Plus, all four kids (2 girls and 2 boys) lived through it all to adulthood. Thus, proving it can be done.

It's interesting timing seeing as a patient at work today told me his wife thought I was beautiful and too pretty to have hurt my finger (I was wearing my splint). Hmm, so I'm too pretty to have jammed a silly finger but I want to go and raft down rivers that indians have a hard time navigating through alive.

Well, to prove that I do the best that I can with what I have here in America I'm posting a picture of my scab from when I was swinging and it sent me airborne. See, I try my best to live on the edge. :) Notice though that the scab is heart shaped. Yes, even it was pretty. haha

Is it one or Two

2008-07-15T20:21:00.001-07:00

How many napkins are there?

I didn't think I was in a hurry!

2008-07-05T18:46:00.000-07:00

Me with wild afterswimming bangs

I enjoyed a nice relaxing 4th of July yesterday. Yesterday afternoon a couple of friends and I were planning to go swimming but the public pool was closed. So, Thomas let us come swim at his aparment complex. This random guy asked Thomas if we were Russian because he heard the "accent." We of course told him we had all grown up right here in town. He then pointed at me and said that I definately didn't look American and looked Russian to him. I controled my laughter and remained rather confused. It turns out he's Egyptian but moved to the states when he was 14.
Someone mentioned all of us had done some international travel so he told us that he'd like to visit "Israel, or Palestine someday." I bit my tongue. HARD!

Later I went out to some friend's house with my family and swam some more, road four-wheelers and ate BBQ. It was a rather wonderful day. Too bad I didn't get a tan or burn even without sunscreen.

David's graduation

2008-06-22T13:17:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend David graduated from highschool. That signals mom's retirement from homeschooling. The ceremony/reception went great and a lot of people attended. Here are some pics from the day.

David speaking

Mom! I don't know what that look on her face was

Dad sang a song after a short speech

my cousin Mercedes
Granny Hazel (great-grandmother) and her husband Vernon
Mercedes and mom's cousin's daughter Jewel
picture/guest signing table
food!

Brief update

2008-06-06T22:23:00.000-07:00

Well, so much has happened in the last few weeks so I'll just hit on some of the highlights.

Finals are over!!!! I ended the semester with my desired 4.0 by the skin of my teeth and the help of my friends. Finals week included many late night runs for some ice cream and orders from friends to calm down and remember that I would live through the week otherwise Amy would kill me. Wait, if I died then she couldn't have killed me! See what a finals brain will do to you? They tricked me! Ha.

Well, as finals ended the same day Amy arrived to visit for a week. We took several day trips and thoroughly enjoyed our time together. We hung out with friends and I took her to my regular Bible studies so she could see who all I hung out with and what we do. I even got to teach her how to play jungle!

David graduated almost 2 weeks ago! Lots of family came in to celebrate and we enjoyed the visiting time. Along with his graduation weekend I got the pleasure of having a swing break on me and send me flying. The adventures seem to never end.

Esh left for Israel right after Memorial day. A few tears were shed and goodbyes said. I'm just really thankful for the vonage phone! We've been able to talk almost everyday so far so that has been nice.

Well, I guess that's pretty much the highlights. Oh, and I got summoned for jury duty for the first time. :(

Worst of all David got held up at work. That was a first and hopefully a last. Nobody was injured thankfully but it was a pretty wild experience.

Here are some pictures.

Evidence of road tripping

In keeping with tradition. . .

Beginning a new tradition

My bestest friends hanging out together

aren't we a gorgeous threesome. . . wait, foursome.

in memory of the early days of my friendship with Amy
Starbucks makes us smile

park pictures

Taking a rest in the cool sand
Me pretending to have energy late at night
Toast, tea, and Psalms was our favorite night time combination
before the waterballoon fight. . .
Waiting to begin the waterballoon fight

Neno's "dorm kids"
the dorm kids gone wild
Tree pic.
Amy finally got her boarder pic!Friends in the sand

My 21st one month late

2008-04-24T13:46:00.001-07:00

I figured in honor of the 1 month anniversary of turning 21 I should post some birthday pics. Sorry it's been so long. Life's been busy and I've been busy living it instead of documenting it.

Gourds!

Ainslee

Dad!

Me and the most delicious cake ever! Chocolate with whitechocolate and espresso icing and chocolate covered strawberries. Don't tell me your mouth isn't watering.
What's a birthday without a little brother and some Jones?
Carl graciously made me a matching "bubba" fork.
Mom was excited!

Yep, I rode an untamed donkey. This time I stayed on!
MOOOOOOve over, I turned 21!

David on the donkey
The donkey trainer with the donkey.

Weekend adventures

2008-04-21T22:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't taken pics of my new hair do for the week or the battle scars from the crash but here are pics of Jonah. It's looking as if he's toast so I'm just thankful he was an organ donor. hahaha. God really preserved me and I have very few injuries and what I have are very minor. My finger is jammed pretty badly and my left arm has some marks on it from the air bag. These pics were all taken today. Today for school I had to drive right by the scene of the crash. Well, I'll write more later. . .

notice the dent in the battery
air bag! My first clue that I was not able to stop in time. The stuff in the passenger floor board was put there by the towtruck guy.

Spring break entertainment

2008-04-06T21:16:00.000-07:00

The raido is great on road trips. Especially when Carl has rewritten songs and sings over the original! Enjoy the laugh.

Spring Break Part 2

2008-04-06T20:44:00.000-07:00

We went to Austin for the second part of the trip and hung out with Carl's family. We got to hang out on the lake, take a quick tour of the captiol, shop at an outlet mall, and just relax. On the way home we drug the drive out as long as possible to delay the return to reality. Sadly reality still came but we had fun getting there. Me at the Capitol
Esh and Carl at Lake Travis
Carl and Chris
Me! Yes I did actually get up.
Nice boat hair!
Bubba and Esh! She had no idea when I took the pic.
Carl
Me!
Mel, Esh and the bluebonnets
Tres Amigos outside the capitol

Ready to go hang out with Carl's friends and watch a movie
Moments before she was asleep.
Aren't we darlin'?
Eww, it's all wet.

Tippy toes make one appear taller fyi

Carl on the lake!

Spring Break Part 1

2008-03-31T18:16:00.000-07:00

Guess who's tall enough to ride?

The whole crew: Ainslee, Me, Alex, Carl, Esh

<< Carl and Bob
^Jr. being "picked up" by Ainslee
^Ainslee and me leaving Six Flags

Elaina and me
Carl

Laura and Alex

Spring break was a blast! It started off with a flight to Dallas on Monday night to meet up with friends and help out in an orphanage. By the time I got there the girls in the house were gone to another home for a few days but that gave us more time to spend with the family that runs the home we were staying in. The Patinos are very sweet people and have such a heart for God. I really enjoyed spending time with them and listening to Laura. She has some great wisdom. Their two kids (Junior and Elaina) are so fun! Elaina helped me wash baseboards and dust. She's such a big helper for a four year old. Junior went to Six Flags with us and kept us laughing. Please pray for the Patinos as they take care of these teenage girls and ask that God would give them the encouragement that they need on the hard days.

I'm back!

2008-03-24T08:25:00.000-07:00

Esh and I on the way back
Carl singing "If Shania Was Mine" (his own creation)
Ainslee and "Bob"
Well, I'm back at the ol' casa. Not exactly thrilled about it but life must get back to the usual grind at some point I guess. I had an awesome spring break trip with some awesome friends. I only have a few pics but I'll post more when I get them. There are pleanty of stories to tell too! Check back for more pics/stories later!

It's Spring Break!!!!!!

2008-03-14T17:08:00.000-07:00

YEAH! I'm officially out of school for more than a week! The next week will be rather busy so I don't know when I'll blog again. On Monday night I'm off to help out in an orphanage and then late in the week off to hang out at a lake and have fun. Then on the very last day of Spring Break I have a birthday! So everyone should come and visit me and we'll have a big BBQ!

Text

2008-03-11T09:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I know blog entries without pictures are boring and hardly worth reading, but since I'm announcing that I'm joining the world of texting now I figured it'd be okay to post without a picture this time. So, text me if you want to petition me for more pics on here or for anyother good reason.

Happenin's

2008-03-08T11:28:00.000-08:00

Chelsea and Ains
"A punch to the face"
Scary I know
Wow, a normal picture of Carl!
And a not so normal picture of Carl and Esh

Another week in the college life. My midterm behind me, on paper down, countless hours of Bible study, two 3 am nights and another week of work. It was really a very blessed week. Monday I had my bio lab midterm which wasn't too bad. TuesdayI learned about genetics in lab (some very scary stuff there), voted, worked, cleaned at the student center and then went to Bible study. I had a great discussion with Carl, Thomas and Severo about Torah until almost 3am when we called it quits. The time was really blessed and I left feeling refreshed and ready to delve into the word even more. When it came time for History at 8 that same morning it wasn't such a physically refreshing feeling but it was worth it. Wednesday wasn't super remarkable. I broke into Esh's house because my truck wouldn't start and no one was there. No worries, I was able to get in the back door and I didn't break anything. :)

Thursday I was able to sleep in and catch up on my rest! That night Carl, Esh, Ainslee, and Chelsea came over and ate, watched Napoleon Dynamite and played bumper pool! My terrible case of procrastination kept me up until almost 3 writing a paper due at 8. I completed it though! Friday night I was wiped out and crashed by 9 pm and didn't crawl out of bed until noon today! I think it's time for a nap too.

Oh and the most exciting thing about the week is that I purchased my plane ticket to go and help out in an orphanage during spring break! Esh and Carl are going so it should be a lot of fun! Only 5 more school days until the break!

Itsleapday

2008-02-29T14:37:00.000-08:00

I realized if you say that really fast it sounds like my kind of day! It's cool to have an extra day this year but it would be really great if it was an extra day dedicated to sleeping! Too bad my professors didn't think so too. I almost declared it sleep day in history class, but due to my prof.'s threat of throwing the dvd remote at anyone sleeping during the boring movie I managed to keep my head up and eyes open. Well, there's always Shabbat for a good day full of rest and studying scripture! I'm so ready there's several things I want to really study out tomorrow. Watch out fellow debators!

Serving

2008-02-22T22:02:00.001-08:00

Tonight I am full of restless feelings. I want to go somewhere, I want to be serving others, I want to be living a life of selflessness. I see others around me dedicating their lives to helping those that don't have the bare necessities of life. My friends are leaving the comfort of their American homes and their families to give their time and energy to those less well off. Tonight I've been reading people's blogs and this theme keeps coming up. Though I know I'm where God wants me to be right now it makes me think and pray and ask God what I'm supposed to be doing while here. Who am I supposed to help? How am I supposed to help others? I want to dedicate every single moment of every single day to God's plan for my life. That may not include gloriously obvious servant opportunities. It may be sitting in the lobby at school and listening to a complete stranger pour out their life story to me. It could be smiling and telling the cashier at the grocery store thank you. Or it might be going to the local orphans and reading them a story or playing with them. Everyday it may be something different but I know that He has something planned for me and I need to walk it out rather I understand it or ever know why I need to follow and not be the leader. No matter how great an idea I have sounds unless it's what I'm supposed to do it's not a great idea.

Well, enough rambling for the night. . .

I'm thankful for friends!

2008-02-18T22:40:00.000-08:00

Today was a super rough day for me. It seemed so many things kept going wrong and I was super overwhealmed. To start the day off I found out that a refinery near where my mom's dad lives had blown up. I found this out just as class was beginning so I couldn't check on him for a while. He was fine thankfully! My parents had been gone for the weekend visiting family and friends. . . and so it was me and g-pa here at the casa. I went to Esh's house to grab some lunch real fast but because I was being a goofy and trying to beat Esh into her house I inadvertantly locked my keys in my running car. DUMB!!!!! So, Esh and I run over to my house to search out a spare key. I was greeted at the door by mom's friend who was here to fix grandpa some lunch. She said he had fallen down and she had come and found him several hours later. I didn't know what to do really, someone was on their way to help him up and I had a class to get to. I made it to class a bit late but it worked out because they were still cleaning my lab room. When I got home from lab g-pa had fallen again and decided he didn't want to get up. We coaxed him to sit up on the floor and eat some food. I called Carl and asked if he would mind coming and helping me move g-pa to the couch. So, in a few moments Esh and Carl arrived and helped me move him. At this point I was emotionally drained and had a paper to write and all I wanted to do was cry and sleep and have no responsibilities. Esh calmed me down while Carl helped g-pa get settled. The rest of the afternoon I sat and wrote my paper and watched g-pa sleep. Carl and Esh came again to keep me company and help move g-pa back to his bed. By this time he was so confused it wasn't even funny. He wouldn't even eat a hamburger from his favorite restraunt.

For the rest of the evening Esh and I studied biology and Carl watched his Bourne movie on his lap top. My family got home about 12:30 am and I'm so glad not to be in charge anymore! Whew, relief! Now I just need to study for my biology paper.

I hope and pray I wake up to a better day tomorrow. Now I'm off to bed to catch a little shut-eye.

Last night/early this morning

2008-02-17T21:39:00.000-08:00

Last night Esh and I hosted several friends at my house. We watched The Guardian and played bumper pool and of course chatted and hung out. It was a blast! The last guests left about 3:30am but we were still having fun but knew this morning would come early.
Here are some pics of the adventures of the night. I got good pics of everyone except Mark(sorry!)but he was there as well.

"NOOOOO!!" A very typical face of Esh's near the bumper pool table!

Ask Ainslee. I don' t know!

Katie, Ainslee, and Keith watching the movie.

Me, Carl, and Carl's popcorn

Thomas catching popcorn.

Carlos playing pool

Thomas and Ainslee dancing.
Carl and his deuces
The popcorn making queen.
All the girls: Esh, Ainslee, Mel, Katie.
The popcorn queen's mess.
More of the mess.

Ainslee's art work.

Thomas with his head upside down.

So many changes in so little time!

2008-02-01T11:03:00.000-08:00

Well, life keeps me on my toes! So many unexpected and yet great things have come my way in the last 3 weeks.

This week I went to the chiropractor to get adjusted mainly due to hauling school books around! go figure. Well, the chiro asked me what I was doing these days which led to asking if I wanted a job! I've been kinda looking but also working for my dad so I haven't been real serious. The chiro then proceeded to describe exactly what I was looking for! The right number of hours, the right amount of pay, and the right job description! I was so excited. In a few minutes I head out to fill out paperwork and I believe I'll begin working next week. So, if you guys need to be adjusted give me a ring and I can help you out!

Also this week I had 5 tests! Some were blow off tests or pretests. . . I think I did well on 3 of them (really easy!), the biggest test (biology) I know I did well on, and the History pretest, well I think I bombed it but who cares? It doesn't count toward my grade so I didn't study for it since I had the others.

Life's been great but so busy I haven't taken pictures. I'll try to squeeze some in soon!

SURPRISE!

2008-01-17T12:15:00.001-08:00

Can you guess who the owner of these books is?

Monday I spoke with Esh on the phone for just long enough for her to tell me that she will be coming to the states this weekend to take classes at the local college. Shortly after that I ran out the door to meet with the midwives. We had a long but wonderful meeting all afternoon. We talked about a lot of things and they signed off a bunch of stuff for me. At the end we discussed my apprenticeship with them. Right now the clientele at the birthcenter is primarily Mennonite and many of them are uncomfortable with someone unmarried being at their prenatals/births. So, I really can't get a good number of clinicals here right now and also, I'm just not thinking that I'll be ready to be out on my own going to births in about a year and a half. As with everything timing is super important. I know midwifery is my calling but I don't think right now is the time. I came home and told my parents what we'd talked about. They asked what I planned to do and I said get a good job, keep doing my book work, and then go on my course's Dominican Republic trip in March. After about 5 minutes of talking I was convinced that going to college this semester would be better and I had a huge peace about it too. Monday was the first day of school and at this point it was about 4:30 pm on Monday! Mom and I ran up to the college and I signed up for classes. I was very blessed to get only the best professors even at that late date but that does mean I have 8 am classes 5 days a week!!!! AGHHHHH! I did get the last spot in several classes as well. God made such a path for me! So, this semester I'm taking Biology, the second half of American History, History of Jazz (super fun class), Medical Terminology, and Bowling. Esh and I are in bowling together and that should be fun. I've been once and already learned that Wii bowling gives one false hope! The prof. is really funny and this should definately be a blow-off class.

Well, those text-books are calling! Yep, it's the very textbooks in the picture.

The doggies!

2008-01-09T18:29:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of rare pictures of our dogs. Shawna normally sleeps on Larry Boy's bed instead of her own as she is doing in the first picture. The second picture is rare because they get along well and play together but never sleep so close to each other. I took both of these through the back doors so I'm glad they came out as well as they did.

As heard in the coffee shop. . .

2008-01-08T08:29:00.001-08:00

Coffee shops are interesting places to sit and inconspicuously listen to interesting conversations of those around you. I mean, honestly, when you take a book and go to Starbucks to study, how much of that time are you truly immersed in chemistry? How much of the time are you staring at the page and not truly reading a word but learning a lot about the philosophy of the people at the next table? I've heard many interesting things sitting at the local Starbucks but the quote that I can remember today was heard as mom and I were traveling home from Visiting Amy last week. When mom and I stop at a Starbucks on the road it's never just to get that caffeine fix. It always includes a use of the "facilites" as well. I was innocently sitting at a table sipping my Grande White Chocolate Mocha and waiting on mom when the nearby conversation between a mom and two daughters caught my attention. The older daughter (college age) declared to her mom and sister, "The fun of going to parties is lying about them." My thoughts pause, my head turns to see what the mother's response will be. My eyes see the mom's head nod in affirmation. My ears hear "of course" pass through the mother's lips. My brain becomes befuddled. I mean, who does she have to lie to? The most likely people are her parents and she's just confessed this to her mom who agreed with her!

I hope to post more "as heard in the coffee shop" entries as I hear them.

Vacation

2008-01-03T22:26:00.000-08:00

I had a great trip last week! My family and I went and stayed in a cabin on Brownwood Lake for a few days of R&R. I got a lot of studying and sleeping done and took some beautiful sunset pictures. Then on Sunday mom and I head to Dallas to visit Amy and her family. While we were there I ate Israeli food 3 times!!!!!! Amy and I played lots of nertz and Wii. I stayed up almost all night on New Years and then woke up again in time to watch the sun rise. I enjoyed some good shopping and general chatting and hangin' out. On the way back we stopped in Fort Worth and visited with Judith who is a friend of mine from school in Boise. She lives in Canada so it was a great blessing that we ended up in the same place at the same time.

As the sun begins to set. . .

Sunset

Hangin' out on the last day of 2007
You know you gotta sport some 'tude while puttin' on the lipgloss.
This is the movie we slept to on New Years afternoon.

Shirts courtesy of UJ

Best photo shoot ever! We HAD to eat chocolate to do it!

Judith and I

Starbucks!

2007-12-26T22:58:00.000-08:00

Esh's family asked me to pick up a couple gifts for their family here in town. One thing on the list was a Starbucks gift card. That was easy! I was in there anyway and got it. Problem was, they were out of the gift card holders. I didn't know what I was going to put it in at first and then it came to me! I made the following specialized gift card holder! My mom helped my decopage the box too! It was a lot of fun. I'd never decopaged before and was surprised how easy it really was!

Goodbye

2007-12-08T21:29:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had a goodbye that just seemed too easy? Today Esh left to go back home to Israel. Esh's Aunt, Uncle, and I all went to the airport with her and sat and chatted and laughed for about an hour. No tears were shed, though I think Esh and I came pretty close during the goodbye hug. I came home, at lunch, read the Bible with my family and napped. I missed her all day long and kept thinking of things I wanted to tell her "tonight when we hung out." More than once I had to remind myself that that night we'll hang out together won't be for a while. She called me from Houston for about 3 minutes, she texted from New Jersey and then she was gone. Thankfully we had dinner at some friend's house tonight and were still there when departure for Tel Aviv took place. On the way home I made a bad decision. I listened to her Israeli CD that we often listened to together. Ouch! I got home and the big cry came. I don't wish she was still here. More than anything I wish I was on that plane to Tel Aviv with her. I miss her, I miss her family and I miss Israel. I miss everything about that place. The hard things that grow you stronger, the yummy things that make your tummy smile, the view that make you smile, and the people that make you laugh and cry. It's such a wonderful blend. I guess I'll have to just agree with the card I gave Esh for the plane: Out of sight out of mind really is a big lie. Someday, someday, someday. . .

Motivation

2007-12-05T11:39:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been lacking motivation to study. I had a unit that I thought would be really easy and go really quickly and I've gotten bogged down and it's taking much longer to get done. Then discouragement sets in and then it's easy for me to lose motivation. I've been reading through Proverbs for a while which says things like "Go to the ant you sluggard," "A little sleep a little slumber a little folding of the hands at rest and so comes poverty like a theif in the night," "He becometh poor that dealeth [with] a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. . ."

Today I decided it was time to move on to another of my favorite books, Ecclesiastes. After reading the first couple of chapters this morning I'm not sure that was a great motivational choice. "What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?" "Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all [was] vanity and vexation of spirit, and [there was] no profit under the sun." "
For [there is] no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now [is] in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth the wise [man]? as the fool. Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun [is] grievous unto me: for all [is] vanity and vexation of spirit."

This last verse is the most tempting one:

"There is nothing better for a man, [than] that he should eat and drink, and [that] he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it [was] from the hand of God."

So much for starting the day off with some good motivation to study. . .

Trailmix Waterfall

2007-11-29T23:19:00.001-08:00

Last night Esh was sad about something so she flopped down on my bed. When she did I heard a strange noise and looked to see a waterfall of trailmix cascading to my floor. I started laughing so hard I couldn't move to stop the fall. The following is the series of emotions Esh went through when she realized what happened.

The mess

Crying

Laughing
Picking up the mess
5 second rule! Benefits of trail mix waterfalls

The new dog in my backyard

2007-11-29T23:14:00.000-08:00

We inherited a dog from my great-grandmother who was tired of having a hyper poemeranian puppy. She wouldn't have been my choice if I'd been given the option of several breeds but she's growing on all of us and is rather sweet. She's been great for Larry Boy and has caused him to be greatly revitalized. The pictures are really blurry but they're all I have and I figure it's about time I introduce her to the world.

Shawna (she came with the name)

Larry boy and Shawna

More snow!

2007-11-29T23:10:00.000-08:00

Saturday night some friends came over and we played in the new snow! They have some younger kids and we had fun building a snow family on my car, having a huge long snowball fight, eating snow, and the youngest even built us a snow man.

Thankful for Snow!

2007-11-22T18:17:00.000-08:00

I'm so thankful for a lot of things this year.

1. Dad is healthy and home and not recovering from triple bypass surgery like he was last year. 2. Lots of family came and we also had a guest from South Africa.
3. It SNOWED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had a blast having a snowball fight too.
Here are the pictures of the fun.

Mercedes (my 5 year old cousin) and my Aunt Kim

Mercedes and David and I'm in the background.

Mom and Mercedes

Kim taking pictures

When it stops falling on it's own we can make it continue!

Big gloves keep little hands warm too!

Earlier in the day. This is about half or less of all that we got.

Catching snow! This was also earlier in the day.

Granny Ann

David, Dad, Grandpa (3 generation picture)

Lloyd the South African guest.

Too bad you can't hear his accent in the picture.

Haircut and baby pics.

2007-11-12T16:11:00.000-08:00

Here are pics of my hair cut and some from visiting Alicia and some from a recent birth I went to. Yep, life's been busy.

The birth pics are mostly ones that I took. I took some other great ones but you guys wouldn't want to see them. Also, the placenta was awesome! It was huge for one thing and for another the cord was really long. Normally a umbilical cord is about 17-18 inches long. This one was 35 1/2! I have pics of the cord and placenta for those who don't mind some blood. Just e-mail me or leave me a comment saying you want to see them and I'll send them to you!

As far as the Alicia visit goes we had a blast and it was great to have a weekend away.

Alicia and I at the football game
All three of us!

Alicia, Esh, Me.

Esh and I trying on hats.
The whole crew with hats on. Back row: Becca, me, Alica Front Row: Kayla, Rachel, Esh.
The world's largest chimes with wonderful tones!
Esh feeding the ducks on the river.
Esh and Alicia at the football game.

Me, Alicia, Esh
The hair!
Back of the Hair
Front view again.

He's less than a minute old here so he's still kinda blue
Looking at his mommy!
Midwife # weighing him. He was, oy, I forgot, just over 9 or 10 lbs.
Me and midwife #1 doing the foot prints. The dad took about 10 pics of the process. LOL!
Trimming the cord. Look at all that hair!!!

Isn't he adoreable!

Recent pictures

2007-10-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

Due to Amy's prodding I'm updating my blog. I've been waiting for people to send me Sukkot pics and it hasn't happened.

Well, I've highlighted my hair and so you can see pics of that, and there are a few of Esh and I joking around.

Sukkot!

2007-09-27T15:37:00.000-07:00

Hag Sameach! Sukkot is now beginning! I don't have any pics yet but I plan on posting some in a couple weeks

Also, Esh has arrived here safely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The airline was cruel and had her plane delayed for 20 minutes (about the longets 20 minutes of my life).

Mason has arrived!

2007-09-11T19:14:00.001-07:00

I was awakened at 5 this morning with a call for a birth. It was going to be a quick one and one of the midwives was going to come pick me up in 5 minutes. I quickly got ready and we rushed outside of town to witness the miracle of birth. Mason made is grand entrance about 5 minutes after two of us got there (one midwife had gone ahead while we got the birth kit. . .) He was born after only 44 minutes of labor and was 10lbs 4 ounces! He's so cute! His mommy did a magnificent job and is definately a professional. Mason Bryant was happy to meet all 6 of his siblings, his parents, and of course his midwives.

I don't have any pics from today with me in them. :( Enjoy these though!

A UJ picture

2007-09-10T21:56:00.001-07:00

While unloading groceries a couple weeks ago I noticed a perfect photo op of UJ proportions! So, in honor of you Joe, I took this pic. No, I didn't set it up, yes peoples, it did just "happen" to lay this way.

Finisimo!

2007-09-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

Finally! After all this time I've been spending with this textbook I paid two dollars for I'm actually finished with it! Goodbyes don't normally come easy for me but this one sure did! Whew, I can breathe a sigh of relief. Time to celebrate and throw a party. Too bad everyones asleep and Starbucks is closed. I guess I'll have to wait to really celebrate until tomorrow.

Here She Comes!

2007-09-06T13:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's finally true. Esh is coming to America! I'll admit I thought it would never really happen but I hear the tickets have even been purchased. In case you couldn't tell I'm thrilled. I have a few things I'd like to get done before her arrival.

1. Vaccum out my car!

2. Buy some real ice cream.

3. Finish the unit of midwifery stuff I'm working on.

4. Makesure I can find Pride and Prejudice and that we have some popcorn.

I've been told that I need to update my blog more often. The truth is that right now my life is pretty boring. I can tell you all about Preterm babies, Babies of drug addicted mothers, Large babies. . . but I don't think that would catch everyone's interest. Other than that I've been sleeping and volunteering and going to prenatals. No worries though, when Esh gets here I'll once again have a social life and something to talk about.

How cute are the children!

2007-08-19T12:08:00.001-07:00

These kiddos are just so adoreable and I love the black and white function on my camera! Enjoy!

Luke and Larry
Landon and Justin
Justin and Jan
Sometimes life is just worth shouting about! (Jordan)
Lawson and big Luke
Jan and Justin again.
Luke was so comfey with Larry!

Babies have such a wonderful affect on people and their heads are so soft and fuzzy.
Jordan posing quickly so she can get back and look at the pics.
Luke
Jordan
Sometimes we get so happy we can only keep one eye open.

What makes me me!

2007-08-14T10:34:00.001-07:00

Here's why I love doing what I do!

She's HOME!!!!

2007-07-30T19:22:00.000-07:00

Midwife #1 called and surprised midwife #2 and I by announcing she was going to come by and see our progress at the birthcenter! We've been working on the bathroom and it's almost done. So, she got out of the hospital and came to give her opinion. Thankfully she was rather pleased and able to get around pretty well with her walker. She told midwife #2 and I that she'd be at work on Monday and shocked us by being right. We should have known that she's always right!

Midwife Update

2007-07-28T21:50:00.000-07:00

On Friday night they moved Midwife #1 to a normal hospital room! She's really liking that because that means there's a shower for her and it also is a sign of progress. They're trying to get her on some milder pain medication and she tried that today but with doing that and starting physical therapy it was just too much so this afternoon she went back to the stronger stuff for one more day. I also found out that she has all sorts of fractures all up and down her back and one in her neck. She's looking much better and wanting to be able to get back to births! Today she told Midwife #2 and I today that she was going to be back at work on Monday! We laughed and then she said "Monday in three weeks." Maybe we'll allow her to come and lay on the couch that day. Keep her in your prayers, she's got a ways to go yet.

My very wild week.

2007-07-26T20:46:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can hardly believe it's almost Friday. So much has happend and so little sleep. Here's a brief run down of my week.
It started off quite innocently and pretty ordinary. Studying, working out, working. . . Tuesday at about noon everything changed. I heard the special midwife ringtone coming from my cell phone and answered quickly. I was not prepared to hear what the midwife (here on out midwife #2) told me though. I could tell she'd been crying and was crying so I knew it wasn't a birth or anything good. The other midwife(midwife #1) had been in a bad car accident and midwife #2 was at the hospital with her. Midwife #1's two oldest sons were with her and they we're hit by a car that ran a red light at 65 mph. Midwife #1 and her sons were getting CAT scans at that time. The boys were really in quite good condition. One had a concussion (Ty) and the other one (Jacob) had major bruising from the seat belt. They kept Jacob overnight to monitor him (I don't really know what for). Midwife #1 was in worse shape though. Her pelvis was broken in 4 places and her sacrum was also fractured more than once. Her spleen was bleeding at first but it sealed itself off and so they decided to leave it and just monitor it. I was at work but was able to go by a little later in the the afternoon.
After work mom and I went and helped midwife #2 finish painting the new bathroom at the birthcenter so that it would be more ready for prenatal day. Just as we began washing up at 10:30 midwife #2 called me and said we had a client in labor. I rushed home and showered, changed clothes, ate dinner and napped for a very few minutes before being up all night at a wonderfully perfect birth! I went ahead and went to work on Wednesday at 1 and worked all afternoon.
Wednesday night I went to see midwife #1 and check on her. I ended up staying at the hospital until about 10 pm. At this point I haven't really slept (more than 15 minutes here and there) in about 40 hours! I got home and crashed until 7:45 when it was time to get ready for prenatals. Midwife #2 and I did prenatals all until about 3:30 and then I went to work, got home, ate, did a walmart run for the birthcenter and now, here I am about to go to bed and sleep until it's time to get up for MORE prenatals! That's the short version!

Questionable Squash!

2007-07-10T18:45:00.000-07:00

My family has a garden and a sense of humor and imagination. So, go ahead and picture what we do when we find an interesting shaped squash. Well, I'll go ahead and allow you to see pictures of what we do! Also, there's a pic of my new haircut for those of you that haven't seen it!

Bass clef squash

Questionable squash
The haircut!
Dad questioning the squash
Questionable David
Saxaphone squash
Snake Squash
Uzzi Squash

Adventures in Jonah!

2007-06-18T19:40:00.001-07:00

Yes, Jonah has decided he wants some more attention. This morning when the guy got here to spray our trees dad went out to move Jonah so he wouldn't get sprayed. Well, Jonah refused to start so we prepared to get a new battery. Jonah refused to be jumped off despite many efforts so we disconnected the battery and I put the battery in the trunk of dad's car (for those of you who haven't carried a car battery before, know that they're much heavier than cell phone batteries). The ol' battery tested to be fine so we set to work scrubbing off the corosion. Grandpa and I scrubbed away with baking soda and water and got it all cleaned up. He still refused to start. I guess he really wanted some attention from the tow truck and mechanic. Plus, since he'd gotten tree chemicals all over him I had to give him a scrub down right there in the street. Let me tell ya, he's spick and span clean! He just needs to get a new starter so we can go for a ride. Thankfully we had an extra car that I can drive for the time being. I think this one's a girl (just my opinion) so hopefully she'll run well for me.

I guess today I wasn't supposed to study! Jonah gives directions sometimes. I had been talking about how I needed to wash him for a while. I guess he just got antsy for his bath. I'll have to let him know that he can ask more nicely in the future.

Summer time is here!

2007-06-17T19:11:00.000-07:00

The heat has arrived! It really hasn't been so bad but it has let everyone know that it is summer. Work's been going well, and I've been doing some volunteering with the local crisis pregnancy center. The birth center has moved across town and I've helped with that and on top of everything tried to stay up with studying. Believe it or not I've still had time to sleep at night!

David and I have started biking together some which has provided some good brother-sister time. I have learned though that my bike has a mind of it's own when it comes to switching gears. : )

Esh has gotten great reports on her platelets lately and she should soon be off the steriods!

Well, sorry this is so ecclectic but that's all that's really been happening!

Amy's Graduation!

2007-05-28T00:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long delay. So much has happened in the last month! Amy graduated, Esh's platelet counts got back well within the normal range, and we had a big Shavuot gathering! The only one of those that I have pictures of though is Amy's graduation. There were so many cameras present that I didn't get too many great shots myself so I'm waiting to get some better ones from UJ and Amy soon.

Jones pictures!
Abbe, Mike, Amy, Joe, Dave, Cheryl, and I musn't forget Abuelo.

Here she is in cap and gown.
Such a typical Amy face!

The Grad herself
Randomness
"Uncle Joe" with his Jones Soda
Amy, Mike, and Abbe
Amy and Abuelo

2007-05-12T21:49:00.000-07:00

Well, I took a short road trip today to get some snuggles from some cute babies! Luke is now 6 1/2 months old and got his first tooth the day after I last saw him last week. Justin is now 5 days old and cuter than ever and has already gained two ounces of weight. Here are some snap shots from the day.

Justin's big sister Jordan (18 months old)

Luke and Me!

Kara and Justin (doesn't she look awesome!)

Leslie and Luke

Luke

He's here and happy!

2007-05-09T18:52:00.000-07:00

Just wanted everyone to know that Justin Zechariah arrived safely via C-Section on Monday night. He's adoreable and thinks he was created to suck on something at all times! My finger was one of his favorites. In fact for a while when I held him he refused to take his paci and insisted that I wash my finger and let him suck on it. I didn't mind though. He did leave some skin on it so all's good. Here's some pics of the long awaited little guy. Oh, he was 8 lbs 7 ounces and 20 inches long.

Also, mommy and baby are very healthy and got to go home today. You'd think mommy had had a homebirth afterall with how she gets around.

Notice what's his mouth!

Justin and Mommy
Justin and Daddy
Justin and Granny (paternal side)
Just Justin (and Granny's right hand)
Justin yawning with his favorite midwifery student! I guess I exhausted him telling him his birth story. LOL!

BrookLyn and family!

2007-05-03T12:56:00.000-07:00

BrookLyn's parents
BrookLyn and I!
Micah and David
BrookLyn and Micah
Sorry it's been so long since I updated. Life's been busy and fun and well, I don't know what else.

Here's pics from BrookLyn and her family's visit. We had a blast with them and enjoyed all the sweet kiddos. I didn't get many pics but BrookLyn's mom did and I hope to get copies of those soon.

Enjoy!

Have truer words ever been spoken?

2007-04-26T13:43:00.000-07:00

A friend loves at all times,
And a brother is born for
adversity. Proverbs 17:17

While reading in Varney's Midwifery Fourth Edition on page 189 I found a quote that hit the nail right on the head in light of the verse above.

"Many girls place higher values on the cooperation aspects of
games than boys do. Examining play-time activities of fifth graders in the 1970s
one researcher found that aggressive legal debates over the rules appeared to be
enjoyed by the boys as much as the game itself [40]. Girls, on the other hand,
viewed the rules as open to innovation and less significant than keeping harmony
among the smaller group."

Show me!

2007-04-20T09:23:00.000-07:00

Show me Your ways, oh Yahweh;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the Elohim of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day.

Psalms 25:4-5

Yes people, I really did it!

2007-04-19T22:23:00.000-07:00

Here's the evidence! These pictures were taken on Monday and Friday. Yes, it still looks just as clean to this very moment. Don't pass out on me now but I do plan to keep it this way. No use having to start all over! Jonah is next. I filled his tummy up today for about $30 and so cleaning him can't be nearly so bad. LOL. I'll try to remember to post pics of him when he's all done.

BTW, for those of you who haven't been in my room the thing over my bed is a mosquito net that some member of my family actually slept under in PNG! I have it looped up over my bed because it's too hot to sleep under this time of year!

During!

A civilian officially!

2007-04-17T16:00:00.000-07:00

This is a few days late but I wanted to let everyone know that Alon is officially a civilian as of Sunday. He started a job on Sunday also. He's manager of a guest house kind of thing outside of Jerusalem.

The picture is of him in uniform with Esh. It's one of a very few good pictures of him!

Esh's platelets!

2007-04-15T18:11:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone one!

Hallelujah! This week Esh's platelets were 118,000 which is a rise of 17,000. The normal range is between 150,000 and 450,000 but that's still a significant enough rise that they can start weaning her off of the steriods! She's VERY thrilled about that but please pray that her body does indeed kick in strongly and begin producing platelets on it's own. She's ready to be rid of the side effects. The steroids have been zapping her energy and making her swell and making her feel hungry all the time. Also, she's got a cold right now that she's trying to kick. So, while she got great news and is thankfully and excited she's still not feeling so great physically.

Shalom!
Melen

And the Verdict is. . .

2007-04-14T21:49:00.000-07:00

Drum roll please!

I do at least resemble Helen Hunt! I got one vote of sort of, but only in pictures and the rest were "YOU DO LOOK LIKE HER!" or variations of that. So people, you have a movie star look alike in your midst. I will begin to sign autogrpahed photos when my salary reaches 7 figures. Until then, I am too busy to do such a thing.

Also, my car is named Jonah thanks to Amy who reccomended the suitable name! Thanks Amy, you get. hmm, a visit from Melen Hunt at your highschool graduation as a reward!
P.S. I'm posting this a few minutes early but I plan on being in bed before 12 am!

I MUST STAND UP!

2007-04-12T22:13:00.000-07:00

Movie cover.

The real Sophie

I just finished watching Sophie Scholl with my family. It's a true story about a German citizen and her brother that lived in Munich, Germany in 1943. What makes their story noteworthy is that they stood up! They refused to stand by while they heard stories of Jewish and those deemed mentally retarded disappearing. What did they do? They started and underground resistance group called the "White Rose." They wrote pahmphlets and passed them out at universities. They wrote messages on walls for the German public. Their mission was to educate the German people and to cause others to stand up for fellow Germans. Human beings just like them that were being killed by Hitler and the Nazis. People with families, children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents. Sophie and Franz and others refused to let fear rule them. They stood up and fought. They got caught. They stood trial. Still they stood for what was right. They said what they stood for. They cried. They prayed. They pleaded with God. They were brave. They died for their cause. Praying that it was not in vain. At their public trial they knew what the outcome would be but they used their trial as a platform to tell others the truth. The Nazis wanted others to witness it as a warning but the Scholls used it to spread the truth. So other Germans would be that brave and stand for human rights.

The hardest scene to watch was when Sophie's mom and dad came to say goodbye. Her dad told her she'd done the right thing and that he was proud of her. Her mom looked her in the eyes and said, "My little girl. You'll never walk through the door to our home again." Sophie replied, "Mom, I'll see you again in heaven." Women lost their children due to them writing articles and spreading them out. Mrs. Scholl lost her two children in the same day. Can you imagine? Now, as we were reminded when in Israel at Yad Vashem (the holocaust museam) think not only of Sophie and Hanz Scholl but of the children and grandchildren they should have had. What would the children of such brave and moral people have done? Would they have been doctors? Sophie was a children's nurse. Would she have been there when your aunt lay dying at age 3? Would she have encouraged your grandmother as your mother was sick with a fever? Would their offspring have found the cure for cancer? Would they have harbored children being persecuted by other governments? Would their grandchild have been your best friend? The person to stand by you when you needed a friend? Would they have been the teacher that a child needed to love them? Would they have been the neighbor that baked cookies for you just when you were down? What would they have done? Each person that died was a whole world. They had families and future generations.

What were our parents and granparents and even great grandparents doing at that time? Were they complaining because there was no sugar because of the war? Were they griping about a rainy day when they wanted to have a picnic?

Now, look at America. Everyday more freedoms are taken away. Everyday taxes get higher. They require more vaccinations or make laws that take the rights of parents away. They make laws that make it hard for women to seek the maternity care they want without CPS being called. They take away our freedom of speech more and more. What are we going to do? We need more Sophie Scholls. We must not stand idly by. We must stand up for what is right. How? I don't know. Where? I don't know yet. When? We must do it now. Tomorrow will be too late. Pray. Petition the Father to show you how to act. I don't want to die having not stood for the rights of humans. It's time to stand up.

Thank you Sophie for your act of bravery. It was not in vain. You planted seeds for many to take courage and stand up! Thank you!

Sophie and Hanz Scholl and their friend and fellow White rose member Christopher Probst's graves.

Car wash part 2

2007-04-10T16:24:00.000-07:00

I think my car now deserves a name after such an experience! I have no ideas though. Please give me suggestions!

Here's the rigged up fan set up!

Well, after I posted the adventure didn't quite end and Amy wanted me to post the rest of the story.

Since the seat was REALLY wet I needed to have a fan blow on it for a while. The hard thing about that is that my car is normally parked on the street and there's not plugs out there. We do have a two car garage so the solution seems simple, but that's just not so. My dad has a car, my mom has a van, and my grandpa's car is here too. It was determined that the van needed to remain in the garage and that my car would take the other spot. Well, the truck was in the garage and grandpa's car was behind it. Thus I had to move my car to behind the van and then move grandpa's car to in front of our house where my car had been. Then I had to move dad's truck to in front of the neightbor's house. Remember my car seat is still soaking wet so I'm driving in reverse a lot while sitting in the center seat. Then I put my car in the garage and grandpa's car in the drive way behind mine and then dad's truck behind that. Then I rigged up a fan to blow on the seat all night. All that took only about 15-20 minutes.

Adventures in Mel Land!

2007-04-09T16:57:00.000-07:00

Guess what?
Okay, my dad has been telling me I need to go to the car wash because my car has bird poop on it and that can ruin the paint. Yesterday he brought me a ticket for a free car wash so today I decided I'd go and make my dad happy. I didn't have much time so I took my book with me to study from while waiting in line. . . Well, the person in front of me was the last one to get the prescrub because it was quitting time. Thus, I got no prerinse to get the bird stuff off. Oh, well. So I pull on into the car wash and it starts. I lean over toward the passenger seat and study. Next thing I know my left hip is soaking wet. Yep. The drivers side door now leaks profusely. As I unbuckle quickly I look for something that's absorbant. All I see is two of my jackets. I put the grey one on the seat to soak up the water there and hold the denim one up to the long leaky part each time the water goes by. The jacket helped but more than once it just guided the water straight down to my feet where it made splashing noises. Finally the car wash is over and I am now supposed to drive home while sitting in a DRENCHED seat. No, I refuse! So, while sitting mostly in the middle seat (good thing I have 6 foot long Barbie legs) I try to buckle back up and drive like a normal human being. Man, the way everything looks is so different from the middle of the car. I got home climbed out and guess what? Not one bit of bird poop had come off after that whole ordeal!!!!!! So, I had to come in and get a bowl of water and go scrub it off myself. The car wash really didn't do anything for my car at all. It still looks awful and I'll have to wash it myself as usual as soon as I get the chance. ARGH!

By the way. The picture was taken about a year ago. I found a fork in my car and decided to put on my best road rage face. However I do believe that pic was taken at the very same intersection that the carwash I went to today is at.

Okay time for a poll!

2007-04-08T17:35:00.000-07:00

Please respond ASAP. The results will be posted on Sunday, April 15

Since the debate as of late seems to be wether or not I look like Helen Hunt I decided to end the debate with a poll. I'll post a pic of each of us and let everyone e-mail me their opinion. The address to e-mail is midwifemel@gmail.com

I apparently don't have any good recent pics of just me so I'm the one on the right! I added another one of me because Helen Hunt had pros taking her picture. So, I get two decent pics for her one professional picture!

She's 18 today! Congrats deary!

2007-04-08T11:59:00.000-07:00

She's arrived! She's and adult (well some would contest that).

So many memories after having been friends for so long. Just be thankful that digital cameras didn't exist 13 years ago!

Thanks for being the most wonderful best friend in the whole world and for always being there. I love you bunches and look forward to our adventures together in the future.

Happy Birthday Amy!

Wow, we do need to spend more time together! I have hardly any pics of you on my computer.

Home from the hospital and Esh news

2007-04-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

Well, Friday was an exciting day for Grandpa! He got to leave rehab! He spent the weekend with us since the weather was bad but is returning home to his apartment tonight. He's getting around very well with and without his walker. We're very impressed with his progress.

Ashley went back for more lab work today. The news was good in that her platelets are up to 101,000 from 96,000 last week but they were hoping for another big jump like last week. The nurse said that this is fine and normal and to be thankful that they hadn't dropped but she will have to stay on the steriods at a full dose for at least one more week. They'll gradually take her off over a 6 week time period so she's not looking forward to continuing on them since she's ravenously hungry all the time.

Yom Yaledet!

2007-04-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

Happy 20th Esh!!!!!!

You've made it two whole decades in this crazy world and lived over half of those years in the best country ever! Keep getting better and smiling and laughing and of course SHOPPING for good deals.

I know you feel old but honestly it's not that bad. Just wait until you get even older like me. I mean the last 2 weeks has really shown me that turning 20 is nothhing and that later in life things hit you harder. J/K

Wish I were there to serve the birthday spankings but alas, I'll let Anni do it instead.

May you have many more anniversaries of your birth! May your mom feel many times better today than she did 20 years ago!

I love you Esh!

Here's a mirror into Esh's last year of life!

The woman that worked so hard to be able to share Ashley with all of us! Thanks Tammy!

Pesach 2007!

2007-04-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

Our Pesach was wonderful! It seems every year we do something very different and enjoy whatever we do. This year we combined some traditional elements with what we did last year which was strictly Biblical. Last year we stood for the meal with our staves in hand and feet shod ready to leave in haste. This year we started off more traditional but with a definate twist. One sad thing was that as the Bells were preparing to leave for our house it was discovered that Luke had a fever of 103 so Mrs. Bell and Luke had to miss out on the festivities.

The evening started off with David washing everyone's feet as they entered. Then they went through the door way to the den and passed through the "Red Sea."

Passing through the Red Sea at the placing of the staff in the "water".

Dad placing the blood of the lamb on the door post.

David pouring the "wine."

David blessing the fruit of the vine

We took turns reading passages about each plague and mom had prepared visual aids for each plague such as tiny white beads for lice and she had Lawson hop across the room like a frog. . .

Mom telling a story

Lawson the frog

Lawson with "lice in his hair

Lawson reading about a plague.

That really helped everyone get into it a laugh and think about what it would have been like. We ate the bitter herbs which caused several people to make faces and some people actually enjoyed them and went back for seconds.

Lyssa after eating the bitter herbs

The lamb was wonderful! Mrs. Bell had prepared a wonderful spinich dish and delectable mashed potatoes. Someone else brought haroset which was delicious as well. After we ate several of us gathered to blow shofars and test out our skills.

David

Jim

Vicki

Lawson

Me

Landon

Lyssa

Leah
I think it took me the longest of anyone to make a sound but it was worth the work. Dad prepared several songs for us to sing including Dayenu, Go Down Moses, and Bechol Dor va Dor. We begged him to add on Ma Na Vu so that we could dance. We taught two others to do the dance and that made it even more fun. As 1 am approached people began to head for their homes but the three middle Bell kids spent the night. So, that was our Seder of 2007. Next Year in Yerushalaim?!!!!!

Lyssa,Me, and Leah

Lawson

Hooray for kosher marshmallows!

Leah and I

Lyssa found the afikomen

Lyssa with her prize!

Ashley's hosptial stay- The medical terminology textbook version

2007-04-03T08:40:00.000-07:00

Here is the simplified version of Ashley's hospital stay.

One of the main symptoms that sent Ashley to the hospital was what she described as purple lentigos which are technically called petachiae. Primarily she waited for the symptom to abate but when the symptoms only progressed and she began to show signs of mailaise she decided to go to the hospital to find out a diagnosis and prognosis. After they used a vacutainer blood extraction method they tested the blood and the hematologist informed her that she would be spending the night in the facility because her red blood cell count put caused her to be in a state of cachexia of which the etiology was unknown. While in the hospital Ashley felt that her autonomy was challenged by their refusal to let her remain ambulatory. However later she was able to avoid getting any decubitis by remaining ambulatory even when she was weak from her vertex to her most inferior point. On the ward she was placed in she was the only patient not in need of rhytidoplasty.

On Sunday the diagnosis was still unknown so they decided to do an incision into her Left dorsal illiac crest and an excision of bone marrow for a biopsy. To do this test they took her to the oncology ward which caused Ashley to have a panic attack. The pain from the bone marrow biopsy was unilateral and those around her unanimously agreed that the pain needed to dissipate instantaneously. Thankfully she did not experience causalgia but please pray that there will not be a cicatrix at the site of the bone marrow excision.

The test results came back negative for leukemia and so a diagnosis of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura and steroid therapy was prescribed. The steroids casued her phenotype to go from ectomorphic to endomorphic which distressed Esh some. There has been much pathalogic study of ITP but the etiology is as yet unknown. It is known that ITP is systemic though. The hematologist monitored her for visceral hemorrhage due to the reduced platlet levels. This also caused her to be in a state of pallor.

Due to the placement of an IV in her right arm and the bone marrow incision in her left hip her sleep was disturbed. On Monday the removal of the IV aided her comfort and when a eschar formed that greatly relieved her pain.

Due to mouth sores and then lack of energy her GI tract has had less work to accomplish.

On Tuesday she reached homeostasis and was allowed to return home. Her condition is still stable and they are montioring her to ensure that the condition is not chronic or recurrent.

Your petition of the Father is still appreciated.

Shalom,
Melbel(who is reading a Medical terminology and A&P book for school at the moment)

Chag Matzot!

2007-04-02T17:54:00.000-07:00

Well, it's that season again! Time to spread the Matzah and throw out the leaven!

Some Seders have already been done (those in Israel) and some are about to occur. This season is soooo fun! We're going to have several families/people over for ours with yummy lamb, haroset, bitter herbs, possibly lemonana, and of course MATZAH!

How we all long to be in Jerusalem to celebrate it. I guess this year once again we'll have to say, "next year in Jerusalem."

Another thing I'm looking forward to is so many Shabbats in such a short time! More days to sleep in and study nothing but the Bible. Ah!

I'll try to post pics of the Seder we have and share stories that always abound at special events when young children are present!

May you all have a wonderful Pesach this year!

The Lab work is in!

2007-04-01T12:06:00.000-07:00

Ashley went to the hospital to have more blood tests and to get back the rest of the results of some tests they did when she was in the hospital.

She got some great news! She's responding well to the steroids and her RBC count is now 96,000! They want her to stay on steroids for another week and then they'll begin to wean her off of the steroids and watch what her blood levels do as she goes off the steroids. From how well she has responded so far they expect that this will not be chronic but they can't tell that yet.

This morning Esh and I discussed that she'd begun to have several signs of IDP while we were in Jerusalem the week preceding her hospital stay. Thus it was coming on for a while but all the symptoms were seemingly small and isolated until she got the "purple frekles" and blood blisters in her mouth. She is very thankful that she didn't injur herself during that time because that could have been very serious. God is so good to us even when we don't know how much protection we need! We hiked all over the place and it would have been realitivly easy for her to have gotten a cut or bruise that could have been rather life threatening because her platelet count was so low. She said she really feels like she's been given a second chance at life and it changes a persons outlook.

I heard this song last night and it really made me think of her:

Live Like you Were Dying
Sung by, Tim McGraw

He said I was in my early forties
with a lot of life before me
when a moment came that stopped me on a dime
and I spent most of the next days
looking at the x-rays
Talking bout the options
and talking bout sweet time
I asked him when it sank in
that this might really be the real end
how�s it hit you when you get that kinda news
man what�d you do

and he said
I went sky diving
I went Rocky Mountain climbing
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named fumanchu
and I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter
and I gave forgiveness I�d been denying
and he said someday I hope you get the chance
to live like you were dying.

He said I was finally the husband
that most the time I wasn�t
and I became a friend a friend would like to have
and all the sudden going fishin
wasn�t such an imposition
and I went three times that year I lost my dad
well I finally read the good book
and I took a good long hard look
at what I�d do if I could do it all again

and then
I went sky diving
I went Rocky Mountain climbing
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named fumanchu
and I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter
and I gave forgiveness I�d been denying
and he said someday I hope you get the chance
to live like you were dying.

Like tomorrow was a gift and you got eternity to think about
what�d you do with it what did you do with it
what did I do with it
what would I do with it?

Sky diving
I went Rocky Mountain climbing
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named fumanchu
and then I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter
and I watched an eagle as it was flying
and he said someday I hope you get the chance
to live like you were dying.
To live like you were dying
To live like you were dying
To live like you were dying
To live like you were dying

So, when are we all going to go skydiving?

She's home!

2007-03-28T11:38:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the udate lull. Yesterday was a busy full day. I was awakened at about 6 am to go to a birth. The birth was beautiful but we ended up doing several prenatals also that afternoon. By the time I got home it was around 6 pm and I was tired. Studying plans were thrown out the window and I made plans for Ainslee to come over and watch a movie while my family went to see a speaker.

This morning I was able to talk to Ashley herself on the phone! She had just gotten home from the hospital and is doing so much better. Her blood count is at 19,000 which is up from 1,600. Anything below 5,000 puts you at great risk of brain hemorrhaging. Still pray that her numbers continue to go up to where they should be (100,000-150,000)and that the spot where the took the bone marrow out heals well as it is painful right now. Her appetite is not very big at all which makes taking the steroids difficult. She seems pretty perky now but is rather weak still.

Thanks for all the prayers! I know her family appreciates it.

Shalom,
Mel

Monday's update on Esh

2007-03-26T14:47:00.000-07:00

Well, it turns out she's doing better than she was but I hadn't been informed of how bad she was. Today she was able to eat half a piece of pizza (impressive to her mom at this point) and with her mom's help she took a shower. The treatment is helping but not at the rate that would let her go home soon. From what Neno (Ash's maternal grandmother) said we're looking at the 5-6 day hospital stay at this point. They had to do a bone marrow test to diagnose what she has and to rule out leukemia. . . She has the best disease out of the possibilites! She was given a local anesthesia and that's all when they extracted the bone marrow which made Ashley nervous and it was rather uncomfortable. Her mom said that they were literally drilling the bone out. They didn't give her the red blood cells as had been the plan at one point because they diagnosed it with the bone marrow test. Her rash is going away thankfully but her face still looks "bad" and so do her eyes. Neno and I aren't really sure what that means but that's what Tammy (Ashley's mom) told Neno. They are monitoring her to make sure she doesn't develop any internal hemorrhaging.

I know the name now and I've been researching it some. The prognosis is good about 80% of the time and I'm hoping and praying Esh is in that 80%. Please keep their whole family in your prayers and also, this has been rather hard on me especially since I was just there and now I'm so far away and she's such a close friend.

It has a name that I know not but never the less a name!

2007-03-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

Hello!
Esh's condition is finally known. They're calling it an "anti-immune disorder." I don't understand all that that implies because I'm getting this info 3rd or fourth hand. What I do know is that they'll treat it with steriods and if she responds well and quickly then she should be out of the hospital soon if not then she'll have to stay for 5-6 days. It's encouraging to have a term for it and a treament plan. She's been in the hospital for a little over a day but when everything's unknown it seems much longer than that.

Thanks for the prayers!
Mel

Update on Esh

2007-03-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

Not much new. I talked to her dad this morning just before he left for the hospital again (it was evening their time). He said all they know is that her RBC (red blood cell count) is LOW. Basically she is anemic but that may be a consequence of the condition and not the cause. Aubrey or I had that backwards before. They are going to or have injected a clump of RBCs into her hip which was a test and a treatment from my understanding. John said they still don't really know what's going on and they are running more tests until they can figure it out.

Keep them in your prayers please! I'll update as I get new information.

Prayer Request!!!!!

2007-03-24T14:27:00.000-07:00

Esh while I was in Israel.

This morning my friend in Israel (Ashley/Esh) called me to wish me a happy 20th so I was chatting away and she said, "Mel, I wanted to call you and tell you happy birthday but really my parents and I are on the way out the door to go to the hospital." Apparently Friday night before she went to bed she noticed a funny looking rash on her arms. It looked like purple freckles. She didn't think much about it but when she woke up in the morning the rash had spread and she had raised blood blister things in her mouth. A doctor friend reccomended that they go to the hospital to get it checked out but he thought it was a virus. Ash said it was not a big deal she was just going to get it checked out at the hosp. since the docs were closed. I asked her to call me when she got home later. Well, as it approached 11 PM her time and I hadn't heard anything I called her sister to find out what was up. The docs didn't know at all what it was. Her red blood cell count is elevated and they've done a cat scan and several blood tests. She has to stay at least overnight. Last Aubrey had heard they were waiting for the blood test results. Esh was upset before they even left for the hospital because it meant she didn't get to study today. Now that she has to stay Aubz and I are assuming she's really upset about that. Please pray for their whole family! I really wish I was still there with her now!!!!!

Finally pictures!

2007-03-24T09:24:00.000-07:00

I've put captions on these pictures but they only show up if you click on the slide show and watch it on slide instead of blogger.

Enjoy!

So you wanna see more pictures?

2007-03-22T09:54:00.000-07:00

I want to post more pics but Slide is "updating" right now so they'll have to wait for later.

We've been doing well and not too jetlagged at all. Last night mom crashed but we've had several very busy days since getting back. I've had two full prenatal days and today I have off to study/unpack/clean my room/do laundry. . . It's hard to beat Israeli food and the fact that there are kosher restraunts everywhere there. We're adjusting but feeling "homesick" for Jerusalem.

Shalom,
Mel

Pictures!

2007-03-19T22:13:00.001-07:00

We're stateside again

2007-03-19T18:57:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Sorry I quit posting. My plan was to blog on Friday afternoon after everything was closed and Ashley had to go somewhere. Well, when I sat down to do it I discovered that the interenet was down. It wasn't back up until a very short time before we had to leave so I spent the time with my friend instead of online. Sorry!

Our trip was rather uneventful and smooth. We did shed some tears as we embarked on the journey though. As we were packing our stuff in Jerusalem we couldn't figure out if we were packing to leave home or to go home. Jerusalem felt so homelike to all of us. We don't quite understand that because we're not city people but it just felt wonderful to be there. I was asked as on our very last plane today if I would turn around and go back right then. Without batting an eye I said yes! I'd get right back on a plane right now if someone offered a ticket to me. No, I don't just love flying. In fact since I've had some sinus issues this past week landing was very miserable all but the 5th time.

The weather cleared up for our last day of touring on Sunday. We also got to grab some Shwarma and falafel for our last meal in Eretz Israel and then Ashley and I walked down to Ben Yehudah and went to Aroma for a last ice coffee. Too bad I couldn't bring some back with me. I did however have a few shekels to use up so I got some wonderful cookies that come with carmel inbetween two sugar cookies (yummy! Best with ice coffee). At the airport I got a final bottle of Limonana (lemonade with nana which is a mint plant).

We went to the kotel (Western wall/ Wailing Wall) on Sunday. It was rather packed compared to when we;d gone before. It's moving to see so many praying together. Friday we went to Yad Vashem (the holocaust museum). Our guide was wonderful and the museum was very moving. After we left Ashley and I talked about how we'd been so frustrated when we were drenched and cold the day before. Then after being at the museum it seemed such a silly thing to have upset us. I mean, we were able to go back to the apartment with warm food in our hands and in a matter of moments shed the wet clothes and put on dry ones. Yes, we were very chilled and uncomfortable but it didn't last a long time and we had no fear of being killed at any moment.

Well, there's so much to tell. Once I get some batteries for my camera I plan on posting more pictures.

Shalom and thanks for the prayers!
Mel and family

Snow in Jerusalem???

2007-03-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's snowing/sleeting/raining/hailing! We've been soaked through about 3 times in the last 2 days. Makes you thankful for having your own vehicle.

We're having a blast overall though.

Well, I best enjoy the short time I have left with Ashley.

Shalom,
Mel

Pictures maybe!

2007-03-12T14:38:00.000-07:00

Alon (IDF soldier), Ashley, Mel.

Ashley, Aubrey, Mel, David. We were at Aroma which is a wonderful coffee shop! So much better than Starbucks.

Jane Meyer and I at the airport in Chicago.

David with Alon's gun.

Hey world,

We're in Jerusalem now. The last two days have been really busy. We left Haifa at about 7:30 am on Sunday and drove all the way to Eilat. That's about a 6 hour drive but we stopped at some places on the way. Sorry, but at the moment I can't even remember where. Today we got up at about 6:30 and left for Jerusalem but stopped at the Dead Sea and Masada on the way. The Dead Sea is crazy! It's so strange to float without having to do all those things we teach little kids to do in swimming lessons.

Oh, we've had felafel twice now for those of you that have been asking! We had some on the Tayellet (boardwalk) at Eilat. I also found several things I'd been looking for at their Shuk!!!!!! Yeah!

Tonight we got to Jerusalem and setteled in some. Then we went for a driving adventure to meet up with our friends from America that had just arrived and were to have dinner at their hotel. We discovered that the Bell's flight had been overbooked so they were stuck in Midland and should arrive here tomorrow. Such a bummer!

Well, I'll try once again to post some pictures.

Shalom from Jerusalem!

Melody and family! We love you all and miss you all too.

Okay, I'm not able to see what pics I'm putting up until they're up so some of these are strange choices. Sorry!

Sorry It's been so long!

2007-03-10T16:05:00.000-08:00

So much has happened since I last updated. I'm sorry but time flies by so quickly.

We spent the last three nights on the Sea of Galilee away from internet access. The funny thing is when you don't have access is the only time that you have the time to use it.

On the way to the Sea of Galilee we stopped at the Jordan River. It was interesting because the first thing we did was read the sign in Spanish. After you've seen so many signs in a foreign language and alphabet you're very thankful for signs in a language that you can at least understand better. Most places also have English so it wasn't that big of a deal but it was something that our family would enjoy!

We went on a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee which was interesting. It was a boat taking a bunch of young school children out and we were just add ons at the last minute. It was neat to think that this is the place that Yeshua was and spoke from and this is where the disciples went fishing. . . We've noticed though that it can be difficult to reflect on things here because people are always around and it's very common to them.

I've been contemplating this blog entry all weekend but it's now 2:15 am and all thoughts that I had have vanished. I am going to post some pictures finally!

Oh, dad did get a guitar in Tiberias and we've very much enjoyed that. It's great to have Dad's music around again.

Last Saturday night a friend of our friends stayed here for the night. He's an IDF soldier scheduled to get out of the army in 15 days! He's rather excited about that but has enjoyed his time serving his country. We were blessed to meet Alon when he was in the States about a year ago. It's rather a rather comforting thought to have a M-16 under the same roof as you. We feel VERY safe here but you feel extremely safe with a gun like that not too far away. Tonight Alon and his sister came for a visit so I got some pics of me lugging the M-16. No worries guys because Alon was holding the ammo I just had Samantha (the gun).

We went to the grocery store without any fluent Hebrew speakers the other day. It was an adventure but very exciting and fun. Dad and mom have both also driven all over the northern parts of Israel and done very well. We drove all along the Syrian border and that wasn't so comfortable but not too bad either.

Well, it's late and I would like to get some shut eye before our travels tomorrow.

Sorry this was so random and out of order!

Shalom and we miss you all!

Mel and Family

P.S. Sorry, blogger's being slow or something and won't load my pics. I'm too tired to keep messing with it. Maybe when we're in Jerusalem I'll have time to figure it out. Sorry! If not then just stop by our house when we're home and we'll show you the pics.

Adventures in Israel.

2007-03-03T13:36:00.000-08:00

Hey!

We've been here a couple days now and had some fun. Friday afternoon we got to go up to "Mount Carmel." Technically there is no single mountain called Mount Carmel but a whole range called the mountains of Carmel. The Catholics have a traditional site and that's the one we went to becuase they have a good place to look around on. We could see all the way to Jordan, Lebanon, the coast, the West bank. . . It's amazing to realize how small the country is.

Today we rested and slept in and tonight we went to the Kehila (congregation) for a Purim party. It was fun to see everyone's costumes. Also, the whole sevice was in Hebrew pretty much.

After Kehila we went out to eat. That was a bit of an adventure but I'll wait until we're stateside to share that story. It'll be more fun that way. We ended up eating at a place called Aroma. They have WONDERFUL "Ice Coffee" which is basically yhe best frappuccino ever! Move over Starbucks!

I've taken lots of picutes and will try to download them soon.

Shalom!
Mel and family.

We're here!!!!!!!

2007-03-01T13:36:00.000-08:00

We have arrived! All went very smoothly. We had a delightful visit with friends in Chicago. It's wonderful to meet people that you met online. We had no issues anywhere at all infact most times we took off a bit earlier than scheduled which was good.

Well, I haven't gotten much sleep the last few days and it's approaching midnight here so I think I'll hit the sack!

Thanks for the prayers.

Strike Averted!

2007-02-27T10:35:00.000-08:00

Just popping in real quick to say that the strike was averted so we should be on to Israel tomorrow! This is exciting but we were fine with it either way. We'd made plans to stay with friends in Wisconsin if our plane didn't leave Chicago for several days. Truly we were just trusting that God was totally in control and we'd be where we were supposed to be when we were supposed to be there.

Well, I must get back to packing!

The time is near!

2007-02-26T09:05:00.000-08:00

We leave for Israel in less than 48 hours!!!!!! Can you tell I'm a bit pumped?

Yesterday we had some airport victories and some concerns come up. We found out that we will be able to check our luggage through to Chicago from here. At first that was up in the air and we didn't really have time during our layover to pick up our luggage and recheck it. The concern is that Israeli government employees are threatening to strike on Wed. or Thurs. If they strike we might not be able to fly in and if we are able to fly in then we may be without our luggage for a few days. Please be praying with us about that.

Another thing that has us excited is some friends David and I met on a Homeschool Alumni forum are planning to come down from Wisconsin to keep us company during our layover in Chicago. They have a foot or more of snow right now but are expecting the roads to be clear enough to drive down. They're definately not Texans! Here if we get more than two snowflakes the entire city shuts down because we don't know how to handle it!

My plan is to keep updating my blog while we're gone but I can't make any promises since I really don't know how busy we'll be. I will take pleanty of pictures and share them!

I'll miss all of you but will be home just in time to turn 20! Time really does fly.

Blessings!
Mel