He's growing on me =)

Mom & Breezy Riding =)

Happy Birthday Breezy :)

Beating the odds ...

I remembered tonight over a milk shake at chic-fil-a that it's been five years since my mom's first surgery. The surgery that rocked her world, our family, and changed the way we lived. I was in college on my way back from a match when I talked to my mom and dad on the phone. They never wanted me to worry, they wanted me to focus on school, getting good grades, playing tennis, and being happy. Maybe it was something they said or just my DeJong gut but I got off the phone with a sudden need to go home. Unfortunately for me I was a little more than a hop, skip, and a jump away from doing so. There were many times in college when I showed up at Phil's house and informed him I was going home (I got homesick a lot) and I would always eventually reason out of it and realize it wasn't smart to drive through the night to spend a day at home. This time was different though I think he could tell I wasn't giving up. He tried to reason with me and though I had no logical explation I just said I have a feeling, I need to go. It was Easter weekend and right before our college tennis tournament. We had our final practice on Saturday and my coach allowed us both to go after practice. That was the longest practice ever, I kept looking at my watch and then adding 10 hours ... if I leave now I'll be home *here* ... yeah never as I expected. We finished practice, ran home and showered and slowly got on the road. I didn't tell my mom and dad I was coming. I even called my mom when we were stuck in a traffic jam in daytona telling her I had been at the library all night studying and I was on my way back to get to bed (sneaky sneaky). We got to south Florida after midnight and I wrote my mom and dad a note ... I don't remember something simple like I'm home & happy easter.

That was one of the best decisions my gutt ever told me to do. We spent Easter Sunday together and I was somewhat caught up on what may or may not happen the next day during her surgery. My dad waited at the hospital the entire day ... the longest surgery ever. I didn't know it was cancer until that night. Pat had mentioned something at dinner with Phil & I ... I remember shrugging it off and saying where did you hear that? My dad told me in the kitchen, from that its slow motion walking back to my room and trying to process everything. My only experience with the big C was horrible. I lost my grandma, my best friend, now it was my mom, my best friend ... and 5 years later I sit here ... on my couch in my grandma's house in West Palm. What a wild ride it's been ...

My mom is the strongest person I know, I don't know one single person in my life who would fight as hard as she has in the last 5 years, someone that has stayed so positive when top docters gave her little hope, she proves everyone wrong and does pushups in her surgeons offices post surgery. Yep ... that's my mom. I'm so proud to be her daughter and I'm so happy that stars have alligned and I was able to move closer. You don't realize how nice it is to be able to stop in and give your mom a hug until you live so far away that you can't do that.

So 5 years of living strong lance armstrong style, my mom still fights on. Bad news, good news, surgeries, doctors visits, chemo, radiation, mris, blood tests, ivs, hospital visits galore ... she battles through it all. Her life has completely changed, and yet she still remains the same positive person, the same loving mom that would do anything to help you out. I feel fortunate to live close enough to help her out and be here for her and my dad. So even if life gives us all lemons, DeJong's know how to make lemonade. We'll still smile and laugh and have a great time together, no matter what life throws our way ... it's that DeJong way. I hope we can all get to Holland next month and hang out with the dutch DeJong's and laugh so hard our cheeks hurt ... or is that our cheeks hurt because they're full of cheese and croquettes ... either way still equally enjoyable.

5 years ago our lives changed forever, one doctor gave her 6 months to live ... 4 1/2 years later every day she beats the odds (one Keith Urban song at a time)

I love you Mom ...

The Soundtrack of my life ...

A little known Melissa fact is that I used to watch the show "making the band" religiously. I even remember taping it on VHS tapes way back in high school. It was the 1st making the band with O-town and a little known artist named Ashley Parker Angel. Phil will laugh when he reads this since he knows of my small APA obsession. ha! Anyways, APA later released an album which I guess no one liked and one of his songs was called "The Soundtrack to my Life". Not sure why I had to share the little known fact because of the title but I felt the need to share. Most of my blog posts lately have been lacking in words lately. I forgot how much I enjoy writing and well a blog is really like an online diary. I'll blame it on life being busy and time flying bye ...

Lately I've caught some really good songs on my way into work in the mornings. I love when this happens, because if I have a good ride in I feel like it continues through the entire day. I've had some good CD's lately so it's not totally luck of the XM radio =) I started thinking about the soundtrack to my own life (see the title has a purpose). If I could pick a song for every monumentous occassion what tracks would play? Certain songs that take you back to memories, good times, good cries, good laughs, and even a certain person or group. So here would be my soundtrack:

• Any Keith Urban Song: Will forever make me think of my mom. Anytime I hear one on the radio I think of her.
• Lifehouse, Hanging By a Moment: This was the song playing in the first e-card email Phil ever sent me. I'd never heard of them before that 10 second e-card and to this day they've become one of my favorite bands.
• Donna Donna/Run Around Sue by Deon : My dad =) We've blasted the radio so many times. It just makes me smile thinking of the fun & the laughs.
  
• Bon Jovi/80's/90's rock: My Bro ... I think he'd be dissapointed if I picked just one song or even one genre of music to sum up our relationship. He's the guru of music, songs, and downloads. I say Bon Jovi because of one ride home from school in highschool, maybe the only time I've ever looked to the passenger seat to see my little brother singing and air drumming beside me ... "It's my life ... yeah it's now or never" ... Rockin it out Bon Jovi style ... engraved forever in my mind.
• If Bubba can dance I can too: I can't believe I still remember this song. This was a song way way back ... a country song I knew BEFORE I loved country music. This was a song that my grandma really liked ... guess she knew way back when how rocking country music really was :)
  
• We meet in the middle: My friends Brandy & Amber in NC ... american idol here we com

It's amazing how songs take you back to moments & people in time and how you can remember the words to your favorite songs even when you haven't sung them in years. The soundtrack to my life wouldn't even fit on one CD, for that I consider myself a pretty lucky girl =)

Perfect Day for a Pool Party =)

Phil had his first pool party birthday party Saturday. I can only imagine that it was his first, growing up in GA, school in north carolina, and then living in Atlanta ... we've never had our own pool in any of the birthdays I've spent with him. It turned out to be a FANTASTIC day for a pool party! I was a little worried we would have clouds or rain and then I wasn't sure what we would do. It was a lot of fun too, a mix of family, work friends, tennis friends, and softball friends. My dad made ribs and pineapple pork. It was delicious as always. Here are some pictures from the day. I didn't really get any great pictures of the cake before it got eaten :) yum ... I did manage to get a sunburn/tan. I'm looking forward to the summer days by the pool!

Jessica (from work), me, and Blair =)

Don't drop the baby! There's a crack in the slide so really he was the only one at the party who was able to do the slide and he loved it!!

nice jump :)

Happy Birthday Phil =)

Happy 27th Birthday to my fabulous husband =) We had a nice relaxing day today, decided to play soccer but realized we gave Levi all of our soccer balls. So we jetted to Sports Authority and bought a "not for Levi" soccer ball. It was a lot of fun and it's been quite a while since we've kicked the ball around. We could not have asked for a better weather weekend! It's been sunny and gorgeous since yesterday! Yesterday we had a nice pool party with a bunch of our friends. It was an awesome day, my dad came over and made pork and ribs that were delicious as usual! I'll post some pictures from yesterday next. Happy Birthday Phil, I love you :)

Phil sporting his bday shorts (another pick up from sports authority!)

This is from a few weekends ago, we rode our bikes to catch the parade in North Palm. We were in a hurry and didn't have time to blow up the tires for the bikes so it was a pretty painful ride! We raced back and barely missed the rain down pour.

Phil looking cool on the beach from our wedding ...

Happy Birthday!!!