music: revelation song- Phillips, Craig and Dean

Worthy is the, Lamb who was slain
Holy, Holy, is He
Sing a new song, to him who sits on
Heaven's mercy seat

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

Clothed in rainbows, of living color
Flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder
Blessing and honor, strength and glory and power be
to You the only wise King

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

Filled with wonder, awestruck wonder
At the mention of your name
Jesus your name is power
Breath, and living water
Such a marvelous mystery
Yeah...

Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come, yeah
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings
You are my everything
And I will adore You

books: Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo

Spend any amount of time around me and you will no doubt discover that I am Christian to the bone. I'm proud of that and I don't have any problems with admitting my faith to anyone who cares to listen. I also love to read. I have lately been combining these two passions and I have been reading a few Christian-based books that I have really enjoyed. No doubt, my favorite book so far that I have read that is Christian-related is called Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo

I am not sure where I found out about this book, but I am so happy that I did. The book is basically written by a pastor whose son visited heaven during a near-death battle with extreme acute appendicitis and abdominal abscesses. Pastor Burpo didn't realize this until his son started talking about meeting Jesus and family members that died long before he was born. His son was only four when this happened. The book pretty much tells about how Todd and his son, Colton talked about how Colton saw heaven.

This book is so moving to me because it reinforces the part of my faith that is about the afterlife and Heaven. It also really made me realize that the best kind of faith to have is the raw faith of a child. I realized that children have the kind of faith that is so pure and raw and simple that it really makes you feel closer to God and everything spiritual in your life. Lately I have been trying to make my faith more pure, like a child's by praying simply and not trying to be a "fancy" or "show off" Christian in front of people, but rather a simple disciple of Jesus Christ.

I also remembered a situation in Sunday School earlier this year while reading this book. It was probably March or April and we were talking about God (obviously) in my Kindergarten Sunday School class and one of the little girls who pretty regularly comes to church and Sunday School raised her hand and said "I can't wait until I get to see God". This really touched me and I found connections with Colton's story. Both of these children have the kind of faith that I want. They are just excited about life and super excited about seeing and being with God for eternity in Heaven

I would highly recommend reading Heaven is For Real because it made me view my life so much differently. I realized that I don't want to be a "showy" Christian, all I want is to pure and true in my faith and simple, because you don't need to put on a show and use big abnormal words every time you pray. I hope that if you do read this book, you take something away from it that you can use to really improve your life.

Aidez Progress!

I finally finished the left front of the Aidez sweater I've been working on for ages!  I guess I'm about halfway finished with the sweater, and I still have a little bit of my first skein of Ecological Wool left, so I think I will be able to make the sleeves a size bigger, because they have a reputation of being a little too big.

Now I'm on to the right front of the sweater, which is described in the pattern as identical to the left front with all the shaping reversed, so I typed up a quick sheet that properly shows these decreases and stuff, so I can make sure that I shape correctly. I made it a pdf document, and I think it could be helpful to anyone who is making this sweater and isn't sure how to go about shaping the right side. See the right side pdf here: [click]

So now I am off to do my right front to the sweater, and I really fee like I need to work on my sister's gloves for her clarinet because she will need them this winter! I think I should focus on finishing her left glove instead of the right front of the Aidez. I want the Aidez to be finished by winter/fall, but the gloves will work quick and then they will be finished, which would be fantastic so I don't have to worry about it anymore!

my little lamb

When I got home from school on Friday I blogged and decided to make a little lamb to sit on top of my iHome. I knit all day and finished on Saturday with the assembly, and now I have my very own little lamb that was made with LB Fishermen's Wool in Nature's Brown and Natural!

I'm Bored Already...

For many people around the world, today is the last day of the 2010-2011 school year! Exciting right?
I for one was super excited until I got home from school today and I am sitting in my house. Alone. With nothing to do. My sister isn't here and I have no friends :(



Just kidding, I have friends.

Anyway, summer is here and I have an entire week until I get to go to summer school! I don't HAVE to go, but I am, so I don't experiance the boredom I am experiencing today. Anyway, I will probably end up knitting for hours on end for the next week, but I'm okay with that, because my Aidez is nowhere near finished, and I started it in January.

Good news, though... I'm almost done with the first side! I just did my second decrease at the 11.5" mark, and I am working my way up! I love the pattern and the look of the sweater, I just have no motivation. But now, I don't have anything to distract me, so I am going to renew the love of knitting to my brain/heart and I am going to finish this sweater so I can wear it in the fall! I really am excited about it.

Also, I was at the Kirkwood Knittery the other day (a month or so ago...) and I got some new yarns to make something random sometime soon! I am going to work on a little sheep guy one day probably this week because I want him to sit atop my iHome so I can see him every day! Just wait until you see the pictures! Maybe I should set apart a day this week to do that, because he won't take long, and that would be a good break from the big projects going on right now!

Hopefully I can blog more now that I have more time for yarn! I also have some fishermen's wool set aside for dyeing sometime this summer so I can make my teacher his scarf he has been begging for. Orange and Brown is only good hand-dyed, so that will be another summer project!
 Maybe I won't be lonely like this for the next two months!

the goal of a healthier me

I have been struggling with my weight and body image for a while now and I have finally decided to actually start trying to improve myself. I am not one of those self haters that is anorexic and everything, I just have a goal of feeling healthier and liking the way I look in pictures and stuff. I am only 5'3", so it's difficult enough to find clothes that fit, and my extra flab is not helping that at all.

Anyway... I found a website/iPhone app combo that has been helping me to achieve my goal of a healthier me. They are called "my fitness pal" and the app and website are both free. The basis is calorie and nutrient counting, which helps me to visualize what I am eating and how it is composed (fats, carbs, protein). The website gives me a calorie, fat, carb, and protein goal for the day and I try to be conscious enough of what I am eating that I can stay in those areas. I tried a similar app for a few months before now and I wasn't loving the setup and the range of foods, so I switched, but it was working very well.
I feel like when I was using the other app, I wasn't really thinking about what I was eating much differently because of the app and the calorie restriction, I was just trying to pick healthier options. I am honestly trying to be a healthier person, because habits made now in my life will impact me forever, and I want one of those habitual lifestyle choices to be healthy and happy.
I just wanted to share this with you because I have seen gradual results in the app before (about 5lbs lost) and I am looking forward to even more progress with this one! I am loving the setup and I am happy with my choices lately. I feel like I have been snacking less and when I am, I am snacking healthier, which is awesome!
If you are struggling to be healthier and want to maybe shed a few of those extra lbs, I highly recommend that you check out my fitness pal!

my fitness pal: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

I have a little thing at the bottom of the main page of this blog that shows my progress as far as how many more pounds I have to lose to get to my healthy goal weight for my size, it will update as I log my weight loss on my fitness pal!

knit night

I went to church for the knitting group and nobody was there, so now I am a sad and lonely knitter all alone in the world :(