Christmas stinking ROCKS! Part 2

I downloaded this WYSIWYG blog editor, Qumana, last night this morning, so I'm praying this will finally be the answer to all my blogging woes. So, here goes nothing...
So where was I? Oh right, the gifts. Awesomeness. ^^
So Friday I got my present from April, though I wasn't allowed to open it until Christmas (which I did as soon as I'd finished wrapping presents around 0030 that morning ^^); Sunday, Robert and Melissa blessed me with some cash in a card (did I mention I love them? (^w^) ), and another friend of our family gave us some pecan pralines in a cute tin (oishii!). Grandma Dorothy send us kids some money as well, and on Christmas Eve, Hilary gave me a beautiful pink and black houndstooth scarf/wrap:

and a tin full of the yummiest cookies. And let's not forget the cute little gold necklace I wound up with at the Well Christmas Dinner's white elephant gift exchange on Saturday.

Now, Christmas morning had come, and my wonderful mother gave me the entire Harajuku Lovers fragrance collection, complete with Love, Lil' Angel, Music, Baby, and G mini-spritzes, collector's drawstring bag, and collector's "stage" box;

and the prettiest pearl-and-diamond watch with a mother-of-pearl face:

(SmartBargains.com has got the most incredible prices on jewelry, I tell you!) She also ordered this coat for me from Victoria's Secret (they actually sell some great clothes!),

and she also preordered the Halo: Uprising graphic novel (brought to us by Marvel Comics),

and The Art of Halo: Creating a Visual World

for me a couple of months back from Amazon, and they should ship on Monday, 29 December. I'm so excited! 8(>v<)8

But nothing prepared me for the surprise I knew Dad had awaiting us the third-car garage: a near-mint condition Bowflex Extreme 2 (upgraded from the standard 210-lb capacity to 310 lbs)!!!

But, oh man, you should've seen the look on Mom's face when she opened the plain envelope Dad handed her to find a picture of the exact refrigerator she'd been looking at in to paper that morning cut out, with a promise to bring home the real thing! That's one thing she definitely didn't see coming! (^v^) Dad went to Howard's and bought it today, and it'll be delivered tomorrow. The coolest thing is that this is the first brand-new, mint condition fridge they've gotten (and boy, is it a cool fridge-no pun intended ^^;;).

Finally, I opened my inbox this morning to see a $15 gift certificate waiting for me from taking a customer survey for the Press-Enterprise a couple of weeks back. Now I can get those last two Halo novels from Borders! (^v^)v~Score!

And, as if all of that weren't enough, the 20% pay cut and cut in hours that my dad was going to have to take because his print shop hadn't enough work has just been completely reversed in specific answer to our prayers that their biggest client would increase their orders. In fact, not only will he not have a cut in pay, he will actually be working more than usual now! God is so AMAZING!!!

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Jesus Christ to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21) Note the lack of a comma after "exceedingly": this verse is saying that not only can He do abundantly beyond our wildest hopes, but exceedingly so! "Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace among men in whom He is well pleased!" (Luke 2:14, American Standard Version)

Christmas stinking ROCKS!

Okay, so today was pretty stinking AMAZING. And not just because of the presents or the turkey, or even because of being able to spend the day with my family with nothing to do and nowhere to be, but because of the amazing gifts that God so freely bestows on me, a wretch among wretches! I mean, seriously: like it wasn't enough to give us His Son, and even after the way we savagely murdered Him, to give us Heaven for free, new mercies every morning, and abundant grace according to His riches and glory! It's too much! WHY?!?!?! (*w*) *Sigh* Isn't our Lord good?

I've been working the last few weeks on a lovers' mitten and glove set for Brian and April (cutest couple ever), and I got to hand-deliver it today while they were at April's house, since I only finished it at about 0130 this morning. ^^;; I was excited about how the yarn had worked up so exactly all on its own, and about the fact that I'd even had a little left over (about one

 color repeat), so this could potentially be something I could sell, either completed or as a kit someday (most likely as a kit ^^;;) if the concept was well-received by my unwitting test subjects although they ere actually the ones who thought of the moneymaking opportunity for me ^^. However, I was a bit nervous as to the reception of the gift: would they think it was lame? Would the gloves/mitten even fit? Well, I am pleased to say that all of my fears were unfounded: they loved them! <(^.^<)(>^.^)>\(^o^)/ They even modeled them for me for my

 blog (it wasn't until later that I realized I'd forgotten to take pictures before wrapping them

 and all... Oops. ^^;;) Here they are, the dynamic duo (aren't they adorable?):

That short visit was such a blessing for me in so many ways! Thank you, Father; You always know just how best the bless me! (^w^)

Even though our family had to cut back our spending, we all got some amazing gifts for each other, and mine started with April's present on Friday: the most kawaii Hello Kitty Origami Letter Set and Hello Kitty bubble gum! (She knows me so well! ^^)

Ugh. I'll post the rest tomorrow. Blogger is being evil again, and this little semi-post has taken over THREE HOURS. CURSE YOU, BLOGGER!!!!!!! "P"(>.<)

Ryan's Sweater, Part 2

This Sunday, Robert gave me some pictures he took of Ryan's reaction upon receiving his perfectly-fitting sailor sweater. He told Mom and me that once Ryan touched it, "he was all Mr. Giggles," so he just had to take pictures and show us. These being extra copies, I got to keep them,  so now I'm working on making this adorable little boy and Internet celebrity. Or something like that. To my relief it was soft enough for the little guy after all. How cute!

A Sailor Sweater for Ryan Benjamin

One of the guys my dad ushers with at church, Robert, got married just over a year ago (or maybe longer, I don't really remember (^_^;) ), and not many months thereafter announced the impending arrival of his firstborn: a son to be named Ryan Benjamin (or, as his father put it, "Ryan been jammin'!"). He and his wife are so sweet, I decided to knit little Ryan a sweater, and settled on an adorable little sailor sweater pattern very quickly. Based on past experience, I assumed that while I had way more than enough time to complete it before his arrival, my remaining on task was unlikely at best, so I was relieved to find that the smallest size for the pattern was for 6 months. Sure enough, I've only just finished it today, and Ryan is a couple of months old. (^_^;) Thankfully, the yarn I had at my disposal was wool, so by the time he's big enough to wear it, it will be seasonally appropriate. Isn't it amazing that God is watching out for me in every way?

As always with my knitting, seeing a young girl knitting in public tends to draw a lot of attention from bystanders, and several people asked about it. I finally replaced the batteries in my digicam, and took come very nice photographs before I wrapped it up for surprise delivery tomorrow morning so that all of you could see how it turned out. So, without further ado, I give you... pictures!!!

Waiting for the other shoe to drop

Lately my life has been just amazing, which leaves me wondering when the other shoe will drop, and things will return to my sad excuse for normalcy. Which then prompts the question: where did that phrase even come from? Here's what UrbanDictionary.com has to say:

Waiting for the other shoe to drop

To await an event that is expected to happen, due to being causally linked to another event that has already been observed. Gets its origin from the joke in the example. A guest who checked into an inn one night was warned to be quiet because the guest in the room next to his was a light sleeper. As he undressed for bed, he dropped one shoe, which, sure enough, awakened the other guest. He managed to get the other shoe off in silence, and got into bed. An hour later. he heard a pounding on the wall and a shout: "When are you going to drop the other shoe?" Thus the term "waiting for the other shoe to drop."

I mean, lately my life has just generally been going right for once: I have a few amazing friends whom I get to see quite regularly at church, where I have resumed attending the Sunday and Wednesday night services after a long (and mostly just lazy) hiatus, I have finally been able to start unraveling the cause of my sudden weight gain earlier this year, and it is starting to (slowly) come back off (^o^) due to my new eating plan (not a "diet," mind you) and stepped-up workouts, I have been getting lots of compliments from my peers on my appearance (which I must confess I owe mostly to my mom's hairdressing skills... (^_^;) ), and all manner of other various and sometimes seemingly random blessing from Father, to the point of it being just ridiculous. Some of these aforementioned blessings may seem insignificant and even petty to some, but for someone with my history of rejection and ridicule, they mean so much... (TvT)

I feel like for the first time in my life I really belong, and that I am actually wanted... And that feels just too incredible for words. I am truly blessed, and I owe it all to the Lord! One thing I know: my past heartaches and failures have prepared me for my future, which He has promised me is good (Romans 8:28, Jeremiah 29:11, etc.). I just can't wait to see what He has for me, and I'm so glad that He has used these things in my past to make me into who I am today. I'd actually be friends with me now! (^_~)

People actually like this crap?

I think the Lord has been poking me lately to reanimate this near-defunct little Web log, and He has lately had to resort to some very strange measures to get my attention... And He's got it.

Last night I came home from Bible study to find an e-mail in my inbox from a Messianic Jewish pastor on the east coast, commenting on this post from last year.  He said he'd been studying the title Scripture for a sermon he was writing for a student of his in Ghana, and stumbled across my blog on Google. He said it was rare to find so young a person with such strong convictions, and that he'd felt led by the Holy Spirit to let me know that I was on the right track. I can't tell you how much this e-mail blessed me; I felt as though I'd been stuck with a blessing grenade in the heart by the Lord Himself! (Apologies for the "Halo" reference; I'm kind of a nerd that way... (-_-;) )

So, tonight, I get a text message from Facebook saying some person I don't know has sent me a message. I come upstairs about 2300 hours, open up the message, and I get another tac-nuke of a blessing: he'd googled the same Scripture, John 13:35, and says he's sorry for the bad experiences I'd had, he's gone through the same sort of thing, and wanted to let me know that there were people out there who care. If it weren't for my parents sleeping in the next room, I would've burst into laughter at the amazing grace of God to a wretch like me!

I am just astonished at the glory of our King, that with all of the universe to look after, He would sent these two messengers to minister to me in just the way that I needed (though before I knew it not), and at the same time, remind me of how far I've come these last 16 months. Why on Earth would He bother with me? It boggles the mind.

Baruch hashem, our Lord is good!

Facebook actually isn't evil after all

I see now that I am just going to have to force myself to post on a semi-regular basis now, because if I just wait until I feel like it, you get lulls of five months between posts... (-_-;) So here I am, posting a new one. Hurray.

Well, my room finally got redone, and I'd post pictures, but it's kind of messy right now and I forgot to take pictures sooner, because I keep expecting further improvements and delaying my photographic endeavors until I feel it's really "finished". I will soon, I promise! (^_^;)

I've also decided to get certified as a personal trainer and performance nutrition specialist with the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA), and then work at the gym by my house for a living. The awesome thing about it is that not only would my family's memberships be free, saving us $150 a month, but I would be getting paid to help people get healthy and fit, my job would actually make it easier for me to get my workouts in, it's close to home, it pays well, and I'd finally start pulling my weight (no pun intended) at home, easing the financial strain on my family! On top of that, the hours would be largely self-determined and flexible, and when I get married and have a family, there's a daycare on the premises so my children could come with me to work. The only "lose" in this situation is that I'll have to put to death my laziness, a price I'm willing to pay. (^_^)

I'm enrolling and ordering my course materials tomorrow morning, and since my credit card's APR just got lowered to 1.99%, I can charge the whole thing and pay it off myself, or with help from my wonderfully willing parents, with very little inconvenience. The whole deal, including the two certification courses, a weekend training seminar, and CPR/AED certification, will cost only about $1200! Once I start working, the savings in gym dues alone will pay for it in only a matter of months! I'm so excited, I can hardly wait! (^v^)

In the meantime, I finally ran out of reasonable excuses for avoiding Facebook, and signed up. I had no idea that so many people I know are on there! It's truly amazing how quickly I have acquired 27 friends already! At first, it seemed clunky and unwieldy, but I am quickly getting used to the interface, and I am already loving the advertisement policies. Unlike the often-inappropriate and immoral ads on Myspace, these all have been very tasteful, and give you the option of rating them as well. To top it off, the very first ad I saw, I kid you not, was for Knit Picks! How could I not fall in love with the whole scheme? (*w*)

I have been very remiss in putting off this post for so long, and by God's grace, I shall post much more often in the future. Keep checking back for updates! (^o^)"/"~bye!