Sunday, December 22, 2013

Advent of Sorts: Week Three

For Week One go [here]
For Week Two go [here]

WEEK THREE: Book of Mormon:
 This week, as with last week, I will quote a full scripture, and then give you a couple to look up for yourself.

For those of you who didn't know, I am a Mormon. As a Mormon, I believe that the Lord loves us as much as he loved people in Biblical times, and so God gives us a prophet today. The first prophet in modern times was Joseph Smith, and part of his mission as Prophet, was to translate a record kept by the peoples of the Americas chronicling their prophecies and revelations, similar to the Bible.

The scriptures this week come from the Book of Mormon, and give us further testimony of Christ and His divine mission on earth. (If you'd like to learn more about Mormons and their beliefs, there's a handy little button in the sidebar that says "I'm a Mormon" Click it!)


1 Nephi 11: 13, 18-21 ...And I beheld the city of Nazareth; and in the city of Nazareth I beheld a virgin, and she was exceedingly fair and white....And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh. And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she was carried away in teh Spirit fo the space of a time the angel spake unto me saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms. And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!
He Did Bring Glad Tidings to My Soul by Walter Rane (It's Samuel the Lamanite, right before he goes to prophecy to the Nephites by climbing up the wall of their city, and preaching from up there. They tried to shoot him with arrows but couldn't hit him. It's a great story all around.)

Helaman 14:2-7 (Samuel the Lamanite's prophecy one of my favorites) here's a highlight from this one: And behold, there shall a new star arise, such an one as ye never have behld; and this also shall be a sign unto you.
 
3 Nephi 1: 13-15 (The Nephites the night before Christ's birth, the fulfillment of Samuel's prophecy)

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Advent of Sorts: Week Two

Here is week two of the modified Advent. For week one go  [here]
WEEK TWO: New Testament

Matthew 1:20- 21  ...Behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
Blessed Art Thou Among Women by Walter Rane

Luke 1: 5-13 and 39-43
       This is a large chunk of scripture, and frankly I didn't want to type it all up. You should go look it up it's pretty dang good. 
For those of you who won't go look it up, here's the synopsis. Zacharias and Elizabeth are old, and childless. They are blessed with a baby, John  who later becomes John the Baptist who prepares the way for the Lord Jesus Christ to fulfill His earthly mission. (In the process Zacharias gets struck dumb, after he says his wife is old, as a sign that it will all really happen.) When Mary visits them, Elizabeth says her baby leapt in her womb because it recognized Mary's baby in her womb.

Friday, December 13, 2013

A Challenge

Some of you are young, like me. Some of you may be getting some extra cash over the holidays from extended family members as your holiday gift. I would like to offer you a challenge when it comes to this money.

Put it in savings.

Yep. Don't spend it. Well, don't spend it right away that is. The official challenge is to put it in your savings account, and wait. Wait to spend it for at least one month. Just try it out.

And I'm thinking that one month will pass and you'll totally forget that you're allowed to spend that money now, because Hey, it looks pretty good in that savings account. And you realize that it added quite nicely to your emergency fund.

If you're really daring, put it into retirement or investments, where after a month you really can't take it out. All it's really doing is adding to your net worth and ability to retire comfortably, or pay all cash on that house in a few years.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Progress

Hey, you see that little widget to the right of this post? Yeah, that one about the knitting. See that big number?

Yeah, that 10,000+ number. That means that I've knit over 6 miles of yarn this year. While it's only about half of my initial goal of 13 miles, it's still quite the accomplishment. I've never kept track of how much I've knit in a year before. It's kind of cool to see what I've done even if I don't have pictures of every project I've done.

I'm hoping to get another mile or so done before the New Year. And with classes done for the semester, a couple of long plane rides, and two weeks of 'vacation' between me and the New Year, I think I have a decent chance of getting them in.

I will post a picture montage of projects done this year, once the year is over, with the official count of yards/miles knit. Then, new goals will be set and we'll journey into a New Year full of potential, adventure, and probably some frustrations when it comes to knitting projects (among other things.)

Just wanted to celebrate a bit early, ya know?

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Finally, I know!

One of my hobbies is baking. I love baking, and cooking. I just love food in general.

A favorite of mine is Amish Friendship Bread. I know how to make the starter in case I want to make some bread, but don't have the starter. I love baking the bread and having it for breakfast. I love sharing it with others and passing along starters to friends.

However, something has come up over and over again when I pass the starter and instructions on to others.

"Why can't I use metal bowls or spoons?"

It says not to in all the instructions I've found, but it never explains why. I always just blindly followed the instructions. (The knitter in me quotes the mantra from the Yarn Harlot : Trust the pattern. In this case it's trust the recipe.)

Today, as I was doing some of my online 'work' (yes, I get paid for it, very little but I get paid so it does count as work), I came across a recipe that actually said WHY you don't use metal.

Now, you may laugh, and think I'm a bit slow, but Amish Friendship bread is a sourdough bread (which I already knew) and as such you have to let it ferment, or sour. If you do this with the aid of metal tools, the metal will change the flavor of the dough, causing the bread to taste off.

I don't particularly want to experiment and find out what it tastes like because I quite enjoy it, using my ceramic bowl and wooden spoons. For the rest of you, now you know.

A Shameless Self Promotion

So, I've noticed when I post that the blog is getting some hits. A lot more hits than followers. I mean, what's up with that?

I'm going to shamelessly self promote here. If you are reading this, please become a follower of the blog. It's easy. You click the little deal on the sidebar that says "Join this Site". And then you're a follower.

I'll be really happy and motivated to do cool things like giveaways and posting stuff on a regular basis. Things that 'real' blogs do.

If I can double my followers I might do something special. Like bake brownies or cute pictures of dogs or something.


Here's one right now in fact. 

;)

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Advent of Sorts: Week One

I had heard about a year ago about doing Advent. Someone in one of my discussion groups on Ravelry posted the scriptures they use for their Christmas Advent. While I liked the concept, I decided I'd like to tweak it a bit for, well, me. I think it fits a bit better this way. (However, I feel the full Advent they published is pretty good, for Easter, since it ends with the Resurrection, so stay tuned.)

For the next 3 Sundays, I will post scriptures of the modified Advent. Then on Christmas Eve I will post the final ones, and a special Christmas post will follow to end it all with a bang! (At least that's the plan ;) )

WEEK ONE: Old Testament

Isaiah 7:14  Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 

Friday, December 6, 2013

Christmas Spending

Just a quick thought, since Christmas is coming up.

"Christmas is not an emergency; it doesn't sneak up on you. Christmas is always in December, they don't move it; therefore it is not an emergency." (Dave Ramsey)

Yes, it's a tight time financially for pretty much everyone. However, if you have an emergency fund, keep this in mind. Christmas is a planned event. An emergency would be something like a flood or a catastrophic car accident. Leave the emergency fund for emergencies.

This might mean cutting back a bit this Christmas, but you can do it. You might as well focus more on what the purpose behind Christmas is (and it's NOT presents and Santa.).

Sunday, December 1, 2013

In a Nutshell

I think this sums up what life really is all about. I was raised in the LDS faith (still strong in it) and I always thought this was how ALL Christians lived their lives. Of course, no one is perfect, but this is what we should be aiming for in the simplest of terms.

Go out there, work hard so others don't have to pick up your slack or make up for your neglect.

And be nice to people. Everyone. I know it's hard, but you never know when you are the one person in a day who actually smiled at someone. Who spoke in a kind tone to them. Who went out of your way to help them, even if it was just by listening to them or smiling at them as you walked by.