The Gift for the Savior

Every year as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, we think about something we like to give him. At Christmas Eve this year, we sat around the nativity scene and wrote down the things we would like to do this year to show our love for the Savior. We then put the paper in the silver box. I know the Savior would be pleased as we strive to be better in words and deeds.

Inner Freedom

I have been thinking about freedom lately. The freedom our spiritual bodies feel. Most of the time we feel the constriction of our physical bodies with inflexibility, sickness or lethargy. We try to overcome this by exercising and eating healthy. Once we get to the deeper level of mind and spirit, it is not that easy to set up a plan and see its progression.

I practice meditation and pray to God. That is the time I get to check in with myself and see the condition of my spirit. I desire for the freedom of my spirit. One way to achieve that stage is to practice "non-attachment". For example, when someone say something hurtful to you, you feel bad. You choose to get attached to the things he says to you and develop negative emotion in yourself. We get attached to many things or people in this world. We are afraid of losing them. We are bound by these things and can't feel free from them.

When we ponder or meditate, we watch our minds and learn to focus on one thing. Once we feel the stillness of the mind, we can apply this to everything we encounter in life. We watch the thoughts and mind and direct it to the desired place. We detach ourselves from outside world and look inward. And this is practicing yoga.

My spirit desire to be free. One day maybe this desire would even disappear and then I would truly be free!

First Day of Preschool

Yes, he started preschool two weeks ago and enjoyed it a lot! He had no problem leaving me that day and so did I. We are the same type of person who loves adventure and adjust new environment quickly.

We went on the adventure after school to the Mt Airy Forest. The tree house fascinated him and we lingered there for a long time. He gave this big tree a hug but it's too big of the size for him....

So he found this one and he said,"it's perfect!"

Happy Halloween

He was the bravest knight at Truck-or-Treat. The sword was his new favorite. He was good not to use it among all the children. Playing sword fight is a thrill to him.

We made pumpkin cookies together. He made the "snake cookie". He was Tomas the Train at the school party. He was really curious about all the classrooms at school and got lots of yummy treats.

He had been talking about Transformer costume since day one. Every time he looked at the catalog, he got so excited but I told him it was too expensive. This morning I went to the store just to see if I could find a good sale. I called him to ask him what he liked. He said he really liked "Optimus Prime" but that would spend all mommy's money. Oh, bless his heart! I felt so touched by his sensitive and selfless response. He had a great time going around the neighborhood trick-or-treating with Daddy tonight. What a fun time of the year to see all the little ones dressing up and having a good time!

Baba carved this Jack-o-lantern with freehand. He's amazingly talented without a doubt. :)

Food Storage Analyzer

This post is for the recent give-away from Emergency Essential to write a review for their new food storage analyzer.

We have been gradually building up our food storage for Emergency. However we have not yet put together an inventory list. I tried to use the Food Storage Analyzer from Emergency Essential and it's very useful since I buy regularly from them. I also can put up the items I buy from the grocery stores or add my own item. It calculates the total calories that my food storage provide and the days they last for my family. It's a great tool and I'm very excited to finish my inventory. The only thing that I don't see from this tool is to show the target food group I should store. For example, it will be nice to know the quantity of protein, grains, sugar, salt... that I already store and how much I still need to get for each group. This way I would know better what to buy next.

God's Love

We went to the Louisville Temple yesterday. I drove us down there safe and sound which was the first time by the way. Baba didn't like to lose control of the wheel. He let me drive this time to give me experience of driving long distance and overcoming my fear of driving in the rain. I almost had an accident once when I slipped on the wet road and I was scared of driving in the rain since.

It was so wonderful to go back to the Lord's house to feel His love and be reminded the purpose of our life on earth. It's a sacred place of peace, love, wisdom and it's timeless. I'm so grateful to have a temple to go back often to remind me of all the beautiful covenants I made with God.

As we were about to leave the temple, I could not get the car to go. Yes, Baba let me drive again. ^_^ He had to switch to take the wheel and finally got the car to go after a few tries. Our hearts were racing because the car seemed it would stall in any minute. We were an hour and half away from home. It didn't look good at all. Our gas was low so we had to stop for gas, which made things worse. The car struggled when it stopped. We said a prayer and didn't stop praying all the way home. We did make it home and knew God stretched out His hands to us. We tried to start the car again and it just went dead. It surely was a miracle that we made it home yesterday. We feel Heavenly Father's love and are very grateful for His help.

Heuston Woods

Heuston Woods has a little lake beach that is quite attractive for Cincinnatians who are so far away from the ocean. It's about an hour drive north of Cincinnati. We like this beautiful place. It's a perfect day for a picnic at the beach! It calmed me down listening to the waves, feeling the wind, smelling the beach air.....