Stop. Staring. At. Me.

So here I am, back in Terengganu, on the 4th day of Chinese New Year, in the middle of the night, sitting at my laptop. I feel something staring at me persistently. I ignore it. It continues to stare at me. I hear it call my name, I sneak a glance in that direction and I see exactly what it is. Only, it isn't just an "it". More like a giant pile of them. I ignore them. I turn back towards my laptop. Still, I can see them staring at me out of the corner of my eye. They just won't quit, will they? I try to ignore them again.

It's too late. My body has started responding to seeing them. My eyes have a mind of their own and keep darting towards them. My hands start shaking. My mind plays tricks on me and I imagine all sorts of things.

Then I can stand it no longer. I have to leave my room. Something must be done. They have unleashed something within me.

So... I step out of my room and promptly devour everything I can that is on the dining table. I eat from the containers that are already open, and I open those I haven't opened. It's torture, really, it is, to see so many jam tarts you know taste awesome, and not to be able to eat them because they are not meant for you. Torture, I tell you, tortureeeeeeee. And you know what else is equally bad? Trying to get to new year goodies but having to tear the cellophane tape. Those things are always the thing keeping people from being united with the food that will make them happy.

All these being said, I'm glad mummy made me bring new year goodies up with me. Even though they did get squashed up a bit on the journey, now that they have arrived with me, they help me keep a bit of the CNY mood going. Anddddd they make me happy in the middle of the night when I get hungry. Even though they are the ones who made me hungry in the first place.

Mummy, the jam tarts you made know my name! :O

Moral of the story:
Mummy knows best. Always. So when your mum asks you to bring new year goodies, bring them. Don't argue that they are going to be difficult to carry or that you won't have time to eat them. Listen to your mum and bring all that food with you. They can be your best friends in the middle of the night!

Also, you can take the Amanda out of the home full of people eating the whole day long and not caring how much weight they are going to put on, but you can never take the eatfulness out of the Amanda.

As was written on a T-shirt my family saw some time back (and which kept us plenty amused for a long time), there was eatness.

Happy Chinese New Year, everyone :D

Yeah, yeah, one of these days maybe I'll start being conscious enough about my health/weight to try and control myself from stuffing my face full of these food in the middle of the night. One of these days. Maybe. In the meantime, if anyone wants to snack on some new year goodies in the middle of the night, you know where to find me. Obviously, while stocks last ;P

Homey Smiley :)

It wasn't easy, but I finally managed to get these two goofballs to sit there and smile for me to take a proper photo!

It's really good to be home. It's true what they say - home is where the heart is. Niko is already back, and Koko is on his way home. To be surrounded by family, loved ones, this is pure bliss :)

Happy (2 days after the mainstream) Valentine's Day!

Colossians 3:14

But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

Well, who needs a particular day to celebrate love when the greatest gift of love has already been given to us? We only know how to love because of the love of God, and even then, the love we know of is nothing compared to how deep God's love for us is :)

Found this online and I really like it :)

So to whoever is reading this, please know that YOU ARE LOVED! :DDD

Lamentations 3:22-23 (King James Version)
It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY! :D

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDYYYYYY!!!

Thanks for being the best father in the whole wide world!

"In your eyes I've seen God's love,

In your words I've seen His wisdom,

Through your life I've found His grace"

Thank you for everything, daddy! I love you so much more than I can say!

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

I watched what is now my favourite video earlier today, after Niko sent me a link to it. It's a video based on the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant in the Bible (Matthew 18:21-35), and it's CHO CUTE!

The video has adults acting out the parable as told by kids, and aiyoooo it's just so cute lah! So cute that I was bugging so many people to go and watch it xD

To whoever sees this, make sure you watch until the very end of the video!

Happy 2015! :D

The first day in the year of 2015.

While 2014 brought a lot of change in my life, it also brought many reminders that no matter what happens, no matter what changes, God will never change. He is the same yesterday, today, forever. 

God has always been a faithful God, and He will always be a faithful God.

God has always been a loving Father, and He will always continue to be a loving Father.

God has always been a solid rock, and He will always be there to hold me steady.

God has always been there for me, He will always be there for me.

Sometimes I tell people "You're awesome! Don't you ever change!". Well, we are only human. We change. Whether it is on purpose or subconsciously, everybody changes. We can change for the better, we can change for the worse. Whatever it is, there is no denying that as human beings, it is in our nature to change.

I'm so glad that God doesn't change. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. I never have to fear that God will suddenly stop loving me just because I've done something wrong; I don't need to worry about my future because I know He has had a perfect future planned for me from even before I came into this world; I'm not afraid that bad things are happening because God is trying to punish the people, because I know God is a God of love, and love so great that everything we have ever done that deserves punishment has been put upon Jesus' shoulders, and Jesus has taken the punishment for anyone who believes in Him, so I know, I am certain without a shadow of a doubt, that whatever disasters and whatever horrible things that happens, it is not a sign of punishment. The punishment had already been taken by Jesus, by the blood that was shed by the one perfect man who chose to came down for us. For me. Wow.

Well, 2015. Bring it on!

I've never been one for new year's resolutions, but I do have to say that for 2015, I just want to learn to love Jesus more, for the love of God to mould me into the person He wants me to be, and for that love to guide me in all I do. I will definitely stumble here and there, but I look forward to a brand new year of me learning to trust in the Lord more and learning more about Him.

Happy new year, everyone! :)

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

Hellooooo!

I am back from a one-week Raya break, which I thoroughly enjoyed (although it was too short!). The best part about the break was that my whole family was around! Niko is on his year-end break, and koko got a week off work too, so all 5 of us were home! That was fun :D

Happy faces all around! :D Around. A round. 'Cause we're round, geddit? Geddit? HAHAHA

Church camp was going on too, and that was cool. Many other "young people" managed to make it to camp too, so it was fun hanging out with some of my "old" church friends, as well as making some new ones. It had been a while since we had a proper meet-up, the people from my Sunday School/YF/BB days. I am actually really grateful that I grew up in church and had this bunch of friends growing up, they probably kept me out of a lot of trouble! :)

Photo stolen from Eunice. This is my generation! :D

Of course, I also met up with some monkeys friends from secondary school! Since I was only in BP for very few days, I didn't get to meet up with some people I really really wanted to meet up with, but I did manage to have a meal (or two) with some of my TIGS friends! We actually met up to buka puasa at a beryani place, and of course, we made so much noise we made a complete fool of ourselves by being shushed by another customer, being told by the owner of the place that he can tell we are a very "lively" bunch of people, and having our photo taken and uploaded onto the place's Facebook page. We finally took the hint and shifted to McD, since it has proved itself worthy of swallowing our loud, excited voices and squeals and helping us not feel too awkward :D

Hahaha this picture took wayyyy too long to take, but I say it was worth it! :)

Weird people will be weird. Some of the faces that coloured my secondary school days!

All in all, I would say that was an awesome Raya break. I am reminded yet again by how blessed I am to know so many amazing  people and to be able to call them my family and friends.

SO VERY VERY VERY BLESSED!