The Candyland Perspective

Our first anniversary was AWESOME!  We had a great time staying down at the oceanfront in the same hotel where we stayed on our wedding night.  We had originally thought we even were in the same exact room, but we were off by a couple floors.  Oh well.  Anyway, we enjoyed a FABULOUS dinner at Eurasia Café, exchanged thoughtful gifts, and simply enjoyed ourselves.  The next morning we went to Pocahontas Pancakes down on Atlantic Ave.  We had gone there the morning after the wedding with Holly & her cousin.  Nothing says honeymoon quite like dining with your friends! I had the almond French toast.  IT WAS DELICIOUS.  And I don't even like bananas.  Dan had a sampler of sorts, which he found absolutely edible--in other words, not as fabulous as mine, but definitely good eats. We decided to start an anniversary tradition.  On our anniversary, we will take a photo of ourselves holding the photo taken of us the year before.  This year, since it was our first anniversary

It is no secret:  I ♥ Christmas!  I love almost everything about it.  I love that we dedicate and entire season, at the very least an entire day, gobs of decor, postage, baking, cooking, wrapping, snuggling, and so on all for the celebration of the birth of our Savior!  And I truly do look at it like that.  The gifts I give, the ones I receive, the cookies I bake, the cherries I dip, the cards I mail, the songs I sing, the delight in my eye when I see pretty lights, ornaments, designs, dresses, ribbons, etc. etc...  I truly do think of the Lord.  I've decided to say "Merry Christmas" to at least one stranger every single day this month.  I want to spread just a little bit of the joy I have inside to the outside world.  I think being P.C. (politically correct---blech!) is dumb.  For the most part.  I used to date someone who HATED being told "Merry Christmas" by a sales clerk, or anybody else who wasn't giving him a present.  (That is jut ONE of the reaso

Last night Dan & I completed our Temple Prep classes with Mike Strauss.  I couldn't help but to notice all throughout the classes that there was absolutely no new information being presented.  I've heard it all before.  I've read it all before.  I've learned it all before.  But there was definitely something very different about it all this time. D&C 136:32  really speaks to us.  We know how far we have to go, but we know we're headed in the right direction too. As I've mentioned before, both Dan & I feel like we've been guided in our preparation.  And I don't mean just by our class instructor.  We both believe the Holy Ghost has been been our biggest advisor and guide, and has most certainly attended us thus far.  That's what makes this not-new info so amazing.  We're ready to hear it with the right ears.  We're ready to feel it with the right heart.  We're ready to see it with the right eyes.  We want to learn more.  We

He's in full swing.  We're so close to magnificant and wonderful things that it just makes sense that somebody (grrr) wants to mess things up.  (Double grrr.) I'm cranky.  I'm a crybaby.  I'm snappy.  I'm tired.  I'm judgemental.  It feels like I'm stuck in perma-pms, and I have felt this way since the end of summer.  In my attempt to thwart this negativity, I've embarked on a quest to "BE" more of what Heavenly Father wants me to be.  You know, the BE's that Gordon B. Hinckley taught.  I've not been so awesome.  My focus is fuzzy right now.  I've got to get it together a.s.a.p. because well, I just gotta.  That and I've been told a time or two that I'm stubborn.  And by golly, the adversary will not win. So there.  Take that.

I am nearly offended by how judgemental I can be.  And this makes me both laugh and cry.  I'm a puzzle.  Good grief.

Is it at all possible to be truly humble and find oneself taking offense?  I don't think so.  According to THIS DEFINITION  of "offend," it seems to me that in order to be offended, one must assume malice on the part of the supposed offender.  Being assumptive is pretty much the same as being judgemental, is it not?  How can one be judgemental and still be humble?  I daresay it cannot be done. Clearly, there are 'offending' situations in life.  All sin is offensive to the pure in heart.  But since every single one of us is human and does sin, it goes without saying that not a single one of us is truly pure.  Who am I to be offended by the actions of another?  Oftentimes at church I hear that this person was offended by that person, or that person was offended by so-and-so's words, etc.  I wonder if perhaps the offended person were to just not assume/believe the offender meant harm, how easily the situation could be remedied.  I believe that if I am being

Apparently, I am in love with Tootsie Rolls.  It's true.  If I had strawberry Twizzlers near me, then this pile would be much MUCH higher. Heaven help me.

The Road Not Taken   Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth. Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same. And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. There are a couple of differing schools of thought on this poem.  One suggests individualism while the other is perhaps more personal to the author, a study of thought that a friend of his had of literally considering

I happen to love the word TRUE.  I love it so much that I told Dan if one day we ever have a daughter, I want to name her Truly, and we can call her True.  He says we're going to call her Bo, but whatever.  That's a topic for another time. Merriam-Webster defines true as "steadfast; loyal; honest; just; ideal; essential; consistent; legitimate; rightful; being that which is the case rather than what is manifest or assumed" Am I true?  Am I consistently honest, steadfast, loyal, rightful or legit?  Surely not.  I know I have been moreso in the last year and a half of my life than perhaps ever before, but I've certainly not knocked this one out of the park.  President Hinckley told us to "be true."  That sounds like a commandment to me.  Though we've all heard all our lives to be honest, to not tell lies, that honesty is the best policy, tell the truth and nothing but the truth, why then with this knowledge of such a basic way to be is it still so

♫♪♫♪♫♪  In an effort to get myself in gear for my Way To Be! challenge, I'm singing this song  both out loud and in my wee head all the day long.  ♪♫♪♫♪♫

Whilst the boss was on the other side of my desk talking to me, I created the image below.  (Perhaps I should commence being a better assistant a.s.a.p.)

I have had Gordon B. Hinckley on my mind and in my heart so very much lately.  I've sought his words in print, online, and most certainly on youtube many times in the past two months.  This past weekend I attended Time Out For Women where his daughter, Virginia Hinckley Pearce spoke.  She shares such a beautiful semblence with her father.  Seeing his face in hers this weekend perpetuated my need to fill my life with his words even more. With a bit of serious consideration, I've decided to take on a challenge.  President Hinckley gave such wise counsel to all of us, and he often spoke directly to young people.  I had received his book Way To Be !, which is actually directed at young people, from my mom about eight years ago.  For totally stupid reaons, I didn't incorporate its words and challenges into my life.  I do believe it's high time that I do now though.  With its wise advice, I shall find a new way to be Candace; a better way to be a wife, daughter, sister, fri

I absolutely LOVE my dog.  He's sweet.  He's quirky.  Oh and yes, the chicken DOES have large talons.    Whilst I was in a sitting position in a private room this morning doing what I do every morning before I take a shower, Kramer busts in and gives me a hug.  Literally, a HUG.  He stretches his neck out and lays his head on my shoulder for a moment and says "good morning mama...I love you."  Of course I reply in kind and tell him it's time to get down.  On his way down, he leaves his mark so as to say "YOU ARE MINE, WOMAN!"  Ouch.  Meh.  I wonder how many days the red streaks will remain.  Sigh. Anyway, I love my dog and my dog loves me.

When I lived in Tulsa, OK, I had the pleasure and priviledge of finding a most wonderful restaurant in Owasso called Three Tomatoes and a Mozzarella.  It was the very first franchise location of the mother location which just happened to be in sunny Scottsdale, AZ.  Now, having spent so many years in AZ, and even calling her home, I had never been graced with the Scottsdale experience of 3T&AM.  The Owasso location was a joy to say the least!  It offered a unique dining experience in the land of middle-American chains that I was subject to while in OK.  My favorite thing to order was their Fig & Gorganzola pizza on a whole wheat crust.  SIMPLY DIVINE.  We would go every few weeks.  Had it been closer to us in Tulsa, we would have gone at least weekly.  At any rate, the expected happened.  Three Tomatoes & A Mozzarella was simply too good for the folks of Owasso, OK and the place shut their doors forever.  Oklahomans had a gem in their midst and I suppose because this estab

This week I made the appointments to have our endowments and sealing at the Washington DC temple in January.  HOORAY!  Yesterday I received the confirmation letters in the mail with all of the information so neatly spelled out for us too.  It's official.  We're really doing this.  We're really going to the temple! I'm thirty-six years old.  I've dreamed of this event for at least twenty-four years now.  I have people in my life and people who have been in my life who have helped me get to this point.  I am grateful to my mom for all the guidance she's given and continues to give.  I'm grateful to people like my friend & visiting teaching companion Kim who inspires me to be better everyday.  I'm grateful to my friend Trisha who is my personal cheerleader and makes me smile.  I'm grateful to my Relief Society president Andrea (former) who has believed in me and held my hand a lot in the last year and a half.  I'm grateful for the women of

One week ago tonight he left our home for good.  We knew one day he would go, we just didn't expect that it would have been this soon.  The way things had been going the past few weeks, I knew that I didn't think I could make it through the holidays with things going the same way.  But when the final straw broke this camel's back, that's all she wrote.  Well, not really.  Five big black garbage bags lied in wait down my hallway.  His bedroom door remained shut because the alternative was just too ridiculous to even consider.  I couldn't go in there without becoming angry, sick, and overwhelmed with so many emotions...and smells.  That room full of stink and filth didn't seem like reality.  It was hard for me to fathom why and how he could create this mess and allow himself to live within it.  But there it was, waiting for something.  The five black bags contained much of his clothing, all filthy, that had been strewn about the room, mostly having been picked