The Candyland Perspective

Beloved and I have no little ones of our own, so when it comes to developing new Christmas traditions, it's actually harder to come up with ideas than I expected.  One thing for certain though is that we really do want to keep the focus on the birth and life of the Savior.  This is a list of ways that we will keep a good focus all December long.  Dan & I just brainstormed, and this is the best we could do for now.  I'd LOVE to hear some of your ideas and/or suggestions! Merry Christmas! The Whites Keeping Christ in Christmas Watch "The Nativity Story" Make Christmas cookies for home/visiting teaching families Visit the Mesa Temple Christmas lights Read Luke 2 together early in December Make a Kramer paw print ornament for the tree Pay for the car behind us at McDonald's (or wherever) Deliver Christmas cookies to neighbors we don't know Say "Merry Christmas" to someone new every day Drive around looking at Christmas lights while lis...

Below is my sacrament meeting talk that I gave in the Cape Henry Ward before I moved away from Virginia Beach in the spring.  It was okay.   Candace Elaine White’s Sacrament Talk May 26, 2013   Based on "Being a More Christian Christian" by Elder Robert D. Hales and "Converted unto the Lord" by Elder David A. Bednar from October 2012 General Conference   In Primary, we sing a song that goes "Do as I’m doing, Follow follow me." For each verse, a child is chosen to be the leader and chooses an action—such as clapping, marching in place, or twirling—for all the children to do as they sing and simply follow along. This song is a great way to work out some of the pent up wiggles that need to be shaken loose after trying so hard to be still and reverent in sacrament meeting. But this song, as all songs in Primary, also serves to teach simple gospel truths to the children (and adults too). This song teaches us to follow a leader, and our Leader is Jesus...

A sweet friend from the Cape Henry ward was called to serve in the Canada Montréal Mission.  In an effort to love on her a bit, as well as to show support, I've created this Shutterfly book for her.  It captures some of her time from receiving her call to serve, all the way to the day she flies out to SLC. Sister Angelina Grandela is sure to be an AWESOME missionary! Anyway, this book is on its way to her, and she should receive it sometime next week. I sure hope she likes it! Click here to view this photo book larger Click here to create your own Shutterfly photo book.

Sometimes I don't do too well with change.  I'm a creature of habit, like most, so rearranging life's components can be a wee traumatic.  However, there are times that I completely welcome change and all the promise it can hold.  Today, I'm embracing change. For three years, I've lived in Virginia Beach, having moved here from Chandler, Arizona.  From the desert to the sea, it was most certainly a big change.  It was a very worthy endeavor though.  I came to be near my sweetheart, the man I would marry.  I also have enjoyed the added benefit of being much nearer to my three brothers and my parents.  It was a very good thing for me to move to Virginia Beach.  For the past three years, I have enjoyed the ocean, even though I've not visited it as often as I'd like.  I've heard, felt, and been amazed by the near deafening thunder of hundreds of fighter jets flying into and out of nearby Oceana.  I've marveled every si...

And then I made bread with it.  For a lot of years I was intimidated by the thought of making homemade yeast-risen bread.  I wanted to beat this one though.  And I have!  Hooray!  I've had plenty of failures along the way... like fallen bread, dense funky bread, dry bread, etc.  But I finally made some good loaves, and these loaves are perfect for sandwiches, with dinner, for toast, sacrament bread, french toast... you name it.  And I've done it more with repeated success, so I think I've got it... for now. I got a Kitchen-Aid mixer this past year, and I vowed to use that sucker for bread-making.  I know it's not the real earthy and snobbishly proper way to knead one's dough, but so what?!  I like the one-bowl contained mess of kneading the dough, and I'm more likely to flip a switch than make sure I have an entire counter cleared off for the kneading of dough.  Just sayin'.  Inevitably, I will somehow miss a stuck little chunk ...

I made this cute wreath for about $2.  I LOVE CHEAP!  Well, I love inexpensive, that is. So cute!  So easy, too.  A lady in my neighborhood was selling off all her craft items.  Her ENTIRE house was like a store!  I bought the wreath form from her for something ridiculous/cheap.  The Stampin' Up! fabric was a whopping 33 cents.  The felt used was under a dollar too.  Toss in some hot glue and pins, and well, there you have it! I made these cute little reimagined little cheesecakes--wait for it--my strawBEARy cheesecakes--a week or two ago for the mingling after Stake Conference.  As expected, they went over rather well.  I took home an empty platter.  I hulled my strawberries, washed & dried them, and added a bit of Kraft's premade cheesecake filling.  I topped them off with cinnamon Teddy Grahams.  YUM!  An army of cuteness.     

I recently read a story written by Jeff Olsen called "I Knew Their Hearts."   It's an autobiographical account of his experiences surrounding a horrifying car crash that killed his wife & youngest son, while leaving him barely alive.  He writes about slipping out and back into this life, and his story is rather touching and important.  Without telling his story for him, I will just concentrate on two words of advice and comfort from his story that touched me the most:  choose joy. Sometimes things aren't easy.  Whether it's dealing with a boss who's literally losing her mind, figuring out how to make ends meet when pieces are short, or how to heal a broken heart and/or body, these things aren't easy, but they are doable.  I've done pretty well in life with not comparing myself to others too much.  I understand that my weaknesses up against someone else's strengths is just silly.  I know that each person's challenge is unique to that perso...