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 befo...

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....

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....

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....

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.