Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music. ~Ronald Reagan

 

 

Sometimes...

I like to be reflective.

For school, I am always writing reflections I DON'T want to write about.

And then I don't have time to write about what I DO want to write about!

 

 

Here is what I do want to write about...

I am doing my student teaching right now in a first grade class and I am absolutely loving it.

1st day of student teaching!

I am now on week 5 out of 15, CRAZY?! 1/3 done already! I love all 35 of my first graders!

I love to run... It's such a stress reliever. I try to remember that. Sometimes, I don't run because I am "too tired." Which is silly because when I run I feel more energized and happy. Must be those endorphins. It's like Elle Woods says in Legally Blonde, "Exercise gives you endorphins--endorphins make people happy and happy people just don't shoot their husbands...they just don't!" So for Tyler's sake I better keep running right ;) !
Love her words of wisdom...




Speaking of Tyler.. he is such a calming influence in my life. (Sorry prepare yourself for a cheesy line or two)! Whenever I am stressed, he tells me I am overreacting. I never listen. But he is always right, and always supportive and kind no matter what kind of crazy mood I am in that day! I am so blessed to have him foreva!!



I think we all need to remember that life is a beautiful thing.
I found this quote from Ronald Reagan that truly inspired me, "Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music."


 



The Camping Adventure!!!!!!!!

DISCLAIMER: This story is WEIRD. And it may be long. But you will probably laugh so I would think about reading the entire post.

This all went down about two and a half weeks ago...



To begin the story of the camping adventure, a little background information is needed. Earlier in the week, my friend Karlee and I were brainstorming ideas of what to do the upcoming weekend. We thought camping would be a fun idea.





SOOO Friday comes around. BAD NEWS- the weather channel was showing 60% chances of rain so we decided to rain check the camping trip. Instead, Tyler and I, Karlee and Adam and Ava headed to dinner, then World Market for some Hi-chews (Japanese delicious candy), then back to the Karlee and Adam's house. When we got back to the house we began brainstorming ideas of what to do the next day (Saturday) Since we are all terribly indecisive people, this was taking quite a while!







Half jokingly, I said, "Let's just go camping NOW!" And everyone was like OK! So Adam and Karlee grabbed their pillows, brushed their teeth, and changed into camping attire. Then, Tyler and I stopped by our house and changed and got blankets. Also, excitedly, we packed up some eggs and pancake mix and a pan to make breakfast in! YAY! Then we borrowed some tents from Tyler's mom and headed out. At this point, it was about 10:50 PM! Our plan was to go to Hugonaut Park and camp at the beach! FUN! However, as we reached Hugonaut Park at about 11:15PMish the guard at the front wouldn't let us in on account of they closed the doors and 9:30PM and the camp site has been BOOKED for at least a week! DANG! What now!!! Karlee suggested the Ritz Carlton up the road but our husbands weren't down for that plan...! We asked the guard if he knew of any other camp sites, he said there was a site up the road called "Little Talbot"!





At this point we were basically giving up on the camping plan. Pretty sure Adam said STAY POSITIVE or something. We arrived at Little Talbot and there was a gate with a code, and Chris Rock chillin at the front on the phone. Tyler decides to try a couple code out, nothing worked. Oh I should also mention there was a sign that said "REGISTERED CAMPERS ONLY" Apparently, we are all illiterate.



Sooo Chris Rock comes over, "Hey, you guys forget the code?" Tyler's like "Uhhh... yeah!" And Chris Rock says, "Ohhh yeah I think I remember it hang on" Then, Ta-DA! The gate is open, thanks Chris Rock! FREAKING OUT with excitement and nerves we are driving through this random camp site in the dark at 11:30PM. We see an open camp site, lucky number "37" and it's close to the bathrooms, SCORE!! We set up our tents, whispering, as to not wake up camp site "38" next to us. Our two small tents are NOTHING compared to the intense RVS and christmas lights we passed around the camp grounds.






















Taking in the moment, we start a fire with our DuraFlame and tell lovely memories of camping experiences from the past. We walk down a bit and see we are close to some water/marshy lands, sweet. We even see a ton of crabs, sweet. Life is great! At about 12:30AM or so we decide to head to bed. The comfy,rocky ground was beckoning us.



Pretty sure both Adam and Tyler were snoring after about 10 minutes. Karlee and I had some interesting experiences. Almost asleep at about 1:30AM, I wake up to a fight between girl and a guy. Not sure what the fight was over but they were definitely MAD at each other."STOPPP you always just walk away..." Blah blah BLAH!That went on for probably another hour. SO annoying, people are trying to SLEEP here!!!



Next Billy Bob Joe and Jim were strollin' through the grounds catching up on their small talk. "OH HEY JIM how's it going!?" "Ah it's GREAT how are things with you Billy Bob?!" "FANTASTIC!" What theeeeee it's 2:30AM shut up guys!



Next, two buddies joking around( probably drunk) were full of vulgar language and loud noises. Probably around 3:00 AM they finally left or shut up. THen almost asleep again at 3:14 AM or so I FREEZE, FREEZE! Because I hear this loud demonic BEAST growling and breathng heavy probably about 10 or 15 feet from our TENT. I'm sure all four of us are frozen as Karlee is the first to speak, "WHAT THE CRAP IS THAT" Tyler jumps out "DON'T MOVE DON'T get out don't even talK!" We are all freaking out as this demonic beast most likely rips another poor wimpering animal to shreds. It was the scariest/saddest feeling!!!!!!!!!!! It probably went on for another 10 minutes or so but we were all too afraid to move or speak for awhile. Finally at 3:45 we started to talk about the possibilites. Thank goodness for my iphone! I started searching what types of animals were found at Little Talbot and discovered there were rabbits,birds, and bobcats! Certain it was a bobcat I searched on Google, "Do Bobcats attack humans?" Relieved, I discovered they didn't. Trying to calm Karlee down, I shared the information. The response was not calming. "DON'T TELL ME IT MIGHT BE A BOBCAT that doesn't help calm me down!!!!" A few minutes later Adam staring calling me ""Candace we have to go Karlee is going to pass out!" I just said everyone needs to stay put in case it's still out there. At this point it was probably 4:15 AM. We had at least an hour and a half until it was light. There was quiet moaning around that same time, who knows from what. FREAKY.



So almost to sleep again at around 5:50AM I wake up from LOUD chirping birds. Everyone was still afraid to get out but it was light enough outside I decided. I got up, checked the bushes to see if something was dead. The wimpering noise sounded like a small dog or something but nothing was to be found. So we decided we needed to get the HECK out of Little Talbot.



Oh, I should also mention in the light we could see we were about 10 feet away from a sea of marsh lands. We then considered the possibility of the demonic beast being a gator.Or a raccoon. Or a wild boar. WHO KNOWS!!!!!!!





On the drive home, Adam suggests that is was an Ostrich killing a Rooster... REALLY ADAM??! Haha.



THe truth is, we will never know what the demonic beast was or what really happened that night at Little Talbot. It is a mystery. And an experience we will all never forget.



If you ever want to go camping just head on over to Little Talbot's. Chris Rock will be there to greet you at the door!!!!!!

(Here are some pictures of the landscape I took quickly before we left in the morning... while everyone was yelling at me to leave... )

SPRING BREAK 2011

Wooo hoooooooooooooooooooooo!
It's spring break!!! And I'm in Florida Baby! Oh wait I LIVE in Florida!!!!
Anddddd mi bonita familia will be here in about TEN HOURS!! Not TEN days, not TEN weeks, not TEN months but TEN HOURS!





I have not seen them since THANKSGIVING and Ry, Jacks, and googlyBritt have not seen mi casa yet!!

I will not be able to see my Dad and Christine but hopefully they can make it out soon or I can visit soon :( I also will not be able to see my older brother Cameron :(

WELLLLLLLLL
I should not be blogging, I should be doing my homework. But as a certain someone (Cameron) reminded me, it's been a ridiculous amount of time since I have blogged!!

MANNING RECENT EVENTS:
- I got to party with the Law Family in Orlando and go to all the Disney Parks :)
- Tylers mom, dad, brother, Tyler, and I all ran the 15k Gate River Run and we all finished yay! AND despite my lack of training I still finished at about 9:39 mile pace, definitely my worst time of a race but hey it could be worse!!
-SCHOOL is busy for me, but I ended up getting A's on all my midterms! Lets just hope I can keep that up for the finals!
-Tyler's been busy busy busy with work these CPA's are crazy.
-We have gotten a lot done for our house recently- my favorite being our new painting for the dining room!!



Here is me with the Law kiddos:



Here is the Manning clan at the Gate River Run! 9.2 baby!





And here is my painting that I loooove <3 (I phone quaility picture)




Well, now back to the homework. TODAY I need to finish a 9 page paper, a chapter summary, objectives for a class, table of specifications, and 3 topics for my classroom management class. Time to get busy so I can enjoy the beach, Harry Potter World, and my family this week!!


xoxo,

CANDAZZLE

(nickname given to me by my girl KARLEE)

Beautiful Friday!!

Fabulous FRIDAY!
I love today!
WHY? 7 reasons.

1. Last official day of classes at UNF. Two finals left. (Light at the end of the tunnel)
2. Everyone was nice and not annoying at work. I only made $56 in tips, but forget you!
3. I'm going by the nickname White Chocolate again
4.It's cold outside so I can bundle up and wear boots
5. Date night with Tyler
6. Caught up on dishes
7.I <3 GLEE!

Britt my sister makes fun of Glee! She just doesn't understand.

So guess what Britt... forget you!! ;) HAHHAHAA

check out Gwyneth. Love her. (press pause on my blog playlist to the right so you can watch this sick clip)



xoxo,
white chocolate

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas! :)

HELLO! I truly hope everyone had a lovely thanksgiving. Well it's November 30th today and time to pull out the Christmas tree and all that good stuff and the high was 82 degrees here in Jacksonville, FL! Isn't that just splendid? Luckily tomorrow things get better with the high in the low 60's I believe.

I loved going home to visit the fam and friends in AZ, and I loved having Tyler with me!

Here is a quick shot from Thanksgiving Day...

Tomorrow is DECEMBER! And I will be DONE with finals and this semester one week from tomorrow! Life is good

xoxo,

Candace

The love-hate relationship of running!

Happy Wednesday!!

So Running and I, we have a unique relationship!

Somedays, Running is the one thing that can make me feel better.

For awhile I never questioned whether I would be running that week,

it was just part of me.

And then... school/work/crazy started and I quickly found myself out of the habbit! Running suprised me and would reappear in random occasions, but it wasn't a regular occurance anymore, and I suddenly realized it needed to be.

So this week I said at the beginning of the week "I am going to run EVERYDAY this week" because there were weeks, probably many, were I ran MAYBE once because I made up exuses over and over again!! Well so far so good, Monday I ran, Tuesday I ran. Today is Wednesday, and I'm off to run!!!

The beautiful thing is I missed running because I don't just do it because I know I should, it's enjoyable, and I ALWAYS feel better when I am done!! It's killng two birds with one stone.

Now I'm not necessarily saying I'm running terribly fast, or terribly long but I am running, and that's enough for now!!

wonderful quotes:

"In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last. You can say, 'I have finished.' There is a lot of satisfaction in that." -Fred Lebow, New York City Marathon co-founder

"Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it." -Oprah Winfrey

"Ask yourself: 'Can I give more?'. The answer is usually: 'Yes'." -Paul Tergat, Kenyan professional marathoner

"Running long and hard is an ideal antidepressant, since it's hard to run and feel sorry for yourself at the same time. Also, there are those hours of clearheadedness that follow a long run." -Monte Davis

"What distinguishes those of us at the starting line from those of us on the couch is that we learn through running to take what the days gives us, what our body will allow us, and what our will can tolerate." -John Bingham, running writer and speaker

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars." -Les Brown

This kid is AMAZING!!

So sometimes I wonder why I'M not famous. Here's one reason... I can't make instruments with my mouth like this kid!!!!!!

xoxo,

Candace