IT'S A BLOG BASH......FUN!

Today, I'm linking up with Brittany Ciara @ Not Your Average Teen for the highly anticipated BLOG BASH! If you would like to link up, hop on over and see her for the official rules and link up. They are very simple and I know you will have fun! If you don't want to link up, hop on over and see Brittany Ciara anyway.....she's a real sweetie and not your average teen. You will be glad you did!

So without further adieu, allow me to introduce myself.....

My name is Candace and this is my blog. I am the wife of 12 years (this week!) to the most amazing man who I know is, without a doubt, my other half. I read alot of blogs by people who say that they are married to their best friend. I'm happy to hear that because I am too. We are literally inseparable and both like it that way. Our favorite thing to do is hang with each other...doing whatever. Together we have four children who are all grown up now and live entirely too far away from us. Isn't that the way it is when your kids grow up though and particularly when the grandkids show up? Across the street would be too far away!

Two are married to their wonderful best friends and our only daughter just gave birth to our first grandchild, a sweet baby girl. Our youngest is 18 and will graduate high school next year. He is the smartest kid that I know and destined to do big things in the world of Paleontology. You can check his blog out to see what I mean. In fact, he is really responsible for how this blog began.

I love to cook....particularly fresh, healthy meals. I love to take photographs. I have an obsession with architecture and old houses and the stories that they tell. I have a particular fondness for Craftsman Bungalows and mid-century modern homes. I love the time period from about the turn of the century through the 1950's. We have been known to seek out the historic areas of the cities and town that we visit just to look at the old houses. My husband is so patient with me and indulges me at every opportunity with this obsession. I love to imagine what life was like at the time the house was built and who lived there first.

I love to travel and wish that I could do it more often. I have a dream of selling everything and buying an Airstream....packing up my husband and his guitar, our laptop and camera and my flipflops and heading out to travel the country full time, living free. Somehow we would make a living in the places that we travel to or some way on the road. I know....I know....crazy right?

Now for the question and answer part of the linkup:

1.) Why do you blog?

I began this blog as the result of encouragement from my youngest son. He was visiting last summer and really into blogging and introduced me to the world. He helped me get started and I really hoped that it would be an outlet for me to do something creative and start figuring out all of this stuff that was going on inside of me. As usual, I got cold feet after a post or two and gave it up until earlier this year. I started reading blogs instead of posting and that just made me even more introspective, which in turn, gave me even more reason to blog. I've been feeling for a long time that there's something inside of me just waiting to be birthed. I don't know what it is; but I just feel that I haven't tapped into who I truly am on the inside and what I'm supposed to be doing in this life that God gave me. I blog in hopes that I figure it all out. Of course, now that I have started to post regularly and make some bloggy friends who are the biggest encouragers in the world, I am hooked. I can't begin to tell you the satisfaction that I receive when I hit "publish post". What a sense of accomplishment for this procrastinator who tends to drop things in the middle and not finish projects!

2.) What do you blog about?

I blog a little about travel....what little I get to travel that is! I post photos that I've taken or photos that I have found that I like and that convey what I'm feeling...mostly my photos though. I blog about what is on my heart and get personal sometimes in an effort to put myself out there. Now that is something that I never thought I would do....be open with people about my feelings and what is going on in my head. I blog about new recipes for healthy eating that I have tried....complete with pictures of my recipes. I have a whole lot of other ideas that I hope to have time to blog about in the future. Having quiet time to blog is my biggest obstacle these days!

3.) What do you find to be the biggest reward you get from blogging?

I have started and stopped many things over the years, including this blog. The sense of accomplishment that I receive when I click "publish post" is enough to keep me going really. I have to admit to you that I am my own worst critic and I guess that I expect others to view me the same way that I view myself. It's really hard for me to share what is going on inside normally. My friends will tell you that I was always the one that they could talk to about what was going on in their lives; but I rarely shared in the same way. I don't know if I was just trying to be strong or if I didn't think I needed to share myself with others. I'm not sure. Until I met my husband, I don't think I have ever shared as much of myself with anyone. He just made it so easy and we connected and both shared from our hearts. As for this blog, what began is an outlet for me has ended up being a journey in increasing my self-esteem and finding value in myself. Oddly enough, through blog hops and linkups, I have found a world of bloggy friends who encourage me daily to keep on blogging....keep on putting myself out there. It seems that the more that I share about myself personally, the more positive responses I get.....and it feels good! It feels good to share what is on my heart and to put down in writing and photos all of the stuff that floats around inside of me looking for a way out.

4.) How long have you been blogging?

I began this blog in July of 2009; however, I didn't blog seriously until March/April of 2010.

5.) Let's hear the story behind your blog title! :)

I started out this blog by calling it "Discovering Candace" because that is what I wanted to do....discover who I was. After taking a hiatus, I realized that while that was what I wanted to do, "Discovering Candace" sounded kind of cheesy. I wanted something with a little more flair. I wanted to begin with "My name is Candace" and I started googling how to express that in another language. I wanted to say it in Spanish but after googling it, I realized that was already taken by someone on MySpace. The next language that has a beautiful ring to it is Italian. When I found, "Mi Chiamo Candace" which is "My name is Candace" or "I call myself Candace", I knew that I had found what I was looking for.

I know that this a long and rambling post and if you have made it this far, thank you for sticking around. I hope you will visit again sometime.

Have a blessed day!