Oh, hey! Remember me?  I used to blog…before my life turned into a tornado.  I am crazy insane right now with stressful, LONG writing assignments that don’t allow me to use my amazing humor…………………….rude. And I also have like 23 million photo things to do all starting from tomorrow to May 9th.  So basically what I’m trying to say is that you should feel special that I am taking this time to blog right now for your benefit…Since you missed my writing and all………………………

Anyway, the point to that little intro is that I’m graduating…..in 23 days.  Oh, you didn’t hear me correctly?  Don’t worry I can awkwardly repeat myself..no big.  I’m GRADUATING COLLEGE in 23 days.  Yeah.  I have no idea what I’m going to do with my life.  Actually I do…Just don’t ask me cause I don’t have a solid answer. Also, in addition to graduating, I finish my last class in 13 days. This would be exciting for me, but I have a 5 page (minimum) research paper to write within the next 12 days that I haven’t started yet…

Again, let me get to a point real fast with this rant of mine….Over the course of the next 23 days, I’m gonna TRY….(try being the key word here because everyone knows that I suck at blogging consistently…so give me a break.)……….I’m gonna try to blog about things that I learned while attending San Jose State.  So here’s ten:

What I learned number 458: The F-word, is used as a noun, adjective, verb, pronoun, adverb, preposition, and occasionally even gets used as a swear word.  ALSO, sometimes in a conversation when people say “F you” to you, they don’t mean it….meanly.

What I learned number 84739: despite their best efforts or beliefs, teachers will end up accidentally preachin some kind of truth about the God of our universe.  I love it.

What I learned number 21: Parking garages during the day=happy, friendly, cool shelters from the heat.  Parking garages during the night=female death traps.

What I learned number 1,690,000: When you work hard and put in effort, your teachers notice, and they want to help you even more.

What I learned number 382: I hate…hate..when people drive under the speed limit. I have massive mental road rage.

What I learned number 4357: No matter how honorable your intentions of going to bed early may be, it is inevitable that at the end of the night you will look at your clock and think “well….at least I tried.”

What I learned number 5: It becomes pretty obvious pretty quickly if friendships will develop out of your roommates.  You’ll either click right away, become close, and go to Denny’s together at midnight like 5 million times (or five times) in one semester, or you’ll stay friendly acquaintances for the whole year.  For the record, all my roommates rocked and I couldn’t have asked for better ones.

What I learned number 76: Some floors of the 8 story library are silent floors, and they probably don’t think it’s cool when you push a two year old through the isles and he yells no at the top of his lungs….just once.

What I learned number 10: Some… but not all sororitys are, (or ok, fine.  I don’t know for sure if they are…seem) shallow. You can tell this by taking note of when they approach you in the first couple weeks of school.  For example, you can walk past the same booth ten times in one day without cute clothes or make up on and not even get blinked at, but the next day when you mayyyybe had a little more time to get ready, and put on make up, and dressed better, they circle you like vultures and want you to take all their hot pink flyers and become their sister. Cool, no?

What I learned number 165: Germs…………………….everywhere…….EVERYwhere.

The way I see it, there are two ways of looking at the tragedy that happened yesterday: You can sit around thinking that the world has gone to crap and that things are just going to keep getting worse from here.  You can think that no good is left in humanity and there is nothing but worse catastrophes and doom to follow this one. You can focus on the “limbs flying over people’s heads.” You can focus on just the damage that was done…

OR you can choose to look at this horrible act of violence another way.  You can focus on how many people jumped into immediate action to pull barricades and debris off of others.  You can focus on how many people tore their clothes off their bodies in an attempt to stop the bleeding of the victims.  You can consider it a miracle that there were already so many EMTs waiting at the finish line to tend to the runners.  You can consider it a miracle that only two of the five possible bombs went off.  And you can consider it a miracle that everyone in “very” critical condition lived through the night.

Since the bombing in Boston, on my twitter and Facebook feed, I’ve been seeing a lot of comments from people saying that they are losing, or have lost their faith in humanity…and this way of thinking is just wrong.  I thoroughly believe that people who are expressing these kinds of thoughts are buying what the devil is selling.  Satan wants this to happen, people.  He wants us to lose hope, and faith, and believe the worst in each other.  He wants us to believe that “humanity” is lost, and that good can no longer prevail.  DON’T BUY INTO IT.

God was in this situation guys.  HE is the only one that our faith needs to be in.  Don’t put your faith in humanity in the first place.  That’s where Satan wants it, and that’s where he wants you to lose it.  What happened yesterday was terrible and heartbreaking.  It shouldn’t be taken lightly or down played.  But!…it could have been so, so much worse and it wasn’t.  And that’s because God was in control.

Thursday night at 8:00 PM, I will officially be on spring break. I honestly can’t wait…I want it to be right now.  I’m annoyed with my classes…and I’m annoyed with parking garages…and I’m annoyed with campus just in general.  I really have no plans for the week, I’m boring like that…but um, for any of you wondering…here are my non-plans.

I’m gonna work out a lot.

I’m going to sing….maybe even with Becca.

I’m going to sleep forever.  The whole time.

I’m going to enjoy quiet/alone time while my family is out of the house. (this may be the most important thing that I do.)

I’m going to watch over 40 hours of Justified.  Because it’s like the cowboy version of Dexter.  Only completely different.

I’m going to dance a lot.

I’m going to take photographs.

I’m going to do homework.

I’m going to draw. (Disney??)

I’m going to enjoy time with my family and my boyfriend.

I’m going to wash my car and possibly even clean out the inside.

I’m going to look for nude shoes.

I’m going to TRY…..to blog every day or every other day.  But who knows?  Really, cause it might end up being every other week, in which case, not at all.

I’m going to never leave the house.  Not even once.  Except for when I do of course…but it will be very reluctantly.

I’m going to sit out in the sun.

I’m going to waste an hour or more of my time on Pinterest…because only having a total of 2,869 pins is NOT enough.  I’m seriously slacking in my pin-age, humans.

and did I mention that I’m going to sleep? Cause I mean, I am going to SLEEP.

I went to Tennessee last summer for a week..or maybe longer.  I can’t remember exactly, but for all of those days, including the night we arrived, my good friend Cassie and I sat in the pool for hours.  Since then, I have wanted to go back and sit in that pool every. single. day.  I actually have dreams of it.  There are no other pools I know of that relieve MASSIVE humidity mixed with hundred degree weather, with such beautiful, clear, chlorine filled ease as that one did.  There are also no other pools that I know of that show the movie Madagascar on a big screen right by the pool at night, AND have karaoke by it during the day.  Oh, how I miss it.

Next, I’m sorry that I don’t blog consistently.  Even though I’m sure for some of you that may be a relief.  I can be exhausting sometimes.  The truth is though…consistency hasn’t been my thing for the past two years.  Except for my grades, thank goodness..Those have been consistently good, everything else though, nope.  Ask when the last time I washed my car was.  Ask.  I dare you.  Actually don’t..because I can’t even remember.  But you know what??  I used to wash it once every two weeks…and then I went to school.  Also, you know that trip to Tennessee I mentioned above?  Well….I took hundreds and hundreds of pictures with the intent of showing the world, and they are just sitting on my computer getting dusty because I don’t follow through…same with an under water wreck the dress photoshoot that I did with my older sister Amanda in August.  School has killed me.  Not to worry though, when I finish in May, I’m gonna edit them.  And then maybe show you guys some around July 15th…..when I left for Tennessee last year….uhg.  That POOL!

Last thing, it was almost 80 degrees at school this week, spring is in full force in San Jose and Salinas, and you know that means?  Spiders.  We live near a creek…or something that is supposed to be a creek but hardly ever is. Except for that one time when it rained FOREVER and it got so full that I went swimming in it with the best friend (don’t worry, that was before I knew what germs were…and spiders apparently.) So…back to what I was saying, we live near a creek, and from that creek…come gigantic, size of a vehicle, spiders.  Some of them are normal shaped…but some of them have butts the size of marbles.  I don’t like their big butts, and I’m not lying.  One time I found a plump and juicy one in my room the night before I went on a missions trip to Mexico with my church…and it took me almost a half hour to muster up the courage to kill it.  Maybe I’ll write a story about that someday.  It was a super stressful situation for me…and we have video of it.

Yep! I think that about sums it up.

On Thursday last week, something completely out of the ordinary happened to me.  I started my day off earlier than usual by watching a little kid at a playground while his parents went to a meeting.  He’s adorable and obsessed with the sand…I’m not sure either.  Around ten his parent’s showed back up and his mom nicely asked “So, you headed off to school now?” “Yep!” I replied.  “I have class from 12 to 9 PM.” A few minutes later I was off to the gallows…Er, I mean…School.  But unfortunately I was tempted by being a little too close to Santana Row, and by the fact that I needed to return a pair of jeans to H&M..So instead of going straight to school…I decided to stop by the mall first.  But to be fair, Santana Row isn’t really a mall.  It’s just a beautiful shopping center.  And I want to live there.  But that’s not important.  Anyway! So I went to H&M, exchanged my pair of jeans for a skirt, (score), and walked around for a little bit wishing that I could steal the electrical car that beckoned me to it.  It’s amazing and pretty and sleek. 3 things that on school days, I am not.

Back to the point, again.  I left Santana Row at 11:00 thinking that there was no way I would find parking in under an hour for my class at 12.  Seriously guys, parking at school is the worst! I drove straight to the West Garage because it’s usually the most neglected of the parking garages, and because it’s literally right next to Duncan Hall, where I live during the week…And guess what! I found a parking spot! ON THE THIRD LEVEL! NO WAY! I then decided to adopt the West Garage and show it unconditional love for being so nice to me.  It’s now my child.

Back to my day though! I walked into the studio ready to work and be a photographer, when Fergus, the TA came in and told me that the class we both have together AFTER our current class, was cancelled.  I immediately responded with “Really?! Wow, I’m kind of excited but kind of bummed too! I have a class from 6 to 9 tonight so now I have a huge break.”      Feeling a little sad about my predicament I went to the window, which is where we check out all the equipment (camera, strobes, reflectors, soft boxes, etc.) and my classmate Clara was working in there.  It’s always awkward if you don’t talk to the people who check out the equipment for you because it takes kind of a long time.  So I started in…”Isn’t it nice that our afternoon class is cancelled?” “Yeah I’m glad we don’t have it” She responded.  “I’m so sad that we have class later though! I kind of want to skip” I said.  “Oh, we don’t have class later.  He cancelled it too!” She replied. I then had a heart attack…“Um….what?? Are you serious?  Ohh my gosh I’m so excited!” This meant that BOTH my late classes were cancelled. By then it was only 12:20 and it looked like I was going to be out of my studio class around 1:30.  This does not happen to me people. I don’t have good days while I’m at school.  It’s not in my description.  In fact! What IS in my description is this: “Candace does not have good days at school.”  That’s what it says…believe me now?  Good.

I really didn’t believe that this was all happening.  It was way too good to be true…on my Friday, I get out of school over six hours early!!

About an hour later, In the midst of floating on those cute little puffy clouds, my studio partner and I started to pack up all our gear, and in the meantime, I started to need to use the bathroom.  And by started, I mean I went 0-60 in 3 seconds.  I had to go to the bathroom BAD.  But I wasn’t going to be rude by ditching my partner and making her clean up all of our equipment alone.  No, I was determined to tough it out.

After all the equipment was packed up and we were ready to leave, my partner and I started walking toward the elevators together.  Which was super convenient for me because the bathroom happens to be on the WAY and I could just hit it on my way down.  Just kidding though because I didn’t want to be rude and ditch my partner while she was talking to me…So I though eh, I’ll just use the bathroom downstairs before I go back to my car. 

See, here’s the problem, or more like the BEGINING of the problems that followed this decision: I had never used the bathroom on the first floor of Duncan, so I didn’t know where it was…or if there even WAS one down there.  Desperate, I started heading for the north exit of the building.  When I was about ten feet from the exit I started to lose hope.  I had passed the men’s restroom and there was no sign of a women’s restroom anywhere.  And then I saw it, no…not a women’s restroom, but a unisex restroom about five feet away from the men’s.  Ok I thought, this is it..this is all I got so I just need to make it work.  I skeptically entered the bathroom.  To my surprise it looked pretty clean and normal.  It had a sink (duh) and then a stall inside of the room.  I assumed that the stall had a lock on the door, but there was also a lock on the actual door that lead into the bathroom itself, so I decided to go ahead and lock that too, to avoid specifically two things:  One, a guy entering and listening to me while I use the bathroom, and two, a guy entering and raping me…because obviously every male stranger is also a rapist.

So! With the door tightly latched, I quickly headed for the stall.  Without hesitation I shoved, and the door pleasantly swung inward.  Then something horrible happened, something terrible and horrible and terrible.  To my horror, there was a guy sitting on the toilet and I can only assume he was in the process of pooping…Cause I’ve been told that guys don’t sit when they pee…I mean it’s what I’ve heard.  As soon as I saw him, a few things happened at the same time…It went something like this:  I gasped louder than I ever have in my life and I also managed to jump ten feet in the air, which hurt because the ceiling was probably only about five feet above my head.  I also managed to sputter out “Oh my GOSH!!!!  Sorry!!!” While I was frantically struggling to get the stall door shut again I also started to run for the exit.  BUT! I forgot that I had locked the door.  To say I was flustered would be the understatement of the year.  My heart was palpitating and I was shaky from the shock of finding a man in the stall, and worst of all, I COULD NOT GET THE DOOR UNLOCKED! By now I was launching into full panic mode.  I kept thinking How did this happen?! I specifically locked this door to keep men OUT! Not lock myself in with one…who already has his PANTS OFF! After what seemed like seven hours, I was able to get the door unlocked and opened, and I proceeded to calmly exit the bathroom and walk at a moderate pace to the nearest exit.  Please note, by walk at a moderate pace I mean I was practically running.

While I was in the middle of fleeing the building and trying to figure out what the HELL just happened to me, I remembered that I had to go to the bathroom.  But SCREW IT, I thought, I’ll just go when I get to the Miller’s house because this guy is totally about to chase me down and punch me in the face for walking in on his poop-sesh. Yes, yes I did just say poop-sesh.  Unfortunately, on the way to the Miller’s I almost turned my driver’s seat into a toilet seat, and I experienced a certain level of pain that I don’t particularly wish to experience again, but I made it.  After I had relieved myself, I was finally able sit down for the next 3 hours and ponder what had happened to me earlier.  Here’s what I took away from this whole, dude sitting on the toilet thing: A) Who……in the world…uses a unisex bathroom when there is a men’s restroom right next to it…I mean come on.  B) I never, ever, want to make eye contact with a stranger in the midst of extricating themselves again.  C) Unisex bathrooms are so not my thing.  In fact I think I will avoid them for the rest of my life.  D) I KNEW my day was going too smoothly.

Love, Candace

Fact: I’m terrified of California Highway Patrol officers.  Ironic? “I’d like to think so” (typed in the voice of Ryan Reynolds playing Andrew in the Proposal)

Fact: A lot people that I encounter at school smell bad.  And it makes me scared that their bad smell is going to attach itself to me.  SO therefore, when I pass a person at school that smells wonderful, which does happen occasionally, I just want to turn around and hug them really tightly, thank them for wearing cologne or perfume and continue on with my day.

Fact: I practice Mixed Martial Arts in my sleep.  It’s becoming a problem.

Fact: I like to blog in list form.  It’s more fun.

Fact: The heater in my car is my friend and the best thing since sliced bread.

Side note! WHY do people use that expression?  I just don’t get it.  Was life really that much harder when bread was un-sliced?  More importantly, was bread that much worse when it was un-sliced?  Can someone who was alive before bread was sliced please enlighten me? I was born in an easier, sliced bread era…I’m un-educated.  And for the record, I would eat bread whether it was sliced or not…because I love carbs and that’s how I roll. <and that was kind of an accidental joke.

Fact: My tongue is still not operating properly. I’m not liking this.

Fact: I’m doing the color run next weekend with my family and a bunch of friends.  It’s the funnest. Thing. Ever.  And I’m excited.

Fact: I obsess over music on a daily basis.

Fact: I want to stay in my bed all weekend and not get out once.  At all.  Ever.  But I have a bladder…so..

Fact: I wore boots this week at school that gave my heels blisters. I’m now mad at them for being so rude. I think I’ll just have to shove them in my closet and not wear them for a while.  Ha! That’ll show them.

Fact:  I’ve had the same nail polish on my toes since before Christmas.  I think I’m gonna try to go the whole year. Attractive, am I right?  And bonus!..It’s nice and festive-red and green sparkles.  Who WOULDN’T want that on their toes all year?  I mean really.

Fact:  The floor of my car on the passenger side is now a recycle bin.

Fact:  I’m going to clean my car this weekend (I probably won’t clean my car this weekend.)  It’s gonna happen! (It probably won’t happen.)

Fact: I’m leaving now.  Love, Candace

I think I may be experiencing Postpartum Depression from these guys….

 

Ok…I’m kind of joking about the Postpartum and the PTSD…but only kind of!

Or…it could be that in the three other times besides my tonsillectomy that I have been put under by anesthesia, my body has never reacted well..

Or…it could be the start of school…

But whatever it is, I feel really overwhelmed and discouraged and maybe even depressed.  And I want that feeling to go away. Pronto.

For the past….long time, the Mann household has had frequent visitors from a wife and husband raccoon.  K, I’ll admit, I don’t actually know if they are husband and wife, but to be fair, they never actually confirmed nor denied the rumor so I’m just gonna go ahead and say that they were.

Anyway though! Finally, about two weeks ago, we…and I’m using the term we a little loosely here cause “we” didn’t do anything..so my dad, caught one!

 We kept him on Saturday night and through part of Sunday until my parents got back from church.  Then my dad took him, (I’m gonna say it was a him) to the wild and let him loose.

Before my dad took him though, I got a chance to get up close and personal and sit down for an interview with him.

He told me that he and his wife come around on Saturdays to get out on the town.  To have a night full of fresh water and catfood.  And that they really enjoy the hospitality and the all you can eat Purina One. 

After that extremely personal info that he shared with me, my dad and Colin loaded him up and took him away.  And I felt sad, partly for me…because I’m not going to be able to stare into his beady little eyes again, and partly for him and his wife.  Because I feel like we had just ripped a family apart.  Maybe some day they will be reunited.  Maybe when “we” catch her and release her in the same spot they’ll run to each other and open their arms and hug and make cute little raccoon babies…And then bring one back to me in a little white satchel and leave it on my porch.  They could be stork raccoons!

Love, Candace