A little late....

Hi, my name is Kandis, and I have blogger's block. I've wanted to update my blog with something cool for Christmas or New Year's or some really funny story....oh wait! I do have a funny story but since I have already started this post I will save it for the next one. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. Okay, so I received this email from one of my old college roommates and I love lists like this so I thought, in reverence of the time of year, I would post it....even if it is a little late. I hope this gives you a little glimpse into how very materialistic I really am, and how I have fallen victim to a commercialized Christmas! I blame my mother....but my therapist says I have to stop blaming her so I guess you can take this for what it's worth.



1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? In receiving gifts I prefer wrapping paper but in giving gifts I ALWAYS use a gift bag. Hypocritical, I know, but it just takes so much time to wrap! Once I gave my brother-in-law a gift in a re-gifted gift bag that still had a To/From tag with my name on it! You really need to watch out for stuff like that.

2. Real or Artificial tree? In 99.3% of Christmas movies there is a cute little perfect family that goes on a family outing to find the perfect tree and for some reason it's always in the mountains or at a tree farm, never in a department store. In those movies they neglect to show all of those blasted needles that fall on the floor that you have to vacuum up everyday, or the responsibility it requires to fill up the water dish everyday so the tree doesn't dry out too early....can you tell I'm artificial all the way? Real trees bug.

3. When do you put up the tree? My roommate ended up putting up the tree on December 20th

4. When do you take the tree down? Well since I still have the Thanksgiving decorations up........

5. Do you like Eggnog? I really want to love eggnog. I think it symbolizes all things Christmas. I can never seem to keep it down though, it makes me gag....I think it has something to do with the texture.

6. Favorite Gift you received as a child? Strange as it sounds I once received $50 and thought that was the coolest thing ever. Ever since that time I have been asking Santa for the same thing I asked him for that year, in secret hopes that I'll get the $50 again, but I guess with all of the other things I ask for, Santa didn't have any more money, at least that's what my mom has been telling me.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? I have a ghetto little Nativity scene that I once ordered from a catalog. What did I learn from that experience? Never, ever order something from a catalog, it never is as cool as it looks in the picture.

8. Hardest person to buy for? Mummsy and Popsicle

9. Easiest person to buy for? Me! I went out shopping for some Christmas presents for myself this year and was surprised at how easy I am to buy for!

10. Worst Christmas gift ever received? I don't really recall a present that I've received that I haven't liked....mainly because if I don't like it I just re-gift it to someone else so that I don't have to live with a bad Christmas memory.

11. Christmas Cards? Once again, I LOVE receiving Christmas cards but don't really love sending them out and so I didn't this year. Don't worry, I've learned my lesson and will resume the Christmas Card thing next year.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? One thing I love about this time of year is the fact that there are hundreds of cheesy Christmas movies to choose from. I dvr-ed almost all of them this year and can't really narrow it down to just one but could make a top 25 list for anyone interested. Christmas movies are the best because there is always a happy ending and it's all because it's Christmas. If any of these movies were to take place in any other season, I don't think they'd turn out so happy, but hey, it's Christmas!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I purchased all of the presents for my friends and family in 2 days, December 19th and 20th. It took a little longer to get all of MY presents purchased but I'm proud to say that I was very spoiled by myself this year!

14. Have you ever 'recycled' a Christmas present? I've probably recycled the packaging that the present came in but I'm not aware of any facility that recycles the actual present. If anyone knows of one please let me know...I'm trying to do all I can to help the environment in any way I can.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? I love all of the food at the Bryant Family Christmas party and especially green slush! This is also a very tasty Thanksgiving treat....

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? My tree came equipped with built in clear lights so I'm gonna go with clear.

17. Favorite Christmas Song? Faith Hill's "Where are you Christmas," the whole Christmas album by Celine Dion, Mariah Carey's "Oh Holy Night," Josh Groban's "Oh Holy Night," and I'm embarrassed to say that dang song about the Christmas shoes....anyone who can listen to that song without shedding a tear doesn't have a soul.

18. Travel at Christmas or Stay Home? I really wanted to go to New York for the holidays this year, mostly so I could say I accomplished 50% of my New Year's resolutions for 2007, but instead I stayed home with my friends and family that I absolutely love, and that was a lot funner! P.S. Consequently, I only accomplished 40% of my New Year's resolutions for 2007.

19. Can you name Santa's Reindeer? Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Comet, Cupid, Happy, Dopey, and Doc.

20. Do you have an Angel or a Star on top of your tree? The only thing I have on the top of my tree is the artificial tree topper....we were lucky to even get ornaments on this year!

21. Open the Presents Christmas Eve or Morning? Neither, I like to open presents right when I receive them. Once a roommate got mad at me for opening a present that had my name on it, mind you, and was sitting under the tree. She said it wasn't Christmas yet and I shouldn't have taken it upon myself to open it without her knowing about it. I replied that if a present is under the tree and it has my name clearly marked on it, it's up for grabs and that she was the irresponsible one who put it under the tree too early if she didn't want me to open it yet. It was a good learning experience for her.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? There is nothing annoying about this time of year.

23. Shopping...Mall or on-line? Mall.....Online.....Mall.....Online.....basically anywhere that will take my money!

24. Do you decorate outside for Christmas or just inside (or at all?) Please see the response to numbers 3 and 4.

25. Favorite Christmas cookie? I'm not really a Christmas cookie kind of person, I prefer all types of Christmas candy.

26. Do you own Christmassy clothing or jewelry? I have a red sweater and a green sweater but nothing that jumps out at you and says....."Merry Christmas!" Oh, I guess I do have a pair of Santa socks but they're kinda lame.

27. Do you believe in Santa? Why does everyone keep asking me that.....?

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas to Me

CPA: Three little initials that have been the dread of my existence for the past....well, technically for the last 7 months but they've been hanging over my head for the last two and a half years. The scores are in and I've officially past all four sections of the CPA exam! I am living proof that miracles do happen! So, I guess I'm not officially a CPA yet because I have to take 2 ethics exams and pay a crapload of money but the majority (and the most difficult) parts of the process are FINALLY done. I know people say this all the time but words can't even describe how I feel! I almost started crying when I found out the news. It may sound really lame, why would anyone cry over test scores? Well, let me tell ya, this has been bar none the HARDEST thing that I've ever done in my life (yes, harder than the mission....harder than the marathon...harder than all of those years of school). This exam was the only thing that I wanted to accomplish this year and although this past year has been termed "the dark ages" for various reasons, I am happy to report that the sun is shining once again!!!! I just want to give a big shout out to my mom for all of her support, encouragement, and prayers during this whole process. I know a lot of people were pulling for me but it was basically her full time job keeping me motivated for the last 7 months. This will go down in history as one of the best Christmas presents ever!!

Kandis Bryant, CPA....sounds good doesn't it?

Does anyone have any ideas on how I should celebrate????

BREAKING NEWS......

This just in, I found out the results of my 3rd CPA exam and I passed! Only by one point, so it was a little too close for comfort but I passed nonetheless! I am just waiting on the score for my last exam now! Thanks to all of you for your support and prayers and listening ear to my constant complaining!

Bon-Bons and Butterfingers

Every year my mom, sister, and I get together to make treats for our friends for Christmas. It's been a pretty fun tradition the past few years. This year we decided to dip chocolates instead of making our usual candies. We were each in charge of bringing things to dip and then we would all share so that we each had a variety of treats to hand out. I wasn't too sure what to dip...I'm not a very good cook so I thought I'd do something easy, but I also thought it would be fun to "get outside the box" and try something new to stretch my skills. My grandma used to make chocolates every year so she gave me some recipes for bon-bons and butterfingers. A bold move, I know. The recipes seemed pretty simple, fool proof my Grandma said. I was feeling saucy the night before the dipping began so I started making the bon-bons and was really proud of myself for actually preparing something, all on my own (my mom had other stuff going on and said she couldn't help me, I think she's secretly trying to force me to be more independent in the kitchen)! I doubled the recipe and didn't realize that it would make so many. There were only 4 or 5 ingredients that I had to mix together and then roll into balls...and it ended up making about 200 of those little guys. Well, 4 hours later I was cleaning up and getting ready to hit the hay, still riding the euphoric wave of independently cooking something new on my own! The next morning I was all ready to dip the bon-bons when I remembered the pound of butter in the fridge that I forgot to include in the preparation! So that's why they were so dry and crumbly!!!! I wanted someone to try them to tell me they still tasted okay but no one wanted to pop a ball of pure sugar in their mouth at 8 in the morning. I decided to dip them anyway and hopefully people wouldn't notice. Okay, not too bad for the first time. I shook it off and started working on the butterfingers (that would take 4 hours my mom said, and why didn't I have those already made?). I made sure to include all of the ingredients on this one. I was stirring the candy mixture in one pan and had the peanut butter in a sauce pan, ready to add to the sugar once it was hot enough. I put the heat for the peanut butter on a low setting so it could melt a little until the other ingredients were ready. I was stirring and laughing and talking with the girls and when I looked down at the peanut butter in the sauce pan I noticed that the plastic spatula that I was using to stir it with was half gone! What happened??? It melted off in the heat and was now lost in the mountain of peanut butter! Are you not supposed to mix hot things with plastic spatulas? Okay, no big deal, I'll just find the other half and hope that no plastic melted in the mix. Found it! My mom and sister were hesitant to use the butterfingers still but I assured them that it was good enough to use and that no one would die, I hoped. I finished making the butterfingers and put them in a pan to cool before dipping. I couldn't spread it fast enough before it started to harden so there were my butterfingers....in various shapes and sizes, ready to be dipped! Okay, so they didn't look the best but I was sure they would still be a hit! The butterfingers had to sit for a couple of hours so I resumed dipping my ultra-sugared bon-bons. By the time we were ready to dip the butterfingers they were hard as a rock....seriously....okay imagine a peanut butter sucker except for the peanut butter tasted a little bit burned and you practically lost a tooth biting into it. I gave up....I could look past forgetting the butter, or melting a spatula, but not burning the rock hard butterfingers that looked more like decorative mulch (don't think they could be that bad? They were, just ask my mom) than yummy, melt in your mouth butterfingers. I had to throw the whole lot of butterfingers away and then soak the pan and wooden spoon (I switched to wood once I realized that plastic melts) in hot water for 6 hours in order to get the dishes clean and butterfinger free. Luckily I purchased a bag of raisins to dip as my back up! I'm proud to say that I did not mess those up.....I think.

What did I learn from this experience? #1: Butter is included in 99.9% of candy, don't ever make anything without it. #2: I should never cook without adult supervision (didn't I learn anything from the easy bake oven?). #3: I have a new found respect for those at Nestle....butterfingers, seriously? How do they do that?

Next year I think I'll hand out cards instead......

Ode to My Ma

When my dad retired I stressed out for weeks about what I could say at his retirement because, according to my brother, there are two times in your father's life that you have to compile a kick-butt tribute....his retirement and his funeral. Well, I must say that I succeeded in accomplishing the first and hopefully I won't have to worry about the latter for a while. I wrote my dad a poem entitled "Ode to my Father." After some serious contemplation I realized that there are some people in life who never retire...our mothers! I felt really bad that I didn't have a "formal" setting, other than a funeral, in which to pay a tribute to my mom and then I remembered that I have access to a great resource in which friends and family could see how amazing my mother really is (for those who didn't already know that). Anyway, I would like to formally pay tribute to my mother in this blog entitled "Ode to my Ma." Also, I would just like to disclaim that this tribute is totally voluntary and is in no way, shape, or form in response to a comment left on Melanie's blog......okay so it might be because seriously people, how can I keep up with all of you guys blogging such nice things for your moms all the time? You're makin' me look bad!

Ode to my Ma

I've got a ma, she's real nice

I never once had lice.

She made me breakfast, lunch, and sup

Almost all my days, 'till I grew up.

She's clean, only sometimes mean, and walks everyday to keep herself lean.

I've got a ma, she's full o' love

If she were an animal she'd be a dove.

She works, babysits, and shops

And loves my dad, a former cop.

She likes Costco, her daughter named Mo, and there's just nothin' in this world like a good diet co'.

I've got a ma, she keeps us in line

Taught us to watch our nickels and dimes.

She's got attitude, passion, and flare

Because of her I have real awesome hair.

She don't cuss, rarely makes a fuss, and wants everone to have a very Merry Christmas!

I guess Texas brought out the hick in me. Love you mom!

Happy Hanukkah

I just wanted to give a shout out to all of my Jewish friends out there and wish them a Happy Hanukkah! I think it's great that some cultures celebrate this time of year for 8 full days instead of just one! Eight days of presents.......hmmmmm......sorry, I got a little sidetracked! So I did a little wikipedia search on Hanukkah and found out a lot of interesting facts! For example, Hanukkah is also known as the Festival of Lights (I already knew this thanks to Adam Sandler) and is a celebration of the re-dedication of the second temple at the time of the Maccabee rebellion. I'm not really sure what this is but it just may end up as the object of my next post! Hanukkah is observed by lighting lights on each night of the eight day holiday. The eight days of lighting candles isn't symbolic of "lighting the house within" per say but for the "illumination of the house without" to remind passers-by of the holiday. From what I read there are various rituals that are performed throughout these eight days that really keep people focused on the Spirit of the holiday.

To be honest I really don't have any Jewish friends (besides Neil Diamond but I don't know if they count as a friend if they don't know who you are), nor am I investigating Judaism, but I looked on my little calendar and it said that today marks the first day of Hanukkah. I've never really learned too much about this holiday so I thought I'd see what it's all about. It seems to me that although Jews don't celebrate this time of year for the same reason as Christians, it appears that they certainly do keep the religious aspect of the holiday as their main focus. I love this time of year because of the Spirit of Giving that pops up EVERYWHERE! I hope that we can all be mindful of the real motivation behind some of our traditions and be cognizant of those around us who are in need.

Zot Hanukkah!

Deep in the Heart of Texas

This Thursday I will be departing to the fourth largest city in the United States of America, and no mother, I will not be utilizing the public transportation system this time. I'm not moving there (for the time being) but I am going for the weekend for a very special occasion. One of my BFF's is graduating from graduate school to be a real life Physician's Assistant, which is practically a doctor for anyone who didn't know...I certainly didn't. I will be attending her graduation as she is awarded a "long white coat." It's kind of weird but I guess it's a special thing in the profession and is symbolic of transitioning from a student PA to a real life PA, kind of like the passing of the torch at the Olympics. I'm not sure exactly how those two events are related per say, but it just sounds like they do, you know? I'm really excited to visit Texas again though! We are going to spend a day in San Antonio and visit the Alamo (hopefully we'll go to the basement of the Alamo....this is a reference to Pee Wee's Big Adventure, it's a classic movie...if you haven't seen it then you're really missing out). I'm not sure what else I'll be doing but I am pretty bummed that I'll be flying down there at the exact time that Mitt Romney is giving his "Mormon Speech." I'm not necessarily a Mitt supporter but I think it would have been interesting to hear what he has to say regarding our religion. It's bound to be a pretty significant event. Well, I hope that this post hasn't been too lame...I've been suffering from blogger's block again but I figured I better post something soon or people will stop checking out my blog, and that would just be a travesty! I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season and will take some time out to see the movie Enchanted, because I saw it this last weekend and it really is fabulous! One last shout out to Cheryl Ball, PA. Congrats!!

This is a picture of the doctor herself, taken many years ago in the Dominican Republic. Cheryl is the one on the left, but don't worry, she hasn't changed too much from this photo.