{"id":914,"date":"2011-12-07T19:34:40","date_gmt":"2011-12-07T19:34:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kandynolesstevens.wordpress.com\/?p=1"},"modified":"2011-12-07T19:34:40","modified_gmt":"2011-12-07T19:34:40","slug":"hello-world-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/?p=914","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to my new blog site!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I have so enjoyed my experience writing for Best Life Ministries (www.bestlifeministries.com<\/a>), and I will continue to write there as well.\u00a0 But this site is dedicated to all things – Kandy –\u00a0with a little\u00a0Team Stevens thrown in for good measure.\u00a0 After much discussion with some folks in publishing, I decided that I would take a very tentative step out into the world of becoming a full-fledged writer with my own “brand”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In addition to my work for Best Life with inspirational and life posts under my Faith – Family – Football, I will now add a “Kan-Do” label that chronicles my world of cooking and crafting and a “Team Stevens” label that simply chronicles our family’s lives.\u00a0 On occasion, I will be posting honest thoughts about grieving and the journey to change that mourning into joy!<\/p>\n

I am so excited to have this opportunity, and I hope that my friends and family (and potentially new readers), will use the RSS features and posting features.\u00a0 For loved ones far-away, this site will be a place to keep tabs on our blessed and busy family.<\/p>\n

“An incredible journey begins with the first step<\/em>”\u00a0 . . . and I think my feet are pointed in the right direction!<\/p>\n

As always, I am so blessed to have all of you in my life! With God’s guidance serving as my road map, I definitely think the sky’s the limit!<\/p>\n

I am including my favorite “feet” story to end this blog.\u00a0 I love Dr. Suess, and his book, “Oh, the places you’ll go” was read at my college graduation.\u00a0 It resonated with my soul then, and it still does today!\u00a0<\/p>\n

With God’s help (and not on my own), I AM ready to MOVE mountains!<\/p>\n

Oh, the Places You’ll Go!<\/h2>\n

by Dr. Seuss, copyright 1990<\/h3>\n

Congratulations!
\nToday is your day.
\nYou’re off to Great Places!
\nYou’re off and away!<\/span><\/p>\n

You have brains in your head.
\nYou have feet in your shoes
\nYou can steer yourself
\nany direction you choose.
\nYou’re on your own.\u00a0 And you know what you know.
\nAnd YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.<\/p>\n

You’ll look up and down streets.\u00a0 Look ’em over with care.
\nAbout some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.”
\nWith your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
\nyou’re too smart to go down any not-so-good street.<\/p>\n

And you may not find any
\nyou’ll want to go down.
\nIn that case, of course,
\nyou’ll head straight out of town.<\/p>\n

It’s opener there
\nin the wide open air.<\/p>\n

Out there things can happen
\nand frequently do
\nto people as brainy
\nand footsy as you.<\/p>\n

And when things start to happen,
\ndon’t worry.\u00a0 Don’t stew.
\nJust go right along.
\nYou’ll start happening too.<\/p>\n

OH!
\nTHE PLACES YOU’LL GO!<\/p>\n

You’ll be on your way up!
\nYou’ll be seeing great sights!
\nYou’ll join the high fliers
\nwho soar to high heights.<\/p>\n

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed.
\nYou’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.
\nWherever you fly, you’ll be the best of the best.
\nWherever you go, you will top all the rest.<\/p>\n

Except when you don’t
\nBecause, sometimes, you won’t.<\/p>\n

I’m sorry to say so
\nbut, sadly, it’s true
\nand Hang-ups
\ncan happen to you.<\/p>\n

You can get all hung up
\nin a prickle-ly perch.
\nAnd your gang will fly on.
\nYou’ll be left in a Lurch.<\/p>\n

You’ll come down from the Lurch
\nwith an unpleasant bump.
\nAnd the chances are, then,
\nthat you’ll be in a Slump.<\/p>\n

And when you’re in a Slump,
\nyou’re not in for much fun.
\nUn-slumping yourself
\nis not easily done.<\/p>\n

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
\nSome windows are lighted.\u00a0 But mostly they’re darked.
\nA place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
\nDo you dare to stay out?\u00a0 Do you dare to go in?
\nHow much can you lose? How much can you win?<\/p>\n

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right…
\nor right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
\nOr go around back and sneak in from behind?
\nSimple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find,
\nfor a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.<\/p>\n

You can get so confused
\nthat you’ll start in to race
\ndown long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
\nand grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
\nheaded, I fear, toward a most useless place.
\nThe Waiting Place…<\/p>\n

…for people just waiting.
\nWaiting for a train to go
\nor a bus to come, or a plane to go
\nor the mail to come, or the rain to go
\nor the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
\nor waiting around for a Yes or a No
\nor waiting for their hair to grow.
\nEveryone is just waiting.<\/p>\n

Waiting for the fish to bite
\nor waiting for wind to fly a kite
\nor waiting around for Friday night
\nor waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
\nor a pot to boil, or a Better Break
\nor a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
\nor a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
\nEveryone is just waiting.<\/p>\n

NO!
\nThat’s not for you!<\/p>\n

Somehow you’ll escape
\nall that waiting and staying.
\nYou’ll find the bright places
\nwhere Boom Bands are playing.<\/p>\n

With banner flip-flapping,
\nonce more you’ll ride high!
\nReady for anything under the sky.
\nReady because you’re that kind of a guy!<\/p>\n

Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done!
\nThere are points to be scored.\u00a0 there are games to be won.
\nAnd the magical things you can do with that ball
\nwill make you the winning-est winner of all.
\nFame!\u00a0 You’ll be famous as famous can be,
\nwith the whole wide world watching you win on TV.<\/p>\n

Except when they don’t.
\nBecause, sometimes, they won’t.<\/p>\n

I’m afraid that some times
\nyou’ll play lonely games too.
\nGames you can’t win
\n’cause you’ll play against you.<\/p>\n

All Alone!
\nWhether you like it or not,
\nAlone will be something
\nyou’ll be quite a lot.<\/p>\n

And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance
\nyou’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
\nThere are some, down the road between hither and yon,
\nthat can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.<\/p>\n

But on you will go
\nthough the weather be foul
\nOn you will go
\nthough your enemies prowl
\nOn you will go
\nthough the Hakken-Kraks howl
\nOnward up many
\na frightening creek,
\nthough your arms may get sore
\nand your sneakers may leak.<\/p>\n

On and on you will hike
\nand I know you’ll hike far
\nand face up to your problems
\nwhatever they are.<\/p>\n

You’ll get mixed up, of course,
\nas you already know.
\nYou’ll get mixed up
\nwith many strange birds as you go.
\nSo be sure when you step.
\nStep with care and great tact
\nand remember that Life’s
\na Great Balancing Act.
\nJust never forget to be dexterous and deft.
\nAnd never mix up your right foot with your left.<\/p>\n

And will you succeed?
\nYes! You will, indeed!
\n(98 and 3\/4 percent guaranteed.)<\/p>\n

KID, YOU’LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!<\/p>\n

So…
\nbe your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
\nor Mordecai Ali Van Allen O’Shea,
\nyou’re off to Great Places!
\nToday is your day!
\nYour mountain is waiting.
\nSo…get on your way!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have so enjoyed my experience writing for Best Life Ministries (www.bestlifeministries.com), and I will continue to write there as well.\u00a0 But this site is dedicated to all things – Kandy –\u00a0with a little\u00a0Team Stevens thrown in for good measure.\u00a0 After much discussion with some folks in publishing, I decided that I would take a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[1014],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/914\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}