Canaya.com

The Joys of…2009! December 26, 2009

It’s really a shame that I did not update the family website at all this year…  A lot of really great things happened, and a lot of pretty horrible things happened…  But at the very least, a lot happened and it was an incredibly full year with very few moments of boredom.  So, here Ill make what will probably be my one and only post of 2009.  Next year, I do vow to update with photos, and really try to keep on top of things, cause while this site may be standing still…time surly is not!

The Joys of Ayanna:  Ayanna has made me incredibly proud this year…she kept very busy and has accomplished so much that I really hope I can remember it all to put it down here!  She took testing for gifted, and as it turns out, my little girls IQ is in the top 3% in the country.  (Can you believe *I* popped that out?!)  Ayanna is now in the 7th grade, with all gifted classes and one advanced high school level class.

Over the summer, she stole my tablet (seriously) and started teaching herself graphic design on Photoshop.  From there she moved on to animation and is now creating games in Flash and teaching herself how to design in Illustrator.  I figure in another year, Ill be asking her if she can give *me* a job…!

The Joys of Dave:  So much joy and so much sorrow as well.  When we first started dating over 2yrs ago, he told me he wishes we could skip to the good part where we are deep in love, totally comfortable, happy and sure about each other. He was sure it was going to happen for us, and he could hardly wait.  Well… now I wish we could skip past this moment to the good parts, but the good parts for us as individuals may well not include each other.  Im not ready to handle that just yet so…day by day we go.

It is what it is…but that does not take away from it that I am proud of the hard work he has done this year and what he has accomplished.  He co-wrote on Kiss Me Thru The Phone by Soulja Boy, which reached #3 in the Billboard Hot 100, plus hes on two of the Now! compilation CD’s that came out this year.  He also recieved BMI awards for the song Whatever You Like by T.I. that came out last year.   Im very sure there is more to come…

The Joys of Candice: This one shouldnt be so hard to write, but it is. Ill come up with something though =) Professionally, Ive built up my client list, and have been working on my development, and management skills..so far so good.  Ive also re-vamped my business plan and setting the gears into motion so that I can handle everything that much better.

Personally, I lost 35lbs this year which is great cause clothes shopping is so much easier now that Im not quite so abnormally shaped, but on the downside, I think 20lbs of what I lost came off my derrierre and…I kinda really miss having it!  Another great thing, as of 2009, Im a single black mom with good credit…hell yeah!

The Joys of Family: I have recently been keeping in better touch with both my Williams and my Davidson families.  Facebook is a godsent..really!  Ive come to find out…Ive been missing out on a lot…and now I cant do without!  My Garlewsky family courtesy my best friend Stacey is still going strong after so many many years, and Ive come very close to my Siegel family as well, courtesy of  Dave.

To extend things even further, theres also Dawn, and Erica, and Carmen…while yes, they are all friends, I really do consider them family.  Plenty enough times Ive tried to find my rock to crawl under it and they keep distracting me from the task.  Dangit!

The Joys of Updates: I really do have plenty of photos from 2009 I need to update here with… and Im really going to try hard to do more than 2 updates a year…I realize that after nearly 5 years of Canaya.com that has yet to happen but…it will! It will!

2010 is a new year which will bring a lot of new things into my life.  Ayanna and I will be moving next week, our lease starts on the 1st which is appropriate… it will be a fresh start all around in many aspects of our lives and we’re really looking forward to it.  I do plan to focus more on myself, to not get so burnt out, to get more sleep, and now that Ive discovered the spa…let me tell you, theres nothing a heated hamam marble cant take care of…seriously!

Im looking forward to the year ahead…keeping my chin up and staying positive.  My life has been such that I never know whats around the corner or whats in store for me…and Im interested to see what going to happen next.  Stay tuned…!

Unbelieveable! The Gallery is Updated! December 11, 2008

Flickr Rocks. Seriously.

I was able to get all of the pictures and videos that I have on my backup drive in Flickr and on this site in no time. I may still have a few extra pics and vids on assorted CD’s, but this is the bulk of it.

Now I need to scan in the photos that I have in my album so that I can get them into my gallery too. Im going to get Ayannas pictures and stories on her page, and put my work stuff up on my page since well..thats all I can think of to put there.

Okay, go check out the gallery while I commence to pinching myself in disbelief!

Photo Gallery

Video Gallery

The Joys Of…! December 9, 2008

I know I have not updated too much over this past year, but it really has been a great year for me…for all of us!!

The Joys of Ayanna: She started middle school this year and is now in the 6th grade. She joined the school chorus and is also hoping to get involved in theatre before the year is out as well. She is reading a book a week, sometimes more… Writing new songs, stories and comics all the time and still drawing quite a bit. I have so much stuff to put up on her page, its going to be an explosion of art and creativity!

The Joys of Dave: The man in my life has had a fantastic year that Im sure is just a taste of whats to come. He is the composer and keyboard player on the song “Whatever You Like” by T.I. which has been #1/#2 in the Billboard charts for the past 3 months. Hes working on some more projects that look like its going to be a chart hitter as well. His rock band Raging Geisha is gaining in popularity here in Florida, and their song (my favorite song!) “The Way That He Loves Me” hit the radio country-wide!

The Joys of Candice: Webdesign has really taken off for me, and Im right now working on designing the website for the reggae band Inner Circle. Im so thankful to have this opportunity, and as excited as everyone else to see how the site turns outs. Im also thankful to be able to work from home and have the flexibility to be there for Ayanna whenever she needs me.

The Joys of Family: Over the weekend, I was especially blessed to have been found by the Davidson family! My whole life, I had no idea where they were, who they were, what they were like, and had so many questions going throuh my mind and so many dreams and thoughts about them. Now, its no longer a dream but a reality, and I have been getting in contact with everyone…so many people and Im excited to get to know everyone! 4 new sisters, 2 new brothers, aunts, uncles and my fathers mother lives right here in Florida! Its so overwhelming, and Im so excited… Even though its been a few days, I have not stopped smiling…!!!

The Joys of Updates: I decided I need to update Canaya.com and make sure to finally get my gallery in gear and keep up with this site. Of course, when I tried to do this, I could not log in…and then I did *something* and the whole site disappeared. So then, I had to reconstruct it from the ground up. Everything is basically the same…new gallery layout but I do like this one better so that worked out for the best. So, as is customary with every update I make *here we go again…* Im going to be working on getting all the pics back into the gallery, and add all the others that I have too.

Im really looking forward to 2009. 2008 turned out to be a fantastic year…never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined all the things that happened this year, for everyone that I love and am close to it seems that this year really was a fortunte one. Looking forward in eager anticipation…!

Spring Is Nigh! March 13, 2008

Did you remember to spring forward? Amazingly enough, I did so it seems the household is on track. Ive done a few more updates… Ive changed up our pics on the family page so that they’re current, and in light of Spring, Ive added a new Holiday gallery with all the Easter pics I have through the years.

Ive also added some new wallpaper to the site, so click on the little coloured boxes at the top to pick the springtime pic that fits your browsing mood. More later!

Pictures and Video! An Update! Oh My! January 17, 2008

Yes, yes…its not just your imagination. Im actually making history here by updating like I said I would! If Im not careful, Ill totally ruin my reputation. Gotta keep an eye on that…

Its true! There are new photos in the gallery! In honour of The -Ski’s upcoming 11th birthday, Ive made sure to upload all the photos I was able to find of her birthdays through the years, and super cute…I was also able to find a video of her on her 3rd birthday. Make sure you leave a comment here or in the album when you check it out. Ayanna would love to see that!

By the way, Ive added a bunch of birthday backgrounds to the site for Ayannas birthday. Just click through the 4 little coloured boxes at the top of the site to choose the one you like.

Where Did 2007 Go? January 15, 2008

Its not possible I went the entire year of 2007 without making a single update or post. Nope. I dont believe it.

Ah! But I did do an update!!! I added an album to the gallery for our trip to Rapids Waterpark in West Palm over the summer! Dont rush in there too fast though, I didnt actually put any photos in there. Okay, for this years update: A whole heap of stuff happened since my last update. Stay tuned for more exciting updates!!!

Okay, okay Ill give you a real update… Ayanna has grown. A lot. Shes catching up to me. Scary eh? Shes finishing up the 5th grade, in the school chorus and studying for her audition for the school play of Grease. Shes really hoping she makes it in so she can dance funny like they do in the movie (her words not mine!) She still writes a lot, loves her arts & crafts and shes been tearing through books at lightning speed.

Me? Oh, Im doing fiiiiine. Just working a lot, trying not to feel intellectually inadequate when Ski asks for help with her homework, and working some more. I eat sometimes….Ill sleep when the worlds coffee supply starts running low. I do take bathroom breaks though. Thats a relief eh?! Ohhhh, but there is more. Ive been dating a pretty fantastic guy these past few. Hes sweet, and thoughtful, and handsome, and charming. Yup, things are going well in CandyLand.

So yeah, time for my usual yearly speech *ahem…* “I have tons of new photos and videos, and I promise to make updates to the gallery and our family page very soon!!!” No but really! I really mean it this time! I finally approved my comments over the past year. Well, comment. A fine chap from Argentina proposed to me on our Family Life page. Of course, my family does things the proper way and to even be considered as a suitable contender for my hand in marriage, my mother expects the traditional dowry of 3 goats, 2 chickens and a 52? flat screen plasma tv. (The great thing is, I know no one even bothers to read this anymore…so I can say whatevah nonsense I want. Ahhhhh!)

Im doing things the smart way this time around though…Ive decided to get a head start on my next update so that its all ready to for you! Heres what I have so far: “So, Ayanna graduated high school last week, and oh man, I was both proud and devastated…my baby is all grown up! She looked fantastic….wait till you see the pictures! Ill be posting them soooon!!”

A little bit of this…A little bit of that… August 24, 2006

Yet another change and some updates. I moved Canaya.com to a new server (not all my files are moved over, so if there are images/music/links that are broken anywhere on the Internet…that is why. Do let me know if you notice any of these…) With that, I decided to go the absolute easiest route and use WordPress. I just dont have the time to develop, maintain and update the family website…obviously. So now, I hope that this will actually be regularly updated.

In other news…Ayanna is now in the 4th grade! Shes doing great so far..enjoying her classes, happy to see her friends again after the long summer, and her workload is a lot heavier…which isnt a bad thing. I cut her hair last night…its *short* No, not as short as my hair! haha…But it comes to her shoulders now. Its quite cute, and she can now wear her hair out and still look tidy. Ill take and post pics asap!

We’ll update our personal pages very soon here. Ayanna has plenty of art project to show off, plus her writings and her book reviews. Im not entirely sure what to put on mine just yet, but I know you all come here to see what she’s up to anyway, so I wont fret

As for the rest of the site…Ill be updating our pics and bios, as well as get the gallery up to date. The longer I wait, the more there is to catch up on, cause Im still taking pics…lots of them…which means you have lots to look forward to! I also plan to add email subscription to Canaya.com, this way you just have to sign up and whenever I update, you’ll know about it. Also, if you are ever moved to comment to one of my posts…just click on the “comments” link in the corner of the box the post is in and type away!

And thats pretty much it! I need to get some work done, so I will bid you adieu…

I’m on a roll! May 24, 2006

So this will make..what…the third update in one year? This is amazing progress…let me tell you! Alright…well, Friday is Ayanna’s last day of school, and then she will be a 4th grader. Ooooh my goodness. Time flies eh?

Where we live now is pretty alright…this is the first place we’ve lived where there will be a knock at the door and a bunch of kids at the doorstep calling out “Can Ayanna come out and plaaaaay?!” That’s pretty excellent. Ayanna is still reading quite a bit…Barnes and Nobles is her Toys R US. Though don’t get me wrong..she wont pass up a trip to the toy shop by any means. Shes very much into writing her own material though, be it short stories or comics…and she has raided the craft room plenty times to do some drawing and since I picked up acrylic painting, so has she.

How am I doing? Oooh, why thank you for asking! Pretty alright I have to say. I keep pretty busy with whatever it is I happen to be working on at any given moment. I am making strides in a *gasp* social life though, and going out every so often. Amazing since it seems I still haven’t quite got the whole “telephoning is a viable means of communication” thing down as of yet.

So, things are going pretty alright in the land of sand, sun and palm trees. Ah! I didn’t break my promise either…I did not wait 6 months to make an update…its been only 4 months. I am making progress….you see?

T.G.I.F.!!! January 20, 2006

Well, its going to be a pretty busy weekend! Ayanna’s birthday is on Sunday, but we start celebrating tomorrow (shhh…its a surprise, so you dont get to find out till she does since she visits here too!)

More updates! Ive added some 2004 photos to the Family, Travels and Holiday photo albums. I have about 7 more albums to add in which will bring me up to date. I have also updated Family Life with Miami information (in case you are incredibly curious what the weather is like here…) I hope you enjoy!

Wow! Update time already?! January 17, 2006

Yes, it seems Im getting better at this updating thing…instead of a year, it only took me 5 months this time! Well, Ayanna and I have moved out of Kissimmee, and back to Miami. We do so love it here, its nice to be “home”. Ayanna is in the 3rd grade, growing like a weed, and me, Im not growing like a weed…not anymore anyway…thank goodness.

As for updates to the site! I’ve finally gotten around to updating the Photo Album! Now before you get too excited, its only updated to 2003. Yes, I know…but at least now all the photos that were on the old site are now on this one. There’s a lot more to come though! I will not wait 6 months again to update. I promise!

Oh, and if you’d like to be kept up to date for when I do update the site, so that you arent checking around here every day only to see nothing has changed (except for that neat random photo thing on the right there), please fill out the contact form, and Ill make sure you get a notice of the latest updates.

Ohhhhhh and Happy New Year!!!!