Dove Chocolate Challenge Day # 1 "Look for love in unexpected places." - Leanna Columbus, OH

So, today is day # 1 of my dove chocolate challenge. I'm finally getting around to it. My husband keeps nagging me (more like encouraging) to write down my challenge of the day and blog about it instead of just eating the chocolate alone. lol. Of course I was supposed to start blogging a week ago...but somehow kept putting it off (that's the little procrastinator side of me). Well...since I'm starting this blog, and since this is my first entry, that means I can no longer procrastinate. :)

But anyway, back to the story...I was watching Julie & Julia (LOVE that movie!) and I was totally inspired to start my own year long adventure. So here it goes. Everyday for 365 days, I will eat a DOVE chocolate and fulfill the quote on the dove chocolate wrapper. And every day, I will blog about what I've done, whether it's a deed or a thought (depending on the quote) for that day.. So for 10 or so minutes a day, I will take some time out for my challenge. Eat a chocolate in the morning, and let the rest of the day unfold with a challenge. And that's how, ladies and gentlemen, I will take on my day, with insight and one chocolate at a time. ;) Sounds like a yummy way to live.

Today's challenge is "Look for love in unexpected places." - By Leanna from Columbus, OH.

Well, I work at a youth center called, "Joel's Place." I am the front desk admin there. Everyday, our cook, Mark, makes dinner at 4pm. As I walked up to get a plate, I just noticed how much love and care Mark puts into his plates of food everyday. The food is good! And it's not just the food, it's his friendly and genuinely caring smile that just brightens everybody's day as well as his sense of humor. It reminds me of an old saying my grandma used to tell me. "When someone cooks with love, the food tastes good because they put their love in the food." And Mark truly does cook with love. You see it in the food, the way it's cooked and placed on the plate, and you see him caring about the people that he serves it to. Yum. Love truly does make food taste great. And another thing totally caught my eye. I'm going to change their names for their sake. But let's call them Mikey and Josh. When I was walking with my plate of food back to my desk, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Josh was twirling Mikey around like a little airplane. And it was absolutely heart warming and beautiful. It made my heart really happy. You see, Josh is about 16 years old and he came to Joel's Place as a community service kid. (You know, when kids do something stupid and get in trouble, and then have community service hours that they need to fulfill). But yeah, that's how Josh came to us this summer. And after he finished his community service hours, he kinda just stuck around. He really liked Joel's Place, and all of us really liked Josh. What a cool kid! Seeing his face everyday has become a kind of pleasant routine. You miss him when he's gone. And he's super nice! Well, while Josh was here everyday this summer, he met Mikey, and mikey is around 10 or 11. Josh and Mikey became great friends. And Josh became a pretty cool mentor to Mikey. They hung out together every day, they are like glue. It's so fun to see them. Josh watches Mikey's back all the time. And together, they make a mean team. :) And it's just been beautiful to watch this really cool friendship unveil before my eyes. So today, when I got to see them just goofing off out of the corner of my eye, reminded me of the brotherly love they have for one another, and it's just one example of love in an unexpected place.

Well,

I better get going. :)

As you can tell...I can type forever!

And it's time to hit the ZZZzzzz button

Yours truly,

Fellow Chocolatier.  :)