DECADE OF JOY

Are you one of those people who thinks writing in a journal is really important and yet your journal entries look like:

ENTRY 1 - Jan 1, 1989 - New Journal...so motivated....pledge to be better.... the world's best journal writer.... detailed description of my day...
ENTRY 2 - Jan 3, 1989 - Rats!, was so committed and missed a day, but.....I'll be better.... less detailed description of my day...but still a success...
ENTRY 3 - Jan 4, 1989 - Yay, me! Two days in a row....feel so happy....what a great day...

ENTRY 4 - Jan 1, 2001 - Shame!!!!!.....look at how long it has been...where do I even start and what events are gone forever because I didn't capture them when they happened...five hours later and 12 years of events..., I'm almost caught up...

And it starts again.

Yeah - that's me. I totally believe in journal writing and keeping a record, but to my utter shame, like my annual resolution to budget, journaling too, lasts but a few days.

So, what follows is Entry 4; and it took me a ridiculous amount of time.

The theme for the decade of 40s is JOY. And, while there certainly have been struggles this year, I have also had a lot of fun:

Parties
Valentines/Bugsy Malone party with the kids

Hat/Tea Party with the girlies(We missed you girls who weren't with us... next year!)

Pig party for the April 1st Celebration - with Pigs in a Blanket, pig toys and books, and licorice ice cream. We're thankful for pig valves in our family.


The Australians

Trips
Mesa to see Henry and Paul and Kami and baby girl niece :) - where we ate at fun places, shopped, fed ducks and played at the park, went to Spring Training, and got me addicted to Lost.



St. Louis to see Tiana, Bror, Inj & Melanie, where we went to a Cardinals game - complete with an airport-devastating tornado, saw Abraham Lincoln's home, toured the Anheuser Busch facility, celebrated Easter (in style thanks to a very thoughtful Chris - my brother's father-in-law, who bought me and Mellie hats to keep up my Dad's tradition); and I also caught a three-month cold/cough.
Hawaii for a "Its ok that you're 40 now" relaxing vacation.


I did some "radical" things with my appearance
PINK extensions (the purple from the chocolate party turned hot pink....and had to come out).

And then, I started going shorter...

And shorter...

Until....look what happened....

Yep. I'm "that age." Glasses. So - of course, I took advantage of that opportunity and got black and whites (above) and Kate Spade's (below). Had to. (And I'm about to get some Fendi sunglasses.... its an illness, I know.... but, remember how this is the decade of JOY.)

Most importantly, I've been having a great time with my sweet family...

And, of course, I have continued to eat chocolate to my heart's content.

So - now you and my journal are all up to date.

Have you been wondering about me & chocolate?

You know the chorus of that song by Cinderella, “You don’t know what you got ‘til its gone,” where the singer laments not appreciating or recognizing the great love that was and now isn’t in his/her life?

Most of us have experienced something akin to this, whether it be a friend or a family member or a loved one or a job, etc., and it feels like a truth - a cautionary tale, if you will: appreciate the good things in your life WHILE you have them.

Well, I have a different song to sing/tale to tell. It would go something like this: “You don’t realize what you gave up ‘til it is back.”

I must first say, I do not suppose to have coined a phrase of universal truth here – I realized immediately, and each successive day after, what I had given up when I went for 27 days without my Diet Coke/Diet Dr. Pepper (caffeine).

But, wow – 14 YEARS without chocolate! I absolutely did not fully realize/comprehend/remember what I was missing. And, I am so happy it is back in my life that I have appreciated it multiple times every day since December 31st.

I am about done appreciating at this magnitude and will shortly be consuming at a more normal level of “appreciation,” but before I tried to be a normal person, I had to make sure I had been thoroughly reminded of and reacquainted with my old friend. And I have been. Isn’t chocolate divine?!!!

A few of my current favorites:
BYU Creamery Chocolate Milk -thanks to Kurt, I tasted chocolate milk for the first time in my life the other day (Mom didn’t think it was good for us when we were young – she was probably right!)
Chocolate Donuts (thanks, Joe!)
Chocolate Mint Graham Crackers
Peppermint Oreos, Oreos, Oreo Shakes, Mint Oreo Shakes, homemade oreos, etc.
Brownies
Hershey’s Kisses, M&M’s, Kit Kats, Twix,…
Chocolate and Peanut Butter anything, but esp. the treats my sisters-in-law make
Chocolate Sin Pie at The Dodo
Chocolate Chip Cookies from Paradise (completely obsessed with these)

I could go on and on. I’m like that mayor guy in Chocolat who abstains from chocolate and then completely loses all self control and eats all the chocolate in the chocolate shop window one night. Classic.

So - diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but chocolate is her 2nd bestie. Glad to have you back, friend!

BTW – can someone smarter than me/better informed than me please tell me the etymology for the “don’t know what you’ve got….” phrase? Was it really Cinderella? I’m sure I should know or be able to find it, but I’ve not been able to yet.

And, yes - the Chocolat reference was just so I could have a pic of Johnny Depp on my blog. :)

Spectacular, Spectacular!

No words in the vernacular
Can describe this event!
I was filled with wonderment.
(borrowed from Moulin Rouge)

Thanks to a fabulous family, fantastic friends, two massive inflatable slides, and a Complete CHOCOLATE Craze, I had the most perfect Birthday/New Year’s Eve Party ever!! I feel so blessed to have so many sweet, kind, and generous people in my life who helped make my big chocolate bash a party I will never forget.
Some of the Highlights:
-Purple extensions and tinsel in my hair
-My WHOLE family being in the same room at the same time
-Everyone helping SO much to get ready and clean up (I am VERY grateful to you all), including everyone who came so early and stayed so very late; the diet coke from Jana; a curling iron loan from Eliza; and the inflatables fitting in the gymn just by the hair of their chinny, chin, chins
-All the great treats everyone brought and the chocolate fountains Julie organized and operated (I loved everything I ate, but three discoveries: Chicken Mole, Trader Joe’s Peppermint Oreos dipped in a milk chocolate fountain, and peanut butter and chocolate combined is completely amazing)
-The arrival of my b-day gift from my parents….see pic below
-Rushing to get everyone there and ready for Photos with Sy (which was spastic, but fun!)
-Eating a brownie & mint chocolate chip ice cream for the first time in 14 years - embarrassingly with the whole crowd watching & cheering and snapping photos
-Going down the big slide about 300 times (299 of those times with Tiana)
-Paul’s Fudge Bingo of many voices
-The New Year’s toast with Martinelli’s that I was too wimpy to be able to open
-The marshmallow fight & the dart wars complete with a hand-made cowboy – thanks to Jake & Aiden, etc.
-And, a lot of other stuff, but - most importantly: having so many of the people I love and admire all in one place having fun and eating good food and doing so many nice things for me.
Again – THANK YOU to each of you who came to my party and helped me make it SPECTACULAR!!

P.S. I am thrilled that. . .
- I accomplished a BIG goal that was hard for me,
- I still LOVE chocolate,
- I can eat whatever I want now without having to read labels or inconvenience anyone, and
- Thanks to my parents, I have a new focus: Learning to play the harp!! A dream I’ve had since I was a little girl…and we ALL know how long that is now. Pretty great birthday gift - fulfilling a dream. Like I said a few years ago - my parents are the original Make A Wish Foundation. THANK YOU!!

Let the Fabulous, Flirty Forties begin.....

Only hours away...

Well, you now know more than you ever wanted to know about me, but hopefully also have some fun ideas for food, books, movies, organizing bins or whatever else might have been amusing to you if you’ve read all 59 of the preceding posts.

December 31st at 8 pm, after about 14 years, I am breaking my chocolate fast. And the first thing I will eat is the last favorite:

BROWNIE WITH MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP ICE CREAM, FUDGE AND WHIPPED CREAM.

Come celebrate with me (e-mail if you need the address - raybee777@hotmail.com).

And, Happy New Year!

1 - I Know a Name

...dearer to ME than any other....it is the name Aunt Becky.

I have the most adorable, precious, talented, wonderful, cute, smart, and perfect nieces and nephews in all the wide world. They are simply the joy of life.

I have been blessed to have an extraordinary extended family - once, my uncle took a day off work to spend six hours driving me to Idaho so I could join my family and go to Hebgen for the last time. Pretty big deal to me. My uncles, aunts, cousins and of course, grandparents are treasures.

My sisters-in-law, brothers and their families and my angel parents are the best part of my life. When people ask me what my hobbies are, I say - reading, cooking, swimming...stuff like that. But, the real answer is my family. They are my hobby and if I could, the way I would choose to spend all my free time. I love you all!!

#1 on my list of Favorite Things is MY FAMILY.

2 - I Believe

I remember the day I was baptized very clearly. I remember that Grandma Allred was sitting on the front row and told me after the baptism that my Dad was the only one who kissed me on the forehead when I got out of the water. I remember that the water was very warm. I remember feeling so happy and glad I had chosen to follow Christ. It was the best decision I ever made.

That decision has impacted my entire life and is one of the things I treasure most.

It might be more accurate to say:

MY TESTIMONY is on my list of things for which I am most grateful.

3 - I Believe There are Angels Among Us

I grew up in a neighborhood & ward with some truly angelic people - no one who lived in the ward would debate the fact that Maureen & Phyllis were angels who consistently blessed the lives of everyone around them.

I was blessed by them and blessed again to find another neighborhood and ward with angelic friends and neighbors who continue to bless my life with their thoughtful kindness.

I love my ward. It is full of people who do kind things for me and live good lives. They are real life evidence of what President Kimball said:

The Lord does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other. The righteous life is achieved as we magnify our view of life, and expand our view of others and of our own possibilities. Thus, the more we follow the teachings of the Master, the more enlarged our perspective becomes. We see many more possibilities for service than we would have seen without this magnification.

#3 on my list of Favorite Things is MY WARD.

4 - Tell Me The Stories of Jesus

One of my favorite mission memories was showing a mother and her young children an animated version of 3 Nephi 11 - when the Savior appears to the Nephites living on the American continent - and seeing the impact that knowledge of a living and loving Christ had on those precious children.

The video, produced by Living Scriptures, is a very sweet rendering of the account in the Book of Mormon.
#4 on my list of Favorite Things is this STORY OF JESUS.

5 - The REAL Christmas Street

I grew up on a street where each December, the neighbors all came together to do something nice for the community and to testify of the birth, life and mission of Jesus Christ...the real reason for the season. The homes in the circle all display large signs on their lawns with New Testament scriptures and pictures portraying the related scenes.

Cars, buses, limos, carollers came from all over the valley to drive around that circle. We always felt pretty special to live on such a cool street where so many people came to read of the Savior's birth and life. Most Christmas Eves we had to wait in bumper to bumper traffic to get in our driveway.

It was all started by some stalwart old souls - my grandpa & Sy Curtis - before I was born, but the tradition they started is still blessing countless lives - even after they have both returned to that Savior of whom they testified.

This was just one of the Christmas traditions I cherished...I loved the eggnog toast before going in to open presents, Christmas breakfasts, visits from and to grandparents, family parties, and Christmas morning programs to read and open presents by ("shepherds abiding in their fields, keeping watch over their flocks" meant wool sweaters....disciples called to be "fishers of men" meant fishing gear..."angels singing to proclaim His birth meant CDs, stereo equipment, or iPods), etc,.... We still do most of these and I love it!

#5 on my list of Favorite Things is our family CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS.

6 - Montana Mile Marker #5

Several writers and movie makers have tried to capture the essence of an Ideal – a perfect place of love, joy and peace.…

-Sir Thomas More in Utopia;
-The Arthurian legend of a place called Camelot (the Richard Harris, Vanessa Redgrave film is a classic);
-Or James Hilton’s description of Shangri La in Lost Horizon (was also made into a great movie).

I knew a man who succeeded in creating a real Utopia/Camelot/Shangri La. We called him Hans. And, his cabin on Hebgen Lake WAS the Ideal.

Apart from the days my brothers got married or had children, the best and happiest memories of my life are of Hebgen. Check out that sweet life-preserver. I could swim quite well by this time, but it was important to Mom and Dad and Hans that we all stay safe, so we wore them faithfully - and didn't really mind, because who could be bothered by anything at Hebgen?!

Hans was one of those rare individuals who saw the opportunity to make and share something special and actually did it. He was constantly improving things and doing things for us while we were there - like building a fire each morning so that when we woke up it was warm in the cabin...or teaching us how to make ice cream in the garage...or taking us on wood safari's...hunting for huckleberries...spinning tales about slingshots and moose (which I believed into adulthood)...showing us silent movies from his amazing collection in a living room theater decked out with big screen, reel to reel, light dimmer and surround sound...or giving up his bedroom in the big cabin so we could feel like the cabin was our's.

I can still remember the smell of the woods and lake and the feeling of waking up in that bed under the 4 inch thick brown quilt; and, the site of my Dad chasing a baby bear outside the dining windows to get a photo; my brothers hunting for frogs; swinging on the swing; playing chinese checkers and the marble game; listening to "cabin music"; the wind in my hair as I skiied across a glass lake; cleaning my first fish; sliding down the plastic cushions at the Walton-style table; and saying goodbye for the last time.

In a few days, when I blow out the candle sitting atop the first chocolate birthday cake I’ve had in a very long time, my birthday wish will be for everyone to have a Hans and the opportunity to experience the Ideal that was Hebgen.

#6 on my list of Favorite Things is HANS' CABIN and HEBGEN LAKE, MONTANA.

7 - Sleeping in Beauty

My niece and I were talking the other day about the removable tops of the posts on her bed (they make great microphones and weapons). She has the bed I grew up with. In it's prime, it was a beautiful canopy bed. I still remember my excitement, when at the end of my Christmas morning treasure hunt, I ended up opening my bedroom door to see this glorious cream colored bed standing there - with a matching cream and brown rug on the floor. My parents had us all sleep in one room that Christmas Eve. We thought it was so fun to have a Christmas slumber party. Despite the fact that my brothers will tell you I was spoiled every Christmas (only girl) I never thought I would get such a grand present. They kept it at the Pococks across the street to ensure secrecy. What a site they must have been carting big boxes out of their neighbor's house in the middle of the night.

I loved that bed. And, I love my "big girl" bed now. It has a pillow top and in the winter, flannel sheets, fleece and down blankets and the best pillow in the wide world. I just LOVE when I get to sleep in or take a nap. There's pretty much nothing better than a Sunday afternoon nap, is there? (SO excited for morning church in one week!!!)

I recognize that not everyone sleeps in such luxury - in peace, warmth, and comfort - and I am truly grateful for this blessing in my life. I am a girl who needs her sleep.

#7 on my list of Favorite Things is MY BED.

(The pic above is the closest web photo I could find to what my bed looked like. It is VERY close. The canopy on MY bed met its match with the monkeys who liked sneaking in and swinging from it.)

8 - Apples Anyone?

When I was in high school we had English lab rotations where we got to work on MacIntosh computers for 30 minutes. At the time, this was revolutionary because the computer lab only had Dos. Now, they have kindergarteners doing PowerPoint presentations. Talk about progress. (No comments on how long it's been since I've been in kindgergarten, please.)

Time has moved on a bit and while I'm not a school teacher, I still love the Apple. I think one of the best inventions since butter and airplanes is the iPod. What a cool device!! I started with a very cute pink mini, moved on to middle school and the nano and then skipped several grades to the Mac university with an iPod touch. This thing is absolutely amazing. Like my cell phone, I do not know how I lived without my iPod. And they just keep getting better and better. Those Mac people sure know what they are doing.

#8 on my list of Favorite Things is my iPOD!!!!

9 - Christmas is coming and the goose is already fat...

Catchy title, right? hahaha

I distinctly remember the trip to one Christmas Eve family party driving diagonally up a very steep and very slippery hill because the car had no traction on the ice. We slid all the way UP that hill. As previously mentioned, snow driving = evil for Becky.

Had I been my Dad, the driver, I would have thought of nothing else during the party but how the heck were we going to get back down that hill at the end of the evening without crashing??! He's much less dramatic than I and probably didn't do that. As a little girl, while it scared me, I did not quite comprehend the peril we may have been in and probably slept the whole way home, waking after a peaceful night's rest the next morning to presents galore.

Thanks to my parents and four very loving and generous grandparents, that drive is the only slightly negative memory I have of all the Christmases in my whole history. Most of my happiest Christmas memories are of family parties.

On Christmas Eve, we always went to my grandparent's home. We exchanged gifts, sang, performed, re-enacted the nativity, and ate spectacular meals. They served the best food made all year at Christmas - amazing statement given that they had already pulled out all the stops at Thanksgiving. But at Christmas, they must have found a few hidden stops and that food was sheer ambrosia. (Can you mix organ and food metaphors?)

My expectations for Christmas food is simply off the charts because of those parties, so when I tell you that I have found a recipe that to me is worthy of Christmas dinner, you know it is quite a statement. My friend, Claire, posted these amazing cookies on her blog in 2009. I made them last Christmas Eve and absolutely LOVED them. They are very Christmassy and really do melt in your mouth. I totally stole her post from last year for my day 9:

Peppermint Meltaways
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1-1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
Cream butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in extract. Combine flour and cornstarch; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.
Shape into 1" balls. Place 2" apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms are very lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Frosting:
2 TBSP butter, softened
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 TBSP milk
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
2-3 drops red food coloring
1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies/candy canes
Beat butter until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, milk, extract and food coloring and beat until smooth. Spread over completely cooled cookies. Sprinkle with crushed candies.

# 9 on my list of Favorite Things is this recipe for PEPPERMINT MELTAWAYS. Thanks, Claire!!

10 - Ships

Have you ever sat and pondered what you would do if you won the lottery or the sweepstakes or just suddenly came into a substantial amount of money? Well, I have.

It would be a dream come true. After writing the biggest check in my tithing history, I would:

- Buy houses/pay off the mortgages for my family (and me)
- Buy a big cabin on Hebgen Lake
- Set up a charitable organization doing something great for children where the now mortgage-free family could spend their time
- Buy a car for any of the family who needed it (and four new cars for me – Black Convertible Boxster, Big Jeep, Super Big Truck, and a CRV like the one I have now only black and with a few extras)
- Undoubtedly go to the spa once a week and spend a few weeks buying a ridiculous amount of clothes, shoes, jewelry, purses, luggage, and organizing bins, etc.
- Fly first class to Australia and spend two weeks driving down the Great Ocean Road
- And best of all, I would buy whatever gifts I wanted for family, friends, coworkers…whomever

Can you imagine? Not being constrained by a budget when purchasing gifts for people? THIS would be nirvana for me. I absolutely LOVE giving gifts. It is not because I am a wonderful philanthropist or benefactress (what a cool word!)…I just really get a kick out of seeking out and giving gifts that are special for people I love. I am sure it has more to do with loving shopping than anything else. OH….and, think of the stuffed animal lions I could get for me and my nieces and nephews. Life-sized. What fun!

The thing is, I can’t wait for my pirate ship (with Orlando Bloom captaining it) to come in. Albert Einstein said, “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” So – I am going to have to be worthwhile now. I am pretty sure the Budget Master would frown on increasing the 2011 amount budgeted for gifts, so- people who I love: get ready for non-monetary gifts….whatever that is. Oh Mr. Pirate...where are you?

#10 on my list of Favorite Things is GIVING GIFTS (which I prefer to call PRIZES).

11 - Soaring

Victor Hugo once said, “To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.”

His book, Les Miserables, lit a fire in me and I've been reading as much and often as I could ever since. When I find a book I love, I get consumed, and sometimes ignore everything else.

Here are 20 of my favorites:

- Les Miserables
- Gone With The Wind
- Uncle Tom's Cabin
- The Hiding Place
- Anne of Green Gables
- Harry Potter
- Open
- The Glass Lake
- Twilight
- The Bourne Identity
- Oliver Twist
- The Hobbit
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- Dr. Zhivago
- The Grapes of Wrath
- The Good Earth
- Little Women
- Pride & Prejudice
- The Outsiders
- Shopaholic

And there are a ton of others that I love.

“To read is to fly: it is to soar to a point of vantage which gives a view over wide terrains of history, human variety, ideas, shared experience and the fruits of many inquiries.”
- A C Grayling

I love to fly. And, I love to read.

#11 on my list of Favorite Things is READING.

12 - I Know a Place

There is a song I used to love to sing when I was at girls camp:

I know a place where no one ever goes
There's peace and quiet, beauty and repose
It's hidden in a valley, beside a mountain stream
And lying there beside the stream
I find that I can dream
Oh what a place of beauty to the eye
Snow peaked mountains towering towards the sky
Now I know that God has made this world for me

I still like to sing this song, but in a different place of beauty to the eye, and with slightly different lyrics:

I know a place where Becky loves to go
There's peace and quiet, beauty eventhough
It's hidden down a Walmart aisle, beside an organizing bin
And standing there beside the bin
I find that I can grin
Oh what a place of beauty to the eye
Organizing bins and baskets towering towards the sky
Now I know that God has made this store for me

I absolutely LOVE organizing bins. I have them in my entry way, my bedroom, my bathrooms, my closets, my kitchen, my TV room, my living room, my car...everywhere. And I wish I had more. And, I am constantly in search of the best organized purses, bags, luggage, etc. This doesn't mean I am super organized...I just love the dream of being super organized. I am always thinking about what I could do in this corner or that one to be better organized. I love it.

#12 on my list of Favorite Things is ORGANIZING BINS.

13 - The Song of The Heart

When I was very little - 7 or something - my Dad told me he would buy me my own hymn book if I would learn to play the hymn, Come, Come Ye Saints. I told my piano teacher about it and she said I was not good enough to play it yet. My Dad bought a simplified hymn book to try and help, but it was too late.

The gauntlet had been thrown down when she uttered the "can't" word. Interesting (or not) side note - I don't mind when I realize I can't do something, but when someone else tells me that....sometimes (rarely) I agree. This wasn't one of those times.

I worked at that hymn until my whole family was probably sick to death of it. But, guess what?! I learned it so well that I still can play it by memory to this day. AND - I got my very own hymn book. Thanks, Dad for believing in me! Maybe Zora did too...just had a different method for inciting me. :)

Anywho - learning Come, Come Ye Saints started me down a path of loving to play hymns. I was the pianist or organist for everything growing up - family conferences and Christmas events, primary, young womens, sacrament meeting, firesides (where I was jinxed for a while and made a mistake in the intro every time for months - even in front of Jon Schmidt and President Hinckley), big regional basketball tournament kick-off meetings (thanks to Uncle Blaine), stake events (where I had to play with Richard Elliot and Elizabeth Ballantyne sitting right behind me - one of my worst performances EVER!), sitting around the piano with my family on a Sunday night, on vacation in Island Park as evidently the only visitor in a group of hundreds who could play the hymns (or was willing to), on my mission (where I had another jinx and simply could not play Called to Serve without messing up - one time my mission president's wife even looked over at me with incredulity wondering how anyone could mess up so much), for work seminars (had the great privelege to play the piano and the organ for apostles and prophets), and at grandparents funerals...when I finished playing How Great Thou Art at my Grandma's funeral, Grandpa got up out of the audience and walked over to the piano to hug me...one of my most cherished memories.

Who would have thought it? Well, my Mom and Dad did. Dad knew what he was doing with that challenge and Mom had envisioned her musical children long ago. Ok, ok - I forgive you for ripping me out of ballet. It was definitely worth it.

#13 on my list of Favorite Things is PLAYING HYMNS.

15 - Shaken, not stirred

What if there was a man who could always figure his way out of any situation, had a sweet fast car full of every gadget known to inventors, was quick on his feet, won every fight he fought almost without breaking a sweat, saved the world from war all in a day's work, dressed to kill and had a license to do the same...wouldn't you want him on your side?

Well, he's in Her Majesty's Service, so too bad for us Yanks, but at least we can enjoy the films. And I do! I love James Bond films. I know some of my sister "feminists" would dissaprove, but maybe they haven't seen Daniel Craig or Sean Connery before. And, while we are on the subject, here's my order of Great Bonds from crappiest to best:

-Timothy Dalton (surely, they jest)
-George Lazenby (who?)
-Roger Moore (fish face I call him)
-Pierce Brosnan (getting better! except, don't have him sing - WOW!)
-and here, I waver between Daniel Craig and Sean Connery - the two best - no contest

But, where I don't waver is which is my favorite Bond film: You Only Live Twice. Love it.

I also think Casino Royale (the new one, not the spoof) is excellent.

#15 on my list of Favorite Things is BOND, JAMES BOND FILMS.