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Balancing Act

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The “Full House” alumna shares her experiences of handling her busy life in her new book, “Balancing It All: My Story of Juggling Priorities and Purpose.”

Actress Candace Cameron Bure, widely known for her role as D.J. Tanner on the classic television series “Full House,” has spent the past years nurturing a full house of her own. As a devoted wife to retired hockey pro Valeri Bure and a full-time mother of three children, Bure is constantly engaged in balancing her career as an actor, producer, author and inspirational speaker with the needs of her family. In order to share tips and tricks from her busy life as a modern mom with vintage values, she recently wrote her second book, “Balancing It All: My Story of Juggling Priorities and Purpose.”

“I want to hold onto traditional values, yet the world is going so fast,” Bure says. “I chose not to have a nanny for my kids when they were younger, because I wanted to be there for them, so I was a stay-at-home mom and took time off from work. Now that they’ve gotten older, I’m back to work, and my husband and I have a wine label, so he travels, and somehow we’ve managed to do it with the two of us. There are days I’d love a personal assistant, but I’ve been in this routine awhile. I believe if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. In my book, I talk a lot about prioritizing and reprioritizing, because I have a big picture for a year or two out, then I micromanage within that big picture, and that’s where the juggling comes in. On a daily basis, I reprioritize what has to happen for the week and let stuff drop and pick it up later.”

Bure feels that everything should not have to be stripped down to the bare minimum in order to achieve a full, meaningful life. “We are able to have a lot of things in our lives that are important to us,” she says. “When we invest in our own natural talents, gifts and desires, that overlap forms a balance in our lives, like the priority of my family over work. I love working, but that work also provides for my family. And friendships are incredibly important to me; when I take the time out to be with my girlfriends so I can have them lend a listening ear, this helps to balance my life, not complicate it.”

Bure’s book is laced with funny anecdotes and personal honesty — a trait she is known to embrace. “When you’re in the spotlight, you open yourself up to a lot of criticism,” she explains. “I don’t have to put myself out there, but the truth is, I love connecting with people. That’s why I’ve written the book and spoken at conferences — because I feel we help one another. I think we should be trading secrets and sharing how we do life and what’s important, and if you can glean wisdom from someone, why wouldn’t you want to share?”

As a devout Christian, Bure’s faith permeates all aspects of her life, including this book, as it did with her first book, New York Times bestseller “Reshaping It All: Motivation for Physical and Spiritual Fitness.” In that book, Bure chronicles how she placed the relationship of her faith in front of her relationship with food in order to successfully lose weight. “It’s who I am,” she says. “The foundation for all my decisions with my career, and the way I live my life as a wife and a mom, is all supported and grounded in my faith in Christ.”

Bure is busy developing projects, including more with the Hallmark Channel, thanks in part to the record-breaking success of “Let It Snow,” in which Bure starred as Stephanie Beck in the cable television network’s highest-rated Christmas movie and its second-highest-rated movie of all time. “It shows me what great fans I have who are willing to stick with me,” Bure says. “I couldn’t be more thrilled; I love working and acting, and I’ve gotten into producing. It’s great that I get to do what I really love.”

Bure hasn’t visited New Orleans since her teen years, when her brother, actor Kirk Cameron, was Grand Marshal of the Krewe of Endymion in 1987. “I remember the craziness of it — and how wild people were and the beads being thrown — and I think my mom was just trying to keep me from being lost in the crowd and shielding my eyes from risqué women,” Bure laughs. “My husband and I are big foodies, and I want to come to New Orleans to chow down on some great food. I would love it.”