New Year!

I can't believe 2011 went by so quickly. Since January of 2011, so many things have happened. This time last year, I was about to start my last semester of college, I had accepted a job that would enable me to move back to my hometown, I was excited about graduation, a cruise, and a Josh Groban concert, I was watching lots of TV and movies since I didn't have much school work.

Now, I am a full-time employee at an accounting firm. I do mostly tax work, but anything else that one of my many bosses decides to assign to me. While it can be extremely frustrating and difficult sometimes, I know I been blessed beyond measure and count myself very lucky to have such a good job. While preparing tax returns is not what I want to do for all of my working life, it has been a good start to my career that will give me many options and great deals of experience. The frustrating parts of my job are teaching me to be more flexible, willing to learn and to accept challenges (which is something I have never been very good at). And when I'm not at work, I am at home studying for the CPA exam. Life is a little rough right now, but hopefully I will be done with the CPA exam soon and be able to relax.

In summary, 2011 was busy. Here is what I experienced during the past year:

• Having a relaxing, mostly enjoyable last semester of college
• Being blessed by sharing a house with three incredible, encouraging women of God
• Having 3 consecutive days off of school and work because of snow and ice. We had so much fun walking to the grocery store, rescuing freezing puppies, and cooking food together
• Experiencing my first tax season at my internship
• Graduating with my Masters of Accountancy
• Saying goodbye to a place I loved, ACU, and moving back to my hometown
• Going on a cruise to different parts of Mexico with my parents
• Seeing flying fish, totally clear ocean water, and of course getting a horrible sunburn while simultaneously learning I was allergic to different types of sunscreen
• Buying a puppy
• Seeing my absolute favorite singer/musician ever in person, Josh Groban. He was within 3 feet of me! (And may I add that his voice was even better in person than on CD)
• Taking my little sister to Medieval Times. Go Blue Knight!
• Starting my first full-time job.
• Moving into my very own apartment
• Teaching said puppy to use the bathroom ONLY outside (this is an ongoing process. ha)
• Experiencing extreme confusion, frustration and realizing how much school did not teach me while at my new job (this is also ongoing)
• Studying for the CPA exam. This has been one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.
• Passing two parts of the CPA exam the first time I took them
• Buying a car
• Gaining new friends
• Losing old friends
• Missing ACU, Europe, professors, and college friends very badly
• Having a wonderful holiday season with friends and family while learning to fully appreciate having days off of work

Wow. 2011 was a really good year. I pray that 2012 can be at least half as good. Of course, I have tried to think of some resolutions for the new year. While they may not seem very unique or exciting, they represent significant potential accomplishments for me.

1. Be a blessing to others by donating my time and money to people in need
2. Make new friends and try to quit missing college so badly
3. Pass the remaining two parts of the CPA exam
4. Journal and blog more often
5. Learn a new skill

As you can tell, I really like making lists =)

New Year! Part 2

Here are some pictures from 2011. Enjoy! (They are not in any particular order as Blogger kept rearranging them every time I would insert new pictures. agh!)

spent time with my amazing housemates

walking around ACU

snow days

my first time to participate in Sing Song

Got my first ticket

had fun with the best friend

Josh Groban concert

David gave me birds for my birthday

cruise

my diploma

graduation

medieval times with the sister

I painted

Penny's first day home

spent time with my grandparents

saw the last Harry Potter movie. I feel like part of my life is over now. haha

went to the State Fair for the first time

started studying for the CPA exam

bought a new car

saw my high school play for the state championship in Cowboy stadium

finally finished decorating my apartment (this is a weird panorama shot)

One year later...

It has been over a year since I blogged last... it is sad because I enjoy blogging and reading other peoples blogs. (Also, I just used the word "blog" 3 times in one sentence. lame.)

Between graduating from college, moving, getting my own apartment, getting a dog, starting a new job, working on the CPA exam, and buying a car, 2011 has been a pretty busy year for me. Despite my level of busy-ness, I have felt extremely blessed the past several months and have had a great time being back in town with my family and David. I am so glad I get to be a part of my little sister's life more, help my parents with things, and see all of our family-friends again.

I have decided that I want to be more diligent about blogging because I always love going back and reading over all of my old posts at later times. Also, it is a good way to write down feelings and record experiences. To start off each post, I will share the main thoughts going through my head that day.

Today's thoughts:

• Oh my goodness! Christmas is coming! I want to decorate and buy things like ornaments, but it is only November. Guess I should wait and tone down my Christmas excitement.


• I am sick of my allergies and having to sniffle all day at work.


• I want to be done studying for the CPA exam.

Honestly, that last thought goes through my head about 100 times every day. Studying for this exam has been the hardest thing I have ever done. It is hard to find the motivation to study when I get home from working 8 hours and would rather watch TV and play with my dog. But someday when I am finally done, I know I will feel so accomplished and proud of myself and I will get to do the things I have been missing. Here are the things I plan to do when I pass all parts of the exam:

• Go on a trip- preferably to Europe.


• Take cake decorating classes


• Re-watch LOST


• Read a good book


• Join a gym


• Cook things

Having things to look forward to does help ease the painful effects of studying at night.

Can it be?

I cannot believe summer is almost over. While this has been my first "grown-up" summer, I have also had the opportunity to have fun and go to some cool places. At first, it was a real challenge to stay in college town and have to work while everyone else, so it felt, went back home. But like most things the past three years, it strengthened me in different ways and I am sure I learned something from the experience. For one, I learned I absolutely HATE staying in a house by myself. I can't sleep, and get so paranoid of every little noise I hear that I am a wreck when I have to get up and go to work in the morning. Another thing I learned is that I must actually really like school because it was so weird being around campus but not seeing any professors or school friends. I missed doing homework (gasp!), walking around campus, and sitting in class with people.

On another note, I just watched Julie & Julia and it really made me want to learn to cook. Also, it made me want to have something to blog about besides what I do on a few random days every month. I would absolutely LOVE to find a hobby or something I could do for fun continuously. I love painting, but I'm not very good at it and the supplies get a little expensive. I do enjoy cooking, but since I usually am cooking just for myself, it just wouldn't be very much fun. I guess I could take up crocheting or something but that just would make me sound like an old lady. Playing the piano would be cool too, but I don't have one and I would need to find a teacher and some spare time. Any other fun ideas?

I am staying at home tomorrow and missing work, but I enjoy being here so much and won't really be able to do that at all once school starts in a couple of weeks. I have had a great weekend being with my family, watching the men at church build a new playground, going with David to a wedding in Austin, and eating at all of my favorite restaurants that aren't in college town.

Blessings.

That just sounds like a bad idea to me.

As I sit at work scanning thousands of papers into our company's database, I have come to muse over some things that are just epic fails waiting to happen, or have already happened.

For example, Tilda Swinton. Enough said.

Wood floors... I had always heard how wonderful they were (easy to clean, beautiful... etc) However, in our old little house the wood floors are really old. They are extremely loud, and you have to be really careful with moving furniture so that you don't scratch them. Whenever I am lightly walking down the hallway, my footsteps make me sound like I have gained 200 lbs. Also, I imagine they will be really cold in the winter.

Also, if you are in college, do not put up posters with any of the following: Hannah Montana, Legolas, or a poster of the Mad Hatter. You will be ridiculed, as you deserve to be.

I just had an experience with another aspect of our world that was just a bad idea from the get-go: those sidewalks with incredibly bright, shiny particles in them. It is especially painful to the eyes when it is a 101 degrees outside and the sun is as bright as it ever gets... those things reflect the light so intensely that I could not see where I was going.

Sometimes I wonder if it was a bad idea to move here. I honestly wonder if I would have been happier staying at home, or going somewhere else instead. I also wonder if perhaps me moving here has changed my life in ways I will never know. It is so weird to think that if I had decided to go to college somewhere else, there would be hundreds of people I wouldn't know even existed and they have all affected my life in some way. Its not something you can really put into words exactly, I just wonder sometimes.

Anyways, here is a good idea- chicken sweaters. Thanks to whoever came up with this one. =)

It isn't so bad

Well I have been working about a month now this summer and it is going pretty well I guess. It is pretty dull most of the time (Right now, I am scanning papers for 8 hours a day) but they pay me pretty well for it so I guess I shouldn't complain. The firm is pretty relaxed and flexible about things that come up (like if I need to take time off suddenly). We are also in the process of moving around offices/desks since we just expanded our office square footage so hopefully I will be getting my own space soon. Sharing a desk with another intern gets a little cramped sometimes!

The summer hasn't turned out to be quite as horrible as I thought it would. I thought I would have a lot of free time and have a hard time finding things to do. But actually, I haven't been bored at all. I don't get off of work until 5 or 5:30, then I go workout, make dinner, and by the time all of that is finished, I have time for a couple episodes of LOST before bed. I actually wish I had more free time so I could clean my room/house regularly and read some. I started watching LOST because I realized that all of the seasons are online from Netflix so it has worked out pretty well... but it is super addicting!

I took off of work all of last week so I could go on a spur-of-the-moment trip with David and his family. At first, I was my usual self... over analyzing everything and worrying about how much money I would lose not working for a week. But I am so glad that I went and quit worrying about that! It was a blast. The plan was to go to DC for the week since David's dad had a firm meeting up there, but they ended up surprising me and we spent the first night and day at the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia. It was amazing! Everying was gorgeous and so full of history. We had dinner at the hotel (where they still require you to dress up for dinner), went bowling, went on a tour of the emergency relocation bunker that was secretly built under the Greenbrier for the members of Congress and the Senate in case of nuclear fallout. We also went on a beautiful hike up in the mountains. It was so nice to be spoiled for a little bit and get to see some beautiful things! Also, I don't think I have ever been in quite so comfortable of a place. My bed, carpet, chairs, etc... were the epitome of comfort and historic elegance.

After our night and day of exploring the Greenbrier, we flew on to DC. Over the next several days, we toured the Smithsonian Museums of Natural Science, American History, as well as Air and Space. We also saw all of the big monuments, the White House, Arlington National Cemetery, and went to see the pandas at the National Zoo. At the end of the week, we over to Annapolis to see David's sister and her husband that moved up there about a year ago. They live in a really cute neighborhood not too far away from downtown Annapolis (which has to be the most charming and quaint place I have been to since I was in Europe) and after they cooked us dinner, we went to the downtown area, had ice cream, and walked around, looking at the docks and sailboats. It was really nice.

I was so glad I was able to take a break from work for a week and enjoy being in an amazing part of the country I had never been to with people I love. Well, I should probably get back to work now and quit reminiscing.

Summer

Well, summer is here and for the first time in my life it is also nonexistent. I will be working full time this summer away from home and lately it has been really hard to get used to. Right now, my employers just have me doing office-type work (scanning, filing) and doing that for 8 hours a day gets a little tedious. I always want to feel useful and appreciated, but so far this summer I don't feel like I am really doing anything that matters and that is hard for me.

I have always wanted to have a job that has a deeper meaning than just making money. One that could impact peoples' lives, or make a difference in the world, but I am having trouble seeing how I will realize that desire with a job in accounting. I know I can still help people and show God's love to others, but nonetheless I just feel like it is an office job that will help me get by in life. I know God must have a purpose for me in all of this though and that he has blessed me with the ability to do this type of job well- so for that I am thankful.

Here are a few random thoughts/observations:

Why is college so expensive and how has the cost of tuition increased such an incredibly high amount since my parents were in college? I mean, even state schools are really expensive (it would have cost me just as much to go to a public university as a private one) so I am not just considering my university. It makes me dread having to put my children through school someday and also wonder how much school will cost then. It will be interesting to see how paying off students loans will affect my generation. It seems like my parents' generation has had a lot of trouble with credit card debt and things like that, but I feel like my peers and I have been educated enough about the dangers of credit debt that we won't have such a huge issue with that. Instead, we will struggle to pay off our student loans.

Also, why do people not use their turn signals, especially if you are on the highway and slowing down from 70 mph to 30 so you can turn off onto some tiny dirt road? Seriously people, come on. I do not enjoy slamming on my brakes and avoiding hitting the back of your car because you didn't feel like warning me you were going to slow down and turn until you were already turning.

I have recently discovered that I really love grilling food, Texas, minitature horses, the smell of racing fuel, LOST, riding bikes, and having moments that make you realize how blessed your life actually is.

Journaling or blogging always helps me to put things into perspective and pause for a moment and realize what things are truly important. I don't usually write whenever I am feeling down, but today, I just felt like I really needed to. I know things will get better, but it is really tough right now for me having to move into this new phase of my life. Endings and beginnings are always hard, but I get through them eventually and look back and see how much they helped me to grow.

tests

I'm not quite sure why professors feel the need to give tests on a Friday. I mean, Wednesdays are the perfect days for tests: You don't have to study over the weekend, but you aren't totally drained from the rest of the week already... which is my case tonight. I have two tests tomorrow, and my brain is really tired of learning for the week. Besides, pretty much every college student knows that Thursday is the new Friday. Professors should know that by now.

Also, when I know I have something important I know I should be studying for I can't bring myself to do it and end up doing random, strange things instead. For instance, last year, Poddie Whittaker and I stayed up past 3 am learning how to Bollywood dance and eating Swedish Fish after watching Slumdog Millionaire instead of studying for finals. Do I regret this decision? Not at all. It was one of the most memorable school nights I have ever had. I am having a similar situation now... although it isn't quite as fun. I'm sitting here with my Geology and Management books open on my bed and my notes all over my lap, but I am blogging and watching NCIS... it is quite nice =)

I have learned through my years at college that sometimes you have to do things that are impractical in order to have memorable experiences. That is something I was never very good at doing pre-college. So what if I made a few points lower on a Bible final? I had fun, and got closer to a friend.

I am so glad I decided to go to school here. I will be the first to admit- my first couple of years here were not very good. People always had told me what "college" was, how everyone makes like 25373838 friends, and how you have to be involved in every little thing for it to really be college. And because of that, I went through my first couple of years not really liking things because college was not living up to its expectations. But finally, when I stopped trying to meet everyone else's expectations and trying to participate in things that just made me feel awkward (and more lonely) I started having a lot more fun and gaining confidence in myself. As cheesy as it sounds, I now feel like I know who I am and like I have found myself. So what if I am not a social butterfly who wants to be out and about all the time? That is just not who I am. I have my good friends and the things I enjoy doing, and to try and form myself to anything different just won't work as I have realized.

Another thing I have loved about going to school here is my professors. There are very few schools where your profs will have you over for a BBQ, or invite you over to play Deal or No Deal at their house for bonus points on a test. They are also godly people who encourage me and make me want to do my best.

In other news, my roommates and I are currently "house hunting" and it is not an easy experience! When we finally find one we like and decide we would like to pursue living there, the owner (who previously had impressed on us that no one else is interested) calls and says someone is thinking about buying it. Or the houses are too expensive. Or they smell like smoke. Or they are way too far away from campus. AGH!!! But I know something will turn up soon. It always does, and then I regret worrying about it so much.

I also realized that coffee truly does work. I usually cannot stay awake in Business Law for the life of me. Like seriously... someone could set loose a wild money in the room and I would still have droopy eyelids. But today, thanks to the power of delicious vanilla hazelnut coffee, I actually remembered what we talked about!

My textbooks are calling my name... Blessings to you all

yay!

Oh man... I am so excited about everything that is coming up! First of all, my birthday is coming up really soon and I am so glad I get to spend it at my grandparents house with all my family! They will definitely spoil me =). Next, there is graduation, and it will be so fun! I can't wait to have my loved ones here in town with me. It will also be good to know I am finished with yet another phase of my life that has involved copious amounts of schoolwork.

Also, I can't wait to move into my new house in May. It will be so nice to live with two fun, and wonderful friends who will be a huge encouragement to me. It will also be really nice to not be in an apartment again. People in the surrounding apartments are so loud and my room is so tiny! I love decorating and getting new things for where I will be living =)

I joined a health club recently and I am really loving going to combat, yoga, and RPM classes. Other than that, it is just life as usual for me: school, work, cooking dinner, homework, and (hopefully) sleep.

p.s. I really want to go to Israel! The culture of that area and the history of it has always fascinated me. However, I wish that area of the world was more safe and peaceful. Wouldn't the world be a better place if people spent more time on trying to love than on trying to get back at people who have wronged them?

Mouths

While I have 'known' it my whole life, I don't think I ever understood the full importance of it until recently- The importance of what comes out of our mouths. Sure, the tongue can be "as sharp as a sword" but I don't think we really understand that most of the time.

As a college student surrounded by peers, I am constantly amazed at the effortless flow of crude language from people. Words that I used to think were just beyond horrible and shouldn't even be mentioned, I now hear probably 30 times a day (if not more). When all that people hear out of your mouth is nastiness and words not accepted in public by mainstream society, how can you blame them for judging you? I know people should not judge each other, but you should not be offended or surprised when people do judge you based on what they consistently hear you say. I can tolerate most language (while I am not desensitized to it), but one phrase I will not ever get over hearing people exclaim in anger or frustration is "Jesus Christ!" To me, it is just totally unacceptable and sacriligious to take a name that should be holy and set apart and use it as a common curse word.

So come on people- clean up your mouths. If you want to sound vulgar,common, and nasty go for it. But no one will aplaud you. It is much more enjoyable to be around a well-spoken, graceful, and humble person.

______________________________

On another note, spring is almost here! I could not be any more excited about seeing the blossoms in the trees or noticing the gradual change of jeans to capris. This spring and summer, I fully intend to be "girly"- wearing cute sandals, flowery skirts, and frilly blouses are a few of my favorite things=) No more dry skin, large sweatshirts, or hair full of static!

I am also really excited for spring break. Being home with my family, taking my dog on walks, playing tennis, and having Dad make me waffles in the morning is the best.

I live in a constant state of amazement at the blessings I have been given. I am so thankful for my friends and my wonderful family. I love you all =)

average

So, I guess things are pretty good right now. I usually don't update a whole lot when there isn't that much going on since I don't have that much to talk about. I love my job more and more each day, and I am feeling pretty optimistic about my classes.

So right now, I am listening to my top favorite songs of all time. It puts me in pretty much the best mood ever when I listen to these five songs:

1. Your Song- Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge
2. Strawberry Swing- Coldplay
3. February Song- Josh Groban
4. Supermassive Black Hole- Muse
5. Read My Mind- the Killers

While I'm at it, I might as well list my top 5 favorite movies of all time. In descending order:

1. Kingdom of Heaven
2. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (can't seperate them)
3. The Patriot
4. The Prestige
5. Casino Royale

That was really difficult to list my top favorite for those categories! I love music and movies. They really help get my mind away from school, work, or other things I don't want to think about at the time. As do books. Here are my favorite books in no particular order. These are the books that I have read the most times or that I would never mind reading over and over:

1. The Twilight Series- Stephanie Meyer
2. The Harry Potter Series- JK Rowling
3. Any Michael Crichton novel. I can't decide which is my favorite (Jurassic Park, Pirate Latitudes, The Andromeda Strain, Prey, Congo, Airfram, Timeline... I love them all and would read them any day)
4. Angels and Demons- Dan Brown
5. Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen

Just listing all of these things makes me very happy =) It is always good to take a step back from the average, every day things that stress you out and take a couple hours to refresh, relax, and renew your hope in humanity haha.

Amor est vitae essentia.

Start of the spring semester

Wow! I had such a great Christmas break. I loved all the time I got to spend playing games, relaxing, and watching movies with my family. David and I went to all my favorite restaraunts that are not in town and we even went to Holiday at the Park at Six Flags. It was really fun to ride the Titan when it was freezing outside! David got me a Kindle for Christmas, so I was able to spend a lot of time on it reading and looking up new books. Mom and I went shopping a couple times to try and find me some work clothes for my new job.

Well, I'm back in this windy old city now. Fortunately, the weather isn't too bad- it has gotten above 45 degrees every day since I have been here. I started my new job at the accounting firm here in town on Monday. The people there are super nice and put me to work on clients' tax returns barely an hour after I first stepped into the building. I have a feeling it will be a lot of busy work, but hey, what are interns for? haha

I don't think any of my classes should be too hard this semester. Just lots of reading and studying. I am taking Geology, Strategic Management, Business Law, Income Tax, and my first graduate class, Advanced Financial Statement Analysis.

Hope this finds everyone well and enjoying the many blessings of life.