Living, Loving, & Laughing: Finally!

I got a weekend (actually 2.. IN A ROW!!) that was NOT filled with Becker books, practice questions, simulations, quizzes, progress tests, or flashcards! And I could not be happier about it! Ever since I jumped on the Becker study bandwagon back in January, my weekends have been (mostly) CPA-study-filled. Ugh! But after my gruesome last CPA test (FAR on May 6th aka doomsday), I took the weekend off to go to Pensacola and celebrate Mother's Day with one of the World's Best Mothers/Soon-to-be-Grandma! Joseph couldn't make the trip so I drove over solo on Friday after my test and spent some one-on-one time with my madre Friday night. Saturday morning, Ashley and Nate drove over and we hit the white sand beaches of Pensacola for a few hours before having to get back for dinner. Saturday night we had a big family dinner at my mom's house to celebrate with all the Mom's in the Tracy clan. We feasted on blackened tilapia and shrimp, my infamous cheese grits with onions, bacon, and serrano peppers, salad, french bread, and Mama Jo's tomato, mozzarella, and olive salad! YUM-O! And for a special Mommy-to-Be who felt nauseous at the sound of all this seafood, my mom made a huge pot of her homemade mac-n-cheese and chicken-n-dumplings. And for those youngsters (aka my cousins John Thomas, Evan and Ryan) who are still developing their tastebuds, there was chicken fingers and peas! Talk about a smorgasbord of deliciousness! After gorging ourselves on dinner, we all just hung out and talked as one by one the fam started to leave. Sunday morning, Ashley, Nate, Michael and I treated my Mom to a special Mother's Day brunch at Jaco's, which is this really nice restaurant right on the water! It was a gorgeous day and the scenery of the water and all the boats was so nice! After brunch, Ashley and Nate got back on the road, while Mom and I hit the beach (again). Around 3pm, I finally extracted myself from the sunshine and salt water and loaded up my car and made the drive back to Tally. It was so nice to spend time with my family and even nicer to be 200 miles away from my beloved Becker books!

Some promised (and very late) pictures:

Mom & Ashley

One side of the table

And the other..

The whole gang!

Brother and sisters

Future parents!

Paradise!!

Weekend #2 without Becker was spent with my friends! One of my best friends, Christy, who has been making me insanely jealous and traveling around Europe for the past 8 months, finally made her way back to the States last Thursday night. Friday I woke up, spent about an hour with Becker, and then made my way to Christy's parents' house. I think we literally hugged for about 5 minutes, neither one of us wanting to let go! Oh how I have missed her so! We finally decided separating was necessary and we grabbed lunch from Chick-Fil-A (one of Christy's favs) and headed to her sister's apartment complex to lay out. After a few hours of laying out and listening to Christy's many European adventures, I headed back to my apartment just in time to clean up and get picked up for my date with Tamara and Ms. Karin! While at the pool, Tam sent me a text, inviting me to go to dinner and a play with her and her Mom. I have not ever done anything like this and it sounded like so much fun so I jumped on the opportunity! We made our way to Monticello where we enjoyed a murder mystery play (perfect for Firday the 13th!) and a dinner served in between scenes! Unfortunately, none of us guessed the murderer but all in all, it was a good girls night out! Saturday, I met Ashley and Nate for breakfast at Applebee's for a fundraiser for the Lion's Club. After breakfast, I ran a few errands and came home and Joseph and I decided to hit a few golf balls once the sky cleared up some. By the time we borrowed Tam's clubs and made our way to Seminole Golf Course, we barely got through two holes before they blared the horn that there was lightning in the sky. It did not take us long to decide that holding medal clubs with a rain storm brewing was NOT a good idea! So we took a rain check and decided to have a pizza and movie night in. Sunday morning was very productive: I woke up and cleaned my bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen - something I've been putting off! Sunday night, we had a welcome home BBQ for Christy at her parents house and we played Catch Phrase - something that is becoming a tradition whenever we get together. It was a blast and a great weekend! I was very sad to see it come to an end!