Random Ramblings

Warning: This post has absolutely nothing to do with anything important. Enjoy!

Yesterday was my "Friday" at the office (wahoo!) and I am off on a beautiful day, but unfortunately am not able to fully enjoy it because I am (drumroll please) STUDYING! Shocker, I know. I take my second part of the CPA exam tomorrow morning (dun dun dun dun) at 8:30 am (wish me luck!). I had a little bit of a meltdown yesterday at work (which hopefully no one noticed) and was {} <--- this close to paying an extra $90 to reschedule my test.. again! This part is supposed to be the hardest of all 4 parts and has the most changes to it (this year, the CPA exam was changed to include information related to international accounting standards and the part I am taking tomorrow, FAR - Financial Accounting and Reporting, was affected the most from what I've read). I originally scheduled to take the exam the week after tax season ended and once April rolled around, I knew that was not a possibility between the extra hours I was putting in at work and not to mention being distracted in March planning Joseph's surprise birthday party. So I paid an extra $30 and pushed it back a week, thinking that would give me an extra week to get me caught up to where I was supposed to be according to my study plan. Well, I more or less got caught up, but I have been having trouble finding the motivation lately to stay on top of things like I did for the first part I took. Or maybe I just work better under pressure? Either way, from this time yesterday to now, I have done (almost) a complete 180 and am feeling pretty confident about the test tomorrow. I am determined to show it who's boss! I will be spending the rest of my day, chained to my desk, reviewing and then will eat fish for dinner (fish = brain food and I ate fish the night before my first exam and passed so I'm sticking with it!)! Don't you wish you were me right now? Probably not!

So you may be thinking what am I doing, blogging right now when I should be studying? Well, I'm taking a study break because I'm {} <--- this close to losing my mind thinking about FAR! In other news, at about this time tomorrow, I will be walking out of my exam, hopefully feeling relieved and optimistic, and will be hitting the road! I am heading over to Pensacola to lay on the beach, think about absolutely nothing accounting-related, and most importantly, celebrate a very special woman in my life - my MOM! I am so looking forward to this weekend and this mini-vacation! I haven't been to Pensacola since Christmas (I think) and although Mom was just here for Easter, I miss her already! Even when she lived in town and after I moved out, I still saw her at least once a week, if not more, for Sunday night family dinners and going from that to seeing her maybe once a month is tough! And I am looking forward to celebrating how amazing of a Mom she has been as well as celebrating a very special future Mommy - my sister! We will hopefully be spending the better part of Saturday on the beach and then Saturday night we are getting together with my grandparents and other family members for dinner to celebrate Mother's Day. Its going to be a great weekend and I am hoping to come back Sunday with a little color on my cheeks and lots of pictures to share!

I need to start sunglasses shopping! Last weekend, on my way to Goodwood Gardens, I pulled out my sunglasses and when I went to put them on, realized the frame above the lens was cracked and they were broken! Talk about heart broken! (Nevermind that I spent all of $10 on them from Old Navy about two years ago) But I usually hate looking for sunglasses because I have a hard time finding ones that I like the way they look on my face. Now I'm thinking it might be time for an upgrade. Instead of the usual cheap pairs I buy that hardly last me through the summer (and that hardly actually block the sun from my eyes), maybe its time to invest in a good pair that will last a few years and keep me from still squinting while wearing them. My sister, Ashley, has a nice pair of Costas that I have always admired! Maybe it'll be my late Easter/"half-way done with the CPA exam" present to myself :)

I bought a new bathing suit! And this is a pretty big accomplishment for me. I don't think I have bought a new suit in a couple of years, as sad as that sounds. It used to be that I ALWAYS bought at least one new suit as soon as summer rolled around. But the past couple of years, I have not been impressed with the selection and never found one that I really loved or really loved the way it fit me. But this year I found one I thought was really cute and of course have had no where to wear it since, so it will be making its debut this weekend on the white sandy beaches in Pensacola! And here it is:

(Sorry for the lack of flash, I guess the sunshine from my window was too bright!)

I also got a new pair of sneakers (a couple months ago)! Which was also a big accomplishment for me because the last sneakers I bought were in April 2006! And I wore those suckers OUT! Let me tell you - when Lindsay (my roommate) and I would exercise in our apartment, pieces of the bottom of my sneakers were constantly falling off and I would constantly slide whenever we would do planks or yoga moves or basically anything because there was so little gripping left on the bottom of my shoes! I would just always find something else more fun to spend my money on, like new sandels or a dress that I would wear way more often than sneakers. Here are my old sneaks:

 You see now what I was working with?!

And now I have happy feet :) (And they almost make me want to work out just so I can wear them - almost)

I have an aunt who is an elementary school teacher, and when she first started dating my uncle, I was still in elementary school and whenever me or my cousins or brother or sister would get new shoes, she would sing us her "New Shoes" song that she sang her students: "New shoes, Lindsay's got new shoes! New shoes, it could happen to you! New shoes!" Catchy, huh?

And last but not least, I am doing my best to be better about using my camera. Last weekend, when I was at Goodwood, I even made the attempt to pull it out of my purse, but only managed to get one shot, but its of two great people in my life:

Tam and Brody!

And I swear he was purposefully making that face for the camera because not two seconds after I asked him to smile and put the camera away, he was grinning from ear to ear, like he usually is! Despite his "serious face," this little guy has stolen my heart! Renee and TJ (and future teenage girls) - you better watch out! He is going to be a serious heartbreaker one day!

Well, its time to hit the books! Enjoy the rest of your Thursday and have a great Friday and weekend! And HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all you special ladies out there!