So much for having more time to blog! Since taking my last CPA exam, work got crazy busy! I couldn't have been luckier for it to hit AFTER my last exam. I couldn't imagine working 8am - 8pm (or even later, like last week before the 9/15 tax deadline) and then having to go home and hit the books! Besides working and working some more, I attempted to get back to working out on a normal basis, which consisted of me going for a run around the perimeter of my apartment complex one evening and then not getting home at a decent hour any other night since to get in a workout. Rats! What else.. I started another Pinterest project, this time a crafty one for my apartment and once I complete it, I will blog all about it! I also scoped out a new church in Atlanta. Will, a friend of a friend who works in my office, invited me to join him one Sunday morning to go to the Episcopal church he attends. I've never been to an Episcopal church, but have alway heard it referred to as "Catholic light" or "diet Catholic." Growing up in the Catholic church, I decided to give it a shot, figuring it would be something close to home. The church itself was gorgeous! Some of the architecture reminded me of Notre Dame and I couldn't stop looking all around me as we walked inside. It was a fairly large church and it was almost filled with lots of different people! The service was very good and was easy to follow. Will invited me back with him anytime I pleased and I intend to take him up on that offer to see if this is the church for me!
This past weekend was my Mom's birthday weekend - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! (No numbers!) My original plans for this weekend fell through so I was able to go down to Pensacola to celebrate with her and spend some quality time with Michael and Ashley (and Nate) as well. After a grueling week at work, I decided to take Friday off (the day after our tax deadline) and hit the road Thursday evening. Two stops and five hours later, I arrived in Pensacola, where I was greeted by my brother. After unloading my car, talking to Mikey and my mom for a bit, I went to bed! Lame, I know, but I was exhausted from work and the drive. Friday, Mom and I had plans to go to the beach, but since it was cloudy in the morning, we decided to do some shopping until the sun came out! We made a quick stop by my Aunt Debbie's shop (Angel's Garden), where they were setting up for the big art show in the park and said "hello!" to my Grandma and Aunt Deb. Grandma gave me a big, long hug, told me how happy she was to see me and then followed up saying I was too thin. Despite being a normal weight for my height, she tells me this every single time I see her. And I proceeded to get a Butterfinger Mini out of the freezer in the kitchen :) Mom and I left the shop, found me a dining room set, did some grocery shopping, and then hit the beach for about two hours. It was perfect beach weather - sun shining (finally) and a nice breeze coming off the Gulf to keep you cool! Friday night, we went downtown to Gallery Night. Pensacola is a really great community and they always have something going on! Gallery Night is just one example - it takes place downtown and there are live bands in the streets, food and drink vendors everywhere and the shops and art galleries stay open late for everyone to peruse. Mom and I met up with a few of her friends and eventually Mikey came down and kept me company.
Saturday morning, Mom and I got up and headed to Gulf Breeze to watch my youngest cousin, John Thomas play soccer. It was so stinking cute! He is five years old and all his teammates are 4 or 5 years old. They played with 4 kids on the field along with the coaches and without goalies, even though some of the kids would run into the goal to act as the goalie. The goals, by the way were tiny and the kids (or at least the ones paying attention) would run up and down the field after the ball, most of them falling over themselves and immediately hopping back up and going after the ball again! I am very happy and proud to report John Thomas's team, the Tigersharks, won and my little cousin scored the most points!
Go Tigersharks!
The little girl with her back to the kid throwing in the ball cracked me up - she was not concerned with the game going on around her at all!
For some reason I couldn't get blogger to rotate the picture properly, but this little boy just stopped in the middle of the game to play with the corner flag!
John Thomas and Papa
John Thomas and me
John Thomas and Uncle Michael
After the soccer game, Mom and I hit the beach (again). It was another gorgeous day and I did a lot of reading! It was wonderful! We ended up staying out there about 4 hours, waiting on my not-so-punctual sister and her hubby, who were supposed to be meeting us around 11am and showed up at 1:30pm. Needless to say, I ended up pretty pink from being in the sun too long. Hopefully it'll turn into a nice little tan (or tan for me and my fair skin). So far I'm pink with way more freckles!
Saturday night, the five of us (Mom, Ashley, Nate, Michael and I) went to my Uncle Barry and Aunt Kathy's house to watch the FSU football game. My Uncle Barry is my Dad's brother and since my Dad passed away a little over 4 years ago, we've not kept in touch as much with them. Over the past year, we've really worked hard to change that and spend time with them whenever we're in town. We got to their house right before kickoff Saturday night and we had a blast (despite the loss). We sat around, talked, looked through my Nana's (my Dad's Mom) old photo albums, ate and ate, and watched football. My Uncle Barry is a CPA and his wife, my Aunt Kathy, works with him at their firm. He used to own his own CPA firm in Pensacola, and then sold his practice to Salt Marsh, the firm he works for now, where he's a partner. We talked a little accounting Saturday night and my Aunt Kathy told me how proud they were of me for following in my Uncle Barry's footsteps, which was really nice to hear!
This morning (Sunday), we got up and treated my Mom to breakfast at Jaco's, a restaurant on the bay. My Uncle Michael and John Thomas joined us for the tail-end of it, where I got to talk to John Thomas about his loose teeth and how much he got from the tooth fairy. After finding out the going rate for his teeth ($5 a piece!) I tried to convince John Thomas to knock out a few more and split the profits with me, but he just laughed and told me no way. After breakfast, we went to my Aunt Debbie's art show. Every year since she opened her shop in Pensacola, many many moons ago (I think I was in 2nd grade??) she has held an art show filled with the work of local artists and all the proceeds go to a local charity in Pensacola that helps battered women and children. The first year or two, there were maybe a handful of artists who signed up for the art show and since then, it has grown so large it fills up the entire park across the street from her shop and it is quite an accomplishment for my aunt! We walked around, bought a Christmas gift for my mom and she turned around and bought birthday gifts for Ashley and I - crucifixes made by a woman who lost her only son in a car accident in which he wasn't wearing his seat belt so now she makes these crosses to share her story and encourage people to buckle up. After saying good-bye to my family, Mom and I went to pick up my new dining room set and I got on the road. Now I just have to bribe my new guy friends to carry it up three flights of stairs and help me put it together :)
Just a few of my favorite quotes from this weekend:
(As I'm trying to figure out why Ashley's lights in her Acadia won't come on when she opens the door, which makes sense that I would know since I too own an Acadia)
My Uncle Barry: "Lindsay, I hate to tell you this, but you have an ACCOUNTING degree."
(As we're watching the FSU game and they're annoucing player stats)
Nate: "I weigh 170 pounds, too! That quarterback is no bigger than me!"
Uncle Barry and Ashley, simultaneously: "HA!"
Uncle Barry: "Maybe when you were in high school!"
Nate: "Well, I guess I'm more like 192."
Me: "John Thomas, how old are you?"
John Thomas (all business-like and with a straight face): "5 and a half."
I forgot how significant that "half" is when you're under the age of 10..
Mom: "John Thomas, how do we get to your soccer game?"
John Thomas: "You go on the long bridge, then you take a right at the CVS..."
Mom: "Lindsay, your 5 year old cousin knows his way around and can give better directions than you!"
Me: "Thanks Mom!"
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