Weekend Happiness

Saturday January 19, 2013
A couple of things:
1- My CPA Certificate came int he mail!
2- Wellsfargo conceded that I was correct about not needed to increase our escrow payment and sent us back a check for all the extra money we'd paid into it since July and lowered our mortgage payment about 75 dollars.
3- Went to the gym before work which is exciting for tax season.
4- Wrote an article for MCE that I think I did a good job on.
5- I had a blueberry muffin for breakfast. YUM!

Sunday January 20, 2013
I woke up feeling like I had hit my head on a brick wall and super raucous, so the fact that I can come up with things for this day makes me a super hero.
1- I got to watch Scrubs!
2- My wonderful husband ran to Target with my vague instructions on which type of Sudafed I wanted and somehow got the right kind.
3- By the time the 49ers won I was feeling relatively back to normal, except for a small headache and being tired.
4- Cliff was being the biggest snuggle bug in the world.

Three Days Happiness in PIctures

Wednesday January 16, 2013



No- this one isn't cheating. I didn't see it until Wednesday morning!

Thursday January 17, 2013

Fresh baked tollhouse cookies. I've gotten lots of compliments on these :)

Friday January 18, 2013

This beautiful (if only temporary) scenery on my drive to work. I love snow!

Five things that make me happy

Friday January 11, 2013
- Happiness is getting out of CPE earlier than planned on a Friday afternoon.

Saturday January 12, 2013
- Happiness is weather warm enough to get a venti ice coffee from Starbucks and not freeze to death. My favorite!

Sunday January 13, 2013
- Happiness is catching up on Law & Order: SVU and actually liking the episode. (It's been more hit or miss this season).

Monday January 14, 2013
- Happiness is a spotless house, a yummy dinner, and new TV (even if you are too tired to finish watching Bones!)

Tuesday January 15, 2013
- Happiness is going to my first Maryland Capital Enterprises Marketing team meeting! I am really looking forward to this so I hope I enjoy it as much as I think I will!

Four days

I am not going to lie I have been really cranky for the entire week. I mean  really  cranky. I mean so cranky that I am pretty sure even my dogs wish I'd go away. Anyway, the whole point of this is to focus on the happy things- so let's talk about the things that have made me happy, and that I am greatful for over the last few days.

Monday January 7, 2013
- (This one is really hard because I was super grumpy on Monday).  I did manage to make a delicious dinner, and soup for lunches all week.

Tuesday January 8, 2013
- There was a new episode of "The Mindy Project" on. Nuff Said.

Wednesday January 9, 2013
- Zach and I booked our trip to the Inn Boonsboro for the end of April. I cannot wait. While compiling my list of "tax season reading" I decided to read the Boonsboro Inn trilogy, so I am going to save it for last so it will all be fresh right before we go. So glad Sarah talked me into it!

- I decided that in lieu of other hobbies I am going to look into buying a seminice camera (I am looking at the Canon EOS Rebel series) and learn the 'art of photography'. I don't want to be an actual photographer (I know I'd never be that good at it, but I think it's a good hobby for me). I probably won't purchase the camera until later this spring but I think when I do to force myself to learn how to use it I am going to incorporate a picture a day into my blog posts. I also might talk to someone at church and see if I can't take pictures at some of their bigger events. That way I will be able to actually help out around the church doing something that I enjoy.

Thursday January 10, 2013
- I ate a Blueberry muffin for the first time in probably 4 monthes. YUM! I hate finding happiness in food but today that just might be where I find it!

Three days of Happy Thoughts

Saturday January 5th, 2013
Happiness was getting a BLT for lunch at Backstreet and then going to get peanut butter fro-yo at Tuti Fruiti.

Sunday January 6th, 2013

Happiness was this pretty sky on the way to church, and somehow calling both of the Sunday football games correctly. Happiness was also starting (and getting up to date with) "The Mindy Project"

Monday January 7th, 2013
Happiness was making a hearty dinner: roast beef, mashed potatoes, and pears.

How neat

What a cool coincidence. I just realized that the author of all of the beloved books from my childhood about Clifford the Big Red Dog and Emily Elizabeth were written by Norman Birdwell.  I've always loved that there was a little girl in the books with my name, that's part of the reason we named our "little red dog" Clifford.  But now, to realize that my newest part of my name is also part of the name of the author? That's just cool.

It's only 9:30AM....

It's only 9:30AM but I already have so much to happy about and thankful for since I updated yesterday. I know not every day will be easy but I figure I should capitalize on the happy things in my life.

- Last night I finished the second book in the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. It was a fun read that has me looking forward to the next, and final, book in the trilogy.
- This morning I got out of the shower to hear my car on and a scraping noise. No, someone wasn't breaking into the house and stealing my car, Zach had defrosted my windows and scraped the ice off. God has definitely blessed me with a thoughtful husband.
- I weighed myself this morning and have somehow maintained my weight since last Monday, and didn't gain weight even though I ate like a piggy on new years eve.
- I get to go home tonight and relax for the next two days. I know that might not seem like a lot but we've been running around inessantly for the last 6-7 weeks, and starting in the next week or two I will start working Saturdays again for tax season. So two days of relaxation? PERFECT.
-  My mentor told me yesterday afternoon that if I get my hours in and don't have anything that needs to get out the door PRONTO I don't have to work on my birthday. Being an accountant with a birthday in tax season, that's no small feat.
- I painted my nails Sunday night, and even though I've worked 4 days this week (which tends to chip them becuase of all the typing) they still look almost near perfect.

Though I am trying to be positive, I think I just need to say this. I am really sad that I've lost my best friend. She made some awful choices, and I don't waiver for a second in thinking I made the right decision, but it's still sad. Losing your best friend of over a decade is never easy, but especially when so many of my other friends have moved out of town and into bigger cities... my support system jsut feels a lot smaller right now. And now that I've said that much, I'm going ot try and move on. I can't change the actions of another person so I shouldn't drwell on it.

Happy Thoughts :)

If you've known me long enough, you know I love New Years. I love the idea of trying to improve yourself or your life. I don't believe it has to be done on the first of the year, or even the first of a month, but there is something that appeals to my OCD side about starting a new year with new intentions. I've been thinking for the last few days about what I wanted to do this year. I can't think of any big things to accomplish or change, I've accomplished a lot of my immediate goals (for the time being). I think the rest will come more naturally, so I can't plan for them as well because they're things that kind of 'develop".


This year, due to some of the recent events in my life, I seem to be struggling with positivity. So after much though I've decided that for each day in 2013 I want to write down something positive, happy, or sentimental that happened that day. I am going to try and do this on my blog, but they might not come in daily posts, but maybe a weekly roundup.

January 1st, 2013

Today was wonderful because I slept in, wore my PJs til 1pm, and had waffles for dinner.

January 2nd, 2013

Today was special because I was able to get to Marshalls and pick out some new winter workout gear.

January 3rd, 2013

Today is exciting because I will finish "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth and start a new book by Lauren Oliver

Baby Proof- Emily Giffin, A Book Review

As I said in my last post about Elle and Blair Fowler’s book “Beneath the Glitter”, I recently finished studying and taking the last section of the CPA Exam. (Still keeping my fingers crossed that I passed). When I was done- I was looking for a good book to read. I had a few on my kindle, and several that I’d purchased over the last year- but none were calling to me. A lot of girls I know have announced pregnancies, or had babies lately, and so babies had been on my mind. I’d read an Emily Giffin book before, and thought it was pretty good, and so when I saw “Baby Proof” at Target 25% off in the mass-produced paperback and was able to snag it for under $5, I thought I’d pick it up. 

I read the book in under 24 hours, it wasn’t long, about 364 pages with probably a size 10 font on those small pages, so the book moved pretty quickly. After reading a second book by Emily Giffin, I’ve decided this. She is an author of women’s literature; however, she is not a fluffy ‘chick-lit’ kind of gal. She writes books that dig a little deeper below the surface, and are not that light, fun, fluffy, light-hearted beach read. Her books, at least for me, make me think about life decisions. The first one I read was “Love the One Your With” so keep that in mind, I haven’t read Something Burrowed, or Something Blue- which I think might be more in the traditional genre of chick-lit.

Warning: This review will contain some “spoilers” but to be honest, I would have read the book even if I’d read my own review. 

In summary “Baby Proof” is about a 33-35 year old woman, Claudia, who has never wanted children. She meets her “soul mate” Ben, and the two build their relationship around the idea that all they want from life is each other. Meanwhile, their “couple best friends”, who originally didn’t want children, end up getting pregnant. This ends up causing Claudia’s first husband to question their decision not to have children. To make a long story short, they get a divorce because Claudia is unwilling to compromise on her decision. Eventually Claudia moves on to an older man, who is ‘perfect for her’ by the book definition, but she finds herself deciding that inexplicably she just doesn’t “love him” enough to be with him. Claudia ends up deciding that for Ben, she could have a baby, because he is her soul mate. By the end of the book the two are back together. 

While I could give the writing and the story line of this book a “three-star” review, I have some serious problems with the story. 

First of all, Claudia is so strong in her conviction that she doesn’t want children. She ends her marriage practically without any hesitation over the fact that she will never change her mind on the matter. Honestly, it was probably the fastest divorce I’ve ever read. And then Emily Giffin has the character 300 pages later, deciding that because she loves her ex-husband so much, and no other man could possibly complete her as much- so sure, she can have his baby. What? I feel like that sends a horrible message. Sure, the protagonist in this story is a “strong” “successful” female, but the message that gives me seems like something out of the 1920s. Sure it’s masked in the idea that she’ll do anything for “love” but it seems backwards.

Second of all, the main character ends up living with her best friend. Her best friend is a 30 something in a delusional relationship with a married man who lives out-of-town. You get the impression that this relationship has been somewhat lengthy and at one point this character attempts to get herself pregnant to get the married man to leave his wife. It doesn’t end up working out, but the fact that when this happens, Claudia just ‘goes with it’ really bothers me. If my best friend did that I couldn’t sit there and blindly let her think that it was okay. I would have to make her see the light of day, and I can’t see why this didn’t happen.

Finally, the ending to this story made it feel like of like a pointless read. In the end Claudia is back with her husband, on the pretense that she can have a baby with him, but they’re not actively discussing it at the end of the book. They are just happy to be back together again. I just feel kind of cheated by that; I feel like I spent an entire day reading a book to get a “just kidding we’re fine”. 

What were your thoughts? Have you read this book? Do you plan to read this book? If you don’t, what do you think of what you’ve read of the book in my review? I’m just interested on everyone else’s thoughts on this book.

Essie's East Hampton Cottage- Swatch Included

This past week I took a few days off of work after my exam to kind of regroup. I had planned the days off months ago thinking that I'd want them to kind of 'celebrate being done'. I didn't know I'd be filled with the overwhelming feeling of dread, being pretty sure that I didn't actually pass my test. Anyway- results don't come out for a few more days, so no more harping. With my time off I refreshed and decided that I kind of felt like caring about my appearances again. That has gone way to the bottom of the important list lately. I went out to pick up some things, new mascara, new eye-shadow, and at the time I'd been thinking a nice berry-read nail color for fall. I stared at the Essie's in my Target for a long time not able to over-come the feeling of, "I have one so similar at home”.

I started looking at the neutral colors and ended up deciding that a clean, fresh nail would go more along the lines of my fresh-start, so I picked up Essie’s East Hampton Cottage. The application of this was probably a 3/5. It was not great, a little streaky at first, but with the second coat I thought it looked fine. I love the color on my skin tone. It really reminds me of ballerina slippers. It is probably best described as a satin finish, which is probably why it reminds me so much of ballerina slippers. Honestly, I really like it. I like that it isn’t a ‘creamy light pink” or a “French manicure pink”. It’s that neutral feel with a little twist. The picture below was at work the next morning (Note my 403(b) CPE book in the background). It’s now Sunday night (I did them Wednesday night) and they still look pretty good. A little tip chipping, but the kind that’s not really noticeable because of the shade. What do you think?

Beneath The Glitter- A Book Review

I recently took the last part of the CPA exam. As per my usual, end of stressful study session routine I decided I needed to empty my brain and read some fluff. My first choice was Emily Giffin's "Baby Proof" (separate review coming on that). It didn't fit the bill; it wasn't exactly the right degree of "fluffy". Since the buzz among the girls I follow on twitter was about the new book coming out by the “Fowler Sisters” I decided to give it a read.

For those unfamiliar, the Fowler sisters are Elle and Blair. Elle is about 24, and Blair is 19. The girls originally from the south-east became what some would call “Youtube Famous” around 2009-2010. Both girls have hundreds of thousands of subscribers, a separately run-website, and contracts with a lot of pretty decent brands. They have a lot of loyal followers, and a lot of people who dislike them. I would classify them as a D list celebrity. They really are only ‘famous’ among those who know them, and while that is a large following, it’s not huge compared to the everyday celebrity by any means. If you’re interested, and haven’t heard of them you can find them under the names “AllThatGlitters21” and “JuicyStar07” on youtube.

On to the book, the easiest way for this might be to play ‘the “pro-con” game, and let you draw your own conclusions. 

Pros:

-  --The relationship among the sisters feels like the type of things real sisters might worry about. Am I being too clingy, is she trying to mother me, why does she care so much about my life, etc. I am not incredibly close with my sister, but these are the kinds of things I feel towards my closest friend, so I can believe it.

-     --The prologue is intriguing. You find yourself wondering what might be going on, and how it got to that point.
-The writing is colorful. If you’ve seen Elle’s videos you’ve picked up on the idea that she wants to convey certain feelings a lot of the time, a feeling of whimsy, coziness, or sophistication. Love her or hate her, she can get her point across. I felt that way with the book as well. She was able to really convey the type of scene she had in her mind.

Cons:

-      --So as to not give away too much of the plot line, there is one character who seemed too fairy-tale to me. He is always there and able to come to one of the character’s rescue. (If you do read this, or have read it, it would be Sophia’s rescue). I understand that a lot of books that fall into this genre have unbelievable characters, and normally I am okay with it, but this one…. He was just over that line. I didn’t like it.

-        --I felt myself reading this book, waiting for the story to begin. I thought it was kind of interesting that it focused more on their ‘lives’ and careers outside of ‘youtube’ but- it felt like the story fell on all the blank pages after the last chapter. I felt like the actual story started, right where the book ended.

-        --I felt a little bit like I was reading a blog from time-to-time. I understand it was a first novel, but something about the writing novel reminded me more of one of those books that is all in text messages and emails, than it was a standard novel. I didn’t like that feeling.

Overall:

I would give the book a solid 2 stars. It was by no means the worst book I’ve ever read. However, at the end of the day, it just felt a little bit… boring. It wasn’t bad, it wasn’t good. It felt like I was reading a blog, or a letter home to a friend, about what Blair and Elle actually spent their day doing- because let’s be honest- the story of “Ava and Sophia London” is the story of Elle and Blair Fowler. I would kind of put this in the category of “Feels like it was an extended short story written by a high-school freshman”. The book is set up to have a sequel, and at the end of my Kindle Copy it says that it’s due out in summer 2013, right now the jury is still out on whether I’ll read it. However, if I had a 13 year old daughter, I wouldn’t stop her. It is exactly the book I would expect a 13 year old to read. Unfortunately I’m 23, so it’s just a little bland for my taste. That being said, no one ever said their target audience was stuffy-CPA-candidates. In fact, I can assure you, it wasn’t.

Missing

I haven't blogged in a long time, a really long time. I don't feel the need to apologize, because I don't really 'promote' my blog any more, I will text a few people and let them know I updated it, but it does seem a tiny bit futile... pretty much the only people reading this already keep up with me. Anyway, missing as a title for this blog is perfect. Not only have I been missing in action, I've been missing my internet life. Would you believe this is the first time I have been on my own lap-top in probably 3 months? I unplugged it and put it in the closet at some point when I was studying, and I never took it back out.

I feel like I always come back to blogging when I'm dying to reinvent myself, or better myself. One time my mom made the comment that I am always making goals, kind of one of those "picking on you, but I find it cute" comments. And she's right- I am. She followed it up by the comment that even if I never meet them, it never stops me from making new ones. I think that's kind of true, and I think I like that about myself.

I am going to try and get back to blogging on a somewhat regular basis. I have some hobbies that I am dabbling  in, and I'm reading again, so I would love to do book reviews. I will hopefully get my final CPA exam score released this week, and maybe I'll know for sure if I can start blogging again... but in the mean time I am going to work on some posts about some different things. It would seem like a lot to make one giant post, so I'll do them separately. :)

2011 Resolutions- recap.

Below are my 2010 resolutions.  Let's see how I did....

#1- Get back to the gym, and vary my workout routine. For almost the entire month of December I got out of the habit of hitting the gym. Part of it was that December was a really stressful month for me between work, school, finals, and getting a pretty horrendous "won't go away cold." The other part was that I think I just needed some time "off". I asked for freehand weights for Christmas and my sister got them for me, and I have a yoga mat, so while I want to get back into running too, I also want to work on toning up some muscles. But most definitely incorporated into this category is to lose the 6-7lbs I've gained over the fall. (Yes, the little cliche bells are going off.)

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I am so sad about this but I only kind of got back into the swing of things. Two years ago I was really good about getting to the gym 4-5 times a week and I would run at least 4 miles if not 5 when I went there. I have been trying to get out more but I just keep being "tired" and wanting to rest up. This year I am making "SMART" goals (I'll explain that later) to help me meet this goal more. Gotta be pretty for my wedding!!

#2- Read more for fun. I think I underestimate sometimes how much reading keeps me relaxed this past fall/summer I hardly read for fun but with the purchase of my kindle I am going to attempt to take 30minutes a day to read just for fun. I should have a little more time this spring since I'll only have one accounting class (technically two I guess...)
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I did okay on this one. I remember in the early part of the spring semester I would read my book at the gym, but then I felt like I wasn't getting my full workout in, so I stopped. I took a few months off and in late summer early fall I really picked up reading again. I don't know how many books I read this year, maybe 15? It's not a ton but it's a big improvement.

#3- Relax more. I don't know WHAT happened this fall but I felt almost constantly stressed and burnt out (hence why I think I got four colds and needed a month break from the gym after finals). I really don't want to do that to myself again. I only get to be this young once- I want to enjoy it.
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I'm not sure I've learned to relax. I don't think I know how not to spend my time worrying about something. But I don't feel like I have been as "anxious" as I was a few years ago. I don't think I've done anything to change that though, I think life is just different now. Anyway.... I guess this was accomplished.

#4- FINALLY make some wedding plans! We have a date set, but since it's not until the end of 2012 I've never bothered to start looking into making actual plans. This obviously won't be until the later part of 2011 but it's time to start!
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Check!!! Got the wedding venue/catering picked out, and the photographer, and the ornaments. AND I just found out earlier today that my uncle is making a webpage for it, and my parents are going to go down for a weekend in the spring to try out the "events" we're going to suggest guests do while they are in town. :) Mom and I even went out to get ornaments for the centerpieces the day after Christmas! I think we will try and do engagement photos sometime between March and May! Now I just need a dress?!

#5- Start saving for a town-home with Zach.
Ooooh! Look at me over achiever! We didn't save but we now OWN one!!

#6- Take a CPA review course, and at least one part of the CPA.
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No CPA review course, but I passed the first section of the exam so does the rest matter?!

#7- Take at least a "mini" vacation (3-5 days) with Zach. Not sure where, or with what money, but I haven't been on an honest to God vacation since I was probably in 8th grade.

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:( No. Moving was expensive, and then CPA studying and tests got in the way!

#8- Run more 5k's.
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I think I had done 2 in 2010 and i did 4 in 2011 so..... improvement? :)

#9- Learn to cook more things, and try to expand my pallet.
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No :(

#10- Sleep more! I've gotten into an awful habit of getting about 4-6.5 hours of sleep a night for five or six days in a row and that is NOT good for you!
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I think over achieved on this one too. Now I won't even get up when my alarm goes off!!

Favorite Thing This Friday

My Phanatic Pillow Pet. Don't lie, you know you're green with envy. 

Too many days in the week start with T.

I have a problem at work when I have to send an email. I never know what to use in the subject line. I feel like subjects such as "Question" are too vague. In contrast I feel like a subject such as "Specific Question, about Specific Client" is way too wordy- I mean do people even read the subject lines of emails? As a result I probably spend a little too much time figuring out what few letters to type in that annoying little field. Anyway, the moral of this story is that I never know what to title my blogs. And considering I generally just "talk" I don't think it matters.

#1- I really enjoy the song "Dreamer" by Elizaveta. It's a little new-agey and not my typical cup of coffee but I really like it. It's oddly a really good song to listen to when you're running. At first it might not seem that way, because it's a little whispy sounding, but the lyrics are pretty motivating. It also helps that at some points the tempo is "building".

#2- I bought my favorite "test pencils" from college again the other day. I think I just like them because they're pastels. Oh, and they were obviously successful because I graduated from college manga com laude. (I'm not going to lie, it drives me crazy that after you get a job noone cares how you did in school. I worked my butt off for 3 years, not 4, when do I get to brag?!)

#3-  Look at how cute my new nail polish storage is!!

The top box has my cotton balls and nail accessories in it. The bottom box (pictured) stores all my colors. Yes, I really do own that many. It's a healthy hobby and the pretty colors make me happy. I do not have a problem. You'll also be thankful for a friend like me when you need a pretty nail polish to match your dress.  But the best part! Look how cute! Look how accessible! I ADORE!

#4- Hannah has started her blog up again which has me motivated. I always love looking back at my posts so I wish I could stick to keeping up with blogging. I just never feel like I can allot time to it when I need to study, exercise, paint my nails. Thoughts? Who reads this?

#5- I think my dog hates me. She always barks at me and never wants to play with me. She won't share her toys and likes to hide under the table when I decide she needs to go out. Naturally I still adore her. I feel like that girl in high school whose in love with the jerk.

Day 1

Now Playing- Grace Potter & The Nocternals " Paris (Ooh la la).

So I thought I would rehash on my progress today, and then also just share some tid-bits.

Skin- I washed my face this morning and after my run with my new "Olay Pro-x face brush" and the face wash that came with it. The face wash doesn't give me the overwhelming clean feeling but I wanted to try something different. If I need something with something stronger I can always go back. My only fail is that I probably should have washed off my makeup before my run. Oh well- starting off perfect would leave no room for improvement. :P

Running endurance- I ran 3 miles today. I had planned on going further but it was pretty windy and the fact that I had no music  had me a little unmotivated. The important thing was that I got out there and that I wasn't even a tiny bit winded after my 3 miles. I also didn't run "fast" so I kept my heart rate lower which is good for building endurance.

Spend less time on the internet- yeah nope.

Get to work earlier- I didn't succeed on this one today. I set an alarm for 4:45 and got up and turned it off and was for all purposes "wide awake" but I just wanted to get more sleep. I didn't want to get up and study. So I slept a little late. I think tomorrow I will try and be out the door by a little after 7 (whenever it's bright enough) and pick up some coffee with one of my many giftcards.

Save more- I don't know that I really had the opportunity to do this today. I woke up and went to work and then came right home and went running and put things away, etc. I mean I didn't do any online shopping but I normally don't... weekends are my bad time.

So- some Tuesday tid-bits.
-I'm really motivated for the next year.
-I really love writing new years blogs- very reflective.
-I am mildly terrified about all the hours I will have to put in in the next 4.5 months at work.
-My brother and sister in law got me a Cinnamon Sugared Donut candle for Christmas and it smells like fabulous snickerdoodles. I <3 it. 

Working on me

Yeah- it's been a while. My life is more consistent now and I feel like I don't change up my routine too much. I feel like I always come back to my blog when I want to work on myself... almost as like a "diary". Anyway here are things I want to start working on TOMORROW. As my friend Jill says- why wait?

1) My skin. I blame part of the problem on a change in medication but I think part of it is me. I don't get enough water and I don't eat that healthy so I want to work on getting my skin cleared up. I used to get compliments on it- I'd like those back.

2) Running endurance. I have a 10 milers to due MARCH 4th and I'd love to not have to walk any.

3) Spend less time on the internet. I feel like that's a funny item to put on this list but it's true.

4) Get to work earlier- more consistently. IE- get out of bed the FIRST time the alarm goes off.

5) Save more. I buy too many little thing. Things should be "treats" not expectations.

:) I might come back to this and update it and add a few but I wanted to get some of these off my mind before I head to bed. I am going to START TOMORROW! I am getting up when that first alarm goes off! Why put off until tomorrow what you can get done today?

Oops

Oops. Two months later I am updating again... so much for that whole "once I get on a schedule" thing. I don't really have much to blog about I guess... I always just seem to talk about things I am liking or doing... and for the last two months it has been a rarity that I've had a quiet, empty, house that I could actually think about it! But, Zach's out, Minnie''s asleep, I've got pandora on, coffee in hand, and a pomegranate cider candle burning. Please see pictures to the --> for exact ambiance. :P And yes, I do drink my coffee with a straw. And yes, those are some seriously aged Nancy Drew books. They used to belong to my Aunt, she gave them to me when I was in 6th grade or so. Not sure if they're "original editions" but either way I find it fun to think about all the great people who could have read them before me! :) They belonged to her schools library!



So, I guess let's talk about things I like. I really like nail polish. I feel like of everything I highly adore, nail polish doesn't make it to the blog posts often enough. Wanna see all the ones I've bought since May? Oh you do... well okay... I'll show you :) Left to Right: Sally Hansen Insta Dry in 'Pink Blink', Sally Hansen Salon Manicure in 'Shrimply Devine', Essie 'Jamaica me Crazy', Essie 'Coat Azure', Essie 'Cute As A Button', Essie 'Mod Square', and Essie 'Nice is Nice. And yes, I was able to do that all from memory. It really is impressive, one of life's odd talents. :P PS- Just in case you're judging me and thinking that 'Shrimply Devine' and 'Cute as a Button' are the same color. Totally not. CAAB is more of a pastel than SD. :)

I am also really liking my "Eli Young Band" Pandora Station. I know Pandora is so 2009, but I still love it. Especially because I can pick it up on my Droid and listen to it at work. I feel like my iPod is always dead so I can rely more on my Droid. PLUS I have some song selections on my iPod that are extremely awkward to find popping up at work. My friend, Callie, can probably vouch for that... as I've let her know in the past when they pop up in a silent office. :P


I've also really been enjoying two new shows that I can thank my friend, Heather, for bringing into my life.  'Psych' and 'In Plain Sight'. I was moping around the beginning of May about how there was going to be absolutely NOTHING for me to rot my brain watching all summer and she let me know about all the USA 'summer season' shows. (Although, to be fair, Psych season 6 is coming back in October, so now it will be a standard 'short season' show). Check out your Netflix instant view for both of these gems.

OKAY. I am going to go obtain some new, probably work inappropriate music to jam to at the gym and on my runs. Yep, I just "said" jam to.... and on that note....

Back in the Swing

So, I've been little miss awful about blogging, but I'm honestly hoping that once things with work start to settle into more of a routine I will be better about it.... I'm really big on my "routines" so if blogging becomes part of mine, then I'll be better about it! I just know it... anyway I wanted to do a big update post about what I've been up to for the last few months and what will be going on in the next few months. Summers are always so busy!! Maybe that's why I like autumn so much... that and it's pretty, it's closer to Christmas, and I finally stop sweating yech!!!

Sooooo we'll just do the updates by topic....

Job

Starting May 31st (technically my pay-rate will switch over on June 1st) I will be a full time staff accountant. I don't want to mention where because this blog is obviously public and if I mentioned the name when people google searched my employer this blog might come up and that would be super-awk. Anyway; full time employee. I'm kind of nervous to now be in a job that I don't consider to be just a phase in my life (for example, when I worked at PetsMart I knew that wasn't where I'd spend my whole life). In some ways I am looking forward to it though, it'll be nice to make new friends and have some consistency in my life. Everyone asks "What will you do there?" and to be honest I'm not entirely sure. I think when you work as a staff accountant you don't really 'specialize', at least there you don't. I know this summer I will be working in 401(k) and 403(b) audits. I'm sure you all know what a 401(k) is, a 403(b) is just the government sponsored form of a 401(k). Anyway, basically we just go in and make sure employers are deffering what they should be and following all the rules. I'm going to stop there because otherwise no one will continue to read this.  If you have questions you can definitely ask, but since most of you don't... we'll stop there. It is nice though because during the summer months you can pick two Friday's off a month for "free" that don't require the use of your vacation days. They're kind of to make up for all the extra hours people are working during tax season.

House
Everyone keeps asking, so what's the deal with the townhouse?! Here's what's what. In March Zach and I put a contract on a town-house (picture will be below). The offer was accepted and since then we have been working with WellsFargo and "Rural Development" that is helping us obtain a loan for 100% financing. That's right- no down-payment. From what I can gather from our loan agent everything is probably going to go through. However, since it's the government it's slow, and they need to know everything about you. I've been the bigger problem because I wasn't full time employed. On June 16th I will get my first "full time salary" pay-check and so at that point I will forward that to WellsFargo, who will then send it on to Rural Development, who will *fingers crossed* finally approve our loan. Once the loan gets approved (4-5 business days after June 16th), then we can pick a settlement date. Which fingers crossed should occur before June 30th otherwise we might run into problems because our contract is only good through June 30th. Anyway, I'm trying really hard not to be too nervous about that. I have a good job, and the mortgage on the townhouse is, according to CNN money, almost 100k less than we "could afford" based on the salary and debt information I have.  So I'm keeping my fingers crossed... that road is just kind of a bumpy unsure road right now. Things should be just fine but like I said I like "definite" information... and nothing will be definite for a bit longer. Which is driving me up a wall.  Please keep your fingers crossed and blow house-fairy dust our way.

Puppy
One of the things I am most excited in the near future is the sweet little furball addition to our home/lives, little Miss Minnie. Back in April I started stalking a little baby girl dachshund on this website her name was Peppermint Pattie and I was absolutely head over heels for her. I didn't want to ask the breeder because at that point I knew that we wouldn't be in the house in May 23rd (original settlement date) and I didn't think the breeder would hold her for us without charge. Anyway, long story short she is going to hold her for us... originally it was until June 16th-20th but with settlement being pushed back again... I'm not so sure... although her Grandpa has finally conceded to let her live with him for a week or two if she has to. Anyway, I'm sure most of you have seen her picture but I am such a proud momma I'm going to put one blow just in case. Her new name is Minnie, and she is a silver and black dapple miniature dachshund.

Wedding
Finally after being engaged for over a year and a half now Zach and I are finally going to start planning our wedding later this summer, once we're in and settled into the new house and little Miss Minnie is in a nice routine. So far the only real thing I know is that it's going to have a "Christmas" theme (go ahead act surprised), it will be December 1, 2012, and we will be honey-mooning in Disney :).

Alright this is long enough!!! More to come soon I hope <3

Five Random Facts

So um... I watch a lot of YouTube videos because I'm fascinated with learning about people, even if I'll never meet them. Anyway... a "tag" that goes around every so often is the "Five Random Facts" tag- so I thought I'd share. Depending on how well you know me, you probably already know some of these. But sometimes people don't know things.... so let's begin, shall we?

#1- Okay, don't laugh, but when I was younger I had a stuffed pig and I named him Porkchop after the dog on Doug. I know, I know, I know, so awful (especially since pigs are my favorite animal. But I just didn't really realize the irony in his name choice. Anyway, I'd get really offended when people made fun of me for naming my pig "Porkchop" so I'd try and lie and I'd be little miss dramatic and exclaim, "His name isn't Porkchip!! It's PORTchop." Yeah- because that makes total sense...


#2- I have a serious medical phobia. If I'm going to the Dr. for anything other than my standard, "Look- I have a sinus infection PLEASE give me an antibiotic!!!" I worry. And I mean this in that I will cave and last minute move appointments, and I will dread the appointment all day, or for a few days before. Additionally, if I go to the Dr. and they need to do anything as simple as draw blood, remove a freckle, get a cavity filled, I get nauseous. I can recall three times in recent history that I've found myself passed out on the floor, or on the little patient bed thing. And don't even get me started on when people talk about medical things. I can't think about internal organs, especially the brain. It just creeps me out and I get overwhelmed. It's sad too because I can make a conscious effort to stay calm, and say that this is completely fine, and normal, and it doesn't matter. My body reacts..


#3- If you ask me my name (Emily,... you better at least KNOW that much!) I say it "Emma-lee" I don't pronounce it the way some people do "Em-mil-ee" So, in 6th grade my best friend ended up being a girl named Leigh... so I thought it would be cool if instead of my name being spelled "Emily" that I spell it "Emma-leigh". So, no lie, for like 3 months I wrote on all my papers "Emma-leigh" like that would somehow change my name. I'm still surprised my teachers didn't kill me!

#4- I love the weather channel. It just fascinates me. Sometimes I sit there waiting for the local on the eights (even though I could totally bring it up on my phone) and get so entangled in the latest natural disaster that I don't even realize I've been through the "local on the 8's" three or four times. Seriously though, hurricane season & blizzard seasons are some prim-o viewing times on the weather channel. They also have this show (couldn't come up with the name of it if you threatened my life) where they like play out what would happen if a natural disaster hit a certain city... and one time they did I think a tornado in Washington, D.C. in like August at 5pm... it was so interesting.

#5- Hide your Grandpa.... I have the strangest habit of developing crushes on old men. And no I don't mean "older" men I mean, literally like someone's Grandpa. Let me just elaborate, although a little arrogant I have a crush on Alex Trebec. Additionally, the weather-man Bob Burnette Kurie (spelling) "BBK", yep, I cried when I heard he was retiring because I loved him so much. I also think Richard Geare and Jack Nicholson are just about the most charming men in the world. And if all that really wasn't creepy enough, I keep developing crushes on our forefathers when we talk about them in my US History class. (Although I feel as though I should say, we're currently through John Quincy Adams and I did NOT develop a crush on him!!)