My Version of Black Friday

I did NOT go shopping today...well, I didn't make any purchases of my own today.

This afternoon, I finally got to see an old friend from middle and high school. She, her mom, and her cousin came into town to try on her wedding dress. I'm going to be a bridesmaid in the wedding, but I wasn't able to be with her to pick out the dress, so today was my first chance to see it! It is really pretty and I think the dress of her dreams. We were also able to pick out a headpiece and veil for her that complement the dress very nicely.

After we left the dress store, we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Ricatoni's in downtown Florence. It was just as good as I remembered it!

On the way to the AT&T store, we went by so she could see little Miss Emma. Then at the AT&T store we had to fight the system as they didn't want to make the process of upgrading her mom's phone easy for any parties involved. They did walk out with matching iPhones though.

Sadly, we had to part after the phone acquisition. They had to get back to Tennessee tonight and I needed to head over to my Grandparent's house. It's a shame we don't see each other more often, but with only about 7 months for wedding planning, we will definitely be seeing each other more frequently in the future. I hope we never go as long between seeing each other again.

I have new pictures of Emma too from Thanksgiving Day, but I haven't put them on my computer yet. I'll try to do that in the next couple of days!

We're Home

Emma and I made it home around 5:30 today! Yay!!

I'm really ready to go to bed, but I have to wait until after Grey's Anatomy is over--it's a new episode, so I don't want to miss it. Also, my Dad is on his way back home from a business trip and I'd like to welcome him home before I go to bed.

My Grandmother and I are going shopping for my Christmas gifts tomorrow morning after her weekly hair appointment, so I won't really get to sleep too late, but it's for the best since I'll get to pick out my things before everything is picked over in the post-Thanksgiving sales.

I've got to go so I can keep my eye on Miss Emma...she doesn't know what to do with all the extra space she is given in our house!

Grad School Stuff

I've set some goals for myself both before I leave tomorrow and before the semester ends for Christmas break related to my MAc application.

By tomorrow, I will:

1. Finish the draft for my Statement of Purpose
2. Email the draft to a few people for review
3. Update my resume
4. Try to meet with professors to ask for recommendations--I need three and I know two of them will be having office hours tomorrow. I might just have wait until we get back to talk to the third.

By Christmas break, I will:

1. Submit my application, resume, Statement of Purpose, scholarship applications, and assistantship application
2. Ensure that all recommendations have been submitted

Then, all I will have to do is wait for acceptance. The deadline is February 1, so I might have to wait a while.

Four Days

Just four more days until I get to go home! Luckily, my Friday class is canceled for this week, so I can leave Thursday afternoon! I really have only been home three times this semester and that's really just not enough in my opinion! I'm so looking forward to seeing family and friends and just having a break from Auburn and college life for a little while! Don't get me wrong, Auburn is great, but it's nothing like home!

I don't have too much going on this week. No tests or projects due, but I need to be as prepared as possible for finals before I leave. I know I won't get anything done while I'm home. I really need to start working on my graduate school application. The application itself is not too long or hard, but I also have to refine my resume with new grades, etc. for the semester, prepare a purpose statement, fill out the general business and School of Accountancy scholarship applications, and apply for a Graduate Research Assistantship. It won't be too bad, but I need to get going on all of it. The hardest part will be the essays that go with the scholarship and assistantship applications and the purpose statement. Maybe I can knock the purpose statement out this week! I also need to ask professors for letters of recommendation. I need three and I know two people I want to ask for sure, but still need to decide between a few other professors for the last recommendation.

Also, on Tuesday I will be initiated into Beta Alpha Psi, a professional honorary accounting organization. We have initiation and then a meet and greet with an accounting firm followed by our final meeting of the semester. All of this will take a few hours, so my Tuesday will be pretty busy with classes from 8 to 2 and then having to be back on campus around 4:30. I have a feeling I won't accomplish anything after I get home that night besides falling into bed!

I've also got to start thinking about Christmas gifts! I won't be home until about 10 days before Christmas, so I need to get also accomplished over Thanksgiving week. Maybe I'll brave some Black Friday sales...or not!

Well, I'm going to go and get my things ready for classes tomorrow. I'm definitely going to take advantage of being able to go to bed early tonight! : )

Old Fashioned Fudge Pie

I've made this pie the past two weekends and several people have asked for the recipe, so I though I would share it with all you readers out there, too!

It's a Paula Deen recipe, so of course it has butter in it, but it's oh.so.good.

Makes 2 pies:

2 sticks butter
4 squares semi-sweet chocolate
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 regular frozen pie shells

Melt butter and chocolate in a heavy saucepan over low
Remove from heat and whisk in sugar then eggs
Pour into docked pie shells
Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 25 minutes (It usually takes longer in my oven to set)

I also like to add a little vanilla to the pie mixture. Some orange extract might be good also since orange pairs so well with chocolate! :)

Serve warm or cold, with a meringue, whipped cream or ice cream. Basically any way you want to! :)

What I'm thinking about today...

As you can see, my mind is on sitting in front of a roaring fire either at my house or my Grandparent's house in Florence. My parents went and got a load of wood for our house yesterday, so now we can have a fire whenever we want one. I just wish I was there to enjoy it, but I will be before I know it.

Sitting in front of a burning fire really signals the beginning of the Holiday season to me. There's just something about that crackling sound and the slight smoky sound to the air that tells me it's fall and Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner.

My Grandmother always keeps a good fire going during the winter. Her sewing room is off of the downstairs den where the wood-burning fireplace is (they have a gas one upstairs that's really just for looks), so she's always walking by the fireplace to go anywhere else in the house. Much to my Grandaddy's dismay, she's always throwing random trash or sewing scraps into the fire as kindling instead of using the fire starter or real kindling he provides. I guess she thinks she's creating less trash for landfills if she burns it! : )

Our fireplace at my house is good, but not near as much fun to sit in front of. Ours is a traditional-type fireplace and I just don't think it produces as much heat as my Grandparent's cast iron (I think) fireplace insert. It will do though! I like to turn one of the wing backs in front of the fireplace where I will be able to feel the heat or just simply sit on the hearth in front of it.

Instead of "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas", it's "I'm dreaming of a warm fireplace". haha

Almost There

I realized this week that, after the rest of this week and Monday-Thursday next week, I will only have a week and a day of class left. Then we will have dead day and start finals. Christmas is right around the corner!

With everything that has happened this semester--Winnie, Emma, job interviews, office visits and of course, classes--it really seems like time has flown by. My life has changed so much since I came back down here in August--mainly because I lost my first dogter and gained a new one.

There have been good things too that have happened this semester, but I can't say I'll be sorry to see it go. Saying goodbye to Fall 2008 is one step closer to August 2009 and Graduation!

Curiosity

Ok, so now I'm really curious. My Stat Counter tells me that I have had visitors to this site from: Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina, California, and Maine. I can figure out who many of the people are from Alabama and Georgia, but I'm really curious who's reading this from California and Maine along with some of the other states. I can't imagine who's reading from some of these places. Please, if you are a reader that I don't already know about, let me know who you are by leaving a short comment. Since this isn't a public blog, I know I have to know you somehow, probably through Facebook. As I've said before, I don't care who's reading, but I would like to know who my audience is! : )

Have a great night all you mystery readers out there!

Counting Down the Mondays

One more Monday until Thanksgiving break! Four more Mondays of school before Christmas break! This semester has gone by quickly, but I'm so ready to see it be over! Next semester has two mini-term classes and my Internship. One more semester after that and undergrad is over!!

But, then I have three more semesters of the Masters program. I think it'll be different than undergrad though. My classes will be quite small and since I will hopefully have an Assistantship, I'll have a different kind of relationship with my assigned professor. Hopefully, I will get assigned to a tax professor so I can learn some more about tax and estate planning, my current area of interest in the profession. We'll have to see about that though. I have to get my application completed first...February 1 deadline, so maybe I'll know something about the time I come back to finish up after my Internship.

I've got a test tomorrow (Managerial Accounting) and it's my last one before break, so things will be smooth sailing until after Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, we only have about a week of classes after we come back before finals start. I just have to make sure I am caught up before I leave so it won't be so hard to refresh my memory for last tests (I think I only have one) and then finals (in each class, cumulative in all but one).

Mom and Dad are coming back this weekend, so I have to try to figure out what I want to take home for Thanksgiving so they can help me out and take the bulk of it with them. I will probably let them take some extra things as well in preparation for Christmas break. Something to think about...

Well, I'm going to knock out studying for this test so I can go to bed early tonight. Mom put my duvet on my bed this past weekend, so it's all warm and snuggly now. Mom can't stand it, but I love all the blankets and the duvet that make the covers so heavy. There's something comforting about really heavy and thick blankets on a bed.

I managed to get a few new pictures of Emma uploaded to the site today! Please take note of my AMATEUR status as a photographer. These pictures are nothing compared to the ones my Uncle took a couple of months ago. Unfortunately, I got to his house after dark on Thursday, so we weren't able to get any new ones.

Emma decided sleeping on my foot was a really good idea!

"Mom, can you turn off that flashy thing? I'm getting tired of this!"-Emma

"I'm so sleepy I can barely sit up!"

"I told you I was tired of this!"
Her eyes look pretty scary in this one, but I promise you she is sweet!

So there you have it! Some new, more grown up pictures of Emma. She was about 15 weeks old in the others you have seen and now she's over five months old. She's still little, but I can certainly tell she has grown. She's still just one handful though! She's going to the groomer's this week, so there might be some new pictures of her with a little less fur!

New Pictures of Emma Coming

Oh, P.S.--I tried taking some pictures of Emma the other night when she fell asleep on my sofa with her head on my tv remote. I haven't uploaded them onto the computer yet, but hopefully some of them turned out. I'm certainly not as good at taking pictures as my Uncle, the professional photographer, so they definitely won't be as good as any of the other ones you have seen before. He took all of them when I was at his house in September in his front yard. I wish I was that talented at photography...I guess it comes with experience and taking pictures constantly since age 12! : )

Driving, GMAT, Driving

Sorry for not updating yesterday. I think this will be long enough to suffice for both days!

I went to class all day and then drove up to Birmingham to spend the night at my Uncle's house. I got there and we talked for a while (we always do this--even on the phone--minimum hour and a half conversation) until we realized it was almost 8 and we hadn't had dinner. We ran into Springville (the actual teeny tiny town he lives in) and picked some fast food up to bring back to the house. After we ate, I planned on writing something, but the internet wasn't working properly. Anyway, I studied for the GMAT for a little while and then tried to go to sleep. I'm certainly going to have to make some adjustments to the upstairs before I move there in February to make my room feel less like a guest room. There's plenty of time for that though...

My alarm went off way too early (5:15) so I could get ready to drive to Hoover for my test. I left right at 6 and arrived by 6:45 for my 8 o'clock test. I really didn't know how long it would take, especially with rush-hour traffic, but I managed to avoid the worst of it. The testing center was very close to the Galleria, so I drove down to McDonald's and got some breakfast--I know, I know, not a very good meal, but it was the best I could do. I had planned on bringing a Slim Fast granola bar with me, but I've got a bit of a sore throat and anything crunchy = not good. So, I go back to the testing center which is in a really big office complex and decide to go in since I'm going to Suite 20, but I see a sign for Suite 400. I had no idea how long it would take me to find the actual office, but it was actually right off of the foyer I entered the building through.

They were ready for me to go on and take the test even though it was about 7:30 and my appointment was at 8, so I went on and got started. First you have to write two essays in thirty minutes each. After you finish that, you go on to the quantitative (math) section and then the verbal (English) section. There are optional breaks between the writing and math and the math and English sections, but I chose to skip them since I felt like I was on a roll!

Once I finished, I had to again present my right index finger to prove that I hadn't changed my identity since I entered the fishbowl room where I was subject to audio and video surveillance at all times. Did I forget to tell you that they digitally recorded my fingerprint four times and took my picture to make sure I was really who I said I was. Once that was over, I received my unofficial score report and collected my belongings from the locker I was assigned.

I scored well enough to get admitted to the MAc program, but I guess I'm a little personally disappointed because I didn't get in the 700s (the highest score is 800). I did score better than I had in practice tests though, so I guess I should be happy. This is random, but I did pretty poorly in the quantitative section and extremely well in the verbal section...to the extent that the verbal section is what saved me. The GMAT quantitative section has questions called Data Sufficiency where you are given a problem and two pieces of information and you have to decide if one, the other, both, both together, or neither are sufficient to solve the problem. That can get quite confusing, so I'm guessing I didn't do too well in that section. Also, I seemed to have a lot of Geometry on my test and I didn't like Geometry in high school, so why should I like it now. I'm not sure if I have ever been as happy as the day we finished proofs Freshman year at Bradshaw.

Anyway, I'm just going to be happy that I did well enough to not have to take it again. I'm going to talk with the program coordinator on Monday and verify this and a few other things, but I guess my focus now is on my application (due February1) and getting ready to move to Birmingham. I got a little excited when I was going down the mountain from my Uncle's and then getting on the interstate because today was my first morning commute...something that I will be doing daily starting in February. It's exciting to be "growing up" and doing "big people" things like going to work.

I'm so excited for my internship. Every day, I enjoy classes more and more (such a difference from my first 2.5 years of college) and learn practical aspects of my new career. I actually don't even dread doing tax returns any more (don't tell my Dad)! It's fun to take people's financial transactions for the year and try to find all possible credits and deductions. When we do returns in class using software, it's like a game plugging in information and answering prompts from the computer. I know this sounds really sick to most of you, but I am finding out daily just how much my personality fits into that of the traditional accountant. I don't know why it took me so long to figure out that I would love accounting!

I'm going to go to bed now. It's been a long time since I woke up today before the sun came up! My parents (I hope both of them) and my Grandparents are coming down tomorrow night for a short visit and I need to do some more cleaning before they get here. I've been needing to do a good cleaning for a while, but with all my tests lately, I just haven't had time to do any more than pick up. I also have to run to Sam's since I'm out of laundry detergent and need a few other things too.

I have a test on Tuesday too, so I better start studying. I also have Audit homework for Monday that I'm going to print out now so I don't forget until Sunday night, or even worse, Monday morning!

Emma and Katie signing out! Have a good night and a pleasant tomorrow! (haha, Mom)

Comments

I have this Statistics Counter thingy on my blog and there have been some new people from interesting places reading. Since this is not a public blog, I know people aren't just randomly finding me through a Google search. I'd love to see comments from people reading--particularly some of the new readers over the past few days! Don't worry that I'm mad about how you found me or whatever--I like knowing people are reading what I'm writing and that I'm not talking (writing) to myself!

Again, please feel free to leave a comment so I can know who's reading! Maybe, if we're friends who've lost contact, we can get in touch again! : )

Tests, Tests, and More Tests

Two down and one to go. I had Audit Monday, Tax today, and still have the GMAT Friday. Now I have to focus all my time on getting ready for it so I'll have a good score and won't have to worry so much about acceptance to the MAc program. Last year, the acceptance rate was only around 60%, so it's definitely not guaranteed that I will get in, so I need everything going for me that I can possibly control!

I'm not really watching the Election coverage. I'm already feeling kinda sick (sore throat), so I don't need that long drawn-out process to make me sick to my stomach. I'll go to bed early tonight and wake up to a new President who's hopefully John McCain!

Five Things...

I saw this blogging prompt...You can only keep five things you have. What would they be?...and I thought it would be interesting!

1. My phone--I live far away from family and friends and would want to have the ability to reach out to them at a moment's notice.
2. Comfortable shoes--I won't be choosing to keep my car, so I need comfortable shoes to get me where I'm going!
3. My computer's MyPictures folder--I have so many memories that I want to keep and remember forever--especially of sweet baby Winnie. She was probably the most photographed baby in history.
   
4. My Grandaddy's mantle clock--I don't really have this, but I would want it to remember my childhood day's spent at my Grandparents. Getting to wind this on Saturday night was a big deal since it was hands-off the rest of the time.
5. All the little notes my Daddy wrote me for days when he was going to be out of town--I think I have every single one he wrote in a photo album at home. It was a big deal to me to read my note every day. Looking back at it, I realize just how much time he took to make each day's note different and to make sure I remembered how much he loved me even when he had to be away from home.

Wow, that was harder than I thought it would be. I guess with our society being so materialistic, it's hard to pick just a few things to symbolize a lifetime. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose everything to a fire or other natural disaster and to only have memories to represent all of your experiences.

Study Sunday

Today has been full of studying. I have an Audit test tomorrow that I still don't feel prepared for. I'm reading my last chapter now (or I was before I got on this!) and then I have some problems to work for review. I also have a Tax test on Tuesday, but I think I'm just going to have to worry about that late tonight or tomorrow after class. I will have from about noon until bedtime to study for that test. Then, Tuesday night through Thursday night, I have to study for the GMAT as well as clean up my messy house. I really want to vacuum and mop the kitchen and bathroom floors, but that will have to wait! You wouldn't believe all of the highlighter-yellow stuff on my carpet from Emma playing with her tennis balls. (No, Daddy, it's not stains on the carpet, just fuzz that's too numerous to simply pick up by hand!) She also has made a mess on the kitchen floor around her bowls with her new trick of eating her food on the floor rather than in the bowl! : )

I'm heading to Birmingham after class on Thursday so I can take the GMAT at 8 on Friday morning. That's going to be such an early day since I will need to leave around 6 to arrive with plenty of time to spare! Unfortunately, I have to pretty much cross Birmingham to get from Springville to near the Galleria in Hoover during early morning traffic. This is such an important test for my future, so I can't afford to be stressed about getting there on time. I also need to remember to print out directions and pack my GPS so I can make sure I find the testing center.

Ok, no more study break! Back to the books...

Emma Update

Miss Emmie has a new trick! She has started turning her food bowl over and spilling the food out onto the floor for her to eat. Earlier today she did this, but some food was trapped under the bowl and she ended up pushing it around the kitchen until I turned it right side up again so she could get to the food!

She and I went to a couple of grassy areas yesterday. The first one was near the parking lot for Facilities on campus and she gave me quite a scare when she wanted to chase the Tiger Transit. She really wasn't in any danger, but she was not under my control. The second place was the new elementary school here in Auburn. It's just down the highway from my house and is situated quite a ways off the main road. Basically, nobody goes down there unless they have a reason. I took her near the playground equipment where there is a big grassy area and she played a little bit. She really liked the rubber-like material that is around the playground. It's quite bouncy, so when she hops around, she really bounces. I have to say, I liked that filler material as well. It was fun for me to walk on too! It really doesn't take much to entertain us, does it?

We came home after our adventure and Miss Emmie was quite tired. She slept much of the evening until it came time for us to go to bed. I tried to let her sleep with me, but she was just too wild and she had to sleep in her bed.

She's getting so much more cuddly! She spent a good bit of today in my lap relaxing. It seems like if she isn't chewing on something or running around being "psycho dog", then she's in my lap! I can't say I have any complaints about that!