Update Since Christmas

Sorry that I haven't been writing anything lately. With final preparations for Christmas, Christmas activities, and a nasty bug that I have had since the day after Christmas, I really haven't felt like doing anything besides laying in bed for the last few days.

We had a very nice Christmas both at home and at my Grandparent's house. We went to Christmas Eve Communion at our church and for the first time in several years, I sat with my family in the congregation rather than singing in the choir. For some reason, I just wanted to sit with my family this year and it was a nice change.

After church, we had Almond family Christmas. It was just my parents, my Uncle, and me, so it sounds a little silly to call it "Almond family Christmas", but that's what it was. I received many wonderful gifts including quite a few surprises I was not expecting. Everything was wonderful, but I would have to say the highlights are my new professional-like digital camera, a flat screen TV for my bedroom, and the Martha Stewart Cooking School cookbook. I can say for sure that I am quite spoiled. I also got some wonderful kitchen gadgets like a sandwich press that I'm sure will be used for so much more as well as some Pyrex that I really needed as well as wanted. My Mom sure does a good job in listening to my wants and needs and remembering them. And she claims to not have a good memory!!

Christmas morning, we went to my Grandparents and opened our gifts there and our stockings. I got some very nice clothes for work and I'm quite excited to get all the alterations completed so I can start wearing all my pretty new things. We also had a huge lunch where I ate way too much. I guess my body knew I was starting to get sick and made me eat up while I was still feeling like eating! : )

One of my best friends was in town Christmas afternoon, so we got to visit before she and her Mom had to head home to Tennessee. It's so sad that I have seen her more in the past month than in the year preceding that. We'll only be living 45 minutes away for much of the Spring semester, so I'm hoping we can continue our trend of seeing each other more often. We have been friends since middle school, it seems like forever really, and have somehow been able to maintain our friendship through phone calls all through college. She's done and planning her wedding, and I'll admit I'm a bit jealous, but I'm happy that I'm able to offer advice and be a part of her special day!

Since then, I haven't done anything interesting at all. My family went to Haleyville for our family Christmas there, but I stayed behind in bed with Emma. That's pretty much all I did yesterday too. Today, I migrated to my parents bedroom where we have On Demand movies, so I'm keeping myself occupied with that. The House marathons are over, so On Demand is all I have, I guess.

Both of my parents have had to leave the house today, but will both be home by late afternoon. I don't really need anything since I have Miss Emma to be my nurse-maid. She's so very content to simply lay in bed with me and sleep. That's the only way she can get her 23 hours of sleep per day, I'm afraid!

I'll try to post some of the pictures I took of Christmas with my new camera soon. I think Emma is going to become the most photographed puppy in history if I keep up like this. I'm just making up for the nearly four months of her life I didn't have a camera that could capture any of her features! : )

If I don't write again before Thursday, I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

Home for the Holidays

I've been home for a week now, but it seems like just yesterday. We've been quite busy with Christmas shopping and other Holiday activities.

Emma went to the groomer on Wednesday and the V.E.T. (you have to spell it) for her little operation on Thursday, so she had a rough couple of days, but got plenty of pampering to make up for any inconvenience. She got her very own Christmas stocking today that my Grandmother and my Mom made for her. It's pink satin with lace and ruffles along the top. Very Emma-like!!

Yesterday was my Grandparent's 63 Wedding Anniversary, so I made dinner to celebrate the occasion. I made lasagna for the first time and besides taking longer than planned to cook, I think it turned out well! I guess we'll have a second chance to pass judgement tonight since that's what we're having for dinner.

Oh, I got my grades in for the semester...I got a 4.0! I'm really glad to have made Dean's List for the third semester in a row! Just two more to go to finish undergrad out with a bang!

I'm really excited about starting my j0b in Birmingham, but I have to go back to Auburn for a little less than a month for classes first. It will be good to get the majority of my Advanced Accounting Topics and Taxation II classes out of the way before I leave. I'm hoping I will have some time to see old friends in Birmingham since we all seem to be migrating there! It'll be so nice to reconnect and get to see good friends much more frequently!

Well, I need to go wrap some gifts. No, we haven't got them all safely nestled under the tree yet. They probably won't even be finished tonight, but they always get done.

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Almost Done!

It's almost Christmas break for me! I get to go home Tuesday afternoon. Unfortunately, I still have three exams to get through before then.

There's so much to do before leaving Auburn. I have to study for and take my exams, of course. I also need to pack. I think packing is the worst, but I have to get it done tonight and tomorrow night so I can leave as early as possible after I finish on Tuesday. In order to be able to pack anything, I must first wash the clothes I wish to take to Florence. That in itself will be a task. Emma finds sorted laundry waiting to be washed quite interesting and for some reason, the clothes never stay sorted for long!

I'm just not feeling like studying anymore. I have Managerial Accounting tomorrow, but I only need a 75 to get an A in the class, so I guess that's hurting my motivation. Making a 75 would be 15 points below my lowest score so far in the class which is my lowest by 7.5 points. My point being, I think it would be pretty hard to not score a 75 or higher. I hope so at least.

I've really got to get studying for Audit. I need to really hunker down since we didn't have our last class meeting and I have to teach myself some material without it ever being covered in class.

I guess I'm just getting a little bummed that all of the other schools I have friends at are out--we always get out before Alabama, for instance, what's going on here? I know there is some homesickness involved too. Even after three and a half years here, I still get quite homesick. I miss my family and our holiday traditions that I'm missing out on. I guess that I look forward to these short breaks from school because I know they are soon to end forever once I enter the real world. Sorry to be so whiny...

So, I'm going to snap out of it, start a load of clothes, study for Managerial, and make a list of things I want to take home with me (yes, I have to have a list!).

Stupidity, Thy Name is Katie

So, today is off to a great start! Haha, not really.

Since classes ended on Monday, I have been studying with the mindset that my Principles of Marketing and Principles of Finance exams were today. Can you see the problem yet...I thought it was confirmed, but in actuality was really only a mindset with only 50% basis in fact. Are you seeing the problem yet?

So this morning, I walk into what I think is my Principles of Marketing exam. I realize that I don't know anybody, but since it's a big class and attendance isn't so great, I'm not too worried. Then, I notice that nobody around me has a calculator on their desk. Since 30% of the test is math-based, this is worrisome. Then, a professor I don't recognize walks in. Not good. Finally, I call a friend from my Marketing class and she says the dreaded words..."I thought Marketing was Tuesday."

Dun, dun, dun...

So I quickly leave the classroom. The only other exam it could possibly be is Managerial Accounting. This is not good. I haven't even begun to study for that exam since I was so sure it was Tuesday. I walk in...yep, I'm in the right place now. I see my teacher and very politely explain the situation to him. He know's I'm a Senior in Accounting, come to class, and am usually not such a huge idiot. Very graciously, he offers to let me take my exam on Monday so I have time to prepare. I practically run out of the classroom, sit down, call my Mom, and nearly have a panic attack after the fact. Then I go home to write all this down!

I don't have any other exams scheduled for Monday, so I guess this works out well in the end because I was mentally prepared for two exams back to back today. And since I've already studied for Marketing, I won't have to do much to re-prepare for it on Tuesday.

I'm so thankful that I made a point to regularly attend this class and answer my teacher's questions when nobody else would. It was quite a pain sometimes being the only person who ever talked, but my teacher knowing me really paid off this time! Whew...

So, my real, verified, set in stone schedule for the rest of finals week is:

Thursday (as in this afternoon): Principles of Finance--12 PM
Friday: Individual Income Tax--8AM
Monday: Principles of Managerial Accounting--8AM
Tuesday: Audit and Assurance Services--8AM
Principles of Marketing-12PM

Finals, Finals...

Today is the last day of classes here at Auburn. Tomorrow is our Dead Day. Wednesday finals begin University-wide. However, my first exam, or first two rather, is Thursday. I have Managerial Accounting and Principles of Finance first, then on Friday I have my Individual Taxation exam. I then have a break until the last day of finals, next Tuesday, when I have Audit & Assurance Services and Principles of Marketing.

It'll be a busy few days! I've only once before had multiple exams on the same day. At least, my more important exams (i.e.--the ones that are major classes) are the first ones on those days with two exams.

I really don't like exams at all. The whole cumulative aspect makes me quite nervous! Plus, I have quite a bit of test anxiety surrounding any test, not just finals. At least that is getting better over time though! One thing I wish the public schools in Florence would do better is prepare students to take cumulative exams. In retrospect, I think those of us who always exempted Spring Semester exams were actually being done a disservice in the long run. I know I could have benefited from the additional practice. I know this isn't the answer I would have given a few hours ago though! There's nothing that I wanted more back in high school but to exempt final exams.

If anyone who knows my class schedule is wondering why I'm writing this now instead of attending lecture, don't worry. I got here this morning to find that my first class was canceled. My teacher sent an email this morning, but apparently it didn't show up in my inbox until after I left for class. I'm not so happy about this because we hadn't finished all the material for our final yet and now it's pretty much up to us. I'm really sorry that my teacher is sick and I know that she wouldn't miss class for just any reason, but studying is going to be more difficult now. At least her exam is one of the ones on the last day! I guess that's the silver lining in having to stay for the entire final exam period!

So, there's really not a point in going back home until my next class since I would practically have to turn around and return as soon as I got home. I guess I can figure out something to do with the next hour and fifteen minutes of my life. I wish I had brought something, anything really, to study, but I didn't. Oh, well...

Clean Up, Clean Up

I'm thinking about that old song from Kindergarten: "Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere!"

I've decided to do a major cleaning of my condo before I start buckling down to study for finals. I want to leave for Christmas break with things as orderly and clean as possible. I haven't really been doing the best with the nitty gritty lately with the end of the semester looming, so I decided today and tomorrow would be the perfect time to really get down to it.

I've got quite a list of things to accomplish and so far have only checked off two items, but I plan to get at least four more before I go to bed. I know it will be a lot to accomplish in a short time, but it will be so nice to come back in January to a completely clean house. Also, I'll be pretty busy for the 23 days (including weekends) that I will be here in January with my two mini-mester classes. I'm sure that I won't have the free time for deep cleaning then.

Speaking of January and next semester in general, I'm so ready to move up to Birmingham, if even for a 10 week period. I know it will be hard work with long hours, but I'm really looking forward to a change of pace and getting my feet wet in the real world.

Oh, I thought I would share this: the new Blackberry Storm that I am anxiously awaiting purchasing. I have to wait a bit longer though so they can work out some of the bugs before I get my own. They've been out for 2 weeks, so maybe I can get one after Christmas but before I come back down for classes. I've wished for quite a while that Verizon would get the iPhone since it seems like everyone here has one, but I think I will be very happy with this phone once they resolve a few issues people are having with them now.

New Pictures of Emma

Here are some more professional shots of Emma my Uncle took on Thanksgiving. We never seem to get it perfect with the lighting, but I think these are pretty good! I'm so lucky to have a photographer with the best equipment in the family and at my disposal! : )

Emma loves to play with sticks! She runs and runs like crazy and I'm a little afraid she'll hurt herself...maybe a little like running with scissors?

I was twirling a leaf above her head and she was jumping up trying to get it. This is how she looked on the way back down!

Another running with a stick picture. I promise this is one of her favorite activities!

She's so proud of her stick and won't share with anyone, even her Mommie.

She loves having lots of land to run around. I don't let her off her least very often in Auburn unless we go to a park or something, so she takes advantage of any opportunity to run free. She's a wild woman!

This is the picture I really wanted. I have another of her taken in front of this same light in the middle of September, so I wanted to compare her growth. She isn't in the exact same spot in each picture, but you can tell she's bigger...especially those long legs!

This is one of the few pictures we got of her with more than one foot on the ground. She was having so much fun running back and forth.

This was taken during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was just too cute since the Beethoven float was in the picture too!

Emmie was sitting in my Dad's lap during the parade and was actually still, so my Uncle jumped on the chance for a calm picture. She's not like this very often, trust me!

I couldn't resist posting a picture of Emma's cousin, Heidi, my Uncle's sweet dog. Heidi used to live in Muscle Shoals with my Aunt and was "my" dog too until Winnie came to live with us. She's my first puppy baby even though she's a sweet old lady now!