DONE!

I just got my fourth exam score and I am DONE!!!

I do still need to take an ethics exam, but that has no bearing on these last 4 exams. I can fail the ethics exam, and I will not lose the others.

I AM DONE!!!

Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States of America

Barack Obama was announced to be the 44th President of the United States of America at about 8pm PST! I am SO SO SO proud of my country right now! I'm actually crying. I am SO hopeful for the future!!! This is AMAZING!

The emotions are so overwhelming right now. America has voted a black man to be president! I have no other words. I'm just overwhelmed.

Peace and love.
J

Edited to add: I just saw that this is my 44th post. Interesting... the 44th president is announced in my 44th blog post.

Update

Just a quick post to make a whole ton of announcements...

I'm going to be an aunt. My brother and his girlfriend are expecting a baby in February.
I'm moving to San Jose to be closer to my family (and be an aunt in person).
I'm moving in NINE days!!
I'm transferring with my same company, and I will have a lot more opportunities and a lot more work in the SJ office.
I passed the CPA exam that I took in July!!! One more left and then I'm done forever!!
I went to New Hampshire for the wedding of my good friends Ken & Kirstin. It was a beautiful wedding, a super fun reception, and an overall great trip/mini-vacation.
Charlotte is still super cute and happy that I'm done traveling. She had a flea infestation, but thank God, I think they're all gone.

I'll be back with more posts after my move. I'm taking my fourth, and final, exam on October 25, so maybe I won't be back until after that. Who knows. My posts are infrequent and unreliable!

J

Introducing Charlotte

This is Charlotte. She is my new roommate. She moved in with me at the end of June. She is 6 years old. I adopted her from a family that had to give her up because they just had a baby. Apparently Charlotte likes to sit on babies.



One of her favorite things to do is look in the mirror. What a diva.


She also likes to play with her little lobster toy...


Probably her most favorite thing to do is look out the window...

Yes, she is chubby. We're working on that. But as my friend said, "Fat cats are the best kind of cats!"

Exam "news"

Yesterday at 8:30 in the morning I took the Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) section of the CPA exam. It sucked majorly. I had so much anxiety about the exam that I made myself sick Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. I take medication for generalized anxiety disorder, but that was just not cutting it for this level of stress. The anxiety also caused me to suffer from insomnia for the past two weeks. I have NEVER in my adult life not been able to go to sleep. If anything, I sleep too much. The past two weeks were agonizing. I had no idea how painful and frustrating insomnia is.

I've already taken and failed this portion of the exam twice. There are 4 exams, of which I have passed 2 so far. I'm taking the next one August 16. The exams are only "good" for 18 months, so the first one I passed expires on November 24. I totally plan on passing the one next month because it's the shortest exam/has the least material to memorize. So, if I didn't pass FAR yesterday, I have one more chance to take it and pass it in October before I lose my first exam.

Here's the thing with FAR - It's the longest test - 4 hours. The review book is about 2 inches thick. There are about 32 topics that I have to know. The review course to cover all of this is 40 hours long (not consecutively). Needless to say, that is a shit-load of stuff I need to know. My brain just does NOT have the capacity for that volume of information. As I was taking the test, I recognized all the material, but there were too many times where I read the question and thought to myself, "I know this. I've studied this. BUT, I studied this a week or two ago, and I just can't remember what the correct answer is." That SUCKS!

Yesterday after the exam I was completely exhausted. I took a short nap, but I really wanted to go out and eat some good food. I'd been cooped up in my apartment, getting nauseous from eating anything but cereal all week. Went out for tasty Mexican with Danielle and then we met up with another friend to see Wanted. (Totally awesome movie if you can tolerate graphic violence.) I was awake and energetic all night last night. Today, however, I came home from church around noon and slept until 6. I only woke up because I figured I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight, but I'm still feeling lethargic and tired. Feels so amazing to be able to fall asleep.

Peace and love.
J

My secret life on the Internet

(I’m a complete moron because I’m putting off studying for the CPA exam, which I’m taking in LESS THAN 36 HOURS!, to update my blog. If I fail this exam, I blame the Internet.)

I feel like I’ve climbed the next rung in the popularity ladder. Since being commenter number 4 on dooce.com’s post yesterday, my readership had more than doubled! Yes, I went from 2 known readers, to FIVE! (Hi new readers, Jen, Sassy and Julie!) That is, if I still have my 2 previous readers. (Hi Salome and The Pope!) I wouldn’t blame them if they stopped coming by my blog since I don’t post very frequently. (I suck.)

Anyway… on to the details of my secret life… I have probably only told three or four of my real life friends that I write a blog, and I bet money they all forgot because none of them ever make comments on or about my blog. It feels like this blog is my little secret, and I have all these secret Internet friends that no one else knows about.

I think blogs are AWESOME! because they allow us to make acquaintance with people all over the world. It’s super cool how many people have blogs, and how we all support and related to each other. And that leads me to wonder, if everyone I’ve “met” here in the blogosphere are so awesome and kind, who the hell are these people out on the roads who honk, swear, and make obscene hand gestures? Ya know what I’m saying? Maybe not, because I live in LA, and some of you probably don’t. But geez, it seems like getting into a car just transforms anyone into an angry asshole. Enough with that tangent… I love connecting with people all over the country and the world via the blogosphere, but a lot of my friends and co-workers thinks it’s weird that I write a blog and that I love to read so many other people’s blogs. They’re like, if you don’t actually know that person, why would you want to read their blog?

Funny story – I turned my friend/co-worker June on to Dooce.com because I had saved a picture of Chuck (the dog) balancing Dr. Seuss books on his head as my desktop background on my work computer. She approached me the other day and said, “I’ve been reading your friend Heather’s blog everyday for a few months now. She’s funny!” I laughed and said, “Heather? I don’t know anyone named Heather.” She replied, “Dooce.com!” And I laughed, “Oh, she’s not my actual friend, I just found her blog on the Internet on day.”

I wish I could quit my job and just read blogs all day. There are seriously so many witty, creative, well-written, artistic people in this world. It is awesome, and I LOVE the Internet for bringing this to light and facilitating the sharing of our talents. So inspiring.

Now if only my friends and family would get with the program, and stop calling me a computer nerd! :-/

peace & love.
J

In retrospect, that wasn’t a very exciting, well-written, or cohesive post, but give me a break, I’m brain dead from studying for this exam!

Things my Dad taught me

I got this idea from Stephanie Klein's blog.

Things I learned from my father:
1. I don’t need to learn to change my own oil because I’ll make enough money to pay someone else to do it.
2. Even he got Cs in school.
3. Boys have no social graces.
4. The monsters come out at night.
5. It’s ok to cry.
6. Not to call names.
7. How to drive a tractor.
8. Sometimes you have to do things you don’t like to do.
9. How to drive a manual transmission.
10. To make sure the horizon line is completely horizontal when taking a photograph.
11. Capillary action.
12. To enjoy smooth jazz.
13. To shred credit card applications before trashing them.
14. To read a map.
15. To use a computer.
16. That I can’t live without an Apple computer.
17. Reasons the refrigerator might not be working.
18. Economics (even though I still don’t really get it).
19. What it means to be a Democrat or a Republican.
20. x times x equals x squared.
21. What quality stereo sounds like.
22. To use a level, a voltmeter, and an electric drill, among other things.
23. How to pick up dog poop.
24. How to balance a checkbook.
25. To pump gas.
26. To pack by rolling things.
27. To love hockey.
28. How to ride a bike.
29. To get up and walk around when on a long flight.
30. How to fish.
31. How to get something out of the sink drain pipe.
32. To appreciate the fantastic-ness of Home Depot.
33. How to paint a wall.
34. How to pitch a tent, light a lantern, and light a stove.
35. How to pack to go camping.
36. To dig a trench around the tent if it’s going to rain.
37. Cats are awesome.
38. That I can do anything I put my mind to.
39. That education is important.
40. Not to “burn bridges” because you never know who you may have to work for in the future.
41. “There is a certain amount of money that causes all loyalty to go out the window.”
42. Don’t walk through oil spots in parking spaces
43. Avoid pot holes.
44. Unconditional love.

Becoming a Possibilitarian

Didn't have much to do at work today, so I busied myself looking at beautiful things on etsy and exploring artists' websites. One of my favorite mixed media artists on etsy is Kelly Rae Roberts. She is so creative and talented. Her work is gorgeous.



From Kelly Rae Roberts’ website:
i first heard the word ‘possibilitarian’ in a quote by dr. norman peale: “become a possibilitarian. no matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities – always see them, for they’re always there.” i’ve been hooked on its meaning ever since. do you see the bright light of your life’s horizon (even on the average days)? do you feel its warmth (even when you’re struggling)? have you begun to tough the surface of all that is possible for your life? does it give you goosebumps to think about it (i hope it does)? if so, then you’re a possibilitarian too. it’s the best feeling in the world, this thinking of what is possible. it’s energy. it’s passion. it’s dreaming big, and taking small steps. it’s the oomph of our everyday lives.

I know that I was meant for more than being just an accountant. Yesterday at work I was surfing etsy as I’m wont to do and I came upon a shop of a lady who had committed to donating some of her profits to Doctors Without Borders in the wake of the horrific results of the cyclone in Myanmar. I’d heard of Doctors Without Borders before, but I had never looked into it until this week. Not only are they looking for volunteers in the medical field, they are looking for people with office-type skills to manage their operations. One of the opportunities that jumped out at me is the Financial Controllership job. I could totally do this! Now since it’s a volunteer position, I certainly cannot afford, at this point in my life, to take a year off of being paid to do this. But, I have a meaningful goal to look forward to.

If you are interested in learning about Doctors Without Borders or in making a donation, please visit their website at www.doctorswithoutborders.org.

Peace & love.
J

Nice auditor

I am required to do a standard "fraud interview" with each client that I audit. Today I interviewed the Controller of the company I am currently auditing. After all the standard questions and acceptable answers, I asked if there was anything else he wanted to say.

"Yes," he said, "You're a very nice auditor."

How sweet! LOL. It's always a pleasure to be told you're nice!

Peace & love.
J

How to have a good day

I honestly can't believe that the events/lack of events of my day have left me feeling so great. First, I woke up at 4:45am to get to my client's office as early as I could/would since the accounting manager works from 6am to 2pm. At first I was totally dreading it, but once I got on the road to downtown LA, I was awake and ready to face the day.

Amazingly the client had nearly everything ready for me, and was very friendly! Pretty much everyone in their office left by 3, so when I finished up what I could without their assistance, I left at 3:45! This allowed me to get home at 4:15 and then head over to the gym before it got crowded with the after-work crowd. I had my first work out since the car accident. It wasn't bad, but I could only go for 35 minutes before I got a killer headache. Got home by 6, showered, and had a nice healthy dinner of soup and broccoli.

Now it's 7 o'clock and I feel motivated to create some jewelry and hopefully get in some reading. I've been working on reading the Kite Runner, but it's been slow going with my fatigue and laziness. I'll post some pictures of my jewelry next time I blog.

Peace & love,
J

Music makes life better

The Grammy's are on, and Carrie Underwood is performing, so I've been inspired to write a bit about my new favorites. In addition to getting a new iPod for Christmas, I got some iTunes giftcards, so I've been spending a lot of time on the iTunes store.

The albums I've purchased in the last few months are:

• Alicia Keys "As I Am" My favorite song is "Lesson Learned" featuring John Mayer. You should see me singing in the car when that one comes on the iPod.
  
• Colbie Caillat "Coco"
• Sara Bareilles "Little Voice" - I can't get enough of "Love Song"
  
• A Fine Frenzy "One Cell in the Sea"
• Kip Fox "Astronaut" - Kip is an old friend from college, and he has an amazing voice.
• Carrie Underwood "Some Hearts" - I know this is her first album, which was released a couple years ago, but I just decided to purchase it last week.
  
• Yael Naim - I didn't buy her album, but I may at some point in the future. She is the unique talent behind the song "New Soul," which is currently featured on Apple's MacBook Air commercial. Her other hit sing, "Far Far" was the iTunes free song of the week this week.

Unfortunately I'm going into the third week of my car being in the body shop. The rental car I'm driving doesn't have an AUX port where I can plug my iPod in, so I have only been listening to it on my speakers at work. I haven't been to the gym either since the car accident. I wanted to go this week, but I had to stay late at work every day. Then yesterday I slept in late and today I was too lazy to go. Hopefully I can fit a work out or two in this week.

I usually listen to R&B, hip-hop and rap, but as you can see lately I've been more into the folk, indie, pop, and country. I attribute my liking of pop-country music to my friends Taryn and Shannon who got me addicted to Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney back in college. And I think my love for John Mayer is what got me hooked on pop-rock-folk stuff like Colbie Callait, Sara Bareilles, and A Fine Frenzy. I couldn't get through a music post without mentioning John Mayer. The man is a musical genius. I can't wait for him to release his next album.

Peace & love.
J

Elated!

Today I reconnected with my friend and former college roommate Taryn. We haven't spoken or seen each other in probably 3 or 4 years! I tried to get in touch with her a couple times last year, but she wasn't on MySpace and had changed her phone number. Today we finally got back in touch, and I couldn't be happier for her. She got engaged last week and has a great job that she really loves. Congrats, Taryn! I'm so glad you're back in my life!

Peace and love.
J

2008 is all about me

I started "going to therapy" back in October, and for some weird reason I think it's motivated me to get going to to the gym. I went three times the week before Christmas, once last week and yesterday. That might not seem like a whole lot, but considering that's more than I'd gone in the past 2-3 months combined, I'd say I'm making some major progress. (I got sick last week and that's why I didn't go any more than the once. And I didn't go tonight cause my neck hurts for some reason and I just wanted to rest.) It's not that I'm discussing exercising or even losing weight with my counselor, rather I guess the discussions we are having is motivating me to do more for me. So, 2008 is going to be about doing things for me!

I'm going to go to the gym regularly. Get in shape. Hopefully lose about 40 lbs! Indulge in being creative - making jewelry and taking more photographs. Pass those last 2 pesky exams! Pay off my debt. Be more social.

It's going to be an awesome year!

Peace and love.
J

We are the body of Christ

After listening to bad music on KIIS FM at work all day I hopped into my car for a commute with Casting Crowns. I have their self titled album from 2003 and I LOVE it. When the second track came on I felt convicted by the lyrics. I haven't been acting as the body of Christ in my daily life. I'm not doing horrible things, but I am not honoring Him and loving others to the fullest extent. I think we should all take these words to heart and encourage each other to live like the Body of Christ that we are.

If We Are the Body
It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in trying to fade into the faces
The girls teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know

Chorus:
But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way

A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat and quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances
Tells him that his chances are better out on the road

Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the body of Christ

Jesus is the way


Praise Him!
Julie

Fantastic Day

Today was pretty awesome. Today more than EVER I am SO thankful that I live one block from my office. In case you didn't hear, a construction crane fell on the northbound lanes of the 405 freeway today at about 1pm. All lanes were closed. ALL LANES OF THE 405 WERE CLOSED!! for 5 HOURS!! For those of you who don't know LA, the 405 is the lifeblood of So Cal. The only time there is no traffic is probably between 3am and 6am on Sunday. Seriously. As you can imagine, LA was pure madness today. Unfortunately I wasn't actually in my office, so I didn't get to just walk home. I was at a client's office 7 miles away. It took me an hour to get home when it usually takes 30 minutes. Wilshire Blvd East was backed up all the way to Beverly Hills, which is about 5 miles from the 405. Every street leading to Wilshire was backed up. Even though it still took an hour, I was so thankful I didn't still live downtown where I'd probably have to drive 2 hours to get home. The good news is that no one was killed or seriously injured in the accident.

And the most fantastic part of my day is that I'm getting a tax refund of about $1300. Yes, I know this is not good because it means I had too much money withheld for taxes and I didn't earn any interest on this money. I don't care. I AM JUST SO GLAD that I don't owe. I started doing my tax return last week based off my last paycheck, but apparently I had no idea what I was looking at because TurboTax said I owed $400. (I am NOT a tax accountant; I am an auditor.) So praise God that I'm getting a refund because I NEED that money! YAY!!

Peace and love.
J

Good things...

First, SNL was absolutely hysterical last night. Jake Gyllenhaal hosted and the Shins were the musical guests. I was so glad it was funny because the recent episodes I've seen were almost dull. I'd say the whole show last night was great. I laughed the whole time, which I really needed. One of my favorite skits was the opening satire of Bush giving his address on sending more troops. I am not a vocal Bush basher, but when something is funny, you have to admit it and enjoy it. See my next entry for the transcript of the skit.

Yesterday I got a check from my insurance company for my "loss" back in December when my car was broken into and the stereo stolen. I'm pretty sure I made a profit there. They gave me $678!! Sweet. So, today I went over to Best Buy and bought a new stereo. Oh, it's so wonderful to have music in my car again. now I just need to decide whether or not I'll fork out $300 for an alarm...

This morning while hanging out in the youth room before church, I heard a familiar voice coming from the stereo speakers. It sounded like John Mayer, but some of the songs I'd never heard before... So, I opened the CD drawer to find that David left his John Mayer Trio album in there. Well, I didn't have that album, but now I do thanks to iTunes. Falling in love with John all over again. This man is amazing. =) heehee.

Peace and love.
J

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! My prayer for you is that you will be richly blessed this coming year and that you will share those blessings with everyone you interact with. Share God's love and be a light in the lives of those who need encouragement or do not know Him.

My resolution for 2007 is to study a lot, and more productively, in order to pass the CPA exam.

Health update: My ear nose & throat doctor finally returned my calls, and my sinus CT was normal. Back to square one with trying to figure out what's up. My dad is convinced that I'm allergic to LA and need to move back to Northern California. I have an appointment with an allergist next week.

Peace and love,
J