Day 31 - A Vivid Memory

Wow!!  Can someone please explain to me how it's already May 31st?!?!?

The last prompt of the May challenge is a vivid memory.  I had thought long and hard about what kind of  memory I would pick to write about....and then yesterday happened.  You see, it's still Tornado Season here in Oklahoma, and it came all too close yesterday.

The first set of storms rolled through right before 5 (i.e. rush hour to get out of downtown Tulsa).  I decided to wait it out because 1) it was coming towards me faster than I could get to my car; 2) I didn't want to be stuck on the highway if it hailed; and lastly and possibly most important, 3) I had a pedicure scheduled at a nice spa in Utica Square and had a gift card that expired today.  So, I hung around the office for a while, went to grab a quick dinner at Panera and headed to the spa.

As I'm leaving, there's another set of storms rolling in.  It was hard to tell how bad they were from my phone, but it was a light rain and pretty windy.  So I just went on my merry way.  I got my usual greeting from the dogs and went to change out of my work clothes into something more comfortable. I happened to glance outside while I'm talking to J and noticed that the sky was considerably more green than when I'd gotten home just a few minutes before.

I didn't think much of it until I got a text from my friend about 15 minutes later that there was a wall cloud about a mile west of my house.  Now, growing up in Oklahoma, you know all about wall clouds and that somethings wrong with the sky turns green.  I turned on the tv and did what any normal Okie would do and went outside to look at the sky.

As I looked up, it took a minute to register what I was seeing.  There was a huge gray cloud above us, and it was rotating in a circle.  ROTATING IN A CIRCLE. The whole cloud.  In all my twenty something years, I have never seen the underside of a rotating cloud.  The combination of that ominous rotation, the green sky, the winds is something that has given me chills every time I've thought about it since last night.

 I grabbed socks and shoes, my iPad, and the dogs and headed for the pantry that's under the stairs.  J has two helmets for his racing hobby, and he grabbed those and joined us.  I had the local news channel streaming on my iPad so I could know what was going on outside, and they started mentioning a tornado just to the east of our house.  We were all huddled in the pantry, helmets and all, safe and sound.

I'm thankful that my friends and family have been safe through this spring's tornado season - the last couple weeks have been especially active.  Hopefully, we're nearing the end and I don't have to wear the helmet anymore :)

Day 29 - Musical memories

Day 29 - Five songs or pieces of music that speak to you or bring back memories

Rascal Flatts - Everyday Love



Rascal Flatts started getting really popular towards the end of my high school years, so they were around for some good memories for me :)  This song was one that my friends and I would sing on the bus during band trips, either to marching competitions or to honor bands.

Andrew Lloyd Webber - The Phantom of the Opera



I love musicals, and so do two of my closest friends from home (who just so happened to come from a musically blessed and talented family).  I'd go visit them at OSU and after a few drinks, they'd be singing songs from Disney movies or musicals like this.  We had a lot of fun singing - well, they sang and I attempted to sing :)

Howard and Emerson - Hello My Baby



 This song goes way back for me.  I took piano lessons from the time I was in 1st grade until sometime in middle school I think.  I played this song at one of my first recitals, and the last time I tried to play a piano, I could still play this one by memory.  My dad loves when I play the piano, and this was always the first one I'd play for him.

Michael Buble - Haven't Met You Yet



This song can always lift me out of a bad mood.  I just love it!!


Darius Rucker - Wagon Wheel



Currently my favorite song on the radio :)

Day 28 - Just some pictures

Here are some pictures from my trip to Chicago a couple weeks ago.  Enjoy!!

What does "every day" really mean??

Here's a quick recap of the Blog challenge topics I've missed:

Day 23: Things that I didn't learn in school

* Always get renter's insurance (learned this the hard way, folks)

* Office politics can be worse than the politics from high school, college, and a sorority combined

* Baked goods are almost always a hit at work

My parents with me at my TU Graduation

Day 24 - Top 3 worst traits

* I tend to be indecisive

* I can be fidgety when I'm nervous

* I don't try as many new things as I should

Me driving a manual car in Mexico last year - one new thing I did try :)

Day 25 - Something someone told me that I'll never forget

As a business major in college, we were required to take a Writing for the Professions class.  As the final project, we had to write a paper (and as I'm writing this post I can't remember what the topic was....oops!). Throughout our drafts of the paper, we had individual meetings with the professor for any critiques or suggestions on what to do for the next draft or the final version.  I remember vividly my trip to the building on campus because it wasn't one that I went into often.  I had to wait in the hall for my professor, and I remember his office feeling out of date (maybe it was all the old books on his shelves).  He was discussing my paper with me and said that I had a very distinct writing style.  I don't know why this has been something that's stayed with me through these years as I didn't think my writing was anything special.  But, here I am writing out my thoughts, hopefully in my distinct style :)

Day 26 - Something I read online

I read some very happy news online this week - I PASSED THE LAST PART OF THE CPA!!!! (You can read more about my struggle with the CPA exam here.)  What a sigh of relief!  

My first celebratory bottle of wine (second was the next day haha!)

Day 27 - A letter to my readers

Dear readers,

Thank you for being patient with me.  I haven't been blogging for a whole month yet, and have changed blog designs at least 3 times.  I think I've found one that I like, so I'll try to stop changing things up for you.  I also appreciate that you've been letting me get by without consistent blog posts through the Blog Everyday in May Challenge.  I at least got you caught up on all the posts that I've missed!  I'm still learning about this whole blog thing, so thank you for sticking around!!!

And with that - I'm all caught up!! Yay!  Just a few more days this month - where has May gone?!

Monday Musings

I don't know about you, but it doesn't really feel like Monday today.  (That usually means a rough Tuesday, but I'll take a three-day weekend anytime!)  And today happens to be Memorial Day - a day to remember those that have gone before us, and especially those that fought and died for us and our freedoms as Americans.  We have our American flag waving proudly today (and waving it is with crazy high winds!!), and so does the Veteran's Park in my town.  I drove by to take a few pictures and I hope that you enjoy them.  Take a minute or two to reflect on what today really means.

Day 22 - Pet Peeves

Day 22 - Rant about something.  Get up on your soapbox and tell us how you really feel.

Honestly, I'm pretty easy going and only a few things really make me want to get up on soapbox.  Here are a few of my pet peeves:

-Stopping the microwave before the time is up and not clearing out the remaining time.  Call this a trait of a semi-OCD accountant personality.  But seriously???  How hard is it to clear out the time that's left?!  I'm guilty of clearing out the time on all the microwaves at work.  It just bothers me.

Really?????
Photo source

-Adults leaving dirty dishes in the kitchens at work.  By the time you're old enough to be working in an office setting, you should realize that your mom is not here to do the dishes. Clean up after yourselves folks!! I wish I would have taken a picture; one day someone else got fed up with a full sink and made a sign to let people know that there wasn't a maid on our floor.  And things have been clean since :)

-When the refrigerator at work is too full for my lunch box.  The floor I work on is only half full, but the fridge is almost always packed!!!  Like I have to separate out my lunch items and find little hidey holes in the fridge - yogurt in the door with the butter compartment, other lunch items in the crisper drawers...... If you bring something up here, remember to take it home or throw it out!!  At one of the places I worked at, someone left something in the fridge long enough that it molded and stunk up the entire fridge and even the freezer.  I worked just outside the kitchen and could smell it at times.  It was horrible!!

So, there's obviously a trend here.....people claiming to be professionals can't take care of their own stuff. This just reinforces the fact that "common sense" is NOT common!!  It drives me nuts sometimes!!!!!

In other news, the weather is absolutely gorgeous today!!! The sun is shining and I finally got to wear my sunglasses again :). Maybe the birds (like the baby one below I found hiding in the flower bed) are even chirping. 

Day 21 - I'm straying off the topic

Today's post is supposed to be some of my favorite posts on my blog.  Since there aren't very many to pick from, I'll just let you go and pick some that sound interesting from the archives :)

I want to take a moment and reflect on the tragedy that struck my homestate this week.  The tornadoes in Moore and Shawnee have left numerous people (including children from an elementary school) dead and many many more without their homes or basic necessities.  Having lived in OK my whole life, severe storms and tornadoes are nothing new.  I'm beyond thankful and blessed to say that my family has never been affected by these terrible storms.  I can't begin to imagine what the people in Moore and Shawnee are going through.  The pictures on the internet are too much for me to look at - they're just so sad.

But there is something great about Oklahoma and those that live here.  Everyone pulls together to help a neighbor in need.  There have been countless shelters set up for those that have been displaced, numerous drives to collect much needed items for the families and even their pets, blood drives that are being planned.  It's really amazing the outpouring of love and hope from around the state and around the country.  I'm proud to call Oklahoma "home".

Day 20 - Something you're struggling with right now

Well, right now I'm struggling with the fact I don't know if I passed my last CPA exam.  A little background on the exam (and my history with it):

The CPA exam is 4 parts.  You can take each part independently of the others, at your pace, and in any order.  The main requirement is that you have 18 months to pass all four parts after your first passing score.  Seems easy enough, right?  Well...... you would think so.  But only if you have the right level of motivation, determination, and study materials that fit your learning style.

I've struggled with this exam for the past three years.  I would study and take the exam and kept falling short.  It didn't really help that my work schedule was not always the most predictable (hello, public accounting).  Last summer, I made the leap out of public accounting into industry (basically, anything other than public accounting) and renewed my determination to pass that stupid test.

I felt like I studied my butt off those first few months at the new job.  I'd study during lunch, and even stay late to get a couple of good hours in without distractions.  Yes, they're outside here - I couldn't find the picture I was actually looking for, but you can still see how cute they are :)

I had passed one part back in November 2011, which is expiring at the end of May if I haven't passed my most recent test.  I took some time off after I passed that one because I was working an average of 80 hours a week, which would cause burn out for almost anyone when you work that hard and pull an all-nighter at the end.  That break was nice and needed, but I should have gotten back to studying sooner.

So, like I said, I was busting my butt to study late last summer - and fell short of passing.  I was so disappointed.  Then I got right back to it and started again - this time just one point ONE POINT shy.  Really?  ONE POINT!!!  GRR!!!

So I  moved on from that test and took the one I had passed before because it had expired.  Thankfully by this time I had discovered a better set of study materials (Roger CPA for anyone out there that is looking for a good CPA review course).  I passed that test again and ready to face the part that most people think is the hardest.  

Again, I studied at lunch every day and would study 2-3 or more hours at home in the evenings.  My weekends were spent studying all day.  I was averaging 25-30 hours a week studying, in addition to a full time job.  If I didn't pass that one, I was going to break down.

When it came time to check my score, I couldn't look.  (We log into the Oklahoma Accountancy Board website for our scores.)  I closed my eyes and J looked for me.  He hesitated and I'm pretty sure my heart stopped for a second until he started shaking me and yelling.  I looked and couldn't believe my eyes!!!! I passed!!!!  That meant only one more to go......

So I went through it all again - studying at lunch and in the evenings and on the weekends....  I should get my score this week, and haven't really been thinking about it, but apparently it's been on my mind.  I had a dream that I got my score (which was broken into two in my dream) - 25 and 39, neither of which are anywhere close to passing, even if you combine them.  

So come Thursday, I'll either be done with the exam, or be back at 50% (since I'll have one expiring and the one that I failed).  It's all out of my hands at this point, but I'm struggling to find the patience to wait until I get home Thursday to check the website.  Any good thoughts on Thursday would be appreciated!!

Hopefully I can be cheering like Sheldon come the end of the week!

Day 19 - Favorite Blogs

I'm supposed to pick five blogs that I love and what it is that I love about them.  There are so many great blogs to follow!

1) Jenn from Perfectly Imperfect - I enjoy Jenn's blog because: 1-it's cute, 2-she's candid and honest, and 3-takes cute pictures.  She's the first blog that I started to follow when I got more interested in blogging.

2) Jenni from Story of My Life the blog (mastermind behind the Blog Every Day In May Challenge) - I absolutely love Jenni's blog.  It has a simple design which affords the reader more attention to the actual words.  She has a lovely writing style and I can only hope to have a blog as adorable as hers.

3) Kendra at Okie in Jersey - I know Kendra in real life and I always read her blog and try to imagine her voice because she's such an animated lady!  I'm sad that she moved to New Jersey and I haven't had a chance to hang out with her when she comes back to OK. AOT Kendra!!

4) Beth from Hang On, Honey - She's fairly new to blogging, which you would not know unless you had read where she talked about how new she is to blogging :)  She has some really funny stories - so be careful if you're reading at work!  How cute is her blog?!

So, I know this was supposed to be five favorite blogs, but these are my most favorite to read.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!!

P.S. I'm bound and determined to get caught up with this!!

Day 18 - A Story from my Childhood

I immediately knew what to write for this post.  I was fortunate enough to grow up on a farm close to both sides of my family.  Growing up, one of my favorite things was getting to spend time with Granny over the summer.  My dad would take us with him in his truck Ol' Green (a 1974(?) green Ford truck) and we'd spend the day at the farm.  My brother would usually be outside working with the guys, and I'd go through the morning routine with Granny.  If we got there early enough, I'd get to help make the beds and do any early prep for dinner (on the farm, the noon meal is dinner and the evening meal is supper - got it?), which usually consisted of dessert that early :)  We had dessert at almost every meal growing up.

After dessert was cooking or ready, we'd go watch some music videos.  By music videos, I mean country music videos that included the singers that were popular when Granny was younger.  Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, George Jones, Johnny Cash, and Eddy Arnold to name a few.  Then it was time to cook dinner.  I always admired how she rarely had to use recipe cards to whip up a good meal for the guys, and everything always tasted so good.  My job was to set the table.  She showed me where the forks, spoons and knives went, and I still vividly remember the napkin holder that was from the 70's with mushrooms that were green and orange.  I remember when it was meatloaf day, we'd put mustard and ketchup on it instead of just ketchup.  Or with the bread (we always had a slice of bread), she'd put the jelly on first and the butter on top.  I've never done that anywhere other than at Granny's.

My Papa would always start the dinner prayer:

Come Lord Jesus

Be our guest

And let this meal to us be blessed

We thank thee Lord

For meat and drink

Through Jesus Christ

Amen.

Then I'd help to clear the dishes.  Granny always did the dishes right after dinner and almost always had a spotless kitchen.  It also helped to pass the time while we waited the obligatory hour before we could get into our swimsuits and could go swimming!!!  That was one of the best things about growing up - we could always go swimming anytime we wanted and could more than likely have the entire pool to ourselves :)

We'd swim for a couple hours and then come back in just in time for "soda pop" and snacks.  I always remember drinking Mountain Dew, and that flavor takes me back to those days every time.  One of my favorite treats was an ice cream cone.  Granny would put one scoop of ice cream in the cone, then pour either chocolate or strawberry syrup in the middle and top with another scoop of ice cream.  It was always a surprise when you got to the middle!!

Then we'd usually play some games, like UNO or Rook or Go Fish until time to go home.

My favorite days were when my cousins would come and spend the day too.  There would be anywhere between 2 and 5 of us grandkids there for the day.  I had so much fun growing up there and wouldn't trade my experience for the world.

Granny and Papa, circa 1959 (my dad is the little one in front)

Day 17 - Picture time!

Day 17 - Post a favorite picture of yourself

This picture is from my MBA graduation, taken by a good friend while we were all lining up to walk out into the Reynolds Center at TU.  I really like this picture because it's one of the few that actually show my fun "hood" that you get as a graduate student :)  It was pretty candid as I wasn't expecting her to snap this photo.  I remember that I was full of hope and had the real world waiting on the other side of the stage after I walked across and shook Stead's hand.  And it's one of the few that I have of the graduation and the time before because I lost all my pictures when my computer was stolen that following summer.....so thanks Jessika!! :)

Day 16 - My "lot" in life

Epic fail on the whole "blog every day" thing......instead of one super long update post, I'm going to post the past 5 days separately.  So - happy reading!!

Day 16 - Something difficult about your "lot" in life and how you're working to overcome it

I'll admit - I have thought about what I'd put in this post almost constantly for a couple days now.  I had an idea of what to write about, but knowing at least some of my audience, I wasn't sure how much I wanted to share about that.  But that same topic kept popping into my head.  I couldn't really come up with anything else that I wanted to write about.  So - here goes - my most brutally honest post yet (not that I've been making up stuff up til this point - you know what I mean).

My recent "lot" in life is that I feel stuck in an awkward, in-between phase of life.  I've been out of college and grad school for a while now and for the most part, I feel like my career is off to a good start.  I've been very blessed to have gone to a great school and have now worked for two great companies that have compensated me well for my hard work.  I'm blessed to have wonderful friends and family around me.  I am beyond thankful that my family is not crazy.  There are so many things that I have to be thankful for that I sometimes get overwhelmed at how blessed I really am.

Here's the no-so-pretty part:  I feel it's hard not being in the same part of life as my friends.  It seems like I've taken such a different path and have ended up in a much different spot.  It makes it harder to relate.  Grad school was the point where everyone's paths started to diverge.  My friends were working and getting married.  When I finally graduated and started working, I felt "behind".  I wasn't married, and didn't date anyone for a while.  Now they're having kids; I'm at my second big-girl job, have a wonderful relationship, and two adorable dogs.  Yes, there are some similarities between kids and dogs, but there are some things that couldn't be more opposite (for example - you'd get in big time trouble for leaving the kids at home while you ran to the store or to work!).

All that to say that sometimes I don't feel like I fit in anymore - I'm not a part of the "I have a husband and kids" club.  And I know that's just a part of life and that I can't compare my life to everyone else's - I'll just be disappointed.  I hope to get to a place where I can relate again, but who knows how far down the road that is - my friends all have a pretty good head start on me.

Don't get me wrong - I truly enjoy the flexibility of my life right now! So I guess that's just what I'll do until I'm ready for those next big steps in my life.  Just keep trying new things, traveling to new places, and leaving the dogs at home while I run to Target.

Day 15 - A day in the life

For this challenge post, I have a nice diversion from my usual day.  I've spent the week in Chicago for training, so my "normal" days haven't been so normal.  I've been trying to take pictures throughout the days, but the training hasn't been that picture-worthy haha! 

We've been walking to training, which is in downtown Chicago.  Google Maps says its about a mile, but I think it's a little further than that (or maybe I'm just not used to walking that far to work).  Luckily, it's a nice view and follows the river and the weather has been decent, with the exception of Monday when it was more brisk than we had expected and didn't pack coats.  We sit in a training room all day, so the walk back to the hotel has been very welcome in the evenings.

Here are the views from my hotel room:  (quite nice if I do say so myself)

I'm staying in the tower of my hotel - lots of buttons to pick from :)

Here's the building where our training is:

We went to the Cubs game last night at Wrigley Field.  The weather was *perfect* for a baseball game!

And then comes the phone calls to the family and the boyfriend (who shares the facetime with sweet Addie and Amelia - they get a little confused because they can hear me, but not see me....it's adorable).  Then sleep and do it all over again!  I'm ready to be back home - just one more day!!!

Day 14 - Things that make me happy

Just a day late - it's been hard to get some good blogging time in Chicago ;)

It was so hard to narrow this list down to just 10!! I'm a believer that its the little things that make the world go round, so there are many many things that could be on this list. Without further ado, here are some of the things that make me happy :)

1) family

My family at my MBA graduation in 2009

2) friends

Some KD sisters at a TU game

My childhood friends before "Wicked" the musical

3) love

My honey

4) addie

5) amelia

What a cute puppy!!!

She's afraid of my camera....

6) baking - I have a bad sweet tooth :)

7) hugs - those really tight ones that you get from people you haven't seen in a while...the ones that say they care about you and just make you feel special

8) sunshine, especially after a span of cloudy days or the first few days after daylight savings time has changed and it feels like spring

9) being a beach bum - there's something so relaxing about sitting on the beach and just taking in the ocean and the wind and the sunshine and reading a book

10) fall - I love the changing color of the leaves, the cooler temperatures, my birthday ;), football, and the anticipation of all the holidays down the road

Playing Catch-up

Day 11: Sell myself in 10 words or less. Here goes!!

Genuine. Caring. Daughter. Friend. Girlfriend. Giving.

Professional. Motivated. Intelligent. Creative (sometimes)

Day 12: something that I miss, and could be people, things, or places. This is an interesting topic as I'm writing it in the airport on my way to Chicago for training - on Mother's Day. The first thing to pop in my head is my family since I didn't get to see them this weekend. The second is my boyfriend and dogs that I'm leaving behind for all of 4 days. Seems like a long time to be gone, but I know it will go by fast!

But the topic I wanted to write about today is that I miss just the simplicity of life while I was growing up. There were a lot fewer things to worry about, no big decisions to make. Things like not paying bills, mom having dinner ready and not worrying about what to cook, not worrying about the security of my company and job and ability to provide for myself, not worrying about all those fun homeowner things (weeding the flower beds, who to call when your whole house floods - you know, fun stuff ;)). Don't get me wrong - I have a wonderful life and have been very blessed. Sometimes I just want to stay home and sit in my pjs all day and pretend to not be an adult :)

Day 13: A public apology

For lack of creativity (I'm at a lunch break during a training in Chicago-hopefully I can post pictures later!!), I apologize in advance for missing or short posts :)

Day 10 - Most Embarrassing Moment

Goodness!! This challenge isn't getting any easier!!

Being the auditor that I am, I printed out the list of all 31 topics and planned out a few things that I could put in each post.  This is one such post where I couldn't think of anything off the top of my head.  And after re-reading the topic several times over the last few days, I still couldn't come up with anything big and funny that anyone would enjoy.  So I started writing about how ugly I cry.  NOT a pretty picture, folks.  And then I starting thinking back to college.   Surely something happened then that was embarrassing!!  And sure enough - one of those memories that I had tried to forget popped up.....

My parents and brother had come into town to see my half-time performance since I was in the Sound of the Golden Hurricane marching band, which just happened to be between two halves of a football game :)  The performance was fine - so stop laughing about how you could imagine a piccolo player falling over someone.  After the game (no idea if they won or lost - sorry!), we went to dinner at the original Rib Crib which is just a few blocks away from campus.  Dinner was good and everything was fine...until dessert.  We had gotten a brownie covered in ice cream and all the fixins (yes, we say "fixins" where I'm from), and I don't remember if someone said something funny, or I just sucked my brownie down the wrong pipe - but I choked.  Literally.  I was coughing and couldn't breathe.  Apparently it was loud and the entire restaurant was looking at me.  My face was red from embarrassment, oh, and probably the fact I couldn't breathe.  Even our waitress came over to see if there was anything she could do.  I wanted to crawl under the table!!!  I don't necessarily enjoy being the center of attention, especially for something as embarrassing as choking in front of the entire restaurant!!!

Day 9 - A moment in my day

The Blog Every Day in May challenge topic of the day is (drumroll please.....) "a moment in your day".  Today was not a typical day in the office.  It started with a riveting professional accounting update session followed by a luncheon for a different organization about corporate governance (it may sound scary, but it's not too bad).  I FINALLY sat at my desk around 1:30 today -  not that I'm complaining about the change of scenery.

The weather here was pretty dreary - cloudy and misty all day.  When I got stuck in traffic on the way home - I wasn't sure I wanted to push myself to workout, but then talking to J, I realized that I would feel better about working out than not.  So, without further ado, here's my photo for the moment I'm glad that I worked out today:

I like my little pink heart rate monitor.  It's pretty neat :) 

Day 8 - My two cents

Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves.

So many times it's easy to get overwhelmed by the big things.  I like to take a step back, make a list of all the  things that make up said big thing, and mark them off my list.  There's something satisfying by crossing something off of a list and watching your progress.  I have a marker board at work that I use for a running list of things on my plate, and when I'm finished I'll erase it from the board.  Somehow, that doesn't give me the same satisfaction as crossing something off a piece of paper.  But I digress.....  Really, in the end, everything is just made up of little things.  Just deal with the little things one at a time, and life is more manageable.

Find the list of topics here.

Yay! I've been blogging for a week now!  And I've kept up with the daily challenge - woohoo! :) 

Meet me underneath the Oklahoma sky

I love living in Oklahoma.  My family is a short distance up the turnpike.  My friends are a shorter distance up the turnpike and even down the road.  My roots are here and I don't have any intentions of leaving anytime soon.

One of the things I love most about Oklahoma is the sunrise (when I'm up to see it) and the sunset (ok, so two things I love about Oklahoma).  I snapped this one this morning.  Isn't that beautiful?

Sunrises like that give me a sense of calm, that everything will be ok, and that there really are beautiful things in this world.  Just when you think that the world is going to fall apart from watching the news and reading about the horrible things that happen around the world everyday, you see something as beautiful as this - and when you stop to think about it, you know that everything will be fine and that God and all of our family that has left this earth before us are watching over us.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

~Katie

Day 7 - Things I'm afraid of

What scares me?

-Snakes - So a funny story about snakes - when I was little, somewhere in the 6 to 8 range, I was out playing with cousins at my great-grandma's house.  The house was set way off the road (in the country), and there was a large field in front of the house.  It maybe used to be a crop of some kind back in the day when my great grandfather was still alive.  Anyway, there was a truck and trailer out there and a lot of us were running around.  I slowed down for a second after I noticed something in the grass - it was a HUGE black snake!!  I ran like crazy up to the house, leaving all the other kids behind.  From then on, my great grandma remembered that I was the one who almost ran over the snake.  That's probably the closest I've come to a snake, and I didn't like it then, and I don't like them now.

-Scary movies.  I'm the one who can't watch "scary" movies because my imagination tends to run a little wild and makes me feel like there's always going to be someone or something to jump out around a corner when its dark in the house or hiding behind the shower curtain and will pop up in the mirror the moment I turn my face away.  I had to sleep with a night light after I watched "Urban Legends", I double and triple check my backseat if I'm out alone and it's dark, I'm always nervous that someone will pop up in my rearview mirror when I'm driving down a highway and there are lights behind me.  

-Stuff in the water.  Growing up, we went to the lake a lot.  I learned to ski behind our boat, and didn't used to be bothered by sitting there in the middle of the lake with my lifejacket and skis waiting for dad to drive back around and let me grab the rope.  I don't know what happened, but now I can't stand that feeling of sitting out there in the middle of the water.  The slightest touch of the belt of my lifejacket on my leg almost makes me lose my cool.  Granted, the lakes in my part of Oklahoma are all brown and you can't see anything - so you don't really know that could have grazed your leg.  However, I'm also like this at the beach.  I've visited Mexico a couple times now and that ocean is blue! You can even see the sand and exactly where you're walking.  It doesn't matter - I still don't like random things grazing my legs.  I hate that feeling.  Gives me the goosebumps just writing about it.

-Losing those that I love.  This one is probably my biggest fear.  There are so many people I care about in my life; people who have touched my life in a way that I can't tell them how special they are to me.  I am terrified of the day when I might one day be without them.

Day 6 - What do you do?

Today's blog challenge is to tell everyone what I do, with one exception - I can't answer with my job.  Up until recently, I would have had to answer "study for the CPA exam."  But right now, I'm waiting on my scores to be released for what is hopefully my last part of the exam (there are 4 separate parts to the exam and you have an 18 month window to pass all four parts - I'll bore you with the details some other time! haha).  Since January, I've been serious about studying.  And by serious, I mean working 40 hours a week and studying another 30+ outside of work.  That was all I did.

But now that I'm waiting, I'm finding new things to occupy my time (without spending it wondering if I passed or not).  Like playing with my dogs, spending more time with my boyfriend, making more trips home to see my family, catching up with friends, baking and cooking, taking a photography class, and learning about the blogging world :) Oh, and you can't forget Pinterest!!  Yay for having a life again!!! :)

Evening at the Farm

We went to visit my family this weekend.  My brother and sister-in-law are in the process of building a house and have made a lot of progress that we wanted to see.  Oh, and I just had to see my cute little nephew again!  He's growing so fast!!  Here are a few pictures from around the farm.  (I didn't get any of my nephew because my hands were full holding him while he was there!)

I went walking around the farm and found an old milkjug and carried it around with me for a while.  For being empty, it wasn't the lightest thing in the world, but I guess you know that it was made to last.  It's leaning against an old outhouse.

This is in front of one of the crops - not usually where you find a milkjug - but it works for this :)  It had been raining off and on all day and I was trying to capture a little of the sun peeking from the clouds before it set.

There is a beautiful old barn at my brother's place.  It has been the subject for I don't know how many photo shoots - my senior pictures, my brother's senior pictures, my brother's engagement pictures, and my nephew's newborn pictures.  It's a great old barn with a lot of character.  There is still writing on the walls from the farmer who built the barn.  A lot of history in that old barn.  This is one of the windows that's fallen out in recent years.

Here's a front view of the outhouse.  I have honestly never been inside this one (or any other actual outhouses, now that I think about it), but my dad tells me that its being used to store old wooden fence posts.  I'm too scared to look inside, so I'll take his word for it :)

And here's the barn!!  You can see the top right window is missing (the one on the ground).  There used to be a door in between the two windows, but it's probably been carried away by the Oklahoma weather.  You can see my brother's dog Olive (who is the momma to my little Amelia).