Happy New Year

 

So I had an interesting New Year Holiday. Craig & I had different activities we wanted to do, so we went our separate ways, met back up & then split up again. It actually worked out well for us.

I went to Disney World with my family. At first I wasn’t going to buy a ticket and go to a park, but honestly, it’s pretty hard to go to Disney World and not go to a park. So I bought a one day, one park ticket and went to Hollywood Studios with Dana & Jamie. It has been a long time since I’ve spent an entire day in a park, so it was quite an interesting experience. Plus it was New Year’s Eve, so there were more people in the park than I had seen EVER. It was nuts. It was one of the coolest ringing in of the New Year I’ve had, but I don’t have to do that every year. I would rather ring in the New Year with close family instead of thousands of my “closest friends.” I say closest, because I got WAY to close to some people. It was pretty fun to ring in the New Year at Disney, but I don’t have to do it again. It was NUTS. The fireworks were spectacular, but that was just too many people in one place. New Years in Times Square is something I’ll probably never do. As soon as Dana posts pictures, I’ll share them. We took some fun ones.

Meanwhile, Craig went to Will’s and played D&D. They didn’t even “ring” in the new year. They just played and played. It made him happy, and that’s what counts.

New Years Day, my family went to Trails End for breakfast. Craig met us & so did Chelsea. Her family was at Disney as well, so it was way fun to meet up with her that morning. We had such a good time catching up. We really need to hang out more.

The rest of the day, Mom, Dad, Hailey & me went pin trading at Downtown Disney and Wilderness Lodge. It was good fun.

Home today to “rest” before getting back to the real world. Tax season is coming all too quickly, so I’m trying to enjoy my “quiet” time before it all gets started.

Here’s to a new year & all that it holds.

School is.....

Hard. At least it is when you work full-time & take 2 classes in 6 weeks. I must be desperate to graduate soon, or crazy. Maybe I'm actually a little bit of both. Thankfully the classes I'm taking are relative to what I do in "real life," but it's still a lot to keep up with. For the next 4 1/2 weeks, my schedule Monday - Thursday is:

6:30(ish) - wake-up & get ready for the day

8:30 - 5 - Make the big bucks (well at least make the bucks to help pay the bills)

6 - 9:40 - Corporate Taxation followed by International Tax

10 - midnight(ish) - dinner & homework, hopefully followed by a little time with my husband

Bed comes as quickly after that as possible.

Wow, seeing it writing make me think I am crazy. But, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Graduation will be in December & then I'll look back and laugh on these 6 weeks. But until then, I'll just keep trying to survive.

I think I can, I think I can......

Too Long

It's been way to long since I've even thought about blogging. Sad, I know. I read my friends' blogs and try to keep up with them, but when it comes to taking the time to blog myself, I just haven't done it.

I'd like to say that tax season was my excuse first, then my Sister had a baby & now I'm in school, but really, I just haven't made the time to do it. Hopefully I'll be better from now on.

I don't even know where to start, so I'm just going to give some major highlights:

• Started a new job in September. Still an accounting firm, & still in Orange Park, but a higher position & better salary. Not the best move I've made, but it's hard to argue with a better salary & more opportunities. The boss lady is just a little crazy......
• In October, my parents took their family on a cruise (me, Melissa, Dana & our respective husbands). Mema & Ooh-hoo & Grandpa & Nana, & Alice & Ross also went. It was a good time had by all. Craig played in a "gameshow" one night on board and won a "ship on a stick." It was so funny, we bought the DVD so we could watch it over & over
• The Holidays came & went with lots of family time. Craig got a Droid & I got a GPS for my car. My parents got the boys tools & the girls Sony readers. I really love min.
• Tax season started up in January. The most least stressful tax season I've ever had, until the 13th of April. Then all the craziness of tax season came full force. Not really enjoyable, but that's the life of an accountant.
• During all of this time, my sister was pregnant. Her & Bryan told us about it on the cruise. It was very cool. So in May (just last week), little Hailey Ann Farnsworth was born. She was beautiful. At 8.3 lbs and 21 1/4 inches long, she was not little baby, but she was perfect. Melissa had a couple of rough times during her 16 hour labor, but all-in-all she survived. I got to be there with her the whole time. The gift of life is amazing. It was an amazing experience for me.
• School started back up for me this week. 3 classes this semester: 2 the first 6 weeks then 1 the last 6 weeks. It's going to be intense. It already has been & its only been 3 days. We'll see how that goes. Craig also start back to school this summer. He's working towards his bachelors in Physics.

So as you can see, we have been busy. We even had our 1 year anniversary during of all this. We spent the Friday night at the Ritz in Amelia Island. It was fantastic. Then we went to the temple that Saturday & had our cake with family on Sunday. It was a good weekend & a nice break during tax season.

So now that I've caught up quickly, I'll try to post more often. Pictures of some activities listed above to follow soon.

Are we there yet?

For Craig & I, flying to Colorado has been this huge adventure. First time we tried to go to Denver to see our nephew & go to the Temple with him before his mission FAILED. We ended up in the airport in Jacksonville, then right back home. It was sad.

When we started this trip on Wednesday we were looking forward to a more successful trip, and it seemed to start that way. We got boarded on the plane at the right time, just to be informed that weather was bad in Houston and we were delayed an hour. So on the plane we sat, for an hour. We had a 55 minute layover in Houston, so things were not looking good. We finally took off, only to be put in a 15 minute holding pattern outside Houston. FINALLY, we landed in Houston & Craig & I took off running to our connecting flight, that we missed by 15 minutes. I was so sad. So we went to the Continental service desk & got a new flight the following morning on United.

So Wednesday night we stayed in the Houston airport. I learned a few things about that airport as well:
1) Nothing is open past 10 PM. We managed to find a pizza place open until 11. It was a miracle
2) Nothing opened until 5 or 6 am (including McDonald's). That was not going to work for our 6am flight.
3) Houston International Airport does not have free WiFi. I mean really? You are going to charge people to get online.
4) There is no good place to "sleep" in the Houston airport. I froze all night long, and never really slept.

So, we finally made it to Denver. I had been up for almost 24 hours & was beat. I kept getting adrenaline rushes & that was probably the only reason I didn't pass out from exhaustion.

Thankfully our luggage also made it to Denver, seemingly the night before on the flight that we couldn't make. I guess our luggage was faster than us. Go figure.

Anyway, we got the car & headed to our Niece's house to nap & shower. Met her & Craig's brother for lunch, then started the trek North. Ever driven through Denver? It's an experience. Anyway, we made it.

We are now chilling in Fort Collins & just taking it easy. Vacation is good!!!

How much is that doggie in the window?

So my sister's Lhasa Apsa had puppies last night. I love puppies, well I love dogs in general. Especially little ones that snuggle up next to you or sit in your lap.

I'm trying to convince Craig that we really want one of these cute little puppies. He doesn't agree. We'll see how that goes.

Until then, here are some pictures because who doesn't love pictures of puppies?

From Heather

So here are the associates Heather has with me, let's see how much I can explain:

Institute beach activity
I'm pretty sure this is where Heather & I actually bonded & became friends. She was "around" before my mission, but really she was dating David. I didn't know her very well. Now I do & I'm glad I can consider her a good friend.

Totinos Pizza
So there is really no other way to explain this other than I feed her now husband Totinos pizza's on a regular basis. They were always in our fridge. In fact, our shopping trips usually included, "We have to get some more pizza's for David."

Handcuffs, the real kind not the pink fluffy girly kind
An apparent request my fiance made to Heather & Jac for my lingerie shower. It was only embarrassing at first. LOL

Piano
For a while, Heather probably only knew me as the one who always plays the piano. LOL It's what I do & I'm glad that the Lord has blessed me with that talent. I love playing. It's a passion I have.

Craig
What can I say, he's my truly my other half. It's really cool that people already associate us together. I love the sound of Craig & Amanda. :) It makes me happy. And honestly, Craig & I being together has probably brought some of us together that might never have happened any other way.

For fun

Comment on this post and I will give you 5 subjects/things I associate with you. Then post this in your blog and elaborate on the subjects given.