Life, lately.

Or life after CPA. Or life after being promoted to audit manager.

Wait, what?!!

Apparently things professionally couldn't be better at the moment. Passed the CPA exam and effective July 1 (coincidentally tomorrow), I'm a manager at my firm. Holy. shit. It's so weird when things start to just fall into place. I know it's been a lot of work to get to where I am right now but it's just like one day all of a sudden everything makes sense and it just all clicks together. It's very refreshing. I'm very excited for the prospect of this next year in my new roles.

Tim also just passed his national medic test on the first try Saturday, which was very exciting. It's quite the accomplishment. The test is not given very frequently (once per year) and it's kind of the practical equivalent of my CPA exam. If he wouldn't have passed it he would have had to fly to California to retake it and if he didn't pass then, well, he would have basically been screwed till next year. My understanding, anyway. I'm very humble in how little I know about his profession. Most often when he talks about any of it, I'm standing there with my mouth open, like, "You. have. got. to. be. kidding. me." I don't think I really need to explain how nuts saving lives must be but to really hear all of the intricate details involved in it-including even the petty politics that exist in his field just like any other- but to deal with that coupled with everything else usually just leaves me shaking my head in astonishment.

This was one half of the ending of his year of medic school and finale of his degree in para medicine. The only thing left is one trauma team lead on a call (meaning he has to have a trauma patient and he has to completely lead the call, make all of the game time decisions, etc) and a written exam. Then he's done.

To celebrate all of our accomplishments in our professions as of late, we spent the weekend in the sun. Wait, did I just say in the sun? When referring to Seattle? I know, it surprised me too. So much so that I want to run around like a two year old on Christmas and tell everyone- "hey, guess what, it's 80 degrees outside. And sunny! And I've been wearing a bikini for the past three days! Aren't you excited?!" While they look at me like I'm on some sort of drug and that if I'm that happy, maybe I should share.

It has been ABOVE 80 degrees here for the past 4 days and shows no sign of any worse weather in the next week. I. am. so. freaking. excited. I really thought we were skipping summer this year. I'm TOLD that every June it takes a while to warm up and "that's just how it is here" but in my reality June is summer and I don't care how it is here. Finally summer cooperated. Anyway, Saturday while Tim was gone all day, I was at the beach. When he got back that evening, it was so hot we went BACK to the lake. Sunday we coupled beach time with running up a mountain. I do have to say that even though we practically ran up 2.5 miles in 90 degree weather at about a 10% incline, it was SO much more tame compared to the beasts of mountains we've done the prior two weeks. No comparison and probably the one and only reason we were even remotely able to run up the thing on Sunday.

Two weeks ago we started with Mt. Si then last week we did mailbox peak. I will write more about mailbox in another post once I have my pictures downloaded and have not already written so much. It was by far one of the most intense hikes I have ever been on. Suffice it to say for now, we were hiking in snow (in June), we were ABOVE all other peaks around us, we were asked by people if the top if we were either a) training for Rainer or b) just trying to kick our own asses (the latter), we were hiking for approximately 6+ hours, the trail was just made by some mountain men (so it was not clearly marked in the slightest...actually that was very cool) and the day after we did it, I stayed home from work. I spent the majority of the day working from home wondering if sliding down the stairs on a cookie sheet would work to get me from point a (upstairs) to point b (downstairs). My only issue was trying to figure out a way to propel myself back UP the stairs after using the cookie sheet down. More on all of that later.

Until then... I'm off to sleep with the windows open and the 75 degree breeze blowing in. In Seattle. I'm in warm weather heaven.

I PASSED.

Do I really need to say anything else???

I passed the CPA exam. I passed. I PASSED. I FREAKING PASSED. FINALLY, I'M DONE!!!!!!!!!!!

I just wonder when I'm going to stop repeating that in my head and feeling so freaking excited and about ready to jump out of my skin.

Major celebration in order.

Or maybe the major celebration is Hawaii in October but definitely a celebration is in order... and STAT.

(And by the way, I almost peed my pants when I found out this morning... I didn't stop shaking for about 30 minutes. And is it ironic at all to anyone else that literally a year ago to this exact day I started my job up here?)

Holy. god.

I PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The front page of the Seattle Times today: Colder than Siberia.

Literally.

From the Seattle Times: "While Seattle hasn't seen a 70-degree day in more than two weeks, Fairbanks, Alaska, has had six of them in the past 10 days. Even the Siberian city of Tomsk, Russia, hit the 70s last weekend."

Are. you. f-ing. kidding. me.

It has been pouring for 5 days straight and I would be surprised to find that we have topped 50 on some of those days. And not to mention the wind storm that we had a couple of nights ago that knocked out our power for about 4 hours.

For the love of God... it is June 11!! I keep crossing my fingers that somehow we are going to make the switch from December to June one of these days. It certainly is not the 120 degree June that I have been used to the past few years. Ahhh, I would take sun and heat now... even the 120 degree kind.

Head Injuries and such

The past couple of weeks have been all about my head. First, using my head to attempt to pass the last section of the CPA exam and second using my head as a tool to hit against things as I move to our new townhouse.

I do not quite know how the CPA exam went. I never walk out feeling awesome but in at least three cases, this has been ok. It’s yet to be determined if I am FINALLY done or not. I can’t say either way. I don’t want to be too positive or too negative so I’ll just be neutral and wait and see.

We got the keys to our new townhouse on May 26. I took the CPA exam on the 28th so we really didn’t start to gradually move things over until that day. On that day, I decided that in the process of moving, I would hit my head on the kitchen floor. Not on purpose, of course. I had gotten the whole kitchen moved in by myself since Tim was still in Ellensburg at school finishing up his finals and last week of classes. On Saturday the 31st, I was attempting to get as much packed and moved as possible by myself since Tim was on shift. It all went ok until I decided that I was superwoman and could move and take apart the mammoth table by myself. I got it all turned over ok but couldn’t figure out how to get the dumb legs off (turns out I didn’t have the right tools). When I stood up out of frustration, I forgot that there was still a leg attached and wham! Crap, head again. Ow.

The third head incident happened on Monday after we were all moved in. It was our first morning there and we were getting ready to take a shower. Well, the shower just happens to be extremely clear glass so as I reached in, or thought I reached in, BAM! And again, the head. I felt like a dumb bird that flies into a window. It was pretty classy. We were both laughing pretty hard at that one.

Anyway, the new place is great. It’s only a couple of miles away from where we were. It’s about 1600 square feet and is three stories. The bottom is the two car garage, the second level is the living room, dining room, kitchen and half bath. There is also a really cool fireplace that divides the living room and dining room. The upstairs is the laundry room, the master bedroom, guest bedroom and two baths. It’s very cute. I’m really excited to be there!! We finally just got everything big in on Wednesday when we got our couch. Now we just have to hang pictures and we will be set! I’m thinking housewarming/Tim’s graduation/YAY it’s FINALLY summer in Seattle party ASAP.

No removal this time

Today I went in for my 6 month visit to the dermatologist for a skin check. For the first time in the past couple of years I had NO moles removed. In fact, she actually said, "Your skin looks excellent." Imagine that!

And here's my plug for all of you sun/fake-bakers out there, from a former fake-baker. DON'T TAN (and wear sun screen)!!! My skin looks so much healthier now that I have not been tanning for two years. I am definitely white but I have gotten so many compliments on how good my skin looks and it was compounded even more with my recent dermatologist visit. I am a converted believer in sunscreen. Where I used to lather on baby oil, I now am lathering up with SPF 60. I look younger now that my skin is not so dark and I just generally feel better now that I am not tanning like I used to. Granted, a few weeks ago, regardless of the sun screen that Tim and I slammed on, we both had a couple of missed spots that we got a little bit pink. And in Hawaii, even though we will be applying suncreen, I'm sure we will still get some rays. That, I think, is ok. It's just the excessive tanning that I used to do, and I know many people still do, is not ok... at least in my opinion.

Everyone knows and has heard the dangers and risk of sun exposure and how it can lead to skin cancer. I know from my experience after having about 10 moles removed and being an excessive tanner for several years of my life that it's just not worth it. Hopefully I never get diagnosed with skin cancer. You never know, but I'll do whatever I can now to prevent it, regardless of my ignorance and stupidity before. I did have a conversation with a lady in the dermatologist's office a year or two ago and she said, "If you don't take care of your skin now, no matter how dark you are, it's not a matter of if you get skin cancer, it's when." Yikes.

I don't need to preach here. I'm just excited that my skin looks so good and feels so good, that I heard such great news from the derm, and that all of it is a result of being totally natural and taking care of my body. It just feels so much better than being tan ever felt.

Dr Mr. Weatherman,

I have a serious problem with you. When I flew back from Arizona on Monday morning, I almost cried at the thought of leaving the warmth, the sun, the ninety degree days. But you gave me hope and let me sleep easy that cold, rainy first night back in Seattle from the Arizona sun. You comforted me by telling me that for FOUR days this week it would be sunny and over 75, starting with today. I cherished you for this and vowed that if it really happened, I'd love and trust you (and all weathermen/women) forever.

Well unfortunately, Mr. Weatherman, with all due respect, YOU LIE.

Our relationship as we knew it was once over. You can no longer be trusted as it is currently 50 degrees out, cloudy and looks equivalent to a November day in Kansas City NOT the sunny November Phoenix day that you PROMISED. And seriously, why does anything have to be equivalent to November when it is MAY?!?!

I am sorry that it has to end this way but it just does. You either need to start telling the truth or just start telling me that every day here is going to suck so that I never get my hopes up and then when it actually is sunny, I don't have to be mad at you.

Sincerely,
Freezing Arizona turned Seattle girl

UPDATE: Mr. Weatherman, you are forgiven. The day started off rocky but it turned into a perfect, sunny 75. Now let's hope tomorrow we really do hit 90. But seriously, is it necessary to have "excessive heat watches" and tell everyone to drink plenty of water? 90 in Phoenix is cool. Let's not overreact here.

Turning another year older.

On April 29, I officially hit the other side of the 20s. I guess it's not really that old but I'm starting to feel old. I mean, I graduated high school 8 years ago. How fast does that go by? Quite a few of my friends are mostly married, many have started having kids. I have a handful of friends who have gotten divorced, some who have had abortions, and some who have decided that being single/alone/childless/against the "norm" (if there is such a thing) is best for them. Actually, now that I think about it, these people are the strongest people I know. It's kind of a time in my life where I feel like I really have to think about where I'm at and make sure that what I am doing is in my best interest. Do I really love my career? Am I really happy? Am I doing everything I can to make the world, or at least a part of the world, a better place?

I'm not really sure that I have all of the answers, or that I really ever will. I guess as birthdays and years come and go, sometimes you just ponder the questions. I'm doing the best I can and while there are some areas of my life that might need some slight renovations, I think, generally, I'm doing well for where I'm at.

My birthday weekend was a lot of fun. I took off a couple of days so that Tim and I could have a four day weekend together. We went on hikes, went to the ocean and rode horses on the beach!, made awesome dinners, and ate a lot of cake. Couldn't have asked for a better time. I worked on my actual birthday but got to do happy hour with friends and dinner/cake/presents with Tim that night. He got me so much stuff. I'm not going to brag about how awesome it is on here but I will say one thing... watch out for me in the kitchen. I seriously have the best set of knives ever now. Shun knives? Anyone ever heard of them? They are amazing. Now I just need to take a cooking class.

I'll post pictures from the birthday weekend soon (once they are uploaded). I've been pretty busy with work and now I'm starting to study again for another test (hopefully the last) at the end of this month. Last weekend, I had a long weekend in Phoenix which was a belated birthday present for myself and it was much needed... both for friends and sun time. I miss it there.

Birthdays are always a good time to reflect, a good excuse to take trips to catch up with friends and to be selfish for a brief second of time... just a little bit. Even if it's eating half of a rather large cake by yourself. And not feeling guilty about it in the slightest.

A follower and a catcher complemented by the cuddler.

This is Tyson. Or Tyson the Bison. Or Ty. He loves to play catch. He's like a dog, literally. Emerson played catch but not with the gusto that Tyson does. It is probably the most adorable thing I've ever seen. He also appears to guests to be the more antisocial of the two cats but he just absolutely loves Tim and I. He follows us around everywhere and he cries (IE: screams) when he can't find us. Wherever we are, he's lying right beside us. He also plays so hard chasing stuff around that he gets out of breath and can barely stand up straight. It is hilarious. He is definitely the more athletic brother.

This is Calvin. Or Calvin the Kitty. Or Cal. He is the sweetheart. He just loves to be around anybody and loves cuddles. He loves to get licked by the dogs and to put his face in yours to get as close as possible. It is very cute! He doesn't play as hard as Tyson does but he likes to chase around obnoxious things (IE: things that jingle loudly). He explores a lot and generally just seems to be happy go lucky... especially if he has someone to cuddle with.

These boys just turned 1 on March 17 (which was also Berkeley's 6th birthday- unbelievable that I've had her for 6 years!!) It is so funny to me how each animal has their own distinct personality and quirks. I love them all so much!