Chicago Weekend

Steven graduated from the University of Kentucky in May. I was so proud of him that I could not decide on a present that was equally as lofty as the accomplishment of getting his degree. Since Steven had not been back to Chicago since my parents moved to Kentucky during the summer of 2002 and Erin had never been, I decided to plan a weekend for the four of us to spend together. Steven's only request was to see a Cubs game. We had a great time eating, drinking and enjoying being tourists in a city we don't get to visit as much as we'd like. We had a wonderful weekend and even got to see an infrequent Cubs wins and Grand Slam!



The four of us at "the bean" in Millennium Park.



Steven and Erin enjoying drinks at Murphy's before heading to Wrigley field.

Steven's Graduation Present

2 nights hotel off Michigan Ave $228
Cubs vs. Mets tickets - $240
Plane tickets for Erin, Steven and myself - $400
Seeing the look of pure joy on my brother's face all weekend - Priceless



Steven pretending to be a ballerina at the Hangge Uppe.

Picasso Yourself

This is cute... Try it here. My masterpiece....

No stress!

This is why I love Nashville! # 38!

America's Most Stressful Cities

Happy Mail

This snippet of information was waiting in my mailbox tonight. Just had to smile because yes, I am a CPA!!

Elizabeth's Cincinnati Shower Weekend

I spent this weekend up in Cincinnati with Elizabeth and her family working on finalizing plans for her wedding day! We also went to a shower thrown by her super talented and creative aunts Maria, Janet and Lori. The food was awesome and everyone had a great time!



Me with Elizabeth and her mom.



Quite a few of the wedding party members were in town to attend this weekend. Along with me, Emily and Lynn, both high school friends, are Bridesmaids and Kara and Kylie are the Junior Bridesmaids. They are so excited for the wedding day because they get to ride in the Hummer Limo! ;)



Lori had the cutest idea for party favors. They were the dry ingredients for sugar cookies with measuring spoons and mini spatulas. They were super adorable and a perfect favor for a fall wedding.

Alex & Anna Gossage's Wedding

What a beautiful day! On April 25, Darren and I went to Alex and Anna's wedding. The evening really showcased their love and adoration for each other. I've known Alex for over 10 years and am overjoyed he found someone as wonderful and beautiful as Anna is, inside and out! These 3 scrapbook pages document their amazing day.

Out with Jon and Emily

Jon took Emily and I out for a night on the town. Here is the finished page.

Celebratory Dinner

Jon & Jeremy met me at Bonefish Grill to help celebrate my CPA. The food was great and the company was amazing, as usual. Thanks guys!

CPA Success!

As most of you all know I’ve been working towards becoming a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) for what seems like forever… Well maybe more like almost 5 years now. It has been a long, slow, process, to say the least! To qualify you have to take and pass the 4 exams; Financial Accounting & Report, Auditing & Attestation, Business Environment & Concepts and Regulation within an 18 month period. This was significantly less challenging once I left the world of 55-70 hour work weeks in public accounting to much more laid back 40ish hour work week at Community Health Systems! (Shout out to my quasi-new Company!)

At 10:15am this morning the light bulb in my head went off that today could be the day that I find out if I am done studying for this blasted test! All week I kept intentionally forgetting that this day was coming. I held my breath and clicked the bookmark that had been in place, ready for this day, for over a month. The link opened and ta da, an 82!!! I passed!!! I have now passed all 4 sections in the allotted 18 months with over 3 months to spare! First a squeal of happiness then I proceeded to run around the office hugging everyone! And then I let out a sigh of relief that all the stress I had be holding on to for the past 5 years about this one single test diminished with the sight of that wonderful number… 82… :)