Tuesday, March 30, 2010
On the move
Drew and I are on the move . . .heading back toward home in the deep south. We are moving to Birmingham, AL in June.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
24 hours
A lot has happened in the last 24 hours at the Holland House. I received notification from the NC State Board of CPA's that I passed my last and final section of the CPA exam. YAY! I took the test two weeks ago and usually I do not receive notification until a month later. This time it was different for some reason. Thank goodness it was different. I had been at work that Saturday then I left for a baby shower. I left the baby shower and noticed that Drew called about 6 times, left a voice mail, and texted me the following "You need to come home ASAP." My mind immediately thought bad things in the following order: Oh no Chloe, no the tree in our back yard fell on our house, no the house caught fire. I called Drew without listening to his message not knowing what I was about to hear on the other line. Little did I know the news he was about to share was life/career changing. Drew said I received a letter from the NC CPA State Board that had congratulations stamped on the outside. I didn't believe what I was hearing - I doubted that the stamp on the outside meant I passed the final exam, besides it was too soon to receive my score. Drew opened the envelope and there in print was confirmation that I passed the final part. I screamed and screamed and screamed the entire way home! I called Daddy of course he was at work, but I told him that he was allowed to let out a scream! He did and soon after had to go home to celebrate with Mom. Dad was so proud - He quickly sent out an email to all our family and friends to brag on his daughter. I am quite honored to soon hold my CPA certification as I will be the fifth person in my family receiving their CPA. My Father, my Granddaddy(maternal), my Great Uncle Jimmy and Great Aunt Nelly all received or still have their CPA. What a tradition to uphold - We have not skipped a generation. My cousins on Mom's side are also in pursuit of their CPA, so hopefully soon there will be 7 cpas in the family.
What a whirlwind of day! I found out I passed the first section while my parents were visiting, so they were able to experience the joy of a passing grade and we began the tradition of celebrating with a TCBY chocolate and vanilla swirl ice cream cone with sprinkles of course!
If all goes as planned I should be eligible to submit my application for Certification in mid March. YaHOOOO!
Drew has a lot going as well. I should just say WE have a lot going on. Drew is starting the interview process which will continue during his spring break. He will meet before the Board of Ordained Ministry during his break one more time before he is commissioned in the United Methodist Church. We will not know for a while where he will be going this summer, but let's just say we are excited about all the opportunities out there. I keep telling Drew this is the part where I follow you wherever you go.
What a whirlwind of day! I found out I passed the first section while my parents were visiting, so they were able to experience the joy of a passing grade and we began the tradition of celebrating with a TCBY chocolate and vanilla swirl ice cream cone with sprinkles of course!
If all goes as planned I should be eligible to submit my application for Certification in mid March. YaHOOOO!
Drew has a lot going as well. I should just say WE have a lot going on. Drew is starting the interview process which will continue during his spring break. He will meet before the Board of Ordained Ministry during his break one more time before he is commissioned in the United Methodist Church. We will not know for a while where he will be going this summer, but let's just say we are excited about all the opportunities out there. I keep telling Drew this is the part where I follow you wherever you go.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Running in Humid times . . . really hummidity was present
I ran a mini half marathon around Copenhagen on Saturday. While my brother competed in a half triathlon, I competed in my own 10.46 mile run along the Copenhagen Marathon course. My brother came in 5th out of 11 in his age group which is quite an accomplishment, whereas I came in first overall. If you want to be technical about it . . .his race was official . . . mine was official only to me, myself, I, and the ducks in the pond.
Running Goal 2: run one more mini marathon around Copenhagen before I say farewell!
Running Goal 2: run one more mini marathon around Copenhagen before I say farewell!
PPP and Budgeting
can I say it? dammit dammit dammit . . . I asked like my mom asked if she could say it so it is okay! Those words are in reference to the PPP/Econ part of this summer. The Budgeting and cost accounting was great!!!!!!
Burgers, buns, and nudity
Nudity is so en vogue here, so I decided it might be fun to try to go against what was mainstream and keep my bathing suit on! Wow! me modest- get out . . . I never would have thought! Yea not much has changed I still have bathing suit that covers everything and even nice skirt. My skirt may not be as conservative as the blue one from the past couple years, but I still have one.
The beach was beautiful . . . I mean water, sand, the setting sun, windmills, and good food . . . what is not beautiful about that. I will tell you what is not beautiful about that . . . two nude women swimming around in the Oresund Sea. Yes, you read that right 2 nude women. Now, I am not one to judge, well maybe I do to some extent, but these women we decide were more than just friends. They walked up to a spot that was directly in front of us and one of the women stripped down . . and then proceeded to talk to the other woman . . .My gosh why wear clothes if you are going to do that. The other lady was quite modest because she went in with her shirt and panties on, but no she came back out of the water and threw her top off. Yeah, pretty sure they were more than friends. Never would I do that with friend, but hey here you can do that stuff. no thank you
The sad thing is Jen and I watched this whole thing and wondered why it had to be those two women that were not in the best shape . . . I mean we would have been ok if it was someone that was fit still gross but not as gross. Anyway, all afternoon we saw people change men too . . . fortunately we just saw rear ends, but still we don't need to be graced by its presence.
Now to the best part! We grilled out with a disposable grill! The burgers were amazing and so was the corn and the chocolate and the beer for that matter! I was sitting on the beach with a new friend in Copenhagen for crying out loud. . . That was awesome!
The beach was beautiful . . . I mean water, sand, the setting sun, windmills, and good food . . . what is not beautiful about that. I will tell you what is not beautiful about that . . . two nude women swimming around in the Oresund Sea. Yes, you read that right 2 nude women. Now, I am not one to judge, well maybe I do to some extent, but these women we decide were more than just friends. They walked up to a spot that was directly in front of us and one of the women stripped down . . and then proceeded to talk to the other woman . . .My gosh why wear clothes if you are going to do that. The other lady was quite modest because she went in with her shirt and panties on, but no she came back out of the water and threw her top off. Yeah, pretty sure they were more than friends. Never would I do that with friend, but hey here you can do that stuff. no thank you
The sad thing is Jen and I watched this whole thing and wondered why it had to be those two women that were not in the best shape . . . I mean we would have been ok if it was someone that was fit still gross but not as gross. Anyway, all afternoon we saw people change men too . . . fortunately we just saw rear ends, but still we don't need to be graced by its presence.
Now to the best part! We grilled out with a disposable grill! The burgers were amazing and so was the corn and the chocolate and the beer for that matter! I was sitting on the beach with a new friend in Copenhagen for crying out loud. . . That was awesome!
Vaughan the Red goes on a Voyage
It seems like so long ago . . It was two weekends ago to be exact. Remember when you were in grade school and you learned that Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 and he discovered America I remember that and I vividly remember the day I found out that Christopher Columbus was technically not the first voyager to discover America. The vikings?? Who what . . . no way . . . you mean to tell me that all those years we were lied to for the simplicity's sake and to sing a silly song.
Once I heard about the vikings in history class I decided that I really liked them. I always was partial to the Vikings and tried to learn as much as could about them since after all we shared the same first letter. "V" Then I found out about Eric the Red and surely that is some relation to me! Since I was Vaughan the Red. Looking back on my logic and reasoning I laugh, but alas I returned to one Viking settlement to retrace the steps of my ancestors. Perhaps not my ancestors directly, but surely in a many generations later I am what you get type of thing!
Saturday morning I set out for Roskilde, which is about a 20 min train ride from Copenhagen H. I took my Economics to study on the train and tackled PPP. The train arrived in Roskilde and my Viking Adventure Began. Please do not confuse Roskilde with Greenwood . . . there were no shiny viking ovens, ranges, or fridges that I could see in Roskilde. You may be familiar with the Roskilde Music Festival which is one of the largest in Europe.
The museum was a ways walk from the train station, so I ventured through the town. The town is not a coastal town but a fjord town. It did remind me of one of the coastal towns I have visited in England. I walked through a market and it was not too interesting, just junk but Danish junk none the less. I wound my way down the hillside to the fjord waterfront and the museum. You can see the pictures on the Picasso. I am not sure I will be able to explain to y'all how much I enjoyed my visit to the Viking Museum. The museum is basically an educational work site for archaeologists. In the yards surrounding the docks many craftsmen are building ships using the same tools that the vikings used 2000 + yrs ago. They were not wearing the same outfits fortunately. But it was so neat to go from station to station learning about all the different parts of the tree they used and how they developed the best and fastest ships this world had seen at the time!
I spent lots of time looking at the ships and admiring the water. I then joined the English tour of the museum. I was like a little kid in a candy store!! Really there is no better way to explain how I felt touring the museum.
First off let me explain a little bit more before you get totally lost. Roskilde was once the capital of Danmark back in the day when the vikings sailed. Roskilde was a very important town and many people tried to attack the city, so the people (the king) blocked the channels from invaders, but opened them for trade. How might one block a channel you ask well they sunk old viking ships to create a blockade. Very smart those Vikings, by doing that many years ago five viking ships were excavated out of Roskilde Fjord. The ships are not in their entirety mind you, but parts of the ship. They uncovered a warship, two trading ships, a fishing ship, and a ship that carried people. They have reconstructed all five ships. The last ship they reconstructed was the one with the least portion of the original remaining.
This is what I really want you to research! They reconstructed the final ship that was originally from Dublin and sailed to Roskilde and never left since it was at the bottom of the Fjord. After they reconstructed the ship the plan was to sail this ship round trip from Roskilde to Dublin. They would have crew on board, food would be prepared . . the works. They are trying to understand the Viking life on sea by making this 2007 maiden voyage. I think you should check this website out b/c I do not do it justice. I am so amazed and I was there!
http://www.havhingsten.dk/index.php?id=841&L=1
Please join me in welcoming the Seastallion back to Roskilde on Saturday! I will be in Charlotte, but still welcome home to us both!
Once I heard about the vikings in history class I decided that I really liked them. I always was partial to the Vikings and tried to learn as much as could about them since after all we shared the same first letter. "V" Then I found out about Eric the Red and surely that is some relation to me! Since I was Vaughan the Red. Looking back on my logic and reasoning I laugh, but alas I returned to one Viking settlement to retrace the steps of my ancestors. Perhaps not my ancestors directly, but surely in a many generations later I am what you get type of thing!
Saturday morning I set out for Roskilde, which is about a 20 min train ride from Copenhagen H. I took my Economics to study on the train and tackled PPP. The train arrived in Roskilde and my Viking Adventure Began. Please do not confuse Roskilde with Greenwood . . . there were no shiny viking ovens, ranges, or fridges that I could see in Roskilde. You may be familiar with the Roskilde Music Festival which is one of the largest in Europe.
The museum was a ways walk from the train station, so I ventured through the town. The town is not a coastal town but a fjord town. It did remind me of one of the coastal towns I have visited in England. I walked through a market and it was not too interesting, just junk but Danish junk none the less. I wound my way down the hillside to the fjord waterfront and the museum. You can see the pictures on the Picasso. I am not sure I will be able to explain to y'all how much I enjoyed my visit to the Viking Museum. The museum is basically an educational work site for archaeologists. In the yards surrounding the docks many craftsmen are building ships using the same tools that the vikings used 2000 + yrs ago. They were not wearing the same outfits fortunately. But it was so neat to go from station to station learning about all the different parts of the tree they used and how they developed the best and fastest ships this world had seen at the time!
I spent lots of time looking at the ships and admiring the water. I then joined the English tour of the museum. I was like a little kid in a candy store!! Really there is no better way to explain how I felt touring the museum.
First off let me explain a little bit more before you get totally lost. Roskilde was once the capital of Danmark back in the day when the vikings sailed. Roskilde was a very important town and many people tried to attack the city, so the people (the king) blocked the channels from invaders, but opened them for trade. How might one block a channel you ask well they sunk old viking ships to create a blockade. Very smart those Vikings, by doing that many years ago five viking ships were excavated out of Roskilde Fjord. The ships are not in their entirety mind you, but parts of the ship. They uncovered a warship, two trading ships, a fishing ship, and a ship that carried people. They have reconstructed all five ships. The last ship they reconstructed was the one with the least portion of the original remaining.
This is what I really want you to research! They reconstructed the final ship that was originally from Dublin and sailed to Roskilde and never left since it was at the bottom of the Fjord. After they reconstructed the ship the plan was to sail this ship round trip from Roskilde to Dublin. They would have crew on board, food would be prepared . . the works. They are trying to understand the Viking life on sea by making this 2007 maiden voyage. I think you should check this website out b/c I do not do it justice. I am so amazed and I was there!
http://www.havhingsten.dk/index.php?id=841&L=1
Please join me in welcoming the Seastallion back to Roskilde on Saturday! I will be in Charlotte, but still welcome home to us both!
Friday, July 25, 2008
Metro Card Bites the Dust
I will try to recap the week in a quick list b/c I really need to study this morning, but I am trying to put it off!
Monday: I went to class and actually understood everything the teacher was saying in Econ. Then went to a FCK . . .Fubol Club Kobenhavn match. It was my first soccer game (prof.) ever and I was very excited to be there! I posted an album which you can see you to the right of this post.
Tuesday: Ran for an 1.5hrs. . Bought more pastries . . . Ate chili with the UNCC MACC family plus one Norwegian, 3 Polish, 1 German, and 1 French. . . . Who knew chili would become an international delicacy loved and enjoyed by all. Also found a great microbrewery beer to enjoy with my chili!
Wednesday: Class and a long bike ride! And sad news . . . My monthly metro pass expired today . . .so that means I have been over here more than one month.
Thursday: Ran in the morning. Then went to buy movie tickets for a show on Friday, then went to the park with a girl from my class with the best intentions of studying . . .hmmm nope just talked. We did cover Risk Premiums and the Gold Standard Mint Parity Conditions, so we have that down, but 2.5 hours of the the 3 we were out there were mostly talking!
Thursday night we went to a Brew Pub that duh brews its own beer. I for one was sick of Carlsberg and wanted to taste something better. I don't think the word beer and snob should be paired, but I think Beer Enthusiast is more along the lines of what I might be! Three of us went and enjoyed 5 different varieties of beer. yum! I enjoyed that!
Friday: Woke up ate a pastry and now am typing. I need to study and then I am going to the movie this afternoon!
Monday: I went to class and actually understood everything the teacher was saying in Econ. Then went to a FCK . . .Fubol Club Kobenhavn match. It was my first soccer game (prof.) ever and I was very excited to be there! I posted an album which you can see you to the right of this post.
Tuesday: Ran for an 1.5hrs. . Bought more pastries . . . Ate chili with the UNCC MACC family plus one Norwegian, 3 Polish, 1 German, and 1 French. . . . Who knew chili would become an international delicacy loved and enjoyed by all. Also found a great microbrewery beer to enjoy with my chili!
Wednesday: Class and a long bike ride! And sad news . . . My monthly metro pass expired today . . .so that means I have been over here more than one month.
Thursday: Ran in the morning. Then went to buy movie tickets for a show on Friday, then went to the park with a girl from my class with the best intentions of studying . . .hmmm nope just talked. We did cover Risk Premiums and the Gold Standard Mint Parity Conditions, so we have that down, but 2.5 hours of the the 3 we were out there were mostly talking!
Thursday night we went to a Brew Pub that duh brews its own beer. I for one was sick of Carlsberg and wanted to taste something better. I don't think the word beer and snob should be paired, but I think Beer Enthusiast is more along the lines of what I might be! Three of us went and enjoyed 5 different varieties of beer. yum! I enjoyed that!
Friday: Woke up ate a pastry and now am typing. I need to study and then I am going to the movie this afternoon!
Wait I though I was in Norway.
This past weekend I went on my first ever cruise and my last ever cruise. Never again will I set foot a boat of that size. I will however step on smaller boats, kayaks, and canoes in the ocean, in rivers, or on lakes. As many of you know I am quite sensitive to motion sickness. This cruise did me in. Each night I got a migraine got nauseated and just plain dizzy. I hated the cruise and don't really want to go back and relieve it, so to make the long trip very short . . . I discoverd that I suffer from a mild form Vertigo. Mild just means I don't throw up when everything starts spinning and I feel like I am falling!
Oslo was beautiful city. Very quaint understandably since it is so far away from everything else in the world. Norway is a very expensive place to live. The cost of living is higher than in Denmark. The exchange rate b/t the USD and Norwegian Kroner was better than that of the USD/DKK though. That still didn't make it a cheaper city. . . prices were higher. We really just walked around the city and from end to end. We went to the most controversial park in the world. The park was full of nude sculptures. The Scandinavians have no problems with nudity. All in all it was a pretty uneventful time, but I felt for a few moments I was in North Carolina looking at the Urwharrie MTNS (spelling might be off). The Fjords that had formed were beautiful. Basically a Fjord is a steep cliff on the side of a Mountain created by a glacier. Like I said before I felt as if I was just on a lake somewhere in NC not in Norway and in the Oresund Sea!
Oslo was beautiful city. Very quaint understandably since it is so far away from everything else in the world. Norway is a very expensive place to live. The cost of living is higher than in Denmark. The exchange rate b/t the USD and Norwegian Kroner was better than that of the USD/DKK though. That still didn't make it a cheaper city. . . prices were higher. We really just walked around the city and from end to end. We went to the most controversial park in the world. The park was full of nude sculptures. The Scandinavians have no problems with nudity. All in all it was a pretty uneventful time, but I felt for a few moments I was in North Carolina looking at the Urwharrie MTNS (spelling might be off). The Fjords that had formed were beautiful. Basically a Fjord is a steep cliff on the side of a Mountain created by a glacier. Like I said before I felt as if I was just on a lake somewhere in NC not in Norway and in the Oresund Sea!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
I was a Foolish Man
I am so sorry to leave everyone hanging, but I have been busy with school. Well, not really, I have just been busy being busy. I know that makes absolutely no sense, but so much has been going on and I haven't had time to reflect on it all. For any of you who actually do read this, I suppose I should let you know that I did eat all of that pastry and more! I also am running up to an 1 hr every other day and riding my bike everywhere, so I can spare a few calories. I just pray that when I get back to the States I will be able to keep it up since yes there is a wedding coming up in Nov. and not to mention I have a half marathon and possibly another later on in the Fall.
I left off with the pastries, so I will pick up with the Lasagna. The UNCC MACC family enjoyed my Gran's lasagna Danish style. It was a hit even with a Polish guy and thankfully no marriage proposals from anyone this time when I made it! (Living it guys). I think I like it the way Gran, my mom, and I make it in the States better, but I will say when you use fresh mozzarella it kicks it up a million notches! Note to self Mom!
The rest of last week was pretty uneventful until Thursday night. We were scheduled to go Tivoli the amusement park were Walt Disney got his inspiration. I must say it was quite fun . . . I had been with Erin, so I really just went for the ice cream! I rode my bike there which only took about 12 mins from my residence. I love this biking thing they have going over here. You get exercise and get from point A to point B relatively faster than you would walking or using the Metro since you have to walk to the Metro. I left Tivoli a little early because I was tired and had to get on a boat for Oslo the next day.
I ended up running into one of the UNCC guys and the roommate to one of the girls I have met in class. I stayed outside talking with them and in the process a German guy came up too. Rumor was that every one was going out to a bar where you paid 60DKK and got to drink all you wanted from 11-2 I think those are the hours. Regardless the four of us were not planning on going out so we all ended up playing cards and drinking our own already paid for beer. I learned a great new Russian card game which translates into Foolish Man. Long story and I am not good an making them short. . . One of the girls in the London MBA program is from Russia so she taught the others in her program this game and so now Sean and I have the upper hand on this Russian card game! North Carolina watch out!!
After a couple rounds and only one beer later for me it was time to hit the hay! And yes as the title suggests I was the Foolish Man once!
I left off with the pastries, so I will pick up with the Lasagna. The UNCC MACC family enjoyed my Gran's lasagna Danish style. It was a hit even with a Polish guy and thankfully no marriage proposals from anyone this time when I made it! (Living it guys). I think I like it the way Gran, my mom, and I make it in the States better, but I will say when you use fresh mozzarella it kicks it up a million notches! Note to self Mom!
The rest of last week was pretty uneventful until Thursday night. We were scheduled to go Tivoli the amusement park were Walt Disney got his inspiration. I must say it was quite fun . . . I had been with Erin, so I really just went for the ice cream! I rode my bike there which only took about 12 mins from my residence. I love this biking thing they have going over here. You get exercise and get from point A to point B relatively faster than you would walking or using the Metro since you have to walk to the Metro. I left Tivoli a little early because I was tired and had to get on a boat for Oslo the next day.
I ended up running into one of the UNCC guys and the roommate to one of the girls I have met in class. I stayed outside talking with them and in the process a German guy came up too. Rumor was that every one was going out to a bar where you paid 60DKK and got to drink all you wanted from 11-2 I think those are the hours. Regardless the four of us were not planning on going out so we all ended up playing cards and drinking our own already paid for beer. I learned a great new Russian card game which translates into Foolish Man. Long story and I am not good an making them short. . . One of the girls in the London MBA program is from Russia so she taught the others in her program this game and so now Sean and I have the upper hand on this Russian card game! North Carolina watch out!!
After a couple rounds and only one beer later for me it was time to hit the hay! And yes as the title suggests I was the Foolish Man once!
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