where has 2011 gone?!

so my last blog was 10 months ago...where in the world has this year gone?!

so much has happened in the last 10 months that i don't even know where to begin! here is a quick rundown...

enrolled as a consultant with thirty-one in january...jon and i went to jamaica for (my) work in february (it was awesome!)...worked like crazy from january through march (except for the quick trip to jamaica!)...my best friend had a baby boy in april (theodore tobias mappus iv aka tucker)...my brother and his family came to visit in june...another good friend had a baby boy in june (wallace rudolph bowman aka ace)...my sister and her family came to visit in july...jon and i went on vacation with my brother and sister-in-law in july (an amazing cruise to st. thomas, st. maarten, and nassau...good times had by all!)...jon's brother and his family moved to los angeles in july (can't wait to go visit in november!)...we took a last minute trip to south beach miami (with jon's brother (and business partner) and sister-in-law) for his work in august (so much fun and so relaxing!)...i became a senior consultant for thirty-one at the end of august...we traveled every weekend of september (pawley's island, greenville, atlanta, georgia to see my sister)...and now it's freakin' october already! once again, where in the world has this year gone?!

that sums up this year so far...and there are still many good times and events to come! love my life...and those that surround me!

new challenges

today presented me with many (and i mean lots and lots!!!) challenges at work...and tonight i decided to present myself with a new challenge outside of work! after talking to my sister about her awesome experience with her thirty-one business, i've decided to challenge myself with a new "business." i've given up some of my accounting work that i was doing on the side in the last few weeks, and i guess i just couldn't quite come to terms with the thought of not having a little extra work in addition to my regular job.

i'm excited because this will be something completely different from my everyday job in the accounting world at hire quest. i'm definitely not a sales person or presentations person, but thirty-one products seem to sell themselves so i'm hoping it will work out well! i plan to make a list of goals for myself and my new "business" in the next few days, so i will be working towards something and not just doing it to be doing it! i can't wait to share my experiences and goals in the coming days, weeks, and months!

ready for a vacation....

this week has been HELL at work. although, it is january so i guess i should expect nothing less! this was my first year preparing the nearly 19,000 w-2's that i must send out in the next couple of weeks. i finally have everything balanced and ready to print after some extremely long days this past week. now it's time to get all of the other monthly work completed.

luckily there is a light at the end of the long (stress filled work) tunnel...jon and i are going to jamaica on february 10th!!! my company puts on an annual conference for all of our franchise owners each year, and this year it's in jamaica! neither jon nor i have ever been there, so we are both really excited about visiting a new tropical place (and of course relaxing and getting away for a few days)!!!

we've been trying to catch up with friends that we haven't seen since before christmas, so last night we had katherine, tee, and amy over to hang out! the boys ended up playing jon's new playstation 3 (he's been wanting it for a couple years now, but i wasn't so sure if i could handle a playstation 3 addicted husband!!!) and having a blast! they were actually kind of cute in the their chairs in front of the tv talking about the game they were playing! of course, the girls chatted and caught up on all the recent happenings while the boys played!

speaking of catching up, katherine is having a baby!!! theodore tobias mappus the 5th aka tucker is due on april 15th! i'm so excited for them and can't wait to meet their baby boy!

getting pregnant seems to be the thing to do right now!!! our friends rachel and aaron are also pregnant and are expecting their bundle of joy in june! they are going to wait for the surprise on the day baby bowman is born, and i can't wait to find out if it's a boy or girl!

babies, babies everywhere! i must say, i think we might be getting a little baby fever but not enough to go all in yet!!! it will happen soon enough! :)

hello 2011 and goodbye 2010

2011 has arrived in full swing! i must say i was kind of happy to see the end of 2010. it had been one hell of a year! there were ups and downs, some good and some bad, but overall i'm just ready for a new year to begin!

we rang in 2011 with kris and anne (jon's brother and his future wife!) and had a low key night at their house with some great food and drinks, champagne, and rock band!

today is a working day for me thanks to the end of the year. it's time to prepare the w-2's for the almost 20,000 employees that we have throughout the country. this year is my first time doing it, so i've been a little nervous about it. so far it's going well though! i'm camped out at the kitchen table with my computer and work stuff spread out and jon is relaxing on the couch watching batman on his new playstation 3 and new television!

here's to a prosperous, fun filled, exciting, adventuresome, and productive 2011! happy new year!

it's been a really long time...

so i realized the other day that i haven't posted a blog since april....life has been absolutely CRAZY!!! for the most part it's been a good crazy, but just so busy!

my last post mentioned that i found out my boss was going to be leaving the company on medical disability and i would be taking over as corporate controller. that change happened in august, and my work life has been quite a ride since then! i'm learning new things everyday and each month it's getting easier, but i think january will bring a whole new version of CRAZY to my life thanks to my first end of the year close out!

all of my parents have gone through their own struggles since april including layoffs, big moves, and new jobs! thankfully they are all settled in now and much closer to me! my dad and stepmom are now living an hour and a half away in columbia (much closer than the 5 1/2 hours for the last 10 years!) and my mom is about 20 minutes away in summerville! it's nice to know that my parents will all be closer in the coming years as jon and i think (only thinking right now, not trying!) about having children!

over the summer, my family lost an amazing man...my uncle thomas (my dad's brother) passed away in july. although it was a very sad time, we all know that he is in a much better place and he lived an amazing life as a quadriplegic for over 40 years. one thing that hit me hard in the last month was removing his name from my christmas card list when i went to send them out this year. uncle thomas, i wish you were going to be here for my children to meet one day, but i know you will be looking down (along with the other special ones in heaven - aunt 'laine, papa, and grandmama!) as you are each day!

on a happy note, jon and i are heading to fayetteville, nc to celebrate christmas with the entire windmueller clan and my mom this weekend! we are so excited about watching our nieces and nephew on christmas morning! i'm also excited about some other surprises to come over this fun christmas weekend! hopefully the work day will go by very quickly today...'cause i'm ready to celebrate and share the christmas cheer with family!

crazy happenings + new endeavors = life

life...where do i begin?!

i got the news last week that my boss will be leaving on medical disability as of august 1st. so this means i will be taking over as controller of the company and hiring an assistant to take the position i'm in now. this is great news for me in regards to my career and something i knew would eventually happen, but i just didn't know it was going to happen so soon! i will be spending the next 3 1/2 months soaking up as much of her knowledge as possible and learning every possible thing i can learn about her job!

since jon and i got a new car several weeks ago, it finally came time for us to sell my altima. we put it on ebay last monday and it was sold when the auction ended this monday. jon handled everything with the buyer yesterday and i met them to sign the title over to her and say goodbye (after 6 years) to my very dependable altima! it was a bittersweet moment! (i'm definitely loving the bmw though!)

jon's business has picked up (thanks to summer being just around the corner and their only employee in north carolina resigning a few weeks ago!) and is working like crazy! he's been working 6 days a week, not getting home until at least 10 every night and spending the night out of town on others. it's definitely great that business has picked up, but he will definitely be ready for a short vacation when we head to vegas the beginning of june!

yes, that's right...we are going to las vegas! i finally booked the trip, and we will be celebrating jon's 30th birthday there on june 5th and staying for a few nights! i've never been to vegas, so i'm super excited to see all the sights! only 6 weeks from friday until we board the plane!

that sums up the last 2 weeks of my life...i think! now it's time to see what the next 2 weeks brings my way!

sorry blog...i've been ignoring you

i've totally been ignoring you, blog...for good reason though! i've been crazy busy the last couple of weeks and just haven't found the time to write! where do i begin....

my brother and his family were in town for a week...my mom came too, so we had a house FULL!...work (full-time job)....work (preparing tax returns for friends)...work (at my previous employer preparing tax returns...work (at PCS)...jon and i got a new car which he flew to dallas to get and then drove it home....my dad and stepmom came to visit...more work...my mom came to vist for easter weekend....easter...work, work, work...third eye blind concert on tuesday night....more work....

that about sums up my life in the last 3 weeks! no more tax returns after next wednesday though, so life will be back to normal...hopefully!

go away sickness...exciting things await tomorrow

unfortunately i had to use my last pto day until may and spend the day at home...sick! i haven't been feeling well all week, but last night it got the best of me. i woke up at 2 am coughing and not able to sleep, and then finally fell back to sleep around 4. i was just biding my time until i could call the doctor this morning to get some meds. i called in sick to work because a) i don't think i could have gotten ready and made it to work without coughing up a lung and b) i know that nobody at work wants to get sick just because i didn't want to use my last day off until may!

i slept on and off all morning and the doctor finally got my medicine called in around 2. i got out of bed long enough to go get my meds and do a few things around the house...and the highlight of my day was going to dinner with the girls tonight. i did not want to miss out on that because i'd been looking forward to it all week, and i didn't think i could survive if i stayed in the house by myself all day and night! i finally started feeling a little better around the time i headed to dinner, and i think i'm on the mend and will be able to make it to work tomorrow....thank goodness because i definitely didn't want to take a day off without pay!

i'm super excited about tomorrow because a) jon will be pulling up in our driveway (after a long trip from dallas!) with our new car (it's a 2004, but it's new to us!) - a bmw 745 (jon's dream car and one that i certainly won't mind getting to drive)!!!! and b) my dad and stepmom are coming to visit for the weekend! we haven't seen them since christmas (and that was only for one night), so it will be really nice having them here with us for the weekend!

now it's time for me to say night night and get some rest so i can continue feeling better and enjoy all the excitement of tomorrow...

where did i get this idea that i should work three jobs?

i've been contemplating over the last few weeks why i feel the need to work three jobs...my full-time job at hire quest, accounting work for jon's company, and tax preparation for my former employer. this all came about when i decided to do the tax preparation work when they offered it to me in january. my two jobs (hire quest and jon's company) are just enough to keep me busy (yet still have time for the gym in the afternoons!) and i don't mind the work at all, but then i toss in roughly 10 more hours a week preparing tax returns for the next 7 weeks and it's cutting into my personal (family, play, social, fun, etc.) time!

i've determined, after really thinking about it a lot recently, that this need (more like a want because it's not needed!) for extra money originates from growing up in a single parent home where finances were a struggle. i grew up with the things i needed but not a lot of extras, and i watched my mom struggle to pay the bills and make the monthly income stretch most months. i think that now that i'm married and plan to have a family in the next several years, i have a fear of struggling financially.

jon and i have a comfortable amount of money coming in each month...enough to have the things we want (within reason of course...the 2010 bmw 7-series is definitely out our reach and probably will be for several years!!!), take nice vacations and travel when we want to, and put money in savings each month. i still feel like if there is an option to make some money on the side, i'm definitely going to take it though; however, once we both finally get home at night (usually around 7 or 8 on an early night!), i wonder why in the hell we are working so hard! i must push the fear of financial struggles to the back of my mind at some point to keep my sanity and enjoy life while i'm young, employeed, married, and don't have children (yet!)...there has to be enough time to let go, relax, and enjoy this amazing thing called life!

i guess hard working is definitely a great quality to have, but should it cut into your personal time (if it doesn't necessarily have to) after a certain point? just a thought to comtemplate...

back to tax season hell...am i crazy?!

today i met with my former boss to discuss preparing tax returns on the side for my former cpa firm during tax season. i know that this time last year all i could think about was getting a new job that did not involve preparing tax returns...but a little extra money (for something that comes easy to me) is always nice! i'm really hoping i can do most of it at home, but i'm going to begin by going to the office 2 nights a week. this gig will be ideal if i can do it at home (especially since i hated the long hours during tax season), but i'll just have to wait and see. it will definitely be fun to see the people i used to work with and catch up with everyone!

this will make 3 jobs for me...1 full time and 2 part time jobs! am i crazy?! well, maybe just a little, but this one is only for 2 months!

end of 2009 and beginning of 2010...crazy happenings

so the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 has brought some crazy happenings and exciting news! where to begin...

...while in new york, jon and I received the news that we were going to be aunt heidi and uncle jon again thanks to jon's brother, kirk and his wife, laura...surprise! the oldest (kate) will be 2 in february, the youngest (reese) will be 1 in july, and the new baby is due in august! they are amazing parents and i'm sure they will make life with 3 kids under 3 seem easy!

...jon's brother, kris and his fiancee, anne have started making wedding plans and hope to be married in october of this year! i'm so excited for them...anne is so cute and so much fun and kris is so happy...what a great couple!

...while in boston, i received a text message from my college roommate, emily, with a picture of a beautiful engagement ring! the one roommate that we knew would eventually find a guy who would knock her off her feet has met her prince charming! i'm super excited for them!

...more baby news...another friend of mine (i used to work with her mom at mbw) found out she is pregnant and is due in august, and the operations manager at our company just told everyone today that she is pregnant and due in july!

...one of jon's college classmates had an adorable baby (Emily Reese - love that name!) on january 5th...congrats josh and stacie!

...my brother just found out his dad has a cancerous tumor on his kidney. he's having surgery on wednesday in the hopes of removing the entire tumor, so please keep him in your prayers!

lots of stuff going on in 2010...and what a way to close out 2009 with some very exciting news! here's to another great year!

a weekend of relaxation

jon and i have had a wonderful weekend of relaxation! we celebrated one of our friend's 30th birthday last night, but other than that we have stayed on the couch and watched movies all weekend! i finally got my suitcase unpacked, did some much needed organizing in our office/back bedroom, and started organizing our tax information...then joined jon on the couch with a blanket for the rest of the day! it's been nice to catch up after being on vacation, spending the night in the airport last weekend, and then going back to a busy work week last week! it looks like this week will be even busier for both of us, but at least we will be well rested and ready to face it...i think!

another awesome weeekend ahead...

today is friday...and i love fridays! they usually go by pretty quickly at work, and i always look forward to awesome weekend activities! this weekend is funfilled...a party with friends tonight, the reindeer run with amy in the morning, my work christmas party tomorrow night, slumber party at katherine's tomorrow night (since the guys will be camping), and relaxing on sunday!

21 days until christmas and 23 days until NYC!!!!

birthday celebrations...

today is my 28th birthday...and the celebrating began last night! jon had beautiful fresh flowers for me when i got home from work yesterday and had my (technically it's ours, but it was my birthday present!!!) new camera all ready to go! he studied the manual yesterday and learned all about the cool features it has, so i am ready to snap loads of photographs now! we went to dinner at california dreaming and then watched grey's anatomy! it was an awesome evening of celebrating!

the celebrations have continued today with birthday breakfast bagels at work, lunch with abby, and tonight is dinner with kat, tee, amy, liza, and kris! (jon is going out of town for a bachelor party this weekend, but thankfully i am extremely lucky to be surrounded by amazing friends to celebrate with while he's gone!) i'm super excited, and so far it's been a good day at work...no stress (yet)! tomorrow morning i will begin the day with a walk over the bridge with amy to make up for all of the yummy food i am partaking in today! i love birthday celebrations!

dear blog...works sucks

dear blog....work sucks right now! this month end stuff is taking up way too much of my time, and i'm ready to be done with it. getting close though...today has been quite productive and it's only 10:30. i'm hoping for good progress the rest of the day! back to work...

is it friday yet?!

wow, it's been a hell of a last 8 days....at work! my boss is out for the next 6-8 weeks for surgery, so last week and saturday was spent trying to tie up all of the loose ends before she went into surgery yesterday! yesterday was a rough monday, so i'm hoping that it wasn't an indication of the rest of the week! i'm ready for the weekend, so i can relax for more than one day and not think about work!

jon and i had a great sunday together though. we slept in (our favorite thing to do on the weekends!), made breakfast, relaxed, and then decided to go to a movie. it was a wonderful day before the crazy week began!

we've got a lot going on this week...matt (jon's friend who lives in germany) is flying in tonight to stay for a couple of days and nick (jon's old roommate) is coming in on thursday to stay through the weekend. it should be a fun filled rest of the week and weekend...as long as i can keep my head above water in the office!

speaking of which...it's time to get working on these piles sitting on my desk!

another day at the office...with cake!

it's just another day at the office, but today we are celebrating the boss' birthday with cake! we also celebrated a birthday on tuesday with a really good chocolate cake! i'm not sure what type of cake we will be having this afternoon, but i'm sure it will be tasty!

tomorrow is friday....thank goodness! i'm ready for a fun filled weekend weekend to begin! we are tailgating saturday afternoon/evening for the citadel's first home football game of the season. also, one of my roommates from college, emily, is going to be in town, so i'm looking forward to seeing her and catching up at some point this weekend!

on another note, the guest bathroom is almost finished! we have someone coming to reglaze the tub (from the hideous green from the 1960's to a more modern white!) tomorrow morning, and then all that's left is grouting the tile around the shower and the trim work! i will definitely post pictures once the project is completed!

the new grey's anatomy starts tonight, and it's a 2 hour season premiere! it's going to be a great next few days!

just another day...

today has been just another day...wake up, work, gym, home, and soon it will be sleepy time! today was busy at work, and by the time i got to the gym i didn't really feel like working out. i pushed through it though and got a little bit of a workout tonight!

i'm super excited about getting my hair "did" tomorrow! i always look forward to my hair appointments, and tomorrow is one of those days! not sure if i will make any drastic changes (probably not!), but it always feels good to have a fresh hairdo!

that's all for tonight! xoxo

boring work days

today is a very boring work day! i don't have much work to do today (although i definitely won't be saying that next week!) and the office is very quiet! i guess it's getting close to the end of the week and everyone is just ready for friday and the weekend...i know i am!

i am excited about jon and i getting to meet our new niece this weekend and see kirk, laura, and kate as well! is it 5:00 on friday yet?!

numbers, numbers, numbers

my work life involves dealing with lots and lots of numbers...which is why i became an accountant! today i am beginning the task of trying to correct 2 1/2 years of financial data for a company related to the one i work for. now i realize why i've been putting it off for the last 2 months....because it's going to suck! i'm trying to pick it up after 3 other accountants have worked with it and the owner wants it corrected (which i certainly understand...bad financial information is not a good thing?)! i have spreadsheets, amortization schedules, financial statements, and tax returns sitting in front of me with numbers all over them, and i don't even know where to start looking for errors and discrepancies!

don't get me wrong, i love my job, but cleaning up financial data messes is definitely not the best part of it! i guess it's time to put on my big girl panties and deal with it (aka get down to business)! although it's 4:00 already...so i think i might put it off one more day and get a fresh start on it in the morning! that should make for a great friday! :)