Looking Forward

We have had lots of fun traveling around these past 4 1/2 months (and our travels aren't quite over yet...) but I can't help but get super excited about settling down for a little while back in Burlington. There's so much to do there--from the mountains to Church Street, we really love Vermont. Most of all, though, I am SOOOOOOOOO excited to set up house!!! We have all kinds of wonderful gifts that we have yet to use. My head is spinning with thoughts of how to decorate our apartment (once we find one).

Here's my wishlist of things I'd like to see/do in our apartment:

Bedroom: We have some beautiful white bedding from Pottery Barn (and of course I got the shams monogrammed because I love monogrammed everything!)

Pearl Embroidered Duvet from Pottery Barn

Since the bedding is very light, we're going to have to add color in other ways. Above our bed I'm planning to put two big prints that we have---one is a picture of the Empire State Building that Duke gave me for Christmas last year. We got engaged on top of the Empire State Building so it is a colorful memento from a very happy day in our lives. The other print I'll put up is the "guest book" print from our wedding. These two prints are both bright and framed in similar black frames. I think they'll liven up the bedroom a little bit.

Guest Book Alternative from Modern Keepsake on Etsy

Modern Keepsake has lots of creative prints.

I have a feeling that whatever apartment we find will most likely have a shortage of counter space. If there's enough room in our kitchen, I would love to have a little kitchen cart where we could put apps and drinks when we entertain! (Can't wait to entertain in our own home!)

We also got some great stainless steel pans as a gift, and if we're lacking storage space for those, and there's a proper place to hang a thing like this, I may look into a pot rack...but I'm still very much on the fence about whether or not these look super cluttery or cute, so we'll see if this happens.

Cluttered or Cute? Thoughts?

I have lots more ideas but will share just one more thing that I'm excited about for now....I really can't wait to find a special place for the custom sign that my friend Eva gave me. Her sister Danielle has a little etsy shop called Choice Products and makes custom signs and other things. Check them out on facebook or etsy!

Can't wait to hang our beautiful sign from Choice Products!

That's all for now, folks.

MIA: Why I haven't blogged in a month

Wow, the past month FLEW BY! Let's just say it has been filled with:

3,000 + miles of:

but this time it had a roof top carrier on, and was not quite as sparkly....

...this picture is from the day I bought the dear old Baruga!

The last month also included:

A stop at home before our roadtrip, where I revealed my new harido:

It was well received!

A roadtrip to FL with Virginia and a stop to see Olivia and Baby Mia in Charleston:

Mia is a BEAUTIFUL baby!!

Once we got to West Palm Beach, Virginia and I enjoyed some:

Reading/Sun Bathing/Napping

Then there was a trip to Miami where we visited Dave in the studio:

Then we had the Duncan family visit for a week over Thanksgiving and we did lots of:

Barbequing...yum!

Enjoying the Ocean

Tube Time!

Sunsets that we saw every night while eating on the dock!

Inbetween visitors we managed to create a makeshift Christmas Tree:

Then two days after the Duncans left, my mom came for a week!

We got out of a movie just in time to see a Christmas Boat Parade!

Duke isn't as excited to have his picture taken as I am!

So I hope you will excuse my lack of blogging, because we have been busy!

We are going to lighten our schedule for the next two weeks....oh wait, a trip to the Keys and a trip to Orlando are in the next 10 days. I guess we aren't slowing down, but we are having tons of fun!

All's Well That Ends Well

Relief. This week has been wild, but most of all it has been good. I have been so encouraged about God's grace and goodness to us......

First of all, when I was in the depths of studying and feeling a little overwhelmed, two things happened.

1) My aunt offered to let us stay in her un-occupied house this winter. A nice option if we can't find a decent apartment when we first get back to Burlington. Praise!

2) I got a phone call from this sweet accounting firm in Burlington. I sent them my resume a few weeks ago and now they want to interview me! Best of all, the timing is perfect since we'll be in Burlington next week! So I have an interview at 9 am on Monday. Prayers are appreciated!

I would be thrilled if I got this job. But most of all, it was just encouraging to see God working in our lives.....I feel like the road is being paved for life after traveling.

On Wednesday we celebrated my wonderful husband's birthday! It wasn't quite like the celebration below, but it certainly was fun. We had salmon, red potatoes, and aspargus, with his favorite strawberry shortcake for dessert!

Celebrate Good Times Come On!

Thursday finally came and I actually felt pretty prepared. It was weird because I never feel prepared for tests...the perfectionist in me always knows I don't know it all. However, I was oddly calm for this test. I don't know if I passed, and won't find out for a few weeks, but I was at least encouraged that it wasn't overwhelming and that I feel like the CPA is totally accomplishable. Yes, I made up that word because it fit what I was trying to say. I'm going to be a CPA, not a writer/editor.

When I got home from the exam, I was greeted by an exuberant husband (always fun) and a bottle of bubbly!!! So we lounged around drinking this nectar of the gods and delighting in our freedom, since he just finished his super rough OB-GYN rotation. Hurray! We made it through!

Thank you, Shane for this wonderful present!

As if this great week wasn't enough, we are going to LBI for the weekend to celebrate Duke & LD's birthdays!

Good Looking family

Blurry, but I hope our future children are this adorable!

 
Our weekend is going to be full of eating good food, drinking good drinks, hot-tubbing, relaxing, and celebrating life...and counting our blessings because there are many. 

Happy Friday!

Getting Wired

Duke is convinced that productivity is directly related to the amount of caffeine you consume. So, since I am in crunch mode, I am living by his advice and drinking as much coffee as possible. I love coffee and drink a cup every morning, but this process is making me a little sick of it. So I've been mixing it up. Instead of getting regular coffee, I've indulged in a few specialty drinks. But I can't drink those non-stop so I've been at a little bit of a loss. Today I started crossed over to become an official caffeine abuser and, after drinking a small cup of coffee at home, followed by a grande mocha light, I bought myself a double shot of espresso. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW I immediately had to chug a bottle of water because this espresso was unbelievably strong. Wow. That is an entirely different world of coffee and I felt a little bit like a drug addict, chugging the shot in the car before I went into the library. Yikes, I didn't realize it would get to this point!

But I have to say, the caffeine really does help keep me motivated. And I have just two weeks until my exam so I will continue this bad habit until then. The day after my test I will probably have the world's worst caffeine headache!

The Date is Set

I have bitten the bullet and set a date for my first section of the CPA Exam....I will be taking it on Thursday, October 27! So from now until then I will be cracking down to study (aside from the NYC trip I have planned this weekend and the other weekends off I give myself to spend time with Duke). Anyways, prayers are needed and appreciated! I am also starting to look for job possibilities for January, when we're back in Burlington. I'm praying that God would lead me to a good job where I can be a bright light and use my talents!!

Two Things

First, why does New Canaan, Connecticut, the town with tons of important CEOs and company execs, have terrible cell phone reception? It makes no sense because these people need their blackberries to work! (And I need to be able to call my family!)

Second, last night at the wine class, Duke was going to be late so Mr. G said "Amy's husband is an OB-GYN and is going to be a few minutes late because he just delivered a baby." haha! Sounds like he's a real doctor and is undeniably wonderful! :)

Happy Wednesday!

Tons of Fun Till The CPA's Done

...Maybe that's why I'm behind schedule on my test date. The course teachers love to tell us students that we should be having NO fun until we take our exams. No wonder I'm behind. Duke and I have been having TONS of fun!!! But I like to think that it's ok since we're newlyweds. I don't see much of him during the week, so the weekends and some weeknights are dedicated to all-fun-cpa-is-not-my-husband time.

Here's the list of our super-fun recent activities:

My sister came to visit us and her mother in law, Mrs. Garman, in CT last week. She brought the cuties Lily and Lucy, and we had lots of fun hanging out, talking with the now super conversational Lily and laughing at Lucy's faces and antics. At 20 months old, Lucy is already a comedian!

Old picture, but a good example of the cuteness we were surrounded by!

This past weekend we were on LBI celebrating a Duncan family friend's wedding all weekend long. These people know how to have a good time. It was three whole days of delicious food and open bar. (Think fish tacos, panko flounder, lobster tails, which Duke had 3 of, etc) Yum! Jaimee and Mike had the same band and photographer that we had for our wedding, so that was fun. There was a photo booth with hilarious props too, but the highlight of the reception was probably the fireworks show! Ten minutes of "all finale" as Duke said. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so maybe when Duke is home I will be able to upload some pictures from the wedding.

Tonight we're going to a wine class at The New Canaan Wine Merchants with Mr. Garman. Since being here in CT, Mr. G has shared some of his delicious wines with us and is teaching me about the wine world! I'm glad Duke is coming to the class tonight because I don't want to be the only novice in a room full of wine-tasting pros!

Mr. Garman's favorite Pinot Grigio, San Margherita

And last but not least on our list of fun things, this weekend we're celebrating LBI's Chowder Fest!!!! I am so excited because I've heard of this for years and finally get to experience it. We're also celebrating Duke's dad's BDAY!

So, although my studying may be coming along a little slower than I'd like, Duke and I are truly enjoying life. And I say, TONS of Fun Till the CPA's Done!