Code Blue

On Friday, I took my second CPA exam, BEC.  I studied for about three weeks for this exam, but I felt better about it than FAR.  There's always more test anxiety when taking a first test, so that was probably part of the reason I felt more confident.  There was also less material to cover, and I felt more comfortable guessing.  My next exam, REG, is scheduled for April 15th.  Remember to file your taxes!

Thanks to my roommate (<3 you L), I went to see Blue Man Group perform at the Long Center.  It was a good way to enjoy a few laughs and relax.  Pictures of the performance are included below.  My favorite part was the finale when they had all of the streamers and balls floating around the audience.  It was like one big dance party.

After the performance, we went to the car and sat there for at least half an hour without any cars moving on our floor.  Although the Long Center is pretty, the functional set up of the place is not good.  The parking garage is very long and narrow, which takes forever to exit.  In addition, the garage exit is very close to a stoplight, so probably only 20 or 30 cars can exit every few minutes when the light turns green.  Because it seemed like we weren't going to go anywhere anytime soon, we decided to walk across the Congress bridge and catch the bus home.  S decided to go pick up her car later.  I took a few snapshots of our walk home.  This is such a scenic city, that even walking back was enjoyable.




    

Aside from the adventures of these past two days, my life has been pretty quiet.  I did make a new dish: Tortilla Soup.  I found the recipe on Allrecipes (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Catherines-Spicy-Chicken-Soup/Detail.aspx), and it is a keeper.  After reading through the suggestions by some of the reviewers, I decided to tweak the recipe by only using diced tomatoes with green chiles instead of the canned whole tomatoes and tomato soup.  I also substituted black beans for chili beans, left out the salt and sour cream, added chili powder at the end according to my preference, and topped the soup off with baked tortilla chips.  Usually, I don't cook soup because it takes a long time for it to cook, but this is definitely a soup worth waiting for.  I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.  Definitely give this soup a chance, and it will win your heart over.

Last but not least, here's a brief update on my crush life.  Sadly, the crush I mentioned in the last post has already faded.  Every time I saw the guy, he acted like he normally does but made no signs of being interested in me as anything more than just a friend.  After a few days, I felt that giggly feeling slip away when I was around him, and all was back to normal again.  Do crushes usually work this way?  I always thought that if you liked someone, that feeling would stay around for longer than two weeks.  Maybe there are levels of "like," and this one just happened to be mild.  I'm still happy that I felt it, though.  It was like a breath of fresh air, and it helped me hope for something more.  It helped me believe that the next best thing in my life could just be right around the corner.

Happy Day

Happy Valentine's Day!

My parents are so cute.  They surprised me by sending this card in the mail.  I love that it's handmade!

Over these past few weeks a lot has happened.  I took my first CPA exam, FAR, a week ago.  I drove back home for the new year and had planned to take my exam on the 4th.  The roads were icing over, though, so the testing center closed that day.  Luckily, I was able to reschedule my exam two days later on a Sunday morning.  It was tough!  I kept reading blogs and hearing people say that the Becker practice exams were easier, but I definitely didn't feel as confident leaving that testing center as I would have liked.  My next exam, BEC, is in 11 days.  Time to get crackin' again!  Exam scores come out in March...There will be updates to follow.

In terms of new places I've been to, I went with some friends to Not Your Mama's Food Truck.  It was DELICIOUS!  We tried the fried chicken and beef tongue (see pictures below).  The portions were a good size.  Although one order won't make you unbutton your pants, you will feel satisfied.  To fill a guy's appetite, though, you may need to order a side along with the main dish.  So far, this has been my favorite food truck.  The fried chicken was cooked perfectly.  It had a crispy skin that wasn't overdone, and the sauce was finger lickin' good.  The beef tongue melted in my mouth, and it was so flavorful without being fatty.  It was nice to sit outside and enjoy the food, and Chef Ron can be a hoot, interjecting here and there.  I would highly recommend Not Your Mama's Food Truck to everyone!

For entertainment, I watched Black Swan starring Natalie Portman and The King's Speech starring Colin Firth during these last few weeks.  The Black Swan was a dark movie and the point of view of the movie was more psychologically deranged than I thought it would be.  I never knew the story of Swan Lake.  Here is a brief synopsis:

There was a princess who was turned into a white swan, and she could only be turned back if she found a man who truly loved her.  One day she meets a prince, and starts to fall in love with her.  However, the black swan, the white swan's evil look-a-like, seduces the prince, and the white swan loses the prince's love.  As a result, the white swan commits suicide because only through death can she be free.

I thought the story was very beautiful and tragic when I heard it.  Throughout the movie, I could see the transformation of the white swan into the black swan, and I kept thinking about the loss of innocence.  Once the curiosity of seduction and vengeance showed up as the black swan, the innocence of the white swan had no chance of surviving.

As for The King's Speech, I thought it was one of the best movies I had seen in a long time.  It's about Prince Albert's journey of overcoming his speech impediment.  I will give it to Colin Firth, his acting was great.  He won a Golden Globe for best actor, and I hope he wins an Oscar as well for his role in this movie.  I haven't watched anything else lately, but I do want to go see Just Go With It and No Strings Attached when I have time.

To wrap up my update, it is Valentine's Day!  As Spring rolls around, I can feel the love in the air, and it makes me smile.  Recently, I've started liking this guy.  I've known him for a while, and recently we've had more time to just talk about everyday things because our schedules overlap.  I admit, I feel giggly and smile a lot when I see him.  It's very cute.  I don't know if anything will come from this, but it is so nice to have a crush on someone again.  It gives me hope that there is a guy out there who can make me laugh more than I've ever laughed before and make me feel more alive than I've felt in a long time.  Well, he may not be doing it actively, but at least I know I can allow myself to think of a brighter future and enjoy it as it comes.  So, this Valentine's Day, I did not have any guy to call "Mine," but it was a happy one, nonetheless.  <3