i was talking to my friend phu about eating foods in their respective motherland...fish n chips from the u.k. or pho in vietnam. anyways, i thought of my trip to london, of course. it brought back memories of the yummy fish n chips i had in a small restaurant in picadilly circus in london. also the fabulous chocolate beignets that i bought everyday in the subway when i went to paris.

it really excites me that i get to eat *real* italian food since i'll be visiting italy this summer. i'll get to taste foods from different regions of italy too, which should be quite fun. and i get to eat ...and then foods in the french oceanside (in nice)..and then there's monte carlo. i'm curious to how their cuisine is like. i told my family i would be adventurous with the foods of the regions we visit. yes..i'll even eat the veggies. =D i may stick to my usual meats bc i can't eat anything else but beef, chicken, pork, and seafoods. hah.

but i do miss london. i'd love to go again. and this time, take the super train to a different country. maybe belgium...or germany...somewhere new. ^___^

so i love my job. it's not the most exciting job in the world, but i like it. i like the people i work with and my bosses are pretty cool. the problem? if i keep working the hours i work, i'll never get anything else done in my life.

i haven't studied for the cpa exam in about 3 months. i have no time. i barely have time to sleep. i barely have time to go visit my parents. i'm never going to get married. if i'm always here and never out n about, i'll never have the chance to run into anyone. i can't even make it out to walk with friends at the park. i'd like to go take a nice long walk after work...get some exercise in, but look...it's 9:22pm. not exactly the safest time to go walking. by the way, i'm still at the office. i'm not wasting time. i'm running some processes, so while that's running, i am blogging. my apartment is a mess. i can't stand it, but by the time i get home tonight, it'll be past 10, if i'm lucky enough to leavee that early. all i'll want to do is sleep. *sigh*

i'm going to miss out on camping again. i missed last time bc of work, and once again, i'm missing it bc of work. the only things i have to look forward to is san francisco in april and the mediterranean cruise in june. i'm so thrilled. getting to take a break. i'm really really thrilled.

so according to all sorts of news sources, we should feel the effects of ike tomorrow morning by 10am. to all my people in houston, be safe. =)

i left my apt. and have gone to my parents. i'd rather not be alone through the storm. at the moment, i am drinking wine, laughing it up with my siblings, and now writing in my lj, which i haven't done in quite some time.

i assume we will lose power..or so they say. they have these nifty maps that say *hey guess what, winds will be this strong and you're guaranteed to lose power* the bad thing is the no air bit. i could open a window, but not sure i'd like the rain to come in. tornadoes, i wish they'd stay away. i think that's what freaks me out the most. to be sleeping and just hear my roof being ripped off and i fly away to oz or something.

the guys at work were talking about their weapons...and how they will use whatever is necessary to protect their homes from looters. understandable. i should think i live in a pretty decent neighborhood for crap like that to not happen. we weren't part of the mandatory evacuation, so i think we'll be ok for the most part. the no water and no electricity thing is going to suck, but i've got wine, beer, water, and food.

unfortunately, the events of hurricane ike have overshadowed the day that is sep. 11. it's been 7 years. i still remember what happened that day and i dont think i'll ever forget. sitting in intermediate accounting I w/ mrs. garza talking about it all. the girl in the bathroom talking about her boyfriend being deployed asap. the unending news coverage of the twin towers falling. the phone calls and text msgs to friends and family who worked in nyc. driving home and hearing silence as the radio dj announced the towers fell.

i still pray for those who were affected by the tragedy and hope that their loved ones are all doing well and have done their best to move on. i still think of john and the sacrifice he made. i don't cry anymore. that part is over with, but it doesn't mean i don't care or that i've forgotten.

so i've been searching for a new lens for my camera. i wanted a nicer one than what i had, which was the kit lens, but i wanted it for general purpose use. the one i REALLY wanted, was the canon 23-105mm lens, but that was a bit above my price range...soooo i opted for the tamron 17-50mm f/2.8.

i didn't get as camera happy this weekend as i would have liked, but i was busy. anyways, i went around the house and took pics of random things.



that was my favorite of all the ones i took. if you want to see others, go to my flickr page...

http://flickr.com/photos/chelleq

i think i'll head up to the park next weekend. hopefully it's not scorching hot like it was today...gosh *dies*

so i've been studious lately. i have the REG section of my CPA exam in a week and a half. i've been spending many a night here at coffee groundz studying. constantly reading and practicing and answering questions and then feeling hopeless. this exam isn't easy. i've tried this one before, but this time i've been more dedicated to passing. wish me luck.

why i'm writing, though, is i notice there's tons of other people here trying to pass some difficult tests. there's a girl next to me who's bar exam is in 3 weeks. the guy across from me told me he's not slept bc of his anesthesiologist exam. there's also quite a few med students in here with their huge books full slightly grotesque photos. it's a little scary. these tests determine our lives. if you don't pass the bar, what do you do? if i don't pass the cpa, i don't get to move much further in this field. if you can't become an anesthesiologist, then what? the pressure to pass these tests are insane. i keep telling myself i can't fail, bc if someone tells me "it's ok you did your best," i'll probably cry. if that was my best and i still failed, it would suck.

i can't concentrate at work because, honestly, all i want to do is stay home and study. i want to read and answer questions until my accounting brain knows it all. i want to pass...so now i will leave it at this. this took 15 minutes, but i really felt like letting it out. anyways, back to the big green book that is REGULATION. when i pass this bad boy, i will know about all sorts of tax and contract law. weeee =D

so i've officially moved. this is my first night in the new place. i'm exhausted though. i spent almost all of last night moving stuff in and putting it all away...and then today i took off to move more. i've still got a few things to move, but we'll be doing that this weekend.

the new place is spiffy. i love it. granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, wood floors, and nice neighborhood. i even met one of my neighbors today. she was nice, but warned me about the many pet owners on our floor who's pets always bark. i haven't heard anything yet, but hey, it's only the first day.

i live around the corner from starbucks and jamba juice. there's a movie theater a block away. and theyre building a huge costco on the next street over. im gonna enjoy this place i think =)

its definitely time to sleep though. i'm pretty tired tonight.

in 2 weeks, i will be living on my own for the first time in nearly 30 years. i never left home for college, so i've always been at home. i had goals before hitting the big 3-0 and that was one of them. i'll be MUCH closer to work, thank goodness. With gas prices sky rocketing, it helps that work is only 5 minutes away. i hear gas prices will increase 20 to 30 cents in the next month. hooray for my clients, but quite boo for me and the rest of the country.

anyways, im quite excited, yet quite nervous at the same time. i know i won't starve, since im domesticated and can cook up more than creamy chicken ramen or frozen totino's party pizza in classic pepperoni, although i will be eating those aforementioned items =) i'm scared of heavy thunder and lightning, so i've gotta toughen up on that end. no noise whatsoever bothers me..it makes me feel TOO alone. lol...but other than that, i think i'll be okay ^___^

my mommy's really sweet though. she's throwing me a moving out party. i was coerced into creating a gift registry at two places. as corny as it sounded, i had a really fun time picking out stuff. granted i'll only get a few things, but that doesn't matter. it was still fun...and as i stressed over finding furniture, her and my sister are giving me my couch n coffee table. i was moved to tears. =)

the best part is...being able to cook the food i want to cook without someone saying *i dont want that tonight..make something else* >=)

please excuse me as i jump happily up and down for a moment. i get a phone call today and my mom's like...you still want brad paisley tickets right? and i'm like O______O yesss! and she goes, do you want the floor tickets or in the seats?? and i'm like I GET TO CHOOSE?! but i chose the seats...if yall have been to the rodeo before...it's kinda muddy and dirty down there on the ground and i don't love brad paisley enough to get my cute shoes n outfit dirty. the seats are definitely not bad. it's on the 2nd tier of the reliant stadium...*does a happy dannnnnce*

and bc my other friend is awesome, i get tickets to the great bbq cook off >=) i LOVE rodeo time ^_^ if any of my out of town friends want to pay me a visit, i suggest you come in march, when it's rodeo time. i promise yall will have fun and it'll be an experience for sure.

i have 4 blogs. do i really have that much to say to the world? i guess so. anyways, i added the two new ones on the links to the side.

the first one is my kind of diet blog. keeping track of how the diet is going, progress or regress, and what i'm doing to achieve my goals. http://nomorechub.wordpress.com

the second one is one my friend and i created to share our recipes. we both cook/bake alot and always want to try the others recipe and this was an easier way to do so. and, we get to share with everyone else too. http://eatyet.wordpress.com

the third one is my food travel blog. good lord. why are all of these related to food in some way? ahahaha... http://yummy2me.livejournal.com i haven't traveled in a while. i'll definitely need to post something new on here.

"Surely you must know...you must know...it was all for you" -Mr. Darcy

I would like Matthew MacFadyen (He who played Mr. Darcy) to say that to me. I would love any man to say that to me and mean it. hah. Well, I watched the 2005 version of Pride & Prejudice this evening. I've wanted to watch it for awhile, but I kept forgetting to borrow it from Angela. So I was at best buy and figured I should just go ahead and make the purchase. I loved it. For some reason, and it's a bit hazy bc the last time I read this book was over 10 years ago, I thought the ending was more...depressing? I may be getting it confused with another book though. It was yet another feel good British film. I almost want to watch it again tonight.

I feel the British capture my heart when it comes to love stories. Like, I absolutely adore Love Actually. It's one of my favorite movies of all time. It gives me hope when I watch it. I'm a single woman, and when I watch that, I feel like there's hope for me yet. It makes me feel good. Then there was 4 Weddings and a Funeral. I know that movie's so so old, but I thought it was hilarious. British humour is different, but it amuses me. Then, there's Bridget Jones Diary. That was just funny.

AND let us not forget the actors in these films. Colin Firth. Isn't he just all sorts of love? He's a good looking man, and he plays the most charming roles. Hugh Grant. I dont particularly think he's hot, but the characters he play are just right for him I think. Then there's Jude Law. What a good looking guy. *swoon*

All this british-ness makes me miss London. I want to go back. I want to go when the flowers are blooming and the weather is nice.