Recent Events

I have been Blog M.I.A. for the past week,so I am going to update you on life.

A couple of weeks ago our company had their annual PAAMCO Cup in Newport Beach at the Hyatt. It was set up as a scramble. Each hole had some sort of handicap like swing with a kids club, throw the golf ball, closest to the pin, etc. We played on teams of 5 or 6. We then had dinner on the golf course and had some yummy drinks throughout. Sadly, I did not win a prize or a raffle gift, but I had tons of fun nonetheless. See some of my dorky pictures below. We were "Team Pink" but we didnt win best dressed :(

About a week after the golf event, the Newport Jaycees had a mixer on a boat that sailed around the Newport Harbor. Jake and I put on a donation drive to benefit the USO. We will be sending out care packages to troops overseas at the end of the summer. I think we raised about $200 from the Silent Auction (picture below of our fabulous gifts donated by my awesome mom and roommate). We collected about $75 worth of care package goodies and we plan on doing a raffle at the next mixer at the end of August to raise even more money. See some pics below from the boat (They're not very good).

Other than that, I've been studying like crazy for my CPA exam on Auditing. I failed the test back in April and found out in late June that I would have to take it again. I re-took the test this past Monday morning and I feel much more comfortable than last time about it. I hope I did enough to pass! I wont find out my score until mid to late September, so now I can enjoy my summer! Woo hoo! No more studying!

I also wanted to mention that we just found out on Sunday night that two of our closest friends are pregnant! These two crazy kids have been married for a couple of years now, and the Mrs. has wanted a little one for awhile now. I'm so happy this has finally happened for them and I cant wait to spoil this kiddo. He or she will be a great new addition to our circle of friends!

Also....Last night was my little bro's 21st birthday! He's been having a rough time lately adjusting to adulthood, but I love him so much and I'm glad I got to spend some time with him on his special day. He invited my parents and I to dinner, which, in normal families would be just great, but my parents are divorced and havent spoken in the past 3 or 4 months. I was really nervous that they would fight or cause a scene, but it actually went really well. (I'm not sure why I always think they will cause a scene when they are together, because they never have in the past. I guess I just think their bottled up emotion may just explode in a restaurant in front of 50-60 strangers and I'll be left to pick up the pieces.) Anywho, it was so so nice to be able to sit at the dinner table as a family again and have good conversation. I know my mom was a little uncomfortable, but we all knew it was my brother's day and we werent going to let anything ruin it. I only took this one picture of my bro last night, but I think its a goody! Have fun in Vegas bud!

On another note, I wanted to share a personal battle I've been dealing with privately. I had only talked about this with Jake and my mom for the past month or so. Let me start from the beginning.

My mom invited me to breakfast about a month ago and I suggested we go to Rockwells. I was so excited to spend time with my mom because I felt like we hadn't had too much alone time lately. We talk everyday, but we hadn't sat down and had a face-to-face conversation in God knows how long. When we got there, my mom was acting kind of funny and was really fussy about what table we sat at. We moved 3 times. I finally was like, "Mom, whats up? You're acting strange." She then started talking about some very personal issues and crying at the table. We hadn't even ordered yet!

She had this whole big build up to the news she brought me there to say. About two days earlier, she found a lump in her breast. I had an immediate knot in my stomach and my eyes began to water. What do you mean there is a lump in your breast? This cant happen to you! She saw I was already getting worked up and tried to calm me down by saying its very early and she hasn't even been to the doctor, but she wanted me to know. I think subconsciously she didnt want to deal with this alone. So we sat there and cried together. Finally, I said enough. Let's enjoy what is left of this breakfast. There is no use crying over this if we dont even know what it is. We left on a happy note after a long hug in the parking lot and lots of kisses :)

I cried the whole drive home. When I got there, Jake was studying or doing something on his computer. He saw that something was wrong, but I just told him I was tired and I went to sleep. I couldnt decide if I wanted to tell him right away or not. I thought that talking about it, whatever it was, would give it fuel. It would give the disease or cyst or whatever it was power over me and I wouldnt be able to stop it. I know its weird, but thats how I felt at first. Then I came out of our room after my nap and saw Jake. I couldnt keep this from him. I tell him everything. So we sat down and talked about it and I'm so glad I did. He calmed me down and told me to not get worked up over something we didnt know yet. Which is totally what I needed.

Fast forward to last week....and my mom finally had her visit with a breast specialist. My mom said the woman was absolutely wonderful and so caring, which I'm really glad about because she needed it at this point in time. The doctor told her that it is most likely a hormonal imbalance that has caused the growth. She told her to stay away from anything with caffeine in it and take some special vitamin. What a relief! Except......my mom drinks about 5 cups a coffee per day. So it is not much relief to her energy level, but we are beyond excited that she is healthy.

This whole experience has taught me to really appreciate your loved ones and be able to lean on your support systems when you need them. If I hadn't talked to Jake about this, I would have gone crazy with worry. I remember standing in my bathroom looking in the mirror one morning getting ready for work and just breaking down. I was in the middle of putting my make up on and just started bawling. I was thinking what my wedding day would be like without my mom, or what having a baby would be like without her there. (....and I'm crying now...perfect!) Anyway, in the middle of my meltdown, Jake came in to give me a hug. He told me, again, we cant think this way, we need to be positive. He was so right and I'm so greatful for him! So glad this is all over now!

Very long post, I'm sorry. I had to get that out!