In Other News....

Just a quick update with what's going in my life!!

The rest of my family (my mom, dad, and lil bro Steve-Dawg) came out to visit me over the Fourth of July. It was hot, but we were actually in a "cool front" while they were here. You know, 98 and 99 degree highs... Sigh, I love it here....Anyway, here are a few pictures of our adventures.

In true Stephen form....something illegal.

Stephen in the Grassy Knoll.

 Dad and Stephen in front of a statue by the Asian Art Museum...don't go there...you'll get offended...oh wait, I think that was just me....

And that's all the pictures....four....someday I will take more pictures...and perhaps one day I'll be in them too. :) haha. Thanks for coming to visit me! Even though it was super hot!!!!

In other news, my study materials for my next exam arrived in the mail. yeah! Gearing up to study again. My next exam is MFE...Financial Economics. Just so y'all know (I am trying to sound Texan...is it working?), my fine readers...every single one of you...are invited to have a study party with me. :)

Also in other news, I've decided that it's absolutely necessary to go swimming EVERY SINGLE DAY...except Sunday of course.

This pool is my new home....everyday at 8:30 :)

Big D to the Big D

Big D (aka my little bro Daniel) came to the Big D (otherwise known as Dallas). How fitting is that?!?! Anyways here are some pictures from his visit:
The Red Museum with Reunion Tower in the background. 

 Daniel being really cool in front of the Red Museum and Reunion Tower.

 The Guadalupe Cathedral. The inside is quite impressive as well.

 Daniel being kind of silly.

I am no Miley Cyrus; even with my sweet Miley Cyrus pose. 

 

 I think there are a lot of Mav's fans in Dallas. Just to clarify, Daniel is not one of them.

 From the base of Reunion Tower where we had dessert.

 

The end. Thanks Daniel for coming to visit me!

please allow me to toot my own horn

I'm a really good cook.

La Cucaracha

So Daniel (my brother) is currently in town to visit (another post on that later). We've been having a pretty good time doing the whole Dallas thing...well at least I hope he is! Anyways, we were hanging out at my apartment on Friday night. Daniel walks out of the bathroom to call me in to look at something. I go into the bathroom, and what do I see???? I see two antenna sticking out of the overflow face plate (yes, I had to Google that term to know what it was called...perhaps you should Google it to in order to get the full visual. :) ). They were about 2 inches long. SICK.

We were on our way out to go to the Firewheel Mall, so we just left it there and went on our merry little way. When we returned, the nasty little guy made his appearance on the bottom of the bathtub! Don't worry though, the good pictures are on Daniels' phone, so you won't be completely disgusted by the semi-blurry pictures that I am about to post. 

We ran to Walgreen's, and this is what we purchased:

We were two people on a mission! It was gonna be a good night!!!!

Oh boy am I glad that Daniel was there to save me from this most dramatic event. :) The roach (at least we're pretty sure it was a roach) didn't even have a chance. The guy died in seconds.

I went to my apartment's office the very next day to report this little germ spreading incident. I dramatically told them the situation (ok, maybe I just explained it to them), and they were like, "ok, we'll send pest control out on Monday." WHAT!!!???!!! I could have died.

My Backyard

Keep Austin Weird

 So my parents made the trip down to Austin this past weekend. It was a very eventful plane ride for them, as their plane was struck by lightning in the air. There ended up being a hole in the plane! BUT!!! they made it safely, and for that I am glad. I made the drive down to Austin to see them as well as my bro and sister in law. We braved the humidity, and boy howdy it was bad! We went to the Texas History Museum. I must say, I feel a bit more Texan...scratch that...I will never be Texan. We went to the botanical gardens later in the afternoon. Just some advice, don't go in the middle of the afternoon when it's 90 degrees outside and 95% humidity. It suddenly isn't as enjoyable. Take that for what it's worth.


 Here is a picture of downtown Austin from the botanical gardens.

 Here is a pretty pink flower.

 Here is a nasty lizard. I would jump EVERY SINGLE TIME I saw one. Yes, I am a wimp, and they were everywhere. Hey, at least I was entertaining for everyone else!

Here is a picture of yet another lizard.  I am sorry, but I get grossed out even looking at these pictures....let's move on.

We also went to the Lindon B. Johnson Library...sorry, no pictures....not my strong point. I enjoyed spending time with my family. As always, it was hard saying goodbye, but I hope to see them soon.

In other news, life has slowed down a bunch since my exam. I am not sure what to do with myself after work. I have been spending more time reading, hanging out with friends, talking on the phone, etc. I would like to say that I am becoming a better cook, but I want to be honest, and well, that would be a BIG FAT LIE! Here is one thing I am ok at making:

This is the first batch of cinnamon rolls/rolls I made with my new Kitchenaide...If you ever want cinnamon rolls, let me know!

The Day of Doom...

Today was the day. I took my third actuarial exam today and that is the reason I have been MIA from this blog in the past few weeks. I unfortunately ran out of time on the test and had to guess on some of the questions...ok, more than I would have liked. Oh well, I am glad the test is over. No more 12 hour days at work studying, plus hours and hours outside of work...at least for a few weeks anyway until it all starts up again. NO MORE FEELING LIKE A ROBOT! No more feeling like I am at the starting line of a race...my heart feeling like something has got a hold on it at all times. I am relieved. I am excited for a little break. I had plans to go shopping, or get my eyes checked (because I cannot see anything!), or clean my entire apartment after the exam, but I have been quite content to veg. I did get my apartment cleaned up, but that's about it. I will do better, be better tomorrow.

I would just like to take a moment to thank EVERYONE who has supported me in taking this test. The countless phone calls and texts sent to me (especially today!) encouraging me and supporting me in this desire of mine. Thank you for your support. Also, thank you Jonathan and Wendy for the free trial of Netflix (I activated it today, and it has allowed me to relax a little).

Peace out.