Camping in Flag

So, we went camping in Flagstaff over Memorial Day weekend. The weather was nice there the week before, but for the weekend a cold front moved in. Karl and I showed up Friday night at 7 pm and started setting up fast so we could so we could get settled before it was dark. By the time our tent was set up and we were moving everything in it started to snow!!! So we got everything in and bundled up a bit more and then got ready to camp while snowing. We had borrowed a space heater that runs on propane so that helped. We also got Carson this warm fleece sleeper that saved us. He slept toasty warm each night. We called him our little Ewok in this outfit.

The wind kept Karl and I up a bit but the cold wasn't that bad. We spent a day checking out these old Native American ruins. It was pretty cool. The one with Carson is over a "blow hole." There was cool air just flying out of it. You can see Carson's hair coming up (and there was a gate on it so nothing can fall in).

We also played some more paint ball. For some reason my left arm was a magnet. I got hit three times in the left arm and once in the left hand. I was pretty sure if I got hit in that arm again I'd cry. Karl got a mean bruise on his back. But of course it was fun. We tried a new game where we all start together and get 10 seconds to run and hide - all against all. I didn't do so great though because I hadn't closed my hopper tight enough and all my paint spilled out as I was running to hide. So then I was frantically picking up paint as everyone else hid. Needless to say, I was the first out. We also all went and saw the new Indiana Jones movie. I thought it was pretty good but it was my 1st Indiana Jones movie ever so I didn't have expectations. I think some thought it was a little out there.

I got all my CPA review material and it is hefty. So now I'm going to start plugging away at that. Karl got to go to a Diamondbacks game with clients for work on Thursday. He had a good time. And then we both went to a D-Backs game last night. Karl won tickets at work. So that was fun. Vickie watched Carson for us and I forgot to take wipes over to her house. And of course Carson had a major mess. So if I ever ask you to babysit - perhaps make a checklist before I leave your house.

Carson is starting to talk complete jibberish all day long. It's pretty funny. Some of his favorites are liddle liddle and well...tons of others that I can't figure out how to spell. Karl and I are getting very excited for Hawaii. The Cordell family is going on June 21st. Also coming up is Carson's 1st birthday on the 18th. Karl and I have our 5 year anniversary on the 7th. Big month!


Kasey

Official

Well it's official - I'm employed. I start in September so I have the summer to pass the CPA exam and relax - and visit Spokane!!! I got the offer on Friday and am excited. I think Moss Adams will be a really good fit for me. So now Karl and I have a bunch of decisions to make.

I forgot to blog about an IRS day I had at the end of the semester. Our fraud accounting class got to be "IRS Fraud Investigators" for a day. It was pretty fun. We had to solve the accounting mysteries. We worked with a whole team of IRS agents and had to do interviews and fake search warrent situations. I was hoping that sometime in the day I could shout "Where were you on the night of the murder?"...but it never really applied. I should have just thrown it into my suspect interview anyway - that would have really scared them. Anyway, the project is called "Project Adrian." And the IRS has only done it at a few schools so far. It was really cool that they choose to try it at ASU. Here is the link to the school article on it http://asunews.asu.edu/node/3140. Our teacher, Barb Muller, is really involved and was my favorite professor ever. The project was really fun, although I'm pretty sure I'm not going to become a fraud investigator.

That's all - we're going camping this weekend so I'm sure there will be pics to come.

Oh Man

Time really flew all of the sudden. A few exciting things have happened in our lives.
Carson first...He is now walking like crazy. If he falls he just stands right back up and starts again. I keep trying to get video of it to post but of course he doesn't want to cooperate. I'll get it soon though. He holds his little arms out in front of him like Frankenstein. Another item, I took Carson to get his first hair cut at a real salon type place. I trimmed his hair the other night and it looked awful. It's just gotten so thick I can't do it very well anymore. So after I tried (and he looked like Jim Carey in Dumb and Dumber) I took him to Cool Cuts 4 Kids so they could fix it. We were in and out in 15 minutes and he now looks cute as can be. They sit the kids in a little car and strap them in. There is a TV at every station that is hooked up to movies, video games, whatever. So Carson watched Elmo and didn't even notice his hair being cut. He started to want to look all over though so I distracted him with bubbles. He didn't like when she got out the clippers because I held his head still. But once it was over he was happy. It's a real little boy haircut...all short on top. I tried to get some pics but it is so hard to see the difference not in person.

This pic is too funny. This is the only cabinet without the locks on it. I left it for him because there isn't anything breakable in it and I think he should be able to explore something. Anyway, he usually spends half the morning emptying it and playing with each item. The other morning though he worked so hard to get himself and his bunny inside. It took him quite awhile.



Karl was bored the other day and put Carson in this hutch (I know baby torture). Carson thought it was hilarious and kept smooshing his face against the glass.



This is one of his favorite places to sit. I pull out his toy box and he always just climbs right in and then starts to play.




School is finally over - and for me that means completely, for Karl that means for the summer. Karl only has one more year and then he's done with his Masters. I did really well and ended up with an overall GPA of 3.97. I'm pretty proud of that because I worked hard. People ask if I'm glad to be done...which I am because it's nice to reach a goal, but I really did enjoy my classes. I think I'll kind of miss it (I know weird). But I've entertained the idea of a masters somewhere down the road...we'll see. Karl did really well this last semester too. He really enjoyed his GIS class (a software program I don't know much about but you can look it up if you want to know more).

This weekend was especially FUN!!! Jessie came into town with the studio she teaches at for the NYCDA competition (you can also look up that if you want to know more). She came to be the convention's tap teacher's demonstrator. She came in Friday night and we all went out to dinner for Vickie's birthday!! Then we hung out at Vickie's and ate the delicious cake Josh made her. Saturday the convention began and I took full advantage of Jessie and sneaked into a few classes. Just to attend for a day is about $100 and you get a wrist band that allows you to roam free. I just didn't have a band and no one stopped me...so...their fault...right? I was just testing the system and they failed...moving on. I got to take three tap classes and watch a lot of jazz classes. I saw some incredible dancers. One of which...I think you might know her...Sabra Johnson!!!

Jessie and I were in the lobby when she walked right next to us and I turned into a 12 year old girl and had a little silent freak out. She's a celebrity to us so we were really excited. She was helping with the competition and teaching a few classes (she also sat right in front of us at the competition and Jessie got a pic of the back of her head with her cell phone, a need to get a copy of that). Anyway, the competition went great, Jessie did a great job demonstrating, I learned a few new tap tricks, and had so much fun. The tap teacher was named Danny Wallace and he's involved with a program called Tap the Map. They tour the US teaching tap workshops. I really hope the come to this area but it isn't planned yet. Tap is just so much more present on the east coast than it is here. Then Sunday night Jessie went back home. Anyway - a great weekend.


Funny story and then I'm done. (Warning: don't be offended my fellow AZ dwellers, as most of you already know...this city doesn't quite fit me perfectly) The weather was unusual for AZ today. It was cloudy and windy. I love these days. It is such a nice break from the blue and it makes me feel so excited. I was driving along and it started pouring rain. I just sat in my car smiling and loving every second. It made me feel like I was in a different city and I was thinking about how it will be nice to move someday. I came out of my day dream and realized "Funky Town" was playing on the radio. Right as I tuned into the song it said "Got to make a move to a town that's right for me." I started laughing so hard. Someday we'll probably move...but for now AZ is nice and definitely has it's benefits (family, warm winters, hmmmm, I'm sure there are more).

Well - that's all. Sorry it's long. I should have posted sooner.


Kasey