Thursday, April 24, 2008

Ernst & Young Here I come!

This fall I am quitting my job and going back to school full time. I'm two years out from receiving my Masters in Accounting (if all goes well). I have my degree, but since it's not in business, I need to take some prerequisite classes before I'm able to apply for the masters program. I'll finish up all those classes by Spring of 2009 and plan to attend graduate school that fall. I'm taking the GMAT in June (this year) to give me time if I need to retake it if by chance my score isn't high enough (I'm hoping that is not an option though).

Sorry for all the background, but it's kind of the reason I'm so excited. Because I have already started to take classes, I got involved in the accounting club. The club has professionals come in to talk to the students and the professionals plan events for the students so they may get to know them better for recruitment purposes. Anyway, after a lot of events, I really liked Ernst & Young the best. The people seemed sociable and while long hours are required for a big four firm, there was still flexibility. The employees seemed happy with their work environment. Therefore, I was pushing to ultimately get a job with them. I was also excited not to have to spend every day in the office!

They have a summer leadership program that I blogged about a couple of weeks ago. It's a foot in the door and a step in the right direction toward a career ultimately. I interviewed for a position in the program (it's a two day program where you basically get to job shadow) and I found out yesterday that I WAS ACCEPTED! I had felt like the interview went well, but because it's such a competitive place, I still had my doubts. So it made my day to get that phone call yesterday! If my plan goes well, this opportunity will lead to an internship with them next summer and then a position as a staff member the following summer when I graduate from the master's program, so yay for me!

Spoiled Dog

So, John and I may not go out and buy things for Ginger all the time, but we definitely give her our undivided attention, take her running, take her to dog parks and play endlessly with her. She's one of those dogs that will come up to you and if you don't pet her, she will nudge your hand until it falls over her head in a petting stroke. Anyway, now that Ginger has stopped chewing her blanket that she sleeps with at the foot of our bed, we decided to get her a bed so she wasn't just sleeping on the floor (she's not allowed on beds, couches, chairs, etc.). The decision came after one day when I was sorting the wash into piles Ginger made her self a spot to lay on in our dirty clothes.


Anyway, we finally found a pillow like bed that fits her pretty well. We literally put it on the floor where her blanket use to be and this was the immediate response!

Friday, April 18, 2008

Harry Potter Suite

So Mnbc posted this letter that was written to J.K. Rowling and I seriously think it's about the most illogical letter I have ever read and don't even get me STARTED on the grammar!

Should you be interested (since the rest of this blog is going to COMPLAIN about it), the link to the letter is: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24189855/

First of all, who ever wrote this letter has obviously never learned the formal structure of an argument or even how to make a sentence flow from one idea to the next! This person is criticizing J.K. Rowling of suing one of her biggest fans because she feels that this fan is infringing on her copyright of Harry Potter. She is criticized because she has awarded this fan an award on his website which is a lexicon for Harry Potter. She encouranged it. But here is the thing, this fan's website was not for profit, but simply for hobby and it wasn't like he was posting her serious on his page. But now he comes out with a book in which he makes money from a publisher. Even the fan was concerned about copyright issues, but the publisher promises to protect the fan against any lawsuit and this fan publishes a book. Now JK Rowling feels that this book which is basically an encyclopedia for Harry Potter infringes on her copyright. Now I really don't care whether the suit has a good legal cause or not. My point is this letter doesn't even focus on that. It really just tells J.K. Rowling how much this person is NOT a fan and it's an excuse to vent some of his or her stupidity as a person!

Attack Scare

So, this morning John had to leave early to finish setting up for the Scrapbooking USA Expo in Salt Lake. He had to be there at 7:00a.m. I decided to get up with him and take our dog for a jog since the remainder of the day she would have to remain in her cage (the show goes until midnight - I am going over to help after I get off of work). We live right next to Liberty Park which is THE BEST park ever for all around activities. Well, Ginger has been there plenty of times and she was excited to go. I normally run about 2-3 times around the park which is approximately 3-4.5 miles. We got to the first bend in the park where there were two stray dogs. Well those dogs came running over to us and they surrounded Ginger. One in front of her in her face and the other behind her. Her shackles came up and she was on a leash. I tried to keep running with Ginger, but these dogs wouldn't leave her alone and they looked like they were ready to attack her or myself if we did any sudden moves. I started to get a little scared as it was pretty early and there was no one around. I'm not one to ever scream or yell or really lose control of a situtation, but I backed up against a lamp pole and just began screaming at these dogs to go away. At one point they started barking and jumping on Ginger and I started to cry because I didn't know what to do and I didn't want to get hurt. Well the whole thing lasted about five minutes and the dogs seemed to lose interest and ran off to another runner with a dog. I took my oppotunity to turn around and run out of the park. I still really wanted to run but I was afraid of the dogs. I decided to run around the outside of the park block just across the street. Well, again when I got to that corner, one of the dogs seemed to notice Ginger and began running toward the street. Because the street wasn't busy at that hour, I didn't think the dog would hesitate to cross the street and attack Ginger or both of us. So I gave up and sprinted home. I also heard some other people yelling at those dogs. I didn't even see if the dogs had tags as I didn't want to be anywhere near then. Anyway, it was probably one of the scariest moments of my life as you never know what an unfamiliar dog will do, nor do you know how vicious they can be. I'm just grateful that Ginger and I were able to get away without being hurt! Ginger reacted very well to the situation and seemed to stay calm. I came home to call animal control, but I couldn't find them in the yellowpages. I could only find pet stores. Dex DOESN'T know! I finally gave up and got ready for work.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Young Women's President

I was put into the young women's presidency last June right before our young women went on a pioneer trek! I've been the first counsler, but all I have ever really had to do was play and give rides and teach every once in a while. Well, NOW I'm the PRESIDENT. I'm excited because I have some ideas I want to impliment, but scared at the same time because I'm going to have such a HUGE impact on these girls lives. So I'm excited, but nervous.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Accounting

I have been going back and forth over the last year debating whether I want to go back to school, my desire to learn, and my nack for accounting. I went to an openhouse for Ernst & Young, one of the big four public accounting firms. I have gone to a couple of events put on for accounting students for them and I was still really intreged with the idea of a career there. After talking to John, I made the decision that if I was going to go back, I had to do it 100% and not just half way. Therefore, we decide that in August, I would quit work and attend college fulltime to finish the classes I needed to apply to the masters of accounting program. I should finish my Masters in May of 2010. I applied for the summer leadership program for Ernst & Young and have been accepted for an interview! I'm super excited about it. It will happen Friday, April 11, 2008 in the afternoon. Hopefully, I'll be accepted into the program. Additionally, I am studying for the GMAT and I plan to take it June 14, 2008.