It has come . . .

Well, I know it was inevitable, but...

THEY CAME!!!!

They...the $150, 11 pound, 2913 combined pages.

They...the 2012-2013 Wiley CPA Exam Review Books.

Yikes!!

There's not excuse now. No hiding. They're here. Time to buckle down and let the studying begin.

Volume 1 is all of the outlines and study guides while Volume 2 contains the problems and solutions to work through to prepare you.

Look at those babies...massive! Intimidating. Haunting.

and...in case you were wondering, they're taller than my hand on my side.

Yes, I know you were wondering.

The pages are huge and the typing is microscopic. The pages are also thinner than tissue paper, which my very wise husband informed me means I can't use a highlighter, as it will just soak allll the way through (a few pages probably). Ridic.

Yes, I'm in panic mode. Massive panic mode. "What did I get myself into...?!" mode.

My goal for the night (it was a long day playing hookie from work) is to read the introduction, which in and of itself is 30 pages.

Wish me luck and send prayers my way!!

Neither Here Nor There . . .

Amen!

This seems like a fitting opening for this post as I feel like all I do is eat. Wes made a (very true) comment at 1:30 this afternoon...

"You've been eating lunch for an hour and a half."

Yup. I did. I didn't eat much, I just couldn't get satisfied. I had some nachos (chips, cheese, hamburger, and a lil sour cream), and then about half an hour later I had a toasted cheese sandwich. Half an hour after that I was eating graham crackers.

It's ridic. I just wish when I ate I got satisfied (as I shove countless grapes in my mouth).

I know my Friday Letters post was a little...less than happy.

I had a horrible day at work. Most of it was probably...well, not self-inflicted, but ...

...I guess I didn't do a good job of trying to have a good attitude. It just seemed like one of those days that things couldn't get better. Wes gave me a shoulder rub at lunch and that really made me feel better...........until I got back to work. It just never ended. Nothing was that bad...I just had a bad attitude towards work.

Which leads me to the next topic. I'm taking tomorrow off. Plans?, you ask. Nope.

I just need a mental health day, basically. Wes has the day off as well, so I can fully justify it. I think we'll probably go out for a meal and I need to get a new pillow and  body pillow at Walmart. Nothing glam, just some "us" time.

So, my CPA exam book will be here tomorrow. Yikes! You know what that means, right? Jenna needs to get busy! I've consulted my e-mentor as well as my favorite previous prof for advice on which test (of the four) I should take first and how much time to give myself to study for each test. I think I'm going to give myself 4 weeks to study for the test. I figure much more than that and I'm going to start losing the information. I'm a horrible studier. Always have been. In high school I never even tried - honestly didn't have to (not to toot my own horn). In college, I needed to, but it's hard to learn how to study when you're 18+. It's one of those skills that seems like you should already have mastered. So here I am, 26 years old, trying to teach myself to study. Per my awesome prof, I am stocked up on index cards and will be making flash cards - that I can carry in my purse to review at work and such. Also, my prof said he studied about 2 hours a day.

So, my initial goal was to get 2 (of the 4) tests done before Baby Beck comes in December. Prof said this is a good and doable goal. The more I think about it, the more I want to push myself to try to take more. It's possible for me to get all 4 taken before Baby Beck comes. I'm not sure how well I'd do or how I'd cope mentally or emotionally, though. To do so, I'd need to take one by the end of July, one by the end of August, (September is a black-out month) one by the end of October, and one by the end of November. Then, once I find out my scores, potentially start retaking them.

Well, that's enough. I won't bore you guys anymore with my CPA talk. :)

I think I can . . .

Wow, it's been a month since I've posted on here. No excuses, I'm just lame.

Today was a roller coaster of emotions, as has been the last month or so. I officially graduated from Buena Vista University May 26th with my BA in Accounting. I was very excited to finally have the completed and the campus was a beautiful place to visit. Leading up to the graduation ceremony, though, I started thinking about the CPA exams. Ana and I have been talking about tackling these obstacles for a while now and I knew I needed to find the motivation. Slowly but surely, I convinced myself I could do this. Talking to my old professor, Lee, really helped too. He's truly so motivational - I need one of his pep talks recorded for the times I don't believe in myself...and I told him as much. Well, all was good and well until I remembered I need to have 150 credit hours completed to be a CPA. So even though I had completed my BA, I wasn't guaranteed to have the 150 hours and be in the clear. So, BVU mailed me my official transcript along with my diploma. The transcript said 129 hours. No! This couldn't be right! Are you kidding me?! I went to three different colleges: University of Iowa, Kirkwood Community College, and Buena Vista University. You're telling me in the eight years I took classes from three different institutions I didn't rack up 150 credit hours?! You'd never be able to tell by my student loan balance, jeesh! It wasn't fair. There had to be a mix up. I kept telling myself these things. So I called my advisor at BVU and asked her if the transcript they sent me was complete with all other institutions I took classes at. She explained to me that there are a limited number of credits they can transfer in from other colleges, especially community colleges. I got my hopes up...I refused to get down on this until I got my transcripts directly from U of I and Kirkwood. There had to be classes I took at those places that hadn't been transferred to BVU. I took Chemistry classes at U of I, for crying out loud. Surely BVU didn't find those applicable to my Accounting degree. They must not be on my transcript. That's it!

So, my U of I transcript comes in the mail and sure enough, it has 55 credits, just like the BVU transcript noted. Ok, Kirkwood...Kirkwood had to have something.

So, today I called Kirkwood...17 credits, just like the BVU transcript noted.

Many profanities were proclaimed. I may have shed a tear. The light at the end of the tunnel, the glimmer of hope...was gone. I, indeed, needed 21 more credit hours. 7 more classes. I thought I was done! I had finally motivated myself to go towards my CPA. I had started to believe in myself. I believed that I can do this - I can be a licensed CPA!

Now I had 7 classes standing in my way. Eff.

My dear dear friend, Ana, came to my rescue, though. She reminded me that yes, I need 150 credit hours but I don't need them to sit for the exam in the state of Iowa...I need them afterwards to get licensed. Sooooooooo...what does this mean?

This, my friends, means I can take the 4 CPA exams and then complete my 150 credit hours. After that is complete and I take the Ethics course and pay my registration fees, I can get licensed. Phew!

So I will soon be buying this huge book to start the grueling studying. I don't know how I'm going to do it, honestly. I don't have discipline and I am not good at having structure. That's exactly what I need, though. Structure. I will need to be more diligent than ever to get this accomplished. One must pass all 4 tests in an 18 month period, so my goal is to get the first two done by the end of the year that way I'll have a year to finish the other two and retake any if necessary.

Please pray for me...not only that I do well, but that I stay structured, disciplined, and motivated. Any continuous motivational words will be greatly appreciated.

I promise a much happier post soon......very soon!!