87 baby!

I just realized that I never posted my CPA results on the blog! OOPS!

I'm sure most of you have heard already, but just in case we missed anyone in the spreading of good news...I passed FAR with an 87 (you need 75 to pass)! Woo-Hoo! So happy to have that one over and done with.

Next up is Regulation (Business Law & Federal Taxation) on Monday, Aug 25th.

Thank you all for your prayers and support!

PARASAILING AT FT MYERS BEACH

Our Sunday School class had a get-together at Ft Myers beach last Saturday. One of the couples in our class owns Paradise Parasailing and offered to give us a huge discount on the fun. Tim and two other guys from class (Brian and Brent) went up together. All was going well…until they started accelerating toward the water. They thought Neil (the owner) was just doing a little “dip” and that they’d be flying high again in a split second. But they kept going down….faster….faster….spalsh! In the water. Something on the boat broke down (nothing major) and the boys ended up sitting in the water for about 15 minutes! Tim said scenes from JAWS were flashing through his mind. Luckily our boys all made it home safe and sound!

One down, Three To Go!

I (Tiffany) sat for the Financial Accounting and Reporting section of the CPA exam yesterday! It's such a relief to have it behind me. I won't receive my scores for 4-6 weeks, so the anticipation is almost as tortorous as the test itself! You only need a score of 75 to pass, so let's just keep our fingers crossed! If I did pass, that means I have 18 months to pass the three remaining sections. Up next is Regulation (taxes, business law, etc), which I'm planning to sit for in July or August. I'm looking forward to having a few weeks off before starting the grueling study process for the Regulation section!

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement through this process! It means so much.

CONGRATS TO TIM!!!

The long nights of studying are finally over (well…almost) for my dear husband. Tim graduated from the Florida Academy of Massage and Skin Care on Thursday, May 1st. Woo-hoo!

Tim’s the type of guy that won’t really go around bragging about himself…but lucky for him he has a wife who is happy to do it for him! Let me just tell you that my husband is DA BOMB. Seriously. For four straight months, this guy got up every morning, went to school, came home for a half hour, went to work until 10pm, came home to study, slept a little… repetedly. Not only did he do all of that, but he received THREE different awards at graduation. Yes, you heard me correctly…THREE.
1) PERFECT ATTENDANCE! That’s something that I’ve never ever ever achieved in my life. What kind of awesome dedication is that!?
2) EXCEPTIONAL ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE! This award was given to the few graduating students who completed the program with a 90% or above!
3) THE 111 AWARD! Tim was one of two people in his graduating class to receive this award. Every student was given the opportunity to receive it, but only Tim and one other person actually did! He received this award for giving his instructor, Terry, a PERFECT massage – not a single error! And here’s the best part…not only does Tim get recognition at graduation for this great achievement, he also will receive a 3-hour massage from Terry at his clinic in Naples! Now that’s what I call a great reward!

I’m so proud of Tim. It was a difficult four months for him, but he made it – and he did it with excellence. The bible tells us to ‘do all your work as unto the Lord’ – with the excellence and dedication that we would give as if doing it for Him. Great job, Tim!

Christmas Pictures

Here are some pictures from our fun family time on Capitva Island at Christmas!

New Year, New Resolutions

2008. A new year. Fresh possibilities.

I usually make New Year's Resolutions. Yes, I'm aware that statistics prove the unlikeliness of me actually keeping my resolution, but that doesn't deter me from taking advantage of the opportunity to reflect on the previous year of my life and finding areas that need improvement.

One of the resolutions I made this year was to be more serious and disciplined in my bible memorization. I own the "fighter verses" set from Bethlehem Baptist Church (strategically chosen verses that equip believers for the fight of faith) but somewhere along the way got out of the habit of using them. So I was thrilled to discover a free email-based bible memorization tool at http://www.biblememory.us/ that offers the "fighter verses"! This is a great tool. It sends me an email every morning with my memory verse. The first day, it gives you the whole verse. The second day it gives you the verse with one word removed that you must fill in. The third day, another word is removed...and so on. You can use one of the many pre-set programs, or you can set up a program with your own verses. It even allows you to choose your preferred version of the bible. I LOVE IT!

The verse I'm currently memorizing is Deuteronomy 7:9, "Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands."

Try it. If you're an email junkie, its a great way to stay accountable on hiding the Word of God in your heart.

First Day of School!

Yesterday was Tim's first day of school! He is attending the Florida Academy of Massage and Skin Care. In just 17 short weeks he will be a nationally licensed Massage Therapist! I can't wait until he needs to start practicing :)

Please keep him in your prayers during this time. The program is short, but very rigorous. He has class all day M-F and already had a few hours of homework last night! In addition, he has to complete a high number of clinical hours prior to graduating. His schedule went from casual to intense overnight (literally!).

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

How lucky we are! This year definitely ranks up there as one of the most enjoyable Christmas times EVER!

The entire Hauser family traveled down to Southwest Florida for the week of Christmas. Ten of us (Jim, Judy, Troy, Jessica, Annika, Sammy Pants, Andrew, Andrea, Tim, and I) shared a 4-bedroom house on Captiva Island for the week.

The dogs had to rough it at "The Dog Resort" (not really roughing it...they had so much fun it took them two days of sleeping to recover!).

We spent our days sunbathing, gathering shells, long walks on the beach, relaxing in the pool, watching cartoons with Annika, and trying to hold baby Sammy (although he definitely favors the arms of his mother above anyone else). Each evening we had a home-cooked meal together with each couple taking a different night to provide the meal. After dinner we usually struck up a highly competitve card game or a relaxing movie (or both, which created much contention over noise levels).

We ate out at our three favorite island spots: The Bubble Room, The Mucky Duck, and Cheeburger Cheeburger (not all in the same day, of course).

And on our last day...after dreaming about it all week...Dad finally rented the Hobie Cat and allowed us to share in the fun! The wind wasn't strong enough to whisk us along the water with great speed...but we still had a fun time.

Even though Tim and I didn't travel far from home, it definitely felt like a vacation. Relaxing, fun, over too soon.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!