I passed!!!

I just heard late last night that I passed the big exam I took in December. Once I get all of my paperwork in I will be a Certified Information Systems Auditor.. Woohoo!

Thanks to everyone for your prayers! I definitely felt them up to and during the test. :)

Christmas 2008

As promised, here are pics from Christmas. This is going to be a huge post since I have so many great pictures! The Blaney family tradition is to spend Christmas eve at Jarod's grandparents house and then Christmas day with our family. This was Anna's first Christmas and it was so fun to have her there.

Here are some pictures at Christmas Eve with Jarod's grandparents.

This is a picture of me with my sister-n-law and Jarod's 2 cousins. It's a family tradition for the girls to get a picture on the couch. This picture was taken in Jarod's grandparent's basement where the money games are played. This year Jarod's won the money jar - that's where you have to guess the amount of coins in a jar.

Here's a picture of my mother-n-law Cheryl with Baby Anna. Isn't it cute?? :) Anna's little outfit was so adorable!

Here's a picture of the Blaney family including Daryl's mom Elaine.

Here is one of the money games in full swing! We get really competitive but I never win! haha!

Ok, on to pictures from Christmas with the Blaneys. As I mentioned this was Anna's first Christmas. And, Uncle Jarod tried to make her a present. :)

And then we decided to do some portraits.. Christmas is so much fun!

Last but not least - we added another family member this year - Jazzy! Cheryl got a new puppy and she is adorable! Here are some pictures of us enjoying her during Christmas. (reminds me so much of Liberty when she was a puppy!)

Keefers in Panama

As many of you know, my parents go away for a week at Christmas time. Mainly because they like the warm weather and they also enjoy taking a break when mom is out of school and Dad's work has slowed down. Here are some pics from the trip. They did some cool things - things I haven't even done yet! :)

This is a picture of my parents with "Chubby" he was our waiter for 3 different cruises collectively - once in the Caribbean when we went with my parents, this year when Jarod and I went to Italy and now when my parents went to Panama! How cool is that?

I think mom may be a little sick on the para sail.. I know I'd be having a nervous breakdown!

I'll post pictures soon of our Christmas adventures! :)

Life After "the test"

The test is finally over! I took the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) this past Saturday after months and months of studying! I can breathe and enjoy getting ready for Christmas. Many of you have asked how it went so I wanted to give you the details. I studied for this exam for the past 4 months - the last 2 months being really intense! My strategy going in was to go through the exam, answer what I could, take a break when I got through it the first time and then come back and take the exam again. - this is what Jarod did for the CPA and it worked well for him. I needed all the help I can get! :) I also brought peppermints to suck on - apparently they stimulate your brain during a test.

Day of the Exam!
I got up at 5am Saturday morning (12/13) with just enough time to read through my notes one last time and grab some breakfast before my co-worker met me at my house..we were off!

6:15 - on the road, headed to the Westin in Washington DC.
7:00 - all parked and headed into the Westin to take the test. We are supposed to be there by 7:30.
7:40 - they start signing people in. We had to all go into one large conference room and sit in rows of tables - there were probably 500 people there taking the test and only one person could go to the bathroom at a time - yikes!
8:30 - they started reading the instructions.
9:04 - start the test (4 hours to complete)

I opened the test booklet and the first 5 questions I wasn't familiar with... total confidence buster! :( But, I determined to press on. At question 130 I wanted to cry. I was so frustrated b/c I had studied so much and I was really struggling on the questions! I finished my 1st time through the test at 2 hours so I got up and went to the BR and gave myself a pep talk- much like I do when I'm running races! I told myself to get it together and get in there and focus. I came back to the test with a much more positive attitude which I am sure helped. :)

I went through the entire test again and it took me right up to the 4 hour mark. I felt completely exhausted and pretty deflated, but I gave it my best!

I wont know the results for 6-8 weeks. Everyone is asking how I did - I say I don't know but I wont be surprised if I have to take it again.

The question is.. what will i do different if i have to take it again? I guess read the book more and less trying to memorize. They say there are 6 or so different versions of the test and it just depends on whether or not you get an easy one or a hard one.

Well - I'll keep you posted even if I have to take it again - hopefully not though.

Thanks for all of your prayers.. I definitely felt them at about the 2 hour mark! :)

Pictures from some of our races

1st Half Marathon (13.1 miles)

What/Where - FAUQUIER HALF MARATHON in Warrenton, VA.

Jarod and I completed our 1st half marathon yesterday. Our friends Grant and Susan ran with us and both placed in their age group - great job guys!

It was a beautiful day for a run - about 50 degrees and sunny. The race was truly a community race with only about 200 participants! When we got to the race we were able to park right downtown (much different then the Army 10 miler) and walk up to the starting line. The race started in Old Town Warrenton and proceeded out into the beautiful countryside where we passed farms, pongs, cattle, horses and beautiful house. Between miles 9 and 10 there was a HUGE hill but after that relatively smooth sailing. The race was much hillier then we expected, but overall a really great race. After that race I was starving - this has never happened to me before. I guess once you go over 11 miles you need food! Good thing they had a HUGE continental breakfast for us at the Fauquier Springs Country Club. I think we all had at least 2 plates of food - that's a lot of running we did! :) We ended up having pretty good times for us - especially since Jarod had a sinus infection and had never run more then 10 miles before and I have never done more then 11. Here are our times.

Kadie - 2 hours and 18 minutes
Jarod - 2 hours and 20 minutes

That's the last race for the year...now we are focused entirely on studying! Kadie is taking the C.I.S.A. December 13th and Jarod is going to take the GMAT either December or January. Our exercising and training will continue throughout the holidays and kick back up once we finish our tests! :)

Half Marathon

Jarod and I have signed up for a 1/2 marathon (13 miles) race November 9th. Stay tuned for the results! :)