J.P. is a weekly NINJA CPA Blogger.

Hey Everyone!

I'm very glad to report that I have finally hit my stride in REG studying. In my experience, it takes a while for me to get warmed up to studying.

I will get through a couple hour long lectures in a week at the beginning and slowly work my way into full time studying.

I wish I could be the type of person who could jump in with both feet, but it has never been in my makeup. I have been plugging away at the REG videos and am hoping to have the tax portion finished up this week.

From a blog entry Jeff wrote a few years ago (yes, I have been around this website that long), I always try to wait until a few weeks out to schedule my testing appointments. I have started to look at scheduling a time, but haven't been able to find an open section in my hometown testing center.

I have become a little OCD with my testing routine, so I am dreading the thought going elsewhere to sit. For right now, I am gambling that if I wait long enough, something will open up when candidates pull the cord on their end of window appointments and won't end up taking the exam 4 hours away.

Since my last blog, I celebrated my 30th birthday. My wife surprised me with Cubs tickets and I was able to watch one of their few wins from a few rows behind home plate. I was hoping to have this exam behind me by my 30th birthday, but I got a little behind on my studying and it won't be the case. I was also planning to have it done by my 28th and 29th birthday, so I think I can survive another month.

I am confident that this will be the last time I sit, and I really want to finish this exam up for my wife. She has been incredibly supportive over this entire journey, even when my study habits didn't deserve it. I know this process wears on her as much as it does on me and I need to finish it so I can stop being an absentee husband.

To those of your starting this journey, be incredibly thankful of all the support you get from family and friends, but be aware of the toll it takes on them as well. It takes a lot of sacrifice to pass this exam, but I can imagine we are not the easiest people to live with when we are in prep mode. Make sure your time with them, while limited, is well spent.

One last piece of advice, I can't recommend Jeff's new NINJA Audio enough. They are very thorough, but compact enough that you can listen when your time is limited. I listen to it every day at work and it has been a huge reason the REG info has stuck as well as it has. Jeff's NINJA Notes have helped a ton of people get through this exam and I am sure the Audio will do the same.

Good luck to everyone taking exams this week and study hard to the rest of us!