Done, done and done!

Now, I get to waste my brainpower on pointless TV and video games.  Vacation, how I love thee!

What College Graduates Do

Congratulations, Babe!  I'm so proud of you for finishing your Bachelor's Degree.

I should be studying for Wills

Instead, I am posting Thanksgiving pictures!!!!   This year Joel and I flew to New Hampshire to spend the holiday with my dad, stepmom, and siblings.  This was one of the best Thanksgivings I've ever had and it was definitely Joel's favorite (he's not a big holidays guy...I'm working on it!).

Incidentally, this was Joel's first time on the East Coast and he loved it!  His first day there he turned to me and stated we should move to the EC.  What?!?  Is this really my husband?  During our first few months of dating we almost called the whole thing off several times because of this very issue.  All Joel wanted to do was move to Washington and live next door to his best friend Hutch.  All I wanted to do was move anywhere and everywhere all the time.  Needless to say we couldn't do both - the crossroads.  We eventually worked it out by coming up with a shared desire.  Now Joel is spearheading the 'Let's move to New York, London, New Hampshire!' campaign and I'm kinda liking the settling down idea (gasp!  did I just say that?).  I love his enthusiasm!

Morning of we enjoyed Company Brunch for breakfast.  Dad and Mary recently remodeled the kitchen and it looked great (and was also wonderful to use).

Best Buds

 

Rory has become quite the little musician!  People in the know tell him he's a natural at the flute.  He has always been more artsy than Nick who is a Tae Kwon Do buff (he's currently a black belt!)

Nick

Chris and Nick (two oldest boys).  Nick always preferred Chris and Rory preferred me and Katie.  Now, Nick can't get enough of his sisters. I guess if you ignore them long enough they lose interest.

The island packed with holiday goodness (sorry bout the quality).

Daddy's little turkey helper. I think rusty ended up eating more turkey that all of us combined.  Dad's a sucker for a cute face!

Table Decor

Someone could not wait to get his head into the broccoli cheese casserole dish.  Katie was policing him here, but don't be fooled.  She ate more of it before dinner than he did.   (Koodos to my lovely sister for making almost all of the food including the very delicious turkey)

Thanksgiving feast brought to you by the floating heads.

My plate (and no porker jokes!)

Told ya dad was a sucker for a cute face.  On our way to the parking lot after taking family pictures, dad decided to stop by the pet store.  He immediately pointed out this adorable Bichon Frise and asked to play with her.  My dad is not normally like this (spontaneous yes, but take time to play with a dog, no).  After about ten minutes of playing we were standing at the cash register paying for her.  What just happened?  I think we bought a dog.  

Meet Lily.

She's as hearbreakingly cute in person as she is in pictures.  I have a feeling she will be utterly spoiled.  According to dad he had been thinking about getting Rory a little dog (I guess Rusty is too big for him...poor Rusty!).  Well, he got a good one!  She was actually really good for the two days I was with her.  She loved going outside but because she's so small (under 4 pounds) she would roll down the slight hills in the backyard and could hardly hop over the tall grass.  She was also stepped on a few times by us and Rusty (he may have intentionally stomped on her since he was not getting attention.  But he did get more turkey and other treats!  (sorry about the first picture, I don't know how to rotate)

Well that was fun

Nothing like failing a real estate finance exam to really bring the senses alive.  I am now more than halfway through finals (yea!) but the 3L-itis is really kicking in.  I find myself getting lost on the internet (amazingly I have made it through two whole seasons of America's Next Top Model in the past 5 or so days, and while I watch this stupefying show I find myself saying "why the hell am I watching this crap?" I don't know.) or cleaning the house (the lesser option) or some other task that just doesn't need to be done right now.

My first semester of law school I outlined every night, prepared for class, and studied for exams.  This semester?  Lets just say that Monday night I started studying for my real estate exam when Tyra convinced me that I would be ok to set the books aside and look at my outline the next day.  I told Tyra that the next day was exam day but she reassuringly removed the books from my hands and gently let me know that three hours of studying on exam day was more than enough.  She was wrong.

Now I am in the throes (using the word very loosely) of studying for my Wills exam on Friday.  Lets see.  My day started at noon and by the time I had made it through several episodes of ANTM I realized maybe I should start studying since I took last night off as a reward for all my hard work (ha!).  So I would guestimate a good three hours of studying happened today.  My first year self would have killed this girl.  My response to her?  I roll over and hit snooze a few more dozen times.

On a side note, the grass is definitely greener on THIS side of the fence.  As a way to dodge finals I have been thinking about moving and have successfully talked Joel into the idea (my skills of persuasion have become superb and I am not ashamed to use them to get my way).  Even though my poor husband was extremely sick this weekend and spent HOURS (way more hours than I spent on two papers and two exams) writing a paper, he accompanied me to an apartment I saw on craigslist.  

The apartment was $150 less a month and still in SM so we thought "gold!"  It took all of two minutes for me to realize how incredibly amazing our huge one bedroom that does not smell like cigarette smoke really is.  Lets just say that this apartment was the size of our bedroom and bathroom combined.  Its only redeeming quality was that it had a parking spot.  Joel was trying to be positive by saying how much he like the bathroom (the size of our closet) and the bedroom wasn't that bad (and where would we put our two dressers, bike, laundry basket, and bookcase?) while I was laughing hysterically by how crappy this place was compared to our marvelous (and have I mentioned huge?) apartment.  

The moving talk has now been shelved.

TOMS

As soon as Joel and I have some Holiday Cheer (aka, greenbacks) our feet will be lined with TOMS. Will yours?



*Update - I am currently working on an 18-20 paper and should be done in the next few hours. Yea!

New look for a new season!  This is much easier than getting the Thanksgiving pics off my camera and on to this blog.  Although, I do plan on that one of these days.

Sidenote - I am now in full force, nail-biting finals mode so please excuse me if I don't post for awhile.  I think I may have an anxiety attack between now and next Tuesday (yes, that's right, 6 days to write two papers and take two exams).  However, I promise to post some uber cute pictures and update about our life after the panic subsides.

What a steal!

I used to be one of those that would constantly check my bank account, credit card balances, and checkbook.  I loved knowing how much money I had and when my bills were due.  I relished writing checks to pay off my debts knowing that I was in complete control.  I like to call that period of time "fantasy."  I now live in reality.  Reality looks much different than fantasy mainly because I am now an adult with real responsibilities and really empty bank accounts.  Needless to say, I DO NOT check my bank account, credit cards, and checkbook?  What's that?

Joel and I have been on a strict budget this semester as we realized early on that one person's student loans were not meant to cover two people's living expenses.  Some how we're making it work but we definitely live a leaner life style.  It had been a few weeks since I had monitored our accounts so I thought it about time.  I signed on to Discover expecting a moderately low balance (definitely under $1000) only to find a balance of $2500.  Ok.  Maybe our payment from last month had not gone through (last month was unfortunate.  Vanessa decided to act up and in her rebellion caused us $700 worth of new brakes).  But, alas, it had.  So I checked our recent activity and began to get suspicious when I noticed that I had spent $300 at Macy's in Houston, $300 at Chevron in some other God-forsaken town in Texas and $40 at Fiesta Mart.  But, I knew for certain these were not our charges when I saw the next several charges - Walmart.  What a steal!

In all the hubbub with Discover I failed to act upon the fact that several of our (crucial) monthly  bills were charged to our now closed Discover account.  One of those, internet, would literally cripple us if it were to disappear.  True to form, within a few days I had a friendly reminder email telling me to pay up or chance losing our lifeblood.  I promptly called Verizon to pay our bill vis a vis Mastercard.  While on the phone with the lovely operator from Washington, she mentioned a special deal that I might be interested in (yea right, lady).  I politely informed her that we were already stretched thin and could not afford a more expensive service.  That's when she politely informed me that I'm an idiot and would I just shut up and listen to what she had to offer.  I did.  And, as it turns out what she offered was faster internet at a cheaper price than what we pay now!  What a steal!

311.6

Because I'm just that good.

http://n.ethz.ch/student/mkos/pinguin.swf

Saturday.

This is my favorite day out of the whole week...I know, surprise right?  We generally don't have much planned on Saturday mornings (which is mostly intentional as I do not like to get up early any day of the week but this seems especially heinous to me on Saturdays).  One of my favorite things to do is lay in bed next to Joel and listen to This American Life.  If you have never heard this incredible program, then do yourselves a favor and click on the provided link and listen to one of the archived shows.  I think its my favorite thing on the radio (gasp!  I even like it more than NPR and Morning Becomes Eclectic).

Today, Ira brought us a show about music and it was highly entertaining - you know its good when David Sedaris sings jingles in Billy Holiday's voice.  Joel and I were still attempting to wake up when the radio turned on at 10am.  Even though we were half asleep, every once in awhile one of us would writhe in laughter.

After the show we crawled out of bed and made our Saturday morning breakfast - oatmeal and coffee.  We kept the radio on and listened to Good Food and then transitioned into some great music.  This day would have been perfect if not for this...

Oh how I hate homework.  This red book ruined a perfectly good Saturday morning.  If it weren't for the fact that my first final is two weeks from Monday, my first paper is due a week from Wednesday, another paper is due the first day of finals and we will be in New Hampshire for Thanksgiving...If it wasn't for all this, I would tell this red book to shove it.

What can you do?

Addiction?

I think so.

Turns out I'm not part cat

There happen to be many fires raging around LA (which I knew about) but what I failed to remember is that fire produces smoke, which carries ash, which then scorches throats of those dense enough to run when ash is raining down around them, which then creates a puking Amanda.  

So exercise is not bad for my health - breathing is, and since the two are not mutually exclusive looks like I'll have to take a hiatus (I know, another one!) from my exercise routine until these fires clear themselves.  In the meantime I will gorge myself on lasagna and brownies until I can't see my feet.

Is exercise really good for the health?

Lately I've noticed my thighs rub together more often and my belly fat jiggles like Santa Claus' robust abdomen.  I'm assuming this is not terribly attractive to my poor husband and I can't help but admit that my jeans have been a bit more snug these past few weeks (I like to think this is because Joel dries my jeans in the dryer, but I have a sneaking suspicion its more because of the mass amounts of cookies and ice cream we have been eating lately).

This is no way to live so I emphatically turned to exercising.  By emphatically I mean the first work I ran twice, the second week I ran once and this week, well lets just say that today was my first rendezvous with exercise.  I did my usual half walk half run from Washington to Idaho and from 16th to 20th and then back again.  All in all I would say this is four city blocks.  I know, marathon next week, right?

Well today was particularly eventful.  As I was cruising along Washington - the last leg of my trip - I started getting this really intense itch in my throat.  Actually, it started from the beginning but I thought it was just air passing along my throat.  Turns out it was a bit more than air and as I neared home I started coughing.  The coughing quickly became more intense and as I stepped inside the apartment I noticed breakfast was revisiting me.  I hardly made it to the toilet before I started upchucking my oatmeal and...cat hair?

I'm pretty sure I just had my first hairball.  I know they say people and their pets start to look like one another as time goes by, but hairballs?!?  Is this really necessary?  It took me a good full five minutes to finally stop coughing and wheezing.  If this is what Chachi goes through (and I think it might be since his hacking always ends in throw up) then thank God I am not a cat...because that was a horrible experience.

I'd kill myself if we did this more often

Joel and I were *slightly* obsessed with this year's Presidential election.  Chances were pretty great that if we weren't at school or work we could be found on our computers ravaging the world wide web for anything election.  We got much of our fix from the Huffington Post and would constantly ask each other, "did you see the headline on HuffPo?" or "can you believe she said that?"

Needless to say we were a bit more than thrilled to see November 4 come and go so that we could return to our normal everyday lives.  I made the unfortunate decision to write an article about election reform so looks like I'll be even deeper in this mess for the next several months. 

Though I probably read every article out there, watched all the clips, and listened to all the radio shows, I found this one particular article from Newsweek especially riveting.  Its a long one so I read it over the last week or so but I find myself even more in love with the election now than I was before.  I debated if I should post about the article, but I feel strongly about this topic and thought this article presented a balanced and gritty view of the election.  Maybe its not and I've been eating too many cookies this week, but at the very least I will give you all the opportunity to decide for yourselves.  So here it is...snippets from the seven part series.

Chapter 1:  Barack Obama: How He Did It

In November 2006, Craig sat next to George Stevens, an old friend of the Robert Kennedy clan, at another Obama speech. Stevens leaned over to Craig and said, "What do you think of this guy for president? I haven't heard anybody like this since Bobby Kennedy." Craig instantly replied, "Sign me up." Stevens and Craig approached Obama coming out of the speech and asked, "What are you doing in 2008?" Obama gave them a big grin and said, "Oh, man, it wasn't that good." But before long Craig and Stevens were raising money for Obama's political-action committee, the Hope Fund. Obama was amused by the devotion of the two old Kennedy hands. After a while, every time he saw the two men he would say, "Here come the Kool-Aid boys."

Chapter 2: Back From the Dead

The campaign continued its rickety path through the fall. At one point, Mark McKinnon, a media adviser who had worked for Bush-Cheney '04, described the difference between the Bush campaigns he had worked on and the McCain campaign as the difference between the Royal British Navy and Capt. Jack Sparrow's ship in "Pirates of the Caribbean." McCain loved the comparison. He began making guttural pirate noises, punctuating his jokes and one-liners with "Aaarrgh" and occasionally greeting reporters with this oddly cheerful growl. PIRATES FOR MCCAIN T shirts (complete with skull and crossbones) eventually sprouted on the backs of campaign volunteers and even a few reporters. The Straight Talk Express revived; network producers began napping on the bus and watching TV in McCain's seating area when the candidate was busy.

Chapter 3: The Long Clinton-Obama Siege

She was determined to campaign to the last, hoping against hope that the superdelegates would come around to her argument that Obama was unelectable. This was not an argument that he wanted to get caught up in. From the headquarters of the "No-Drama Obama" campaign the word went out: do not engage, do not inflame, do not say or do anything that might suggest Clinton did not have the right to finish the campaign. On one conference call, someone said, "We've just got to keep biting our lips, biting our lips." Adman Jim Margolis piped up, "OK, but my lip is starting to hurt."

Chapter 4: McCain Camp Retools, Targets Obama

Schmidt resented being called a disciple of Rove by the press. He did not regard himself as a fearmonger or a practitioner of the dark arts, and indeed he had a sweet, playful side. He told funny stories about being scared of snakes at his California home, and he desperately missed his wife, son and daughter, with whom he had memorized the songs from the Disney fairy-tale movie "Enchanted." After he had been portrayed as a calculating political-machine man in the 2004 NEWSWEEK special election issue, a crestfallen Schmidt asked his friend Nicolle Wallace, Bush's communications director, "Is that really how people see me? The big, bald, mean guy?" Schmidt could be mock-tough. "I'm OK with a reign of terror starting now," he sternly told Salter when the campaign's logistical incompetence was becoming all too apparent to the press late in the spring of 2008. Then he turned to a NEWSWEEK reporter and choked up with laughter. But he could also be severe and grimly focused. Whenever McCain had a rough day in the press, or Schmidt was running on a few hours' sleep after a late night at the bar with Salter, he would declare, throughout the day, "Fun Steve is dead."

Chapter 5: Obama Sweats the Clintons, McCain Gambles on Palin

The Palin pick had the feel of a guerrilla raid, a covert operation. Salter, Schmidt and Governor Palin had checked in to the hotel under false names, pretending they were in town for a family reunion. The pirate ship was back! Muzzled and ordered to behave like a regular politician (run negative ads, avoid reporters, just read from the damn teleprompter), McCain had rebelled in his way by picking a fellow subversive—a sassy, shoot-from-the-hip, self-styled hockey mom who had shown those Big Oil boys a thing or two up in Alaska. It was romantic but also a bit impulsive.

Chapter 6: Battling it Out in the Great Debates

As usual with the McCain campaign, Joe the Plumber had more to do with impulse than planning. As Lindsey Graham told the story, he had been awakened at 4:30 on the morning of the final debate. It was McCain on the phone. "I can't sleep," said the candidate. "Well, now neither can I," said a sleepy Graham. He stumbled on down to McCain's hotel room. McCain was vibrating with nervous energy, rehearsing his lines on his least favorite subject, the economy. He was racing through a section on taxes, not really paying attention to the words, and said, "Obama will raise taxes, raise taxes on ordinary folks like Joe the Plumber." Graham perked up, as did Cindy, who was sitting there patiently with her agitated husband. "John, what was that you just said?" Cindy asked. "About the plumber?" Lindsey added. The three spent the rest of the session talking about how to work him into the debate.

Chapter 7: The Final Days

In a sea of Americans in Grant Park in Chicago at midnight, Obama said, "It has been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America." Yes, it has.

Un-Celebration Coffee

Have you ever felt like something that someone told you was a punch in the stomach?  The only response you can muster up is a doubled-over groan in protest?  

This morning as I was happily sipping away at my Celebration coffee (that's the name Whole Foods gave this blend; yesterday I agreed with the name.  Today...), I had such a moment.  Joel and I were listening to our favorite radio station, KCRW, much like we do every morning yet this morning Nic Harcourt announced his resignation.  What?!?  Now who will bring us eclectic music Monday - Friday, 9am-12pm?  Its because of Nic that my music vocab is so broad and ingenious.  

Nic, we're sorry to hear of your resignation and we may even need to schedule a KCRW boycott in protest.  Maybe next Tuesday at 11pm?  I hear the music then isn't very good and we won't be missing the news.  Yes, that sounds like a good time to lodge our disdain at this very upsetting decision.

Yes We Can

Today our country decided...and that decision was for progress, for an end to a racist chapter of history, for a future that embraces all colors and all types.

I have never been more proud to be an American 

than I am today.  Our first African American President.  So many thought they would never see this day - especially because it was only 50 or so years ago that African Americans were allowed in the front of the bus - yet today we are able to celebrate a new chapter in our nation's history.  One where the color of our skin, our gender, nor the place of our birth matters.  

Congratulations, President-Elect Obama.  

A Disneyland-like High

Last weekend my best friend Rachel was in town.  Her husband, Ron, had some business to finish up (they moved to Washington this past July) so Rachel decided to accompany him since flights were so ridiculously cheap.

We had such a great time and it just makes me miss her more and wish they would move back.  Trust me, Wenatchee Washington holds nothing on California.  On Friday we hung out at the apartment and by special request from Rachel we had In-n-Out for lunch.  She's not the first Californian that has requested In-n-Out upon return - I know that I never have and probably never will.  I think their food is good but I'm not goo-goo over it and never have been.  Although they do have good shakes...

On Saturday her sister and sister's boyfriend drove from San Diego to visit with Rachel (and I like to think with me too).  I've known Krista forever and think fondly of her, as I do of Rachel.  We had a wonderful visiting with them mainly because they satiated my huge appetite for games and indulged me in several of my favorites.  We also walked to our local Thai place (Toi Thai on Wilshire) and had an outstanding meal!  I think they are starting to recognize me and Joel cause the waitress (who is my favorite) brought us mango sticky rice....and yes, it was on the house!

On Sunday Rachel and I drove to Riverside (man that is a far drive from SM) to a Chicago Bears bar where we met up with Ron and watched the Bears game (they are a football team for all you non-sporters out there.  Before Ron I had no idea Chicago had a football team.)  Its amazing how excited grown men get over touchdowns.  These guys gather almost every week at the bar to watch the games...they have definitely formed a community and it was a privilege to be a part of this community that Sunday morning.

After the game Rachel and I went for pedicures.  She is getting bigger now (no, not because of the In-n-Out cheeseburgers, but because of a very unfortunate growth in her stomach.  It seems that Rachel is almost 6 months pregnant.  Its definitely a trip seeing your best friend - of God-knows how many years - pregnant!).  We finished off the trip at church and then said our teary goodbyes.  

Now I am completely unmotivated at school and am hoping some burst of inspiration comes my way this weekend.

Follow Me

Come on....be my follower!!!!

On the left-hand side of my blog there's a place to be my follower.  Do it....I promise, it will be fun and rewarding!

Goodbye Legos, Hello Internet!

***UPDATE***

I've been asked what the bad news was...well, it was how much he would be paid at this new dream job.  Lets just say that he would probably be better off at Starbucks or In-n-Out.  However, he has just completed his first week and LOVED it!  The guys he works with have already given him greater responsibility and he comes home beaming on a nightly basis.  I couldn't be happier despite the fact that we may still be on the streets next week - or at least Chachi will be.

****

A few weeks ago I mentioned Joel got a job teaching Legos and how wonderful this was.  Seems this was only wonderful in my book and while I may have wanted to spend my days playing with Legos, Joel certainly did not.  So he continued the job search.

Last Friday he had an interview with a company that posts how-to videos (much like YouTube).  The interview went perfectly and we were on top of the world cause we knew that Joel hands down blew them away.  Everything was perfect - Joel would be working in the marketing division of a venture capitalist techie company; they used macs; Joel would be required to spend mass amounts of time on the internet; he got along great with the guys there; he would work part-time until he finished up school and then they would bring him on full-time; and the place is a few miles from home.  He was told that they would get back to him that night.  We waited.

Each day Joel became a bit more depressed about the situation.  I tried the pep-talk, the well if you don't get this I will still love you talk, the you're perfect for the job and it must just be extraneous circumstances keeping them from calling you.  Everyday I would rush out to my car after class and frantically check my phone to see if Joel had called with the good news.  But everyday my little phone returned nothing.

I gave Joel permission to take the week off from job-hunting so that he could focus on school (and more importantly not focus on jobs).  We prayed and prayed and knew that if this was what God wanted then it would happen.  But surely it was because the job was so perfect!

And then it came.  No, not the text message on my phone.  I came home tonight and decided that if they had called then Joel would tell me.  So I refrained from asking, but I didn't have to because when I got home Joel told me had good news and bad news.  I knew right then - they had called and he had the job.  To say that I screamed and jumped up and down would be a slight understatement.  Periodically I would scream out loud and grab him by the neck in a I can't believe you're doing the job of your dreams kind of way.

He starts next Tuesday and I can't wait to hear how the first day goes.

Microwaves and Toasters

At the age of three I was cooking eggs in the microwave.  I would stare at the rotating bowl and couldn't wait until the eggs boiled up so high that they almost flowed over the bowl's lip.  I remember my mom telling me not to stare into the microwave - that it was bad for my eyes or my brain or something...I can't remember!

I remember loving the microwave so much that if it could fit inside the microwave then I would most certainly use the microwave.  I lived on campus my first year at Pepperdine.  They provided all the furniture for us - except for a microwave.  No microwave!  I mean, was this the 17th centurty?  Was I not at a school where 18 year olds drive ferraris?  One of the first things we did was buy a microwave, because, come-on...you have to have a microwave!

When I moved into our current apartment I was so mesmerized by the size, wooden floors and pink & blue bathroom that I failed to notice the kitchen had only one - ONE - outlet and this outlet was (in)conveniently located by the smallest part of the counter.  Ugh.  This didn't register disaster to me until I thought about my precious microwave.  There was no way I could have that and a toaster and a blender and well, anything that requires electricity.  What was I to do?  We chose the toaster.

And boy am I glad we did!  Very few times have I uttered the words, "I need a MICROWAAAAAVE!"  For the most part we are able to use the stove and the ever so amazing toaster.  I mean, its amazing what you can do with a toaster.  And, when I watch the food cook and bubble over the lip of the baking sheet, I don't get the waves shrinking what's left of my microwaved brain!

Throwing Caution to the Wind

Joel and I have been penny pinching lately since neither of us are gainfully employed (we each have odd jobs...I'm a research assistant for one of my all time favorite law professors and Joel is a lego instructor).  We've been eating in and shopping less.  We even make fewer trips to Orange.  I think we've morphed into old people since we tend to say things like "Man it's getting late" when really its only 9:30.  Our computers have become appendages and we envision how to conquer our favorite video games when we should be sleeping.

But sometimes - like tonight - we throw caution to the wind, extricate ourselves from our faithful Macs, and wind up in some store or some bar.  Tonight we drove the 1.2 miles to 3rd street promenade and enjoyed some guilt free shopping at the Gap (I have $100 in gift certificates as a 'thank you' for spending money on my credit cards) and then some drinks and mini sliders at Yankee Doodles.  It was such a wonderful night.  Everytime we do something like this we remark about how necessary a date night is and how much we enjoy it.  But then we find ourselves holed up in the apartment with Chachi as our only outlet until we go stir crazy (much like tonight) and wander back out into the real world where three dimensional people have fun and don't say things like "I powned that video game!"

I am in love with iTunes genius feature.  First, if there is a song you particularly like just click on the song then click on the genius icon and voila!  iTunes makes an entire playlist of songs that mesh well with the song you chose!  Also, it suggests other songs that would go well with your library that are not currently in your library.  And, other songs of that particular artist that are not in your library.  Ahhh....this makes it so much easier to get cool music.

Yea for iTunes!!  Hopefully it will still be around after this whole ordeal with the music industry goes down...

Widgets

Today I discovered the power of widgets.  Now, this may just be a ploy to avoid the mountains of books that I have to read and the dozens of papers I have to write.  But I like to think of it as "taking care of business" because if this law thing doesn't work out I am definitely going to become one of those mommy bloggers that make all their money writing on their blogs while never having to remove their pajamas from their very happy bodies.

If you start to see ads pop up on this thing - you'll know what happened.

God Grew Tired of Us

In 1987, Sudan's Muslim government pronounced death to all males in the Christian south: 27,000 boys fled to Ethiopia on foot. In 1991, they were forced to flee to Kenya; 12,000 survived to live in a U.N. camp in Kakuma. Archival footage documents the 1,000 mile flight; we see life in the camp. We follow three young men who repatriate to the U.S. John Bul Dau goes to Syracuse, and by the film's end, becomes a spokesperson for the Lost Boys and Lost Girls of Sudan; Daniel Abol Pach and Panther Bior go to Pittsburgh. All work several jobs, send money back to the camp, search for relatives lost in the civil war, acclimatize to the U.S., seek an education, and miss their homeland.

The only thing Joel and I could do after watching this incredibly heart-wrenching movie was embrace and allow the tears to flow.  Its amazing how resilient the human spirit is and yet how delicate in all the same passage.  One of the boys that came to America ended up losing his mind and had to be committed into a mental institution.  I realize that people endure un-Godly hardship and survive.  Yet not without a price.

If you can, rent this movie and allow their stories to become a piece of your story.

(pictures and caption from imdb).

She's so great it kills me

A recent article noted Tina Fey's comedic ability in capturing Sarah Palin (on a side note, the article had nothing to do with Tina Fey's impression.  The author started out talking about Palin's performance at the debate and ended in this excerpt.  I personally do not see the connection, but I appreciated the author's viewpoint on Tina Fey). Here is the excerpt:

We must take happiness where we can. Tina Fey's Sarah Palin has become, in that old phrase, a national sensation, and Ms. Fey is becoming, with her show "30 Rock," and now the Palin impression, one of the great comic figures of her generation. Her work with Amy Poehler (as Katie Couric) in last weekend's spoof on "Saturday Night Live" was so astoundingly good—the hand gestures, the vocal tone and spirit—that it captured some of the actual heart of the Palin story. Ms. Poehler as Couric: "Mrs. Palin, are you aware that when cornered you become increasingly adorable?" Ms. Fey as Palin mugs, adorably.

To spoof someone well takes talent, but to utterly nail a political figure while not brutalizing him takes a real gift, and amounts almost to a public service. After all, to capture someone is a kind of tribute: it concedes he is real, vivid, worthy of note. We are not as a nation manufacturing trust all that well, or competence, or leadership. But some things we do well, and one is comedy. Ms. Fey plays characters who are sour, stressed and who, on "30 Rock," live in a world that is cynical, provisional and shallow. But to observe life so closely takes a kind of love.

Joel and I are huge fans of 30 Rock and Tina Fey. Her renditions of Sarah Palin are priceless and like this article notes, she nails them.

If there was an award for the best wife in 2008, I would totally be in the running.  Today I made a great dinner for my husband, followed by homemade snickerdoodles, and he may just get lucky tonight.

Of course, this award would not take into account the countless hours I lounge around on the couch playing around on the internet.  Nor would it base its opinion on my cleaning skills and general household abilities.  Because, if that was the case I would definitely not be in the running.  Not even a little bit.

But you see, this is why I married Joel because he LIKES doing the dishes - it relaxes him!  (I know, crazy talk right?  But he told me this today while we were washing the dishes and he was cringing at the dirty water I was using to clean the pots and pans.  I could tell he was resisting rewashing them with all his might.  I know this because he told me the other morning he had to remove a dried up onion piece from his coffee mug.  Nevertheless...I made dinner!  DINNER!  I deserve the award and if you ask Joel he would agree)  He also likes cleaning the bathtub, running the Scooba (aka mopping the floor), doing the laundry, and tidying up.  So you see, there is never anything left for me to do.  Hence my lounging around.

Trust me...our system works very well and in the meantime I occasionally don my apron and whip up a delicious meal using almost every dish in the house only to leave a tornado of dirtiness in the kitchen that Joel then later quietly and dutifully puts back together.

He's so wonderful!

Dear Winter,

Where are you?  Its October and time to break out the scarves and jackets.  Instead you are forcing me to wear shorts and tank tops.  Its too hot!  Bring your refreshing rains and comforting cloud cover.  I'm ready to pack away my swim suit and bust out the space heater.  And, if you come real soon I promise to not complain too much when your blustery winds bite my nose and cool temperatures nip at my toes.

Love,

Amanda

Intelligent Voting

Recently, Joel and I had a great conversation with some friends about why we have decided to vote for Obama.  Their main concern about him is his pro-choice stance (I will refrain from having a conversation about this because I believe the issue is complicated and I am not entirely set on my own opinions). 

Joel and I would never want someone to agree with us just to agree with us.  More than supporting our viewpoints we want others to intelligently understand their own.  I understand the one issue voters and respect their opinions and reasons for supporting one candidate over another.  However, more and more people are voting with the hearts, their pocket books or because "their parents voted that way" and less and less are voting because they have intelligently looked at the issues and have made their minds up based on the information and evidence in front of them.

With that said, if you are a one-issue voter (whatever issue that may be) I strongly encourage you to understand your position and your issue.  For all of you out there who cannot stomach voting for a pro-choice president, check out the wiki page on Roe v. Wade.  This is an extremely informative introduction into the legal topic of abortion.  Since voting for Presidents impacts the legal discussion on abortion - and not the moral one - I believe knowing the history and case law of that legal right is imperative when that issue is what defines your voting palate.

Ignorance is bliss, but knowing about the benefits and consequences of our decisions is empowering.  I would love to hear your thoughts on the topic.

A Heartwarming Moment

Today on my way home from school, I saw a man in his 50s wearing a suit (complete with the jacket and tie) riding on an itty bitty moped.

Ahhh...things can change.

Ok...one more!

I promise that this is the last post for the evening (Baby's gotta earn her keep!).  I read this touching piece on my favorite blog and after enjoying a few tears I decided it must be shared.  I hope you enjoy this touching story as much as I did.

And, because I probably would not have read it but for the small clip she posted, I will do the same for you:

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

Warm Shower Water...Delicious!

I think we discover new Chachi's quirks on a daily basis.  His latest involves showers.  Often when we are showering he will come in and 'knock' on the shower door.  The other day I opened it a crack and saw Chach's head pop into the the shower.  Little sprays of water bathed his head and ears but he seemed to enjoy it.  So, thinking like I do, I decided to hold my hand out and see what he would do with the water that ran down my arm and off my hand in little streams.  The wierdo loved it and lapped the water up gleefully.  In fact, he stopped for a moment because he was getting soaked but the second I put my hand back down he leapt back into position and began lapping away.

Sometimes when I am away from home, its all I can do to keep myself from flying 100 mph down PCH so that I can nuzzle my cat's belly.  Now who's the wierd one?

LegoMania and Jealous Wife

Joel got a job!!  Yea!  The Myers household could not be more thrilled especially because his job involves teaching kids how to play with Legos.  Had I known something like this existed, I would have thought long and hard about my career choice.  I was an avid Lego player and fan when I was younger.  I remember liking them so much that I had my mom bring home floorplans of houses for me to build out of Legos.  Obsessive and nerdy?  I think so!  Needless to say, I am so excited to hear about his first day (Friday) and maybe get some private lessons in myself.

Great Article

In the midst of a historical election and a crisis on Wall Street, I find myself turning more and more to news blogs, articles, and radio talk shows hungry for any new insights and commentaries on these scary, yet somehow exhilarating, times.

While perusing the Huffington Post, I found this great article on last week's bump-in-the-road.  Here are a few excerpts:

It's privatize the profits, socialize the losses; patriotism for the masses, socialism for the rich.

We apparently can quickly find (or borrow) the money to do the stuff the authorities deem necessary, be it war or bailout; thus, we can also find the money we need for investment in people, from health care to education to infrastructure, etc.

The point is that these are potentially transformational times.

Transformations evolve out of crises...the big social movements that have transformed our politics have often resulted from the collision of brave, visionary leaders and major upheavals: Lincoln and the Civil War, FDR and the Depression, Johnson and the Civil Rights movement. Kuttner believes the stage is set for the next transformation, this time from a broken economy that threatens American prosperity to one that works for everyone.

Jeez...watching history unfold in front of you like this is sure worth the price of admission, ain't it?

Update

If you've been to our website you know that we have been working on thank you notes.  Technically, the only work we've done on them has been to harbor feelings of guilt and shame that we have not written one single note.  That is until yesterday.  I was able to write about 17 thank you notes and boy do I feel amazing.  I also went down the list and circled a bunch for Joel to do as well which also makes me feel more accomplished cause that's one less that I have to do.  I love receiving gifts and I even enjoy writing notes...but the problem here is that there are so many that it becomes overwhelming.  Not any more!  I have complete control over the situation and I think this is also helping me in other areas of my life that desperately need attention.

So keep an eye out for yours!  

Oh...there are a few people that I need new addresses from.  If you have recently moved (aka everyone!) then please leave a comment with your new address.

joel's in the game now

My dear husband has decided its time for him to have a blog too.  And boy is he excited about it!  Its all he talks about these days - interesting topics to write about, who reads his blog, future posts (like april fools posts), and how cool our two blogs look next to each other.

I'd say he's slightly obsessed....but super cute!  How can you resist a man that daydreams about his blog and how cool it is?  Plus, i think it offers him a much needed distraction from school work (not that a lot of that is happening around here).

So, I urge you to check it out and give him some love (but I have to warn you that he's been a bit political lately, so if you don't want to read rants and raves then skip the first post).

Here it is!

Guy Love

This is the song I dedicated to Joel and Chachi's relationship. I think Chachi lets me pet him every once in awhile just to appease me. But if he had his way only Joel's hands would pet him.

budgets <-- you suck!!

i've probably made hundreds of budgets in my lifetime (k, this might be a slight exaggeration but please don't let this distract from the fact that there have been a lot) and joel and i have even made a few (by a few i mean five or six - and we've only been married 4 months).  

i think we've established that i have no problem making the budget.  unfortunately, its the following through with the budget that gets to be difficult.  i think this is a pretty basic part of my personality.  when i was younger my favorite past time was organizing my barbie's clothes.  i would divide outfits into color schemes, seasonal schemes, and schemes that i would want to wear if i was barbie's size and had barbie's figure.  nevermind the fact that normal kids actually played with their toys.  not me!  i just organized them.

hence the budget.  i like putting it together and making the columns and the pretty colors.  but then it sits on my desktop and i fail to look at it much less follow it until times like these where i start to panic cause we are quickly running out of money and resources are super slim.  although, my first thought when all this went down was, "we need to make a budget!!"  

interesting topics?

this semester i have the distinct pleasure of writing my 50-page law review paper.  don't tell this to the kids but i am actually kinda excited about it.  the problem is everytime i think of a topic i find out its already been written about.  

so i am extending this opportunity to all of you.  please leave a comment with ideas about what i should write about.  just remember, there has to be something legal somewhere in there.

apple one

joel had an interview with apple one today.  i'm not sure if you've noticed but the economy kinda sucks right now.  i believe alan greenspan summed it up nicely when he said this was a once in a century kind of deal.  excellent!  so, its not exactly the best time to be searching for a job...not when the market is flooded with phds and masters and grey-haired men with mortgages.  

joel has sent out sooo many applications and resumes and nothing is turning up for him.  so, he has resorted to temp work (which i personally think is better than living on the streets, but that's just me).  his interview with apple one went really well today and they already have a couple jobs that they think he would be great for.  since he came home from the interview he's been preparing his resume and is about to send it off to apple one to send to the jobs.  hopefully he'll be gainfully employed by next tuesday!  in the meantime we are storing up fat around our midsections for the possible no eating strike we'll be forced to engage in if this doesn't work out.

pp

time for a confessional.  about a year and a half ago (i'm not really sure on the time frame, but i know it occurred before this thing called school) joel and i became obsessive over a little game called puzzle pirates.  now, before i hear all the ughs and sighs permit me to explain to you the wonder that is puzzle pirates.  its an online multi-player game in which each person is characterized by a pirate! a PIRATE!  arg matey!  and, the way that we perform our duties as pirates is through puzzles.  PUZZLES and PIRATES!  i know what you're thinking...it doesn't get better than this, right?  well, about the time that joel and i were obsessively glued to our computers (just ask joel's roommates...i'm sure they thought we were nuts) we also became emotionally invested in the game.  i do not recommend this.  some words were said and actions done in the pirating world and yours truly got very upset.  from that moment on i vowed never to return.

only to find myself glued to my laptop once again.  as i fall asleep at night i have puzzles swirling inside my brain and eyelids and all i can think about is how i would solve that puzzle.  now i am hoping since school has started again that this obsession will shift over to school work.  its painful and slow.  painfully slow.  and for some reason has not happened as of yet.  i'm still holding my breath and crossing my fingers that sometime soon school will become more fascinating than my pirately world and law stuff will take over the swirling in my brain.

indecision '08

lately, i've been looking for the right thing to say about the election.  almost everyday i come home wanting to pull my hair out and burn the radio.  i'm trying really hard to not give up and throw my  hands in the air after coming to the realization that people do not think with their brains but with their TV sets.  by and large the electorate wants to be sold on a package and it seems that package lately comes with a pair of ovaries.  i am all for a woman president/vice president....but people - sarah palin?!?  explain this one to me cause i will never get it.  yes, you're right she has executive experience (ummm...less than 2 years as governor of alaska!), foreign policy experience (she lives next to russia), and is one step away from being a bull dog who says thanks but no thanks for bridges to nowhere (that would be after the bridges become unpopular but she'll still take the pork for her state).  

this is just an iota of what's been on my mind lately...i won't barrage you with the rant and rave that joel has to hear almost every night.  i'll just leave you with this great clip from snl (and say this, tina fey for president in 2012!!).

zaniness

chachi discovered string last night. he loved it. he loved it so much he ate the string.

well, we didn't get the very cool corner apartment with the corner windows in each of its two bedrooms.  when we walked to our landlord's office at around 11 am of the first day it was open for viewing, we were greeted with the sad news that already six other people had been there that morning for the same apartment!  ugh.

but....but, there is two bedroom opening up on october 1st and we are first on the list if we want it.  we aren't as thrilled with this one for several reasons: its on the alley, the two bedrooms do not have corners full of windows, it does not come with a spot and the patio is not as large.  but even though its not as charming as the one we were looking at, it would be nice to be in a two bedroom with a patio so looks like we might be moving after all...that is, to the aparment right next to ours.  yep....big move.

on another note, i have to say that i love our church.  joel and i have been attending a home church for about three years now (give or take a few months).  we love it!  its so nice to be involved with a church where everyone is our friend, we feel completely accepted and we can be having shitty days but our friends still love us and sit by us.  today was especially great because we broke out into small groups and were able to pray for one another in a more intimate setting.  i have some crap i am dealing with right now and it was so so so nice to be able to honestly and openly discuss what is on my heart and then to have three people pray for me.

also...some very talented friends of mine are having a boutique extravangza next weekend.  if you're local you should totally check it out (and, i will be there for the better part of the event!).  here are the details:

Saturday September 13, 2008 

11am - 7pm

3044 blueridge ave

orange, ca 92867

new apartment?!?

a new apartment opened up in our complex and i desperately want to move into it.  there are so many positives: two bedrooms, parking space, fenced in yard (well really a porch but its definitely big enough for bikes AND a bbq...heaven), and our landlords will let us move without having to break our lease.  ahhh...bliss!

now i just need to convince joel to spend the extra money each month.  i'm getting close!  tomorrow we can look at the place so we may be moving this weekend.  although, i saw a family looming around outside...they think they're going to get the place.  i don't think so!

life agogo

school started again...that's about all that i have to say about that subject.  lets see, its only been a week and a few days and i've already decided to not go.  today i woke up around 8 (when that bastardly alarm clock reared its ugly head) and i said "no alarm clock!  i will not get up right now and do my homework and then go to class!  i'm going to turn you off, roll over, and wake up when i damn well please!"  and you know what?  alarm clock listened!  

its been a lovely day...joel and i ran errands, i woke up when i wanted to, and i don't feel the least bit guilty for not going to school today.  now, i don't want an argument or you out there telling me that i should still work my hardest.  i've had enough of those lectures lately.  its as if i'm a slacker and we all have to worry that maybe one day i won't take my medicine and i'll suddenly flip out and joel will have to roam the streets looking for me huddled under some tree.  really!  come on...since when does someone need to lecture me about doing well in school?  are you serious?!?  and yet - i know, as if this would ever happen - i have had several family members recently worry about me and in their worrying they gave me the "you should work hard in school" lecture.

ugh.

you know...maybe they should show me what they are talking about.  show me how they worked hard in school and didn't slack off THEIR THIRD YEAR OF LAW SCHOOL.  wait a minute...they can't because the people that lectured me were the ones that dropped out of school and then later in life went back.  ah yes...i can see why they would worry.  i am in danger of falling out of school and might have to return in 20 years from now.

thanks for your concern, but as for today it was FANTASTIC to for once be a rebel and skip school.

we arrived home today from a wonderful vacation.  our first plan was to pick up our cat tomorrow after church, but we couldn't wait to see the furball so we drove all the way to orange county immediately after arriving home.

now everyone is lounging on the sofa...we are content.

the land of trees and rain

washington is great! i love the rain and cooler weather and the awesome trees, but joel and i are definitely missing our apartment (and chachi!). when we first bought our new mattress, i was convinced that it was too hard and that we would be taking the mattress back to the store. however, we roughed it out and now love our bed. i didn't realize how much we loved a firm mattress until this vacation.

the reason we bought a firm mattress was because of the mattress at joel's parents' house. he loved the firmness of it and convinced me that getting a firm mattress would be worth it. he was super excited to have the opportunity to sleep on his parents' wonderful mattress again. after a few days we started wondering if maybe they had switched mattress' in our room with the other mattress that was super soft. so we went in the other room and felt the mattress only to find to our chagrin that the one we had been sleeping on was the firm mattress! basically, our mattress is so firm that this one is now soft...ugh.

last weekend we drove to wenatchee to visit my best friend, rachel, and her husband. we had a wonderful three days with them. it was everything a vacay should be - eating fast food, watching tv (yea olympics!) and movies, and chilling on the couch playing games.

tonight we visited with joel's best friend, hutch, and his wife, whitney. they recently moved to tacoma (which could not thrill joel more). we ate wonderful thai food and played a rousing game of railroad tycoon. we love hanging out with them.

last night we drove to port orchard and ate dinner with my family. we then spent the rest of the evening with my cousin jeff and his roommates. i miss seeing them.

we leave this wonderful place on saturday to prepare ourselves for the upcoming semester. i have one more year left of school and joel has one class left before he gets his degree (yea!!!). hopefully, this will go off without a hitch.

check out our website. joel recentely updated it and there are some great photos for you to look at.

we are currently in washington and are having a wonderful time visiting with family and friends. joel's youngest brother and his wife recently had a baby (our first nephew!!) so i have been trying to get in as much time with him as possible. he's so freakin cute and i'm hoping our kids will be equally cute.

on a side note, i finished up my summer associate position at kaye scholer. i loved it...i loved meeting all the lawyers there, the work was great, and i loved all the eating! most of all, i loved that they offered me a full time job! now, all i have to do is get through this next year and pass the bar next july...no more resume pushing!

dan...i know i promised you photos and i promise that i took them on saturday.  then the camera battery died, and the sun was just a little too bright and my cat told me i had to pay attention to him and some shopping got in the way and lo and behold here i am sunday evening with no pictures on the blog.  but they're on my camera!!! and, hopefully, one day they will get here.

too long

i apologize for the long delay between posts.  i finally got the hint that i need to update this blog after the fifth person asked me when i was going to update.  so here you go.  i am pretty tired from working full time so i'm going to make this into a bullet point presentation as to what's been going on in my life.

• joel and i got married on may 23!!!  click here for a wedding slideshow.
• i started work at kaye scholer on may 27th and its been a great experience so far.  i love the people i work with and i feel like i am finally feeling comfortable at the place...like i am a legitimate employee.  on thursday they are sending me to a closing...just me.  no chaperone.  i hope i don't mess it up.
• joel and i adopted a cat named cha chi.  he's black and white, about four years old, and loves to cuddle.  i love this new found freedom and being able to do whatever i want (well, with joel's permission but that's not too hard to get)
• i cut my hair and its now a bob (super cute!)
• we are not moving to new york this summer but will instead stay here in la.  my firm decided to keep me at this office all summer....thank God!  this is soooo much better for both of us.  consequently, joel signed up for summer school classes and will hopefully finish his degree this summer.
• our place is finally put together (complete with pictures on the walls).  pictures are coming soon - i promise.
• we are taking a belated honeymoon to washington this summer.  although, we'll be visiting joel's family and friends so its more like a vacation than a honeymoon.  but we are excited nonetheless.  plus, our nephew is supposed to be born the day before my birthday so i am super excited to meet him.
• well...i believe that's enough for now.  at the very least it keeps us busy and exhausted.  i will try to be better about posting but i find the days fly by before i get a chance to blink.  

my pajamas and i bonded today.  we moved from the bed to the couch and back to the bed again.  they are feeling properly broken in and i'm sure will be more than comfortable to sleep in tonight.

on another note...my sister arrives tomorrow!  i can't wait to see her...its been since christmas which is too long.  i have many fun things planned for us while she is visiting but i think the first thing we'll do is take a walk around my neighborhood.  i love living in santa monica.  there are so many great houses and tree-lined streets here.

and, having katie here will officially end my streak of boredom.  i do not do well by myself for extended periods of time so it will be nice to have another person milling around the place.  not too mention company at night when apartment living gets the scariest.  i think tonight will be my last night alone.  God knows i'm ready for that to be over!

and i should mention...i was so proud of myself that i cleaned the bathroom that i have yet to clean the kitchen.  i just find myself staring at my bathroom handiwork that no time is left to disinfect the kitchen.

music shmusic

i pride myself on being a calm bride.  in the beginning i swore up and down that i would NOT be a bridezilla and i think i've done a pretty good job on fulfilling that swear.  i think the reason i can remain calm as our wedding day so slowly approaches is because i have delegated all the work to others.  i let them get stressed out instead of me.  i must admit this is quite brilliant.

that's not to say i haven't had my moments.  i distinctly remember sleepless nights where i worried about what kind of butter we would have - pats or balls - and who would pick the butter up and make sure it gets to the place on time.  sleepless nights filled with nightmares about the potluck falling apart or my bridesmaids and photographer not showing up.  but overall i pat myself on the back for keeping a calm and collected appearance.

but the system is starting to fall apart.  i recently delegated the music to two friends that i asked to play during the ceremony.  congratulating myself on a job well-done i sat down on my comfy couch to watch yet another movie (i'm incredibly bored right now) when i found out from my friends that I need to make these musical decisions.  WHAT?!?  i can't make decisions...they are the ones that are supposed to decide what song i walk down the aisle to.

and you know what?  there are like a gagillion songs out there and even more websites telling me what songs i should choose for these special moments.  ahhhh!!!  see, this is what i have been trying to avoid these past 12 months.  now, a week and a half away - some would say i was home free - i am suddenly stuck with an inordinantly huge decision and i have no idea what to choose.  

so....any suggestions?

first time for everything

yesterday i actually cleaned my bathroom.  i scrubbed down the shower, disinfected the comode, wiped down the sink and mopped the floors. i even dusted.  i'm starting to feel sooo domestic.

today i just might tackle the kitchen.

i came home tonight to find this waiting for me...begging me to read it.  please!!!

yes...it's the book from my favorite blogger.

i also found a wedding present...ahhh...i love getting married.

wedding talk

last night i drove 2 hours after my evidence final to coco's to meet with my wedding entourage.  it was such a great meeting!  there were 8 of us there and we talked about everything wedding.  i think its going to be a pretty spectacular party and cannot wait for that day to come.

on a side note...i have to say that i am definitely marrying the best man ever.  last night he really wanted teriyaki for dinner but instead he had something else because he wanted to leave that option available for our dinner tonight since he didn't know what i would want to eat.  he's so wonderful and giving!  can't wait to be his wifey!

i'm done!

another year down...only one more left then i will be a bona fide attorney (and certified to practice once i pass the bar...scary!).

i feel pretty good about finals but that usually means i didn't do well.  its always the tests that i feel the worst about that i do the best on.  case in point - last semester in london i wrote this hodge podge of a mess exam called individual rights and this semester i realized my test was posted as one of the two model student answers for that exam (well, i have to make a confession.  i read the answer and am not entirely sure its mine cause i don't remember 100% of what i wrote.  however, the exam misspelled and abbreviated the same words that i do and talked about causes of action that i distinctly remember talking about.  so, i'm fairly certain it was mine).  now, if it was mine i count this as one of my top accomplishments in law school.

so, i felt bad about that exam and it became a model answer.  i feel alright about these past exams...?

but, i'm done and now i can focus 100% of my efforts on our upcoming nuptials!  yea!

oh...how could i forget!  we got a new couch!  my aunt kathryn, uncle paul, and yaya bought us the couch we had put on our registry.

it was such an amazing surprise - we were not expecting someone to buy this for us so when they did we were blown away by their generosity.  unfortunately i cannot upload pictures from my camera so a picture from crate and barrel's website will have to be good enough.

here is the bute of a couch...and it is as comfortable and soft as it is beautiful.

i have been the poster child for lazy lately.  case in point - i am still wearing my pajamas at 9 pm.  in fact, i'm not sure i even left the house today.  but i have a very good reason for that - evidence!  this subject has kept me busy all day long.  tomorrow is my last final of my second year of law school and i could not be more excited!  this has been a difficult semester in the sense that i have been a bit less than motivated to work.

but alas...its almost over.  that means that i can finally clean my apartment (i have a nice layer of mold building up in my shower), i can write thank you notes, i can visit my soon-to-be-hubby and more importantly, i can focus all my attention on this little event i have coming up.

its been a roller coaster...this thing called law school.  i seriously wonder if i would do it again had i known what it was really like.  but then i think about all the rewarding moments from these past few years - and there have been plenty...in fact, maybe more than there were rotten moments.  more than anything, this degree will open up the vault of opportunities for me and joel and for that reason alone i would do this all over again.

its amazing how much we forget when we are no longer in a tough situation - i think that's a gift from God to encourage us to continue to pursue the hardest things in life.  amy and i were talking about first year and i was saying how proud i was of myself for handling it so well. she chose that moment to bring up the fact that more often than not i was in tears...maybe she's right.  but i'm not in tears anymore so in my mind i handled first year like a champ.

this summer is going to be a blast and i cannot wait for my next adventure...life at a big law firm.  we'll see if all the stories are true.

Son-Of-A-Bitch Mouse Solves Maze Researchers Spent Months Building

IOWA CITY, IA—The mouse briskly traversed the complicated wooden maze in under 30 seconds, roughly 1/8,789,258 the time it took to secure funding for the experiment.

aunt holly's house

this past saturday i had #3 of 4 showers.  it was at my aunt holly's house and kim put it on.  it was gorgeous!  i had so much fun seeing women that i haven't seen in awhile.

as much as i enjoyed the shower, i'm glad that i have a bit of a breather from wedding mania.  for the next few weeks i will be school school school....all about school.  on monday i have two papers due.  next thursday i have my first exam (corporations).  then monday the 5th i have my last final (evidence) then i'm done and its back to wedding mania!

happy earth day!

yea for the earth!

have you hugged a tree yet today?

tea party shower

this past saturday i had my tea party shower hosted by my amazing friends chantel and melissa.  in my opinion, a wonderful time was had by all.  here are some pics...

me and my cousin ashley.  i made everyone wear hats...its a tea party, that's what you do!

my tea cup was in the shape of a heart...its a bit hard to see here though.  we had jasmine, peach melba and earl grey teas.  i love tea!

here is half the group...the attendees were my mom, karen, heather, rachel, sharon, jana, ashley, heidi, melissa and chantel.
present time!  i love presents...my second love language is presents so i always feel loved when opening gifts.
me and rachel. she's throwing the last shower in may.
the cute tea pots.  this whole place was jam-packed with tea paraphenelia. 
this is the door leading into the place (these are a bit out of order).
the lovely hostesses...melissa and chantel
karen and rachel
the sandwiches...after some scones, we had a variety of sandwiches on multi-colored bread. they were delicious.
my cousin bought us some crazy potholders (they were a frog and fish)
i love being a bride and can't wait till my next shower this saturday.  i added pictures from my last shower so check em out!