Decisions, Decisions...

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it is about that time again. I thought I was making this big life changing decision when I decided to come to law school. I knew what I wanted to do with my life.... I wanted to be a LAWYER. Yea. I am done... Or so I thought (quite blissfully, I might add) for a year.

Now, however, I have to decide what type of lawyer I want to be. Now? In the very beginning of my second year? But why, you may ask... after all I do have two years of school left... And I have only begun to take specialized classes. I can't be expected to know what I want to do already?!?! Right...

Wrong. I am in the process of interviewing for jobs for next summer. Which means I need to have an idea of what type of firm I want to work. So, unfortunately I have to begin to specialize now. No pressure....

I am praying that the interviewing process will give me more insight into what type of law I would be good at and enjoy. I have two interviews this week and one next week and who knows after that. Please pray for the Lords will! That is what I want above all... But if you want to pray for more, :) pray that I would have discernment in what I should specialize in. I have so many options, which is a huge blessing, but can also be daunting at the same time...

On Campus Interview Firms give offers by December and if I get any offers I could know where I am going to be this summer by Christmas. Otherwise I will start applying with other firms in January. Hopefully I know something by December though, that would be one less thing to worry about in the Spring! :) I will keep you posted.

Yoga

In an attempt to reduce some of my stress, I have recently taken up yoga. I have found that it is a better form of exercise than I thought it would be. All you do is stretch and hold your body in certain positions and yet I leave drenched and tired. It is actually a great workout. So it is official, I am jumping on the yoga bandwagon. :)

I am really looking forward to improving my technique. The teacher of my class is good... but I don't really know what I am doing and I am sure I am doing half of it wrong. Monday was my second class and I realized most of the stuff I was doing the first week could have been done better. So I guess in a few weeks I may actually be doing some of it right. :) We will see... :)

I also went running the other day with Daniel and actually managed to escape without an asthma attack! Shocking, I know... I still DON'T LIKE running and have not managed to go by myself, but you never know... I may become a running yoga fool one of these days. :)

I need all the stress relief I can get. It is funny, I think I am doing alright... Not stressed out and functioning well... I think I am giving my stress to God and not trying to do this thing on my own... Then something that normally wouldn't upset me really upsets me and I realize how crazy stressed I actually am. Surrendering to the Lord is truly a daily process and sometimes it is not easy. :) I guess it is a good thing that we get to take it day by day. :) But praise the Lord that I am trying yoga and running because I need an outlet for sure!

Year 2 = Stress

So... I have decided that the second year of law school is not harder than the first, in fact, truth be told... classes are actually more manageable. I am taking classes I chose instead of them being forced upon me and I generally enjoy all of them. I also have been through a year of this so I know what to expect. But, despite classes being relatively easier, the second year remains harder than the first.

In my second year I am on a journal, I am the VP of a club, and I am doing OCI (On Campus Interviewing... for jobs for next summer). All of which take TIME. The second year is stressful because you are pulled 10 different ways in any given day. There are so many things competing for precious little time. I have been freaking out for the past three weeks because I am behind in everything and whats worse is I keep getting more behind. I am starting to get it all under control, but it is insane!

I spend about 10 hours a week working on stuff for my journal (Houston Business and Tax Law Journal), about 10 hours trying to get stuff done for OCI (researching firms, in a few weeks interviews, etc...) and about 3-4 hours doing CLS stuff (Christian Legal Society... the organization I am the VP of). All of which are obligations I didn't have last year. So it is making time management more of a issue than I had thought it would be. I then study for my classes about the same amount as I did last year, but that leaves little to no time for anything else. But I want to do other things, so studying has been taking a back seat... which gets me more behind... which gets me more stressed. It is quite a vicious cycle indeed!

But long story short, I have to get on the ball or I am going to crash and burn. I have to spend a few weeks really concentrating on school and getting caught up, or I am going to be so far behind that I won't be able to catch up even if I try... So if you want to say a prayer for me this week or next, pray I would be diligent to do my work and that I would have time to get it all done. :)

You can also pray for OCI. I have a few interviews throughout September in which I hope to gain employment for this summer. It is stressful and I don't have any idea who I want to work for or what I want to do with my degree, so pray for clarity in this whole process. :)

Anyway, year 2 is crazier than 1, but at least I am 1/3 of the way done! I know I will get everything done this year, it is just going to take a little determination and a lot of time. :) Oh the joys of law school. Aren't you glad you aren't in it! :)

I just wanted to provide you all with a quick update and let you know if you haven't heard from me recently and don't hear for me for a few weeks, please don't be upset... I am trying to be productive! I will return to normal eventually... It may be May of 2008, but it will happen.

I am adding a picture of my CUTE baby 2nd cousin. She is 4 months old and getting so big!!! She always calms me down and if my rant about the stress got you anxious, I hope this helps to calm you down too! Enjoy! :)

Barnes and Nobles Stalker?!?!

So, the weirdest thing happened this weekend. My friends and I were harassed at a Barnes and Nobles in San Antonio:

A man walked up to Erin (my best friend from Dallas) and I and proceeded to aggressively ask if he was "one of the most attractive men in the store," which, I have to say he was not (He was about 5'10, maybe 40 years old and average looking with dark hair and a three day old five o'clock shadow).

We didn't know what to do, so we just looked at each other shocked. My boyfriend Daniel was standing within earshot and walked up to see what was going on. The man proceeded to ask if he was more attractive than Daniel (no way!!!) to which my mouth dropped. He was being extremely aggressive at this point so Daniel told him he was more attractive to try to control the guy and see what he was so upset about.

The man said he wanted to hear from the girls and looked at Erin and I who were still in shock... To which Erin replied "More attractive than him?!?! No..." He asked why and Erin said "lets just leave it at no..." He walked off agitated and then re-approached us a few minutes later saying "if he shaved and put on a suit (Daniel was dressed up because we were going to a wedding) then he would be more attractive than Daniel, right?!?!?" We told him to "Have a nice day" and he walked away... But it was all quite insane.

I have to admit I was a little scared by the whole thing. Not that I honestly thought he was going to hurt me, nor could he have if he wanted to... Since Daniel was there... But he seemed so distraught. Like he had gone his whole life thinking he was the most attractive man in the world and someone had recently told him he wasn't and it was causing a midlife crisis. It was insane...

I didn't respond to him at any point partly out of shock and horror and partly because I was not sure what to say. In that situation do you appease a man that is clearly mentally ill or do you tell the truth??? My boyfriend is quite a bit more attractive than this guy and would not have had his feelings hurt had I chosen to lie to this man to get him the heck away from us and to make him feel better. But I couldn't do it. I could not bring myself on any level to tell this man that he was attractive. I certainly could not bring myself to tell him he was more attractive than my (quite attractive) boyfriend. (I am glad Erin answered for us and I didn't have to respond.)

But it was quite an interesting situation and I am still trying to process why I couldn't appease him. I could have told him what he wanted to hear and done so without hurting my boyfriend and hopefully gotten him out of there quickly and yet I could not bring myself to do so... I wonder why? What instinctively kept me from lying to this guy out of self preservation? I keep trying to figure it out and I got nothing...

All I know is beware of Barnes and Nobles in San Antonio... You may meet a crazy man looking for affirmation and be put to the same test I was...