Change is... good?

I have now been in Dallas for a week and I am starting to adjust. It is nice to FINALLY have all of my boxes unpacked. I still need to put something up on the wall beside my bed, but I am done for the most part! I am very happy with my room. I only have one picture of it, but it should give you a glimpse.


BarBri was better today. It was the introduction we should have gotten the first day but didn't because the instructor could not be in 100 places at once. He told us what to do when we start freaking out... He also told us about all the misconceptions about the Bar... One of which being that we have to pass every section... We don't, which I was SO EXCITED to hear!! Sorry to all of you that I informed incorrectly. I was misinformed myself. Turns out I just have to get a 675/1000. No matter what I score in each section, if my total score is 675... I am an attorney! Excellent news. He stressed the importance of diet and exercise and time spent away from the books (though he also stressed that this should not be the primary use of our time). His talk solidified my desire to join a gym. I am thinking LA Fitness but I have not decided for sure. If you have any gym advice, I would love to hear it!

In other news, I donated my hair! Giving my hair to a good cause has away has been on my list of "to do's" and I figured now is as good a time as any since no one in Dallas knows I had long hair. I attached a few pictures below for your viewing pleasure... Enjoy:

Day One

Today was only the first day of BarBri, so it is too soon to tell... but Day One was a whirlwind of material that I have not heard since my first semester of law school. I fear my over-zealousness about not having a life this summer may end up being accurate. I will survive but the Bar (it appears from the very little I have seen so far) may be as bad as everyone says... Shocker... I know...

As far as unpacking is concerned... I will be done tomorrow! I am getting so close I can taste it! Tonight was productive and I am confident I will be posting pictures tomorrow... so be on the lookout!

Dallas

I am officially a Richardson resident. I have yet to set up my bed or anything in my room but all my stuff is in one place again. As I said a few days ago... It hasn't really hit me... I have a HUGE list of things to get done tomorrow so I doubt it will hit me tomorrow either. Maybe once I get all my stuff set up I will realize that I no longer live in Houston. As of now, it just feels like I am home for the weekend but that I packed WAY to much stuff!!! I will post a picture of my room once I get it organized... I know you are all dying to see the orange walls.

I hope all is well in Houston! I miss you already!

Houston

Today is my last full day in Houston. I am still in shock to some extent. When I go home tonight it will be the last time I will call Houston home (at least according to "my plans") and it FINALLY hit me. In knowing that I was leaving for the last three months, it has been hard to be sad about leaving... Because honestly, I have felt like my life has been on hold for the last three months... Not that they haven't been great months, but a part of me was already moving on to the next step.

Now, I am ready to vocalize the wonderful things about Houston that I will be leaving. My sweet roommate Laura made me a collage of all my friends and the fun times I have had in Houston. In looking at it last night, I realized anew that I have met some wonderful, Godly people in Houston and I have been blessed immensely over the last three years. For all of you that have told me how much you will miss me, only to receive a half-hearted... "yeah... me too!", know that I truly will miss you more than I could ever express! I have grown into my own in Houston... I conquered law school in Houston. I have made wonderful, life-long friends here. Houston holds a very fond place in my heart (despite the humidity and traffic). I am still excited to move on to the next step, but I will drive away tomorrow with a twinge of sadness and probably a few tears. I will miss Houston because through Houston I met most of you!

I know our friendships will have to change. It is only natural when you don't live in the same city and can't see each other daily/weekly like you did before. However, I remain confident that I have forged lifelong friendships here and though they must change, I hope that doesn't mean they won't continue to grow!

I will miss you Mel, Laura T., Annie, Amber, Kim, Laura H., Angela, Abby, Robyn, Katy, Angelique, Dinah, Lindsey, Lynn, Jeff, David, Joel, Chris, Jen C., Paula, Erin, Kameron, and so many more. Thank you for molding my life, holding my hand, pointing me to Christ and being a better friend than I could ever imagine! God knew what He was doing when He placed me in Houston!

I Made It!

This weekend was hectic but I survived! I had fun at my roommate Laura's birthday party and I think she felt loved (always nice). I don't know that I would recommend that you go see the Wedding Singer on Broadway, but it was a night I won't forget! I also think Abby enjoyed her shower and felt loved on Saturday! Everyone told me they enjoyed themselves so I could not be happier! It was my first time hosting a baby shower so I was a little nervous. I am relieved that it went off without a hitch. I love you Abby and can't wait to meet you Micah!

Moving my stuff out of my house also went smoothly this weekend. My parent's didn't get to my house to load up my stuff until around 6:40pm, which was nice because it gave me about three hours to get everything packed. Remarkably, everything was ready to go by the time they got here. My parents and brother have to unload everything without me today because I have to work half of next week. I am very thankful that my family was so willing to help me move, but I am a little scared to see everything piled in my room when I get home on Thursday... Getting organized may take a while. As for my house in Houston, I only have a blow up mattress and all of my clothes. My room looks WEIRD!

Thanks so much for coming into town this weekend Erin! I had a blast with you and could not have made it without your help. (Erin was gracious enough to help me cook for the shower and pack up and move.) I am so looking forward to living closer to you!

Youth this morning went wonderfully. I had a great last lesson with my girls. I did the hook (the introduction that gets everyone interested in the lesson) which was a skit with one of the other leaders. It went over really well and the kids were laughing which is always a good sign!!! I love that I ended on a good note, thank you Jesus! I am going to miss my girls more than I could possibly ever express on paper. Those of you that are looking for a place to serve, you should consider leading a youth group. It has blessed me immensely. I love you girls and will miss you!!!

This Weekend May Kill Me!

This weekend I have my roommates birthday party, I am hosting a baby shower, moving my stuff to Dallas and my best friend is going to be in town and staying with me, it is my last weekend to lead youth and I have to do a skit... Crazy! If I can make it to Sunday, I will be impressed! There is not enough time in the day! Pray for me to multiply my time somehow!!! At least I have become a queen of multitasking during law school!

Disclaimer: It should be a FUN weekend... Just a hectic one! I am excited about all the things above and only a little worried that they all fall within a 48 hour period.

Ms. Independent...

Today was a wonderful day! Quite wonderful considering I jumped my car twice and had the battery on my car replaced...

When I got in my car to head to work this morning, I turned the key... and... nothing... I tried again and it proceeded to make a popping sound (coming from my alarm more so than the engine) but it would not turn over... "Okay... No problem... I will get one of my roommates to jump me..." I looked up.... They were both gone. Darn... Checked the neighbors house... Yes! She was still home. I knocked on the door and asked her if she would mind jumping me. I told her I had jumper cables and knew how to use them... I just needed her engine. She gladly accepted and I jumped my car effortlessly the first try and was out of there in 2 minutes!

If any of you are wondering how to jump a car:
1. Attach red cable to dead car
2. Attach red cable to live car
3. Attach black cable to live car
4. Ground black cable to dead car
5. Turn on dead car and get two live cars!

I was quite proud of my speed and my ability to stay level headed! I didn't even get frustrated. My neighbor was impressed and said she learned something. Her husband always jumps their cars and she had never seen it done. I told her I was happy to impart my car-jumping knowledge and glad that my daddy had taught me (this was not the first time I had to jump a car).

I assumed my battery died because I didn't drive all weekend and the charge had slowly drained. I further assumed my ride to work would be enough to revive my battery but alas I was mistaken. When I left the office I was greeted by the same alarm/no crank sound. Darn. I decided not to panic again. "This is no big deal. I can jump it again." So thankfully my boss was still in the office and was willing to come down and jump me... only this time we used his cables (they were longer than mine). After trying twice unsuccessfully to rouse my engine I started to worry... I thought "maybe I can't handle all of this on my own... Maybe my car has something big wrong with it... Oh no..." But I decide to remain calm... I am with my boss for heavens sake! He cleaned off his battery (it had corroded a little and he thought it was keeping the cables from getting a charge) and we tried again with the newly washed battery... Nope... Still nothing... I began trying harder not to freak out when he said it may be his cables... they were hand-me-down cables and he didn't know if he had ever used them... So he inched his car ever so close to mine so we could use my short cables. I followed the 4 steps listed above again and this time... Success! I was relieved and all of my almost panic was for nothing.

I decided to head to the store immediately after work to get my battery tested... Sure enough, I needed a new battery. After about 15 minutes I was out of the battery store with a brand spanking new battery in my car and I am happy to report my engine has successfully started three times since without a jump.

I share this with you 1) to boast in my mechanical skill (haha) but 2) because I felt quite self reliant today (in a good way). Normally when something like this happens, I tend to be a little disheartened because I have to fend for myself. I do not live in the same city as my parents (for the next 10 days at least), it is not practical to call a guy friend for help at 8am... and on some level I want someone to rescue me when something bad happens. However, today I greeted the challenges with some semblance of acceptance. I don't know if this is growing up and I am certainly not an advocate of "girl power" but I was actually and legitimately happy to be able to handle the challenge on my own... however, Lord... anytime you want to send that knight in shining armor, you won't hear me complaining... until then I will continue to hone my mechanical and carpentry skills... Oh yeah, I am going to make quite the wife some day!

How do you like me now?

Pastor Gregg inspired my title with his sermon on Sunday. If you were not at First Baptist this weekend, the title is in reference to a Toby Keith song... Google it and you will probably catch on to my meaning. :)


I am a J.D.! It is official. I am DONE WITH SCHOOL FOREVER! I walked across the stage in my poofy hat and everything! I graduated at 2pm on Friday May 9th. I shared the momentous occasion with my dad, my cousins Jacki, Rachel and K.C., and my wonderful friends Melissa, David, Laura and Jeff. Thank you all for coming (especially since the commencement speaker was SO BORING)! It meant the world to me!


My mother and the rest of my family were in Lubbock watching my brother graduate from Texas Tech with a degree in Industrial Engineering. I know my brother NEVER reads my blog, but he gets a shout out regardless. I am proud of you Buba!!!

After my graduation (and a quick celebratory dinner with a few of my fore-mentioned friends) I headed to the airport with Jacki and my dad. We met up with the rest of the family in Lubbock for the Post Graduation Extravaganza. It was a rather low key weekend but it was good to catch up with my family (especially my cousins and my brother). We all went to dinner on Saturday night to celebrate. In watching my brother over the weekend, I was impressed to see him all grown up. I feel like he has come into his own in the last few years. Tech has been a good experience for him and I am so excited for him to be closer to me! He is moving to Houston in the next month because he accepted a job with Flour. So you Houstonians can rejoice... I have another reason to come back and visit!

Anyway, it was a whirlwind weekend (but a fun weekend) and I am glad to be back in Houston for my last few weeks and to be DONE WITH SCHOOL FOREVER! Sorry to mention it again but I am just so excited! I am a law school graduate!!!! Woohoo!

Back to work...

It has been nice working these last 2 days and since I am behind, the time is flying by. Tomorrow I get to put eight inboxes on the wall. After the office renovation we are re-doing or inbox system. I have to place them all on the wall (by screwing them in) evenly and symmetrically... Which would be pretty hard but for the level and ruler to measure and mark with... Regardless, I am kinda excited to break up the legal monotony with some manual labor... What does that say about the profession I chose?!?

Birthday/Graduation/Going Away Party

We went to the Astros game for my birthday/graduation/going away party and it was BEAUTIFUL. I enjoyed catching up with a few of my friends and watching the game in between conversations. :) The game was a good one, we beat the Brewers 6-2. I ate a ball park hot dog for dinner and loved every minute of it!!!

Afterwards we came back to my house for a cup cake celebration and more fellowship. It was a fantastic 25th birthday party and I was so excited to be surrounded by my wonderful friends. Thanks Mel and Annie for putting it all together for me. I love you both dearly!!!

Happy Birthday Jessica!

After my last final I headed to the Woodland's for Jessica's second birthday party. I was finishing up my first year of law school when she was born... It seems like so long ago and yet just yesterday. I was in a mild state of sock when I headed to their house, which subdued me for the evening but I was still so excited to see Jessica open all of her presents. After she opened everything she would rejoice by saying "oh, cool." I am not convinced she knew what she was receiving but she thought it was all "cool" none the less.

She received a blow up pool, a play area that was built in the back yard and several other toys. She is at the age where everything amuses her and she doesn't want to stop doing anything because what she is doing is so fun! It was funny to see her argue and complain about leaving one toy only to find joy in the next toy as well. I thoroughly enjoyed watching her!

She blew out a candle and was quite excited about her cup cake. I have included a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. Happy Birthday Jessica!!!

Done...

I am finished with law school... Finally done... I am still in shock but I am ecstatic!!!