Tag Archives: Law School

The Last Day

Posted in Faith, Inspiration, Life Ramblings, Relationships by

Today I was officially sworn in, and I am now licensed to practice law.  I am finally a lawyer.

The speeches, the small talk, and really most of the morning was spent rehashing the things we all had to overcome to get to this day.  But that’s not where my heart has been today.  Yes, these last three years have been the most challenging I’ve faced, but I’ve spent enough words on that before.  Today, I’m just feeling grateful.  Hidden among all of the long days, frustrations and disappointments were uncountable blessings.

I met my husband, who loves me even when I’m ridiculous or difficult, and he tells me that, every single day.  He takes care of me, he laughs at my silly antics, and lets me get away with things like blaring the new Taylor Swift CD in his car because waiting to get home from Target is just not my style.  He challenges me to be a better person every day just by being who he is.  He’s my rock, and my safe place to land.

I shared this experience with some pretty amazing people.  Since our first day of class, I have conquered this crazy challenge with someone I should have met in college (we actually had mutual friends) but never did.  We kept each other sane… most of the time.  I watched two of the nicest people I’ve ever met fall in love and now they’re getting married.  There were study sessions that turned into parties, and dinners that turned into late nights. And there is a kinship between those of us who have struggled together the whole way, that I will miss.

And I have friends who didn’t take this challenge on with me, but who stuck by me through it.  They’ve been neglected.  I’ve been a crappy friend to them who hasn’t had time to see them often, and who has been preoccupied with something they didn’t really want to hear about.  I’ve forgotten birthdays.  I’ve missed too many things. They’re still around.  I’m that lucky.

I have a family that loves me, that supports me, and that is proud of me.  They’ve been far away, and I’ve seen less of them, but they’re there.  When push comes to shove they are going to do everything they can to help us.  I don’t think I ever understood how much that means before.

My husband and I have lived in a beautiful apartment that has made this entire journey more comfortable.  We’ve been able to live a non-ramon noodle existence while we were both full time students.  We had adventures traveling through Europe and the U.S. together.

But perhaps my greatest adventure has been the one I’ve had with God.  He called me here.  I often didn’t understand why, but He did.  I learned the weaknesses of my faith.  I learned where I wander when I don’t have a community behind me.  I learned a lot about trust.  I thought I trusted Him before I came here.  Now I know what trust really means.  I also learned a lot about grace.  He has met me where I fell every step of the way.

Today was the last day in a long journey.  It’s a perfect day to be grateful.

They Don’t Exaggerate, The Bar IS That Bad

Posted in Life Ramblings by

Sometimes, during a fleeting moment of real life, I get a taste of something that almost amounts to inspiration, and I think fondly of the blog, or canvases, or writing projects I’m neglecting.  Once in a while, when I’m feeling optimistic, I even think I’m going to fit something creative into my day… But as I’m collapsing onto my bed in exhaustion, I usually remember that with a smirk, the same way I remember my fleeting unrealistic dreams of being an Olympic figure skater or a rock star.  I’ve instead filled my days with lectures and outlines, and writing thousands of note cards… Which still need to be memorized in the next 15 days.

It used to be that when people talked about the insanity of studying for the bar, I thought they were exaggerating.  Nothing else has lived up to it’s hype of horror.  While I hated law school at the end for a variety of reasons, it was never ever as hard as people tried to convince me it would be.

So when I read that studying for the bar I was going to forget about hygiene and become a hermit and completely lose all sanity, I scoffed. Maybe those people who thought law school finals were the end of the world would be like that.  But surely I would get by, just like I aways have: stressed, cranky, and prone to leave things in weird places, like my phone in the fridge, but not unable to function.  Certainly not forgetting to shower and becoming a hermit.

Except… When I went to the grocery store on Friday, I couldn’t remember when I had last left the house before that.  There are days I never change out of my pajamas.  And when I do remember to shower, I usually end up back in a different pair of pajamas right after.  I’ve went days without putting on makeup… More days than I’ve ever went since I was 13 and discovered makeup. I rarely know what day of the week it is because they all run together. I get up, study, eat lunch, study, have some dinner, study, fall asleep, dream about what I’ve studied, repeat.

Surprisingly, my husband and I have succeeded in doing this study routine day in and day out for weeks, in the same apartment, without attempting to kill each other.  It’s a miracle, and one that I don’t expect to last all the way to the 24th.

But if Facebook and random accounts by electronic communication during quick breaks hold true, we’re still in better mental shape then most of our peers.  We still have groceries.  We still have clean laundry.  The apartment still looks inhabitable. No tears have been shed over practice tests.  My hand hasn’t actually fallen off.

The countdown is on… Real life is getting close!

A Week Of Celebration, Then A Nap

Posted in Cute Foods, Dessert, Life Ramblings, Recipes by

From Sunday to Sunday we celebrated.

It started with my husband’s birthday.  He claimed he didn’t want to celebrate – apparently another year over 29 was just not something he wanted to acknowledge.  So I said I would just make a cake and we’d have a nice dinner…  We ended up with an apartment full of friends that night.  But it was a perfect way to kick off the week.  We ate cake, had a few drinks, and kicked off our week of celebrating with laughter and memories of the last three years.

I cheated with a box devils food cake in two 9 inch rounds, iced with the Hershey chocolate frosting recipe off their website.  It is the MOST chocolatey-chocolate frosting I have ever tasted… 3/4 cup of cocoa powder chocolatey.  I thought it was a bit much but my husband loved it.  After completely frosting the cake, I took a shot at creative decorating based on some Pinterest inspiration.  Before the frosting dried, I surrounded it with Kit Kats in two-piece chunks and covered it with M&Ms, tied with a fun ribbon to keep it all together.  It was a huge hit. (And it’s the perfect way to hide a cake tier that breaks coming out of the pan… Not that I’d ever let that happen of course.)

Then on Monday, fresh off not studying all weekend, we took our last final and celebrated with a nice dinner out.  I was ready to be done.  I didn’t care about the grade anymore.  I handed it in, took a sticker that said “I finished law school FOREVER” and bounced out of the school.  I was still bouncing when we went to dinner.  As in, I freaked the waitress out because I was literally bouncing in the booth.  There was also singing and twirling… and martinis.  Every once in a while, in the middle of a conversation I would stop and ask, “we’re really done?”  My husband would affirm “we’re really done.”  It didn’t sink in.

Tuesday’s celebration was all about me.  Finally done, I took the first step in getting back to my pre-law school self and literally “lightened up.”  I knew I couldn’t go back to the light platinum blonde I was from dark brown all at once, but I was pleasantly surprised how light she could take me in one sitting.  It’s definitely blonde.  And immediately, I felt like the world was a lighter, happier place.

Wednesday we celebrated with a reception and a banquet at school.  On Thursday we celebrated with the entire class on a boat cruise with an open bar.

Then on Friday night, the main event.  Hung over and/or exhausted from finals and two nights drinking on the school’s dime, it seemed from the Facebook posts that we all did the same thing for most of the day – cleaned in anticipation of our family’s arrival.  And then we put on our big heavy gowns, lined in velvet, and marched out into the square in 95 degree heat to make it official.  AND I DIDN’T TRIP WALKING ACROSS THE STAGE.  You’d think I’d be over that fear, three graduation ceremonies into my education.  But no.  That was, in fact, still my biggest concern.

We followed the ceremony with a late meal at one of my favorite restaurants with both of our families and close family friends (which is always a source of anxiety for me, because the inlaws have almost nothing in common).  But for once, everything went smoothly and everyone was in good moods.  It finally started sinking in… we were done.

Saturday was our final culmination of the weeklong celebration.  We spent the day with family friends who are more family than friends… the girls shopped, the boys golfed.  And then we all came back to their house, and got to celebrate the engagement of their oldest son and his girlfriend of six years who we’ve all come to love.  We grilled out, we drank way too much wine, and we finally got to relax.  No more mingling in uncomfortable shoes, making painful small talk.  Just laughter pouring through the house.

Yesterday, we met my parents for lunch, returned my sister to them, and then we came home and napped. Without an alarm set. Without guilt.  It was, perhaps, a celebration in itself.

We finally have our lives back.