love the fall :)

Today is going to be a fun lazy day. Football, football, FOOTBALL, shopping, and a lil studying. But mostly football. And maybe a fall candle.

The day that ruined my weekend.

That day was last Monday. Bar results came out. And...I didn't pass.


I was in NC with BC's family. They had throw us our first wedding shower that weekend, and we were also set to see Lady Gaga Sunday night. All of which we did and had a lot of fun at. Then Monday morning rolled around, and right before we hoped in the car, I saw it on the website.

I probably cried until we hit the SC/GA border. I just couldn't stop. The thoughts wouldn't stop swirling. I can't take this again/my heart can't take all this stress again/am I going to get fired/I AM MORTIFIED/how will I tell people/what will people think when they find out/I couldn't pass the test while not working, how am I going to do it again/is this what I'm supposed to do with my life/is God trying to tell me something/I can't cut back my hours, we can't afford it/what if I don't pass again/omg I'm getting married in November/when am I supposed to finish planning/I have a jillion invitations and thank you notes to do/I want to jump off a bridge.

Yeah, I was going nuts for a little while.

It hurt to see the fb posts of all my classmates, seeing they passed. My other intern co-worker that passed. Knowing I was the ONLY person I knew who didn't pass. I was embarrassed. I felt dumb.

Good news: didn't get fired. My bosses were all very nice. HR told me they would give me some admin leave once it gets closer. Other bosses said to bring my books to work to study. My concern is all the work I have to do--the trials, motion hearings, research, etc. I just want to ensure it all gets done.

BC and I also discussed amping up our free time to make sure all the wedding stuff is planned and done asap. I will need my nights and weekends to study again, so we need all that to be done.

More than anything, I can already tell God has grown me through this. I obviously wasn't prepared, but I will be next time. I haven't started studying yet, I still need a little more time. Yes, I am still very embarrassed. Yes, I'm concerned I will run out of time. Yes, I'll need to be more focused than ever now. But I feel different this go around. During the summer, I prayed for strength, confidence, focused attention, motivatation....and never felt like I got those things. Funny enough, now here's my opportunity to be strong, confident, focused, and motivated. BC told me, God never gives us more than we can handle. I guess I was the only person I knew that could handle something like this. So I guess I have to now!




Back to work.

Long Overdue!

Hello blog world friends!

Many apologies for my silence.

Lots of things have been going on! I've been getting more responsibility at work, which I l-o-v-e, BC has been swamped with school work, and we've been spending our spare time doing wedding planning. I have to share now that we have: both sites secured, a florist, a photographer, a cake maker, a caterer, and, as of YESTERDAY--MY DRESS!!!!!!! WOOHOO!!

Now. I cannot share a picture. Although I am super excited about it. But BC is a reader of SJ, and I don't want him to see it and the surprise to be gone. Let me just say this: it is Ivory (gasp!), and is fitted (bigger gasp!), and is a style I never thought I would like. It was the 2nd dress I tried on and we were only in the store for an hour and a half!! GO ME!!! It fits great, and only needs to be hemmed a bit! Score! And I found my veil. I told the store clerk I deserve the Bride Who Gets Crap Done Award.

I also realized I have a great deal of arm fat to rid myself of by November.

There is a girl who planned her wedding the weekend before mine and has decided, even though I barely know who she is, that we are now in competition. I could care less. She informed me I would not be able to find a dress because I waited too late.

In lighter news, BC and I are finalists to win an engagement photography session with a photographer on FB! She isn't near us, but she travels, and luckily, so do we! So we'll have to figure out how that works! We'll do anything for free stuff. SO--to my blog world friends, I need help!!! If you want to help vote, it is SO simple, just let me know, and I'll e-mail you the instructions on how to. THANK YOU in advance! :)

i burned my boobs.

Yep. You read that right.

I burned my boobs.

Yesterday I went to the gun range with BC and some peeps I work with and their significant others. I have never been to a gun range before. I was not prepared for the noise. I was also not prepared for the guy next to me to be shooting a .45 inside my ear drum. I got overwhelmed. Luckily one of the other attorney's husband who is in the Air Force, pretty much stayed with me and BC and walked us through everything we needed to know. Since all we had was someone's extra 9mm to use, he went and rented us a .22 and bought the bullets. I had finally started to get a grip by this time and started to feel better. For those who are unaware, semiautomatic guns have shells that pop out the top when you shoot them. They tend to pop out in random directions, and can hit you all over the place.

I think you know where I'm going.

Of course, one of my very first shells popped out and went down my shirt. I happened to be wearing a tank top underneath, and so of course it got caught. I started jumping around like crazy because, well, it was like 10000 degrees. I looked at it later that night, and there was a well defined burned place in my skin. The shape of a bullet shell.

I've been branded.

In other news, my birthday was Wednesday! Woohoo!!! BC and I went and had dinner and made a few stops in some fun beach towns. My parents took us to dinner tonight and they sent me flowers at work. Which I LOVE. P.S. people totally get jealous about stuff like that too. I was surprised.

BC started back to school on Wednesday too. He is so smart and is plugging away. I'm so proud of him. I'm sitting here while he's working and he's figuring things out and I think its just fantastic. I'm a little jealous. The work he's doing--it has a right answer. There is truth in math-ish stuff. You can get a right answer. And it makes you feel smart. I don't always feel smart at my job. I want to go back to math. I was am a math nerd.

tough day.

Had a tough day at work today. I'm learning about people, and realizing that it is in no way unclear that I am the new person. Read some of my devotional books this morning, and have been feeling a lot of "in this world, not of it" lessons swirling around.

I am a big proponent of journals, blogs, whatever. I kept a journal while I was in undergrad, and went back and read some of it last night. I was SO obsessed with finding a guy and getting married. But, at that moment, I was surrounded with it and everyone I knew was running down the aisle. (I have a secret assumption that was so they could all hurry up and have sex, but that is another story for another day.) Anyways, it was really fascinating to read how what I wanted in a future husband began to be seriously shaped during that time. What I wanted continued to be shaped by future bad relationships, but it was really kicked into high gear during undergrad. I think when BC came along I pretty much knew exactly what I wanted. I had to get to the point where I was like--I want a guy like this, nothing less. I also wrote a lot about wanting to be used by the Lord as salt wherever I went. Well......looks like He answered that! The weirdest thing to read was where I had my life epiphany, and decided I was giving up on one direction educationally and going a different direction. This was a very stressful time. Lots of floundering around. So pretty crazy to read what I wrote while I was in the middle of it.

Went to the gym this morning. The gym at 5 am sucks. Why in the WORLD do all those old people get up that early when they don't have anything to do all day anyway?

Watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding. LOVE this movie. For some reason it is one of those movies I just put on and go about my business. Every time I watch it I laugh. This is the first time I've watched it where the proposal scene brought about a different feeling. Not--dang, why am I single. But--I know the feeling honey! I just love BC and can't wait to marry him!


This brings me to another point. I freaking hate wedding planning. Seriously, if it wasn't for our parents and wanting to have pictures (and I want the stupid white dress) we would seriously just go to the courthouse. I work with someone who did that. She and her husband got married and then a month later they got "married" again. I don't think anyone knows about the first one. That's awesome.


Wedding planning update: we have a photographer. That's it. We're getting married November 20th. Yeah, I know. I have a planner/coordinator, so that's a plus. Apparently she is in high demand and a girl that is getting married at my church THE WEEKEND BEFORE ME AFTER WE HAVE HAD OUR WEDDING PLANNED FOREVER ON NOVEMBER 20TH AND SHE IS STEALING MY VENDORS AND TELLING ME ABOUT THEM LIKE ITS SOME BIG DISCOVERY (ugh don't get me started) tried to get this girl to coordinate and she said she was too busy! Score one for SJ and BC!! We're meeting with a florist/decorator at the end of this week. We need: invitations, cakes, food, decorations, and I need a dress. Oh yeah, that white thing.


Since its been a while and I have new friends, I shall post things that we like and would like to copy for our own wedding:

Here's the reception location. Location of the Junior League. OF COURSE. 

Don't have a picture of the church.

We LOVE LOVE this cake. My colors are navy and lime-ish green. (Yes, I am getting married in November, I don't care. And yes, I realize everyone on the planet has used those two colors this year. I picked them FIRST.) So, imagine the black as navy and the pink as lime-ish. And minus the weirdness at the top.

BC wants a guitar cake. I think that would be awesome. We just have to find someone to make one that won't be sucky looking.

Something like this for the flowers. Although I am obsessed with hydrangeas. So there will probably be some green ones in there. All white bouquet for me. All green bouquet for the Jr. Bmaid.

And that's about it for pictures. I'm already exhausted from thinking about all this again today.

I'm also trying to clean over the next couple of days because I don't want BC to come home and think that he is marrying a slob. Although he kinda is. But I think he knows that. Reason # 485029458392 I'm marrying him: last week while I worked and he was home before his classes started, he CLEANED THE KITCHEN!! Yes, you read that correctly. He cleaned the kitchen. When other girls around me complain about their guys, I like to mention my man cleans VOLUNTARILY. I like to win games, including the game of conversation. Can you tell?

Instead of cleaning...

Goodness people, work weeks are LONG. Saturdays are SHORT. What's up with that?!

Work is tough! It makes me tired.

You say: Boooo, oh poor SJ.

I say: I know, right! Thanks for understanding!


But seriously. I am very fortunate and blessed to have found this job. I thank God all the time for this job.

Tons of things happen that I would love to share. Sometimes funny things, sometimes sad things, and sometimes just weird stuff people say that seriously, needs to be shared. But for now, those things will stay locked up in my head. Maybe I'll write it all down and after I die it can be read at my funeral.

In other news, yours truly turns the big 2-5 on Wednesday!! woohoo! I think! Unfortunately, we are on wedding diet right now. That means mayyyyyybe BC and I can split a cupcake. Maybe. Also, wedding diet SUCKS. I freaking HATE counting calories. HATE IT. I also HATE stepping on the scale and seeing that I gained weight over a day I tried to be really careful. I HATE that I am going to have to start back to the gym if I want to see any results. I HATE that this means I will have to get up at 5am now. I HATE that I can't just veg out and eat whatever I want to anymore. I HATE that the only chocolate I can eat comes either covered on a raisin or in a 100 calorie pack.

However, I am really hoping that our hard work will lead to ballin' wedding pics. We just hired our wedding photographer, and I am SUPER excited. She is really nice, and I think she does great work. We don't have a ton of money to work with for the wedding but we want to work with quality people, so that means we will have a very minimalistic theme. But that works with us more anyways.

Also, I went to a gun show with my dad today since BC is out of town! It was awesome. I think I was one of like 5 girls there, and might have been the only one not totally butch, wearing camo, or complete trailer trash. I'm thinking about getting a concealed weapons permit, but I want to practice a lot before I do all that. I want to be prepared for anything!

Yesterday I bought the book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, or something like that. I started reading it at the pool. I'm on page, like, 4 and I think I'm going to return it. I seriously can't find any good books to read. Maybe I'll just stick to the US Magazine.

Nightmare.

People. It finally happened.

I woke up from a post-Bar exam nightmare.

I found out everyone I knew, even the dummies, passed the Bar. And not me. And for some reason, "fails" were worth 10 points and I had twenty points from failing both days. Boo.

In my dream I was balled up sobbing in a corner. I woke up crying. It was weird.




Also, I work with a Rashida Jones look-a-like.



Finally, my blog friend, The Faux Trixie, wrote up what she would do with all her blog friends if they were her real-life friends. I felt cool. Like I was part of a middle school clique. I like it.

So I say: blogfriends--come on down to the beach! Life is good! :)

Tired.

Warning: long.

I have been MIA in my lil corner of the bloggy world.




I am tired.


Work is long and hard.


(that's what she said.)



Anyways, all jokes aside....I am not cut out for a 8-5 job. I am better suited for a 1-3 job. Or maybe just a lunch break.

Today was only day 3 back at work, and I must say, I have really enjoyed it.  This is the job I totally wanted, and I'm loving the opportunity they have given me.

My biggest assignment in life at the moment is mostly fielding statements of "Oh goodness SJ, you are just so dang smart, I just can't imagine you wouldn't pass the bar exam!" and "Oh honey you will do just fine, you are so smart!" Ugh. Get off my back. When I fail, I'm going to request you to be the person to talk me down off the bridge to the beach.

This morning was mostly routine I suppose, besides the abnormally long time it took to finish the over 100 people on the docket. After lunch, however was a different story. We spent a lot of time this afternoon sorting out a situation that I can only describe as a sad domestic situation. Many attorneys address them in different ways....some are super hard on people in domestic situations and some are more lenient and will not push someone who wants to drop charges. This situation this afternoon was different though. After speaking with the victim, the other two attorneys left the room to get some background work done and I sat with the victim. As the person cried, I listened and tried to offer a few words of comfort. It was at that moment I realized my job is so much more than offering pleas, signing papers, arguing before a judge, whatever. In my section of the legal world, I am pursuing justice and making sure the law is enforced equally. That is HUGE! I know it takes some time to figure out how people operate...when they are just pulling your leg, when they won't take your advice, when they are just going to go do "it" again, etc. But I think during my time in law school I gained a great deal of discernment regarding how people really operate. I also think its really REALLY easy to get lost in the job....day after day, same old types of crimes, offers, pleas, cases, etc. But this is peoples lives and we are tasked with the responsibility of making sure the law is obeyed, punishments are exacted, and people learn their lessons.

Anyways, that is super dreamy and flowery, but I am going to try my best not to lose that view. Yeah its real easy to get cynical in this job. But I'm going to try not to.




Also, wedding diet started this week. I'm snarky and mean.

Nervous habits.

I think everybody has nervous habits. I am a nervous itcher. I have naturally dry skin (which was actually great as a teenager. Dry-ish skin=no zits.)

However, as a bar studier, this means my pale gross skin can't hide the fact I am a nervous itcher. I have a lot of make-up to do with my skin now. When we get back to the beach I'm going to soak up some sun and go find a good dermatologist.

BC started calling me a crackhead when I start my nervous itching. Which made me think of this:

Chappelle's Show
Tyrone Biggums' Red Balls Energy Drink
www.comedycentral.com
Buy Chappelle's Show DVDs Black Comedy True Hollywood Story

ahhh Dave Chappell.....too bad you went crazy.

post-bar day 2

I am not prepared to talk about the Bar Exam.

I only want to dwell in the wonderful world of post-Bar life.

If I don't pass I will scream.

I don't want to do that again.

Anyways.

Since we were in Tampa, we went to a Tampa Bay Rays game. It was awesome. I made a bright pink poster that said: I just took the FL BAR EXAM Put me on TV!" And they did! It was awesome. Everyone around me was congratulating me. BC rolled his eyes when I told him I wanted to do it, he didn't believe me. But as soon as we sat down, I opened up the poster and waited for me time in the limelight.

And yes, it happened.

We traveled on south after the game, and we are currently staying with my aunt for half a second before heading back to the beach. She convinced a TON of fam to drive over and we all went out to dinner. BC and I ended up crashing and woke up this morning to head to....

...wait for it....

MASSAGES!

We signed up to get 30 minute massages this morning with a massage therapist that is a friend of my aunt's. Sweet goodness, that thing was AWESOME. I will forever be getting massages for the rest of my life until I die. If you have not gotten a massage before, you absolutely must go do it. Seriously, like 10 minutes into it, I was drooling and slurring my words because I was so relaxed. When I left I felt like I had been slowly drinking for like 10 hours. You know that weird woozy feeling? Oh it was wonderful.

Now we are relaxing and watching The People's Court. Ahhhh......the good life :)

I will post pictures of awesome things when we get back home. Watch out for the ballin' poster and some awesome sunsets!

xoxo

UGHHHHHHHHHH

The bar exam suuuuuuuuuuuuuucks.

Duh.

Like that was new information that anyone was unaware of.

I will most likely have a post where I recount all the nonsense of the past two days...

but for now, I'll leave you with this little story. BC deserves all my free time right now because he has had to suffer through the past two months of crap.

I pushed myself to finish the last half of the MBE before the last 20 minutes when you can't get up and leave. I finished, signed my I-promise-not-to-tell-the-MBE-questions-to-anyone-ever-as-long-as-I-live paper, and ran out of the Convention Center to wait for the hotel shuttle. There were like 4 people outside. Everyone else was standing at the minibar that had been rolled out by the Convention Center to fill up all the eager drinkers. I just had to get out.

Of COURSE I get stuck on the shuttle with the two most pretentious people (ok, maybe just one, and she was old and definitely a gunner. UGH) who were just ABSOLUTELY CONVINCED they passed. The driver asked if we passed. I said no. They were like ummmm YEEEAHHHH!!! I was like, ugh, can I walk back now? Let me out? Please?

BC and I wanted to go to dinner, so we went to Carrabbas, had a crappy time, didn't get what I ordered, etc. So we went next door to the Whole Foods where we sat in the caf, ate pizza, drank fun flavored sodas (his: ginger, mine: apple), bought a cookie, crystallized ginger, and Smart Water, and left with some delicious gelato.

That dinner was WAY better than anything Carrabbas could have done for us.

And now I'm going to spend some qt with BC. Because he deserves it :)

This is it.

Well fellow internet-ers, this is where the fun ends. This is the last post I'll write until I'm on the other side of the bar exam.

Tonight BC and I had dinner with my parents at our favorite waterside restaurant and afterwards me and BC wasted some time on the beach (we couldn't actually get to the beach b/c all the dumb a tourists took, seriously, every single parking place. Had BC not been there, I'm pretty sure I would have gotten out and keyed every single last one of those Mercedes and awful Tahoes with those stupid flop-flop stick family stickers on the back).

Moving on. Tomorrow after church we head down to Tampa.  Found out the hotel has a shuttle to the Convention Center, so that's great, I guess. Not sure if I want to ride over with all the freaking out bar exam takers, though....something about that situation is just not jiving with me.

Regardless, this is the end. Next time you hear from me, I will be typing gibberish onto a computer screen, having left 98% of my brain at the Tampa Convention Center.

Please say a little prayer for all of us bar takers next week, we will TOTALLY appreciate it :)

xoxo

introspective procrastination

I just read a blog post written by my blogfriend Amie, where she mentioned a friend of hers who just started blogging. This friend, Peach, wrote a guest post about some snippets from her life. In one of these snippets was how she failed the bar exam and was currently waiting on her second attempt results. Then I saw a comment in the guest post by AG where she stated she got laid off after one year as an attorney and was now dealing with a whole different job situation than she expected.

And it made me wonder.

How much do our plans differ from those that the Lord has set out for us? I mean, yes, it seems logical--you go to undergrad, law school, take the bar, and BAM--attorney forever. End. But really? What if that just isn't our little deal?

Ex: BC is going back to school, starting all over.

Want to know a secret??

(I'm jealous.)

Insanely jealous. I kinda want to start over. I kinda want to do something else. Somedays I can't WAIT to get to my new job (will be a new local misdemeanor prosecutor IF I PASS THE DANG BAR EXAM) and I'm so totally excited to do it. Some days I want to go to culinary school. Some days I want to go get one of those tiny baby degrees and be a radiology tech. Sometimes I want to start my own business (I have a BALLIN' idea for a new business, but I'm not going to share because I'm stingy) and some days I want to stay at home and cook and clean and be a puppy momma.

Maybe its the bar exam. Maybe its pushed me so far to the edge I'm questioning all my scholastic decisions since I allowed my parents to move me to a different part of the state in the first grade. Or maybe its because I haven't been outside in two months and am seriously lacking in Vitamin D.

Either way, this is where I am. I'm breaking down as I type because I realize, despite all this wonder, maybe its really just a lack of faith in myself. (Dang it, this turned into one of those introspective posts, UGH.)

So, as absolutely PETRIFIED as I am to do pretty much anything right now besides stare at my PMBR books on the floor...I will leave you with this:

"God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:2

hurricane??

So, since the bar exam just could NOT get ANY MORE AWESOME!, there is a tropical depression/storm/hurricane/blahblahblah headed towards Florida-ish. The current cone has it heading towards Louisiana (God bless those people, like they need anymore drama). So hopefully it won't pull any nonsense and try to head toward Tampa. Its whatever though, most of us natives were born in the middle of a hurricane warning, so we're used to all of that.

Did some FL practice yesterday, ended up wavering between 50-70%, which I am stoked about (I think...right??) Once my score is scaled, I'm hoping I just slide right with all those other little passers.

Today was supposed to be my MBE day, but I ended up getting up this morning and going and getting breakfast with BC, heading over to the college with him to make sure his financial aid was all set (that's right ladies and gents, I'm going to be bringing in the bacon! woohoo!), and then taking a nap. I just woke up. Don't worry, I'm about to get started, dang it. I'm just SO FREAKING TIRED OF ALL THIS!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! My brain is like--NO, Alicia. NO MORE. NO NO NO. Stupid bar exam, I hate you for ruining my summerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All right, back to reading. u.g.h.

I'm sending BC to go get cookies. Fruit, schmoot. Who can eat fruit at a time like this. I WANT COOKIES!

good times will come again.

On our way back from picking up pizza (I'm pretty sure we've eaten pizza for dinner about 10 times in the last 2 weeks. Hello again 10 pounds!), BC looked at me and said:

"we had fun times in December."

I thought two things. First--geez, December? What happened in December? Second--dang, that was soooo long ago.

When I asked for clarification, he said "you know, the cupcakes, the beach, Pickles..." (all of this involves a little beach town near my home that we l-o-v-e.)

Then, I felt bad. Aside from getting engaged, which was wonderful and magical and wonderful, I realized how much he has gone through for me. We started dating the middle/end of fall 3L semester and got real serious in the spring and got engaged in February (what can I say, when you know, you know!). But then it was always something with me...school, bar app, weekend visits, long phone calls, lots of tears, graduating, moving a jillion times, roommate drama, other people/places/things drama (mostly people), family drama, weight loss, weight gain, complaints, broken phones....the list goes on. Then I moved back to FL, and he came too. Just picked up his whole life and come to be with me.

Now its more stuff with me--bar exam, bar exam, bar exam. He's going to Tampa with me to hang out in the hotel for two days waiting for me to be done with all this.

After waking up this morning to a messy kitchen, I told him we were eating out until the bar. I didn't want to cook or clean. DONE. As I went in to study, he voluntarily went into the kitchen, scrubbed EVERYTHING, took out the trash, swept...all of it.

I was reminded how incredibly lucky I am. And as I sit here listening to him play the guitar, I realize there isn't anywhere else I would rather be than right here.

So, when he said that tonight, all I could tell him was that I promise things won't be like this forever. I promise that I will be normal again. I promise I won't always be a crying, manic mess. I promise that I will take showers on a regular basis. I promise I will remember where my make-up is. I promise I won't wear pajamas every day. I promise we'll do fun things all the time. I promise I'll cook more than bacon and grilled cheese sandwiches. I promise I'll lay around and watch TV with you. I promise to stop eating pizza and look smoking hot for our wedding. (Ok, that last one was for me. I need my own motivation. For the record BC could care less. In a good way.)

I promise the good times will come again.

yummmmmmmmmmm

*scoff* wedding diet. psh on all that.

Someone please come make me this tomorrow morning:

(@PW)

Please? It's all I can think about.

This recipe is from Pioneer Woman. You can find it here. Oh dear, it is so delicious. So easy to make. So delicious. Its all I have been thinking about for like 3 hours. 

Did I mention it was delicious?

So......any takers? Pretty please?

Regaining composure...

So this morning was a mini-meltdown. Or a big one. Regardless, it happened, more than once.

BC talked me off of multiple ledges at multiple points in the day. I realized multiple choice questions are just a huge weak spot for me. I realized that all this bar nonsense may not be a lost cause, because essay grade #2 out of 3 was also a green dot--Exceeds the Standards! I was pretty excited about that, because that means, given the chance, I'm not a complete legal moron.

So, to keep myself on this high, I will digress to other happy things.

I have family coming to visit tomorrow! They are staying with my parents and will probably see me for like 2.5 seconds at church on Sunday.

Two weeks from now the bar exam will be OVER, I will be taking in a Tampa Rays game with BC, and enjoying the beaches of Central/South Florida for the first time in a L-O-N-G time.

We are having $5 Little Caesar's pizza for dinner!

Also, I read a few other blawgs the other day and read about some other legal-y people dealing with MUCH worse issues with me...from scheming and conniving exs and bitter divorces to unknown brain issues. I realized...life could be worse than a test. One stupid test. One stupid test that means a lot....but still, one stupid test.


Things could be worse.





**ps. I know I waiver a TON in these posts. I promise I'm not bi-polar. Yet.

Hmmm....

So, some interesting things happened yesterday.

Since Wednesday was rough and I only got through 100 of my 200 MBEs, I did the other 100 yesterday. And that's about all I did because I am desperately clinging on to whatever remaining willpower may or may not be left in my body.

Well, while I was working I decided to take a lil break and check out my practice state exam and see if my essays had been graded. One was. The verdict: Exceeds Standards! A green dot! I mean, hello, what's up with that?!?! I think at that point, for the FIRST TIME this summer, I thought that I might, just perhaps, maybe would not fail the bar exam.

Well, I continued on in my MBEs, finishing last night, only to discover, when I graded them that I had, in fact, only gotten 36 right. Oh yes my friends, you read that correctly. 36. Out of 100. Add that to my 47 from the first section. 83 right out of 200. Wow. Yeah that won't get you very far.

BC was reading out the answers to the second section and I was going through and checking them off and I was like........crap, what test was I taking?!?! Is he even reading the right thing?! What is going on here?

I'm pretty sure, no...I'm COMPLETELY sure, you could grab a rando off the streets and say, "hey, take this test for kicks, see what happens" and they would do better than a freaking 36!

I mean, its not like I've been learning this stuff for 3 years.

Nope.

So after crying sobbing having a complete and total messy breakdown for like 4 minutes on BC's shoulder, I sucked it up and went back to work.

If I fail this thing, I'm not doing this again. I'll figure something else out. But I'm NOT doing this again. I'm not putting myself through it, BC through it, my family through it, nothing. A job isn't worth it that much to me...

So, now that I'm behind yet again on my syllabus, I'll work my best today to catch up. I feel so beat down. And I feel like a dummie. And I want to put the books down and go to sleep. And I want to...

Dear sweet goodness.

Today started off as a very sucky day when I woke up at 6 am with debilitating cramps. (I have no shame in sharing this, one because I'm like 99% sure most of my readers/followers are women, [except you BC!!!], and two because guys aren't dumb and they know lady things pop up from time to time--big shocker, I know.)

Anyways. Today was supposed to be MBE day. 100 in the morning, 100 in the afternoon. Its 4:50 pm and I'm on question like 41 from the first section. I can barely focus to read the question, much less process it while dealing with all this pain. My brain is already sick and tired of all this nonsense and trying to process it while I feel like there is something trying to claw its way out of my abdomen is next to impossible.

So, I am taking break number, like, 10,000 right now. I am sitting here in the living room listening to BC play the drums and enjoying a most delectable treat he brought me--the last coffee drink I will ever need:

The McDonalds Mocha Frappe.

Seriously, people. I'm being serious.

This thing will have you saying "Starbucks, what? Who? I don't even know what that is."

I understand skepticism. Really, I do. I once lived in that world. But no longer. Since I am (obviously) trying SO HARD to stick to my wedding diet, last week, BC and I went to McD for breakfast. He got one of these, but I was like "ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....nahhhh." Of course, when he picked it up from the window, I tried it and had to stop myself from jumping from the moving car and running away with it.

So all I could think of today, while I was sitting here dying of pain and hating my life and averaging about 2 questions every 15 minutes, all I could think of was one of these babies. So sweet BC went to pick some up.

Mine is almost all gone, and his is sitting here on the table. I might finish his too. He's far away behind a drum set and unable to fight me off.

Here's your assignment: go give one of these a shot. The McDonald's website has a coupon for $1 off of these things until 8/15. Here's the website!

All right, I'm going to try to get back to this. I have to finish 100 question in three hours. Its like the saddest thing ever if I can't even get half of this crap accomplished today.

*toodles*

New Grill

So last Saturday morning, BC and I ended up having breakfast with my parents. (I have to stop here and say...there are crazy people I know who are studying for the bar and aren't seeing their families and/or eating. What's up with that? I just can't do that. If seeing my family and eating means I fail, well.....so be it.)

Anyways.

So we were eating breakfast and my mom asked if we had used our "grill" yet. (The "grill" is a tiny baby thing I bought at a garage sale that you can bring to the beach. It might be big enough to grill a hotdog. Maybe.)

I said no, and frowned and looked at BC.

So a couple of hours later, my mom shows up at our house with a lighter, a bag of charcoal and a new grill!! Woohoo! Pretty dang excited. Its HUGE. Its a Weber. Its awesome.

So today we went to the grocery store and bought all sorts of delicious things to grill. Tonight was steaks. We bought a fun little marinade and threw them on.

Well.....this was me and BC's first grill attempt. Needless to say, we had to resort to a small amount of
microwave time at the end. But for a first attempt the steaks were still delish!!

I was in charge of side dishes, and I picked two things. I know I wanted to make black-eyed peas. OK, done. Next was something with red potatoes....but what...? Here's what I did, I just have to share. BC said this concoction ended up tasting amazing, and that's enough for me!!

Red Potatoes
Cheddar Cheese
Heavy Cream
Onion, chopped up
Bacon (the real kind), crumbled up
Butter
Salt and Pepper

Cooked the potatoes, and mushed them up, added some butter, some heavy cream, some shredded cheddar, a little bit of chopped up onion, and some real bacon. I don't have amounts of this stuff because seriously I just kept adding and tasting until I thought it was delicious.

Everyone should make their own version of this. It will make your boyfriend/fiance/husband swoon and people everywhere will want to be your best friend.

Post-July 4th

BC is finally moved all in and is on his way to officially becoming a Florida resident. I am on my way to becoming officially insane. (bar stuff, hello, where have you been for a month.)

Apparently after July 4th, everyone is supposed to kick it into gear and get with the program. That is my plan and I'm ready to go! I told BC I refuse to be like everyone else and be a raging b and take it all out on BC and never see him. Yesterday we made dinner and took and walk and it was nice. We study in the office together, and it is nice. He gives me neck massages, and it is nice.

The most important thing to me--him. Not the bar exam. Don't get me wrong, its important. Pretty dang important. Its whats going to keep me in a job and keep us afloat while he's finishing school. But its not more important than him.

Keep that in mind, fellow bar peeps. When this is all over, your husband/fiance/boyfriend, family, friends...they are all still going to be there. Don't treat them badly.


And now I shall leave you with some pictures!!!


First, my amazing wonderful flag cake I am so proud of! It is a little rough looking, but for a first effort, I'm pretty happy :)

Finally, some shots of the fireworks we saw, once I figured out how to work the fireworks setting on my new camera!

Happy *almost* 4th of July!

Before I begin the obligatory holiday posting, I need to make a quick mention of something...why is it we call this holiday the 4th of July instead of Independence Day? I mean, I know most holidays don't fall on the same day every year. But some do. So shouldn't we say "Happy March 17th" instead of "Happy St. Patrick's Day." I know that sounds dumb. It just needed to be said.

Now, on with the fun!




I LOVE LOVE LOVE the 4th of July Independence Day! Since I've been little my lil fam has pretty much done the same thing every year. That involves: the local parade and following craft festival, cookouts, naps, and fireworks!!!! WOOOO!!!!

Because we live in a beachy area, we have the luxury of watching the fireworks over the water. Pretty freakin' sweet. About 4-ish years ago a friend of mine got married on July 5th and I traveled with my parents to go to the wedding because it was held in our old hometown, close to where my Mom grew up. We went and saw fireworks down there...SO LAME. Definitely better over the water, hands down.

This year is even more special because BC will be here and it will be our first 4th of July Independence Day together!!

Here, enjoy some pictures.

First, the food.

Gotta love delicious grilled things and the stuff you put on them!

I have always wanted to make one of these cakes, and dang it, this year I'm going to do it!!!!!!!!


Next...some flag stuff.

Lots of tall flags always overwhelmed me.

And some beachy flags!!


And finally.....the FIREWORKS!!

Love, love, LOVE fireworks over the water. Have I mentioned that yet?


Hope your 4TH OF JULY is awesome!!! :)




P.S.I have to give a shout-out to my new blawg friend, Amie, at Third Tier from the Top. Apparently I made her famous by posting some of her Bar Exam wisdom on fb and because she mentioned my name on her blog I am now famous. So hello to my recent visitors!

Something to look forward to :)

What do

and

have in common???

ME!!!!!!!!!


BC bought me tickets to go see Lady GaGa in concert in Raleigh on September 19th! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Yes, I like Lady Gaga. She is ridiculous and awesome and amazing and doesn't care what anyone thinks.  I saw an interview with her and she said that she never wants to stop touring. She said she should probably take a break but she is doing her dream job, every day, sharing her music with jillions of people and she never wants to ever stop touring. (That and the cash, I'm sure.) REGARDLESS, I respect that.


I'm so freakin' excited I just can't wait! Also, bar results come out the very next day. Ugh. Which means the drive home from NC could be either very good or very bad. But at that point, my life will be super awesome and cool, and I'm hoping I forget what day it is.


For now, I'm laying on the couch drinking orange juice and reading about FL Corporation. *sigh* Sad day. The fun will come again....I just have to get past all the nonsense first.

And wedding update: Nothing has been done, I don't know whats going on, blah, blah, blah. We're just all going to show up to the church in November and see what happens from there.

Happy Father's Day!

I have to take a little time out for a shout out to my Dad for Father's Day!

I have been very blessed with a wonderful father who is so very patient with me! He always did what he could to provide for our family, but would always step away from the work and drop everything if we needed him. I have tons of examples swirling around in my head of when he just dropped everything and came to either my or my Mom's aid.

In church this morning, the preacher discussed how some people have a difficult time creating a relationship with the Lord because their relationships with their own fathers are so damaged, or don't exist at all. I'm so thankful for a Dad who loved me completely and was always there for me, because it provided a foundation for when I began to build my relationship with my Heavenly Father.

Then I took all of those traits from all through the years when I was looking for my future husband. And I found him. Or he found me.

And now as I prepare to start my new life with BC, I know I'm grounded, from both of my parents, of how I want my relationship with my husband to look like.

I hope everyone took a minute to hug their Dad today! I did, and then I hugged my Mom for picking a good one :)

Daydreamin'

I keep thinking about what its going to be like.

When July 28th rolls around, when I hear that time is up. When Question #100 has been answered for the third and FINAL time in that two day timespan.

When I'm driving back to the hotel, thinking that all I can do now is wait.

When I go to sleep like that night, knowing its all over.

When I wake up and wander out to the beach...lay on the sand and let the sound of the waves completely take over my thoughts for the first time in three years.

When I get back to my house and put away all the bar review stuff, up in the closet, and completely out of sight and out of mind.

When I get to go back to work and actually WORK...because I'm *gasp* actually looking forward to it.

When I get my results...




Its all a bit overwhelming. Now that I'm not working, I feel a load off my shoulders and I can concentrate on all this like I'm supposed to. But beyond that, in 41 days, just 41, my life will be so incredibly different. 41 seems so short. Three years ago, June/July 2010 seemed like an eternity away. And now, here it is. I can't believe how fast time has flown. And while all this is incredibly frightening, a couple of times today while I was reading, I just stopped and thought--this is actually completely doable. Yes, it is three hours of essays followed by 100 MC. And yes, there is another day of 100 MC, morning and afternoon. And yes, my head is going to explode with all this information. But this is totally doable.




And I'm going to do it.

Sunday afternoon study break

Studying for the Bar Exam is taking over my life. I mean...CONSUMING.

I go to work in the mornings, and study during down times. I come home and study until I go to bed. I wake up the next morning and start all over again.

People I talk to about being busy and (totally validly) afraid of failing, just shrug, toss their hands and say "aww you'll do fine." If only it were that easy.

I've read tons of blog posts from newly minted attorneys, and the mind-numbing fear they lived in for two months. There is just something very unique to this process that no one can understand. It is not like the GRE, the MCAT, the DAT, whatever other letter combo you can think of. This is the end-all be-all of exams. You take it for two, or three, days, depending on your state and then wait about two to three months for your score. Don't pass? You have to wait about 4 more months to take it again...but don't forget the $500-$900 fee to re-register.

Not to mention the fact you don't be working during that time. More unemployment...or minimum wage.

I have mental breakdowns on a regular basis. Lately it had been space between them but, now its down to about once a day. Something usually drives me to the edge and I call BC balling. (Not ballin', just balling. I wish I was ballin' though.)

I recently heard about our "self-control storage." Think about it. Maybe that's why we're so testy when we get home. We expend so much energy everyday not going crazy, yelling, screaming, kicking things at school/work/wherever, that when we get home at night, we're exhausted. I think there's where my breakdowns are coming from--I have so.much.stress that any little thing drives me to tears these days. Most recently--Friday: couldn't find anything to wear. Big pile of clothes on the floor. My life was ruined. BC again had to talk me off the ledge. (Figuratively, people....give me some credit, dang.)

So, I say all that to say this. If you know someone studying for a Bar Exam, say a lil prayer for them. It will be much appreciated, I promise you :)





P.S. BC said I was prose-cute :)

Long time no see!

I have been checking OTHER people's blogs, but not updating my own. So...here's my update.

Life right now consists of Bar Review. Lots and lots of Bar Review. And I'm a day behind, so, while BC is driving down to see me, I'm sitting here trying to catch up. Got about...mmmm....7 hours of work to do!

Also, I found a place to live! Its a super cute townhouse, and we get to move in on Wednesday. I'm so excited!!!

Besides that, I'm just excited to be celebrating a fun holiday weekend! There will be a beach trip scheduled in there for sure, pretty excited about that :) LOVE living near the beach again!!!

Totally Over

Well its officially over. I traded 3 years of legal nonsense for my 15 seconds of glorious recognition.

I walked across the stage around 11 this morning, officially ending my law school career. I must say, its been a crazy 3 years. Honestly, I feel like nothing even happened. Like those 3 years were a blur. At the very same time, I can randomly pick out different things in my brain, different moments from those three years.

I guess you don't know how you will deal with certain situations until you get there. I was in a really bad mood this weekend. Like, the whole weekend. I guess it all should have been a joyous occasion, but it really wasn't for me for some reason. I was so ready do be done and gone, I couldn't stand it. Honestly, I didn't start to feel like myself again until we were about 2 hours out of town and finally stopped to eat lunch around 3.

I think what's throwing me for a loop, is the lack of stability in the next couple of months. Yes, I will be studying for the Bar. But apparently I am working too. I have no idea what that will entail. Also, BC will be moving to FL.  We have to find somewhere to live, but neither of us have any money (yet) and we haven't found any places. He's supposed to come down next week to go look at some places. The plan is to make a decision NEXT WEEK so we can go ahead and move in and be done! I think once he is here with me, and we have a schedule, I will feel MUCH more settled.

In other news, my parents bought me a beautiful Sorrelli necklace for graduation! I love it!

All in all I'm glad this chapter is closed....and I'm ready to move on to the next one!!

1 more day...

Judge shows get me through the day....

that's all.

Tomorrow is my last final....

and then I'm a law school graduate! WOOHOO!!

I have to share some beauty advice. Most people in America have already heard about these, but I feel like they have been revamped in my life recently:

People, seriously. Get on this train!

I have been fortunate throughout my life to not struggle with a great deal of facial/skin issues. But I still take care to wash my face, use moisturizer, etc., all those good things the Clinique lady tells you to do. However, let me just tell you, these little strips work magic! 

When they first came on the market, I bought them, and they HURT when you took them off your nose. Like, I almost cried when I tried to take one off my nose. Recently I decided to give them another shot. They are now officially part of my beauty routine. 

If you are skeptical, think about this: ever thought you had big pores? Just a facial scrub may not cut it. You need to clean your pores out. Why you ask? Clogged pores can actually STRETCH them out, making them look even bigger than they should!! And if for no other reason but smaller pores....its the best $6 you'll ever spend :)

1 down, 1 to go!

Ah the proverbial exam count-down post. Wills and Trusts is officially done, and I don't want to think about that class anymore! I have one more, Arbitration, next Tuesday. I haven't studied yet because I need a mental breather.

Also, BC was sweet enough to come and stay with me for a while. The previous plan was for us to not see each other until the end of May when we go on vay-cay down south. (Also, please do not spell "vay-cay" like "vaca." In my head, I read that as "vah-cah." And, thanks to my undergraduate basic Spanish, I know that "vaca" means "cow" and I can't take it anymore!)

Well....us being apart lasted about 2 weeks. We had decided his last visit here a couple of weeks ago would be his last visit because I had finals and whatever and needed to focus. Or something like that. But most days consisted of us getting on Skype and me balling my eyes out because I couldn't handle 4 weeks part. Then, my roommate's gf came to visit and hearing them laugh and have fun out in the living room...I just couldn't handle it anymore. So I asked BC if he would be willing to come down for one last visit if I promised to be super thrifty while he was hear and cook and be all domestic-y (we're trying to save money for him moving, being in school, me paying off loans, finding a place to live, blah, blah, blah, woof.) Of course, I wouldn't have to promise anything, I'm pretty sure me being a pitiful baby everyday was enough :) What a sweetheart! Can't wait to be together everyday!

So, while life is SUCKY because of finals, life is also WONDERFUL because I have my love with me, that wasn't originally planned, for a little while. HOWEVER, (TMI alert!) I recently got sick and can't kiss him. It is literally killing me. BUT, I would much rather not be able to kiss him and him be right here, than not be able to and be staring at him over a computer screen......so, there is definitely always a silver lining :)

Well, I'm off to do something productive.......maybe ;)

Happy Mother's Day!

Take time today to call your Mom (or give her a big hug if she is nearby)!

I am so thankful for my Mother and what a wonderful constant she has been in my life! I would be where I am today without her! And a special shout-out to all the wonderful grandmothers, aunts, great-aunts, and cousins I am so blessed to call my family...and to another lady, my soon-to-be mother-in-law, I will soon call family! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

National Train Day

Today is National Train Day!

Don't believe me? Check it out here.

So, this may not be very exciting to most people, but I've never ridden on a train before, but it is actually something I REALLY want to do. I remember one of my law school professors my 1L year telling me that was the most fun, cheapest way to see Europe. This was followed by a speech on how we should do fun things before we get tied down, etc., but now that BC is in the picture, I know I couldn't enjoy a trip like that without him!

With airplane tickets getting cheaper with companies like Southwest, I guess people might not necessarily choose a train ride, but it is definitely on my list of things to do!

National Day of Prayer!

Today is the National Day of Prayer, as enacted by President Truman in 1952. It was originally created specifically to pray to God, but became much more generalized in later years to incorporate more people and more religions.

Unfortunately in 2008, an organization challenged this, and about a month ago a US District Judge ruled that the statute designating this day was unconstitutional. The US Dept. of Justice filed their intent to appeal about a week later.

Regardless of whatever the Court of Appeals ends up saying, we are so fortunate that their ruling does not even matter in our own personal lives!! Every day can be a day of prayer for each of us. We are all so fortunate to live in a country were we can publicly worship and not get in trouble.

Take time today to stop and thank God for the special things He has done in your life!

The Hills and TRHofNY

Well, its time for finals again, and of course that means lots of procrastination and lots of blog posts!

It is the final season for The Hills. Last week was the first episode, and tonight is episode #2 at 9. I have never been a faithful follower, but will totally plop down on the couch on Saturday and spend a whole day catching up on like 3 or 4 seasons at a time. I must say though, I am totally making time in my Tuesday night for this show now! Esp since Heidi went nuts, LC is gone, Audrina still has the drunk eyes, LO is back to being a reoccurring character like Laguna Beach, and Kristin is now the main character/narrator and is, so far, exhibiting some pretty out-there behaviors.

I also am going to start making time for the Real Housewives of NY on Thursdays. Those women are c-ra-zy and totally act like backstabbing 14-year-old girls, but it is hilarious and I can't stop watching!! My favorite part is when, and they all do this, one of them will expect everyone else to fall all over themselves apologizing for what they did, but when that one person does the exact same thing, the response is "oh, they'll get over it."

What can I say...I am definitely a fan of reality tv!!!

New toy!

I am the proud new owner of a MacBook Pro!

I'm so excited and I can't wait to learn everything!! :)

2 of 2

I love Derby season. I mean, who doesn't? The horses, the hats, the mint juleps :) I can't wait to have Derby parties in our new house next year!

Two horses in this year's Derby are from Gulf Coast Farms in Ocala. Of course I have to cheer on the two home state representatives!! Here are my votes:

Conveyance

Lookin' At Lucky

1 of 2

First things first.

I have been a little out of sorts the past few days because....drumroll...I have job prospects! One of my former bosses' husband is an attorney in my hometown. While he is not hiring, he promised to keep an ear out for me. Well, out of the blue I get a call a couple of days ago that he has an opportunity that was, in his words, pretty much mine if I wanted it! Well, the next day, he called with another!! The hiring partner for the second one called me today and we spoke....but they want me to work WHILE I study for the bar. Of course, this worries me. But, I luckily didn't screw things up for myself when I mentioned that I was unsure about working and studying and I STILL have an interview with them! Its Monday morning at 9...and I'll be heading home Sunday night for that. 

I never thought in a million years I would have to make a decision like this! One, possibly two, jobs available to me! God is so good!!!!!

Advocacy Banquet

I didn't talk much about BC's visit, but one of the many reasons he drove down to see me was to be my hot date to the advocacy banquet at school! At this banquet, they re-present all of the trophies to all of the competitors, listen to a speaker, learn who won the 1L Moot Court tourney, and find out who the new Board of Advocates are.

This years speaker was a federal chief judge. It was really awesome to hear someone as learned and wise as he is. Even still, the biggest thing he tried to tell us was to take time with our families. Apparently (and I totally believe it) its going to be difficult to try to balance all of our responsibilities as a young associate. I have already promised BC he will always come first. I'm going to work hard, but I refuse to compromise my family and what I believe for a j-o-b.

Anyways, the night was fun and we ended it with a Paradise Brownie from Chili's :) YUM!

Planning update...

Per Lacey, I am required to update my, like, 7 readers on my wedding planning. But I am very happy to do it! Just don't be disappointed that I am way behind. Mostly because (1) I am doing jillions of other things (graduating, exams, jobs, blahblahblah) and (b) I am getting married in November so I have the freedom of a little waiting that other April/May/June brides do not share.

This is what BC and I have decided so far:

Ceremony Location: my home church.

• Don't have a picture. I want it there because that's my home church BUT it doesn't have a center aisle. I conceded once I discovered all the center aisle churches in town have ridiculous rules and charge exorbitant amounts for their dang center aisle's!

Reception Location: local Women's Club

• We wanted to have the reception off-site, at a smaller venue than my church's activity center, and that way it'll be easier to decorate and...well....control other possible variables.

Colors:

• I refuse to "embrace" November. I don't want orange, brown, pumpkins, turkeys, anything. I had my color ideas in my head, and I would put them in my wedding regardless of the month. They are: Navy blue, Lime-ish green, and white.

People: 

• The people have been chosen. I have a MOH, three lovely bridesmaids, a sweet junior bridesmaid, and an adorable brother and sister for the ring bearer and flower girl. We lucked out with the RB and FG...they are the children of very good friends of mine and are old pros at the job! They'll do great!
• BC has picked his Dad as his best man and 3 of his closest friends as groomsmen. 
• I have to give a shout-out to all our sweet friends....BC has groomsmen coming from NC, Virginia, and even Seattle! My sweet friends are breaking up their semesters to hustle back to PC for the wedding...one even has an 8 hour med school exam the day before and is driving in immediately after!!

Dresses:

• I don't have mine yet. That will be put off until the last possible moment so I can make the most out of the wedding diet. My bridesmaid dresses have, however, been ordered and are in! They are Navy, and from Target.com! Yes! A whopping $40. These dresses look way better in person...not so flattering on this girl. The sash around the waist looks like a cummerbund, so I think we're going to replace it with white or something.

Flowers:

• I want green and white bouquets for the bridesmaids, and all white for me. I'm in love with hydrangeas, always have been, so I'm sure that tons of them will pop up in all of the bouquets. The top picture  is the color scheme I'm thinking about. The boutonnière in the bottom picture is what I'm thinking for the guys....minus the pink wrapping. 

 

Music:

• Ceremony stuff was pretty easy. We kept it pretty traditional. And we're going to spring for a live trio because I think those people sound FANTASTIC. It'll be a little pricey but we both agree that it will sound way better. Here's what we've come up with:
• Seating of the fam: Air on G
• Processional, Party: Canon in D
• Processional, Me: Bridal Chorus
• Recessional, everybody: Wedding March
• BC is a music aficionado. I told him that he is welcome to take over for the reception. Plus, I'm not really signing up to dance to Shania Twain any time soon, so I'm down for anything! BC loves all sorts of fun classic rock stuff--Rolling Stones, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Def Leppard, blablahblah. We actually made some prelim decisions!
• First Dance: still thinking...maybe All My Love, Led Zeppelin??
• Party Walk-in: Pour Some Sugar on Me, Def Leppard
• F/D: Father and Daughter, Paul Simon
• Last Dance: You're My Best Friend, Queen
• I must say, I'm pretty excited about the music. I think we're going to have the best stuff. I mean, who expects to hear Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin for the first dance?!

Food:

• What everyone goes to receptions for. Well my friends, this will not disappoint. Here was our mindset: my parents are going to give us money to throw a party for ourselves. Why not have the food at that party that we LOVE? Some people might be huge snobs about our food choices, and in that case they are completely not invited to the fun. But for all the normal people out there...enjoy our prelim list of must-haves!
• chicken tenders, pizza, chicken salad and stuffed mushrooms, fried green tomatoes, a raw oyster bar, boiled peanuts, sushi, smores, pulled pork sliders, fruit and veggies, and all sorts of other things. I can't wait.
• CAKE. So excited. We've found pictures of cakes we like, and so far this one is the front runner: 

• Of course, change the damask pattern to Navy and the little pink dots to green. And take away the crystals. But we LOVE this cake and the design!!
• GROOM'S CAKE. BC wants a guitar. We've found some really awesome looking ones online...now we just have to find someone talented enough to make it look normal.

Honestly, this might be it so far. Dang this post is forever long and took me forever to type out!

The most important thing out of all of this: the luxury of ending the day married to my best friend. BC visited this weekend and it will be a month before we see each other again, the longest we've ever gone. I miss him terribly and he left this morning! I fall in love with him more and more everyday and I am SO BLESSED to have found him and be able to spend the rest of my life with him!

The Dreaded...

BAR EXAM!

Okay, so I'm not close to actually TAKING said exam, but I am pretty dang close to having to have my application in. I have about a week left before it is DUE. Yes, due.

I just need to note that I am painfully terrified of actually turning this thing in. I have to have everything right or, pretty much you die. I've printed out two drafts so far and keep finding little tiny things. I think this might be my last draft...I have got to get this thing in!

Total price to register for the FL Bar Exam: $975! ACK!

Faves...

Around here, sunglasses are treasured. In the South, people usually pick out a good pair and stick with them...especially if you grew up around water of some sort. Costas, Ray Bans, Maui Jims, Oakleys, all kinds!

My favorites:

Costa Del Mar Switchfoot

Tortoise frames, green mirror lenses!

I haven't had them since the end of March...they were a casualty of the wreck :( The left lens was completely shattered and they had to be sent in for repair. I had just bought them too!! 

I previously had the tortoise Switchfoot with the amber lenses (and of course I lost them somewhere), and I must say....green mirror is the way to go!

We're slowly becoming a Costa fam...BC recently made his first Costa purchase:

His are the Brine style...

What can I say...we're BIG fans of the tortoise/green mirror combo!

catch-up and a lil advice

Wow, I haven't posted in a little while! I wanted to post everyday with fun stuff, but I have def fallen down on the job!

Most recently, I have been all involved with the judging stuff. Seriously, every day at least once a day. Last rounds are Monday morning, and then they find out (I think) Tuesday who makes it into the tournament. I'm excited to see who makes it! Seriously, there is some really good talent in the 1L class.

Also, I sent out 23, YES 23, cover letters and resumes a couple of days ago!! I am officially flooding the market! I plan on sending tons more out on Monday.

I don't really have much to talk about today. Except maybe a little girl advice. I keep having friends who are talking to me about the guys in their lives. Things that they aren't quite okay with but they convince themselves it fine and end up making excuses for themselves and their guy. LOOK LADIES...if you are making excuses or rationalizing ANYTHING, its a red flag. Plain and simple. I tell you this: true love is easy. Yes, marriage is hard work blah blah blah. But its even harder if you don't end up with the right person! Your life isn't over--you never know who will show up tomorrow. Do NOT be afraid to communicate. If he is doing something and you aren't on the same page about it TALK ABOUT IT. If you are afraid he's going to jet if you talk, do it anyway. If he jets, HE SUCKS. If he sticks around and *gasp* talks it out, he actually cares about you!

Any questions about boys? Let me know. BC knows stuff and he def won't sugar coat anything!

Movie Review

This weekend I went to visit my lovely fiancé, BC, in NC! We went on lots of dates, and I love them all. They range from dinners and movies, to wandering around the mall. He is fantastic. But I digress.

We saw two movies this weekend...and I totally recommend BOTH!!

First: Date Night

So funny!

First, Tina Fey and Steve Carell are FANTASTIC together! They have a great chemistry. Plus, it was a pro-marriage movie, which is great and so rare! Without revealing too much, Tina and Steve are a married couple, married for a while, and lead busy lives, juggle having kids, and are actually trying to stay together and keep things exciting. It was nice to see that from Hollywood. I mean, the storyline won't be winning any Oscars or anything, but it was funny! I mean, of course, who are the actors, hello.



Second: How To Train Your Dragon

We went and saw this movie in 3D--super cute! It had a great little story, great music, awesome graphics! And yes, we were the only ones in the theater that were not children or parents, but honestly, it was still a great movie. The writers set up a great storyline and there was an unexpected ending! That doesn't happen too much in these types of movies.








Don't forget the snacks! Our new movie tradition is Sour Patch Kids and a Coke Icee! YUM! What's yours?

It just shouldn't be.

Something very disturbing happened yesterday.

Everyday, all over America, radio stations play some sort of "throwback" section of music. It seems like most of the music is from the 80s, you know, all that fun stuff we could still dance to: the Bangles, Blondie, Michael Jackson, Elton John, Abba, Rod Stewart...all those sorts of things. Well, I was happinly enjoying the throwback music yesterday when WHAT CAME ON but.....*NSYNC!!!!!!!!!! I could not even believe it. And it wasn't even old school *NSYNC, I Want You Back, or Tearin' Up My Heart, oh no. It was Bye Bye Bye!!!!!!

Now, I have to express my love for those pop guys. They, along with BSpears, Christina, Backstreet Boys, got me through middle school. I remember hanging out with my friends, singing along, it was great! While we're on that topic, how about this picture--anybody remember the BSpears daisy cd?? I thought it was so cool when we all found out that the cds came in different colors with different colored daisies. To a middle schooler, the early days of pop music were it.

And now...we've gotten to that point. Music that came out in the mid to late 90s, and the early 2000s....now officially is considered "old." Yesterday, I felt like I was 115 years old!!

Delicious lunch.

The Chick-fil-A sandwich. Absolutely genius in creation, pure deliciousness. It is, of course, only improved by the addition of the this:

and this:

Mmm. The original sandwich, those wonderful waffle fries, and that AWESOME sweet tea.

Now, I don't know about most people, but I like to rank Chick-fil-A's in towns that I have lived in. In my hometown, one particular one holds a lot of memories from high school. Let me digress for a moment. I was an SGA officer my senior year, so I had a ballin' parking place. Everyone would hop in my car and we would speed off to the drive-thru Chick-fil-A. Ah, good times. Now, here in law town, I must say, I have had to get adjusted to the sweet tea at the Chick-fil-A by my house. Chick-fil-A people! Wake up! A teenager working an afternoon job can't properly make sweet tea! You need to find one of those sweet old ladies who has been doing this FOREVER to be in charge of the tea. Then, and ONLY then, will it be correct :)

I don't believe you Sir!

Let me tell you, this woman is awesome. Some love her, some hate her. Either way, she doesn't deal with nonsense.

This week, I have had the pleasure of judging the practice rounds of my law school's 1L moot court rounds. Next week is graded rounds. So far, the only thing I have come away with is this: I am destined to be a judge. But not a simple trial judge, oh no. I want to be one where I get to ask questions, get answers...be involved! And, since I don't really foresee being chosen to be an appellate court judge anytime soon....I'm going to go for with being a TV judge! I mean, what could be more fun! You are essentially a fashionable arbitrator, and you get to rule however you want! I can just see it...it will probably have to be broadcast on FOX, because I also foresee getting a little feisty.

Easter weekend!

I LOVE Easter weekend! Mostly because it is always spent in sunny FL! First, BC got into town Wednesday night and we IMMEDIATELY exchanged Easter baskets.

His basket included tons of stuff, including flip flops for the beach that weekend, a sweet Jeep Matchbox car, and a Led Zeppelin shirt. Pretty much the best Easter basket ever :)

Mine (which there is no picture of) was all pink :) And the best surprise? Underneath the big yellow duck (inside joke) he brought me with the basket--RED VELVET CUPCAKES!

These things have become our "special times" treat. He also brought along some pink lemonade Easter cupcakes with the red velvet ones with super cute tiny chick candles. So cute!

Friday we headed down to FL to pick up the new car! It is so wonderful and looks almost EXACTLY like the other one. I love it and am SO GRATEFUL to my parents forever!

Saturday we went out on the boat! So beautiful! The water isn't quite emerald yet, and it will definitely take some time before the water warms up, but we had fun nonetheless. It was Ben's first time out on the boat in the ocean! He loved it! We saw dolphins too...such a treat! :)

After that, we headed to one of our fave places for an early dinner before heading out to see Hot Tub Time Machine...I love date night!! :) I think we've decided on this same restaurant for our rehearsal dinner...that place is delish and is a must for ANY and ALL FL visits!!!!

Easter Sunday started with Easter baskets for me and BC from Mom and Dad and then onto some family friends for Easter lunch! We have been going over there ever since we moved to my hometown and I can't wait to start a new tradition with my *new* family! BC fits in so well with everyone and I just love him so much!

Takin' in the sunshine!

Got to lay outside today for a couple hours!! It was wonderful!! And I now I have a nice base tan to prove it!! :)

LiveStrong

I HAVE to promote LiveStrong. More specifically, MyPlate on the LiveStrong website. This thing helps you track how much you eat each day, and tell you how much you should be eating based on a bunch of factors.

Here's how it works:

• Enter in your height, weight, age, and how much you want to lose/gain each week, up to 2 pounds each way.
• Enter in your current weight into the weight tracker graph
• Enter how active you are each day, not including working out

And that's pretty much it! The website gives you a set calorie amount to follow each day. You can search for the food that you eat and specify what time of the day you ate it. It automatically deducts it all for you.

This is a great website, because its tough to track all that on your own. Plus, even if you don't go over on, say, calories for the day, you may be going over on sodium, and the website will show you that. I totally attribute part of my success to this website! Some days are tough, i.e. you have 600 calories left for dinner, but you REALLY want to go to Chili's and eat a cheeseburger and a Molten Lava Cake for dessert, but it gets easier. PLUS, cheat days are always necessary or else you will go insane.

Also, you lose weight in weird places. For me...my feet and my fingers. I'm about to have to get my ring resized for the second time!