While life feels a little crazy right now (post about that potentially coming soon), I'm really relieved that I don't have to take the bar exam again this summer. I was constantly stressed and anxious last summer, though I already miss the structural aspect of it; I love schedules and habits, so I'm kind of wishing this summer could have that kind of structure too.
I have a lot of friends taking the bar exam this summer, and I feel like I've been giving advice to everyone. Not that I mind it - I adore helping people, and having gone through this experience so recently, I'm more than happy to share what I've learned. Assuming you're investing in bar study materials (do people do it on their own?!), here are my 10 study tips for the bar exam!
UNH Visit: Part One: This was the very first trip J and I took to visit Concord and my law school for a kind of new admittee day to see if I liked the school and wanted to move there. When I was picking out posts for this post, J really loved looking back through these pictures with me, so I knew I had to include it. I loved exploring Boston with my guy - as much as I love my solitude, I'm such a city girl. It's also really fun for me to look back on what my initial thoughts were on my law school since I've now graduted, taken the bar exam, and am an attorney in two states!
Well guys, I'm on the other side. I have taken the Colorado (UBE) Bar Exam, survived, and conquered it. I've gotten a lot of questions from people about what the test was. Basically, all lawyers have to be vetted, usually by an exam. In New Hampshire, because of the program I was in, I was tested by a bar examiner for my last two years of law school to make sure I would be a competent attorney. Because I passed the program and law school, I was automatically licensed to practice law in New Hampshire, just like if I had taken the New Hampshire bar exam. Most law students need to take the big, bad "bar exam" in order to practice. Different states require different scores in order to pass. Most states have their potential lawyers take the same test: the UBE, or Universal Bar Exam. The exam is made up of two days of work: one full day (6 hours) devoted to essays, and one full day (6 hours) devoted to multiple choice. States can basically pick and choose the parts of the UBE they want, adding a state law section, choosing to do different essays than other states, etc. Scores can be transferred from one state to another, assuming you can pass any state section and have a good enough score.
In Colorado, I had to take and pass the UBE, with no state section to worry about. But trust me, I worried plenty about my test in late July!
Studying
Most of my summer was spent studying, which means I was incredibly stressed and boring. I bought Barbri, which was the most expensive of the bar prep courses, but also has the best pass rates. Barbri gives you a daily schedule of bar prep so you don't (necessarily) have to worry about what you're doing each day. I didn't start the program on time; I had just graduated, packed up all of our belongings, driven from New Hampshire to Iowa with J and the cats, and spent a week in Iowa visiting family and taking a (small) break before we moved into our apartment in Denver. I spent a few hours studying when I could, but it wasn't anything significant.
Once we got to Denver, the real studying began. I began a routine as soon as I could, which included around 6-8 hours of studying a day, with Saturdays off. Once I made it to July, I studied on Saturdays as well and got off Facebook. Everyone said we had to reach 500 hours of studying by the bar exam to have a good chance at passing, but that wasn't my experience. I didn't track it the entire time, but I would guess that I had around 400 hours of studying, tops. Still a lot, mind you, but not 500.
If you take Barbri, you can choose to do in-person lectures on watch them online. They didn't start in-person until 9:30AM and went until 1:30PM, which wasn't my preference. I hated having to wait until 9:30 every day to do a lecture when I was up at 5AM every day, and once I figured out that I could watch the lectures from home - starting as early as I wanted - I stopped going to in-person lectures. I loved being able to watch the lecture at 7AM, finish it by 10AM, and either study a different way or work for the rest of the day.
One thing I found really useful was a time-keeping phone app! I kept track of my time with an app called Pomodoro that one of my professors suggested (I would also highly recommend it if you want/need something to keep you accountable). I also downloaded a ton of study materials (Pinterest is your friend!), made flash cards (not as useful for me), took a copious amount of notes, and wrote my own outlines. Writing the notes down by hand, re-writing them, typing them up, and highlighting them turned out to be really useful for me - the bar exam is all about memorization, and at least for my brain, writing out the information again (and again, and again) helped me to get those words and phrases into my brain!
What I Would Do Differently:
So, I passed the Colorado Bar Exam, but that doesn't mean I couldn't have studied better. For example, I didn't do a great job of balancing the lectures with the practice multiple choice (MBE) and essay questions. I was watching two lectures a day for quite a while, trying to catch up from my week in Iowa, but that meant I wasn't doing the practice questions associated with those lectures. I basically had the choice: Did I want to study for ten-plus-hour days for the foreseeable future (two lectures AND multiple choice questions and/or essays), or hold off on those practice questions until I caught up with the lectures?
I chose the latter option, but I wish I hadn't. It's way easier watching lectures than it is to do practice questions, but it would have really helped my stress levels later on to keep up with the schedule. As the bar exam got closer, I began doing an insane amount of practice questions and essays. If I had kept up and done them when I was supposed to, I think I would have felt a little more prepared.
That being said, I don't think I've talked to anyone who honestly felt "prepared" for the bar exam. I had friends who hit about 250 hours of studying and friends who I'm sure went over 500, none of whom felt "prepared." I heard about a girl who studied from May until the exam in July, every single day, from 6AM until 2AM (no joke), who did every practice problem on Barbri, who managed to do every single practice essay in our books and then went online, looking for more practice essays. I guess she probably felt prepared, but I didn't actually meet her, so who knows.
After I took the bar exam, my mom told me that it's really a balance of studying just enough to pass; that you don't want to waste any of your time studying unnecessarily - but obviously your goal is to pass, so (as our good and gracious Queen RuPaul says), don't fuck it up. Given that, I had a lot of indications that I didn't need to do as many essay questions and that my practice multiple choice scores were improving a lot as the summer went on. I did a few practice essay questions a week (all written in outline format, because nobody has time to write that stuff out) that I consistently got good scores on. My multiple choice scores dramatically improved with my studying. I got a good enough score on my practice MBE I took mid-summer that it gave me hope that I might not fail after all.
Barbri also offers a service where you can send in a practice essay or MPT for grading by someone at Barbri. There were probably 4-5 different graded essays, and honestly? I did none of them. Eeek! I never felt prepared (sensing a theme here?) since I was still catching up on lectures, MBE questions, and essays. This caused me stress too, because there was always some part of me when I was grading my own practice essays that wondered if I was being easier on myself than I should be. If I had used the service when it was offered, I think it would have given me some piece of mind - even if just a little bit.
My Daily Life
I was honestly the most boring person this summer. I'm surprised I have any friends left; Please forgive me.
With a few exceptions, I had the same schedule every day: Every morning except Saturdays, I woke up at 5AM to get to my 6AM barre or yoga class. Yo girl had to wake up, caffeinate or pre-workout, eat something, get dressed, and head out early enough that I could stretch before class. After my hour-long workout, I drove back home, showered, and relaxed on the couch with a cup of coffee (usually in my UNH Law mug, for motivation). Soon after, I'd start my Barbri lecture online and take notes. For the rest of the day, I would take occasional snack or meal breaks and continue studying until my brain either felt fried or I had done at least 8 hours.
I switched up where I studied throughout the day, moving from the couch to the desk, or sometimes to Starbucks or another coffee shop. I liked the change of an entirely new space, especially as the bar exam got closer, but usually I stuck to studying at home - the coffee is cheaper and the food is more abundant, although I actually concentrate really well in noisy, crowded spaces.
One thing I did that a lot of people don't do is work during the summer.My professors at school warned against it and suggested I get a small loan to cover summer costs. I didn't want to do that, and as someone moving to a new area who didn't have relationships with local attorneys yet, I felt it was important to start getting to know people. So I worked - but I also tried to work in a way that made sense for my situation. I worked on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but only for half-days. On the days I worked, I watched my daily lecture in the morning, left for work around lunch time, came home around 6PM, and then studied some more before going to bed. Having my time separated into "work" and "study" allowed me to concentrate on bar study when I was home. I didn't waste it, because I knew I wasn't able to study 24/7. I also cut down to one half-day a week for July, and then no work the week before the bar exam.
Every once in a while, I'd get out of the house, but it wasn't easy. I constantly felt guilty about any time when I wasn't studying. When J was dropping off his job application to a local store, I went into a book store next door. I was there maybe 10 minutes when I started having terrible anxiety about how much time I was wasting when I could have been studying. J and I started taking walks around Washington Park in the evenings, just to get me out of the house more. I felt guilty every time, but it gave my mind and body a much-needed break.
Feelings, Humor, and "Me Time"
Speaking of feeling guilty... This summer was a complete hodgepodge of feelings every time I spent time not studying. One of my best friends got married in late August, but her bachelorette party was in early June - something I was thrilled about, because even though I had to miss a weekend of studying, it was early enough in the summer that the guilt was at it's lowest and I could actually enjoy myself and focus on her!
I started reading books again, which was something I needed terribly in order to keep myself sane and focused. I had a skype session with one of my law school professors to plan how I was going to juggle working and studying. J and I found a pho restaurant nearby that we went to whenever he convinced me to leave the house. We went to breakfast once or twice to my favorite spot. I swear, I did do things beyond studying... Just not a lot, especially as the exam came closer.
By the end of the summer, I was drinking 3-4 cups of coffee a day and all I could talk about was the law. J insists that I wasn't annoying at all, but I definitely began commenting on the legality of everything (actions on the "X-Files," "The Night Of," every video game character he played, etc.), so you be the judge.
I was truly having a Spongebob Squarepants moment, where he destroys everything in his mind not related to fine dining and breathing, except my mind only contained the law and breathing. As July 26 neared, I finally accepted that I did not and would not understand the Rule Against Perpetuities. Law memes on Pinterest became the funniest things in the world, and I sympathized with my fellow bar-studiers about the havoc stress was wreaking on my face.
As stressed as I was, I managed to maintain a degree of calm about me that I think no one quite believed or understood. I would talk to my friends on the phone about studying, and I kept saying things like, "There's nothing more we can do than what we are doing," while they stressed about whether they were studying enough. Very zen, wasn't it? I'd talk to my mom on the phone and she expressed (more than once) that I seemed exceptionally calm. And that's the way I felt - I was following Barbri as closely as I could, I was getting decent scores, and I was making good progress; what more could I do? The night before the bar exam, I checked my Fitbit to see my heart rate. It had risen 10 beats per minute in the past month - so clearly I wasn't quite as calm as I led everyone to believe.
The Bar Exam
What to say about the bar exam that I am legally allowed to say?
These pictures are in order, which I think says enough. Basically, the morning of the first day, I was terribly nervous but pumped up. I got to the site an hour beforehand, and I was not the first person in the parking lot. I listened to "Hamilton" on the way there and while I waited in my car, because I couldn't just sit there. My theme song for the bar exam was:
Seriously, the song made too much sense for me at the time and gave me the boost of confidence to believe that I might just pass. The first day was the essay section, and that, at least, I felt I could rock. Writing is my favorite. I can write for 6 hours like I'm running out of time because I literally am!I am non-stop! Okay, sorry, I'm done. Point being, I felt great after the first day of the exam. I said from the beginning that if I failed the bar exam, it would be because of the multiple choice section, and that was my second (and last) day. Where I had left the essay exam with a sense of elation (as Anne Shirley said, "Just one awful moment, - Diana, I felt exactly as I did four year ago when I asked Marilla if I might stay at Green Gables - and then everything cleared up in my mind and my heart began beating again - I forgot to say that it had stopped altogether! - for I knew I could do something with that paper anyhow."), I left the exam on the second day feeling... nothing. I sat down in my car, decided I wanted to buy a ton of wine, and called one of my friends to see how she was feeling post-exam. I was still numb, but I wasn't sure how I should be feeling. I didn't feel that sense that I had the day before that I had done well, and I didn't feel terrible... but it was also multiple choice - does anyone actually feel confident taking multiple choice test? Tell me your secrets. About three days later, J hadn't taken the garbage out, and I burst out crying. Like, sobbing. And it took me a solid hour to figure out that I wasn't crying about the garbage - it was the sense of having no control over the test anymore. There was no more preparation, no more studying, nothing else I could do to change the results - all I could do was wait until October 6. All those nerves that I had repressed during the summer came out to play, and I spent almost every day feeling terribly nervous and sick to my stomach, sure that I failed. When my two best law school friends passed their exams, I felt hope for the first time, and then dread that I would be the one to not pass. A week and a half ago, I found out that I passed the Colorado bar exam by a damn good margin. To say I'm proud of myself would be an understatement.
I haven't posted here since January! Can you believe it? I needed a break - I was struggling to find anything to write about, potential employers were a little scared off by the idea, & I had a lot on my plate. It all escalated when I was in my adviser's office, ranting to her about all things I had to do, & posting on my blog sounded more like a burden than something fun I got to do.
It seemed like everything was pointing me to retire the blog, at least for the time being. It's been on private ever since... but I've found myself missing it. I still felt like a blogger, even when I wasn't blogging. Even when summer came around, I didn't have time to post even if I wanted to - I was graduating, being admitted the New Hampshire bar, moving across the country, & taking the Colorado bar exam. A lot's happened since I posted in January, so I thought it'd be a good start to play catch up & let ya'll know what's been happening!
I worked in the most beautiful building // You're going to be seeing about six-seven months worth of cat pictures, so // New Hampshire mountains & sunsets are just spectacular // Work salads are the best salads
What helps Obama unwind? Muhammad (Praise be his name) - AKA, the funniest Cards Against Humanity answer I've ever experienced // Jalapeno-pineapple pizza is an amazing combo // When J worked at Starbucks & wrote lovely things on my drink orders
Me in my natural environment //My choir sang Mozart's Requiem this past semester, & every time I got to sing, "Lacrimosa" was like magic // Our backyard was the prettiest when it snowed // Again, those NH sunsets
J & I saw "The Revenant" in theatres with some friends // Rearranging our playroom was such a hassle, but I loved the result!
Did you know that we are soul-twins? // My sweet cat daddy // That time when my solid wood cutting board broke // J waiting to get through security at the Boston airport
That Denver skyline though - J & I visited Denver in February // My cute date // We visited my friend Erin & hung out with her & her roommates' dogs // Checking out the Museum of Nature & Science
A Jackelope, naturally // I may or may not have bought a Harry Potter coloring book (hint: I did) // Soaking up that Denver sun & drinking copious amounts of coffee // Bloody Mary's at Snooze are the best in the world
Back in Concord, reading for fun while J finished up work one night // Discovered Trader Joe's cookie butter (Oops) // Again, that cat daddy of mine // My Barbri books came in for bar studying this summer
When bae sends you a picture of Takis & wine & says "Come home," & then your heart bursts // Our cats are too cute for words // Fruit makes cookie butter healthy, right? // Cheap champagne makes me the happiest
Nachos from our favorite place in Concord // When I had an afternoon off, I cleaned out the shed & organized our stuff in preparation of the inevitable packing that was to come // I got dolled up for a simulated client interview
Kitty love // I realized how similar these two pictures of me & James were, so I put them side-by-side - how precious is my cat? // On that note, Leif is pretty cute too // I had my last choir concert, which was such an emotional experience
My friend Erica, J, & I visited a local trail which had birds recovering! How gorgeous is this owl? // Afterward, we went to walk around a local cemetery, where I did a classic J pose
After our hiking/owl adventures, it was time for Barrister's Ball with J, Abby, Andrew, Erica, & the rest of my classmates! // When I wore the darkest lipstick to remind people that I was still very punk
Manchester could be really gorgeous when it wanted to // Family snug time! // My last day at work came way too fast - it was a fabulous learning experience & I truly loved the people I worked with // My last day of school - EVER! :O
During this past year, J & I played board games with our friends Courtney & Brady on a regular basis - they totally got us hooked! // I went to a cat show alone, because of course I did. Regretted nothing // At the beginning of May, J & I traveled to South Carolina to hang with my family & watch Chase graduate from college
When you have to study but also have to work out, you read through your notes on the treadmill (walking, of course) // Packing up our kitchen was no mean feat - it took so many boxes to pack all our pots & pans, which makes no sense because I feel like we had basically nothing // Abby, Andrew, & Jay helped us pack up our uBox a week before we were supposed to move! It takes a village...
Me with Jay & Tyler's dog, Ella, my angel // We sold a bunch of our things in preparation for the move, an the box springs were the last thing to go - but not before James learned how to climb a "tree," haha // Leif is a really, really furry guy // One my classmates organized a day of games & fun at a local tiny amusement park
I was voted "Looks Least Like a Lawyer" by my classmates! // When your peer has the cutest dog in the world // James & Leif caught a mouse, by which I mean, James caught it the first time, & then Leif spent the next 5 minutes catching it, releasing it, & then walking around with the mouse in his mouth. It was BIZARRE // My family came in for my graduation & swearing in!
I was sworn into the New Hampshire Bar, then graduated from law school the next day!
The day after graduation, J & I finished packing up our cars (& cats!) & drove for ~19 hours to get to South Bend, Indiana // We made it to Iowa City the next day // Oyama sushi was a NECESSITY after all that driving
I will never forget pizza dog // I started studying for the bar exam // J & I hung out with my friend Liz & her fiance, Austin // J & Leif, sleeping side by side - too precious!
When you go to your college hangout spot, you take a picture of it // I had my bridal shower with a bunch of my friends & family // I met my friend Lauren for coffee the next day // After 6 days in Iowa, J, his mom, & I began the drive to Denver! // Right before we got to Denver that evening, it started to storm. It was terrifying watching it roll in!
Trust me when I say, I've missed this. I've missed you all reading & commenting, & I can't wait to give you guys the updates on Denver & our new apartment (& life). So much has happened!
As always, thanks for reading & especially for caring.
Hello, friends! Please excuse the little break I took from blogging over the past few days. I intended to write a post about my first day of school, but real life took over. I regret nothing. :) Since we had Monday off for MLK Day, my first day of school wasn't until Tuesday. Lucky for me, Monday was also... my 26th birthday! I feel no different than I did at age 25, though I definitely think I've grown a lot emotionally and mentally. J took the best care of me all day - we relaxed, slept in (even though my original plan was to wake up early and go to the gym - you win some, you lose some), had some breakfast, ordered nachos from our fav Mexican restaurant in town (Hermanos "Betty and Shirl's" nachos are incredible), and ate them while we watched movies all day! It was super relaxing and what I really needed before starting my last semester of law school! Can we take a second and recognize that I will be an actual lawyer in May?! This is insane to me. My professors keep telling us that we're totally ready, and it's not like I don't have confidence in myself. I've done well in school and gotten great feedback at all my jobs... But it feels like law school simultaneously went by so fast and also lasted forever, haha. It's so strange to think I'll be a practicing attorney in four months. What?!
But back on topic... My first week back was actually really great! I think it's going to be a really practical, fun semester. I'm only taking three classes, but I'm working for credit at a medical malpractice law firm in Manchester, the city over from Concord.
I work at the firm full time on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which is nice because I have full days to get stuff done instead of starting and stopping projects on half days. Plus, the two attorneys I work for are actual angels, and I love the staff! Everyone has made me feel so welcome. While I worked at a "Med Mal" firm before law school, I wasn't actually doing any legal work (technically), so this is really my first experience doing it. So far, I'm still madly in love with employment law, but I like doing this work a lot more than I expected to!
On Mondays and Wednesdays, I have a class called "Federal Courts," which I thought was more about how to practice in the federal court system, but it turns out is also like Con Law on steroids. I was really worried that I couldn't keep up since I am not into the "philosophy" of law, but today's make-up class was SO fabulous and interesting, and I think I'm really going to love this class if I work really hard to keep up! :)
On Monday nights, I'm taking "Legal Practice Management," which was a class I added right before school started. It's basically about how to start up and manage a firm - not something I necessarily would have chosen for myself in a regular semester, but it worked really well with my schedule and I thought it would be cool to learn more practical skills before I jump out into the job market. It turns out this class is fabulous - it's a great group of only fifteen people, and we're doing a lot of simulated, interactive learning, which is totally my forte!
Lastly, I'm taking my final course in the Daniel Webster Scholar program! It's kind of a catch-all, making sure that we're really client-focused and -ready by the time we graduate in May. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I think it will be kind of like Federal Courts - if I really apply myself, I think the class is going to be a lot of fun and very useful! I'm excited to hone my client interviewing skills over the next few weeks.
That's basically been my whole week! Totally great, especially for law school. I've still been working out pretty regularly, though I admittedly haven't gone for a few days in a row. The apartment's a mess, which I'm hopefully getting to this weekend while I have some down time. Everything's going well in my world, if not a little chaotic. :)
This was by far my most popular post of 2015 - as of today, it has over 1200 views thanks to Pinterest! It turns out Evidence is hard, and I can't tell you how happy I am that people thought these flow charts were as useful as I found them!
I wrote about law school and insecurity in March, and it's one of the posts I've gotten the best feedback on. It's really easy to feel like you don't belong or that everyone's smarter than you in law school, so it was really nice to write about (and remind myself) that we're all here for a reason, and that we can and will get through this!
I wrote about my 2L year of law school, which was infinitely better than my 1L year. Big surprise there, right? ;) I actually had fun, got the best grades I'd ever gotten, and took classes that were simulations instead of just using case books.
One of my favorite things I wrote this year was about things not to do in law school. I go to school with a lot of chill classmates, but that's not the norm. To be frank, the majority of people in law school are insufferable, but you can keep from being insufferable by not doing a bunch of judgmental, annoying things. Something to note. ;)
When I started "Girl Named Fiddy" and let go of "Nonsensical Me," one of the things I really wanted to write about was my journey to applying to law schools and writing about my experiences in law school. I really wished I could have read about before coming, and there's not much out there unless it's a horror story or a story about a law student from Harvard.
I wanted other people to google "law school" and read stories about real life in law school. I wanted them to know my honest thoughts about my experiences, which is one of the reasons I was so proud to write my "recap" of my 1L year. It was not a positive experience. I really, really struggled, and I wanted anyone else struggling to know they weren't alone and we could get through this.
It's weird to think I'll have to stop writing about law school in five months, but I won't pretend I'll miss it. All I want to do is graduate and start working! I want to help people, not be stuck in a lecture... But I can make it for five more months. :)
I got a new StichFix Box in the mail and was OBSESSED with this striped t-shirt (with pleather elbow patches!!) and this beautiful scarf! :D I couldn't wait to wear them!
You could say James is a needy cat.
There's a sandwich/bagel shop in town called "The Works" and they make an AMAZING smoked salmon sandwich! Capers and smoked salmon and tomatoes on a sandwich?? Yes please!
I went to Barre class a few times at the YMCA! Love it! Also, it turns out these old joggers of mine are neither flattering nor ideal for barre. Now we know!
A chapter about standing requirements in administrative process, or how I feel every day in law school? You be the judge.
When your makeup's on point and you've got coffee, anything is possible.
Lil' Limber Leif :)
I headed out to Iowa for a weekend a few weeks ago to watch one of my childhood friends get married! On the trip, I read the 5th Harry Potter book and used Nicholas Cage as my bookmark. Weirdly enough, I don't think anyone noticed.
Anna believes in the right for every woman to have control and autonomy over her own body!
My mom and I went to this cute little church Christmas-themed bazaar and took many a selfie!
I also got the chance to see two of my very best friends while I was in Iowa!! We had breakfast together at my favorite place (Mullet's) and got caught up.
On Saturday, Mom and I met with J and I's wedding planner and checked out the venue we booked for the wedding! The more we figure out, the more I can see this vision of what it'll ultimately look like and the more excited I get! :D
Mom and I at Abby's wedding! I hadn't been to Hyperion since I was about sixteen, so I definitely had a flashback or two.
Abby and Mert's wedding was SO beautiful! My mom actually officiated, and I thought I was about to lose it and cry so many times. They're so inspirational, and just genuinely sweet people!
I had to get up waaay too early on Monday morning for my flight back home, but at least I had a playlist from J and my Harry Potter book.
And the day after I signed up and paid for this 5k, I got suuuper sick. Naturally.
Erica, Amanda and I signed up and ran this Christmas-themed 5k in Portsmouth, NH! It was so much fun! Even though I was still super sick and a snot machine, I didn't do too terribly. Amanda ended up winning our age group AND the costume contest (even though I'm sure Erica was a close contender - look how cute they both are)!
After the 5k, Erica, Amanda and I walked around Portsmouth and did some Christmas shopping. I fell in love with this print for myself and couldn't help but get it - it was just so me! :)
These dudes are honestly the very cutest. *heart eyes*
J got his hair cut a few weeks ago and looked v fine!
J worked on Thanksgiving until 3PM, but we spent Thanksgiving dinner with Abby and Andrew. Look at this adorable table Abby set up for us!!
I brought over the stuffing, an apple crumble, and caprese skewers. I'd never made stuffing before, and I decided to make it from scratch this year. I used a bacon-bourbon recipe from A Beautiful Mess and it was a huge hit - though I replaced the bourbon with apple cider vinegar!
How cute are these caprese skewers I made?! They were definitely messy, but so delicious and easy to make!
J and I aren't really into Black Friday shopping, but we headed down to Main Street in Concord around 9AM to look at records and get some new running shoes. I wasn't planning on buying anything besides the shoes, but J found me this "Grinch" record and obviously I had to have it!
I was all like, "Maybe we should go look at Christmas trees? Totes don't have to buy one," and J was all like, "Ok, let's go look, but look only," and then we came back with a tiny, gorgeous, perfect Christmas tree! :D
Our handsome, derpy Christmas cat!
Can I tell you how obsessed I am with my new Asics running shoes?! VERY OBSESSED!
I am that person on Facebook comments, sorry not sorry. For context, it was an article on James Deen sexually assaulting women, and that girl was *trying* to say that the only evidence is these women's accounts of what happened. Hearsay, friends, is an out-of-court statement offered to prove the truth of the matter asserted. These women were (mostly) not describing things James Deen said to them, but things he did to them. Not hearsay (or "heresay").
It's officially cold enough for sweater James. :)
Working on ma' fitness! I've been working on running more, and even though I'm not going paritcularly fast or far, I'm getting so much better than I was! :)
J and I entered this wedding photography contest by Liz Morrow, the fab lady behind "Delightfully Tacky" AND WE WON!!! So pumped, especially because we needed a wedding photographer! It was a dream come true! :D
Jay and I had our choir concerts about two weeks ago! We had a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday concert, and I think they went pretty well.
Leif: "What the hell are you eating?" "Mexican" soup, Leif. Mexican soup.
I had my Admin Pro final last Tuesday, but my Criminal Procedure final is tomorrow morning! I started cracking down on preparing a few days ago at Starbucks.
I had such a good day on Monday! I worked out in the morning, came home and relaxed, showered, drank coffee, and worked on my Crim Pro notes while my hair dried! Afterwards, I went to school for a review session, worked on a project due on Friday, and met with my Advanced Trial Ad group for next semester. It was a long day, but a good one!
Isn't Leif a handsome son of a gun?!
I'm in the midst of finals week(s), but almost at the end! Tomorrow is my last law school final of the year, and I've gotta say, I can't wait to be done! It's been a difficult semester in a lot of ways, but I think a good one. I've had to adjust to having a roommate again (ha), having J here in Concord and adjusting my time between studying and him, and working while I go to school. Oh, and I've been trying to find a job, which has been (more than a little bit) the source of much of my stress. At the same time, this has been a beautiful few months for me. Getting to move back in with J, getting to work at a firm I've dreamed about working at since I moved to Concord, spending more time with Erica and Amanda, running a 5k (even though I was super sick), getting to visit Iowa, getting things decided about the wedding... So many great things! I hope if you have any finals left, they go amazingly! If you're all done (or you didn't have any to begin with), congrats! Go celebrate your holiday of choice and listen to "The Grinch." :)
