Law School Orientation

Law School Orientation started on Saturday the 13th with a community service project in South Phoenix. We worked with the Tiger Mountain Foundation. It's a great organization that seeks to plant gardens in abandoned lots. I got there at about 8am and mingled with some of the other law students. There were probably over 100 of us out in the hot summer heat of Phoenix. We stretched, listened to some motivational speeches, did some gardening, listened to live music, and had a great BBQ. We all agreed that it was a great low-key way to meet our fellow students before Monday.

Today and yesterday were full of sessions, information, and preparation advice for our first day of law school. So many of the talks were absolutely fascinating and I find myself becoming more and more excited for my law school experience. The Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law  has some really amazing connections with the Phoenix legal community. We've already been told that 25 judges in the Phoenix area will split up my law class and mentor the first year law students, which sounds like a great opportunity to build relationships in the professional community.

The law school seems to provide a great amount of faculty and administrative support, plus offers internships, externships, clinical experience, trial court litigation groups, and so much more. 

Needless to say, it's all very exciting and, despite the 100+pages I need to read before the first day of classes on Thursday, I'm looking forward to this experience!

Oh wow, I have a blog!

As I was sitting around at home in Sheridan today, I thought that it was time that I got back into the routine of updating our blogs. Todd and I have kind of fallen off the face of the earth as far as these blogs are concerned. I think a large part of that is due to the fact that we fell out of the routine and just got busy with the normal little things that make up our life. But let's see if we can give this another shot!

To catch everyone up on everything, here's a whirlwind summary of what's been going on.

In October 2010, I hurt my back while I was at work. The injury kept me going in and out of the doctor's office - steroid injections, physical therapy, x-rays, MRIs, etc. Because the injury occurred at work, it fell under Workman's Compensation so I got to experience what that fun little system is like (note that I'm being sarcastic here). I wasn't really able to stay in the classroom, so I did part-time substituting instead in order to finish our my Teach For America commitment. That ended in May and I've been enjoying the hot hot hot summer in Phoenix since then. This is my last free summer for a while (since future summers will be busy with internships and work), so I'm taking advantage of my free time.

Law school orientation starts on August 13th, with actual classes starting August 18th. Todd and I are busy ordering books and waiting for my new laptop to come in.

Speaking of Todd, he's got a real job now! He started yesterday at Amkor Technology. He enjoyed his first day there and I'm sure we'll hear more about that later. Maybe I can push him to update our blog with that information!

Right now I'm still at home in Sheridan, enjoying the cool weather. Well, cool for me at least. I've been able to see quite a few family members while I've been in town. One of my awesome high school friends, Hillary, just got married and I was a bridesmaid in her wedding. Her and Nick had a gorgeous ceremony in the mountains followed by a fun reception at the Best Western.

This is just my quick little update post. I'm going to do the same thing (though maybe in a different format) for our other blog.

Expect more updates!

I'm such a girl.

Last night, we had just finished eating dinner and I was taking the plates to the dishwasher. The kitchen is semi-dark because we're watching Glee on the sectional in the family room. I reach my hand down to open the dishwasher, open it.....AND OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT?! IT'S MOVING! OMG OMG OMG!

I screamed. Shrieked. Panicked. I set the plate on the counter as fast as possible (and I'm still surprised I didn't drop it on the floor) and ran across the room, still yelling. My screams turned into hysteric sobs.

Todd, knowing me and all my little quirks, immediately knew what was wrong.

I had seen a cockroach.

So for the next 10 minutes, I stood on my tippy toes on the top of the sectional while Todd hunted through the kitchen with a can of Raid. He finally found it, killed it, and took care of its remains.

I don't know what it is about those bugs, but I really can't handle them. There's something in me that just snaps when I see a cockroach. I think my reaction this time was so strong because I did not just see a cockroach from a safe distance....IT WAS RIGHT THERE, NEAR MY HAND.

*Shudders*

So I told this story to one of my friends. His response?

"You are such a girl."

A Quick Story

While cleaning up the block area with two children, one boy hit the other little boy.

"Oh no, my friend! Do we hit each other in class?" I say before pausing to wait patiently for the standard response of "No, we use gentle touches."

Instead, I hear:

"I only did it in the name of Jesus."

I was certainly caught off-guard by this one. "....Ah...well, we still don't hit our friends in class. We use gentle touches."

So, I learned something...

Labor Day Reception Party + Early Morning Flight = Not Such A Good Idea.

Yeah, that flight home was a tad rough. But really, I had a great time and it was nice to go home for a couple of days, especially since my classroom is a little rough this year. I honestly haven't felt like I've had time to focus on much of anything since starting school, which is likely why these blog updates have fallen behind.

On the bright side of things, I'm feeling a bit better tonight about my class. Of course, that could be because Todd and I just got back from a fun and relaxing night out Cosmic Bowling with some friends. It's always nice to unwind on the weekends!

Classroom Rules

"We use walking feet in the classroom. Walking feet. Do we run in the classroom?" Teacher Araceli asks the group of eleven children, shaking her head to give them a hint as to the answer to her question. It's at this point that all teachers expect the students to chime in together with an emphatic "Nooooo."

That did not happen. Instead, a student that we shall call J piped up and said "Yes! I run because I'm a winner!" After which he promptly demonstrated his significant running ability by running in several loops around the classroom.

How do you argue with that type of logic?

Craving

I've been having a chocolate craving for about a week now. These types of cravings seem to slowly creep up on me...at first, I might not notice it. Then, as time passes, I will think of chocolate and say "yum." Soon, chocolate begins to be all I can think about. I will sit on the couch, muttering "chocolate, chocolate, chocolate," until Todd, who may or may not think I've finally lost it, consents to take me to the store to buy some chocolate.

Or, alternately, says that we'll go buy some chocolate, gets me in the car, and drives to the Home Depot.

"Why aren't we going to Food City, hun? It's right across the street."

"....We're going to Home Depot."

"YOU TRICKED ME!?!"

"No I didn't. You can get chocolate there."

"...."

I did get chocolate from the check-out line. But I maintain that it was still a dirty, rotten trick.

Now, I don't have anything against Home Depot...most of the time. But after moving into a house, it seems like we're always going to Home Depot. And Home Depot trips always last longer than you expect. Plus, I'm confronted by too many options and styles, most of which we can't afford/don't want to spend the money on. Then, we'll wander down some innocuous aisle and Todd will stop to look at some obscure tool/material/pipe/machine. Meanwhile, I will just sit there and tilt my head to the side while trying to forestall the "glazed over cross-eyed" look. To avoid this scenario, I just try to stay away from Home Depot. Sometimes it works....when I'm not bribed with chocolate.

Tonight, though, my chocolate craving was satiated by the ultimate dessert: Hot Chewy Fudge Brownies with Reesee's Pieces cooked inside them and....get this....vanilla ice cream. It's delicious. No, delicious isn't strong enough. Trying to find words to describe the experience of this dessert tonight is impossible. Let's just say that I hugged my bowl and could hardly talk for at least 5 minutes while I reveled in the chocolate experience.

Now I'm full, tired, and content. Mmm mmm mmm.

And I have no worries about future chocolate cravings. Safeway was having a sale on brownies...I have 6 more boxes of brownie mix in my cupboard. Mwhahaha!