Finals have a way of sucking the fun out of life.

My deepest and profound apologies the -3 of you who read my blog-- I am 47 pages and 2 exams shy of completing this semester-- pray me through this and I'll be back as soon as possible!

Stuck in a Mon-daze.

Ohhhh mondays.

I wouldn't dread the first day of the American work/school week if it didn't entail sitting at the office till 5 followed by class till 7:30.

Tuesday thru Friday are either solely dedicated to work or school, and when I'm done I can shut my brain off, go home, and take time to reorient my brain for the next day and it's challenges.

But...Mondays have an upside.
at 7:30 i get a ride home in a car i don't have to drive, eat a dinner that i don't have to cook, snuggle with a husband I haven't seen all day, and watch a new episode of the Event which I haven't seen in a week.

and, best of all, I don't have to wake up and do another Monday for another 7 days:)

~~~~

Currently, I'm sitting in Med Mal, law school slang for medical malpractice. Over the course of the semester I have come to one conclusion regarding this class: mixing lawyers and doctors is a bad idea. Generally ((not always)) it involves two of the most heartless, money-hungry, desensitized, generally amoral people you could possibly imagine fighting it out in a court room. Our time and money would be better spent putting two dogs in a cage and letting them fight it out ((which is essentially what happens anyway)) to determine a winner in a a malpractice case.

blah.

I don't want to be a lawyer.

~~~~

As a sidenote, Med mal generally= tetris. lots and lots of tetris.

I'm on the verge of ranking down in Arena. That shouldn't mean anything to you...if it does, you are as desperately in need of a tetris intervention as I am. In searching for tetris images I happened on a few of things that caught my fancy:

Tetris item #1: Tetris skirt.

Originally thought this was a bag, which was more appealing to me. However, the tetris image is painstakingly awful. I hope the person that created that tetris layout was 4 years old and blind. If I ever owned this, it would haunt me unceasingly.

Tetris item #2: Tetris necklace.

Love this, would never wear it obviously, but love it.

...ok. maybe i would wear it at home.

...or when I went out once in a while...possibly.

Tetris item #3: REAL LIFE TETRIS GAME!

This, I simply need.

Jonathan and I would probably never leave the house again.

So maybe what I actually need is to never EVER have this.

Good night all, enjoy your evening. I'm looking forward to being only ONE hour away from the best part of my day :)

A time to keep silent and a time to speak

I am, and have always been considered, a fairly outspoken indivdual. Not afraid to state my case or my mind. Thankfully, suprisingly, (and painstakingly) law school has humbled me and made me virtually shy in some respects. I have a hard time fitting in to this newly developed "nook" sometimes, but I think it is for the best. I think before I speak more frequently. And Iam finding that I listen better. But for all the good it's done for me in some ways, it's take a toll on me in others. I don't stand up for things as passionately or trust my brain as surely as I used to for fear of being wrong or, worse yet, for fear of being verbally and mentally beaten down by someone who knows more that i do. In law school, a great variety of topics come up that merit heavy debate. However, as liberalism has a virtual monopoly on my school (and, as it seems, my generation), the debate rarely arises. While I often consider myself a donkey/elephant crossbread (a delephant?), I hold several conservative opinions upon which I do not waiver. If I could wind back the clock this semester I would kick myself a handful of times for not speaking up when I know I should have. Not in defense of a political party, but in defense of justice, of rightness, of the Gospel.

My prayer is that the Lord would give me the strength and wisdom to find the balance between:

Proverbs 17:27-28 - A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered. Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.

and...

Hebrews 13:6- So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven... a time to keep silence and a time to speak."

Ecc. 3:1-7

I don't blog when I most need to-

It's a fact. The more I have to say the more the less I blog and the more my husband gets his ear talked off. Thankfully he is patient and loving and far more level-headed than I.

In short, my world has recently been shifting and changing steadily ((and without my permission, I might add)). When I graduated college I was passionate, motivated, idealistic. And, honestly, I really liked myself that way. I began a journey that, at the time, felt so clearly laid out before me, it was as if i could do nothing else. I applied and was accepted to law school and started my first year last fall. Now, nearly halfway through my second year, the path is fading. I know that this is where the Lord wants me. He brought me here, ONLY the Lord could have brought me here. Recently, though, I have been so tired and frustrated and confused. I spend too much time wondering what I'm doing here and pleading with God to tell me what it's all going to amount to. But this is a new part of the journey, the part where he only lays down one brick at a time. The part where he only gives me what I need to get through this day. The part where he teaches me to stop looking at 3 years from now and all the students with better grades than me and the lack of jobs available and JUST look at Him.

I guess I have forgotten something very critical:
I don't know about you, but I am living for something much MUCH bigger than myself.
I do not live for myself, but for my Creator.
My goal is not so small as to be comfortable.
And for those of you who don't know, for those of you who have come to believe that living for yourself is the greatest joy, take it from someone who has been on both sides of the fence- there is one GREATER.
When I wrap myself up in His heart, His causes, His people, His Word- I become myself again. I become what I was designed to be.

Remember who you are. Remember what you are created to be and do and , I promise, the other things just fall into place.

"For he chose ((me)) in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, he predestined ((me)) to be adopted as ((a daughter)) through Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will." Eph. 1:4-5

Who are you?

Birthdays, Books, and Bonassos

First of alll...

a happy belated BIRTHDAY to my wonderful, loving, incredible, darling, favoritist in the WORLD hubby:)

He turned a whopping 23 years old (...yesterday:/) and it was so exciting to celebrate the first birthday together as a married couple. We took half a day off of school (shhh!) and headed to Pittsburgh for the day. We ate some delicioussss food at the Cheesecake factory and then browsed around the mall. The initial plan was to bum around the Southside and the Strip District,but the weather made that a little difficult. didn't matter- a day spent with him is fun-

rain or shine:)

Yesterday I was thinking...few people spend they're 23rd bday with a spouse these days...we got married young according to most standards. I don't advocate one way or the other, for us it was PERFECT timing (as God's timing usually is...:)

But as I was thinking about it, I started listing the current and future benefits to getting married young:

1) More time with the love of your life (duh:)

2) Get a head start on the big time anniversaries-- (Lord willing, I dream of our 75th:)-- I'd be 98!)

3) Hopefully get to spend lots of time with children and grandchildren and maybe even GREAT grandchildren!

4) I like when people react like we are total crazies. ("YOU'RE marrrrried???") Yup!

5)We get to adjust to life with no income first, so that when hard time do come in the future, we know that our foundation is not made of money.

6)We get to experience law school and young-adult life TOGETHER :) Which will hopefully mean that we will grow together and understand each other better in the long run.

...Oh, there are more, SO many more:)

But anyway, a GIANT HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my forever love!

~~~~~~~~~~

A little side note/tid bit-- I've been reading this book lately.

I know you'd think that the last thing a law student wants to do in her free time is READ...

but the opposite is true! ...At least for me:)

I stole this book ( on accident) when I was student teaching at Bridgeport High School 3 years ago.

The AP English class I was observing was reading it. It has sat, untouched, on my bookshelf since then, and I finally decided to give it a go.

It's an excellent bathroom book.

Have I mentioned that the bathroom is my favorite place to read?

Well, it is.

Don't judge:)

~~~~~~~~~~

And lastly...

Tonight we're grabbing dinner with these beautiful people:)

Meet...the Bonassos!

Mr. B was J's roommate for a couple years in college, and Mrs. B was a great friend of ours:)

It was pure magic when the two of them came together.

They were married just 4 months before we were.

Since then, they have moved too Charleston----waaay to far away from us!

But they're coming for the WVU game this weekend, and we are so looking forward to seeing them tonight!

Side note#2:

In 2008 I spent the summer in China with these lovely folks and 6 other dear friends- it was truly the time of my life! I'm fairly sure this picture was taken there...because I'm specifically remember Mr. B buying those sunglasses in the market. I then promptly broke them.

My bad.

Much love to all of you, may you all have a glorious weekend!!

Litany

This poem and this little boy have been stuck in my head for the past few days- let the lovely words shrouded in his precious innocence sink in- enjoy :)


Three year old boy reciting "Litany" by Billy Collins

LITANY

by Billy Collins

You are the bread and knife,

the crystal goblet and the wine.

You are the dew on the morning grass

and the burning wheel of the sun.

You are the white apron of the baker,

and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.

However you are not the wind in the orchard,

the plums on the counter,

or the house of cards.

And you are certainly nit the pine-scented air,

there is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.

it is possible that you are the fish under the bridge,

maybe even the pigeon on the general's head,

but you are not even close

to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.

And a quick look in the mirror will show

that you are neither the boots in the corner

nor the boat asleep in its boat house.

It might interest you know,

speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world,

that I am the sound of rain on the roof.

I also happen to be the shooting star,

the evening paper floating down an alley,

and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.

I am also the moon in the trees

and the blind woman's tea cup.

Bot don't worry, I'm not the bread and the knife.

You are still the bread and the knife.

You will always be the bread and the knife,

not to mention, the crystal goblet and--somehow--the wine.

Come to think of it...

I can't...
throw a spiral.
believe how much stock people put in evolution.
follow politics.
wait for the new Narnia movie to come out.
stay up late anymore.

I still...
eat cottage cheese and peaches.
use the finger trick for my "nine" times-tables.
can't believe I'm married to the love of my life.
think the String Theory is going to change the world.
miss my Pappap.

I tend to...
bite my nails.
be very picky about the water I drink.
always order the same thing at restaurants.
own up to my mistakes.
exaggerate.

I don't...
care to much for shoes.
know which songs belong to which artists.
like the smell of pickles.
remember birthdays.
play sports.

I bring...
a different perspective to the conversation.
my laundry home.
my lunch to work.
a smile to my husband's face.
good news.

I hate...
gaining weight and not doing anything to fix it.
movies with sad endings.
letting people down.
group projects.
this office phone that won't stop ringing.

I've learned...
to live on a budget.
loads about myself in law school.
nothing about Property Law or Insurance.
how to file a complaint and an expungement.
what Grace is :)

I've changed my mind about...
the death penalty.
seafood and tomatoes.
having a career.
higher education.
pen preferences.

What about you? :)