Almost Mrs. Hargrave!

I'm up, and I'm exhausted, but I wanted to take a minute to think about how awesome tomorrow is going to be. I'm marrying my high school sweetheart, the love of my life, and I really can't imagine that life gets any better than this. I mean, does it?

I've dated Micah for almost six and a half years. Seriously. I remember the summer before my senior year in high school, sitting on my bed and answering the phone and hearing his perfect little voice on the line, calling me WAAAAYY out of the blue (I had a BOYFRIEND!). And so it began. I had no idea then that he would be the person who fulfills my every need, but God always has a plan. Even when it seems random.

Here we are, making this eternal commitment to actively love one another for the rest of our lives. And honestly, that doesn't make me nervous. Not one tiny little bit. He's had my heart for a long, long time, and I'm so excited to say the vows I mean with every ounce of my soul.

Half a Lawyer!!!!

My third semester of law school is OVER! It feels so crazy, because I had just been DREADING this semester and how busy I'd be, and now it's done. And I feel... AMAZING! A little freaked out by my exams, but they're done, and now I can finish up all this wedding business!

So I can't write long because, technically, I'm supposed to be packing right now. But we're headed to Josephine today, with Fluffy in tow, and we'll be there until the wedding! Then we'll be in MEXICO! So wish me luck. I'll post pictures as soon as we get back. :)

What are YOU thankful for?

I know Thanksgiving was like a month ago. But I'm sitting here, studying for finals, so wishing for this week to be over, and I realized that I have absolutely zero reasons to be anything but 100% content right now. And I started to think about every reason I have to be thankful.

1) I have a loving Savior who has led me and carried me through every tough moment of my life. And there haven't been very many tough moments. Amen to that.
2) I'm marrying Micah. Enough said.
3) I have had the ability to go to college and even graduate school, when many are not fortunate enough to have that opportunity.
4) I have amazing friends, each of which fulfills some part of me and enriches my life.
5) My parents, brother, and sister-in-law are some of the best people you will ever meet.
6) I've had my cat for 18 and 1/2 amazing years, and she's still kicking.
7) I live in a beautiful house and have every possible thing I could need.
8) I live in America, where I can freely worship the Lord, where I can freely express my political opinions, and where I can be anything I want to be. Not everyone can say that.
9) I have, like, seven good books to read as soon as finals are over.
10) It's Christmastime, one of my favorite times of the year.

If you're having a tough day. If you're worried or stressed. Stop and think about every good thing in your life. What a mood lifter!

I'm in a lovey mood today so...

One of my very favorite quotations of all time:

"[Y]ou have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on." - Mr Darcy, Pride and Prejudice

Micah Hargrave...

You are my "at last."

It is SO apparent to me that God created me just so that I could be yours.

I cannot wait to marry you and be your wife. Almost there. :)

P.S. Watch this video...

I just think Taylor Swift is the cutest thing that ever walked the face of the earth. Her videos are so fun.

You change your mind like a girl changes clothe

Procrastinating much?

Instead of studying for finals today (well I studied a LITTLE), Micah and I went grocery shopping and started putting up some of our wedding gifts.
And our kitchen table STILL looks like this.


I think you're technically supposed to wait to start using your things... in case something "happens" before the wedding. Whatever. Sorry guys... you aren't getting your gifts back if Micah leaves me at the altar. :)

Right now I'm watching my perfect fiance kicking butt at the Wii. We just bought it a few weeks ago, and he's a master already. It's ridiculous. And he doesn't even play it that much. But look how cute he is. :)

Three weeks until the wedding!!! Can you even believe it? It feels like yesterday he proposed. SPEAKING of proposals!! My wonderful friend Candice is ENGAGED! SO amazing, and I'm SO happy for her.

Alright. Back to learning patent law. :)

Whoa!

It's been a little while, right? Geez, I hadn't realized it had been so long since I last... reflected.

Have I already said how I am officially burned out of school? Last year I remember being SO fired up about learning and enjoyed reading for class and found it very easy to sit down and take the time to study. Then this semester hit me. With the judicial internship and law review and moot court and flying back and forth to Dallas to interview and WEDDING PLANS and then I was just DONE with caring about it all. I was SOOO busy the first half of the semester that when it died down and I actually had time to study... I had no desire to do so. Which, clearly, is not good. And I guess I'm pissed off that I haven't been able to immerse myself in wedding plans like I could have if I wasn't in law school. I know it will turn out well, but I just wish I could have taken the time to make it better.

Anyway... enough negativity. I'm very blessed, and God's got me taken care of. :)

I was thinking earlier this morning how NOT observant I am. It's slightly scary. I don't notice things... really at all. So if I don't notice your new haircut or don't realize that you got a new car, I'm really sorry. I just don't pick up the small things in life very well. I'm a big picture, see the forest not the trees, kind of girl. I'm worried this may not be good for the practice of law. I guess we'll see.

Some me time...

Micah's gone for the night, and I decided to have some quality "me" time. So I went and bought the "Sex and the City" movie, bought some popcorn and Twizzlers, and cuddled up on the couch. (Without Fluffy, Micah. Don't freak out. I didn't let her on the furniture). I love that movie. It makes you appreciate your girlfriends and what they give you that your guy is just incapable of providing.

I mean... don't get me wrong. Micah's amazing. Fantastic listener, funny, sweet, all that good stuff. But when I need to whine about my hair, or I need to shop... he just doesn't cut it. :) My friends and I decided that we're each a Sex and the City character. I'm Charlotte... but not. I'm all idealistic, and happy, and optimistic, and in love with love like she is. But I'm not QUITE as easily offended as her, and I certainly don't have her perfect Audrey Hepburn class. I wish. I also wish I were more demure. But I'm not. I'm silly and goofy and awkward at times, and I somehow convinced the best guy in the world to marry me. Lucky me!! :)

I was about to write how behind I am in school, but it's Friday night, and I REFUSE to think about school right now. It's off limits.

Instead, I'll just say how freaking EXCITED I am that "Twilight" is coming out next weekend!!!!! You know how I love Harry Potter (and have read each Harry Potter book AT LEAST three times), but Harry Potter is missing the epic love story that Twilight has. And I am just so ready to see them in the movie. YAY!

Alright... time for bed. :)

XOXO

It's Saturday night...

...And I'm blogging/writing 10 pages of my soon-to-be 60-page paper. It's due on Monday, and I've REALLY got to get going on it. It's so funny, but I really do love to write. I just forget. It's like working out. I absolutely HATE getting my running shoes out and putting them on, but the minute I do I feel so great and enjoy working out. It's getting over that initial, "but I don't WANT to get off my lazy butt and do anything productive" feeling that's the toughest. Hence my procrastination on this paper. So I've had my butt glued to this couch all day today, researching and writing, and tomorrow and Monday will just be a repeat. My own fault, completely.

I got all my bridal portraits back. YAY! I really love them, and it's KILLING me because I want to show everyone! I'm trying to resist the urge, though. So don't ask me, or I'll lose my cool and let you see them, and then the whole dramatic moment of walking down the aisle will be ruined. :) P.S. My photographer is really amazing and artistic, and I would seriously recommend him to anyone. Plus he's the nicest guy ever and very easygoing. I like that. I'm a low-key bride to the max (definitely to a fault because I'm not concerned with ANY of the details, and someone needs to be). But I hate that all I can talk about lately is the wedding. It's silly.

I think my cat has found a new "person." She follows Micah around all the time. When we sit on the couch to watch t.v. together, she always runs to HIS feet so HE can pet her. I try not to be bitter about it. But he doesn't even LIKE her!! Everyone loves Micah best... I get it. How can you not? He's perfect and wonderful. But I've taken care of that cat since I was FIVE and I'll be danged if she's going to abandon me now! :) I'm on a mission to steal back her love. I'll let you know how it goes.

Alright... it's quitting time for tonight. I'm an old lady and my brain doesn't work past 9:00. Sleep tight.

XOXO

Thoughts

So I certainly did NOT vote for Obama. I voted for McCain in some person's garage yesterday morning. Literally. The listing online said "residence garage," and I assumed it was a parking garage or something (which still would have been weird). But I drove up and there were definitely electronic polling booths set up in this guy's garage in this shady-McShaderson neighborhood. Anyway... I digress.

So I was certainly disappointed last night when Fox called the election for Obama. But it's not like I didn't know it was coming. I had been bracing myself for the moment. But I have to be completely honest. Listening to his speech actually brought tears to my eyes. I don't know why, but I was just completely moved by the fact that our country could rise above over two centuries of racism and elect a black President. I need to reiterate... I do NOT do NOT do NOT support Obama's policies or politics ONE iota. I find the idea of partial-birth abortion disgusting, I do NOT support his idea of over-taxing people who go to school, work hard and make lots of money, and I am fearful other countries will see his lack of emphasis on the military as an opportunity to strike.

BUT, having said all of that. Everyone who knows me knows that I am one hundred percent against racism of any kind. It's the most ignorant thing I can think of, and I just cannot and will not tolerate it. And to see our country embrace a black man... a smart, charismatic, patriotic black man who loves his wife and children... I cannot help but be thankful for that.

I suppose another distinctive feature of my personality is that I'm ALL about the silver lining and finding some way to be positive... especially when it comes to things I cannot change. And I'm sure this is me trying to find a way to be happy about the outcome of the election. But for anyone who's really struggling with the outcome of the election, this is just something to think about. This and the fact that he has already been elected. Nothing productive can come from sitting and whining about it. :)

A few things...

I'm completely done with interviewing and have picked my jobs out for the summer! Yay!! That's a big freaking stress relief. I kept going back and forth, and I finally just decided, and it feels SO good! I'll be spending the entire summer in Dallas, and I know it will be so hard to be away from Micah for so long (he has to stay in Houston for summer school), but I think it's the best decision for my career. So I went for it. No clue where I'll be staying yet. But I'll figure something out, I'm sure.

So there's that. Let's see what else? Well my cake lady is apparently out of business and ran off with my deposit. So I have to find another baker. Which sucks. But it's still better than it could be. At least they went out of business now and not a week before the wedding. AND, I had thought of some differences I wanted to make to the design of the cake, and now I can! Silver lining!

School is going ok. I'm (of course) super busy with everything, but it feels like it's slowing down a bit. Which is nice, because I need to start gearing up for finals. The pressure is kind of off, because I already have jobs for next summer, and they're not going to care whether my grades stay exactly the same (as long as they don't drop drastically). But it's kind of a pride thing. I just want to do well. So I'm hoping all of these other distractions don't kill my GPA. Anyway... enough of that.

I'm getting married in less than two months. SERIOUSLY! Everyone should be getting their invitations in the mail soon. I just can't believe it's coming so quickly. I'm SO ready to be married. I mean, the wedding is great and all that, and it'll be fun to be the princess for a day, but I just want to be Mrs. Micah Hargrave already. When I can sign things "Ryan Hargrave" and it be for real (not like when I wrote it on the back of all my notebooks in middle school and high school) it will probably be the best feeling ever. He's my dream. :) If he's all I get in life, I'll feel like I have been richly blessed.

One other thing. I'm worried about my aunt. She's having some health problems, so if you think about it, say a prayer for my Aunt Gem.

I sound like...

... a broken record. I'm STILL tired. I took a two-hour nap today and am STILL sleepy!
BUT, I won't bore anyone with my incessant whining. It's not attractive.

I had my first Dallas callback interview yesterday. They put me up in the Westin City Center hotel downtown, and it was REALLY nice! I slept like a log. I absolutely loved the firm. It's a large national firm with a small Dallas office. So you get the best of both worlds: the salary and resources of a large firm with a small firm, relaxed atmosphere. The bad news: they have a small summer program, so my chances are slim. Other problem, out of, I think, six summer associates last summer, they only extended full-time offers to two of them. That's not a great statistic for me to hang my hat on. I'm worried that if I were to forego working at another Dallas firm and work at this firm, I'd really kick myself if I didn't get an offer at the end of next summer. PLUS, they have ZERO women partners. Which also scares me a little. Anyway, I'm just kind of apprehensive. But I have three more Dallas callbacks, so I'm hoping I will just fall in love with one of the firms and that will make my decision easy.

Other news... ? I'm so boring right now it's ridiculous. I picked up my veil at David's Bridal yesterday! It's very simple and pretty. And I can't WAIT to wear it! Micah pointed out tonight that the wedding is less than three months away! He asked me if I'm getting cold feet. But I'm so ready. I've been ready for a long time. I feel incredibly lucky to have found the love of my life so young. I get to spend the rest of my life with him, and I just don't know how in the world I deserve that. Some people don't find the right one until much later in their lives, and some never find the right one at all. That I get Micah from now until we're old and gray is just amazing. God has blessed me beyond belief. I think about that a lot. It's not that I haven't gone through difficult times in my life... I completely have. But I can look back on every difficult moment and see the Lord leading me through it... carrying me at times. I have been protected and provided for every step of the way. I hope no one looks at my life and calls me lucky. Or even a hard worker. Any good in my life has been ordained by God, and I am undeserving of it. Just something to think about. :)

I'm so tired...

Seriously. I'm exhausted. Everything is just combining into this continual source of exhaustion. This weekend I am supposed to finish an outline for appellate advocacy, finish my citecheck for law review, refine my arguments for moot court, and read for class. AND get ready for some big callback interviews next week. I'm only halfway done with my appellate advocacy argument and it's already Saturday night. You do the math.

BUT, on a happier note, I got through my first callback interview on Friday. It was actually a great interview and I really liked all (well MOST anyway) of the people I met. So cross your fingers.
After the interview, I decided I needed some consumer therapy, so I headed to the mall and dropped some serious cash at New York and Company and Victoria's Secret (of course). I told myself it was necessary for my (mental) health. :)

I'm worrying a little about Fluffy's eyesight. I caught her today sitting RIGHT in front of the wall, just staring at it. I always laugh because it's just the funniest sight. Like she put herself in time out or something. But then I think that if she could SEE the wall, she probably wouldn't be staring at it. Anyway...

A friend (shout out, Andrea) asked me the other day how I have time to write about my life with everything I had going on. I just thought about how nice it is to just sit and write whatever comes to my head. I'm sure it's completely boring, but I love to just shut my mind down and vent. It's like I'm dumping my excess thoughts out or something. Like a pensieve (if you don't read Harry Potter then you totally won't get that). Anyway. It's therapeutic.

One last thing. I feel like a horrible citizen. I didn't watch the debate last night. It's funny because EVERY time Micah and I go to target we end up in the checkout line with this same guy. I'm sure he gets so bored just sacking groceries so he always makes conversation, and it's almost always political. During the primaries, he asked if we were going to be watching some debate or other, and we said no. Then yesterday, he asked us our plans for the evening and asked if we'd be watching the debate. We said probably not, and then he proceeded to tell us why he thought John McCain was a better speaker but it didn't matter because he would be voting Independent Party and he thought this year the Independent Party would probably pull in 20-30% of the vote. I got to wondering how many 20-somethings shape their political ideals to match their parents'. I know that my parents beliefs, at least in part, affected mine. Now that I'm older, I justify my beliefs based on my views of the world and can honestly say that I'm politically conservative because I'm conservative in all areas of my life, not just because my parents were. But undoubtedly, my parents shaped my views of the world. It's just something interesting to me. If I had grown up in a vacuum would I be as repulsed by Obama's views on partial-birth abortion as I am today? I probably would. Anyway... that's about as much political ideology as I can muster right now. My brain isn't quite up to par.
Hope everyone has a wonderful Saturday night and Sunday. I know I won't. :)

My favorite postsecret secret ever!!

If you love Harry Potter like me, then you TOTALLY get it.

It's 5:30 on a Sunday and I'm awake...

Seriously!!??!! This is the second time in four days I've woken up with really intense lower back pain. Tonight I had a pretty weird/stressful dream including running from guys with gasoline trying to blow me up and callback interviews where horseback riding was one of the areas in which I was being evaluated. Once I woke up, I kept thinking how productive I could be if I got up and started doing some work, and then I couldn't shut my brain off. So here I am. Blogging at 5:30.

Apparently my cat is like 007. When I came into the living room to turn on my computer, she jumped off the couch all sneaky. She's not allowed on the furniture, and she NEVER jumps on the furniture during the day. But we go to sleep and she's all over it. She has always been a weird one. Did you know that she's 18?? Well APPROXIMATELY 18. We got her as a stray when I was around five, and she needed a birthday, so I gave her mine. So she turned 18 on August 22.

I can hardly keep my eyes open. I'm gonna try sleeping on the couch for a bit. Nighty-night. ;)

Back at it... again

This past week has felt like a vacation! After Hurricane Ike was predicted to hit Houston, Micah and I packed ourselves and Fluffy up and got the heck out of town. It only took 6.5 hours to get home, which is WAAAAY better than what we had predicted. But we took the backroads. A country girl doesn't forget the value of backroads. :)

So we were in Dallas for almost a week, where I WASTED away, eating my future in-laws' amazing homemade cooking. I was absolutely unproductive, which felt so nice. But in the back of my mind, I kept thinking about everything I needed to be doing that I WASN'T doing. I just felt like my life was on hold for a few days, and I was ready to get back to work when we came home yesterday.

Our house is completely perfect, and we have electricity and water, for which I am ridiculously thankful! I have friends who STILL don't have power and are staying with relatives out of town. Don't even get me STARTED on how pissed I was at U of H for resuming classes on Tuesday. I'll just get mad all over again...

On another note, apparently interviewing is TOUGH! I have had a LOT of interviews over the past two weeks, and, though some were postponed last week, will have a few more next week (thanks for that, Ike). I have just felt mentally exhausted! A friend correctly observed that it's just like serial dating! I go in there, talk to the interviewers, try to feel them out to see if we'd be a good fit, and then get sad when they don't call me the next day!! I keep wondering if I should have put out (funny, not-so-funny joke :) ). So now that these "screening" interviews (which all took place at the law school) are, for the most part, over, I have to deal with the call-back interviews (which take place at the law firm). It's KIND of cool, because, for the Dallas firms, they fly me in and put me up in a nice hotel for the night and feed me lunch and dinner. That's good, right? The bad news is that it's just MORE stress and MORE opportunity for me to fall behind on my schoolwork. Oh well. Getting a job is the whole point of law school, so if I fall behind a little in my classes but land an awesome job, I'll consider it time well spent. :)

Anyway, this one was pretty boring. Sorry. I'm sucking at life right now.

P.S. I just thought I'd mention that my fiance is the most amazing guy in the whole entire world. I feel like I don't say that enough. I'm SOOOOO lucky. He spent roughly ten hours in a car with my cranky old cat and didn't complain once. What a trooper!

So.....

I told you I'd get busy, huh? :) School DID start back and I'm surviving.
I'm not as busy as I'd expected, but I think that's because things haven't really got going yet.

One thing I MUST say: I LOVE the judge I'm interning with this fall. I am SERIOUSLY so proud to know her. Not only does she have an excellent reputation as a judge, she is a Christian woman who really lives her life the way I hope to live mine someday. AND I love the work I do for her. It's no surprise that I enjoy the appellate work more than the trial work... at least as far as writing for the court goes. Anyway... my time spent at the courthouse on Mondays and Wednesdays is my favorite time of the week.

Classes are pretty good. They're all interesting, at least. It's just that I've got to get used to reading 100 pages a night for class. It's exhausting and I hate that. But no worries. And law review is manageable, I suppose. Not fun in the slightest, but it is mindless work, which is kind of nice after having to use my brain for extended periods of time. As crazy as it sounds, right it now all the stuff I have to do seem to balance each other out. So that's a good sign.

Interviews start next week. I'm interviewing with EIGHTEEN firms in a span of two weeks. It's actually a pretty cool deal: the school arranges for law firms from across the state and even the country to come interview students at the school (for jobs for next summer). Then, if you get the interview and they like you they do "callback" interviews at their firms. I've got about half Dallas firms and half Houston firms. I'm planning on splitting the summer between the two cities. So, while interviews are GREAT and I'm happy I got so many... it's also STRESSFUL! Plus, just practically, I HATE wearing a suit. And I'm gonna have to wear one every day for the next two weeks! I only have five, and I can really only interview in three of them. So I'm gonna be wearing the same three suits. So wish me luck. I really am hoping to get something good out of the interviews.

Anyway... I just wanted to check in. AND I'll post some engagement pictures for my non-facebook and myspace readers. :)

Love you guys.

Do I have to go back to school?

I start back to school tomorrow, and it's creeping me out! I feel like the summer just started. But I really had the best summer ever. I got to work at a great law firm and have an invitation to come back next summer (Yay!). I got to intern with the best judge ever, and I gained so much wonderful experience I couldn't have gotten anywhere else. I got to relax a bit with my love and plan a lot of the wedding, taking some strain off my shoulders for this fall.
And all that is great... BUT... this semester is going to be incredibly intense. I have (of course) law review duties to think about. I am doing moot court (yay!) that will also take up a lot of time. I'm interning with a federal court of appeals judge (which is kind of a big deal, and I would really like to devote a lot of time to that, as well). I also have to go to class and study, of course. All on top of finalizing wedding plans! So if I don't post a lot after today, I'm sorry in advance. It's just going to be hectic.
BUT, you know I'm an optimist. I just keep thinking that if I can do THIS, then I can do anything, right? Plus it's totally good practice for juggling time like attorneys inevitably must do. So I'm just going to get it done and get some sleep in when I can. :)
Miss you, family and Dallas friends. :)

Wheeeew!

I had a dermatologist appointment Monday, and the doctor did a biopsy on a mole on my back. I was TERRIFIED because I've NEVER had any kind of medical problems before, and the prospect of cancer was seriously paralyzing. But I got my results back today, and everything is fine. Thank goodness. I kept telling myself that God has taken care of my so far, and He would continue to do so. So anyway. That's my thankful for the day. God is amazing, and I'm incredibly blessed.

Just for fun...

I'm doing a slideshow for the wedding and I wanted to show everyone how freaking CUTE my fiance was when he was a baby. And I thought I was a cute baby.

Just a quick thought...

I watched "Amazing Grace" with Micah today. SUCH a great movie about the abolition of the British slave trade. And I just got to thinking about our society as it stands today. Are there "radical" ideas out there right now that we are dismissing as foolish or irrational that will make our predecessors look at US with disgust, as I look at those slave traders? I stand firm in my moral convictions with regard to certain ideas, and I don't think that will ever change. But I also just wonder what the world will be like in 50 years and whether I will still believe the same things I believe today.

Glorious time off...

So I finished at the courthouse last Friday and headed to Dallas for the weekend. I got to see my family, which was SOOO nice. :) I really do enjoy this time in Houston, but it's so hard to only see my family every few months. But I suppose it does give me more time to focus on school. Anyway, so I also made some changes to the wedding plans. I've decided to do a reception at the Grand Heritage Clubhouse in Lavon instead of at the church. I was just sick of trying to figure out how to make the fellowship hall in the church pretty, and it was cheap enough to rent the clubhouse, so I bit the bullet and decided to do it!

In other RIVETING news (not!), Micah and I got a new TV! I was still using an old TV my grandparents had given my Mom years ago, so Micah and I decided to get something new. But apparently we don't have HD satellite, so we gotta get that. AND we gotta get the special cables to hook up the DVD player, too. It ended up being a more expensive project than we planned. Oh well.

Since we got back into town on Tuesday, I had more law firm receptions at night, but we just got to chill out and spend time together, which has been SOO nice. But reality keeps nudging at me.... I've got a final project due for my judicial internship course for this summer, I've got to finish the slideshow for the wedding, and I've got law review crap to redo. BUT, my birthday IS next Friday, and Micah's and my six year anniversary is this coming Tuesday! So that's something to look forward to!

Eduoardo

Apparently it's going to rain a lot tomorrow. Yay! When Micah and I moved down to Houston last August I got stranded in the middle of a tropical storm, and poor Micah had to come get me and lead me out of the water. So I'm thinking of not going in to the courthouse tomorrow. We'll see.

This weekend was fun. Micah and I saw "The Dark Knight" and LOVED it! SOOO good. Heath Ledger was so convincing it was creepy. Then Micah's best friend from high school came into town, so we met up with him and his girlfriend, and we cooked on Saturday night. I made crab for the first time ever! :) I have to say, I do love crabmeat, but it's SUCH a pain to get to. It makes eating dinner like this impossible task, and I ended up getting all messy like a little kid. But yummy nonetheless.

Micah and I are trying to figure out where to stay the night of the wedding. I've been looking at Hotel ZaZa... they have these "concept" suites, and they look super cool, so I'm thinking we'll end up there. I keep copying all of Faith's wedding ideas (she and Bubba stayed there, too), and I feel bad about it. But I suppose imitation is the highest compliment, right? Apparently I loved her wedding or I wouldn't be doing mine just like it. :)

We're picking out tuxes tonight. It's the ONE thing Micah has seemed interested in, so I'm hoping we can find something he really loves. Since my dress is ivory, it kind of complicates things because I don't know if I should try and make his "white" stuff ivory or not. Anyway, that will be a task I'm sure. He's so adorable and picky. And he does NOT make decisions well. Oh well... I guess I'll just have to be the tie-breaker. :)

Weird... people are seriously weird

Micah and I went to H-E-B on Sunday (a grocery store down here) to get some groceries. We are almost done, just grabbing our veggies, when this young couple stops Micah. I hear the guy say, "Is that a cross on your ring?" So the guy and Micah proceed to talk about the ring (which I bought, thankyouverymuch), and the woman starts talking to me. At first I thought, oh these people are just being friendly... saying hi to fellow shoppers, and I figured they'd move on. But they just kept talking and talking! She started asking me what I do, I told her I go to school, she asked where. They asked where we went to church. It was all very strange, and I started to think that Micah and I were getting hit on by creepy swinger people. So then the guy gives Micah his card. I'm so weirded out by this, because, in general, you don't become friends with people you meet at the grocery store one time, you know? Strange...

So then, Micah tells me last night that the guy called him, and we're meeting up with them on Wednesday night at Panera Bread (do we have those in Dallas? It's like Einstein Bros. Bagels) for about ten minutes or so. I'm disturbed: (1) Why are we meeting up with these weirdos? (2) What in the WORLD can they want to meet with us about for ten minutes? It's not like they wanted to meet up for coffee or something. I'm CONVINCED they are swingers.

So Micah calls them back, because I'm adamant that I'm not meeting up with weirdos... at least unless I know what they want. Apparently, this guy operates some business and they are looking to expand and wanted to know if we'd be interested. He SAYS he works with companies like Microsoft and Dell, but he wouldn't tell Micah what he did. Micah FINALLY wisened up, and told the guy thanks but no thanks.

Is it POSSIBLE that I'm marrying someone even more naive than me? I guess what's even funnier is that I thought Micah and I were hot enough to get picked up by swingers. :) Haha...

Isn't it funny...

I had a crap weekend... spent the majority of my time in the law review office, finishing up my citecheck stuff. And I was REALLY not happy about it. I didn't get the house cleaned, and I didn't get my thank-you cards sent out in the mail like I wanted to (for the wonderful lingerie my law school friends got me!!). I just... I kind of feel like there was so much pressure for me to do law review simply because I COULD... despite the fact that I had no desire to do it. But anyway... I'm through complaining.

My point is that today I went with the other judicial interns and took a tour of the federal detention center. It was really interesting, and I learned a lot. So many things continue to keep me from cramming the idea of practicing criminal law far far away. It's just intriguing and interesting. Anyway, we actually walked into the "barracks," where they keep some of the prisoners. And they were all just hanging around, watching t.v. or trying to put some sort of electronic gadget together, though I couldn't tell what it was. We saw the cells they live in. And then I really decided to try to remember to keep my life in perspective. I am in NO way saying that these criminals don't deserve what they get or that more of our tax dollars should go to fund a more lavish lifestyle for them, but I just realized that I get to live in a brand new house with the man I love. I get to continue to get my education and have the luxury of not having to work right now (even though I'll surely hate myself when I have to repay those student loans!). It was just a little gut-check... like "SERIOUSLY Ryan.... poor pitiful you. You spent a few hours in a nice comfy office, got to go get fast food for dinner, and got to go home to your fiance when you were finished. Poor pitiful you."

One funny thing is that I kept setting off the metal detector! The officers couldn't figure out what it was... I had to take off my shoes, and they scanned all around me... my bra and everything! I must have some metal plate in my head I don't know about!

Alright... back to it. :) Miss you all. Just two more years and I'll be home (except for you, Kristen... I'll be leaving you and won't know what to do with myself!)

Just...Me

I'm feeling very disconnected from everyone lately... I have been so busy, and life has been so hectic, that I really haven't been keeping up with you all like I should. So I created this blog and I'll be good about posting... so you can at least know what's going on in my world... although I'm sure you'll find it isn't exciting or glamorous. :)

The past three weeks I have been working on really awful, monotonous stuff for law review. For my non-law friends, law review is this journal published by the law school, and if you have certain grades or if you write on you are eligible to be a member of the law review, and you help publish each edition of the journal. It's apparently this high honor, which everyone should take advantage of if they can, because it looks good on resumes to law firms. But seriously... it's the most non-fun thing ever. And it is eating away my summer. But, alas, I committed, so I will do my very best to turn in good work. You know how I am about following through on things. My BIGGEST pet peeve is people committing to something or saying they will do something and then flaking out. I just can't handle it.

So there's that. Then I'm also working at the courthouse, interning with a federal judge at the trial level. I have enjoyed this immensely, though it is certainly different than I expected. My judge, Judge Werlein, might be one of the nicest men I have ever met. I TRULY enjoy working with him, and he has an amazing legal mind... it is an incredible opportunity to work in his chambers.

But, being the neutral factfinder, being the person to decide the fate of the parties involved, is not as appealing as I had thought it would be. I really thought I would LOVE to search for justice, and find the truth, and to come to the right answer. But that's REALLY HARD to do!!! I have more respect for these judges, who do this every day, than I could have ever thought possible. I have decided that I'd rather advocate for a client ANY day than sift through the facts to determine who is telling the truth. It is so much easier. :)

Lastly, but not leastly, I have been trying to get wedding stuff done. I really need to get most of it done before fall, because once this next semester starts, I'm not going to have time to breathe... let alone plan a wedding.

So I got the invitations ordered, bubbles ordered (for when we leave the church), favors ordered, thank-you cards ordered, and wedding songs picked out (almost!). I have my dress, bridesmaid dresses picked out, and we're doing the tuxes this next week. I've got the cake done, and the photographer squared away. So really, I'm left with flowers, which I'm doing in August when I come home.

Whew! There is so much to think about! But it will all get done... eventually.