Wednesday, December 30, 2009

A few of my favorite things...

My last post inspired me to share a few more of my favorite things.  So here I go - in no particular order.

1.  Crest Spinbrush

It's relatively cheap, and it makes brushing my teeth so much more fun. Like a little adventure for my teeth.

2.  Firewood Candle by Henri Bendel


This candle smells phenomenal! It's wintery and woodsy and a perfect substitute for those of you without fireplaces. :) We don't have a fireplace here in Houston, but I can just light my firewood candle, and all is well. You can buy these candles at Bath and Body Works.

3.  The iPhone

All the things you've heard about it are true.  It's wonderful.  It's addicting.  It turns you into one of those people who can't put their phone down for a second.  But it's worth it.

4.  Burberry The Beat

I wore this perfume on my wedding day, and I just love the smell.  It's not as sweet as the classic Burberry scent, but it's just as classy.  Check it out the next time you're in the perfume section.

5.  Google Reader

If you like to keep up with celebrity gossip (or the news), or if you follow very many blogs, you need a google reader account.  It basically just centralizes all your websites into one location, and it saves a lot of "surfing" time.  It automatically updates the new information, so you know you're not missing anything important.  I'm obsessed. 

6. Phyto Phytodefrisant

My friend Candice introduced me to this hair product years ago, and now I always make sure I have a tube in my cabinet.  It's kind of pricey, but it's so worth it if your hair has any texture whatsoever.  For me, it smooths my flyaways out, and it makes my hair extra silky and shiny.  You put it on when your hair is wet, and then style it as you regularly would.  You can find it at Sephora and some Bath and Body Works stores.

7.  Philosophy Coconut Frosting Shampoo, Shower Gel, and Bubble Bath


I love Philosophy products.  They smell WONDERFUL, and their three-in-one products are amazing.  The Coconut Frosting, in particular, is one of my favorites.  It's not too strong, but it smells EXACTLY like what I imagine coconut frosting smells like (considering that I've never actually seen coconut frosting).  And while each bottle is $16, it lasts forever.  Especially if you're like me and like to keep a billion different products in your shower at a time.

8.  The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova



I'm not usually into mystery novels, but this one is a must-read. It's kind of long, but it's so suspenseful that you won't be able to put it down.  It's about Dracula (aka Vlad the Impaler), but it's set in the mid-twentieth century.  It's definitely one of my favorite books, but shhhh! Don't tell Harry Potter that I'm cheating on him!

9.  Sensor Soap Dispenser by Simplehuman

This seems so dorky, I know.  And lazy.  But it's actually a wonderful thing to have in the kitchen.  Especially if you're a germophobe (which I am definitely not).  It's motion-sensored, so you just stick your hand under it and the soap comes out.  It's battery powered, so you don't need an electrical outlet nearby.  And it dispenses most any soap.  Micah and I got one for our wedding, and we have really enjoyed it.  But beware, Micah's mom bought the cheaper one (it's called a soap pump), and it doesn't work nearly as well.  So if you're going to get one, go ahead and shell out the ten extra dollars for the one pictured above.

Alright, that's all I got for right now. It seems weird to stop at nine, but this post is too long as it is! :) Hope everyone has a happy new year!

A gift from me to you...


Do you know what this is?

I thought it was a weird-looking whisk when I first saw it. Turns out it's actually one of the greatest inventions on earth.

I am SO not kidding.

It's a scalp massager, and my step-mom got one for me for Christmas. Out of ALL the presents I got this year (including a new tv, an ipod docking station, and a new printer) I've used this one the most so far. And it was probably the least expensive present I received!!

You just slide it around your head, and the magic begins. I could literally sit and play with it for HOURS.

So if you want to give yourself the greatest gift ever, go buy one. My step-mom got it at Bed Bath and Beyond. Maybe they have a few left!

Monday, December 28, 2009

Merry Christmas a few days late...

Well that week just FLEW by! After my last final last Saturday (which I'm pretty sure was a DISASTER!) I drove straight to Dallas to stay with my Dad for a couple of days. We had such a good time, and Miss Lilly sure did enjoy the big backyard and all the trees. And the hamburgers and hot dogs Dad and Lori fed her. :)

Then I stayed two days with my Mom and Steve. And apparently Lilly made a new best friend in their dog Gus. She followed him around like a lovesick puppy (because apparently she was!) and didn't leave him alone for a minute. Poor Gus had to go sleep in his crate to get away from her. :)

The time with my parents was so wonderful. I missed Micah a ridiculous amount (he stayed at Fort Hood until Wednesday), but it was nice to get to visit with them and be around during the holidays.

And then Micah finally came into town, and we had a WONDERFUL first Christmas together.

Everyone says nothing changes when you get married (especially if you had been living together beforehand), but I couldn't disagree more. There's just something about having made that commitment before the Lord. We made a promise, a covenant, to love one another for the rest of our lives. And that changes everything. So anyway, our first Christmas together as a married couple was lovely, and we got WAY too many presents.

We drove home the day after Christmas and slept like babies that night.

And then yesterday we celebrated our first anniversary!!! I got Micah some really nice cigars and a gift card to The Buckle for some new jeans. He got me a gift card for a full body massage and a new rain showerhead, which feels WONDERFUL by the way. Then we spent the day shopping and just spending time together. We were also supposed to go to dinner at Fogo de Chao last night, but I wasn't feeling well and we ended up ordering Chinese food and watching the Cowboys game. Not a bad way to spend the night. :)

I won't write anything mushy or sappy about how incredibly perfectly wonderful my husband is or how I feel like the luckiest girl when he looks at me or how marrying him last December was the most wonderful moment in my life. I'll just say that we had a GREAT Christmas and anniversary, and God has blessed us abundantly. :)

And here's a few wedding pictures for good measure. :)





Friday, December 18, 2009

A look back...

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. In ONE day, I will be ONE semester away from graduating law school. It's totally crazy how fast it's flown by. Think of all the things that have happened since I started:

1) I moved to a TOTALLY different city, away from my family and friends.
2) Micah and I moved into a new house together.
3) My best friend's mom died, and I had a tough time dealing with it.
4) Micah PROPOSED!
5) My brother and Faith got married.
6) I survived a hurricane.
7) I endured a whirlwind of interviews and landed two great summer jobs.
8) I got through the most difficult semester of my life - and actually made good grades!
9) Micah and I got MARRIED! And then went on the most amazing honeymoon!
10) I wrote a 60-page paper for law review - and lived to tell the tale!
11) My dog Shadow died.
12) Micah and I got the most adorable puppy in the world - Miss Lilly Bell.
13) I started couponing!
14) My laptop died during my Patent Law exam, and I made the worst grade of my entire life.
15) I spent the summer away from Micah in Dallas working.
16) I began writing Micah a love letter every week - well almost. :)
17) Micah and I bought a new truck.
18) We spent my birthday in San Antonio for a mini-vacation.
19) I got turned down by both of my summer jobs.
20) Micah's grandma died, and we drove to Missouri for the funeral.
21) I got sick for the first time in years.
22) I started thinking about practicing criminal law.

Whew! I've been a busy girl. Now just a LITTLE more studying, and I'll be a free woman until January! :)

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Study break...

I desperately need a study break right now. I've been glued to this stupid chair for what feels like weeks. (Actually it really has been weeks.) And I've finished two of my four classes, so I'm halfway there. Perfect time for a blog, right? :)

I'm actually getting really, REALLY excited about my future. I feel like I'm sort of at a crossroads, and I'm seeing the Lord slowly, but surely reveal His plans for the road ahead. After what has felt like months and months of wandering in the darkness, I'm catching a glimpse of light, and I'm starting to see my hope float.

I'm still jobless. But I think I am really understanding that I'm jobless for a reason.

I came into law school absolutely certain that I would graduate and practice as a patent lawyer. That's what I came to law school to do. That's actually why I chose to come to University of Houston - they have one of the best intellectual property programs in the country.

Patent law is interesting to me, and I think I'd do well in that area of the law. But this summer, I really began to feel like it wasn't the best "fit." I think a lot of that had to do with the firms in which I was working, but I definitely felt like something just wasn't right.

Whatever the reason, I began to seriously listen to this small part of my brain, which, during my second semester of law school, began telling me that maybe patent law wasn't the only choice I needed to consider.

During my second semester of law school, I was required to take a criminal law course. I expected to hate every second of it. I just wasn't interested in criminal law on any level, and I planned on suffering through the course.

But, of course, I absolutely loved it. I loved reading for class. I loved going to class. I even loved the freaking exam. But I told myself that it was because the professor was amazing (which she was), and I continued on my plan to practice patent law.

Then I did a moot court competition last spring. A criminal competition. Even though there was a patent law competition I could have competed in, I opted for the criminal one and was thrilled when I was selected for the team. The experience, though not all together a positive one, reaffirmed my interest in criminal law, and I decided to take a criminal procedure course this semester.

Again, I have loved it. The professor is amazing, and I have enjoyed every aspect of the course. If you have read this far (sorry this is so long), you're catching my drift. I'm pretty much obsessed with criminal law, and yet I've been dead-set on pursuing a path in patent law. I think I've been apprehensive about it because I perceive it to be a dangerous area of the law. We've already established that I'm a scaredy cat, and I think I just wondered if I had enough guts to do the job well.

But I don't want to ever wonder whether or not I would have been great at it. Plus, I just feel like the Lord keeps pulling me off the path that I've so carefully planned out for myself, and I'm not so stubborn that I can't take a hint.

So I applied for and got an internship at the Harris County District Attorney's office for the spring. And I honestly could NOT be more excited. It's criminal prosecution, in case you're wondering. I haven't gone over to the dark side of criminal defense, I promise. :) It's going to be a lot of work, and I know it's going to force me out of my comfort zone. I mean, I could be running my own misdemeanor trial by the time I'm finished in May.

Me. In trial. I get a rush just thinking about it.

So anyway, I start in January, and I hope it goes well. And if you get a chance, will you please say a little prayer that I don't totally screw it up? :)

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Scaredy cat...

It's probably no secret that I'm a weenie.

I've been scared of the dark since I was a little girl. I must have just seen too many scary movies or murders on the news, because I was just convinced someone was going to break into my house and get me.

In fact, I was so scared that my mom had to make up this huge story about a magic unicorn that protected me while I was sleeping to get me to go to sleep some nights. I believed her for a ridiculously long time. But that's beside the point.

Unsurprisingly, I've never lived alone. When I moved out of my parents' house in Josephine, I moved on campus with a roommate. Then, the next year I had a different roommate. Then, I moved to Houston and was ALMOST going to live alone, but then Micah and I decided to move in together.

So here I am, 24 years old and still afraid of the dark. I've never really had to face my fears before, but Micah's recently had to do some traveling for work, and I have to stay in this house all by myself. If I lived in Dallas, I'd probably go stay with one of my parents. But it's just me here. So I've got to grow up, I guess.

Tonight, Micah is in Fort Hood (which is scary for very different reasons), and I was doing pretty well until about 10:00.

And then I heard a weird, loud noise outside the house. My first instinct was to call 911, but I realized police officers probably have better things to do than snoop around my house looking for the source of scary, loud noises.

So I went in to get the shotgun. We keep it under the bed, unloaded because Micah insists. And he's shown me how to load it before, but of course I forgot. So I had to call him to tell me how to load it. Sweet, sweet man that he is, he didn't laugh at me for being irrationally afraid of loud noises.

And after I loaded it, I sat in the bedroom on the floor for about 30 minutes. I just couldn't get up. But I finally realized that I was being absolutely ridiculous. So I got up, went to the living room, turned on Christmas music, and got back to studying. Easy as that.

Although, I am writing a blog at 12:45 at night. Which might be some indication that I'm still a little scared to go to sleep. But I'm getting courageous enough to try. Or maybe I'm just so tired that I don't care anymore. :)

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Knock on wood...

For the past few years, I have been bragging to anyone who would listen about the fact that it has been YEARS since I've been sick.

Of course I have allergies and occasionally get the allergic fit, but I haven't been actually sick in a really long time. No colds, no flu, no infections. Healthy as a horse.

Apparently my bragging has FINALLY caught up with me, because I started feeling crappy on Wednesday with a scratchy throat and a stuffy nose.

Which escalated to a full-blown cold on Thursday.

Which I apparently passed on to my husband sometime between now and then.

So now we're both sick, and it's definitely no fun. Especially in light of the fact that I have been studying for finals all day, every day and will continue to do so for the next week and a half. Plus, even the daytime medicines make me drowsy, so I have been feeling like a zombie.

I am starting to feel a little better, so maybe it's going away. I'm just hoping Micah and I don't keep passing it back and forth to one another...

Anyway, that's all the whining I can manage right now. Gotta get back to learning ALL about health care law and reform. It's definitely not as fun as it sounds.


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