update
So I figured that since I can't sleep, I may as well update....
This is apparently the time of year where the academic insecurity, persistent insomnia, ongoing intellectual agony, and psychotic paranoia set in. I never thought I'd be this stressed out about THREE classes... I feel like I have a long ways to go in all three, though, so it's just overwhelming at this point. I have a study schedule worked out where I'll do two subjects each day, for a total of 3 hours (minimum) a day, Monday through Friday. That's in addition to keeping up with my work for each class. I would've laughed/thrown up in the face of anyone who told me about such a study schedule a year ago, but I feel like I have a decent plan worked out and I'm confident that I've started studying early enough that I'll be okay. Plus, I'm a lot more with the program than people think :D.
I've been making dinner once a week for me, Laura, and Matt and Sam (the guys who live two apartments down from us). It's actually really nice -- I miss the "family" dinners at home, so this is like the next-best thing. Even though they turned on football tonight and watched that during dinner, it's still nice to have the four of us together at least once a week to eat and talk. I tend to function better when I have someone to "mother" persistently, and I may even be learning to enjoy cooking.
Speaking of cooking, Chris brought me a bunch of recipes when he came last week (at my request, just so people don't think that he's trying to prepare me for my future wifely duties or something -- "Learn to cook, woman!") so I'm going to start trying them out on the boys and Laura; we'll see what happens.
Chris came last Wednesday after classes and stayed until Saturday morning; we had a great visit (as always) and it was nice that he got to stay for three nights instead of the usual two-night visit. I probably won't see him again until Christmas time, but we're thinking about meeting in Geneva or something between now and then, just for dinner. It worked out pretty well last time and it was definitely nice to kinda break up the long time in between weekend visits with a dinner in the middle. I'll have pictures up maybe sometime after Thanksgiving, of his visit and whatever else is on the roll of film I just finished.
I got these rubber duckys from the dollar store when Kristen was here a few weeks ago, and Laura and I have been hiding them in the apartment and taking turns finding them. We have one in the kitchen/living room, and one that stays in the bathroom (Kristen thought it'd be funny to hide the duck in the potty, so now he's Dicta, the Dirty Duck and he has to stay in the bathroom). It's kinda stupid-sounding but it's highly entertaining and I feel it's helping us to bond as roommates :D.
I think we're living together next year; by "think" I mean "we are, as far as I know." We get along really well and hopefully by next year, one or both of us will have figured out that we can't do work in the apartment because we distract eachother, but we'll see. I'm pumped about NOT having to move because I hate moving...
I got a job next semester; it started as me looking for a job for the summer at Grace House, but Rev. King wanted me to start sooner, so I'm going to be doing like six hours a week there next semester. I'm thinking about maybe seeing if I can spend some time at the law firm that does all their legal work, just to get some more legal office experience (and perhaps a little more money). I think I put the Grace House link up here awhile ago, but in case it's too far back for people to find, I think it's http://www.savinggraceministries.net -- it should say "Grace House Buffalo" at the top of the page... If that isn't it, try www.savinggraceministries.org or .com -- I can never remember which one it is and I'm too lazy to search for it at the moment.
I'm feeling really overwhelmed at this point and am definitely ready to go home for Thanksgiving break, but I'm still enjoying law school so far. Thanksgiving break is going to be fun (for the most part); I have a TON planned... I'm going to see Bill (my old boss for all the lj newcomers) and going to the doctor about my hip (like a little old lady), then Thanksgiving dinner at our house with the fam on Thursday (after watching the parade and so forth with the siblings probably). Friday I have another doctor's appointment, then I'm going to an FFH (Christian band) concert with my dad and Kristen. Saturday is HOCKEY (I'm so close to peeing my pants, you have no idea) -- Jackals if anyone doesn't already know (http://www.jackalshockey.com). Perhaps they'll win... Probably not but a girl can dream. Sunday is church with the family and then taking Kristen back to school, maybe going to Foot with her, then coming back here.
After Thanksgiving I'm going to step it up into high-gear with the studying... Move into a carrel in the library like a cool kid (or stake out the study room down the hall, with my fleece blanket and big leopard-print robe) and bury my face in a torts casebook... I'm definitely looking forward to next semester because I think I'll enjoy my classes a little more... If nothing else, at least I won't have property anymore. I hate property. I've been having nightmares about property, and every time I watch a tv show, I find myself wondering about community property, future interests, and other stupid, useless things that I don't care about. I'm thinking about having a little property book-burning session after the exam. We'll see.
I put my Christmas tree up on Friday. It's way too early (not even Thanksgiving yet!!) but I'm excited; this is the first time I've had my own apartment at Christmas time so I wanted to do it early; plus I wanted Chris to help and he was leaving Saturday, so we had to do it Friday. I have lights on it but nothing else (besides my tinfoil star but that's a whole separate lj entry probably...), and I'm going to get the rest of my Christmas decorations when I'm home next week. I put a string of lights up over the doorway in the apartment, and they blink, which I am very excited about. I think my exact words were "We'll have a white trash Christmas yet!!" (Laura is horrified; not only do I have the tree up already but I think the blinking lights may push her over the edge... I believe HER exact words were "I hate them. They make me want to have a seizure.") It's funny how much she reminds me of Tracey (my freshman year roommate). She says something at least once a day that reminds me of Tracey, and I just can't get over it....
Chris has been sending me an e-mail every day, which I really enjoy. Sometimes it's only like a sentence or two (followed by "I love you Alyssa Love, CP" or something similar :D) but it's my favorite thing every morning to wake up and read it (or, as has recently been the case, to read it before I go to bed REALLY late). Our one year anniversary was last Wednesday (I got flowers and a card and cupcakes, if anyone's wondering, along with a really sweet letter which I've been reading every day). I've always told people that my parents are the reason I believe in soulmates; you couldn't find two people better suited for eachother than my mom and dad. However, I think Chris and I are up there when it comes to people well-suited for one another. I think maybe sometimes people meet one of us, then the other one, and wonder what we're doing together, because in some ways we're really different. I also think that's what keeps us together, and it also helps level out our personalities a little bit (I'm loud and talkative and he's quiet and generally doesn't have a whole lot to say, so in that respect, we sorta balance one another out; on the other hand, we both like to laugh and are pretty outspoken about our feelings and are up-front and honest, so that's something we definitely have in common). He's great. I'm gonna marry him :D
A lot of my friends are getting married (or have already gotten married); I'm glad we're waiting though. I want us both to be settled into our jobs and financially stable before we get married, so while I'm definitely looking forward to it, I'm also glad (except for in those brief moments of craziness :D) that we're going to wait until I'm done with law school. That will give him some time to get settled in a job that he likes and a city he's happy in, and that will give me time to figure out what to do with my life...
I said something about looking forward to next semester but didn't say what I was taking... I have Contracts (which Laura says is horrendous, and I think it's with the one professor who she truly hates, so I'm not pumped about that), Criminal Law (woohoooo :D), Constitutional Law (Matt says this sucks but we have extremely different academic interests so I'm not sure how I'll feel about Con Law), Research and Writing (only till mid-March, thank God... Although I don't have the raging hatred for that class that I was harboring mid-September), and Melville and the Law (looks at Herman Melville's books and his ideas about the legal system; I thought that the other electives looked crappy and/or boring, and I kinda miss my English-type classes -- don't tell Hynes!). We'll see how things go... I'm done by like 1 every day, which is SWEET, and Melville is my only class on Friday (of course it's a one day a week class, so it's for three hours, but oh well... I'll complain about that later I suppose).
Since it's almost 1am now and I have to get up early (meeting with Haynes tomorrow so I can figure out why I suck so bad at writing legal memos) and I have a long-ish day tomorrow (meeting, few hours in the library, property, torts, couple hours of studying), I should go to bed...
I think I need to lay off the caffeine -- I drink it during the day to wake up/stay awake/maintain a half-hearted enthusiasm for my academic pursuits, but then I can't sleep at night...
Anyway, congratulations if you've gotten this far -- I think most of my faithful readers (hehe, all four of them :D) have given up by now. I personally LOVE long lj updates, but I think most people lose interest and tend to resort to skimming after about a paragraph and a half... Oh well. It'll give Chris something to read (not that I mentioned anything in here I haven't already told him at least four times).
Speaking of Chris, he has a job interview tomorrow (well, I guess today, now) and his color-blindness test... We're hoping for a great interview AND that he has an acceptable level of color deficiency (you know what I mean...); the idea is to have several employment options to choose from :D. All I want is for him to be happy. If he didn't end up moving further away, that'd be real nice too, but for now I suppose him being happy would be enough O:).
Comment, people, comment.... I love the comments. :D
This is apparently the time of year where the academic insecurity, persistent insomnia, ongoing intellectual agony, and psychotic paranoia set in. I never thought I'd be this stressed out about THREE classes... I feel like I have a long ways to go in all three, though, so it's just overwhelming at this point. I have a study schedule worked out where I'll do two subjects each day, for a total of 3 hours (minimum) a day, Monday through Friday. That's in addition to keeping up with my work for each class. I would've laughed/thrown up in the face of anyone who told me about such a study schedule a year ago, but I feel like I have a decent plan worked out and I'm confident that I've started studying early enough that I'll be okay. Plus, I'm a lot more with the program than people think :D.
I've been making dinner once a week for me, Laura, and Matt and Sam (the guys who live two apartments down from us). It's actually really nice -- I miss the "family" dinners at home, so this is like the next-best thing. Even though they turned on football tonight and watched that during dinner, it's still nice to have the four of us together at least once a week to eat and talk. I tend to function better when I have someone to "mother" persistently, and I may even be learning to enjoy cooking.
Speaking of cooking, Chris brought me a bunch of recipes when he came last week (at my request, just so people don't think that he's trying to prepare me for my future wifely duties or something -- "Learn to cook, woman!") so I'm going to start trying them out on the boys and Laura; we'll see what happens.
Chris came last Wednesday after classes and stayed until Saturday morning; we had a great visit (as always) and it was nice that he got to stay for three nights instead of the usual two-night visit. I probably won't see him again until Christmas time, but we're thinking about meeting in Geneva or something between now and then, just for dinner. It worked out pretty well last time and it was definitely nice to kinda break up the long time in between weekend visits with a dinner in the middle. I'll have pictures up maybe sometime after Thanksgiving, of his visit and whatever else is on the roll of film I just finished.
I got these rubber duckys from the dollar store when Kristen was here a few weeks ago, and Laura and I have been hiding them in the apartment and taking turns finding them. We have one in the kitchen/living room, and one that stays in the bathroom (Kristen thought it'd be funny to hide the duck in the potty, so now he's Dicta, the Dirty Duck and he has to stay in the bathroom). It's kinda stupid-sounding but it's highly entertaining and I feel it's helping us to bond as roommates :D.
I think we're living together next year; by "think" I mean "we are, as far as I know." We get along really well and hopefully by next year, one or both of us will have figured out that we can't do work in the apartment because we distract eachother, but we'll see. I'm pumped about NOT having to move because I hate moving...
I got a job next semester; it started as me looking for a job for the summer at Grace House, but Rev. King wanted me to start sooner, so I'm going to be doing like six hours a week there next semester. I'm thinking about maybe seeing if I can spend some time at the law firm that does all their legal work, just to get some more legal office experience (and perhaps a little more money). I think I put the Grace House link up here awhile ago, but in case it's too far back for people to find, I think it's http://www.savinggraceministries.net -- it should say "Grace House Buffalo" at the top of the page... If that isn't it, try www.savinggraceministries.org or .com -- I can never remember which one it is and I'm too lazy to search for it at the moment.
I'm feeling really overwhelmed at this point and am definitely ready to go home for Thanksgiving break, but I'm still enjoying law school so far. Thanksgiving break is going to be fun (for the most part); I have a TON planned... I'm going to see Bill (my old boss for all the lj newcomers) and going to the doctor about my hip (like a little old lady), then Thanksgiving dinner at our house with the fam on Thursday (after watching the parade and so forth with the siblings probably). Friday I have another doctor's appointment, then I'm going to an FFH (Christian band) concert with my dad and Kristen. Saturday is HOCKEY (I'm so close to peeing my pants, you have no idea) -- Jackals if anyone doesn't already know (http://www.jackalshockey.com). Perhaps they'll win... Probably not but a girl can dream. Sunday is church with the family and then taking Kristen back to school, maybe going to Foot with her, then coming back here.
After Thanksgiving I'm going to step it up into high-gear with the studying... Move into a carrel in the library like a cool kid (or stake out the study room down the hall, with my fleece blanket and big leopard-print robe) and bury my face in a torts casebook... I'm definitely looking forward to next semester because I think I'll enjoy my classes a little more... If nothing else, at least I won't have property anymore. I hate property. I've been having nightmares about property, and every time I watch a tv show, I find myself wondering about community property, future interests, and other stupid, useless things that I don't care about. I'm thinking about having a little property book-burning session after the exam. We'll see.
I put my Christmas tree up on Friday. It's way too early (not even Thanksgiving yet!!) but I'm excited; this is the first time I've had my own apartment at Christmas time so I wanted to do it early; plus I wanted Chris to help and he was leaving Saturday, so we had to do it Friday. I have lights on it but nothing else (besides my tinfoil star but that's a whole separate lj entry probably...), and I'm going to get the rest of my Christmas decorations when I'm home next week. I put a string of lights up over the doorway in the apartment, and they blink, which I am very excited about. I think my exact words were "We'll have a white trash Christmas yet!!" (Laura is horrified; not only do I have the tree up already but I think the blinking lights may push her over the edge... I believe HER exact words were "I hate them. They make me want to have a seizure.") It's funny how much she reminds me of Tracey (my freshman year roommate). She says something at least once a day that reminds me of Tracey, and I just can't get over it....
Chris has been sending me an e-mail every day, which I really enjoy. Sometimes it's only like a sentence or two (followed by "I love you Alyssa Love, CP" or something similar :D) but it's my favorite thing every morning to wake up and read it (or, as has recently been the case, to read it before I go to bed REALLY late). Our one year anniversary was last Wednesday (I got flowers and a card and cupcakes, if anyone's wondering, along with a really sweet letter which I've been reading every day). I've always told people that my parents are the reason I believe in soulmates; you couldn't find two people better suited for eachother than my mom and dad. However, I think Chris and I are up there when it comes to people well-suited for one another. I think maybe sometimes people meet one of us, then the other one, and wonder what we're doing together, because in some ways we're really different. I also think that's what keeps us together, and it also helps level out our personalities a little bit (I'm loud and talkative and he's quiet and generally doesn't have a whole lot to say, so in that respect, we sorta balance one another out; on the other hand, we both like to laugh and are pretty outspoken about our feelings and are up-front and honest, so that's something we definitely have in common). He's great. I'm gonna marry him :D
A lot of my friends are getting married (or have already gotten married); I'm glad we're waiting though. I want us both to be settled into our jobs and financially stable before we get married, so while I'm definitely looking forward to it, I'm also glad (except for in those brief moments of craziness :D) that we're going to wait until I'm done with law school. That will give him some time to get settled in a job that he likes and a city he's happy in, and that will give me time to figure out what to do with my life...
I said something about looking forward to next semester but didn't say what I was taking... I have Contracts (which Laura says is horrendous, and I think it's with the one professor who she truly hates, so I'm not pumped about that), Criminal Law (woohoooo :D), Constitutional Law (Matt says this sucks but we have extremely different academic interests so I'm not sure how I'll feel about Con Law), Research and Writing (only till mid-March, thank God... Although I don't have the raging hatred for that class that I was harboring mid-September), and Melville and the Law (looks at Herman Melville's books and his ideas about the legal system; I thought that the other electives looked crappy and/or boring, and I kinda miss my English-type classes -- don't tell Hynes!). We'll see how things go... I'm done by like 1 every day, which is SWEET, and Melville is my only class on Friday (of course it's a one day a week class, so it's for three hours, but oh well... I'll complain about that later I suppose).
Since it's almost 1am now and I have to get up early (meeting with Haynes tomorrow so I can figure out why I suck so bad at writing legal memos) and I have a long-ish day tomorrow (meeting, few hours in the library, property, torts, couple hours of studying), I should go to bed...
I think I need to lay off the caffeine -- I drink it during the day to wake up/stay awake/maintain a half-hearted enthusiasm for my academic pursuits, but then I can't sleep at night...
Anyway, congratulations if you've gotten this far -- I think most of my faithful readers (hehe, all four of them :D) have given up by now. I personally LOVE long lj updates, but I think most people lose interest and tend to resort to skimming after about a paragraph and a half... Oh well. It'll give Chris something to read (not that I mentioned anything in here I haven't already told him at least four times).
Speaking of Chris, he has a job interview tomorrow (well, I guess today, now) and his color-blindness test... We're hoping for a great interview AND that he has an acceptable level of color deficiency (you know what I mean...); the idea is to have several employment options to choose from :D. All I want is for him to be happy. If he didn't end up moving further away, that'd be real nice too, but for now I suppose him being happy would be enough O:).
Comment, people, comment.... I love the comments. :D