I've got a secret....

and it's KILLING me!

Mickey or Mac?

I would love to write an interesting, entertaining blog entry with colorful pictures and amusing sarcasm. Unfortunately, I'm completing my note for the Legislative Journal, which, no matter how I try to spin it, is not funny. If anyone needs me I will be on my couch for the next two days alternatively editing footnotes and sobbing in anguish.

I am resisting the urge to check out Disney vacations, because we are spending our tax refund on a new computer since we have managed to wear out our new laptops with a year and a half of frantic typing. Another casualty of the hell that is law school. I find it very ironic that a five-day vacation to Florida during spring break costs 5 dollars less than the laptop my husband wants to buy.

Oh well, at least I won't be the chump in my Evidence final with fading tan lines whose computer is crashing....

Letter to the Burglar

Dear Burglar,

I'm so glad you could stop by last night! I'm sorry I was asleep, thanks for being so careful not to wake me up. I see you found the GPS system I left for you. I hope you enjoy it. Sorry that I forgot to leave my doors unlocked, I hope you didn't have any trouble finding a blunt object with which to break the window. Did you notice the safety glass - no sharp edges! It really is a miracle of modern science. Come back and visit anytime!

Love,

THE MRS.

Diet Update

So, I think I might have mentioned that I am trying to take off some of this law school weight. This diet feels a lot different than efforts I've made in the past; because it's one of the first times I've tried to lose weight for my health and to feel better rather than just to look better, fit into smaller clothes, etc. I'm trying to start slow so I don't burn out too quickly.

I have a friend who I went to high school with who recently lost lots of weight just counting calories and adding some exercise. So I found this website: http://www.fitday.com , which helps you keep track of what you're eating, calories, fat, even different essential vitamins. I've been shooting for 1,200 a day, with leeway for unexpected temptations I usually end up somewhere between 1,300 and 1,400. I honestly haven't been hungry with this amount, because making the list lets you evaluate what you're going to eat for the day and make better tradeoffs. Some things are just not worth it when you see the stats.

I really like to eat more at night, which is worse for weight loss purposes, but again, I have to be realistic or I'll never be able to stick to this. One thing that helps is the Costco brand slimfast shake thingies for breakfast. If you're not used to them they might taste a little weird, but I lived on these things when I was a vegetarian, so they are familiar and comforting to me. I usually don't have much of an appetite for breakfast, so the shakes are great because they don't upset my tummy, and I'm not ravenous after my first class. I drank the actual slimfast brand shakes back when I was skipping meat, but they changed their formula to be low-carb now and they just don't fill me up the same way. Also the Costco shakes are like 50cents a can on sale. Not bad for a meal replacement!

The exercise prong of my attack is also going well. I've been trying to do one workout video a night. Not every workout video is equal. I have Denise Austin's Cardio Kickboxing for when I really want to sweat. Then there is Sweatin' to the Oldies for some lower impact cardio dance. Cindy Crawford's workout video is really marketed more towards men, picture saucy workout music and Cindy working out on a beach with her hair down and wearing a one-piece swimsuit. However, the arms and abs part is pretty good, so this makes it into the rotation. Then there is the legs, abs, and buns of steel trifecta. These are awesome: short, effective, and starring hilariously outdated workout gurus. The abs of steel will start becoming a staple soon, but I need a little time before attempting the buns and legs, that is if I want to be able to walk to school the next day. My gaim yoga video is also useful sometimes. I do it most often when my back is really bothering me. Despite the ludicrous hippie jargon (e.g. "Soften your organs", and "press your feet deep into the earth."), this video is great for your posture (mine sucks), although it does make me kind of depressed that I have the flexibility of an 80-year-old actuary. Also in the library but barely legitimate is Carmen Elektra's aerobic striptease, which is pretty much a joke, but an ok one at that.

So, drumroll please...................... total weight lost: 5 lbs!!
At first I went up a little the first couple of days, probably because my body was in shock from the sudden physical activity, but then it started to drop. I'm hoping to keep up this plan for a while until I hit a plateau, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Altogether I need to lose around another 45 lbs to be at an ideal weight, but I would be happy with any small percentage of that while I'm in lawschool!

If money were no object....

I would have these:





And these:





Sigh.

Not Me Monday - My first attempt at a blog carnival!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I did not go to Costco and eat one of every sample offered on Sunday, mostly with the intention of not having to count the samples in my food log. I am committed to losing weight and would never sabotage myself like that.

I did not read blogs when I should have been writing my Ap Ad Brief.

I did not purposely choose to do Carmen Elektra's aerobic striptease workout video instead of a legitimate workout video, so that half-way through I could pretend to be "in the mood" and not have to do an entire video.

I did not cut a homemade pizza in half and eat half in order to stay on my diet by technically only having one "slice" of pizza. I realize that this would still be cheating.

I did not start drinking slimfast in the morning because my daily vitamins are too big for me to swallow without gagging. I am an adult and of course I can swallow a pill.

I definitely am not blogging instead of writing said Ap Ad brief.

My Valentine

Yesterday was one of the best days I've had in a long time. Greg really swept me off of my feet. I've been so busy with school lately that all I managed to do was pick up a card for him. I knew he was planning something, but I had no idea how much!

When I woke up, there was candy and a bear and a really sweet card on the table. Then I put on the cute dress I just bought for his birthday party last week. We drove down to New Brunswick, and he took me to this nice hair salon called Indigo. I got the cutest haircut, with little sidebangs and everything. Usually when I get lots of my hair cut off I feel a little sad as I watch it fall on the floor. Not this time! I was so happy just to get rid of it all that I didn't even look.

Next we drove to the park where we got engaged and took a walk around. It really is a beautiful park. We swung on some swings at the playground for a while, then drove around a bit looking at the little neighborhoods nearby, visiting some of the places we lived in college.

Then... drumroll..... we went ice skating! There was a rink not too far away, and I tried ice skating for the first time ever. I only went around the rink holding onto the wall, and I thought I was going to die a few times, but I made it around without falling. I would definitely do it again, but I need a lot of work! When I was done I stood outside the rink and watched Greg skate around. He was amazing, there isn't anything he can't do!

For dinner we went to Old Man Rafferty's, which is where we always went for fancy dinners in college. And finally, a trip to Target and a late movie. We watched "He's Just Not That Into You", which was funnier than I expected. Basically, movies based on books far outmatch those that are not. Even when they are based on a self-help book.

Well, back to writing my Ap Ad brief.... My camera is at my sister's house, but I'll try and take some pictures of my haircut before it grows out too much!

An Enchanted Evening

Greg got a saucy boardgame that we played last night. It was a lot more funny than saucy, but at least we were hanging out together and having a good time. We drank some sparkling grape juice and laughed all night. Now all I have to do is figure out where to hide it in case someone comes over for a game night...

I also finished the Valentine's we started for the deans at our law school. They'll either get a kick out of them or think we're crazy. We are crazy, so I don't have a problem with that.

Resolved

So my friend from law school who (as far as we've ever discussed) does not have a relationship with God, came to church with us tonight. I don't know exactly how it really went, because she is very reserved about religion or any other topic that people usually get offended over. At least nothing happened at church to make me cringe (I was worried about mildly chauvinistic comments, excessive Christianese, and crazy homeless people talking about vajayjays, all of which I've experienced first hand at church). In fact, it seemed fairly tame compared to some other times when I've attempted to bring friends who are not born again to church services.

That said, I know that no church service will make an impact on anyone's heart unless God first softens it up a bit. I'm not going to even begin to pretend like I have a grasp on the whole Calvinist v. free will debate that Christians like to engage in ad nauseum, but I'm pretty sure that without God's help people don't have a chance of seeing the truth. Everything is so cloudy nowadays, or maybe it just always was, I don't know. There are so many lies out there that everyone is taught to believe. All I know is that there have been people in my life that I've argued with and pleaded with and loved and served and cried over, who have never seen the truth. Then there was one friend who all I did was pray for, every day, earnestly, for over a year. This friend is now a leader in his own church. I didn't have to be smart, or cool, or even good to win this soul for Christ. I just asked God and He changed this young man's heart so drastically that I was totally blown away by His power. To this day, when I face doubts, I remember the work that God did in this guy's life and there is no way I can deny His power.

So...I guess the question is do I have the faith to pray for my friend in law school. It is scary, because I really care about her, and I feel like if I pray for her earnestly, and she still rejects Him, then I will be so devastated. And if it comes down to sharing my faith with her, I'm so afraid that I will screw it up and she will miss out on God's awesome love for her. I guess one of my biggest fears stems from the fact that in a lot of ways, she is smarter and even a better person than I am. I'm kind of afraid that she will see a belief coming from me as invalid because of this. But in the end I can't change who I am, and there is no way my foolishness can separate someone from the love of God.

I can only hope and pray that she will meet Him somehow. When I think about the possibility, I remember the difference in my life in the times when I am obedient and communing with Him, and the times when I am far away, and how wonderful it is to be in His presence. When I think through this logically, it makes me amazed that I haven't already been diligently praying for my firend. When I know first hand about the power of the Holy Spirit to move it people's lives I don't know why I never think to intercede in this way. Also, when I think about my friend on fire for Jesus I get really excited, because I think she is a very gifted person to begin with, and I can't imagine what wonderful things God could do through her life.

I'm going now to lay in bed and PRAY!!

To Do List

Here is what I will be doing in the next two weeks:

1 pre-final draft Note: 25 pages to edit
1 extra journal assignment: 22 footnotes to bluebook
1 Appellate Advocacy Brief to write: 15-20 pages
1 Moot Court Competition to Prepare for (Oral Argument that I will be doing with my husband, single round elimination and if I stink I ruin his chances to get on the team)
1 VITA tax training certification test to study for and pass
1 Persuasion and Advocacy Direct and Cross Examination to Prepare (Questions for Witnesses)
3 other classes to read and prepare for (2 of which are taught by professors who know my name and call on me every day)
OCI resumes to submit, employers to pick for interviews
1 holiday to celebrate (valentines day)

And if I really want to make an impression, I should really research a question that my tax professor asked me about, so I can score some points, since she is basically in charge of who gets tax internships at our school.

Noticeably absent from this list are working out, cooking meals, or showering. See you in March people.

Greg's Birthday Party

On a less ridiculous note, Greg's party was so much fun. All of the people who still like us despite the fact that we have sold our souls to law school came and we had a great time.

Greg wanted to make a video game party, so he could have someone to play Halo with other than me (I hate Halo!), but I thought everyone who didn't like video games would be bored. So I set up a table with some craft stuff that I got from Target (in the dollar section) and we made awesome valentines day cards. I made some for the deans at my law school, because they work really hard and deserve some appreciation.

I gave Greg a set of "Love Comes Softly" dvds that he really did want, but did not expect me to wrap up and give him in front of his friends :) It was priceless.

Of course everyone stayed super late and I'm totally exhausted, but I guess it wasn't too bad considering it was like, my one social event for the semester.

I need a haircut.

Today was Greg's birthday, and yesterday I had a party for him at my sister's apartment in Ocean Grove. The party was kind of a last minute idea, and I was running around Friday and Thursday trying to find food and cake and balloons and stuff. In between doing everything else, I desperately wanted to go get a haircut.

I've been in need of a haircut for at least two months now. I keep on planning to go get it cut, but something always seems to come up and I just never have the time. My hair is usually pretty long anyway, so going for like 8 months without a trim, you can imagine what I look like:



Anyway, I was planning, again, to get a cut in between errands on Saturday before the party, but of course I ran out of time and had to high tail it back home. I was getting out of the car, with about 20 helium balloons and a try of wraps for lunch and a bag of groceries, and the wind just started blowing those balloons all over the place. I didn't worry about it, I had a pretty tight grip on the strings, and I figured I could untangle them when I got inside, so I just struggled down the street and up the outside stairs to my sister's apartment.

The door was locked. I was about to turn around to try the front entrance, when I felt a painful tug on the back of my scalp. Greg came around and opened the door, but I couldn't get inside, because my hair was caught in the strings of the huge bunch of swirling balloons!


Finally, I managed to corral the balloons through the door. It took Greg about 15 minutes of carefully taking out one balloon at a time to free me. Then I had to get the humongous knot out of my long hair.

I probably should have just stopped to get the haircut.

Christian Movie Review - 1

Greg and I don't have cable, we decided it would be better to do Blockbuster online (we save 30 bucks a month), since TV would be too addictive and we would fail out of lawschool. This means we see a lot of movies, so I thought I would try and post some reviews so you can avoid some of the stinkers and maybe take a chance on some longshots. Occasionally I see a movie that is totally inappropriate for children (sometimes for anyone) or for people who are sensitive to violent images or language, etc, but I really like the film. In this case I'll try and be very clear that even if I like the movie, you probably shouldn't watch it. (caution: all spelling is improvised)

Here's what we've been watching...

Bolt. Totally cute and made me cry and laugh. 4, but only would watch again if with someone who hadn't seen it.

Tyler Perry's The Family that Preys. Typical awkwardly good Tyler Perry drama with brief hilarious comedic relief moments. Not at all what I expected from the cover. Love how he always shows the unromanticized truth about adultery. 3.

Fireproof. Must be one of the last Christians to watch this film. Did not disappoint, but I was not expecting much. Fire scenes very suspenseful considering budget. KC did a pretty good job for most of the movie, even if short. Greg of course cried during all of the sentimental marriage parts. I only got misty-eyed when he accepted the Lord. It made me really want to pray for my unsaved friends and family. 4.

Igor. Sooooooo bad. Jokes that kids probably wouldn't get and adults wouldn't find funny. Terrible animation. And I was excited about the story too. 1.

Wanted. Angelina Jolie and some guy who reminds you of Shia Labeef, except with no talent whatsoever. So profane and stupid that I went to bed after a few scenes. Greg finished watching it while I was at class and confirmed that the rest of the movie wasn't worth my time. 1.

Love Comes Softly. I read these books as a kid so I was so excited to see the Hallmark made for TV version. Male lead was ok, but Katherine Hegle was typically terrible. Everything she said made the movie that much more laughable. Still, you gotta love that story, and the little girl who played Missy was adorable. Way more talent than Hegle. Why is she famous again? 3.

On a scale of 1-5, with 5 being one of my top favorites of all time, 4 being I would possibly buy the movie/ watch it again some time, 3 being I would not watch the movie again, but enjoyed the ride, 2 being I did not enjoy the movie, and 1 being I turned it off before the end.