* A shameless ripoff of Misty Bennett's blog Across and Down a Little Bit
Dress and belt by JC Penny
Shoe by Jessica Simpson
Sweater by Nordstroms
Purse by Coach
Dress by JC Penny
Sweater and purse by Nordstroms
Shoes by Jessica Simpson
Pants and shirt by Express
Shoes by BCBG
Purse by Knockoff Louie Vuitton purchased by shady guy in Rome, Italy.
So I haven’t been keeping up with this blog as often as I would have liked. When I started it the goal was to post something every day. Then as I started law school and realized just how time consuming it was and I changed my goal to once a week, but even that seems to be too much so now I am going to blog as often as I can when I miraculously find a break from studying. The last time I blogged about school I was feeling completely overwhelmed. I was scared, and sleep deprived, and unsure about what the heck I had gotten myself into. That was two weeks in. Today I finished up my sixth week and am staring down the barrel of practice exams. I am still scared, still sleep deprived, and still not sure what to expect each day, but I really feel like this is where I belong. I’m not sure what it’s like at other law schools, but Willamette does such a great job of holding your hand while throwing you into the deep end all at the same time. I’ve never been more afraid/excited, tried/energized and unsure/sure about anything in my whole life. The professors who are terrifying to me also seem to be some of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet. Even my Civil Procedure professor who everyone says is the most intimidating professor at the school is really quite funny and if you are prepared for her class you will learn a lot, but you MUST be prepared. On the first day of class she talked about Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, and on Friday of the first week told the class that she bawled her eyes out after her first week of classes. She spent the whole class talking about how to maintain our sanity during our 1L year and I think we all appreciated it. I know I did. She has sense gone on to talk about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, and the Kardashians, and just last class she opened with a discussion of Honey Boo Boo. Hilarious! She had us all in stitches. Then there is my Contracts teacher who I just freaking love! She is a young lawyer. She just graduated in 2008 and is my new role model {I’ll always love you Jessica}. Not only is she funny and really accessible, but she is probably the most sympathetic to our stress levels and work loads because only seven years ago she was in our shoes. She offers unsolicited advice every Monday and it really helps us, because she tells us not only how to survive law school, but how to get the most out of the experience. I find myself preparing the hardest for her class because I really look up to her and it made my day when she called on me and after I answered, told me that I was doing a good job making the necessary connections. She also uses pop culture to spice up her lectures. She quoted a line from Elf the other day to emphasize a point about puffery, and used The Voice as an illustration of illusory promises. And then there’s my Torts professor who seems to be the funniest old guy you could hope to meet. He constantly talks about his daughter and his late wife and is an avid follower of ballet. His class is the last class of the day so its difficult to pay attention sometimes, but he does his best to keep the class entertained. He throws erasers at people to prove his points and just the other day talked about how much of a Green-Bay Packers fan he is and how he could be justified to punch someone in the face if they said that the refs called the game against the Seattle Seahawks right. He was kidding of course. As for me I am doing alright. I am just trying to take things day by day by setting small goals and doing my best to accomplish them. I feel like I am getting the hang of things better and the reading seems to be getting (a little) easier. I have two mentors that the school put me in contact with. One is a student and the other is a judge. Talking to them and asking them about their 1L years really helps to put things into perspective for me. The two best pieces of advice they have given me are (1) being prepared for and going to every class are 75% of the battle and (2) don’t be so busy focusing on being in the top of the class, just focus on getting through and everything else will fall into place. So for the most part I am hanging in there and I just keep reminding myself that Christmas break is just around the corner. I have been trying to set small goals in that hopes that the big picture won’t look so daunting which is so not my style, but so far it seems to be helping. Well my eyes are drooping and its been a long week so its time for me to go to bed. It’s 11:00pm on a Friday night and I can’t keep my eyes open. Hopefully I’ll make it back here soon. Goodnight.
This weekend was sad for Travis and I. Our sweet Sr. Puttanesca passed away. He had been missing for about a week and we had looked all around the neighborhood for him. He had never been gone for more than a day before, so we knew that something was wrong, but we still kept our hopes up. On Saturday afternoon Travis decided to look in the neighbor’s backyard in a secluded area that no one ever goes, and he found Poot’s body laying on the grass. Travis’s dad very sweetly wrapped him in a towel, placed him in a shoe box, and buried him under the tree in our front yard where the cats like to lay in the summer to stay cool.
We had had Poot for about five years and in that time he brought so much joy to our lives. I took him in as a stray while Travis was away on a business trip. The neighbors across the street had moved away and left him there and although I really had no desire to adopt another cat I couldn’t live with myself letting this little cat run around the neighborhood with no home. He was covered in fleas, and ticks, and was so skinny. He had worms, and just looked so sad. What else could I do but take him in? I started feeding him on the porch and slipped a dewormer into his food. I then started feeding him with the front door open and little by little he worked his way into the house and into our hearts. I de-flead him, got him fixed, and he became our cat. Travis named him Puttanesca because we initially thought he was a girl, but then he turned around and we discovered “Whoa! He’s a boy alright!” We shortened his name to Poot and then started calling him Senor Poot and sometimes just Senor. We weren’t ever sure of his age. Sometimes he seemed so young and full of energy. Other times he seemed so old. Even though we got him fixed, Poot loved to spray. He sprayed on anything and everything he could find. He sprayed outdoors and indoors. He sprayed on new items that were brought into the house, and items that he had sprayed 100 times before. He didn’t care what it was, he just loved to spray and there was no stopping him! I would get so mad when he would do it, but he was just so sweet I couldn’t stay mad at him for long. The thing about Poot was that he never did it to be mean or vindictive.He didn’t have a mean bone in his body. He just did it because it made him happy. It also made him happy to explore under the covers of our bed, sleep in between me and Travis like he was our baby, and greet us in the driveway when we came home. He had a very distinctive meow and didn’t like to be held, but would always let Travis hold him because he adored Travis. He also loved catnip and laying in the sun.
I’m sure that some people will read this and think that I am being silly because he was just a cat and not a person, but he really was a part of our family. I am sad that we will never see him again, or hear his sweet meow and I feel that we were cheated because we only got five years with him, but I take comfort in the fact that for the last five years of his life he was happy, and healthy, and knew that he was loved. We gave him food, and toys, and a warm place to sleep at night and that is more than anyone else would have given him. He was the “reject kitty” that no one wanted, but we took him in even though I bitched and moaned about that cat and his spraying day and night, he was a good boy, a sweet boy, and a wonderful addition to our family. Rest in peace Senor Poot. You will always be in our heart, and will forever be part of our home. There are plenty of things to spray where you are now!
This is what happens when you aren't prepared for class in law school...
Since this weekend is Labor Day weekend, and I have a few days off from school I thought that I would take a break from my studying to reflect on my first two weeks of law school. After a fabulous month in The Mediterranean I flew home just in time for my first day of school. It was hard to say goodbye to such a beautiful place (especially since Travis was staying a few more days), but I was excited to get home and start the next chapter of my life. The past two weeks have been a blur of endless reading assignments, class discussions, 4:00am wakeup calls, as much coffee as I can get my hands on, and four hours of sleep each night. Everything that I read in preparation for law school said that it was going to be a lot of work, so in a way I knew what to expect, but nothing could prepare me for the intensity of the work. Studying law is like learning a new language so the reading takes three times longer (at least) than I anticipate that it should and going to class unprepared is not an option because all of the rumors about The Socratic Method are true, and if a professor catches you unprepared it can be a very painful experience. I know that as the semester progresses the workload is only going to increase, and at times I know that I am going to hate my life and wish that I hadn’t decided to put myself through this, but in spite of myself I have to say that I am really enjoying law school so far. Going to law school and becoming a lawyer is something that I have dreamed about doing for many years, and something that at times I wasn’t sure was going to happen, and I am just so happy to be here. I don’t know about other law schools, but Willamette University College of Law is a very student orientated school. They really strive to help students succeed. They expect you to put in the work and are very strict about being prepared for and attentive in class, but the professors and faculty are very accessible to students. Their doors are always open for anything whether it be clarification on a hard to understand topic or just advice in general. On my second day of school I had lunch with my Contracts professor (who I think is my new mentor), and she gave me advice on how to cope with law school. I told her that I had cried the previous night due to the shock of how much work it is and she explained that this was normal and that despite how it may seem everyone else is just as scared and overwhelmed as I am. The advice she gave me, which may be the best advice I have ever received is “focus on you”. She told me to stop comparing myself to other students who seem to have their study systems down already, or who claim to be studying twelve hours a day. She said not only is it probably not true, but that everyone studies in their own way and that I need to find what works best for me. Another professor told me that she balled her eyes out after her first week, and another told me that she considered quitting multiple times during her first year. The point is that law school is hard. Especially the first year, but the payout is so rewarding if you just stick with it, and that is very encouraging to me. My fellow students have been great as well. The 1L’s are all looking at each other like “Hey man, we’re all in this together”, and the 2L’s and 3L’s are very supportive and tell us to “just hang in there” and “if we can do it so can you”. There has also been multiple BBQ’s and meet and greets with fellow students, staff, and faculty, and getting to know everyone has been a lot of fun. So far I am just happy that I have been able to keep up with the reading, have been prepared for each class, and am making myself participate at least once a day in every class. I have even been “cold called” and was able to correctly answer the professor’s question. At this point I am just trying to keep my head above water, and I think that I am doing okay so far. My goal with this blog is to try to update it at least once a week to let the outside world know how I am doing, since I won’t have tons of time to spend with my friends and family, and as a way to reflect on my experience as a 1L. I hope you enjoy!
Dress and belt by JC Penny
Dress by JC Penny
Pants and shirt by Express
