FREE... FREE AT LAST!!!!

The bar exam is OVER! Thank heavens! I never want to do that EVER again... It was the most miserable experiance of my life...

Tuesday was 12 essays. They were manageable. I by no means wrote perfect essays, but I do think I did well enough to pass that portion of the test. There were four essays that I knew like the back of my hand, so that really helped my confidence.

Yesterday, the multiple choice was tough. I mean REAL tough. I have been doing well on the practice questions, but that was nothing like I had ever seen before. I was soo time crunched, which is strange because timing has never been my issue.

I honestly don't know what the end result will be, but I can say that I did everything in my power to pass. The rest is in God's hands.

Even though it was such a rough experiance, I am so blessed to have such amazing friends and family. I got so many encouraging texts, facebook messages, cards, even care packages and home cooked meals. It was such a good feeling to know so many people were praying for me...

I felt so loved...

Wanna know whats REALLY exciting?? My 1 month vacation starts TODAY!

Had to share this...

One of my favorite professors is also my "bar prep coach." Every day for the last 70 days she has emailed me a little piece of encouragement to study. She has had some GREAT insights and words of encouragement....


This is what she had to share this morning and it made my heart smile....


Come to the edge.
We might fall.
Come to the edge.
It's too high!
Come to the edge!
And they came,
and he pushed,
and they flew.

-- Christopher Logue

The crazy things studying for the bar does to your brain..

Some people have compared it to "pregnancy brain"....Over the last 70 days I have...

(1) Put my keys in the refrigerator
(2) Washed my phone in washing machine
(3) Ordered a "Bojangles biscuits" only for the lady to ask, "um... what kind of biscuit..."
(4) washed clothes without detergent
(5) put a milkshake in the refrigerator
(6) could not figure out why the cheese grater wasnt working, only to realize i was doing it backwards...

And those are just the things that immediately come to my mind....

Back to Contracts! Do something fun for me and keep me in your prayers...

Hot Mess

I'm still alive.... But this studying 14+ hours a day is wearing me out!

Ya'll should see me.. I look like a HOT mess! I cant remember the last time I dried my hair or put on make up... I realized at about 8 o'clock tonight that I never even got out of my pjs today. Which wouldn't be quite as gross if they weren't the same pjs I wore all day yesterday... haha. Ahhh.. the joys of cramming for the bar. Yes, thats right cramming.. I'm past the point of studying now.

On a postive note: 9 more days of studying... 2 days of testing and then it is sweet summer time for this Carolina girl....

I have to admit that my mind sometimes wanders to the "what ifs"? (the what ifs being, the what if i fail this test?) I mean I know its just a test. But I am so ready to put school behind me. (not to mention the student loans... AHHH!!!!) I'm ready to just have a normal schedule and life with Brian. I have been in "crazy law school mode" for all three years of marriage. This is sad, but I seriously don't know what married couples do when they are both at home at night... I feel like all I have done is study... And Brian fills his time with church softball, coaching, tv, and the occassional playstation game. I'm going to have to get some hobbies...

Did I mention I am taking the WHOLE month of August off????

AHHHH... HEAVEN I CAN'T WAIT.

I'm already making a to do list:

(1) sleep
(2) get all this bar prep weight off (p.s. I dont want to talk about it.)
(3) clean my house, I mean DEEP clean...
(4) make a "gift wrapping" corner in our bonus room
(5) a highlight/eyebrow wax and cut(Tiffany, if you saw my roots right now you would die!)
(6) organize my office
(7) get a massage
(8) get a facial (did i mention that at 25 I have acne for the first time in my life?)
(9) buy or borrow a sewing machine... (this just might be my new hobby...)

i'm sure there is more... but this girl is too tired....

night ya'll!

5 Things that made me smile today

Things that I am loving today.... In no particular order:

(1) A care package from one of the sweetest friends in the world, Brittany

(2) lunch with this little fellow, who "sang" me the I Love You Song (from Barney, hehe) complete with hugs and kisses and then said "again" ... "AGAIN"...

(3) HAVING THIS BOY HOME!

He just got back from taking 22 youth to World Changers in Chicago, Ill... Oh I have missed his sweet face... this picture is not from today, (its actually at the Westin) but accurately depicts how he spent most of the day... (Check out that Farmer's tan.. gotta love my country boy!)

(4) listening to Jack Johnson's Better with You

(5) A grilled steak and homemade potatoes complements of the hubs

Okay, enough proscrastinating....

Show us your life

Proverbs 31:8-9 (New International Version)
"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."

My first year of undergrad, I really struggled with what God wanted me to do with my life. I was so overwhelmed by thoughts of choosing a major and a career. I had NO idea what I was being called to do.

I came across this bible verse while in small group and I immediately felt like God was telling me something. I went back to my room that night, found the verse again and prayed over it. I was moved to tears. I wrote it down on a hot pink note card that I kept pinned above my desk all four years of college. I read it over and over and still have it almost 8 years later.

God not only used this verse to lead me to major in social worker, but it was ultimately one of the reasons I felt like the Lord was calling me to a career in law.

I know lawyers have a certain "stereotype" that isnt exactly in line with my morals. So I really struggled how I could feel like this was a calling... but God was persistent and opened every door along the way... And here I am 3 weeks from the Bar Exam...

Even as a student, God has already allowed me to use my voice to speak up for orphans and vulnerable children both locally and internationally. Although, I'm not sure what his plan for me is in long term. I am going to continually trust him.

It could be worse

Instead of studying for 13.5 hours today I could have been doing this....

I took this picture last July on the outskirts of Arusha, Tanzania.

Break down

today. i. finally. did. it. . . i broke down....after 8 weeks or so of being eerily calm it all crept up on me.

I mean dry heaving broke down...and let me tell you. IT WASNT PRETTY.

I cried for a good 15 minutes. you know the kind where you chest feels like its cramping and it about to explode...ya. that kind of break down. NOT GOOD.

However, I pulled myself together. Reminded myself that God has brought me this far. And that even if I cant do this, HE CAN!

I heard a blurb on the radio yesterday morning, that sometimes God allows difficult things to happen because he wants us to learn a lesson. I really think my lesson in this journey of prepping for the bar, is PEACE. I'm a high stress, type A person...and He has over and over again reminded me that I just need to have faith and peace...

So faith and peace it is!

Any who... enough reflecting and procrastinating.. back to the books. Property Law is my bedtime story this evening...

Here is just a tiny glimpse of what my week holds in store for me..

Let Freedom Ring...

I see America, not in the setting sun of a black night of despair ahead of us, I see America in the crimson light of a rising sun fresh from the burning, creative hand of God. I see great days ahead, great days possible to men and women of will and vision. -- Carl Sandburg

I'm not going to quit. Why should I quit? This country is worth fighting for. --Hillary Rodham Clinton

America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy. -- John Updike

America has never been united by blood or birth or soil. We are bound by ideals that move us beyond our backgrounds, lift us above our interests and teach us what it means to be citizens. -- George W. Bush, Inaugural address, 2001

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
Emma Lazarus

When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in the sun, the wide and rising plains, the great mountains, and the sea. He means that he loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom lives and in which a man can draw the breath of self-respect. ~Adlai Stevenson

We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.
George W. Bush,



There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America. ~William J. Clinton




From every mountain side
Let Freedom ring.
~Samuel F. Smith, "America"

God Bless America! Happy Fourth of July!

Ramblings

Hello Blog World,

I'm still hanging in there... A little FREAKED out that I only have three more weeks to cram all this material in my little brain. I am a little too frazzled to really write something cohesive that is not a legal essay so its going to be bullet points today folks.

Highlights of my week:

• #1 Learning that I am going to be an Aunt to a precious baby boy (again)... No name yet, although my brohter tells me it will be "Jethro Omar" .... pretty sure his wife is NOT down with that...
• #2 My sister-in-love asked my little nephew (22 mos) if he was going to the beach this weekend, and he replied, "uhh huh, with 'Cawwol' and 'May-SEEE.'" Poor babe, he misses his aunt 'cawol' and can't figure out why I study all the time. He is in LOVE with my puppy. Too bad she had to crush his little heart by telling him Aunt Carol would be at home studying
  
  
• taking a practice full length MBE (1/2 of the bar exam) and PASSING!!!!!!
• finding my new FAVORITE nail polish and getting a mani/pedi with my momma..Is this color not to DIE for.. Its OPI's "strawberry margarita"
  
  

Did I mention the lady gave me a 5 minute back massage during my mani!!!!!!! I SERIOUSLY COULD HAVE KISSED HER FEET.... after spending all day every day for the past 6 weeks hutched over reading/taking notes or typing outlines, my back was in dire need of some TLC...

I am taking the WHOLE day off tomorrow and floating in the pool....This fourth of July gives the term "independance day" whole new meaning... tomorrow I will be indepedant from the torture of bar prep.

Happy 4th and God BLESS America. Be sure to keep those fighting for our freedom in your thoughts today, tomorrow and everyday!