turkey bowl

this is the time of year when everyone decides it would be best to contemplate the things they are most thankful for. at the top of my list, im thankful for 3 days off of school-5 day weekend here i come! as we speak, i am sitting in the library, whittling away the time during which i would normally be in class, patiently awaiting my last class before the weekend. after which i will promptly go to a movie and dinner with friends. doesnt sound half bad, does it?

of course, as a law student, a thanksgiving break cant just be a happy break from school. no, it must be a long and tortuous weekend. for example, on top of everyday life things like replacing brian's broken (and fake) tooth (which will cost 200$) and fixing his car (which wouldnt start today), i have to worry about the assignments for next week, as well as preparing for finals. now, if you arent familiar with law school finals, we have two weeks of finals-two finals a week, each lasting 3 hours and the only basis upon which our grades rest. i have about 5 days to prepare for the first one. at first, i thought that would be great...now im wondering if i have enough time. so while i am feasting upon wonderful homemade goodness, i will also be stressing out over the outlines and flashcards and study groups i could and should be drowning myself in.

on a lighter note, byu hosts utah for the age old "holy war" rivalry on saturday. and yes-we do have tickets. and no-i will not sell them to you, even for an exorbitant amount of money. i have never been to a byu-utah game and dare i say it? im so excited, i just might pee my pants. going to byu has always been an inner struggle for me, and the football team has always had an ability to quiet the battle within, at least for a few hours each week. and this time, it will also quiet the stressing voices in my head...for a few hours. i would like nothing more than to crush utah, and lose my voice cheering on the cougars. and if my mom brings any utah paraphernalia, i swear, i will shred them with my teeth.

i ♥ byu football.

mind games

after 3 months in law school, i have noticed several differences between it and your basic undergrad education...or any education for that matter. observe.

1. professors would rather have you teach the class. this is to "make you think like a lawyer."

2. professors will call on you in class even when you dont have your hand up. this is to "make you think like a lawyer."

3. if you dont do your assigned readings before class, your professor will call on you every day until you are prepared. this is to "make you think like a lawyer."

4. an average score on a test (like an 87%) is actually a d. this ridiculous curve is to "make you think like a lawyer."

5. you have no other assignments that determine your class grade except for your massive 3 hour final. this is to "make you think like a lawyer."

as you can see, all of these things are vast improvements from undergrad, right? but the best difference of all are the mind games. not like, staring at goats style mind games. these are games that are likely to send you into hyperventilation. the worst part? all these games are played by other students. thats right. when you are sitting in the library, dutifully studying, you realize that you are the only person who has been there fewer than 4 hours. now you know that you are obviously studying the wrong way. i mean, if you arent spending that much time reading 10 pages, then you OBVIOUSLY have missed all the information thats preventing you from getting more than an 87% on your test! i mean, duh! oh wait...that guy is playing mob wars on facebook...you think im kidding about the mind games, but im not. law school is a place that very smart people come to make other smart people feel dumb. but i have the system figured out. if you arent so smart (like moi) then these smart people dont make you feel dumb. they simply annoy you. really, its kind of nice to know that you are possibly the dumbest person in your class because you are immune to these games.

ok for real, most of the time, these people arent even studying but they want to make you think they are. why, exactly, this is so important to them, im not sure. if they arent studying, sitting in the library is definately not helping their social lives. these games are silly, but in all honesty, its very easy to fall prey to these games. and yes, it is gut wrenching. but a friend told me once that when it gets overwhelming, just remember-its just law college. just finish what you gotta finish, then go home and have a life. no biggie.

of course, no one is immune to the total terror of turning in a paper (that is about 80% of your grade) 3 days early...

return from the dead

im back. how lovely, eh? you know, i have tried my whole life to try to keep a consistent journal and i have never made it very long. even when i have a cool one with a lock (3rd grade) or when i tried to write only about things that i would actually want my posterity to read (aka not all the retarded guys ive dated) or one that had a ridiculously cute picture of a beagle on it. looks like this was no different. sorry kids.

but im back! sooo...how bout i fill you in on the last year of my life-first of all, sorry to keep you hanging about the law school thing. i am now a 1L at byu law! how exciting! well, i thought so in august, but now that the law library is my second home, i dont think its quite so exciting. and its hard to say that ive waited my whole life to slave away reading lovely topics like property and contracts, both subjects being older than dirt itself and very (cough) riveting. but really, i do like it. call me strange, i know. but its practical and applicable and i got to tell my new land lord "no i will not sign a contract with a cterm stating that i have to pay your attorneys fees should you sue me because no court will think that is a reasonable term anyways." of course, i did that in the nicest way possible. :)

ummm what else....oh i got married. no big deal. got our pictures back on our 10 month anniversary. it was fun. brian and i decided that living in provo was like living in a vice while your nails were slowly plucked from your finger tips. ok maybe not that bad, but you try cramming two very active snowboarding, camping, disc golfing, music loving, not so tidy people's stuff into a 525 sq ft apt. not exactly comfy. so we left. and found a cute two bedroom basement apartment in cedar hills-roughly 15 miles north of campus. its fun to put an address void of an apartment number on resumes-i feel like im not too ghetto and young. not that i want to get old, dont get me wrong. but many people dont take a 23 year old girl who is already married very seriously. so i figure this gives me some "take me seriously" points.

if you notice, its not yet thanksgiving. one of my pet peeves is when halloween ends and people jump right into christmas. what happened to thanksgiving?? sorry, but im not liable to forget the next long weekend i get, thank you. right now, im committing a cardinal sin. im listening to christmas music. sorry, pilgrims. you gave us a great holiday and all, but im sick and i think frosty is gonna do a better job of giving me some inner sparkle than squanto. besides, whoever heard of thanksgiving music? (yeah yeah, dont remind me of hymns, those arent like, music to listen to...). but i did make a cute paper bag turkey with scrapbook paper feathers (shut up, i hear you giggling, lisa) that is sitting on our counter to remind us to be thankful. id like to take credit for the idea but my mom will read this and rat me out. thanks mom for the memories of cutting out 3 foot long feathers as a kid.