The Station

Hello blogosphere- I have not disappeared, but am adjusting to the rigors of studying for the bar from 8-5 errr 6 or 7 every day. I will reappear as soon as I feel less overwhelmed or lose some of the focus (thank goodness it showed up!) So I will leave you with a poem they read to us on the first day of our Bar Review course that I found especially poignant. Here is to enjoying this journey and not just trying to get to the "station." Becoming a lawyer and this opportunity is something I "get" to do. I am privileged and honored for my education and this opportunity and may I remember that I "got" to go to law school, I "get" to take the bar exam, I "will get" (God willing) to be a lawyer, I don't "have to " do any of this this.

The Station

Robert J. Hastings

"Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision. We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent. We are traveling by train. Out the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls.

But uppermost in our minds is the final destination. Bands will be playing and flags waving. Once we get there our dreams will come true, and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering - waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

"When we reach the station, that will be it!" we cry.
"when I'm 18"
"when I buy a new 450sl Mercedes-Benz!"
"when I put the last kid through college"
"when I have paid off the mortgage!"
"when I get a promotion."
"when I reach the age of retirement,I shall live happily ever after!"

Sooner or later we realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. The station is only a dream. It constantly outdistances us. "Relish the moment" is a good motto, especially when coupled with Psalm 118:24: "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad. It is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow. Regret and fear are twin thieves who rob us of today.

So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. The station will come soon enough."

Summer nights

Enjoying the first of many wonderful summer nights!

We are happy to report Charles successfully chewed out whatever was in his foot before we showed up for our vet visit and $$$$ later he has had enough sedatives and painkillers to tranquilize an elephant yet for some reason is still wide awake and making himself right at home on the new patio furniture.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

1. Our new patio furniture- as a graduation gift, my parents gave us the patio furniture we have been wanting and I am loving our new space. I am also loving the fact that I have run an extension cord to my favorite rocker and am listening to my pre bar review lectures and taking notes on the patio. Here are a few views from my seat:

I'll post better pictures of the new patio when I'm not trying to listen to lectures and update the blog all at once.

2. Cooking dinner- since I have had some time off, I have been cooking dinner and having it ready by the time Kevin gets home every night. This is a new luxury as I spent all semester in school and working and one I hope I can keep up. I'm not very good at recipe posts because I am a really messy cooker and the pictures wouldn't look very pretty, but this week we have had homemade chicken salad, barbecue pork with coleslaw and potato salad, and tonight we are going to have chicken tetrazini. I will share the lemon ice box cookie recipe that we made for a bedtime snack last night

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 12 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• dash of salt
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup (6 ounces) butter, room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon peel

Preparation:

In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together 1 cup of the sugar with the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, lemon juice and zest, then gradually blend in the flour mixture. Form the dough into 2 rolls about 2 inches wide and 7 inches long. Wrap the rolls in waxed paper and refrigerate until firm, about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 375°.
Unwrap the cookie dough and cut into slices about 1/4-inch thick. Sprinkle slices lightly with remaining sugar and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned around the edges, about 12 minutes. Cool the cookies on a rack and store in an airtight container.
Makes about 5 to 6 dozen lemon icebox cookies.

3. The weather- Having a few not so hot days before we hit the dog days of summer has been so refreshing.

4. Divergent- I loved the first two books in the Divergent series, and I am sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the third to come out. Any suggestions while I'm waiting?

5. Tennis- When Kevin and I first started dating, we loved to go play tennis.  As planning a wedding, school, work and a fur baby got in the way, we kind of fell of the bandwagon. We went to play last night for the first time in months and had a great time. I am pleasantly sore this morning and had so much fun spending time with my husband and getting some good exercise. I hope we can make this a regular date this summer

and for good measure, What I'm not loving Wednesday

6. Poor sweet Charles has something stuck in his paw. I think it is a piece of glass, but whenever we get close enough to look, he has a come apart. Hopefully Dr. Erwin will be able to help him out this afternoon.

Happy Weekend

Well, the last final has been taken, the Extegrity software removed from my computer, the books have been placed on their respective homes on the crooked old bookshelf in our office, and I am writing this post from one of my favorite places on earth.

(I may or may not have felt like this for a few days.)

The steaks we bought at the local mart are marinating, Charles is wrapping his thirty foot leash around every possible surface in his vicinity, Kevin is checking sports scores on his twitter feed, cheesy three year old country music is playing in the background, the wind is blowing, the waves are hitting the dock, and in this moment I can honestly say life doesn't get much better than this.

I may not know where I am going or what life has in store for me in the next few months, but I do know with certainty that I am ready to take this next step, whatever this next step may be, in my life. I know where I came from, I am continually finding out who I am, and I know I am surrounded with people who will believe in me even when I don't feel like believing in myself.

With every ending comes a new beginning, and here is to finding out what that new beginning is from our family to yours.

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
You are the guy who'll decide where to go.
~Dr. Seuss

What I'm Loving Wednesday

1. The fact that for the first time in my life I have managed to keep two different plants alive for longer than a week! I don't think I would go so far to say I have a Green thumb but this is progress for the girl who killed a cactus just a few short years ago.

2. Pergolas- so when I was taking some squash and zucchini that somehow got left in the trunk of my car and rotted, to the trashcan yesterday, I noticed one of the families who lives behind us has a pergola in their backyard. Since Kevin and I are trying to get into DIY projects, I thought a nice pergola might be the perfect addition for our backyard. Here are a few I found on Pintrest:

3. Patio Furniture- along the same lines, we having been looking at patio furniture for our little backyard. Last year we laid some sod, most of which has continued to grow and we got a fire pit. Now we have started to do some planting and purchased a pretty yellow bird feeder. The next step is to find some furniture we both like. Our priorities are comfort and movement. We both really want something that rocks, but I don't think either of us are sold on rocking chairs. If you know me, you know that I am unable to sit still for very long. We have found options at Bed Bath and Beyond, Walmart and World Market that we both like. Has anyone seen cute, comfortable reasonably priced patio furniture anywhere recently? 

4. Commencement speeches- I am a sucker for a good motivational speech. I'm not sure if its my Communication Studies background or the hours I spent struggling through Rhetorical Criticism but a good motivational speech gives me goosebumps all over and inspires me to make a difference.  The other day,  Kevin sent me this link to "What they Don't Tell you at Graduation" the other day and I thought it was really profound. 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304811304577366332400453796.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read

and here are  links to a couple of my all time favorite commencement addresses

Barbara Bush- http://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barbarabushwellesleycommencement.htm

Mary Schmich- "Wear your Sunscreen"- http://www.planetgary.com/sunscreen.htm

Randy Pausch- Carnegie Mellon- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcYv5x6gZTA and if you haven't read "The Last Lecture" it is definitely worth your time.

So today I'll leave you this Wednesday with a quote by Randy Pausch, "We don't beat the Reaper by living longer, we beat the Reaper by living well." As I prepare to step into the grown up world, I hope to live my life well focusing not on the hours I put into my work, but the work I put into my hours. 

What the End of Finals Forever Looks Like

Well after 20+ years and for the past 7 years being a full time student including 5 out of 7 summers, I have officially taken my LAST academic final (no need to think about the final of all finals- aka the bar exam- since that doesn't take place until the end of July anyway. So this is what the end of finals looks like at the Houston house:

1. Divergent- I am so excited to start this book! I really hope it doesn't disappoint, it will have a lot to live up to coming off the Fifty Shades Trilogy.

and I think it will be nicely paired with

2. Rolling Rock Light- one of my favorite Summer brews

3. Catching up on the DVR of some of my current favorite Tv shows

4. and I will finish the week off here

Lake Martin

with

this guy and this guy!

Here are a few pictures from Charles at the lake last summer. He is even braver in water than he was back then so I can't wait to see what he does this year.

I am so looking forward to a little time off to relax and regroup before it is time to kick it into gear for the big dance!

Miscellany Monday

 Zero- the number of pages I have left in the Fifty Shades trilogy. My affair with Christian Gray is officially over (until the movie comes out that is!) I must find a new series now that I am going to have a couple of weeks off before the crazy bar review studying begins.

One- the number of exams I have left before I am officially done with law school.

Two- the number of times I have had to harass AT & T today as our cable and internet has been out. We missed the Killing last night due to this little mishap. Priorities people!

Seven- the number of days until Emily Maynard's season of the Bachelorette premieres. Kevin is so excited he can barely stand it.

Four- The number of Magic Hats I am planning to drink at the Boot tomorrow night to celebrate the end of my law school career!

and Thirty- the grade I am going to make on my banking law exam if I don't stop away from Blogosphere and go study. How embarrassing would that be being married to a banker and all?

Happy Monday to all!

Friday's Letters

Dear Banking Law- Please get in my head so I can at least enjoy part of my weekend with my husband. I really don't know how he does it everyday. I guess the saying opposites attract rings true in our case. K? Thanks.

Dear NHL- Please get to the Stanley Cup Finals ASAP. While Kevin and I love a good overtime in a hockey game, the no shoot offs in the play offs has made for a few late nights this week.

Dear Chet the Chipmunk- While you are very cute and we like that you have taken up residence in our backyard, you are eating and spilling all my bird seed. Please be more careful and save some for the birds.

Dear Charles- I can't believe you weigh 32 pounds. No more Dunkin Donut Munchkins for you!

Dear Kevin- We are almost there. Sometimes I think you deserve the law degree and law license more than I do for putting up with all of my crap. Thanks for being my biggest fan.

and one little Friday funny

What I'm Loving Wednesday

1. Our new birdhouse- that I can see from the kitchen table while I'm studying. I filled it up last weekend, and it is already empty. The pretty birds provide a nice distraction (as if I really needed something else to distract me).

2. Summertime. Even though we haven't gotten to go swimming yet, Charles did today and had a great time. He loves the water so much,  I think I am going to get him a baby pool for the backyard.

3. Honey-Do Lists- The past couple of weekends Kevin has occupied his time with home improvements while I've been studying. He put new light fixtures in down stairs, hung baskets in the master bath for extra storage space, and pressured washed our patio and the sidewalk in from of our house. Last Saturday he and my dad fixed our bannister and put in new spindles. They look great, and I am really enjoying all the little projects that are helping turn our house into a home.

4. Exams- 1. the fact that I only have two more and one is a take home final and 2. the fact that my last final is banking law and my sweet husband has agreed to teach me what a risk weighted asset is (You should probably start praying for him now, not that I haven't made some progress, he did successfully teach me the difference between a debit and a credit a few semesters ago).

5. Aromatherapy candles from Target- I love candles and when I am at home, I constantly have one burning. I have recently discovered these little treasures at Target. They smell great, last a long time and are cheap, what's not to love? I may or may not have bought 4 thinking they were on sale when actually they weren't. Whoops.

and for good measure, what I'm not loving this Wednesday

6. Bar Exam- the fact that this little package was waiting on my front porch yesterday. I don't even want to think about how I am going to learn all this material in six weeks.  Happy summer to me!