Friday, June 29, 2012
Friday Funnies
And here are a few funnies that I have come across regarding SCOTUS upholding the ACA. Disclaimer: none of these funnies embrace my particular political opinion but rather are an attempt to poke fun at irresponsible journalism and uninformed partisan politics.
*taken from http://www.buzzfeed.com
Friday's Letters
1. Dear Husband- I know I say this all the time, but I still can't say it enough. Thank you so much for supporting me this summer and heck all the time. You really are such a blessing to me and a source of strength, joy, laughter and companionship. I don't know what I would do without you.
2. Dear Dixie- While Chuck enjoyed having a companion for a few days, I know we are all glad your mom has finally returned. P.S. You bark too much.
3. Dear Bar Exam- I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am much anticipating our meeting on July 23, but not quite as much as I am anticipating hopefully telling you goodbye once and for all.
4. Dear AMC- Thank you for making such intriguing TV shows with such complex characters. We are absolutely loving Mad Men this summer. I think we will need some quality time with season 2 this weekend.
5. Dear Mix and Match Mama- I am loving your blog and how simple and delicious all your recipes are. Looking forward to trying out some new ones this weekend and can't wait to make my first bundt cake.
6. Dear Facebook Friends-Confucius
said "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." While
I know many of us have strong opinions about the SCOTUS decision yesterday, I
am going to withhold publicizing mine until I have had time to read the opinion
and attempt to understand what the decision really means. Uninformed, partisan
rants are one of my pet peeves. Can you tell me why you think the law is
unconstitutional or why you think passage of this law will be the downfall or
saving grace of the United States of America? I doubt most people who are using Facebook as a platform for mouthing off can. I can respect many different opinions but make your opinions based on facts as opposed to a blind following of one political party or the other. Here is one of my favorite
sources for Supreme Court information:
I'll leave you with an objective statement of what
the ACA will allegedly do as well as a quote from Chief Justice John Roberts:
From Scotusblog's live blogging of the decision
yesterday: In Plain English: The Affordable Care Act, including its individual
mandate that virtually all Americans buy health insurance, is constitutional.
There were not five votes to uphold it on the ground that Congress could use
its power to regulate commerce between the states to require everyone to buy
health insurance. However, five Justices agreed that the penalty that someone
must pay if he refuses to buy insurance is a kind of tax that Congress can
impose using its taxing power. That is all that matters. Because the mandate
survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were
constitutional, except for a provision that required states to comply with new
eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding. On that
question, the Court held that the provision is constitutional as long as states
would only lose new funds if they didn't comply with the new requirements,
rather than all of their funding.
and from the Chief Justice:
"Members of this Court are vested with the authority
to
interpret the law; we possess neither the expertise nor
the prerogative to
make policy judgments. Those decisions
are entrusted to our Nation’s
elected leaders, who can be
thrown out of office if the people disagree
with them. It is
not our job to protect the people from the consequences
of
their political choices."
Happy Weekend from the Houston home!
Thursday, June 28, 2012
A few words on insecurity
In recent weeks, I have come to some personal self-realizations that weigh heavy on my heart and because I think many people probably share in these struggles, I thought I would share them here. At one point or another, I think everyone experiences that sneaky little monsters known as insecurity and self doubt. I think insecurity creeps up when we are at our weakest points and makes us question who we really are and what our worth really is. Insecurity can take many forms, which while they are constant companions, none will prove to be faithful friends. I think for many women, the little monster presents itself in relationships because for whatever reason you don't quite think you are deserving or good enough for your partner. For young professionals, insecurity can show up in a job situation because you don't feel smart enough or qualified enough to do your job or insecurity makes you doubt yourself when you don't immediately find your dream job. As the recipient of many rejection letters during my job search, I can attest to the fact that it is hard to wonder what you did wrong or why you weren't good enough for the job you wanted.
I will be the first one to admit that during high school, college and beyond, insecurity was an unwelcome third wheel in many of my relationships. I will also be the first one to admit that this type insecurity caused me to act in a way that I am not proud of. Insecurity caused me to self destruct and not trust people because I had doubts within myself. However, as someone who has walked down this road, I can tell you that insecurity has no place in a relationship. In my experience, insecurity in a relationship stems from one of two places (1) self doubt or (2) not trusting the person you are with. If you are in a relationship where you find yourself not trusting your significant other or fighting the green eyed monster, I would encourage you to ask yourself (1) what inside you makes you think you are not deserving of love or (2) should you really be with that person to begin with.
Trust is a beautiful thing. I find such freedom and contentment in trusting Kevin completely. The trust we share has allowed me to conquer my struggles with insecurity, and our lives are both been better for it. I think this realization came from finally being able to see that no one is perfect. I am not perfect. I mess up many times each and every day. But having confidence in yourself does not require perfection, making mistakes does not mean you are undeserving of love. Having confidence in yourself happens when you realize that you have something to bring to the party. Having confidence in yourself allows you to look insecurity in the face and say while I may have messed up in this situation, I am going to learn from my mistakes. I am going to do better next time. My mistakes do not define me, but instead give me an opportunity to grow. I am not scared of making mistakes but will embrace the opportunity to be a better person.
If you are struggling with insecurity in your life today, I want to encourage you. Appreciate who you are as a person. Embrace your strengths and learn from your weaknesses. Never be too proud to admit you were wrong. And know that before you can unconditionally love someone else, you must first love yourself. You must believe in yourself. When you believe in yourself, this will allow you to trust others. When you believe in yourself and others disappoint you (which they will because we are all human and all disappoint each other at one point of another), you will overcome the disappointment because your self worth is not dependent on someone else's actions. You will be graced with the ability to forgive and the ability to move on. All of this to say, when you love yourself, you believe you are deserving of love, you allow yourself to trust others and while insecurity may knock on your door, you will never have to let it back in. I know they say hindsight is 20/20 and often times we have to learn the hard lessons on our own, but I hope my journey with insecurity may be able to make someone else's journey just a little bit easier.
I will be the first one to admit that during high school, college and beyond, insecurity was an unwelcome third wheel in many of my relationships. I will also be the first one to admit that this type insecurity caused me to act in a way that I am not proud of. Insecurity caused me to self destruct and not trust people because I had doubts within myself. However, as someone who has walked down this road, I can tell you that insecurity has no place in a relationship. In my experience, insecurity in a relationship stems from one of two places (1) self doubt or (2) not trusting the person you are with. If you are in a relationship where you find yourself not trusting your significant other or fighting the green eyed monster, I would encourage you to ask yourself (1) what inside you makes you think you are not deserving of love or (2) should you really be with that person to begin with.
Trust is a beautiful thing. I find such freedom and contentment in trusting Kevin completely. The trust we share has allowed me to conquer my struggles with insecurity, and our lives are both been better for it. I think this realization came from finally being able to see that no one is perfect. I am not perfect. I mess up many times each and every day. But having confidence in yourself does not require perfection, making mistakes does not mean you are undeserving of love. Having confidence in yourself happens when you realize that you have something to bring to the party. Having confidence in yourself allows you to look insecurity in the face and say while I may have messed up in this situation, I am going to learn from my mistakes. I am going to do better next time. My mistakes do not define me, but instead give me an opportunity to grow. I am not scared of making mistakes but will embrace the opportunity to be a better person.
If you are struggling with insecurity in your life today, I want to encourage you. Appreciate who you are as a person. Embrace your strengths and learn from your weaknesses. Never be too proud to admit you were wrong. And know that before you can unconditionally love someone else, you must first love yourself. You must believe in yourself. When you believe in yourself, this will allow you to trust others. When you believe in yourself and others disappoint you (which they will because we are all human and all disappoint each other at one point of another), you will overcome the disappointment because your self worth is not dependent on someone else's actions. You will be graced with the ability to forgive and the ability to move on. All of this to say, when you love yourself, you believe you are deserving of love, you allow yourself to trust others and while insecurity may knock on your door, you will never have to let it back in. I know they say hindsight is 20/20 and often times we have to learn the hard lessons on our own, but I hope my journey with insecurity may be able to make someone else's journey just a little bit easier.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
A day in the life
Since one of my main reasons for starting this blog was to keep a record of the goings on in our daily lives, I thought I would dedicate this post to what a day in my life while studying for the bar is like. So here goes:
1. Get up around 7:30 when Kevin gets up to get ready for work. Stumble down the stairs still half asleep. Let Charles out. Put coffee in the coffee pot, and if it's a good day remember to actually turn it on.
2. Put on a pair of Nike shorts and an oversized t-shirt. Throw hair in a pony tail. Make an executive decision about whether I want to wear contacts or glasses.
3. Migrate into the office. Check my e-mail and blogger (for those of you whose blogs I read, you are the highlight of my morning so please keep blogging!).
4. Open the Barbri interactive paced program to find out what I need to get done for the day. Be thankful that I am taking Barbri because I don't think I would know where to begin if I didn't.
5. Contemplate ways to kill the neighbors dog that barks all day every day.
7. Spend the morning watching a bar review lecture. These usually last between 3 and 4 hours.
8. Lunch. Wander downstairs, water my plants and grab a Greek Yogurt and a green tea because for some crazy reason I thought now would be a good time to crack down on my coke zero addiction.
9. Spend the afternoon doing whatever assignments I have for the day.
10. 2:00- go turn the air conditioner to 68 because it's hot upstairs and I have ingested approximately a whole pot of coffee at this point.
11. Crack and drive to the gas station to get a Coke Zero because we don't keep them in the house anymore.
12. 5:30- realize Kevin will be home soon. Go downstairs and attempt to throw together a meal that has some resemblance to dinner since I haven't been to the store in over a week.
13. Go for walk even though the heat index in Alabama is over 100 degrees right now in an attempt to burn off excess energy and ensure I will be able to sleep.
14. Read the 100+ page outline for the next days lecture.
15. Watch an episode of Mad Men on NetFlix with Kevin.
16. Go to bed. Thank God every night for my supportive husband who provides for me and has blessed me with this summer to focus on my studies, my wonderful dog who is such a good companion during the long study days, and for this opportunity, but pray every night that this opportunity will be a once in a lifetime one.
1. Get up around 7:30 when Kevin gets up to get ready for work. Stumble down the stairs still half asleep. Let Charles out. Put coffee in the coffee pot, and if it's a good day remember to actually turn it on.
2. Put on a pair of Nike shorts and an oversized t-shirt. Throw hair in a pony tail. Make an executive decision about whether I want to wear contacts or glasses.
3. Migrate into the office. Check my e-mail and blogger (for those of you whose blogs I read, you are the highlight of my morning so please keep blogging!).
4. Open the Barbri interactive paced program to find out what I need to get done for the day. Be thankful that I am taking Barbri because I don't think I would know where to begin if I didn't.
5. Contemplate ways to kill the neighbors dog that barks all day every day.
7. Spend the morning watching a bar review lecture. These usually last between 3 and 4 hours.
8. Lunch. Wander downstairs, water my plants and grab a Greek Yogurt and a green tea because for some crazy reason I thought now would be a good time to crack down on my coke zero addiction.
9. Spend the afternoon doing whatever assignments I have for the day.
10. 2:00- go turn the air conditioner to 68 because it's hot upstairs and I have ingested approximately a whole pot of coffee at this point.
11. Crack and drive to the gas station to get a Coke Zero because we don't keep them in the house anymore.
12. 5:30- realize Kevin will be home soon. Go downstairs and attempt to throw together a meal that has some resemblance to dinner since I haven't been to the store in over a week.
13. Go for walk even though the heat index in Alabama is over 100 degrees right now in an attempt to burn off excess energy and ensure I will be able to sleep.
14. Read the 100+ page outline for the next days lecture.
15. Watch an episode of Mad Men on NetFlix with Kevin.
16. Go to bed. Thank God every night for my supportive husband who provides for me and has blessed me with this summer to focus on my studies, my wonderful dog who is such a good companion during the long study days, and for this opportunity, but pray every night that this opportunity will be a once in a lifetime one.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
We're Still Here
We are still here, fully submersed in work and bar study and counting down the days until our beach vacation that will begin promptly at 4:00 p.m. on July 25, 2012. So instead of writing my own post today, I thought I would share some poignantly written answers to questions I am getting quite frequently these days
1. What are my plans for graduation and beyond?
http://www.bitterlawyer.com/after-nearly-three-years-what-next/#more-25316
2. What am I doing all summer while I'm waiting to take the bar (besides sitting on the couch eating bon bons and watching trash TV of course)?
http://www.bitterlawyer.com/ten-things-you-will-do-studying-bar/
A lot of truth to these two articles. Still blessed by the opportunity and trying to take the experience one day at a time which is not to say that some days I don't collapse onto the bed feeling like this
1. What are my plans for graduation and beyond?
http://www.bitterlawyer.com/after-nearly-three-years-what-next/#more-25316
2. What am I doing all summer while I'm waiting to take the bar (besides sitting on the couch eating bon bons and watching trash TV of course)?
http://www.bitterlawyer.com/ten-things-you-will-do-studying-bar/
A lot of truth to these two articles. Still blessed by the opportunity and trying to take the experience one day at a time which is not to say that some days I don't collapse onto the bed feeling like this
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
What I'm Loving Wednesday
Hope everyone is having a wonderful Wednesday. The way I look at it, once you get past Wednesday, you are free sailing. Thursday is my favorite day of the week because it means Friday is just around the corner.
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