Seeking Balance

Sorry for the long delay in posting – this past week was one of the longest of my life. Our air conditioning was out for about 4 ½ days, which through wrenches into more than half of the days this past week. Things like this sure make you realize how good you had it during college when all you had to do was write the maintenance request on the dorm bulletin board. Thankfully, one of my classes was cancelled all week, so I had extra time to deal with the situation. Additionally, my landlord was very attentive and helpful in getting the problem solved. :)

However, with that crisis averted, things have returned to a fairly normal pace around here. On Friday night, the Christian Legal Society had dinner at Assistant Dean Creed’s house. And guess what – she is adopting a little boy from Ethiopia!! It was interesting to hear how she picked Ethiopia and what the adoption process was like. It feels like another lifetime that I was getting on the airplane to come back home, and counting the number of foreign couples that were taking Ethiopian babies with them.

The rest of the weekend has been spent on homework, and trying to achieve some sort of balance in my life. I have my homework done, but I always feel as if it is never enough. I guess the professors’ warnings that we should be studying 19-20 hours a day have started seeping into my subconscious, even though I tell myself that I am NOT interested in that kind of lifestyle. In college, I didn’t want to spend my entire life in a practice room; nor do I now want to spend my entire life with my nose in a law book. However, my Type-A personality is making it very difficult to put the books aside and let myself do something fun.

Speaking of fun things…we went to the first half of Baylor’s “Community Hymn Sing” tonight. There was a 600 voice choir and a full orchestra – and it revived my desire to play music. I have started craving it, but this weekend it has peaked as a full-on crisis. I managed to pull my clarinet out for 20 minutes today, and I’m already dying to do that again. My goal for this: find a piano!!!

Law Students = Complete Dorks

On Saturday night, one of my classmates hosted a game night at her house. It was great to be able to get together outside of a school setting, although our nerdiness could not escape us. A name game involving Black’s Law Dictionary was first up on the list. We passed the dictionary, and each person had to find a legal definition that started with the first letter of his or her name. The goal was to help us remember each other’s name – not sure that it’s really going to help, but I did learn lots of new legal terms! I know, it sounds incredibly boring, but people actually picked some really interesting stuff! My term was Ker-Frisbie:

The Ker-Frisbie doctrine is applied in the context of extradition and generally holds that criminal defendants may be prosecuted in United States courts regardless of whether their presence has been obtained through the use of applicable extradition treaties.

While game night was a pleasant socializing experience, Friday night’s “Law Buddy Social” was definitely a bust. Let me preface the discussion by saying that my law buddy seems super helpful and nice. However, whoever invented the idea that socializing could occur in a bar was out of their ever-loving mind. I don’t care that people are drinking…if you enjoy it, fine. However, every bar that I have ever been in (and I will admit that I can count them on one hand), are just so loud. It is impossible to hear anything, and how you are supposed to get to know someone in a place like that, beats me.

I will get off my soapbox now…

Today’s church experience was GREAT! I visited Fellowship Bible Church on Jocelyn’s recommendation, and am so glad that I did. The people were so friendly – multiple people came up and introduced themselves, and one family took me and my roommate out to lunch! I was blown away by their hospitality, and it was nice to go to a church that was Biblically sound. The college group is studying Song of Solomon (interesting choice, I know), and talking about the idea of “courtship.” I found it very interesting – I don’t know any church that would touch that subject with a 10-foot pole!

In closing, I am back in the dorm tonight. The air conditioning at my condo is broken, and Jocelyn and her roommate graciously agreed to let me crash on their floor. A bunch of us were sitting around doing homework this afternoon, and it actually made me miss my undergraduate days! Thankfully, my wonderful landlord has already put in a service order for tomorrow morning! :)

Mastering the Art of Cooking!

One of the simple joys of living on my own is being able to cook! So, allow me to share with you some of the cooking victories that have transpired in our lovely condo.

Last night, MaryLou (my roommate) and I made enchiladas, which turned out amazing! We supplemented the main dish with corn (steamed in the microwave!) and tomatoes from our tomato plant. Scrumptious!

 

 

While looking for “cheap people” recipes, my roommate stumbled across the “Peanut Butter Magic Danish.” It is super easy to make, and actually quite filling! And, may I point out, the title of the page is “A Fugue in Egg Minor” – SO CUTE!!! :)

Well, that’s all for tonight…classes continue to roll along well, although I am fairly certain that an explosion of my head is imminent. Measuring contract damages is like math - lots of formulas that I still don't fully understand..*sigh.* On the bright side, there is now one more area of law on the list of specialties that are NOT up for consideration! :)