a change of pace...and hook 'em.

it's around 10 pm on friday night. i just got home from a day full of classes, meetings, the gym, and errands. a very typical day for me.

immediately after putting away groceries and books, i poured a glass of wine, put my old polo t-shirt on and layed down on my big comfy bed. I am now sitting here smelling my pumpkin candle burning, listening john mayer playing on my itunes, and all of the windows in my room are open so i can hear the waves....my kind of night. LONG gone are the days of impatiently waiting for the weekend so that i could put on a cute new outfit, go out to dinner and pre-game with friends and then hit the bar to dance and party the night away. (and take as many pictures as possible so that i could post them immediately on facebook the next day) How the heck did i have the energy for that EVERY weekend!? I used to think people who wanted to stay in on the weekend and just watch movies, etc. were so lame. Oh, how the tables have turned. Now I live for the weekend so that I can actually get in the bed at a decent hour, sleep later than 7 am in the morning, and spend some time catching up with friends- both on the phone and in person. (Oh yeah, and for a extended period of time to study. yay.) I guess there is no going back to that old weekend-mentality I used to have in undergrad. Thank goodness...I dont think I could do that now even if someone paid me. Well, i guess i could for the right price. But you get the point. Life has changed, and I am totally okay with it.

In other news, I have been missing Texas a lot lately. I think it's because I have had issues lately with people at school questioning my "Texan-ness," and I recently had to come to grips with the fact that I am not actually from Texas. The thing is, I should totally be okay with that, because i really do LOVE that I am from Mississippi- the true South. Maybe it's because my friends in school from Texas are sooo proud of their Texan residency, and it rubs off on me a little. (okay maybe a lot.) I try to justify it by stating that I did live there for a whole summer, but I just can't compete with the passion my Texas friends have about their state. Nonetheless, I still think about my summer in the Lone Star State a lot, especially as I pray about where to take the bar in a couple of years. So I've decided to make a list of some things I love/miss about Texas:

* The Mexican Food. i have yet to find any mexican restaurant that can compete with Maudie's, Trudy's or Chuy's. yuuuuum. Esp. their queso. Apparently, Virginia doesnt know what queso is. (nor does MS, but at least we have the yummy white cheese dip there)

*The people: my Austin friends (wes, bonnie, summer roommates, my community group at Stone, and so many other great people I met this summer), and of course Caitlin and Erica- my Texas Soulmates. And all my other camp friends, most of whom I missed seeing this summer b/c of camp, but are all now back for the year (now that I am gone!)

* The music. I love country music in general, but the stations here don't play the Texas Country that I love. In Texas, Pat Green, Cory Morrow, Willie Nelson, etc. are pretty much the only artists playing on the radio. (K-Bet, what what.)

* H-E-B. I love those grocery stores...I even used my HEB recyclable UT grocery bag at the grocery store tonight in honor of my allegiance. And Bo loves the HEB even more than I do, so it must be a Texas thing.

*Frozen Yogurt. Apparently, there is like one store in VB, but i have yet to find/try it. Besides, I discovered fro-yo bars in Texas, and i would just feel weird eating it anywhere else.

*The Austin Stone. don't get me wrong, i LOVE my church here. But i loved the Stone and the people there so much, and i just miss it/them.

*The Peach Pit. what a great house. and so conveniently located in Austin. The company wasn't too bad either.

* The water activities. I think me and Wes hit up every body of water in the Austin area this summer...each place was uniquely awesome. (I realize I live ON a body of water here, but there is something about a still body of water on a very hot day that I just love.)

Anyway, tomorrow is the UT/Tech game, and I am wearing burnt orange and my cowboy boots to Jam's house to watch the game. I wish I could actually be in Austin for the game, but such is life. Who really knows if I will ever actually live in Texas, but regardless, I will always love that state. Until further notice....Hook 'em, Horns.

and good night!

big news.

several BIG updates:

** I started Young Life last week-with First Colonial High School, one of the many high schools in Virginia Beach. I went to Campaigners last week, this morning (at 6 am...these kids are dedicated!), and then again tonight for club at the Beach. Normally, club will be at FC, but tonight was a kind of a kick-off for the year, so we just met down at the Oceanfront and played volleyball, soccer, and other games...it felt like Camp Ozark Opening Day Games, only the weather was ALOT cooler and the kids already knew how to play all the games. I am so excited about getting to know the girls, most of which are freshman and sophomores in high school. I get so nervous every time i go to hang out, but they are all really sweet and God has been helping me be "cool" around them- i love it when He does that! I definitely feel like this is the group/school God has been calling me to get involved with, and I can't wait to see what all is in store for this semester with the girls.

** I GOT AN INTERNSHIP for this semester! I have been praying about it for forever....it's with an awesome law firm in Virginia Beach...I will be working for one of the Partners in the firm- who happens to be my (young adult) pastor's Dad AND my Wills, Trusts, and Estates professor! small world, huh. We will definitely have alot to talk about, and he is one of the friendliest and most Godly men I have ever been around. I cant wait to learn from him. I will be doing mostly Family Estate Planning work for him, which I think is what I want to practice after law school, so this will be invaluable experience for me. God is so unbelievable to have set this opportunity in front of me.

** On top of all that, I have all of the symptoms of....yep, MONO. Like I said in my last post, I sleep all the time, and when I am not sleeping, I am wishing I was. Not good at all for my crazy schedule, but I was told the more rest I get now, the quicker I will be over it. I still haven't been running because of it, which is really killing me...but I am going to start slowly getting back into it once I start feeling a little better- hopefully that will be sooner rather than later.

** Other than all that, I am still loving my house, my roommates, and learning how to COOK! Five of the roommates rotate one night a week cooking a big meal for everyone, and the other nights we just get to enjoy each other's cooking! It has been fun- my night is actually tomorrow night and I haven't even thought about what to cook yet...I should probably get on that before I doze off again....

i'm on a boat...

and not just any boat. the VERY sail boat used in Wedding Crashers. but more on that in a minute.

i spent the weekend in DC visiting Natalie...she's been living there since March and this was the first free weekend since then that I've had to go up and see her. It was a great weekend to go since it was the first MSU football game (which we WON whoop whoop!) and no one else in Virginia seems to get excited about State or SEC sports like I do. Besides watching the game at a sports bar in DC with a few other State alumni Saturday afternoon, the rest of the weekend was pretty lazy- which was great. Me, Nat, and her roommates all drove up to Annapolis on Sunday morning to check out the town- which was awesome- and went on a sail boat ride in the afternoon. It was such a fun day- we were total tourists (which i normally cannot stand), but it seemed like the entire town was made up of tourists so we kinda just blended in. The sail boat ride was legit- we sailed around the harbour and out into the bay for a few hours, and I even got to drive it for a little while! The boat had more sails than I was used to, but it was fun to learn about the different masts and types of sails, and to learn to steer a boat that big. Like I said earlier, it was the same boat that Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams sailed on in Wedding Crashers...Im pretty sure I didnt look as cool as they did on it, but I sure felt as cool.

It was a great weekend overall. I wore my seersucker and linen outfits all weekend and then packed them all away tonight. I was tempted to just forget the stupid fashion rules, but then I remembered I am a Southern girl living in a Southern state (even if Va Beach doesn't embrace it like they should) and it is my Southern duty to abide by those rules. So away the linen goes. I am already looking forward to Easter so I can get them all out again.

In other news, I started YoungLife tonight! I LOVE the group I am going to be leading with, and the kids all seem super cool. But more on all that when I start actually leading; tonight was just the bible study meeting where I met everyone. Oh, and I am pretty sure I am sick with something. I sleep ALL the time and when I am not sleeping, I am thinking about sleeping and trying to find places to nap until I can get back in my bed. I have been really short of breath lately too- I haven't even been able to run, which has actually bummed me out alot and further decreased my energy level. I'm going to the doctor in the next couple of days to get it checked out- say a little prayer for me in the meantime if you don't mind! And now I'm off to bed. My favorite part of the day.

procrastinating....

i have an internship application due tomorrow.

i have a moot court brief due next wednesday, and i haven't even looked at the problem for it yet.

i have reading for wills, trusts, and estates and appellate advocacy to do before class in the morning.

i have an interview tomorrow that I need to prepare for.

i have a book that I need to finish.

.......and of course, I am blogging instead.

This semester has been nothing short of crazy so far. And the busyness hasn't really even started yet. I am bracing myself for the months to come, and taking one last trip to DC to see Natalie (who has lived there for quite some time now and i am JUST now getting to go see her) for Labor Day this weekend. I am already feeling worn out everyday, and I have no energy to work out...not good considering the meals my roommates have been making every night!

To end on a brighter note, I am truly LOVING my house, my new roommates, and my professors at school. Those three things (in addition to ALOT of talks with God) are getting me through these couple of weeks of chaos (ps my loans still havent come through.....argghhh). The 2L girls are starting up our bible study tomorrow night (we are doing a study on Romans by Tommy Nelson...we love him!) and my Family Law professor invited me to be in a discipleship group that she does every year with a few girls in law school. SCORE. I cannot wait for those two activities, and I am certain that they will help balance the craziness of this semester!

ok, back to my list of things to do. ugh.

BEACH HOUSE!

okay here they are....pictures of my new house! For those that don't know, me and FIVE other girls in law school got a sweet deal on a beach house for this school year (and probably the next as well if we like living here). Since Virginia Beach is such a tourist city, there are TONS of fine beach houses on the Oceanfront that the owners obviously rent out during the summer. However, during the off-season, all of these houses are not really being rented but the owners still want to make money off of them--and that is where we come in. As law students, we are not really around during the summer since everyone is somewhere else doing their internships, so we only need housing for 10 months out of the year...none of those months being the peak tourist season months. Pretty perfect, huh? So we are renting a million dollar home RIGHT ON THE BEACH for way less than the regular rental rate. It is technically four stories, but one floor doesn't have rooms on it, it's just a landing area....so I guess it's really just three stories, but it's still huge. My room is on the very top floor- I even have my own balcony right off of my room, a king size bed, and a flat screen TV already included. Needless to say, God has blessed us with this house.

the house from the outside. there is a balcony above the front door.

One side of my room. I have like 20 ft. ceilings...i love it!

my king size bed. all furniture/wall decor was already there.

my huge ceilings. again.

kitchen area.

living room. it is much bigger/brighter than in this picture, but you get the point.

my balcony (looking into my room)

i will post more pictures when i can take some more...my phone died as i was taking them but i wanted to go ahead and put up the ones i had.

blaahhhh

first day of school as a 2L: the PITS! i could not have had a more stressful first day back....not because of the classes, i am obsessed with each one of my professors so far and my classes are going to be SO much more interesting than the ones last year (which were required for all 1Ls....we got to pick for this year!) but because of everything else that happened outside of class! Not only did I get lost on my way to school (I took a new route from my new house- stupid idea) and THEN, my student loans, which i not only have for school but for rent, groceries, and just living in general, did not come in on time because apparently my bank doesn't do student loans anymore but failed to inform me OR my school about it! So i spent the entire day stressing about where I was going to get the money to pay tuition, buy books, etc. and what bank would lend me that much money on such short notice. I couldn't stop crying all day, so of course my face looked like I had an allergic reaction because we all know that when i cry....i CRY. if it weren't for my amazing friends here who were so sympathetic and comforting the whole day, I would not have made it-in one piece-out of that school today. And of course my wonderful parents came through- as they always seem to have to do for me- and helped me out financially, for this week. I know, I sound so dramatic about this, but it really is a big deal because tuition was due today in order to stay in classes...and on top of that, a few other really bummer things happened today that I wont go into now, but the point was things just were NOT going my way. at all. not even a little bit.

and then....as i was laying on my bed (in my awesome new room in my awesome new house--which did make my day a little better and I will show you pics of soon) I got an email from a Max Lucado mailing list thing...and it was seriously just what i needed to hear. [God does things like this to me a lot I've realized] I copied and pasted it below, just in case anyone else out there had the same kind of day or has had one recently. I trust that God is good and is my provider and wants the best for me---so no matter what I am facing around me, I really want to make an effort to praise him and rejoice in spite of it.

“This is the day the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).

“This is the day” includes every day. Divorce days, final-exam days, surgery days, tax days. Sending-your-firstborn-off-to-college days.

God made this day, ordained this hard hour, designed the details of this wrenching moment. He isn’t on holiday. He still holds the conductor’s baton, sits in the cockpit, and occupies the universe’s only throne. Each day emerges from God’s drawing room. Including this one.

by: Max Lucado

hello.

in an effort to keep up my posts, here is a quick update on life.

1. I am technically homeless right now. very fortunately, i have awesome friends who have given me my own room in their house-complete with closet space AND a super comfy bed- which i have made good use of this month (well, and a lot of other nights this past year) while waiting to get into my new house.

2. Speaking of my new house, we move in on Saturday! I will be sure to post plenty of pics so you can all be jealous, don't worry.

3. ASP ended last friday- I met a lot of cool new students and had a great experience being a TA, but I have thoroughly enjoyed having this week off to sleep in, hit up the beach everyday, and hang out with all my friends. (everyone is FINALLY all back!)

4. I started working out again hard-core this week. I am currently doing "body by ryan", which really is just Ryan's excuse to yell at me about stuff in public. that, and for him to have a workout buddy at the gym. I didn't even wake up to go this morning, so I wouldn't say Im off to a great start there.

5. Bo is coming tomorrow night to stay for the weekend- he gets to help me move in on Saturday (along with 6 other of my friends who have offered to help--should go fast) and then I am planning on taking him out on the town and giving him the full Va Beach experience for the weekend.

6. Last but not least, classes start Monday. I haven't bought books yet, haven't looked at my assignments yet, and I'm not even sure what time my first class is (or even what it is) on Monday. Yep, sounds like me.