SUMMER!

Well I have lots of exciting things planned for this summer, and as they get more cemented I thought I would write about them!

First Up, June 7 - July 9: Clerkship at Leonard, Street, and Deinard. I am very excited about this one. Not only is it an opportunity to see how big law firms work, but it is a pretty flexible clerkship in the sense that we get to pick out interest areas and get assignments in those areas. It is also my first paid internship!! This one is nice because I got chosen for it(so there was no hassle of resume/interviews), each law school in the city gets to pick one student for the program, so there are only four of us, which makes for a nice intimate program. I have already gotten so many opportunities from being a part of this program (connecting with people at the firm, attending events around the city, getting help from their recruiter on my resume, etc) so I am excited to see what the summer will bring!

Next up, July 12(ish) - July 30: Spanish Immersion School in Spain. The only thing about getting the clerkship is that it is at the same time as all of the summer abroad programs at school that I was hoping to go to. However, having a clerkship in my first year is far more important than studying abroad, so it wasn't a hard choice between the two! However, I still wanted a chance to spend some of my last work-free summers in a different country. So I have decided to spend three weeks at a Spanish Immersion school in Spain. They have a lot of different locations for me to choose from, and I am going to do their 6 hours a day program. The program had a lot of good reviews, so it seems like it will be lots of fun, and some good learning time.

Next up, July 31 - August 12(ish): Travel Europe! Chris is going to join me in Spain and we are going to spend about two weeks traveling around Europe. We are thinking about doing a couple days on the coast of France, and then spending the rest of our time in Northern Italy, it should be a really fun time!

Then we come home, go to a friends wedding, and school begins again! It will be one of my busiest summers ever, but probably the most memorable as well!

New Semester, New Goals and Bayler

A week into the new semester and I thought it would be a good time to post my goals for the semester. Some of them school related, some of them not . . .

1. Outline Sooner

this will keep the end of semester scramble to a minimum. I've got an awesome study group that will keep me accountable for this one!

2. Spend more time on WRAP the WHOLE semester

My law school friends will laugh at this goal, as we have already been told by many that we are going to be spending tons of time on WRAP this semester but, at the end of last semester I got lazy with WRAP because I had been doing so well, and that seemed to hurt me a bit in the end.

3. Lose 10 pounds

I have always been an advocate of, "as long as you are healthy it doesn't matter how much you weigh" and I still am. However, I had some health problems last semester that would benefit from me being at my "ideal" weight. I don't think the ideal weight works for everyone, but for me, I see the benefits for my health. In order to do this I have sub-goals

3a. Drink 64 oz. of water per day (this has been made easier by my sweet new water bottle)

3b. Go to the gym at least 4 times per week (having my gym buddy Jill will help keep me accountable)

3c. Track my calories. I joined sparkpeople.com which helps me track what I eat. I have to stay under a certain amount of calories per day, but I like it because I can still eat sweets, if they fit into my calorie amount.

Well I think that about sums up the major goals! I'll post against later in the week when I get all of my grades, I've gotten two so far, and have been very happy with the results. . . so hopefully I will have happy news again at the end of this week!

For my tribute this week . . . Bayler(said in a Southern voice of course)!!

I love Bayler because . . .

He is such a content little guy

they really don't come any cuter than this

The only time he gets upset is when he is hungry

He's got the chubbiest cheeks ever

He's just such a smiley guy!!!

survive and relax

Well, i thought my break would be filled with blogs. I guess I thought wrong! I have been really enjoying these past two weeks of relaxing. It has been nice to spend time with Chris (he took two weeks off), catch up with family (we had four christmas' this year, it was a marathon!), and catch up with some friends.

I have mostly spent my time at the house hanging out and catching up with house things. Actually getting to cook has been nice (tortilla soup is cooking right now, yum!) and very fun.

As for finals, I think that they went well overall. I feel really good about two of them (torts and contracts), pretty good about one (property) and okay about the last (civil procedure). We don't find out our grades until the end of January, so now I am just trying to forget about them and relax until they come.

Surviving finals was one of the most mentally hard things I have ever done. As it came to the end of the two weeks I was exhausted and I felt like I couldn't possibly fit anything else into my brain. It is nice however, to have the first finals season over. Now I know what to expect, how to best prepare, and when to take breaks. Next semester will be a breeze . . . I wish :)

If you didn't know it, I am a person stuck on routine. I find a way that works for me, and I do it that way until it stops working. Pre-finals were no different. The biggest obstacle after you have studied is not to psych yourself out before the final. My goal is to go in with a clear head and to be nervous enough to not get cocky, but not so nervous that it messes with my head. I took some pictures so I could introduce you to my crazy pre-finals OCD self :)

First we start with a good breakfast and some vanilla black tea . . .

next comes one of the most important parts, the ipod. I have a pre-finals playlist filled with songs that make me happy, and songs that make me feel confident. I start it 40 minutes prior to the exam, crank it up, and don't talk/listen to anyone until the professor walks into the room to give instructions. This keeps me from getting stressed/nervous from the idol chatter before the exam, that is about the exam. It also clears my head and gets me ready to go

Finally comes the desk set-up, naked juice just in case I get hungry/thirsty, chap-stick, and four tic-tacs to keep me from biting my nails!

There you have, pre-finals procedure in a nut-shell. I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday season!

-Laura