God is good

God is good! I really enjoyed my time quick trip home and am glad I made it to Liz's wedding. It was a short ceremony. As my Dad put it, very military (Liz is a Marine, and Tim is in the Air Force) like - get in, get your orders, and move on! LOL! Liz looked beautiful and the wedding and the reception were very nice. I got to enjoy most of it. Lol. I left after the father/daughter dance, which was about 4 o'clock. It was a very short stay but it was so good to see people, and to be there. My trip back was uneventful, and I reached home about 10:30 pm.

I have to say that I really felt the effects of all your prayers. Thank You! I came back and despite the quick trip, and one less day to study, I can honestly say that I never felt stressed (answer to my prayers as well) and I was able to focus with the time left to study. Somehow I crammed it all in there for the test. My poor roommate came home last night from a study group and was feeling a little discouraged because of struggling through some practice questions. So three of us started through our outlines and I found that I knew just about as much as he did (and he knew his stuff, he was just tired) so that was encouraging to me!

As for the actual test today, it was pretty tough. Basically there were 20 multiple choice questions with paragraph fact pattern. It always seemed as though there were 3 right answers! (lol) As for the essay, basically it was one long fact pattern with four questions. Each question we were instructed to talk about everything and anything that applied. Yikes! I didn't finish until up to 4 minutes to go!! And I could have probably done a good bit of adding here and there. 3 hours long! I am glad it is over. I feel pretty well about it overall, basically that I passed, the question just is "how well?". As far as from last semester in Property, my grade can only improve. It is in God's hands now. On to the next exam....Contract, Thursday.
Fun, fun. Thanks for all your prayers. Keep praying...Its working! Night!

Is there a differance between faith and crazy?

This has been the question I have been asking myself very recently. You see, right now I am in the middle of the finals week at law school. However, 2 days before my Property exam I have come home for a good friends wedding. I am not sure she would have forgiven me if I missed it. :) (Congradulations to Elizabeth Knauss and Tim Clifton!!)

I left yesterday at 7:3o p.m. and pulled in at 2 a.m. No doubt this is a little crazy, but I guess I have always been one that believes the work will always be there, and that people are more important. This was not an easy decision because there is a lot to learn, but I am trusting that the Lord will enable me to learn what I need to know for test at 1:30 p.m. Monday. I can't always explain it, but somehow the work always gets done. This time though perhaps I am really going out on a limb. My law school buddies think I am crazy, and well ...maybe I am. :) Dare I call this "faith" in asking God to bless my remaining time to study, or is it just "stupidity"? I am pray it is the former. :)

I will have Sunday & Monday morning to study. I also have been listening to some Property reviews on CD, so all the time in the car wasn't lost. The wedding is at 1 p.m. and the plan is to be back on the road by 3 p.m. (maybe that is crazy, oh well...at least I will have a story to tell).

By the way, did I mention it was Kariann's birthday today?? Haven't gotten to see her yet as the girls are at a wedding shower. But it has been good to see the family. My brothers were sure surprised this morning to have me come jumping on them. :) It is always fun being welcomed home. How I love my family.

The End is in Sight

Hard to believe I am almost at the end of my second semester & first year of law school (!!!) already. Whereas the first semester was kinda slow, this past semester has flown by! Last Thursday was our last day of classes. Four finals are the only thing I have left to face. Thought I would take a break from studying for my first final for a sec and post when and what my finals were so if you happen to be thinking of it, you could PRAY for me. It would be most appreciative.

Wed, April 19th Civil Procedure
This should not be bad, though as always, there is a lot of material to cover. Professor Ben Madison won "Teacher of the Year" for the excellent job he does in this class. God has gifted him with a passion for teaching and he helps spice up an otherwise boring subject of federal rules and regulations.

Mon, April 24th, Property
This class is the one that I had the most trouble with the first semester, and really hope to bring the grade up in this semester. I found I actually enjoyed the class a little more this semester, so I hope that helps.

Thur, April 27th, Contracts
This class is a hard one to judge. The professor is a great guy and teacher, but his tests are pretty hard and sometimes unpredictable. The pace over the semester was very slow and we had to pick it up quite a bit at the end. Hopefully we were able to cover everything we need to know for the test in class. My preparation for class fell off a bit near the end as the pace picked up.

Tue, May 2nd, Torts
This was probably the "thorn in the side" of many this semester because it was a long class, and the professor lacked a passion for teaching the subject. Sometimes it seemed like he wanted to get out of there as much as we did. Hard to say how this final will go. Hopefully some good outlines will help me prepare for the class where notes are lacking.

Following that, I will have completed a full year of law school and can tentatively take on the new title of 2L (i.e., second-year law student). Hopefully the grades will back up the title sometime in early June. :) As you can see, there is time in-between each final to prepare, so I will probably only be focusing on one at time. Praise the Lord for His goodness here. He certainly has been faithful. Thank you Lord.

Eventful weekend

Man, was I busy this past weekend! As I may have mentioned earlier, last week was our two rounds Moot Court competition among the 1Ls. I thought both my rounds went all right. I definitely was less and less nervous the more I did it. Late Friday night I found out that I made it into the top 64 competitors for the Saturday Moot Court competion! I was kinda surprised. My round was 9:45 a.m.

Friday night was also the start of my motorcycle safety class. Spent four hours from 6-10pm watching videos and talking about general safety tips, like being aware of your surroundings as you ride. We went through our safety books highlightening the answers to questions that could be on our test on Sunday. After this, I threw on my tux shirt, vest and bow tie and went the last half of Regent's Barrister's Ball. Unfortunately I had missed the dinner and the live band, but there was still dancing going on with a DJ. I had fun with some friends out on the dance floor. Hey, when no one really knows how to dance, there is no pressure. It was fun. I stayed till the music stopped.

Saturday I went to my oral argument. I ended up drawing an argument that I had done twice already, so I felt pretty comfortable with it. It wasn't till I got there that they informed me that my co-counsel would not be showing up, so it was just me against two girls from my class. I actually raised my hand and asked the court (which may have been out of line) if they would like me to do my co-cousel's argument as well, to which they said no. I wasn't really prepared to argue that point, but I have been working with the problem for most the semester, that I was confident I could come up with something.

I won't ever know if I could have moved on because I had to go back for part two of my motorcycle safety class. This time we were actually going to be on bikes, practicing our stopping, steering, etc. Half way through class we got drenched!! It poured rain, but we kept going. I was afraid I was going to catch a cold, but the Lord spared me! Thank goodness. Sunday, I came back for the last part of my training. I had the hardest time with those figure 8s we had to do within the perimeter of box. This was more maneuvering for like a parking lot, though, and the instructors placed more emphasis on "road skills". It was a good course. Definitely gave me more to be aware of on the road, and helped build on my confidence. They can definitely be dangerous, but they are also a lot of fun. I passed and was able to call it into my insurance provider today, and saved 10%. Its the small blessings that make our day, isn't it?

I also found out this past weekend that I got a judicial clerkship for the summer. I will be working with the Chesapeake Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court. Thank God for His provision. Sounds like it will be very neat opportunity. I also will be taking a class this summer, and hope to put my VA Security Officers license to work as well. Should keep me busy (but probably not out of trouble).

That's all the news I have for now. Get sworn in as President on Thursday. Oh, and this is our last week of classes. Finals begin the 19th and I am finished May 2nd. Time is flying...Until next time.

Grace & Peace.

Monday, mondays...whatever will I do with you

It was one of those days where you get up, hit the ground running, just trying to catch up! This pretty much happened literally to me. I forgot to set my alarm the night before. I heard Jer walking by my door as I was waking up and turned over. My clock read 9:15 a.m., the time Jer and I are usually leaving the house for class!! Jer hollered up the stairs asking if I was coming before walking out the door. I yelled back a Yes as I threw on my jeans, grabbed a shirt, my socks, electric razor, my bag and ran out the door barefoot in less than 2 minutes of being awoken!! Jer just looked at me as I jumped into the car beside him and shook his head. Not how I like to start my days - shaving, and finishing getting dressed on the way. I spent most of my first class just waking up!

After a long two classes, I came home and I found a pink slip on my windshield. It was slip saying that my car's inspection had run out. I was not too happy about that because I had my car inspected while I was home. The slip said that if I did not remedy this by Thursday they were towing "Kate" (my car). DO these people not have anything better to do??!! If they would simply have looked in the corner of the windshield while they were placing the little pink ticket there, they might have saw the big numbers 03/07!!! Argg!!! Can you tell this has me a little worked up?? I had to put myself down for a nap after that. :) My Mom said the sticker for the license plate is on its way. Yea, a bright point in my day!

It was a day the Lord has made, and I am to rejoice and be glad in it. That is not always easy.

On a better note, TODAY I had my first real oral argument round. I was definitely not as nervous as the first time. They said that I had the hardest part of the argument to do, but that I did a pretty good job. My next argument is on Thursday. Fun fun fun for a few more weeks!!

Long week...Good Day

I have probably just came through my toughest week in law school (yes, even more than finals). Monday started off with turning in the Appellate Brief. I also had to finish a explaining a case in Contracts that I had started on Friday for the professor. Tuesday I had the speech to give for my canidacy for 2L Class President. I didn't think I would, but I actually got really nervous speaking there. Thursday night was late one (3 a.m. Fri morning) preparing for my 8:15 a.m. oral argument. That went alright. I was a little nervous there as well.

Friday night I got a call. It was one of the SBA officers tell me that I won the 2L class President election outright. There were two other guys running for the position. I was expecting a run-off, but I ended up pulling over 50% of the vote. My first thought was thank you Lord . . . quickly followed by "what have I gotten myself into" . . . "help me Lord". :) I just want to do a good job. I don't step into the position till next year. The official results aren't out yet, so I am not sure all who I will be working with. God give me grace.

This morning my I got an early monring call (so it was like 8 a.m.) from some friends on their way down to visit. Matt S., Faith B., and her good friend Alisha came down for the day. They got in about 10a.m. (which is the time I got up - lol). Faith and Alisha ran to Starbucks and to pick up some food for the beach while Matt and I visited a while and then I gave him a tour of the campus. We met back up with the girls and hit the beach. The weather was beautiful. The water however was COLD!!! We had a picnic and spent some time throwing frisbee. After that I dragged them all to my softball game. They had me at pitcher. I went 1-3 with an inside the park homerun as well. We ended up winning in the end. Then Matt took us to his favorite seafood restaurant here, "Bubbas". It was great food. I got the Flounder catch of the day. Uhhmm ....good.

All, it was long week, but ended on a good day. One more day to enjoy tomorrow. Hate to loose that hour sleep. Oh well, probably would have lost it anyways. :) Night.