Rose and Jordan

Playing in the Snow!

2010-02-08T19:56:00.004-05:00

Rose, the sunset, and the Washington Monument
Snowpants!
Our street
¿Dos Capitales?
A snow angel I made
Narnia!
The promise of spring
Ice climbing! Extreme!

Snowpocalypse!

2010-02-06T11:33:00.004-05:00

That's what they called the last storm on Dec. 19 & 20. I think this storm will get a similar moniker. At least, we don't have to go to a wedding today!

Yesterday we held the Religious Freedom Moot Court competition at school. I was one of the problem co-authors. We had to compress everything and do it one day because of the impending storm, so it was pretty grueling for us administrators and the competitors. Even so, everyone did a great job and it was such a fulfilling feeling to see fellow law students from 20 different schools and 2 federal judges discussing the problem that you worked so many months on. It was a wonderful experience.

Good thing we did cancel today's events, because there is a ton of snow outside. Observe:

The pots Rose is standing next to in the first picture are still there. It's still snowing, so I might have to add another picture in a few hours. We're as snugs as bugs in rugs here! We might go play outside when it finally stops.

Flying Kites

2010-01-29T11:39:00.001-05:00

The weather here is cold and damp.

It's prime weather for staying inside and doing homework, which is what we do all day.

But that gets old.

I drew this picture of what Jordan and I would rather be doing.

Aren't we SO cute?

(Click on the image to see it for reals. It's all fuzzity-fuzz here.)

Some New Hardware

2010-01-19T21:58:00.006-05:00

We lost the competition, but got some consolation prizes. We won 2nd Place for Best Brief and I got 3rd Place for Best Oralist (I know that sounds funny) and Best Overall Competitor (out of 56, so that makes me the Highlander of the competition). Both final teams get to compete in the regional competition in Boston in March. It was a really amazing experience. We argued before Judge Randall Rader from the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Judge Edward Damich from the US Court of Federal Claims, and Dean John Whealan from the law school.

It was pretty cool.

If you want to see what we were arguing about, the problem is available here.

PS: If you didn't, you really ought to click on the Highlander link above, it's jaw-droppingly amazing.

There is so much to post about...

2010-01-19T11:31:00.001-05:00

But instead, I post this:

Civil War Museum

2009-12-01T12:37:00.004-05:00

These photos are from a few months ago but I haven't posted them yet, so I'm doing it now. About a month ago, Timnah and Miriam came and visited. We went to this Civil War Museum in West Virginia, which at first seemed like a good place for a bad horror movie, but ended up being really fun. They had costumes we could dress up in and so we did. Unfortunately, Timnah was sick and couldn't come with us. We missed her!

New Blog

2009-11-25T11:34:00.000-05:00

I have started a new blog as an avenue to focus and develop all my happy energy! I'd love everyone to share that energy with me.

Home Improvements

2009-10-04T22:29:00.013-04:00

So we decided to shake up our blog a little bit. I know, the new header is an amazing mash-up.

This weekend we've been trying to make some little improvements to our apartment to make it a little more comfortable. We also enjoyed conference. Here are a few examples of what we've been up to, mostly thanks to the wonderful Swedes over at Ikea.

Guitar Stand
This is a guitar stand I made from Ikea shelves, an Ikea towel, and blue Ikea wood stain. Total price came out to less than $25, which is nearly less than a single, tubular guitar stand. This is much more sturdy, stylish, and I pretty much love it. It holds 6 guitars, which means there are two empty spaces. Now what should I fill them with? I'm sure you know that I've already got that all worked out...

Hope Chest

We've been planning to re-upholster Rose's hope chest for some time now. On this trip to Ikea, we found a cool print fabric we thought would be perfect and wasn't too expensive. The first time we put the fabric on backwards, but the second time we got it right. It really spruces up the entire room.

Printer Table
This is from a previous Ikea trip a couple months ago when they had side tables on sale for $8. We cut the legs shorter, cut a scoop out of it, repositioned the last leg so that it would fit under our desk, and now we use it as a printer stand. The reason the table is only $8 is because the top isn't solid. It's strengthened with corrugated cardboard. Luckily we had some paper that was just about the same color, so with a little glue, you can't see the ugly inside. From 10 feet you can't really tell, right?

Bathroom
We added a couple more pictures in the bathroom. The panel comes from a leftover piece from the Ikea shelves and is covered with the same fabric we used on the hope chest. We painted some yellow on there to add a little more color. Suave, ¿No?

That's mostly what we've been up to this weekend. We also gave the apartment a much needed scrub down. School has been busy for us both, but we've had a lot of little successes along the way. Ben came over for dinner tonight with his friend, Alvin, and that was a lot of fun. We forgot to take pictures of that.

Click on the pictures above for a bigger, better view.

Isn't She Lovely!

2009-09-20T16:28:00.002-04:00

Rose got a new haircut. Here are the results.

Happenings

2009-09-09T23:17:00.007-04:00

A lot of things have happened in the last couple weeks. Both Rose and I started school, which is going well. We're enjoying our classes and are quite busy. It is nice to have a lot going on though. We're never bored.

We also went to Hot Springs, SD over the labor day weekend for Rose's cousin's wedding. It was a very nice ceremony and we had fun being there. It took forever to get there and back, which was not as fun.

The Wedding Party

A couple of the more attractive attendees

Another happening on an unrelated note, is that our landlords have generously provided us with a new fridge. It's very exciting because now we can buy more vegetables and other foods and keep them fresh longer. Here's an idea of the size difference.

Pretty amazing right?

I have to go to bed now, so maybe we'll write in more detail about something else soon.

One Year

2009-08-09T22:37:00.001-04:00

So we had a busy weekend this weekend because it was a weekend of celebration.

Friday we went to the US Air Guitar Championships with Ben and some friends. It was fun in some ways and not so fun in other ways. It was fun watching everyone play air guitar like crazed baboons, but it was not fun listening to all the judges & emcee's lame and stupid jokes.

Here are some example competitors:

Hot Licks Hoolihan and Bjorn Turok
Awesome
Romeo Dance Cheetah
The Fro

It was an interesting evening to say the least. As you can see, the costumes were amazing.

Saturday we went to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia to see the sites and get away from the city a little bit. We had both frozen custard and shaved ice, which was great. It wasn't too hot thankfully.

Our favorite thing to see was the Civil War artillery demonstration, which you can see below.

We couldn't believe how LOUD the cannon was. To be in a battle with 80 of them plus musket and other small arms fire would be terrifying. I can understand why Henry Fleming ran off at first.

Here are a couple other pictures.

The Artillery Demonstration

2009-08-09T22:36:00.002-04:00

Trying to redecorate the bathroom

2009-08-01T22:36:00.005-04:00

Our bathroom is interesting because it is in the basement. There are many, many pipes and electrical cords that criss-cross the ceiling and walls.

This morning, I decided to try and spruce it up a little bit and try and make it a little bit nicer. Here are the results.

The sink and mirror with a painting and our old license plates.
Close up of the picture hung on the pipes below.
The wall nearest the water closet.

Scout Camp and the 4th of July

2009-07-11T07:50:00.007-04:00

Last week I got to go up to scout camp for a couple days. It was a really nice camp. They set up the tents for us, made our food, and provided all kinds of activities. We had two boys go up, one for the whole week (Jamal) and one came up with me Thursday night (James). They're cousins, and I'm not sure they went to sleep at all that night. Too many spiders in their tent I guess.

James and Jamal and the rifle range

We played so wiffleball and spent some time in the archery range. I also saw some kind of water snake at the lake (even heard it hissing) and a fairly large wolf spider.

A wolf spider

I came back Friday night in time for the folk life festival and the 4th of July celebration.

The folk life festival this year focused on Wales, the "Americas", African American Speeches, and Hare Krishna. We spent most of our time at the Welsh booths because they were the most plentiful and Rose studied Welsh in Wales and still speaks it fairly well. At least, she could translate all the signs for me.

We met Ben for the festivities, which was heaps of fun.
The longest city name in the UK. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, which means "St. Mary's Church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool of Llantysilio of the red cave." So the name of the village almost amounts to directions on how to find it!
Welsh Scrabble. Rose destroys me at English Scrabble, so here I would have no chance.

After the folk life festival we got to go to a party for America's birthday in the Capitol building. That's right, the US Capitol building. It was amazing. It was a party for the Lantos Foundation and Pride in America. They gave an award to a woman who makes handmade furniture for making quality products in America.

We got to see Barry Manilow, Aretha Franklin, Natascha Bedingfield, the Marine Band, the fireworks, and Jimmy Smits. It was pretty cool and we felt pretty cool being there.

On the West Terrace of the Capitol.
The fireworks!
The Washington Monument in the background (with a different kind of fireworks in the foreground).
More fireworks.

So last week was quite eventful. Things are going well otherwise too. I've been observing a trial at work and Rose just arranged to work part-time at the Corporation for National and Community Service in the fall, so everything is falling into place that way. I can't believe it, but it's already time to start looking for a job for post-graduation. One more year of law school and I'm done with law school. It goes by fast. So that's a very short update.

It's Not Them, It's Me. Or Maybe It's Them.

2009-06-15T16:20:00.009-04:00

The picture above, you will find, is somewhat misleading. I'm afraid this post may not be terribly sweet and flowery, though part of it will address flowers in a roundabout way. In fact, I feel the slightest bit guilty about posting this post because it is about something that annoys me, and I think annoyance is not a very nice emotion. But I wanted to get other people's thoughts on this one.

Jordan and I have a friend on a mission in Britain. Not only do I really like her, but I think she is smart, funny, and good. However, she sends emails home that sometimes get forwarded to me, and the other day she said something that inspired a negative emotion on my part. This is what she said:

"We went to Lyme Park for our P-day. Lyme Park is also known to the Jane Austen lover's world as Pemberley. Yes, this is where Colin Firth was filmed as Mr. Darcy in the 6 hour P&P. Very exciting, but oddly enough (or maybe this should be a given) it was not as fulfilling as teaching the gospel. I don't really know what has happened to me, this is Mr. Darcy we are talking about here...but I will say, that the gospel is much cooler."

Now, I have to say that I think I know what she's doing here. She's trying to stay focused on the gospel so she can be a better missionary and I think that is commendable. But part of me thinks, "Come on. Lyme Park is completely different than teaching the gospel. You're not supposed to compare it." I think by comparing something like that you take away from an experience that could be thrilling and even spiritually enlightening all by itself. Lyme Park is GORGEOUS. I think God would want us to appreciate a place like that for what it is. If we believe God created the world, can't we learn something about him in studying his creations as well as teaching the gospel? And, in fact, aren't God's creations part of that gospel?

I felt similarly to the way I feel when LDS people, on being asked what their favorite book is, say it's The Book of Mormon. I want to say, "Right. That's a given. There are so many other books out there. What else do you read?" I suspect that I'm not being fair. Maybe people that say The Book of Mormon is their favorite book love it more than I do or maybe it really is such a vital part of their lives that they are compelled to say it. And I think that is admirable.

I guess my real problem is that when people say things like this my instinctual reaction is to think, "You're not someone I find very interesting," and I feel guilty about it because it's not very nice. So maybe my frustration over comments like the ones mentioned above is just the sign of a guilty conscience.

Sick!

2009-06-04T22:56:00.003-04:00

I've been feeling unwell - whether it's tooth/jaw aches, stomach aches, or head colds - consecutively ever since Natascha left DC. Seriously. Every single day since then, something has not felt right. So I figured out what's wrong. I must be allergic to not being around Natascha. Please come back. I would like to feel good again.

Hottest Book this Summer!

2009-05-28T19:47:00.008-04:00

Some of you may know that my mother is a published author (yes, I'm proud) and that this summer she has had one whole book published (I know, right?) It's called The Entomological Tales of Augustus T. Percival: Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone by Dene Low (which is my mother's sobriquet - which word I like to use instead of pen name.) It's a clever title, right? That's because my mother is clever. In fact, the whole book is clever, and everyone should read it (and then everyone should make all their friends read it) because it is the cool thing to do this summer. Because it's the hottest book. (And don't you think it has a clever cover?)

Also, if you want to see some really adorable shoes, check this out.

I help Alan out for his ward talent show.

2009-05-11T18:08:00.003-04:00

This is our cover of a song made popular by Beyonce.

I got shocked by the microphone pretty bad and decided to stop singing.

Also I used my looping pedal so when it sounds like more than just 2 guitars, it is.

Rose took the footage.

Possible Other Career

2009-04-29T15:11:00.005-04:00

On Saturday I thought about going to a film festival with a friend while Jordan studied. Instead, I made this necklace. It's crooked in this picture, but you get a sense of what it looks like.

The oval beads I bought at Michael's months ago, simply because I liked them. They're not super great quality, but then they didn't cost very much either.

The blue circlular beads I painted with acrylics and then covered with shiny ModPodge to give them a glaze.

I was pretty pleased with how well the necklace turned out. If you look closely you can probably tell it's handmade, but I wore it to church on Sunday and everyone wanted to know where I bought it. A nice little confidence booster. The necklace was a great project for Saturday, when Jordan had a lot of studying to do and I had to keep myself entertained in order to avoid distracting him. After making this necklace I want to make more. Does anyone want to come out to DC and have a craft day? Yeah!

In upcoming posts: Pictures of Jordan studying = evidence of Jordan's only activity for the past month. We can't wait 'til he gets done with this last essay final.

Trousers

2009-04-23T11:34:00.002-04:00

Yesterday a girl at work was wearing the same pants as I was. My first thought was that it was convenient that in my position behind the desk she couldn't see my pants, consequently avoiding a potentially awkward--though probably humorus--conversation about how we both have good taste and etc. My second thought was, "Those look even better on her than on me," thus highlighting one of my little vanities (my taste and individuality in clothes), because I honestly can't remember ever thinking that before. No, usually when I come across someone with the same article of clothing, I tell myself (with a metaphorical pat on the back) that it looks better on me. I reveal this now, in a public way, as a sort of penance.

But I'm also quite proud of myself, because when I thought that thought about the pants looking better on her, I was not in the least upset about it. Perhaps my ego is growing more tempered.

Just as a side note, I keep seeing matches of my clothes on TV shows. It's kind of trippy to have the fake world and the real world collide like that.

Empty Pot Syndrome

2009-04-03T16:55:00.004-04:00

Before getting married I cooked. I didn't get too creative, but I did cook. Now that we're married both Jordan and I cook; whoever gets home first or is the least stressed out/tired/sick usually takes care of it. The difference between before marriage and after marriage is that before marriage it was just me, so I didn't care if I couldn't come up with something good to eat and resorted to Beef Ramen. After marriage, I worry about making sure Jordan gets a real meal. And I've discovered that the hardest part about making real meals is coming up with real meals to make. I mean, it doesn't take long to get really sick of having the same sort of dishes every night.

Tonight it's my turn to make dinner because Jordan's wasting away at school, studying. He's going to be really hungry when he gets home. Once again I find myself staring into our cupboards and wondering what I could possibly make that sounds appetizing. When I get fed up with staring into the cupboards I stare at the empty pots and pans, willing food to appear in them like they appeared on the empty dishes of the lost boys in Never Never Land. If that happened for me, I'd definitely shout "Bangarang!"

I found a site with some tasty sounding easy dinner recipes, but as I went through the recipes I realized that we don't have the ingredients. We just don't have enough space in cupboards, mini-fridge or minier-freezer to store a lot. I guess the answer to my problem is to plan meals in advance. Then we'd have the ingredients. But that doesn't help me right now. Of course, it doesn't help me to be writing this post either, but I guess it feels like a shout for help into the cosmos, and maybe after hitting the button to "Publish Post" I will receive divine culinary revelation...

An Adventure with the Missionaries

2009-03-03T23:52:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday, Rose and I gave the missionaries and a young woman they are teaching a ride to the DC Temple visitor's center for a tour and to see the Joseph Smith movie. In order for this to make sense, you must first know that the young woman is living with a member of our ward and is here from Japan to study English.

Not at all by coincidence, there was a Japanese sister at the visitor's center. So, we had the tour in Japanese and saw the movie in Japanese.

Most of the movies I've seen in Japanese usually involve ninjas, samurai, or a combination of the two. So it was difficult for me not to be disappointed/confused about some of the things that happened in the film. For example, the scene where Joseph rebukes the guards in Liberty Jail is a famous story that depicts the power of the prophet as he silenced the men while he stood behind bars and in chains.

Well, for me, the Japanese voices they choice for the goons, and the powerful voice they chose for the prophet, combined with the camera angles they chose, made me expect the chains to snap, Joseph to karate chop his way out of the bars and then samurai slash the goons ala Beatrice Kiddo. Of course, that didn't happen. That period of American history and costumery combined with the Japanese dubbing also got me thinking that it was a steampunk, alternate universe where the Japanese had conquered the world and so everyone in 19th century america spoke Japanese, but looked like anglos. Anyway, this probably has more to do with the kinds of Japanese movies I like, rather than anything about the Joseph Smith movie.

One more thing about the film that doesn't have anything to do with the Japanese dubbing. The film ended with the assassination in Carthage jail, which was (and always is) quite a moving scene because it reminds me of who Joseph was and what he did for the world through the power of Christ. I think everyone who believes feels some sort of special attachment to the prophet, and so reevaluating his death is usually an emotional and spiritual experience. However, the last scene cut the feeling short for me.

As the scene is ending, the camera goes towards and then out the window, pointing up into the sky and the sun while heroic music plays in the background. For me, the emotional effect was great. I felt a connection, I remembered my testimony of Joseph, but then a transparent profile of Joseph's head appears in the clouds and then turns and looks into the camera. This instantly made me think of this...

... which made me laugh.

Even still, there was a lovely spirit throughout the whole film, and we had a good conversation afterwards where we got to tell the young woman why we were members of the church, and why we believed in God. It was nice to bear testimony and share what I believe and what makes me happy with someone else. I think she really enjoyed the visit and the Japanese sister is going to begin teaching her, so I think that will be a huge help. Overall, it was a wonderful experience.

Snowed in!!

2009-03-02T12:47:00.009-05:00

So, this is our street. We had some snow overnight, looks to be maybe 6 inches or so in some places.

We both had our birthday's recently which was a lot of fun. We partied hard except Rose got sick Sunday through about Wednesday which wasn't a super fun birthday present. This week is my spring break, so we're hoping to celebrate some more!

Catherine came to visit! It was fun to hang out with her and Alexia. We went out to dinner at Oya, went to breakfast at Eastern Market the next day, visited the Smithsonian Museums of Natural History and Art, and had dinner at Matchbox. We had a great time.

We also dog sat for a few days for some people in our ward while they were on vacation. It was actually quite fun, but we both decided we probably don't want a dog. I've been biased against small dogs but after hanging out with Daisy and Miriam's Pip, I might be persuaded otherwise. Neither dog is very yappy though, and I think that's what might turn me off little dogs.

We're both doing well and I'm very excited for this week without having to go to school. I still have quite a bit of homework to do, but I think we'll still have time to have a little fun. We've been hoping to catch the Dark Night at the Imax for the last month and this weekend is the last weekend they'll be showing it, so I hope we make it. Neither of us has seen it yet. I'm also excited about this movie and this movie and if I'm honest, this one as well. Oh and also, Star Trek.

The Vice Grip Adventure

2009-02-18T11:53:00.005-05:00

I have a badish cough right now and I thought maybe some Sprite would help clear my throat a little. However, Jordan was the last person to open and close the Sprite bottle, and he likes to screw the cap on really tight so it preserves all its pleasurable fizziness. I tried unscrewing the cap with my bear hands and ended up with cap burn that still hurts. I tried using a dishcloth to create more friction and protect my fragile hands, but it just slid around the outside of the cap. I put on my leather glove and tried opening the bottle, hoping the leather would give me a better grip. That didn't work either.

Finally I got out Jordan's vice grip, and even though I fastened it on pretty tightly, it still took several minutes to open the rotten thing. I've decided that either Jordan must be very strong or I must be very weak. Seriously, why do we need a vice grip when we have Jordan's hands? Maybe Jordan is a super hero? (Hm. That means maybe they'll make a movie of him...which means maybe we'll be rich!)

The Sprite did alleviate the cough a little, but it also gave me a terrible case of the hiccups.

Oh, and I met Abraham Lincoln

2009-01-25T17:36:00.004-05:00

I can't believe I forgot to mention this!!

The Inauguration

2009-01-22T22:34:00.018-05:00

We went down to the inauguration happenings on Tuesday to try and get a glimpse of our new president or maybe someone else famous. We didn't see anyone famous, but we sure saw a lot of people. Getting on the train at our stop at Stadium-Armory was easy, although our normally bare streets were lined with cars and tour buses. Getting off the Metro at
L'Enfant Plaza took some time. We had to wait in line to walk up the two sets of escalators.

Waiting to go up the escalators.

Once we got out of the Metro, it was people, people, people basically the whole time. There were all kinds of people, everywhere.

You can see some people caught a cab and were trying to drive through the crowd. It wasn't working too well, but at least they were warm!

We tried to get into the Mall, but it was full of people and they weren't letting anyone else in. I guess some people who had tickets still couldn't get in. Eventually, we ended up at 15th and Independence, near the Washington Monument, which is basically all we could see besides people, people, people.

Our view of the Inauguration

The blue arrow points to about where we were, and the red arrow points to where the main event is occurring.

So we couldn't see, but we could hear most of the time, except when motorcycle policeman kept rode by with their sirens on or during the invocation (which I appreciated) when a young woman started screaming expletives via cell phone at her friend about whose fault it was that they got separated. Otherwise, it was a wonderful experience. The swearing in was great, even if there was a hiccup, and the inaugural address was great to hear live. I really liked many of the things he said, especially this:

Our challenges may be new. "The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."

After the speech we decided it would best to start heading home. We decided it would take to long to wait for a train so we walked the 4 miles back home. It was quite fun because we got to see a lot on the way and we were bundled up in many layers, so we didn't get too cold.

At the Inauguration

Everyone else had similar ideas, because there were people around us the whole time. It was cool to see everyone out and about. Some even decided to take the freeway.

People walking on the freeway

By the time we got home, we were ready to be there. All in all, it was an awesome experience. There was so much energy and excitement and hope in the air. It was exciting to get a new president, but what really impressed me was the throngs and throngs of people. If there's one thing that Obama has done he's brought people together. It was wonderful to see people from many different races, religions, ethnicities, countries, beliefs, etc, all enjoying a cold morning together. I hope it stays that way. It was a wonderful, unifying feeling. Some might call it brotherly love or goodwill towards all men (and women). It was nice.

One Naughty House Sitter

2009-01-07T15:37:00.000-05:00

Natascha: Don't Read This

When we flew out for the holidays we left some laundry behind, including a rug that had gotten a little wet. On Monday I decided to do some laundry and I enveloped the no longer damp rug in the warm embrace of a woman feeling like she was getting something done. As I bent over the washing machine, ready to shove the rug in for its washing I noticed a shiny, bugly thing creepity crawling up the rug toward my face. It was a cockroach. The big kind. Or at least, a big kind. Bigger than we'd seen in our apartment before. I imagined it lying in wait inside the rug until we got home. I dropped said rug and the roach creepity rushed under the washing machine.

The washing machine and our kitchen cabinets share the same wall, and later that night the roach crawled out of the cabinet beneath our sink and started across our floor. Jordan bravely accosted the roach with a paper towel and some bug spray while I helpfully shouted, "There it is! There it is!" (Although I WAS the one that got the spray out in the first place so that Jordan could use it. I'm not completely useless.)

On School

2009-01-06T23:14:00.001-05:00

Sunday night I made Rose watch 4 episodes of 30 Rock and What's Up Doc in an attempt to prevent the first day of school from coming. It did not work, but 30 Rock and What's Up Doc are all very funny.

I attended 4/5 classes yesterday starting at 11a.m. and ending at 6p.m. I thought it would be terrible, but the day went by pretty fast. I think being busy makes a difference. I had a three hour break between classes today and it felt more like six. Schedule-wise, my week is a dramatic decrescendo, 4 classes Monday, 2 Tues. & Wed., 1 Thurs., and none on Friday. I start every day around 11 and end about 6. Not too shabby.

I decided to apply to for a job teaching for Kaplan because they pay fairly well and the schedule is usually pretty flexible. A little extra cash won't hurt either. If it looks like it'll interfere with school, then I won't do it, but hey, people have done it before me I guess. I feel a bit spoiled because everything always seems to work out for me with little effort on my part. At least that's how I remember things being, even if it's not true.

For example, I remember applying to law school and studying for the LSAT and all that jazz. I wasn't sure it was what I wanted to do (and if I'm honest, I'm still not) but it seemed like a good idea at the time (it still does) and so I did it. It took a lot of time and work, and so far it's paid off beautifully. Had I not, I wouldn't have married Rose, and then where would I be? The thought is as bone-chilling as our floor, which is tiled with ice.

It's a little like looking for a summer associateship. Right now, it's terrifying because I don't have one yet. Some of my classmates do and some don't, so I'm not the only one, but I mostly care about me. Once I find one (and I'm sure I will), it'll seem like I didn't do much besides apply and show up to the interview, and I'll be glad to be where I'll be. But the process reminds me of something J. Rueben Clark said about interest: "Interest never sleeps nor sickens nor dies; it never goes to the hospital; it works on Sundays and holidays; it never takes a vacation; it never visits nor travels; it takes no pleasure; it is never laid off work nor discharged from employment; it never works on reduced hours; it never has short crops nor droughts, etc..." Until I find a summer post, the need to find one is always there looming, and it is scary and stressful and sometimes sends me into existential crises asking myself why I'm doing this or that and why didn't I become an engineer or an artist or an eccentric scientist and why don't we quit using paper money and go back to a barter system and what ever happened to Jefferson's idea of a country of agriculturalists, and that living in a cabin in Montana's Bitterroot Valley probably isn't as romantic as James Galvin makes it sound in The Meadow and what if 20 years from now I really want to join the circus?

That's how I felt waiting to hear back from law schools. I knew I'd get in somewhere, I just didn't know where. Some places accepted me and that felt good. Others rejected my application (not me of course, just my application) and that made me sad. Except for Columbia who laid me down gently explaining that, though they would like nothing more, they were unable to grant me admission. This was probably due to the actions of some third party outside of my or their control. Personally, I blame el nino and Y2K. I'm sure it'll be similar with employers.

My classes all seem interesting and my professors all seem eager to help and get to know students. So I hope to make this the semester I take advantage of that. Shouldn't be too hard since my Jurisprudence class only has 6 students and my Supreme Court seminar on the certiorari process only has 4. That last class is from a Patent powerhouse professor and he told us the goal is to get our papers published, and that sounds exactly like what I need to do.

Rose is busy looking for a new job since Home Made Simple moved to Austin, TX. Hopefully there will be something at Discovery Studios, but if that doesn't pan out, then I'm sure we'll find something else. One good thing is that she's singlehandedly nearly finished our wedding thank you cards, which is momentous and takes a lot longer than you'd think. Now I'm going to find a picture, post this, and go to bed. My teeth are already brushed.

Ben's

2008-12-21T00:38:00.000-05:00

We went to Ben's to hang out before we leave for Vegas tomorrow.

Getting Ready for Christmas

2008-12-10T16:36:00.001-05:00

Here's Ben wielding the glue gun in order to make a Christmas Ornament.

Here is a picture of me with my haircut (that Rose gave me) unshowered and studying for finals.

Here are our stockings. We don't have a fireplace, so this will have to do.

Here is our Christmas Tree. Notice the mini-presents. Rose made those.

Here are our Christmas lights. We are very festive.

Rose is busy preparing her grad school applications and I've been busy with finals until yesterday. I got a really bad cold last Wednesday, so that made things frustrating because it was harder to focus with all the congestion and such. I gave my cold to Rose and so now she's been sick too.

Today we're trying to recover and clean up our apartment because it has been seriously neglected the last few days. I think I did well on my tests, at least, I felt like I did a good job coming out of them, but I won't know any grades for another couple months. Whatever they turn out to be, I sure learned a lot.

I'm looking forward to the next month or so with no school and have a lot of things to do to get ready for next semester and for Christmas. Yeah! Christmas!

Thanksgiving

2008-11-29T14:40:00.000-05:00

This was our Thanksgiving turkey breast. It turned out pretty well, except that the package said a 4 1/2 pound turkey would take 2 1/2 hours, but ours took 4, probably because our oven is so tiny.

This is our little oven slow cooking our turkey like a champ. We started eating before the turkey was done (we had a small ham we warmed up in Rose's even smaller toaster oven), but the turkey was ready in time for seconds.

Ben and Rose with clean plates.

For dessert we had pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Very tasty.

After dinner we played Phase 10, and then some Mario Party on Ben's Wii. It was quite fun and we were all very thankful to have a chance to hang out together and be thankful for all we've been blessed with.

Yesterday, Rose and I tried going to the Museum of American History which just reopened after renovations. It was packed like a can of sardines, so we went to the Natural History Museum instead. It was still full, and we didn't have to wait in line for any of the exhibits (except for the butterfly room, which we saved for another day). We saw an exhibit on Ancient Western Culture, a small exhibit on Korean Americans, reptiles, bones, and insects. The bones exhibit was interesting because they had skeletons there of nearly every kind of living thing - swordfish, bears, turtles, rhinos. One interesting thing we learned is that a rhino's horn doesn't have a bony core but grows from the skin and is basically like a huge fingernail. A rhino's horn also never stops growing and will grow back if cut or broken off. So now you know, and as G.I. Joe taught me, knowing is half the battle.

Dr. Who?

2008-11-19T00:45:00.000-05:00

My sister, who is the proud possessor of a nice smile and a nice husband, is also now the proud possessor of a PhD. Isn't that amazing? I'm pretty impressed.

At Least One Good Reason for Text Messaging

2008-11-13T13:51:00.000-05:00

It used to be that I made fun of people who seemed to be texting on their cell phones all the time (although for a while the cell phone was my main connection to Jordan and I was definitely texting a lot.) Or very young people with cell phones. And I'm going to say that I still think people can go overboard or over-young, but recently my 12 year old nephew earned a cell phone for getting good grades. And he's been texting me. And I love it. He always sounds very mature. He says things like, "Well, and how are you?" And he calls me "Rosey."

Last night when I was talking to my older sister and Sage texted her, I thought I'd play a joke on him and I texted him asking if he liked me better than my sister. He texted back, "What makes you say that?" And when I admitted that I was talking to her on the phone he responded with the word, "Cheater." This made both my sister and I laugh pretty hard. He's interacting with his aunts and uncles in the way we interact with each other. It's like suddenly he's entered the ranks of "adults" in the family.

And when I called home a couple Sundays ago and his family was visiting my parents for Sunday dinner his voice had changed! He sounds almost like his dad. I feel like in the past few months he's grown up suddenly and I missed it. (How did that happen?) But now because of texting and cell phones I still get to be part of it. So that when I visit home again maybe the only thing that he'll surprise me with will be his height. (He's already taller than I am, though, so how could it be that big of a surprise?)

The Wise and the Foolish, and other tales

2008-11-02T19:52:00.000-05:00

Today Jordan and I were called, sustained, and set apart in new callings in our ward. Jordan is now Deacon's adviser. Though we often have boys visiting from another ward, for the most part the whole deacon quorum consists of two boys. One of them doesn't come very often. But we both really like the one that comes every week. He's very funny and from the few conversations I've had with him I'd say he's pretty perceptive. I am now one of the Sunbeam instructors. I'm excited and a little terrified. I don't know how to interact with little kids that aren't related to me. But I guess I'll learn.

Our ward is very small and very diverse. In life experience and in life beliefs. I just wanted to share a few of our stories from today's church meetings. (I've changed the names to protect the innocent

Story #1: Our landlord Kimmy's brother and sister-in-law are in the ward and they have a 3 year old named Eliott. He's very smart for his age. Today, sitting a couple seats away from us on our landlord's lap he announced cheerfully and loudly (the same we he says everything) "I have gas and I have to toot." Then a couple seconds later he announced, "My gas is relieved."

Story #2: I went to primary today for the first time since I graduated from primary so many years ago. The primary president Mary Joe wears trousers to church and talks to the kids like adults instead of children. She doesn't like calling the children "children." Just to give you a taste of what it looks like primary will be like, today we sang "The wise woman built her house upon a rock...the foolish woman built her house upon the sand." (Please see the above illustration I made Jordan quickly conjure up.)

Mary Joe also did an activity with the kids where she would say "When mother calls you..." and they'd say, "Quickly I obey." Or "When Jesus calls you...", "Quickly I obey." She went through Jesus, mother, father, teacher. Then she said, "When sister calls me," and the kids said "Quickly I obey." And Mary Joe said, "Well, now, that depends doesn't it? You have to see what she wants." She seems to be teaching the kids valuable lessons.

Story #3: Today there were four girls in the Sunbeams class. One of them, a little red haired girl who is famous for running up to the stand and playing the piano during someone's talk some months ago, sat by me in sacrament and glared at me through most of the meeting. However, after being introduced to me in Sunbeams she was very friendly. Another one, Krissy, wouldn't talk through most of the class. She'd just look at me with a shy, toothy grin that usually involved her tongue protruding from her mouth. Then at the end of class when her mom and sister came to pick her up, one of the other teachers told Krissy's mom that today we'd learned about telling the truth. Her mom said, "Oh, Krissy doesn't have a problem with that. She tells the truth on her sister. She tells the truth on herself. She's very truthful..." Krissy's grin grew wider and tongue-ier and, as if to prove her mother's point, she announced, "My sister said the word 'boobie.'"

Her mom said this was a word that Krissy had learned from other kids at preschool and that they were trying to teach her she shouldn't say all the words she learned at preschool. Then, while her mother talked to the teacher and another mom, Krissy, grinning at me and swinging on her mother's arm kept repeating gleefully, "Boobie, boobie, boobie, boobie." I'm afraid I might not prove to be the best Sunbeam instructor because I couldn't help but laugh the whole time. Which makes me a very bad influence on someone of her impressionable age.

Miriam visits and other things

2008-10-30T20:48:00.000-04:00

So, Rose's sister Miriam came and stayed with us for a week a couple weeks ago and it was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of our adventures, I hope they don't embarrass anyone.

Rose (& Jordan) at Chincoteague Island Wildlife Sanctuary

Miriam, Jordan & Rose at Chincoteague Island Wildlife Sanctuary. We saw a wild horse from quite a ways away, cranes, cormorants, ducks, and geese. Oh, and a couple chipmunks.

Miriam pointing & Rose at the White House.

Jordan, Rose, Miriam, and Ben at the World War II Memorial

Rose & Miriam at the National Archives, where the keep the Constitution and Declaration of Independence among other things, which you can explore here.

Rose starts her new job tomorrow as a Production Assistant for Home Made Simple on TLC. I think that's pretty cool. It's a contract job, so it only lasts a couple months, but I'm sure it will lead to bigger and better opportunities in the future.

I'm still tenaciously searching for my summer job which is quite a challenge with things as they are. It's a bit more competitive than in years past, or so I'm told, but I'm sure I'll find the right place for me. It's just a matter of finding the right people at the right time. It's difficult deciding what you want to be when you grow up.

I also registered for classes today which was very exciting. I went to an open academic advising session with Dean Johnson and there was nobody else in line, so we talked for a good 40 minutes about my schedule. He said he'd never seen the actual registration process, so I registered right there with him, which was very helpful for us both. I'll be taking Evidence, The Federal Circuit (from a Federal Circuit judge and BYU/GW Law alum), International Law, a Constitutional Law Seminar on the Supreme Court, and Jurisprudence (from a woman with a PhD in medieval Arabic philosophy, yeah I know, awesome), which I guess is something like legal philosophy.

Anyway, I'm excited about that lineup, should be a great semester. Plus I have no class on Friday, which I think is because no law professors want to teach on Friday. Also, I don't think they like getting up early because it's hard to find a class that starts before 11 a.m. I think that's wonderful.

The Emmy Awards

2008-10-06T15:57:00.000-04:00

This weekend BYU Broadcasting flew me and my friends Hannah, Jim, and Kendall to Arizona so that we could attend the Rocky Mountain chapter Emmy Awards because a film we made called "The Christian Eye: An Essay Across England" was nominated for Best Student Production. We made the documentary a year ago, about English professor John Bennion's study abroad that involves taking writing students to England, having them hike 10-20 miles per day until their legs go numb, making them write about their experiences there, and actually changing their lives. The four of us must be really good at what we do because guess what? We won! That's right. We are Emmy award winners.

The ceremony was not quite what I thought it would be. I was thinking more...well, what you see on TV. What I felt when I was there was more...well, beauty pageant. It all played out at a not stunningly attractive ballroom in the Rennaissance Hotel in Scotsdale, Arizona. We had a cocktail/games/dinner party beforehand with fairly pricey drinks (I'm talking $4 for a water) and cold buffet food. (Although some of it was a perfect temperature and very good.) One part of the ballroom was partitioned off for the ceremony and a stage was placed at the front, with a podium and curtains and some screens. The picture below looks more exciting than it was in real life:

They decided not to allow speeches, which came as a huge relief to me because I was feeling a little socially anxious and did not want to get up in front of everyone and say anything, and also there were 91 categories to be announced. With speeches allowed it would have taken FOREVER. However, if I had given a speech it would have gone something like this: "I want to thank the BYU English and Media Arts departments, John, Kendall, Tom, Hannah, Jim, and digital media for this experience, because without this film I'd still be single, sad, and alone." (Actually Hannah and Jim and I had decided to take random names out of the program and thank them. Unfortunately we did not get this opportunity.)

Though there were things about the event that weren't quite up to my expectations, it was actually a lot of fun and I did appreciate all the work that went into it. Also, there were a lot of things that I really enjoyed. One, I got to wear a hot new dress. Two, I got to see some great friends again. Three, I got to stay in my very own super large hotel room with a balcony. Four, I WON AN EMMY AWARD! Five, the parting with Jordan made the reunion more exciting. And six, I got all of this for FREE. That's always a nice feeling.

Our New Apartment

2008-09-29T22:37:00.001-04:00

This is our lovely long kitchen.

This is our unmade bed. Oh dear, what will our mothers say?

Our gourmet culinary arts center.

Myself sitting on our new IKEA love seat/sofa bed thingy.

Watching A Bit of Fry and Laurie on the old boob tube that came with the apartment.

--Jordan

We've been living in this English basement now for four weeks, to the day. I have spent most of my time here, sitting at the computer and looking for jobs. It's a nice enough apartment and it grows on you, so spending the last month of my life in mainly one room hasn't been too bad. Although the frequent outings into the main part of the city have alleviated any cabin fever I might develop. Jordan is spending most of his days at school, and when he comes home he is grateful we have the love seat now so he can relax. We're not totally moved in yet. The rest of my stuff arrived by mail a week or so ago, but half of Jordan's life is still at his old roommates' house in Crystal City. A sort of representation of his transition from singlehood to marriedhood? Perhaps he's feeling torn.

Or perhaps our car just can't fit all of his music equipment, computers, and books in one go. I have a lot of books too. And a very nice computer. Once we have all his stuff combined with mine our apartment will look something like a public library mixed with a music studio. Maybe then we'll have a lot more visitors. Of course, they'll have to phone ahead or yell loudly from the gate, as our "front" door is in back of the house and can only be accessed through the alley and a chain link gate, which is secured with a large padlock. Speaking of guests, did we mention that the love seat is also a sofa bed? A small one, perhaps, but perfectly capable of holding two horizontal bodies, if they didn't mind cuddling. Any takers?

--Rose

Ta Da!

2008-09-29T22:23:00.001-04:00

This is our new blog. Above is a photo Rose took at our FHE picnic on the Mall a couple weeks ago. Pretty cool huh?