goodbye for a month

Welcome to No Fun November. Currently, I'm working on Assignment 3, a legal memo due in two weeks on a very complicated issue with lots of research to go along with it; staying on top of the reading for my four classes; working on my outlines for classes; and starting to study for my finals. Yeah, if that's no fun november, i don't know what is. I am extremely happy though because Thanksgiving break is in two weeks and I get to go home for a week! Of course, I'll be studying the whole time I'm home, it will be nice to be home.

Last weekend was a home game, which we won (finally)! Friday night was a good night out with friends, and then Saturday was a great day hanging out as well. A bunch of us went to go see our Property professor's son perform in the drum line and then he came back and tailgated with us. We shared stories and got to know each other. It was awesome. Sunday was back to work which will carry over until finals. I'm going to try and cut back on my internet time (key word there try) in hopes that it will help. Today I went and got a carrel in the undergrad library. Basically it's a 6' x 5' room with a desk, a chair, and an outlet. I can go in, lock the door and be by myself. I can also lock the door when I leave, so if I want to leave stuff in there I can, and it would be safe. It's on a no talking floor, so it'll be very quiet, and only graduate students can have one. I'm kind of excited about it. :)

Anyways, that's pretty much what's going on. I'm going back to the basics after last month: making sure I'm exercising and eating right, taking time for me, and doing nice things for myself (like buying flowers for myself). Essentially, just taking it one step at a time.

So goodbye for a month folks.

Crappiest month ever

I think Karma is finally coming to catch up. It says, you've been having a good time way to long, i'm now going to rain, no not just rain, but pour on your parade. The first couple weeks of this month just dragged on and on because... well, just because. Most of you know the story, there's no reason to continue it. This past week things were getting better. I went home last weekend, got some re-centering, and was having a decent week. Thursday was the Halloween Party and it was by far the best party ever! Then Friday happened, and all I have to say is thank God for my friend Travis who let me drag him all over the square to avoid some people. I was prepared for somethings, but not everything. I think Is topped breathing for a minute when I saw what I did. Saturday was pretty decent. Football and tailgating with some good friends. Then this morning about 11am I find out that one of my sorority sisters, who I was pretty close to died. She was 22 years old and at UE. Sometime early this morning she died from complications with her Epilepsy. My heart goes out to her family and boyfriend, and to the rest of my sisters still there and those far away. I wish I was there to help comfort them and share in their grief.

Mandy you will be missed so much. You could put a smile on everyone's face and you were so smart (you weren't a half bad IM player too). :) You were the epitome of a Phi Mu lady. You're in a better place looking down at us now. We are grieving for our loss and celebrating your life. LIOB forever. Once a Phi Mu always a Phi Mu.

Here's to a better November... please.

keep moving forward

So last week was absolutely awful, which is why I missed a week writing. We're just not even going to go over it.

The weekend before last Chelsea came up to see me. We had fun. I showed her around Oxford and she met a bunch of my friends. I think she had fun. Then commenced really bad week including a little bit of crying, some break downs, and good friends to help me feel better. But, we're skipping over. Last Friday a bunch of my friends and I went to Northern MS for a bonfire and some Halloween fun. We roasted hot dogs and s'mores on the bonfire. The place we went was actually a farm, and they set up a haunted hayride, trail of terror through the woods, a corn maize, and a fun house type attraction. I went to it last year with some people from Memphis. It was a blast and I think everyone else had fun too. Saturday I woke up and decided to go home. I just needed to get away for the weekend. So I surprised my family by walking in at 10 am. :) I spent the weekend lazing around, watching football. Saturday night I went to go see Secretariat with my friend Robyn, and I ended up staying through Sunday night and driving home Monday morning in time to make it back for class. It was good I went home. I felt better on Monday morning.

So last night was kickball, and my team lost. :( So not cool. Then last night I had my friend Travis over and we watched the Cowboys do really well and then suck it up bad! Tonight I'm going to an etiquette dinner to learn how to be proper at a business meeting, and then Trivia night. Tomorrow I'm playing IM soccer. I finally found a team! I'm super happy about that!!! I am also dog sitting this week for a classmate so I get to have a furry friend running around the house, another thing I'm really happy about since I was convinced to wait until next semester to get my own. Thursday = crazy day: pink dress run and Halloween party. It's going to be awesome! Then this Saturday is the Ole Miss v. Auburn game. It's going to be huge!

After this week starts down month where all the 1Ls start studying for finals in a month. Right now I'm just taking it one day at a time, and trying to move on from last week. Yesterday was easier than today, but maybe tomorrow will be better. Here's hoping.

Subject Matter Jurisdiction

So this past weekend I headed home for the weekend. Partly to help celebrate dad's birthday and partly just to go home. So Friday I headed off to Memphis as soon as class was over. My computer had been acting up, so it was really good I was going home so I could get my dad to fix it. Turns out somehow the date had been changed from 2010 to 2099, and so everything was expired on my computer. I spent Friday afternoon running errands and then I did a double feature at the drive-in with my friend Jessie. We saw The Town and Easy A. I absolutely love drive-ins. Admission plus snacks for under $15 (that includes popcorn, candy, and pop). At a normal theater, that would never ever happen!!! And, I accomplished something on my bucket list, I was the last to leave the drive-in (minus the employees). :)

Saturday was pretty lazy day. I did homework because I had nothing else to do. Lol. That night I went out with my friend Robyn downtown, and in the process watched Florida lose to LSU in the last 30 seconds. Ouch! LSU and Ole Miss are rivals (as I found out this year). Then Sunday I had coffee with some friends and watched the Cowboys suck. :( That night we celebrated Dad's birthday with a chicken dinner and pie and ice cream. Then I headed back to school.

This week is pretty slow. I had another draft of my 2nd memo on Monday morning and then nothing much else this week. My boyfriend however has a crazy week that started last Thursday and continues through this Saturday. So I'm playing the supportive girlfriend this week.

Even though school is slow this week, I'm still keeping busy. Last night I went and played kickball for two hours with some people, tonight is Trivia Night (I hope we win tonight, we were so close last week), either Wednesday or Thursday I'm having a movie night with Ellen, one of my friends here, Friday I'm going out, and then Saturday Chelsea's coming into town. :)

So yeah... that's life.

Rules Against Perpetuities

So this week is one of those random weeks where I'm not going to have a ton of reading, which would generally indicate more free time, but I have two major assignments due within a week of each other. One is this Wednesday, and the second on Monday. It's the same thing, just different drafts, but I've only got part of the first draft done for Wednesday. So that's what I'll be working on tonight and tomorrow. Other than that it's just a normal week.

Fall is officially here, and I'm loving it! Nice crisp weather in the morning, perfect running/walking weather in the afternoon. Last weekend's football game was awesome. It was great weather, and we won! Always a nice choice. I hung out with a bunch of friends on Friday and we found a dueling piano bar, which I think is now our new favorite spot, and then Saturday I went out with Todd and some other friends. It was crowded b/c it was cold outside so there were more people inside than normal.

Next weekend I'm going home. Kind of excited about it. I kind of miss it. I've already got plans for the nights I'm there too (which is like two). :) And hopefully, as lame as this sounds, I can get my work done on Saturday so Sunday I can watch football!!!! And not have to worry about making sure all my reading is done and my second draft is done. Yeah, other than that though, just moving right along through the semester. :)

Life is not about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how well you bounce.

I saw that quote on a daily email I receive today and it just totally applies to my life right now. I like to think I'm a pretty good person most of the time, and I have my bad days just like everyone else, but during this past year off, I spent a lot of time working on me. I lost 15 pounds which puts me at my "perfect weight" or so says my bmi. So now I can fit easily into all my jeans from college (yay for not having to spend money on new jeans, again). I also worked on the mental and spiritual side of me. I'm not as spiritual as the rest of my family, and that's cool. I've always believed that you do what works for you. This past year I made it a habit that before I go to sleep every night I tell God 5 things that made me smile or made me feel good today and I thank him for that opportunity, and then I'll offer up any concerns on my mind. It's helped a lot with the other aspect I worked on this past year, which was the mental side. Now, I don't think I was a pessimistic person, but I could be cynical at times. Especially working in the restaurant industry it's hard not to be pessimistic b/c, at least at my store, everyone was very down and they voiced it loudly. I made it a point to start trying to be optimistic, in hopes that it would just become habit. And I am proud to say, that it finally has.

I, being the smart one that I am, dropped my iphone (that i've had less than 6 months) in some water yesterday. Accidentally obviously. It worked fine for a couple hours, and then it just froze. OK, that sucks. That's my life line. I don't have a land line, and I can't be on FB 24/7 if someone needs me. Luckily, my roommate happened to be home when this happened, and she had an old phone that I could use until I got a new one. So, the optimist in me said, at least I have a phone that I can text and call on, everything else is superfluous. :-D Go me! And also, I can still get on the internet b/c my number has an unlimited data plan, so I will still be able to do somethings online. I went to the AT&T store today and talked over some different options, and now I have a decision to make, but I think, I can take some time to make it. And also, my iphone has decided to work today, so fingers crossed, it's drying out with little to no damage (I did have my otterbox cover on it).

Ok, so as far as law school goes. I think I mentioned that last week was crazy week. We had our first memo due on Thursday and I had about a bazillion meetings to go to. The week ended with a bang though. One of my sorority sisters (my twin actually) is moving from North Carolina to Las Vegas and she stopped off Friday night in Memphis, so Friday night I drove up to meet her and we had dinner, and then went out for some fun. :) Then Saturday Ole Miss had a home football game against Fresno State (which we won), and it was a night game, so we spent the afternoon in the Grove hanging out. For those of you who don't know, you dress up to go to the football games here. I mean dresses and everything. Sunday was a day to relax, do homework, watch football, and clean. And after all of this was done, my boyfriend came over and we watched Sweet Home Alabama (I love that movie).

So this week, not as crazy. And, our writing teacher pushed back the due date for our second memo 24 hours. Now it's not due until Wednesday! Sweet, b/c I just did it this afternoon. Now I can edit it tomorrow. :) This weekend is Ole Miss's last home game until the end of October, so that'll be fun. And, last but not least, fall finally arrived last night!!!!!!! I am so excited about this fact. Can you tell?

one month in

Well, things are still going good down here in MS. I feel like the weather hasn't realized that it is now officially fall and that it should now be getting cooler, or at least staying out of the 90s, but no. There seem to be other plans in the works.

School is going well. I have my first writing assignment due this Thursday. It's the Discussion Section of a Memo, which basically means I have to write about two pages of what a the rule we're applying is, explain said rule, and then analyze all the arguments either side could make in their favor. I finished my draft of it today, and am taking it in tomorrow to get looked over. So that's due on Thursday, and then 5 days later (the following Tuesday), I have another Discussion Section due on an even longer problem. *sigh* I know this is probably going to be my most important class, but I liked not really having homework the first month of classes. :) The good thing (I guess it's good) is that Legal Research and Writing both end on Nov. 15, before Thanksgiving. :-D My other classes are going well too. Moving right along. In Contracts we're learning about Restitution, in property we're learning about Fee Simple Defensible, and estates in general (in other words, when you make your will, please please please use exact legal terms so there is no confusion as to your intent). In Torts we're covering negligence still and have moved onto slip and fall cases and res ipsa loquitur (home school people... what does that mean???). I'm curious how someone doesn't see an over-sized arm chair coming out a window at them. Lol. And Civil Procedure is all about Personal Jurisdiction currently. I'm learning a ton, if you couldn't tell! :)

Other things going on.... It's football season!!!! September has 3 home games in a row, so I'm super excited for Saturdays in September. Generally on Friday nights I'll go out with a bunch of law school friends, and then Saturday is the game, generally with the same group, and then Saturday night we go out again. Sunday becomes our day of "rest"/do homework!!! :) This past weekend one of my really good friends Jessie came up and saw me along with her five year old daughter. We had a blast, and got a little sunburned while we were at it. It was very amusing because Zoe (5 year old) was flirting with all the guys at one of the tents. It was so cute, and reminded Jessie and I that it's a good thing we have a Marine, Army Ranger, and Police Officer as her "uncles".

This week is going to be pretty long because of all the stuff that needs to get done, but I'm looking forward to the night game on Saturday, which equals sleeping in!!!! :-D What a concept.

3 weeks in

Wow. These past few weeks have really flown by. I'm finishing up my third week here at Ole Miss, and having a blast. Other than the craziness last week (car breaking down, and getting freaked out while I was home by myself) all has been pretty awesome. My classes are fairly interesting. Property Law is by far my favorite. I think it's because I just get the subject matter, and so it's easy, and therefore I enjoy it a lot more. Civil Procedure puts me to sleep. Torts is pretty interesting. I have mixed feelings about Contracts. The prof is pretty cool (today he illustrated one of the cases by climbing up on top of the podium and jumping off while having us all bang our books on the table) but his teaching style is a little strange to me, so that's kind of hard. Then I also have Legal Writing and Research. Those are two separate classes, and Research only meets every other week, so that's nice. I don't know what I think about those classes yet other than the profs are pretty cool. All in all though, school is school. I go to class, I take notes, I come home and read for four hours taking more notes, and generally by 6 I'm done for the evening, which makes it a lot easier to treat like a job (which was one of the biggest pieces of advice that I got).

I have made several friends, and we go out on a weekly basis to the Square (kind of like Beale St, except a square :-D). We have our general haunts already. We're trying to get a weekly trivia team going. We did our first week last week, but this week got cancelled b/c no one did anything over Labor Day Weekend. We've also already had our first Law School party, which was fun. And of course, our first football game was last weekend. We lost in double overtime, but it was a good game. Before the game everyone goes and tailgates in the grove, and it is a massive affair. I had a blast! I cannot wait to do it again next weekend! Tonight, I am going to a concert. I am making my little sister wildly jealous and going to see Luke Bryan. I am really looking forward to that. I have also started an experiment this week, which will hopefully continue, and that is getting up a half hour earlier and going running/walking before I head to school. So far so good. :)

That's a quick synopsis of my life currently. It's still perfect, and I still wouldn't change a single thing. I am happier than I think I have been in ages. I walk around with a big smile on my face. I think I must look ridiculous sometimes, but I don't care.

Orientation

So Wednesday was the first day or Orientation. It went from 9 - 5 (or was supposed to, it was really like 9-3). We spent the morning in the auditorium on campus having so much information given to us, I thought my head was going to explode. I don't remember half of it. We had a lecture about what law is, and then were introduced to various student councils like the LSSB and Honor council, as well as the law school registrar, and the financial aid office. After that we met our small group leaders, and got in our groups of about 8 - 10, and went to lunch. I'm a big fan of small groups, just because it gives you a stepping stone to meeting the other 190 people in our class. After lunch we went back to the auditorium for a lecture on how to brief/outline a case, and then we went back over to the law school building and had a "break out" session, which basically meant we had about four 2 and 3Ls come and tell us about the first week of classes, and what to expect this semester. They also gave us the inside scoop on all our professors. That was nice. After that was the ice cream social, and I got to walk around meeting more people.

Thursday was supposed to go from 9 to 3, or at least that's what the countless emails we got said, but on the program we got on Wednesday, at the top, it said 9:30 - 3 for Thursday, but about 3/4 of the class didn't see that (including myself, I wonder if it was the first test). We spent the first hour in the auditorium listening to various speeches from various alumni, and then went over to the law school and had our professionalism seminar... basically we were given a bunch of ethical problems to discuss. It was fun. After that was lunch. I think the idea was that the 1Ls and alums were supposed to mingle, but that didn't really happen. After that all the 1Ls had to get their picture taken. Section 3 went first, then 1, then 2. I'm in Section 2, so I had to wait until 2 to go get in line. In the meantime I got the wireless key so I can get onto the Law School's wireless, and then I went and met some more people. I actually just randomly sat at a table, and it was full of people from section 1. They were all really cool, and one of them is holding a potluck on Saturday that I got invited to. I also met a few more guys in section 2. One of them was working on getting a group together to go to the home football games. So now, I also have someone to tailgate, and sit with. :-D

So far, I'm really liking law school. I'm definitely pushing myself out of my comfort zone by putting myself out there to meet people, but I haven't been disappointed yet. :) I have a goal to meet everyone in my section, and actually know them by name by the end of the semester. There's only 70 of us, so I think it is totally doable. It's the meeting people outside my section that will be hard, because my classes are only with the people in my section. Someone told me this week that going to Law School is like going back to high school, because you're with the same people day in and day out, and the years are so small (200 students is the biggest number they have had, possibly ever) that news travels fast. Good to know I think. I am totally ready for classes to start! Tonight though, I'm heading out on the town (at least until 1am when all the bars close, Lol).

I have internet!

So I finally have internet so I can finally update y'all on what's going on!!!

So I moved down to Oxford, MS this past Monday. I got up at like 7 am and headed out the door half an hour later with my car packed. Got here around 9 - 9:30, got unpacked, and waited around for Comcast to come out and see if they can service my house for internet. Now I was back in my room unpacking all morning, and I didn't see them in the afternoon, so I assumed they had come that morning. Being in a new house was weird that first day. I was trying to read and do some of the homework I had already gotten, but I could not concentrate! When Lori, my roommate, got home from work, it was a little better, because at least there was someone else in the house, and that night when I went to bed, I slept great (my bed, is like sleeping on a cloud! I love it! Best investment ever)!!!

Tuesday, I went out and did all my errands... grocery shopping, getting the lay of the town and campus, etc... I also called Comcast, and they had no clue what I was talking about, someone coming out to service my house, mostly because they had no clue where Oxford, MS was. This really made me mad because I had been jerked around by them for like 2 days last week about this same thing. So I called dad, and was like, I'm done with Comcast, and he said before we did that, to let him call and see if he could figure it out. About a half hour later he called to tell me that Comcast didn't service Oxford, but gave me the name of a company that did, the phone number, and the person he had been speaking to. I called them up, and made an appt. to get my internet installed Friday! I was super happy! Another big thing of the day, is while I was getting the lay of the land, I got into a fender bender. Go figure. Basically, this guy and myself were both backing out at the same time and we backed into each other. So, that was pleasant.

Wednesday and Thursday was taken up with orientation (see next blog for synopsis on those days).

Then today, Friday, I went to go get my Mississippi driver's license because I HAVE to establish residency after this year, it cuts my tuition by more than half! In order to do that, I have to have a MS driver's license, MS voter's registration card, and MS tags on my car. So I got the first two done, and found out that in order to get the tags I needed the car title and an odometer reading. Dad is coming into town tomorrow to help me finish putting things together, and he is going to bring the title then, so sometime next week, I'll be able to go to get that done. The only other thing I have to do is stay in MS for a year (that includes the summer), and then I'll be set. I also had the Metrocast people come out and give me internet today. They left about 1 and said the internet will take about a half hour to get to the modem, but then I should be good to go. About 5:30 I called them saying that I still wasn't getting internet, and after about 45 minutes of waiting, they informed me that they had the wrong Mac Address... go figure, but they got the problem fixed, and now I have internet!!!!

Tonight I'm going out to dinner with Lori, her boyfriend, and one of her friends. Tomorrow, Dad is coming in, in the afternoon, to finish helping me set up some things (like I said above), and then that evening, I'm going to a potluck dinner with some new friends that I met at orientation. :) I am kind of excited. Then on Sunday I have to finish the reading for classes. Then, on Monday... I start classes!!! Definitely ready to get going. I know that on Thursday, the LSSB is having a Back to School Party (btw, one good thing about law school, is that everyone is legal to drink here, so parties, can have alcohol with not a ton of rules), and then the next week are elections (and I think I'm going to run for something, either LSSB or Honor Council, not sure yet), and then Sept. 4 is the first home game, and I am beyond excited about that!!!

pics of my new place

My new house in Oxford, MS (the washer and dryer usually aren't on the porch)

My bedroom 1

My bedroom 2

Kitchen

Living room

Dining room/Breakfast bar

Bathroom

Backyard

These are pics of my new place in Oxford, MS. I'll be officially moved in this Sunday. Woot!

finances

So I have worked for over a year now. I made about $12,000 for the whole year (not too bad I think). So to help myself out, I put $6000 into investments and have made a pledge not to touch it until I graduate (unless it drops below my stop point. Hopefully, it won't do that). At the point, I put about $1000 in my checking and everything else in my Savings. So here's the thing... I've been saving most of this to help me out with things I would want/need to buy for school, like furniture (I did find that great deal on the bed), and that was hard seeing my account drop like that, then there was the bathroom stuff, then there were the storage boxes I got for when I was cleaning out my room, then I had to buy a desk and chair, then I had to move money over to my new account to cover my first month's rent, then I had to buy my books! I mean, I will reimburse myself for the rent and books once I get my loans, but, I don't get that for another month! And I'm slowly seeing my bank account go down, down, down, and did I mention down???
I still, kinda have income, because I've been working two days a week in the kitchen, but I'd forgotten how hard it was not to have cash at the ready. It's been a long time since I've worked something other than serving. I am by no means broke, and of course my parents would help me if it's really something I needed, but it's more a matter of pride. I worked so hard for that money! I dealt with people! (and for anyone who's ever done that, you know what I mean.) So here I am, a month left, and I think I've bought everything that I will need until the loan money comes in (except maybe a pre-stainer for when I stain my chest). I got out some cash today and have limited myself to that. That's all I get until my loans come in (for fun stuff that is, ie going out to dinner with friends, or going out period, shopping, random things I see that I want to buy). Hopefully, this will work, because I've had my fun... now it's time to live on a budget! I know how, I just don't like to (i'm sure many people have the same feelings).

They say it's my birthday....

Well yesterday was at least. I had an awesome day. Tuesday night I got my present from my parents... a TomTom so I will never be without a way to find out where the heck I am and how to get where I'm going (I'm a little directionally challenged, so I totally wanted/needed this one). Then yesterday, I attempted to sleep in, but woke up at my normal time, 9:30 (yes I do realize this is sleeping in for most people, however when I see my little sister sleep til noon easily everyday she is allowed, I get a little jealous). My plan for the day was to sit around and do as little as possible before work, but I ended up having to do my laundry and run a few errands. However, I did get out of cleaning for a day. :) I also treated myself to a small shopping spree. I took the money I got from the English side of my family (about $125) and added $75 of my own money that I got from selling a TV a few weeks ago, and headed to Old Navy (yay deals!!!!). I got some awesome new clothes, and I still have enough leftover for a pair of shoes, so I'm going to go out (probably this weekend) and get some new shoes (because everyone knows I need ANOTHER pair of shoes, the girl who brought 5 or 6 pairs for a 4 day trip to Austin). Then I came home, finished my laundry, and went and laid out in the pool for an hour or so. Last night I did have to work (I only work two days a week so I felt bad asking off), however, I totally got one of the kitchen guys to make me chocolate chip cookies! It totally pays to be nice to those guys... they totally take care of me.

Yesterday was definitely one of the best birthdays I have had in a while. It wasn't a huge celebration or anything, but I just got to chill, and I was wished happy birthday over a hundred times (maybe that has something to do with it). I got like 10 texts, countless facebook posts, many well wishes at work, and a call from my grandparents. It definitely reminds you that you are loved, and people care about you. So thanks to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday!

It's weird, because my birthday (to me) signals the end of summer being near. When I was in high school and stuff, after my birthday it was about 2 - 2.5 weeks until school started again. I have about a month left before classes start at school, and all summer, I have been begging time to go faster, and now that it is, I'm like wait, no, slow down. I'm starting to get a little nervous, but overall I am excited. I just can't believe, after months and months of waiting, that it's almost time! The whole cleaning my room process has helped to speed up this process I think. Speaking of cleaning... that's what I need to get back to... today (and possibly tomorrow) is my closet (eeek!).

Really bad at this

I am really bad at this blog thing. I was looking at my blog from when I was in Harlaxton, and I was much better at keeping up with that one. Oh well. So let's see... in the past month.... Wow...

The main event of the last month was the two weeks my family spent in England. We left on my mom's birthday (a nice birthday present for her) and came back two weeks later. We spent the first week in the Lakes with my grandparents and uncles. It was a ton of fun. We went shopping and some short hikes, ate at pubs almost everyday (my favorite kind of food), and went on a ropes course. The weather was amazing while we were there sunny and high 60s/low 70s. We left after a week of being there and headed to Wales. We saw an awesome castle along the way and spent the night in Holyhead. The next morning we caught the ferry across to Dublin. We spent the next 3 days in Ireland. The first day we were there we drove down to Cork, and the hotel we stayed in was absolutely amazing, good job dad. If you want details on the hotel, you can ask Chelsea. The next day we went to Blarney Castle, and then headed back to Dublin. The next day was spent exploring Dublin. We went to the Guinness Factory, Trinity College, and St. Patrick's Cathedral. There was this really cool bridge there in the shape of the Irish Harp, it was pretty sweet. The next day we got back on the ferry and headed back to England. We drove to Coventry and had dinner with Uncle Stephen and Lynne, and then on Friday we got up and all of us, and Uncle Stephen headed to London. We spent the morning at Hampton Court and then grabbed some lunch. We said our goodbyes and headed into London. We dropped off the car, went and checked into our hotel, and then went to go see Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theater. Now, I own the movie, so I knew the plot, but seeing it live was absolutely amazing! Two weeks on and I'm still reeling!!!! The next day, Saturday, Chels and I went to the Tate Modern Art Museum, an interesting adventure in itself, and then we went shopping down Oxford St. We had been given pretty much 200 pounds for our visit over there, and we had spent very little up to that point, so we got quite a few nice things. That night we went to the Medieval Banquet. It was a ton of fun! The food was good, and the people next to us had the World Cup playing on their phone, so we got to Watch the England v. USA game. :) The next day we headed home.

That's obviously the shortened version, and if you follow me on Facebook, you know most of this already. This trip was awesome, and definitely opened my eyes. I have decided that I would really like to live over there, and work. I don't know how/if this will happen, and obviously it won't happen for at least 3 years, but I think it's possible. If anything, I'll at least own a house over there, and it will be my vacation destination. Who knows, maybe one day I'll have a job where I can work from home and live over there, but work in the US.

After I got back, I went back to work, but I've decided I don't want to spend my last summer vacation working (during law school I get summer vacations, but I'll have to have internships during those). So I will serve until July 1, and after that I will only expo Mondays and Wednesdays through the month of July. It'll give me an extra $200, and if for some reason, I see I'm running low on cash, I can just pick up an extra shift. Father's Day was insane for me. I worked 12.5 hours without a break, but I made $227 on the day. Not too shabby in my opinion.

I've also decided I'm addicted to Barnes & Nobles. I go there for one book and come out with 5. Oh well, I'm trying to get as much pleasure reading in now, since I don't know how much pleasure reading i'll do during school. Speaking of school. I start August 18 with orientation. I'll be officially moving down there August 14, but I'll probably be making some trips all through August moving stuff down and such. My new address will be: 1313 Ashley's Dr. Oxford, MS 38655

Anyways, that's all for now!

The insane weekend that was Mother's Weekend

On another note... I worked all weekend. Made good money doing so, but it made for a long weekend. Friday I subbed at Saint Benedict, and spent the evening relaxing for a long/busy weekend. Saturday everyone in my family was up and dressed by 8:30, a rare occurrence for us. Chelsea had her first life guarding class, dad was brewing his summer ale, and I was heading off to work my (hopefully) last double. I needed to be at work by 9. I bartended that morning, and it takes me at least an hour to open the bar, usually more like 2. We open at 11, but we had a dance class at 9:30. That's right, those line dances we do at Texas Roadhouse... we actually have classes to learn those. So I spent the morning/early afternoon at the bar, took a 30 minute break, and then served the rest of day. I ended up clocking out around 11:30. So for those counting, that's 14 hours (w/o the 30 minute break). However, I made the money to reflect such a long shift, $159. Of course Mother's Day is the busiest day of the year for the restaurant industry, so that makes the weekend, one of the busiest. The first people didn't get cut until 10pm, we close at 11. Of course our MP spent the majority of the shift freaking out and fighting with the kitchen staff and just being very insecure all around.

On Sunday, I got up and went to church and then headed off to work at 3. I knew it was Mother's Day, but it is also Sunday, and I think having that mindset made things a lot easier for me. Plus, I didn't have to deal with groups over 5. A real plus in my book because parties can be bad, but parties on Sunday... forget about it. I don't want it. That's the fastest way to crush a server's spirit. I was very proud of myself. I stayed in a good mood pretty much the whole day (except when i started getting hungry before the pizza came). Our MP stayed fairly calm (at least calm for him) the whole afternoon shift too! I was very proud of him.

At church, the sermon was about sacrificing, the story was about Hannah and Samuel. And although I know that the pastor was actually talking about sacrificing money for our building campaign to expand our church, I took it in a different light. We had 6 doubles yesterday, and man do I feel sorry for them. Some made good money, some, not so good (it's those parties again). However, we also had 3 food runners yesterday. One in the morning, and two at night. Now on top of tipshare that we pay the hosts, SAs, and bartenders (3% of our sales) we also have to tip out the food runners out of our own tips. I usually tip $5 - $7 to the one food runner who works on Saturday nights, but I haven't had two food runners since I worked at the Evansville TRH. When the food runners were cut, tipping them $5 a piece (instead of say $3 a piece) meant the difference between making over $100 and not for me, so it was difficult for me to decide to stick with the $5 a piece thing. However, the food runners were cut about 9 when the first people were cut, and about 10 min later the next set of people were cut, and so the late nighters who came into eat got sat in my section. So I had three more tables before the night was up at 10. And their tips put me back over $100 in tips. $102 to be more specific. So whether it really is or not, I saw that as my reward for not being stingy with my tip out. :)

For the week I'm at 34 hours, after tonight I'll be at 38 hours and $284... not bad for a busy weekend. Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

So this past weekend was Mother's Day weekend, in case anyone was under a rock and didn't realize it. :) In my family, we don't do a whole lot for Mother's Day, partly because Mom's Birthday is usually 2 - 3 weeks later, and partly because we're a super busy family, an it's hard to plan stuff like that. I got my mom a card and a gift card to Sport's Authority because she's a PE teacher and is really big into running. I figured she would enjoy that more than a Barnes and Nobles gift card (which I think is something I would enjoy more). I love my mom very much, and I think sometimes we don't tell her enough in my family. She gets up and cooks us breakfast on weekends, and listens without judging, and plays referee in our family. I think she plays referee the most because anyone who knows my dad, sister, and I knows that we are very stubborn, and very stuck in our ways, so disagreements are plentiful in our family. So here's for all the arguments she puts an end to, all the eyes she opens to the other party, all the breakfasts, and all the listening she does. Mom, I love you!!!!!!!

And the winner is....

OLE MISS!!!! Or the University of Mississippi as it is officially known. I am really excited. I was leaning that way, but was still considering Memphis because it was cheaper, and I knew my dad really wanted me to go Memphis as well. So last Tuesday my mom and I went to Memphis, so that she would have something to compare Ole Miss too, and my dad had already seen it. So Friday, my dad, mom, and I drove down to Oxofrd, MS for admitted students day, which was basically an open house for students who had been admitted to Ole Miss. It was really important to me for my parents to see Ole Miss, and see what it was that I can't describe, which is the atmosphere.

As we were driving home, I told my parents what I still liked about it, and asked their opinions. My mom told me that she really liked it, and could see why I did. And then I asked my dad, and he asked me if I really wanted to hear what he had to say, and I told him yes. He asked what i thought he was going to say, and so I said that he probably thought it was a nice school but still the money spent wouldn't be worth it. However, he completely surprised me and did a complete 180. He said, the resources and benefits of going to a school like Ole Miss would be worth the $12,000 extra the first year, as long as I est. residency by the next year.

I was so happy that I had their approval of my decision. I decided to take one more night to sleep on it and make sure it was what I wanted, but when I woke up on Saturday I knew that was my decision. So now, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel, and now I just have to get all the other stuff in order so I can head South in the fall. :)

Ole Miss vs. Memphis

Ok, so I am having a huge problem deciding which law school to go to. I have narrowed it down to two schools (a feat I thought would make life easier, but has turned out to make it difficult). I have made my pro/con lists, I have visited both schools (twice after this Friday), I have done the math about how much I will have to borrow, AND how much I will have to pay a month after I graduate to pay each loan off in 10 years. I told myself I would make a decision by Easter, but now Easter has come and gone and I am still no closer to a decision. As I start to lean one way, something will be said, or I'll remember something, etc... and then all of a sudden I'm leaning the other way. I will have to reach a decision this weekend. My seat deposits are due one week from today. I'm sure I would be happy at either place, and so in theory, I could just flip a coin, and go with that. Somehow, I don't think that's the best way to pick a law school though. So here I am in an endless debate with myself on where to go, with the decision date looming ever so close. In the mean time here are some of the pros and cons I am considering for each school.

Pros for Memphis include: close to home, I know people and the area, it's cheaper by about $10,000, good bar passage/employment rate, brand new campus, and lots of study space.
Pros for Ole Miss include: better cost of living, close to home, but not home, big school amenities, lots of practical experience to choose from, they will have a new building come Christmas, they also have a good bar passage/employment rate.
Cons for Memphis include: It's close to home, live downtown, fewer options for classes, and the curriculum is more structured than most other law schools.
Cons for Ole Miss include: it's a big campus, it's expensive if i don't establish residency, and I'd have to start over again.

A rough week...

So I've had two major problems this week... my dad and my boss. I know I should just let both roll off my shoulders, and truth be told, I'm pretty much over the first, but the second is driving me insane.

I realize that I will always be a child in my dad's eyes, but I really wish he wouldn't treat me as one. I'm almost 23 years old, and I'm pretty sure that gives me a right to have an opinion of my own. If I don't like Memphis, then I shouldn't have to stay here. As most of you know, I've been applying to law schools, well last week I got accepted to Louisiana State University, University of Memphis, Mississippi College, and Faulkner University. Now those last two were "just in case" schools... Ones I applied to in case I didn't get into any others. Honestly, Memphis was as well, when I first applied. However, I received the LSU and Memphis acceptance letters on the same day. So I immediately started doing more in depth research. Mom and I started talking about going to visit LSU over her spring break, but when it came time to make sure it was ok with dad if we went, he told me there was no point in going to visit LSU because there was no point in going there. In fact, apparently, I was going to go to Memphis and live at home (yeah right). Now law school is three years of school, and generally wherever you go to school is where you get hired. And before I move from there, I have tog et some experience and pay back some of my school loans. So we're talking a minimum of 7 to 8 years before I would be able Memphis. I am not the biggest fan of Memphis, so that would be like torture. Unfortunately my dad only sees the practical side of things. We got into an argument about it, and finally I just walked away.

I don't disagree with the things my dad was saying about Memphis (except the living at home part), Memphis is much cheaper, and actually because of the fact I was considering Memphis as a real option, and if I had had to choose that day whether to go to LSU or Memphis, I'm not really sure which I would have chosen. Of course after the argument Memphis dropped way down on my list. Now I know I shouldn't not choose Memphis because of my dad, but him treating me like a child when he told all of this just made it that much harder not to be petty about it.

The other rough thing this week is my boss. Now everyone has bosses that they dislike for various reasons, but this guy, Jason Gibson, is the absolute worst. He is condescending, he calls you out in front of everyone if you do something wrong, he tends to be rude to the guests, many of regulars have chosen not to come back because of him, he causes chaos in the kitchen, he won't listen to any criticism, not even from his assistant managers, in fact he does stuff behind their backs like changing schedules and hiring new people when we don't need anymore. I have a shirt that says "I love my job" on the back, and I used to wear it with pride, because I did love my job, I loved the environment, I loved the people, but I try and avoid wearing it now because it's just not true anymore. It's gotten to the point where if you're not kissing Gibson's butt, then he's a butt to you. I've already seen 3 or 4 people fired for the stupidest reasons. Everyone is afraid for their job, and most of us feel like the only reason we're there is to train our replacements. We've decided that we need to do something, we just can't see the answer yet.

It has been proposed that we meet with his boss... I'm curious if anyone thinks this would accomplish anything, because there are mixed feelings about this. I mean this guy must have been hired for some reason, but if three or four of us sit down with his manager with a list of real items, not just "he hurt my feelings" do you think there's a shot he'll listen? There's many people who want to just get him fired, but I'm willing to give him a chance to change, if he can. What do y'all think?

Update

So i haven't written in about 2 months. I'm so bad at keeping up with this. When I do think about writing, I think nothing interesting has happened lately. Over Christmas I enjoyed spending time with the family. I didn't work much at night, worked mostly during the day. I was in charge of selling gift cards at the mall for Texas Roadhouse. So I made up the schedule, and set everything up. It felt kind of good taking on this leadership position. It really helped my manager out too, which is always a good thing to do. :) I was also sick over Christmas. About four days before Christmas I was hit with the flu, or something similar. It was not a happy time for me. I went to the doctor, and after a panic attack and two shots, i started feeling better, so by the time Christmas hit I just had a cold. On top of being sick I had this really bad cough though. I sounded like I was coughing up a lung for almost two months, it's just now almost gone. Ended up on quite a few antibiotics to get rid of it.
At work we have a new general manager. Very few of us us like him. He's just kind of dumb. He acts like he knows stuff when he doesn't at all, and then tries to tell us something that is right when everyone knows it is wrong (like what kind of beers we sell). I don't know, he's trying, but there's a lot of changes going on, and he's been hiring quite a few new people that we don't need because it's the slow part of the year. Makes everyone think there is some firing that will be going down soon. On the bright side, I won the gift card sales contest. i sold about $2100 in gift cards so I won a new 32" flat screen LCD TV. However, I already own two tvs, so I am selling this prize to a coworker. It's pretty nice.
I am also getting to bartend. I started training this past Monday. I should be behind the bar on my own in about 3 weeks. I am so excited about that. After two years, I'm finally getting my shot. I have noticed one hard thing about being behind the bar. When you're behind the bar, you're not allowed to leave the bar, because there's only one bartender at a time. At least when I'm serving if I'm having a bad night, or customers are being jerks I can go into the back and vent to the other servers. I can't do that as a bartender, I have to be friendly and happy the whole time.
The last couple things going on... One, I've heard from 6 law schools so far. 5 have rejected me (Boston College, Boston University, Cornell, Georgetown, and University of Virginia) and 1 has wait listed me (American University). I still have quite a few out, so I've still got a lot of waiting to do, which is really hard. My patience is truly being tested. Lastly, last week, I got to go on a date for the first time in about two years. :-D I served a guy last Monday and gave him my number, well actually one of my coworkers stole his credit card receipt before I could give it back to him, and wrote my number and I just didn't scratch it out. He texted me that night and we went out on Tuesday. He took me to dinner at Olive Garden and a movie, Book of Eli. It was a great night. A very casual, get to know you thing. We went out again on Thursday. We went bowling, and then just talked for the rest of the night. It was definitely a great time, and he was very polite and super cute! Unfortunately... he lives in Baton Rouge, LA. Oh well... C'est la vie! :)