March 24th

Saturday, March 27, 2010

I feel I would be ungrateful if I did not denote what Wednesday the 24th was. While to me it is a day that I have bad memories and am prone to crying it is also the day that I was granted  the blessing of continuing to live. You see I am a survivor of the Westside Middle School shootings that took place 12 years ago. I was 12 at the time and a innocent girl who had no clue her life would be forever changed.  When I say survivor yes that means that the bullets flew around me and I am very lucky to be alive. I do not want to dwell on the morbid things I saw or that occurred but I have recently found that this experience has been effecting some of my decisions in my law career. I would like to be a criminal lawyer, and no doubt I would prefer to be a prosecutor.  I do think I could handle being a defense lawyer because I have grown up and seen how the world shapes people and why they choose what mistakes they make and of course everyone deserves a day in court. However, being able to represent victims is where my heart lies in working. I was recently at an interview with the prosecutors office and they asked my why do I want to be a prosecutor. I had to be honest with them, I have been a victim of a crime and it has changed my views to be more of a prosecutor than a defense attorney. This you might think is an advantage, but in real truth it is also a weakness when the interviewers heard this no doubt images of nancy gracy popped into their minds. And of course, the next question was then how can I be impartial.   That is a good question, and one I kinda fumbled with when answering. I had never considered this.  Now I look back and wish I had answered that yes that experience has shaped who I am and my beliefs in life but I have moved on and forgiven, that I have grown up to experience so many other events that have shaped my motivations that I am not the same person I was after the shooting.

Horse Races

On Thursday John and I took a vacation from cleaning and work and went to Oaklawn horse races down in Hot Springs. This was the first time either one of us had ever been to a horse race. Overall it is really a cheap experience only costing us about 15 dollars to get in and sit in a nice box seat. We did not bet but we did take turns on our paper guessing who we thought would win and place, might I say I am not that bad on guessing winners. John always tried to pick an underdog so he did not fair as well. It was really exciting to watch the horses come around the track and feel the fervor of the crowd screaming in anticipation of a win. The only sad part was when one horse broke his hock and had to be put down right there on the race track. They tried to hide what was happening with a tarp but the wind got the best of it and we were able to see them lower the horse down and give him an injection. It was so painful watching the horse with his lower part of his leg dangling. It brought out the other not so pleasant side of horse racing, it is really dangerous and hard on horses to be run that fast for so long. Growing up I read the Thoroughbred book series so I always wanted to watch a horse race, but I think the glamour of racing is gone for me.

Spring Cleaning

Saturday, March 20, 2010

So I have spring break this week, and it could not be a better time for me to spring clean. I am taking an area each day so I don't overwhelm myself with it all at once and burnout. My favorite checklists I have found to use are these: Cleaning 101
I like how they go step by step in each room, and even martha stewart is not as thorough. My tips for spring cleaning are to do it when you wake up and have not showered yet, take an allergy pill, listen to music or audio books, and keep paper and pen near by to write down extensive repairs or organizers you need to buy so you wont get distracted from the task at hand. On a funny side note my cats have learned how to open our cabinets and get in them. It is crazy to open my towel drawer and low and behold one is sleeping in it. Well I will do some fun stuff this week and will keep you posted on that.

Jasper & Javan's 1st Birthday

Saturday, March 13, 2010

This week marks our beautiful cat's first Birthday. I cannot believe that last Easter my parents brought two cute kittens to live with us. Well at first we just wanted one cat so my parents brought just Jasper. But after a few nights of Jasper crying and following us around to each room because he didn't want to be alone we decided that with our busy schedule should get him a sibling playmate. So we meet my parents half way and came home with Javan. The first time Javan was handed to me he was so scared that he bit me in the neck for guy. Both our boys have had a long year, they both got shots, neutered, and declawed. They have grown so much Jasper weighs 15 pounds and loves to wake us up in the morning for his food-our own personal alarm clock. Javan doesn't weigh as much and has a shoe fetish. I made them a cat case modeled after what I saw on Martha Stewart's website-a can of cat food with a candle and dry cat food sprinkled all over the food. They are such sweet comforts to us and I do hope we have many more birthdays to come.

Beginning March

Sunday, March 7, 2010

For the first week of March we kept busy but the things calmed down more. I am still sick-so frustrating. I had to teach the YW at church on Sunday (28) and I was struggling to just stay at church. I had to leave sacrament meeting I was coughing so hard. I had some church leaders give me a blessing so I could get through the day. It sucks being sick but even more when you have been sick for over 3 months. I think it is a sinus infection that is not going away but has its days when it is good and some days when i feel horrible. John thought I was taking too much over the counter medicine so I decided to stop taking all of them I was taking for my cough. I have been off of it for a few days and it has not really changed my condition so I guess they were not helping me that much. I may just have to go back to the doctor and see if there is a way to make the cough and congestion go away. I also had another interview this week. John had breakfast with the ym and other youth leaders to get all his scouting stuff in order and I think he is all set up so maybe he will have a handle on his scouting stuff now.

Week February 22-28

This week was a lot of work John had to get together all his scout stuff and learn what to do. He owes some people thank you's for all the questions they answered. I also had my International Law Exam since the class was a short 5 week program. I think it went well but it was crazy trying to answer an 8 pg essay test in one hour. I had my first interview this semester. I am interviewing for clerkship's for this summer and next year. Interviewing was better this semester I felt more relaxed and not as scared. I also made sure that I wore a shirt and not pants, this may sound weird but Arkansas is really conservative and they want women in shirts if possible. So I will have to wait and see what job offers I get and if externing at the judges office has paid off. At my externship I had to have a complete draft of my 12 page opinion turned in. It was a crazy week and I just needed a bubble bath by the end of the week.

Stomp

This week we also went to the Stomp Show which was our valentines day gift. John had seen them before, but I hadn't. We sat in the Balcony with all the High School kids who apparently took this as a field trip. It was really cool hearing all the noises that a common worker makes turned into music. The story line is set on the streets of a big city and there is one worker who is kinda a slacker as comedy relief. My favorite songs were when they used fire lighters and the other one was sinks and dishes. It was hour and a half long and John was so bored after thirty minutes. I really liked it and hope we can go to the theater again soon. This week our date night was geocaching and we hit a few cites. For more information on this see our geocaching link.