Fondue, Bluegrass Festivals, and Mental Institutions!

Yesterday Michelle and I decided to use some movie tickets that had been given to her as a gift. These weren't just any movie tickets though... but movie tickets to the Gold Class Cinemas in Redmond. You sit in recliners and watch a movie as dinner is served to you! Sounds great right? Well it would have been great if we were both 21, but we're not. We worked out a refund for her gift card and decided we would make our own dinner and a movie extravaganza!

We drove into Bellevue to the Landmark Theatre to see 'Shutter Island'. I have to mention how awesome this theatre is! They have leather seats, a HUGE screen, and the slope of the seats is high enough that we could easily see over the people in front of us. The movie turned out to be really good too! The whole movie is about this Marshall who goes to a mental institution to investigate a missing inmate. However as the movie progresses you begin to wonder if he is the crazy one himself... After they tell you that he is crazy and you basically except that the entire movie was a figment of his imagination the final scene leaves it open to interpretation. I won't ruin it more than that.

After the movie we wandered around downtown Bellevue and stumbled upon a bluegrass music convention??? We questioned our sanity, mainly because we just watched Shutter Island.

Then we drove home and I talked Michelle into working out. We played racquetball and did an arm workout. We had never worked out together in a gym before, and the first experience was great! Hopefully I can talk her into another visit (for the company! She is beautiful in every way).

For dinner we made our workout worthless by going to the Melting Pot in Queen Anne. We had a cheese fondue appetizer, an extremely overpriced salad, and an absolutely delectable pot of chocolate s'mores fondue. Thank you Michelle's Uncle!

Cheers!

UW Law School Open House

Well I just got home from the first annual UW Law School Open House for the class of 2013 and I am more excited than ever! The faculty that I met were awesome. The students who spoke to us were full of stories about the opportunities that UW has made available for them. I met a ton of great people, and one in particular who had actually taught on a South Dakota Reservation through the Teach for America program. I am so excited to be surrounded with such interesting and intelligent people. After our little Q&A session we watched the final round of a moot court competition which made law school much more real for me. I could see myself in front of the court presenting the case, and I was confident enough to think I could have done just fine!

The next step in my law school saga is to hear if I was chosen to give an interview for the Gates Public Law Scholarship... fingers crossed.

In other news, I was able to sign up for the evening Spanish class at South Seattle Community College today which means that I am going to graduate! Hooray for me!!!

Cheers!

Native Law Meeting

Today I met with the head of the Native American Law Program at the University of Washington, and I'm soaring on cloud 9! He explained the program and all of the opportunities for their students. The interesting thing is that not much of it is verbalized on their website. They give a few Native American law courses, but not as many as other schools. However he said that there were so many different of aspects of Native American law that students should take business law classes, tax law classes, environmental law classes, property classes, basically everything! They don't have a Native American Law Certificate, but their Environmental Law Certificate includes Native American law? They have a competitive law clinic where students are given the opportunity to actually represent Native clients in the Tulalip Tribal court system. Not to mention all of the research opportunities and work study opportunities. I am so excited to go to Law School! I hope this feeling never goes away...

Cheers!

Exciting Two Days!

Well I have an exciting two days coming up! Tomorrow afternoon I am meeting with the head of the Native American Law Department at UW to talk about the program. My goal is to introduce myself, learn a little about him, and learn about all the wonderful opportunities that I will be able to take part in. He only has a few minutes to talk, but this is my first contact with the law school since my acceptance!

On Friday I get to have a lovely visit with a counselor at South Seattle Community College. I am a University of Washington early entrance, double major, honors student going to a T1 law school next year and I have to go speak to a counselor at a lower end community college about signing up for Spanish 103. It seems like a waste of my time, but oh well! You have to do what you have to do...

After I meet up with Michelle we are going to head to the Admitted Students Open House at UW! I am going to do my best to meet as many people as possible, be confident and conversational, and find out when UW sends out financial aid information. Apparently financial aid is doled out based on your need, and according to my FAFSA my need is "A LOT... Damn you're broke!" I also want to get a sense of where people are planning on living next year...

Man, this week is flying by...

Cheers!

Over 200 lbs!

I decided it was time to start lifting weights again, so I went to the gym last night and kicked my own ass. I felt really good about myself until I stepped on the scale and weighed in at 202 lbs! I have never had a problem with my weight and still think I look fine, but something about that damned 2. I simply can't have my weight in the 200's, at least not during this decade. To tell you the truth, my weight fluctuates quite a bit so I have probably already reached my goal of 199 today. Oh well, I'm still going on a diet for the next few days. The gym is also going to become a part of my routine for the next few weeks (before Spring Break!).

Cheers!

Grrreat Weekend!

Well I had a wonderful weekend! On Friday I headed up north to see mi novia, and the drive was great! Why was the drive great you ask? Well, because the Jetta was running like a champ and the weather was fantastic. Michelle and I went to the store and bought some goods for dinner and I convinced her to watch "Bridge over the River Kwai". It won seven academy awards in 1957 which means it has to be good... right?

WRONG! Okay, so I was entertained for most of this nearly three hour movie. The first half of the movie is completely different than the second half and the ending sucked. Here is my suggestion. They should have turned this into two movies and wrote two MUCH better endings.

On Saturday we drove to the Lummi Reservation which overlooks Bellingham and Mt. Baker across the bay. It was absolutely gorgeous, but the poverty on the reservation was disheartening. Just another reason to go to law school... Anyways, it was gorgeous. Beautiful beaches seemed to be a theme for the weekend. We also went to the Bellingham waterfront and read together. Well, Michelle spent most of her time people watching (a favorite pastime). I guess this might have happened on Friday?

Well on Sunday we woke up and went to the waterfront in Fairhaven. We got a perfect parking spot in a crazy crowded park and were able to catch some Washington sunshine. Sunday afternoon I went to see my Mom and we watched the hockey game together. It was an awesome game, and seeing my Mom get nervous about hockey was pretty entertaining. We also went over some information on the Southwest in preparation for my Spring Break Adventure. I drove home and fell asleep to thoughts of how wonderful my weekend was!

Cheers!

SO Excited for Spring Break!

I let you all know that I was going on a Spring Break road trip to see Law Schools, but I got into UW which makes all of that quite unnecessary. Heaven knows that I can't just cancel the road trip though because I want to spend this quality time with my girlfriend (and go to Spring Training!). Since this has opened up the itinerary of our trip, I have been having SO much fun looking at stuff to do in the Southwest. My big question right now is whether I can find a way to see everything that I want to see in Arizona and Utah without having to take the same road back to Seattle that we will take going in. We could always go home through California, or even take a drive through Vegas... On the other hand, we could keep the same trip itinerary as we had before I got into UW and drive home via Denver. I would just be much happier doing a loop rather than taking one road down and the same road back.

In other news, I still can't think of anything to get the Professors who wrote me recommendations... fail.

Cheers!

Pitchers and Catchers Report!

Today marks the official start of Spring Training for the Seattle Mariners. All of the Catchers and Pitchers have headed down to Peoria where they underwent their physicals. There is a really interesting article about the entire process at http://www.seattlemariners.com/.

The M's have a whole bunch of questions heading into this Season, with the biggest being who exactly is going to close out our rotation. We have Felix and Lee as the best 1-2 punch in baseball and Rowland-Smith was a joy to watch last year which slates him at the three spot. The question is about 4 and 5. I'm not exactly holding my breath on Erik Bedard... Even when he was healthy he would throw a solid 5 1/2 innings before handing it off to the bullpen. I really didn't see much from Ian Snell last year, but people with better eyes than me say he has a bunch or raw talent. I like Vargas, but again I wonder if he can stay healthy. I'm just happy that we have two potential 20 game winners pitching in a Seattle uniform this year.

I'm also damned excited because after getting accepted at UW my law school road trip has turned into a Spring Training road trip! Peoria here we come!!!

Cheers!

Law School Relationship

Seeing as this past Sunday was Valentines day, I figured I would speak about the idea of having a relationship in law school. I have a wonderful girlfriend who has been with me for almost the last two years. We met while I was playing baseball for the high school that she attended, and we have been loving it up ever since! However, right after we started dating she was accepted to a school that is a few hours away from UW. Now we manage to see each other every week and we talk all the time, so things have gone really well! Being the amazing girl that she is, she was willing to follow me to law school wherever I decided to attend. Now that I am going to UW, she gets to stay where she is. I think that in the long run this will work out best for both of us... She gets to finish her education debt free at a school she loves and I get the extra time I need during the week to be successful in law school.

Really, I don't see how anything is going to change when I start Law School. Although I will be a hell of a lot more busy it will all come down to how I manage my time, and seeing her is worth skipping an hour or two of xbox in the afternoon. It's funny how things always seem to work out for the better in the end!

I'm sure that I will have much more to say after my first year at UW...

Cheers!

Re: Accepted at UW

Now that I have had a few more days to accept the seemingly impossible fact that I will be at UW Law next year, I am more excited than ever. Apparently I wasn't the only one who was surprised because my lawschoolnumbers.com profile became a hot topic on the law school blog @ www.top-law-schools.com. A whole bunch of over confident potential law students were dumbstruck by the fact that I was accepted before them. I love this feeling of victory, and I look forward to the many victories to come.

Seeing as I hadn't even considered UW a possibility after my LSAT, I never took the time to actually gain a deep understanding of their program. They are well known for the credentials of their faculty, and the head of the Native American Law program is very respected in his field. They also offer a few courses in Native American law as well as an opportunity to work for public defenders in Tribal Courts. I have to go sit down and speak with Mr. Anderson, the head of the program, to see about the other opportunities that they allude to on the website.

UW also has a great student to faculty ratio of 11:1, and the new dean says that relationships are easy to build with the faculty. The new law building is absolutely gorgeous, and over the weekend I spent a little time looking around. Sadly, I wasn't able to access the floors with classrooms because they are for students only. It looks like I will have to take a guided tour after all. Apparently the 1L classes are pretty big (as much as 90 students), but during 2L and 3L those class sizes shrink down to 25. I am also a little awestruck with the shiny diamond that is UW Law. They are the highest ranked school in the entire Pacific Northwest, and if I want to practice in Seattle than UW is the place to be. The tuition is also a bargain right now, although that is probably going to change over the next few years.

I want to make sure and get a gift and write a nice thank you letter to the faculty that gave me recommendations, but I don't know what to get them??? I'll ponder and post later.

Cheers!

law.washington.edu

Accepted at UW!!!

My Dad just called with unbelievable news. Now when I say unbelievable, I mean that I still don't believe it's true. I was just accepted at the University of Washington Law School. That's a tier one law school folks. They are one of the top ten public law schools in the country. They are by far the top law school in the Pacific Northwest. According to lawschoolpredictor.com, I was an automatic reject. I never even considered the idea that I would get accepted, and now that I am coming to believe it...

How could I say no?

Cheers!!!

No love today...

Well I didn't hear from the UW law school today, and according to lawschoolnumbers.com nobody else did either. The difference between today and yesterday was that I dealt with the waiting much better... Let me give you (and myself) some advice for dealing with waiting in the future.

Keep yourself as busy as you possibly can. It doesn't need to be productive, but it needs to keep you from thinking about whatever you are waiting for. Today, for example, I was busy from 8:30 until 1:30 with various school things. I came home and was so hungry that I only thought about food, and after overeating I was so full that I took a two hour nap. I woke up and got ready for work, where I discussed religion, politics, and how awesome New Zealand is with another tutor. Now I am waiting at the library for a textbook that I need, so I am filling my time by listening to TBTL (www.tbtl.net) and writing to all of you (I wonder if anyone else reads this?).

In fact, my slate is absolutely 100% full until I get to see my wonderful girlfriend tomorrow! So take that anxiety!!!

Cheers!

P.S. Please let me know my UW fate tomorrow...

Almost ruined my streak of perfection...

In more than four years at this wonderful university I have never missed a midterm or final. In fact, I have never even been late to one. Today was almost the end of my streak.

Last night I set my alarm for what I believed was two hours before my test started. This allowed me to wake up and study a little, shower, eat, then casually stroll to class. This morning my alarm went off at 7:30 and all was going according to plan. I listened to KIRO 97.3 fm for a few minutes, studied my notes, and would you have known that I still had over an hour before my test started! At least, that's what I thought... I started up some video games and was happily playing along when I looked at the clock and realized that I was already a half hour late. I threw on sweats (no undies) and shoes (no socks) and raced my bike to school (without a bike lock). I blasted through the door and still managed to finish my test with 20 minutes to spare. It didn't have a negative effect, but it was still close...

This brings me to the question of 'why?' Well, yesterday I made the wonderful choice to check the status of my UW law application. It turns out the decision was mailed on Monday, which means that it should be here TODAY. I haven't been able to focus on anything else since, and the worst part of it is that I am expecting a rejection. If it was mailed on Monday than it should be there when I get home, although nobody else has received theirs yet (as I know from lawschoolnumbers.com and top-law-schools.com).

Let us raise our glasses to my momentary insanity!

Cheers!

Lewis and Clark!

I was accepted today at Lewis and Clark which is pretty exciting. I love its location, and it has a good reputation in the Northwest. Sadly I didn't really like the campus and was a bit turned off by the ultra liberal student body. There wasn't a scholarship offer in the packet and I don't know if one is coming separately, which makes it pretty expensive. We will have to wait and see...

In other news, my dad is letting my girlfriend and I borrow his Honda Element for a Spring Break Law School Road Trip. Whew... quite a mouthful. I need to come up with a catchier name to paint on the side of the car. Maybe I will print up a few t-shirts as well. This means that we can actually camp IN THE CAR! That's right folks. All 5 ft. 11 in. of me can stretch out comfortably in the back.

So far I have 5 acceptances and a waitlist. As for the last three schools I am expecting a rejection from UW (sadly), a waitlist from U. Arizona, and potentially an acceptance from Arizona State? Who knows really...

Cheers!

New Mexico and Gonzaga!

I was accepted at New Mexico and Gonzaga today! Gonzaga gave me a $15,500 scholarship as well. Sadly, in my excitement I figured I would look at how much each law school would cost. It quickly put a damper on my excitement. Then I began looking at what lawyers earn and the hours they work, and it wasn't pretty either. However!!! I am a smart young individual with motivation and passion. With my business degree I will also have a unique skill set that will allow me to work as a lawyer in the business sector and/or eventually open my own legal enterprise!

Still, I cringe at potentially $1500 in student loan payments per month...

Cheers!

The small things that make life wonderful...

I was walking through campus the other day, worrying about small things that don't matter and hustling to my apartment where I didn't have any immediate plans. As I walked through the quad I noticed that the sun was actually shining. It seems like it has been weeks since I've seen the sun, so I stripped off my coat and soaked up some vitamin D for a few minutes. As I closed my eyes and aimed my pale Northwest skin at the sky I realized that it is these little moments that make life so wonderful. When my girlfriend comes to visit and brings me a coke or some jellybeans I feel 'over the top' excited. A coke and a bag of jellybeans combined costs less than $4, and yet because it took time and effort for her to go out of her way to be nice to me it is worth so much more. It is just nice to stop every once in a while and realize that it isn't always about reaching the goal, but rather your journey getting there.

Cheers!

In at Oregon!

My Dad called and gave me the play by play as he opened up an acceptance letter from the University of Oregon today. They also gave me a $6000 scholarship that is renewable each year. I am very happy about this acceptance because it means that I now have the choice between Seattle and Oregon. I love that Oregon is close to home without being too close. I love that the law school is beautiful, the campus is beautiful, and it's in a wonderful location for me. I love that it won't be too expensive given the scholarship. I don't like that it doesn't have even the smallest Native American law program, and everyone warns that the job prospects are horrible in Oregon where the only real legal market is Portland. Lewis and Clark Law School is in Portland people!

I'm going to enjoy the feeling of acceptance though, and I pray for many more acceptances to come!

Cheers!

Time to choose the tickets...

Well, in the not too distant future my Dad's company will distribute M's tickets for the upcoming season. He graciously includes me in the process by allowing me to prioritize the tickets he chooses and I figured I would let you in on my thought process...

1. The best tickets of the entire season are division tickets during the last month of the season. For the M's, that means that I want to see the Angels, Rangers, and A's during Sept./Oct.

2. Next comes the opening series of the season against Oakland, as well as the interleague games against Cincinnati and the Cubs.

3. Then you have the games against the best American league teams except the Red Sox. I want to see the Rays, the Twins, the Tigers, the White Sox, etc...

4. Finally you have the leftovers... Kansas City, Cleveland, Toronto, Baltimore.

I do enjoy going to the Blue Jays games because they play the Canadian National Anthem as well as ours, and a whole bunch of Northerners migrate to Seattle for the game. The Red Sox on the other hand are HORRIBLE games to go to. Sure they have hall of famers to see, but the bandwagon Sox fans that come out of nowhere are the most annoying baseball fans alive. Most of them don't know the game at all, and those that do are so drunk by the end of the game that they can't stand up straight. If you haven't lived in the Northeast or even visited Boston, you have no reason to root for the Red Sox!!!

Cheers!