On the other side and alive!

First year is in the books. Thank goodness. As you can tell from my lack of blogging, life and school got busy and I rarely had time to update. I want to get better though because I have so many things to say. Now that I am on the other side of the first year of law school, I will reflect a little bit. The first semester was pretty awful. I didn't realize how much I needed my family until they were no longer around. It hit me somewhere around the middle of the semester that I have lived 45 minutes away from my mom or dad my whole life. Then, I found myself 4.5-6 hours away from anyone I knew before law school. My relationship worked out well for the first semester, then things seemed to fall apart the second, but we will get to that later. Long story short, first semester was lonely and somewhat sad. I found it difficult to make good friends and the ones I did make had their own lives and their own responsibilities that left very little time for fun "girl time" etc. Not to mention, law school is tough without friends to push you along and help you along when you don't understand a concept or reading. My stepfather passed away on Thanksgiving in Mexico and it took it's emotional toll. I felt torn if I would have time to prepare the way I should for exams but I pushed and did it anyway. In retrospect, I should have taken a little more time for grieving, because I think it made my first week of exams not as strong as they could have been. Then something magical (haha...ok not magical, but definitely a change for the better) happened during finals when I started studying with Liz and Ashley. Right away, we realized that we had a ton to talk about even though we barely knew each other. We spent more time getting to know each other than studying. Don't worry, we all still did reasonably well on our exams (even though we didn't know it walking out of the tests).

I spent winter break hanging out with family, doing the divorced family dance between Virginia and North Carolina. I spent time with Jon and we had some good times and some bad ones, just didn't quite seem the same as it was in August but we were determined and tried to make the best of things and made up after fights etc. We recommitted to making our relationship work. I was excited to go back to Morgantown, ready to start a new semester and give this whole law school thing a second go.

The second semester classes sucked. There is no way around that. All except Property, which was by far my favorite class the first year. It was practical, applicable, and my work at Vanguard seemed to give me some background. Something that I didn't have for any of the other classes I took. Not to mention, I had a first year professor that was both excited to be there and very encouraging. She made a big difference for me and for many of my classmates. The rest of the classes, meh. Especially Con Law. Yuck. Seriously...yuck. Long story short, I haven't gotten grades back on 4/5 classes and I don't really want them. I know lots of people don't feel that way but ignorance is bliss and I felt like I had been hit by a mac truck after several of the exams. It's really a frustrating feeling to feel like you get the class then sit in a 5 hour exam and thing to yourself, what the hell is this. You just hope that everyone else is asking themselves the same thing.

Ok, social. Second semester was sooo much better. I became best friends with Liz and Ashley and they pretty much know everything about me. These girls are wonderful and I feel so blessed to have them in my life. Turns out, you get to see everyone's true colors second semester because they are no longer trying to impress. That was a good and bad thing, depending on the person. My relationship w/ Jon seemed to fall apart at the seams. I have a lot of guilt over that, thinking that maybe if I wouldn't have left Charlotte, things would have worked out and there wouldn't have been the problems there ultimately were. Of course, no one will ever know if that's the case or not.

I am back in Charlotte for the summer because I wanted to spend some time with mom. I don't like her being all alone. I am working at the courthouse and that starts Monday. I really don't want to be back in North Carolina, which is just a pain in the butt because I worked so hard to find something over the summer down here. I would have honestly preferred staying in West Virginia at this point. I guess that's life. I will have time this summer to update more....it's been a wind-whirl year.

Week 4....I'm still alive!

Hi!

I know I haven't updated this blog as much as I initially planned but I had a feeling that law school may take over my life very fast. I was right about that so the blog quickly took a back seat. But I do want my friends and family to know that things are going great! Like everyone says, it's a lot of work but it's just building up the endurance to handle everything. The work is challenging but the real challenge for me so far is just the fact that the work keeps coming. Every day every class has a brand new assignment which usually is 10-20 pages of reading and case briefing. It's very important not to get behind because there is simply not enough time to recover.

I was worried when I got here that I would go through culture shock, not having the things and stores I had grown accustomed to in Charlotte. But I am happy to report that this is not the case. I really don't have the time or money to worry about that anyway. The only restaurant I miss like crazy is Salsaritas. There is a Qdoba but it's not quite the same as Salsaritas. So...if anyone is looking to start a franchise, move to Morgantown and open a Salsaritas. I promise I will frequent your establishment!

I have tried to get involved in things associated with the law school. There are a TON of student organizations and I have attended a few meetings to see where I can fit in and contribute. I also am playing on the flag football team which is absolutely hilarious. I am AWFUL and apparently, much more out of shape then I realized. We played last Thursday and no joke, I was sore for days!! We have quite a few games left so I need to hit the gym or something. I can't keep up with the 18 year old undergrads anymore in my old age.

Ok...just a quick update but I have some things to get done! Hope all my loves are doing wonderful. Be sure to keep in touch because I miss you all dearly!

I'm here! And tomorrow is my Birthday!

So probably not the best timing to have a birthday. In a new town a day before I know anyone. Well, almost anyone. My neighbor downstairs introduced himself to me today. The place that I am living in is brand new construction. As I had expected, there are some ups and downs associated with such a place. As with any new apartment, there are things that just weren't quite ready before I moved in. Most of those are forgivable and fixable. Some, are not so easy to live with. For instance, no cable or internet have been run to the complex yet. I have been aware of the situation for a couple of weeks and have called pretty much every day bugging everyone I could to get the work done so that I could have internet. Needless to say, I am currently sitting in a Starbucks using the free WiFi. I am a little bit (maybe a lot of bit) of a control freak. When things become out of my control, it freaks me out. Not one of my shining personality traits, I totally realize. But one that exists none the less. I am trying hard not to get frustrated and let things work...let's be honest, at this point I don't have much of a choice in the matter. I need to constantly remind myself that there will always be things that I just have to hand over to God and trust that he will make sure everything is fine. I may have to find a cheaper drink at Starbucks if I have to come in here every day. On the good side of things, the apartment is very nice. Granite counter tops, nice appliances, an electric fireplace, a green accent wall in the kitchen and over all a nice place for the price that I pay. I am a firm believer in "getting what you pay for" and I guess what I am paying for now is just being the only "real" resident in a place literally still being built. Next year, it will be a very nice complex.

For now, I have been getting my fill on Sex and the City and trying to enjoy alone time. Of course, hour long conversations with Steph and Jon help my cause. Yesterday I went to Kroger. For those of you that do not know, I grew up with Kroger in Virginia but when I moved to North Carolina, Kroger's did not exist. It was horrible because Kroger is an awesome, fabulous, fantastic place with all of my favorites. Well, Morgantown has not one but TWO Kroger's and I had a fantastic time yesterday grocery shopping (hahaha, I'm a nerd).

Kroger also has a fantastic wine section where I found my new favorite wine, "12 hands Merlot." If you haven't tried this stuff, try to pick it up because it is great. I also got an aerator for my birthday from Dad and Mary and I think I am just the wine specialists now. Too bad I don't have any friends to enjoy a glass of vino with yet. I would really like to go to Napa Valley at some point. I think I will add that to my "to do" list.

So many people made this whole transition so much better than it could have been. From saying goodbye to my friends at work, to family helping me pack and clean my apartment, family and Jon helping me actually move the furniture and making sure I have everything to be successful. My old boss at work said to me "do you feel loved?" on my last day of work and I have been thinking of it ever since because I do feel so loved and cared for. It is a wonderful feeling and I couldn't help but thanking God for putting so many loving people around me. I hope he does the same here in West Virginia. It's not really things or possessions that fill your heart, it's the people that you encounter and impact (and that impact you).

This time next week...

This time next week...I will be officially moved to West Virginia.

I have three days of work left and it has had me reflecting over the past two years of my life a lot. I have had a lot of personal growth over the past two years and am at one of those points where I can look back and appreciate the good and the bad. The first year out of college was the worst. I had no idea the transition to working full time would be something that would be so difficult for me. I have never been afraid of hard work and figured it would fall right into place in the "real world." Funny that I just now feel like I've got my footing and I am getting ready to leave.

Every particle of my body seems to resist change in a way that I can't quite explain. My mind is totally driven and wrapped around the idea of making a better life for myself while my body says "really, we have to pack and leave AGAIN?" I've never been a girl to "roll with the punches," I pretty much get knocked out and come up swinging. I like to have control and I don't like when things don't go my way. But I have learned that it's when I put myself in these uncomfortable, new places that I have the most substantial growth. Hopefully, this will prove to be the same. I know I sound like I am going to a foreign land or something but to be fair, I have never lived more than 45 minutes away from at least one of my parents.

There is so much left to do. I hate packing more than I hate refilling the brita pitcher of water in the refrigerator. I procrastinate until the very end and then let my Dad totally stress me out by just throwing my things into boxes without any regard to organization. The divorced parent plan of action goes as follows: Mom will come and help me pack/clean on Thursday then I will ban her from my townhouse (trust me when I say this with total love and emotional protection) so that my Dad can come and help me load everything into the U-haul on Friday. Dad will then pull the U-haul to WV and I will drive my car up. We will unload on Saturday and then on Sunday I will be left to unpack and re-organize my life. Monday and Tuesday I will have to myself to get everything up and running and ready to go for Orientation on Wednesday and Thursday. Oh...and Tuesday is my birthday. So I will celebrate the day by doing whatever the heck I want (a.ka. being totally lost in the mountain terrain of Morgantown). Take that year 24.

More to come.

On my way!

Ok...so not quite on my way yet but very shortly I will be packing everything up and moving up north to begin my 1st year of Law School. I want to use this blog to keep my family and friends updated as I begin to take this journey of a life time all on my own. Of course, I have had to have a ton of support from those that I love to even get this far and can only imagine the emotional support I will need moving forward.

It has been two years (really two and a half because of studying abroad) since I have been in serious school mode. This makes me nervous heading into probably the most difficult workload and curriculum I have ever experienced. But something that I do have now that I didn't have two years ago is life experience that showed me that this is really what I want to do. Law has always been in the back of my mind but when I graduated with my bachelor degree's all I wanted to do was take a break and work! It's funny how working can make you want to do nothing but get back in school. I think they call that perspective.

People say everything happens for a reason and as time progresses, I think that may be true. Or I sure hope it's true. I have had heart break and I have given out heart break (never on purpose). I have stayed true to myself and I have strayed from myself (but never too far). I have cried on the floor and had to have someone I love pick me up and I have had to pick up those that I love. I have doubted myself before and I have been confident before. Sometimes I am too emotional and sometimes I am not emotional enough. I am a scary equal mix of my Mother and my Father.

I am excited to jump into this journey completely. I don't feel like I have anything holding me back and I feel lucky to be able to do something by myself and for myself. I am not going to be afraid to ask for help and I will need encouragement and love along the way but I promise that I will try my best all the time. This truly will be determining the rest of my life and I am committed to making the rest of my life the best it can be. I can't promise this blog will always be positive and sometimes you may say "is that the girl I knew" but just know that I am growing and I am learning and I invite you all to read and comment along the way.