This is me at the start of bar exam preparation.

It has begun. Bar preparation. This time in my life that I had been blocking out since I started law school. I can no longer pretend that this three day exam + two months of studying isn't going to happen, because it is, happening, right now.

I started Bar/Bri - which is the bar preparation class most law students take - last Tuesday. We will meet every day, sometimes 7 days a week, for 3 1/2 hours from 9 - 12:30 to listen to a professor lecture about whichever Bar subject that is for that day. Last week it was Contract Law and Agency/Partnership Law, and then we fill in a lecture handout as they call it as they go on with their talk. If there was a way I could describe the boredome these three and a half hours present, I do not think I could it it justice. They have us in a ball room, at a hotel, with circular tables, seating 10 ppl a table. In an attempt to make more room for our gigantic lecture handout book, we remove chairs and because of that we got yelled at by some hotel person the other day. Don't get me wrong, i'm not naive about the necessity of this bar preparation class and the necessity of sitting there filling in blanks. It is important and i did learn more about Contracts in two days than I did in an entire semester. If only law school had been this way.

On a more fun note - I got back my grade for my 50 page paper about the death penalty and managed to get an A -. Which in law school terms = awesomeness. ha. I'm relieved, I put a lot of effort into that paper and its citations and I'm happy to be rewarded with that grade. Now just waiting on trust and wills, not so sure about that one.

This past week was Patrick's birthday! We celebrated it by going to see The Police in concert in the Woodlands. It was so fun! We were by far the youngest fans there and enjoyed every minute. They played a bunch of oldies but goodies and it was fun to see Sting lookin' so healthy at the ripe age of 57 (or something close to that). Apparently he does a lot of yoga. Maybe I need to start doing that....

STING!

I made Patrick take a stream of pics, this is my fave of about 6 of them before he made me stop taking the pictures. He doesn't normally make that face, just fyi.

This weekend is pretty relaxed. I'm typing up some notes for Constitutional Law right now (or rather after I finish this blog) and then Patrick and I are going to go see Indiana Jones tonight! YAY! Love the Indy. Then tomorrow he and I are having a "day date" and I think we are going to go to a museum somewhere, if we can find cheaper tix than $25 a person (which is the price to see the Pompeii exhibit at the Art museum, crazy). Then got a friends BBQ that night for some more relaxation. Monday will hopefully be spent productively working on Bar/Bri homework (yes you heard that right).

That's all I've got right now. Im just hoping to survive this summer. One day I'll put a pic up of the gigantic stack that is my books for Bar/Bri - let's just say about 9 books. Awesome.

Much love.

Yay: new jeans!

Dang: i think this is going to be the same all summer, or atleast till July 31...bar exam.

This is me, a LAW SCHOOL GRADUATE!!

Well I did it, I graduated from the three hardest years of my life last Friday, May 9th. I know this post is a bit delayed but the weekend was pretty crazy and non-stop, but very fun! I can't believe how fast these past three years have gone by. Seems just like yesterday I was a new Houstonian who didn't know where anything was and a new law schooler who it took about 4 hours to read 20 pages for one class. Now I have my Doctorate in Law (Doctor of Jurisprudence). You can call me Dr. Banks, J.D. if need be! And hopefully in November you can call me a Lawyer (when I hopefully pass the bar exam). I had a wonderful weekend. My family came into town on Thursday night. On Friday morning started out the day with a brunch for Mary's 25th birthday, and then headed to UH to graduate. We graduated at 2 pm on Friday. It was a long ceremony with a boring speaker, but well worth it to get hooded (that was the whole ceremony, to put a hood on us). Afterwards had a yummy dinner at the StripHouse (its a steakhouse get your mind out of the gutter ;) ) with my family and got some pretty graduation presents, my mom gave me a basket full of all my favorite snacks to help me study this summer for the bar exam (which will be the HARDEST test i have ever studied for). I will definitely need ALL the snacks! After that we went out with some friends from school and it was really fun to finally relax as not a law student! On saturday went to my friends bbq for her graduation and had some bbq (obviously) and then headed down to Kemah where I met up with my mom/dad/older sister. We stayed at the hotel right on the boardwalk and ate dinner at a yummy restaurant and just hung out. It was a ncie birthday celebration with my family! On Sunday did the Mother's Day thing, and then went to dinner for my graduation with my moot court coach and her husband at Brennan's. My family came, the boyfriend, and also Lauren and Dave. It was a lovely dinner and I felt very honored.

Now i'm back in the swing of things. Bar prep started on Monday and I'm in class every day till Saturday from 9-3:30. THen on Tuesday Bar/Bri starts and thats from 9-12:30 everyday. Yay for a summer of studying. I'll make it, have to.

This is me after an A-MAZING birthday

Yesterday was my 25th birthday. It was great. I also finished law school yesterday! That was great too. For my birthday, here's a little glimpse of what I did - lunch with Patrick, shopped and bought myself a birthday present, it's a cute blue dress, then hung out at my apt, catched up on my tv from the last week, read a book, patrick and lauren came over, I got a great great present from Patrick, it was awesome, met a bunch of people at El Tiempo - yummy mexican food restaurant - then we went to the bar across the street and some more ppl showed up and we just hung out all night. It was a great night, exactly what I wanted for my birthday. I have amazing friends and an amazing boyfriend who came out to celebrate even with two finals left, one wed and one thurs.

Now that school is over, i'm in limbo - currently as a professional studier - I graduate on May 9th, friday. That's all i have going on this week!

This is me studying for the last time for law school.

Today is 1 of two things for me -

1. Last day I am 24.
2. Last day that I will EVER study for a final in school!!

Have to admit I'm feeling a bit nostalgic for my 24th year, but mostly for my 20 years of schooling that will end tomorrow... (call me a nerd if you like).

CRAZY!

And on that note, here's a list of things I did this past 24th year of my life:

• Ended my 2nd year of Law School.
• Clerked in Fort Worth for six weeks at a law firm and realized that maybe I can do this law thing.
• Took an amazing trip with my family to the Oregon Coast.
• Participated in my last year of law school/school in general.
• Attended the weddings of some of my best friends!
• Visited Illinois for the first time.
• Went to Las Vegas for the first time AND won money :)
• Started dating and continue to date one of the greatest guys I have ever known!
• Went on a cruise to Cozumel, Jamaica, and the Grand Caymans with that wonderful guy.
• Met a plethora of new people.
• Went to NY for my 2nd Moot Court competition and won best speaker in a round!
• Biked 150 miles from Houston to Austin.
• Healed my heart.
• Learned what it means to trust someone.
• Grew closer to both my sisters.
• Continue to trust and know that God has a plan for my life after graduation on May 9th, and continually learning to have faith in that plan.

I'm sure there are a bunch of other things I left out, but that's about all I can think of right now. I guess I should get back to this last day of studying!

Much Love.

Yay: Birthdays!

Dang: Final

This is me studying for my last final.

I have my last final ever in my life and in law school on Monday morning at 9am. This past week i have done a pretty good job of studying for about 5-6 hours each day, but today began my study all day and evening ritual I normally do the entire finals time. What does that mean? Well for one it means I don't get out of my pjs till the afternoon (i just changed, its 5 pm), 2nd it means that I wake up and study, eat lunch, study, eat dinner, study, go to bed (maybe see boyfriend), and repeat the next day. Luckily this time around its only three days of it which I think is definitely doable. Don't get me wrong there are minor breaks inbetween, like taking a shower, eating skittles, talking to friends on the phone (which i like those kinds of distractions), and surfing the net (but i try to limit this one).

I also had another though, and Elaine might be able to concur with me on it, it seems that I study in my pjs a lot during finals, because well what's the point of getting dressed only to sit and stare at notes all day long in your own apt? What does this mean in relation to studying for the bar exam? I mean I know i'll have to get up and change and shower and stuff to go to the Bar/Bri classes everyday at 9 am, but that's only in June. Does this mean that in July (where you study by yourself), that I'll spend about 85% of the time in my pjs? I can't say exactly, but I'm leaning towards - yes.

Oh and I just decided its kind of morbid to be studying so diligently about what to do with property when someone dies, sad.

Much Love.

yay: birthday in 2 days!
Dang: well, its implied. studying.