This is me with yet another update.

Well friends. Just thought I'd give y'all a little bitty update of what has been going on in my life the last few weeks...

Moot Court: We went to White Plains, NY, Matt, David and I and our coaches Pattie and Maritza. Thursday we competed in two preliminary rounds. I argued for the Environment in the first round in front of the same judge I argued the same position for last year in the first prelim round, crazy, and he recognized us. DIdn't argue in prelim2 , but Matt got speaker for that round. Then argued in the prelim round 3 on Friday and I got best speaker for that round! Exciting, esp since I took it away from a girl who had gotten best speaker in the first two rounds. Ha. Take that. We broke (made it) into the quarterfinals that evening, and alas I didn't get to argue, it wasn't my position, so Matt and David argued an did just great! Unfortunately judges SUCK and we didn't make it to the semis, but we should have. We did just amazing and our hard work definitely showed. We ate a lot of really yummy food, including a fabulous dinner at Morton's Steakhouse, and then Saturday we watched the finals, then went into NYC! Yay! We had dinner at a seafood place and then went and saw Young Frankenstein. OMG so good/funny/hilarious. I recommend it to anyway. Its a little more PG-13, and there were some little kiddos sitting next to me, luckily most of the jokes aren't outright dirty, soo that's good I guess. But I loved it. love love love loved it! Then we all went out in NYC till about 5:30 am. The bars there don't close till 4am, so we had some pizza around 2am and kept on. At that time, my coach Maritza (she's around 28) and her bf and his friend and my friend justin came out with us. So much fun. good way to end the whole deal!

Paper - first draft done and done and done. Next time I should edit it before I email it so that I don't get a note from my prof telling me i need to go see a tutor abuot how to write proper grammatical sentences...oops. Pretty sure in my 20th year of school I know how to do that, its just really a matter of caring in my first draft...ha.

Houston Rodeo: I have had a great time so far this year and its only been two days. Haha. Lauren and Dave invited Patrick and I to go to Tim McGraw on Monday night. So much fun :) And then last night I went with Kate (sister) to see Faith Hill. We ate some bbq, fed some baby animals, looked at some cows and bulls (to which i learned my sister is afraid of bulls, interesting), and watched some rodeo. Had an absolutely great time :) Next up... Dierks w/ Alisa!

Coming up....

- Elaine and Brian's Wedding Weekend of fun! Yaya so excited to see them get married, dance, see college friends, and celebrate this wonderful occasion with both of them!!

- MPRE: before I can do that though I have to take a professional responsibiltiy test for Law school on Sat. morning, awesome. Pretty sure I'll be the only one there taking it in a sunday dress (for the bridal luncheon)

- Get to see my family three weekends in a row (elaine's wedding, jen's wedding, and easter weekend).

- Spring break: going on a mini-vacay to the hill country w/ Patrick :)

- Actually begin research on my paper now that all the extraneous things to prepare for are through (moot court/mpre).

- Look for a job!

- Jen and Ryans wedding (next weekend)!

- Graduate (ok that's a little further away, but really only 2 months!!)

Much Love.

Yay: Elaine and Brian's wedding!

Dang: MPRE

Because I'd rather do this than write my paper..

10 Years Ago:
Well I guess that would make me...14...freshman in high school, with a huge crush on a senior. That's about all I can remember. Nothing particularly stands out. Maybe coming out of my awkward junior high phase of life?

Things on My To Do List Today:
(well considering its the end of the day, i'll put what i was supposed to do and what I actually did)
Write First Draft of seminar paper - no check.
Get my tooth drilled into - check.
Bank - no check.
Go to class - no check.

What Would I do if I Suddenly Became a Billionaire?
Donate money to Multiple Sclerosis research. Payoff all my student loans and other debts... Buy myself a new house and any one of my family members that wanted one as well. Start my own law firm (Elaine and Tara, y'all can come and be partners in it with me if you want :) ). Travel as much and as often as I can.

3 of My Bad Habits:
Not unloading the dishwasher once the dishes are clean for a week and letting the dirty dishes pile up in the sink (don't judge). Eating out. Messiness.

5 Jobs I've had:
1. Law clerk at firm (now).
2. Law clerk at firm (summer).
3. Intern at Harris County District Attorney's Office.
4. Waitress at Outback.
5. Waitress at Saltgrass.

5 Things You Might Not Know About Me:
1. Before I can sleep the sheets have to be exactly correct and tidy on my bed.
2. On the same note, Im super anal about the cleanliness of my sheets and won't let anything that's not pajamas touch the actual sheets, so jeans, shoes, anything other than pjs, can only touch the comforter.
3. I close my eyes when i brush my teeth.
4. I make to do lists just for the fun of making to do lists, and don't actually ever normally do anything on the to do lists...
5. Sometimes I leave wet clothes in my washer for several days and out of pure laziness don't put them in the dryer or hang them up, and just rewash them again if feel like too much time has passed (more like a bad habit, kind of similar to the not unloading dishes thing - noticing a trend?)

Tag - well...hmph, everyone has already been tagged that would read this and has a blog...

This is me happy.

Well I haven't updated in a while, but that's because my life is kind of really extremely hectic right now. Here's an update of whats been going on:

• Boyfriend - GREAT! I had the best valentine's day i have ever had. He sent me 2 dozen tulips (my favorite flower), and then cooked me a special dinner of steak and pasta salad and broccoli w/ dessert AND bought me across the universe and we watched that :) He also got me pedals for my bike (see below why i need pedals). I had a great time and he made me feel incredibly special and cared for. What can I say, I have lucked out finally :) We've been officially dating 4 months as of today, and 5 months total. Yea, i'm happy.
• Cycling: Coming along. I did a 35 mile ride this morning and it was a work out but I felt good afterwards that I finished. My legs felt like jelly though when I got off my bike, but I felt really rewarded. Hopefully the next ride will be in the 40-50 mile range. Slowly trying to work up to 90, whcih is what i have to do the first day of the MS150. The pedals are important b/c you get bike shoes that clip into the pedals which makes the ride a lot more efficient, and trust me they made a HUGE difference this morning, I could go much much faster.
• Moot Court: I leave THIS wed for 5 days in NY, white plains to be exact for an Environmental Law Moot Court Competition (Did it last year)... We've been practice since school started and I feel almsot ready..hopefully we'll do well. I will let y'all know b/c i prolly won't post again till I get back.
• Job hunt: well nothing to update there, still no job yet..well i have a part time job at a firm.. we'll see.
• Get to see a BUNCH of college friends in the next month at Elaine and Jen's weddings. So excited to be back will all my Baylor kiddos. Yay! AND get to introduce Patrick to all of them, yes at the same time, but he's good. haha.

That's about whats goin on in my life...

Much love.

Yay: Amazing boyfriend and beautiful days to ride..

Dang: Sunglass lines on my face from the sunburn in FEB.

This is me hating my teeth.

As some of you may not know, I have really bad luck with teeth. I pride myself on excellent oral hygeine, flossing, brushing, rinsing, etc. Yet for some reason my teeth like to retaliate. I have had two root canals, and now have two crowns, and countless fillings for cavities. I am the lucky inheriter of soft enamel from my grandpa on my mom's side. Well, that brings me to today, the 3rd of Feb, an hour before the superbowl, which I was supposed to be watching with friends, but instead I'll be watching at my apt in a pain killer daze. Why do you ask? Well what started out as a silly little toothache on Thursday, has now, three days later taken over my every being. Last night at about 3:30 am I woke up crying (which apparently you can do in your sleep, who knew) with shooting pains up the side of my face where my tooth is, never a good sign. I took some advil and a few hours later too some more, and then some more, and then some aleve, and yet the pain did not go away. At this point my quality of life was being affected. Luckily my wonderful older sister works at an Emergency Center in Pearland, and so I drove down there, and saw the doctor on duty who prescribed me some antibiotic and pain killer, specifically vicodin, needless to say I am not at home, instead of at my friend's house, with my face still throbbing and waiting for the pain med to take effect. I hate tooth pain and most of all i hate that dentists DONT work on the weekends. I mean I understand, but whatever. I'll be seeing him hopefully tomorrow if not Tues. I think a swollen face is ample emergency.

Other than that, this weekend was pretty low key. I start my new job tomorrow (which is why the dentist appt may not happen tomorrow, not sure how i feel about calling in sick the first day of work) at the law firm and i'm super excited. I got my W-2's in the mail and should be getting a nice middle of the semester present. This week will be super busy once again, i have practice tomorrow night, tuesday, friday and all day saturday again (oh i had practice this past saturday for 6 hours, don't be jeal), and possibly sunday. And then i need to start doing research for my 40 page paper which my first draft is due the day i leave for my competition in NY.

Oh and I"m rooting for the Giants, just to be clear, i think an upset would be nice :)

Much love.

Yay: The boyfriend who is willing to come sit with me during the superbowl so i'm not sitting alone in my pain.
Dang: tooth pain shooting through my face.

This is me with an update

Well things are a bit crazy right now. Here's a little update on my life:

• Went to Amarillo w/ Patrick last weekend and met all his friends that live there (he lived there for about 10 years before law school). Had a blast :)
• Moot court competition is in a little less than 3 weeks, eek. We've been practicing almost everyday.
• I have done 3 mediations.
• I have a new job as a law clerk at a firm here in Houston for the semester, and maybe in the fall..so excited. I will start on Feb 4th (monday, which also happens to be my dad's 55th birthday!)
• I'm in a mediation meeting right now.
• Finsihsed reading PS i Love you, currently reading The Road my Cormac McCarthy, scared the crap out of me last night, can't wait to read more today.
• I might start watching Lost, might - key word.
• Patrick is sickly :( Has the flu or something so we haven't had much qt this week, hopefully he gets better soon! I know he doesn't like being sick.
• Need to get my hair cut and need to find a hair cutter...

That's about it.

Much love.

Yay: New job!

Dang: crazy weather

This is my Last First Day of School.

It all started about 20 years ago. I stepped out one fateful morning into the gleaming sun on a Monday or maybe it was another day of the week morning. I had my pink polka dot outfit on, my hair in a bow, a lunch box, and a jean bag my mom decorated, where was I going do you ask, well I was stepping into the great journey that would become my education. That's right, it was my very first first day of school in first grade at Key Elementary. I would have 19 more years of this very same behavior, and it has culminated in this final day, today, where I woke up this morning, put on my cream and pink and red sweater, jeans, put my hair in a pony tail, and stepped out into the gleaming sun of what would be my very last first day of school EVER. Things have of course changed since that day so many years, I am now several inches taller, i have gone through puberty, I can drive, and my mom is not picking me up from school this afternoon. You might be asking yourself, why is this important, well not only is it my last first day of my last semester of education, BUT it is the beginning of the end of my law school career, after this last semester, 3 1/2 months, I will no longer be a law student, but rather a lawyer (well sort of).... My how these past 20 years have flown by...

I am now sitting in the library, after my first and only class of today (how i love being a 3L). I have moot court practice tonight at 5:30, where I am to present my two arguments for my two sides, which as I sit writing this at 10:39 am, are not done. So I will be sitting here, until 5:30, with of course breaks in between writing these lovely arguments. I plan on winning the ocmpetition this year, so my dedication is a little higher than it was last year (which was already pretty high). Most of all, I do not want to disappoint my coaches who have a vested interest in me especially after last year. Nor do I want to disappoint my teammates or myself, since I am apparently my worst critic.

This semseter, I am only taking 9 hours (well 12 really but three are just credits retroactively applied from moot court). 3 of those hours is Trust and Wills, a very important class for the bar exam (which by the way I will be taking this summer, eeek), a seminar in Hot Topics in Criminal Law which entails I will be writing a 40 page paper w/ footnotes (yea i have no idea how to do that, but whatev), and then Mediation Clinic (where I will be mediating real disputes - i have been in training all weekend for it, 6 hours on Friday, 9 1/2 on sat, and 7 yesterday, repeat next weekend). All in all not a bad semester, AND i have only ONE final for the first time ever in Trust and Wills (now will be referred to as T/W) and its on April 30th. Whcih means I will have about a week and a half between when I am done and when I graudate, which is May 9th, in case anyone is keeping track. In that time period i will get to celebrate my quarter of a century birthday for the first time without finals looming in 6 years! Heck yes.

Well my faithful friends and those who never cease to read these very engaging posts, I must get to work on this argumet to convince the court to not allow pesticides in waters.

Much love.

Yay: The beginning of the end of my law school career.
Dang: The beginning of hte end of my law school career -- just means in 4 months I have to study for the bar....;

Back in action.

Well. I'm back in Houston after a whirlwind three weeks of fun. Finals ended luckily and I'm starting to get grades back (my least favorite part, but that's life). The day after finals, I left for the carribbean (i have a feeling i just butchered that) cruise w/ Patrick and his family. OMG it was so much fun! We went to Jamaica on Wed, and got to climb the Dunn's Falls, which was awesome, and then layed on a white sand beach and drank some rum punch, Grand Cayman on Thursday, Patrick and i went snorkeling and saw some pretty awesome fish. I started to get a little scared when we were out in 40 foot deep waters, for some reason shark week started flashing in my mind, think Jaws.... Then we went shopping in town and he bought me a really pretty necklace, earring, bracelet set from the market, and we had some lunch at this cool restaurant and people watched. On Friday we went to Cozumel and shopped in the morning. I really got to hone my bargaining skills and got a guy down pretty low on a bracelet for my mom, thank you law school for my negotiating skills. We then went and layed on a beach for the rest of the day. The rest of the cruise was spent lounging, relaxing, drinking fruity drinks, eating lots of yummy food and spending some quality time w/ my boyfriend that we'd been lacking during finals. I also met his mom and step dad and got a long great w/ them which was exciting!

The day we got back I headed to Arlington for Christmas. We did the normal Banks Family Christmas traditions of church on Christmas eve and then wake up early and open presents. The rest of the week just hung out w/ my family and it was great. Definitely needed some family time. THat weekend I went down to Austin for Elaine's bachelorette party. We went to Hula Hut, had a male stripper (joke), and watched Elaine down two fish bowls (with help from us of course), and then just had girly time and balderdash back at the hotel in our executive suite. It was a great time and really fun to catch up w/ everyone and felt like college all over again like the days when we hung out at Lainey's and Em's apartment all day long. Sunday headed down to Boerne and hung out w/ Patrick and his dad and step mom that night, we saw Sweeney Todd, which was funny, but gross, and then on NYE his whole family came to his dad's and I got to meet his sister and bro in law and his bro's 4 kids, and his sis' one kid, they were so cute and i enjoyed playing w/ them. I knew when 3 of the 4 kids tackled me on my bed on NYE morning that they liked me too :) That nigth we just hung out w/ his whole family and I met his best friend cousin Charlie and his wife Lauren. We rang in the new year and it was great!

After that I headed back to Arlington, and the rest of the week I got to see Lainey three times in one week!! And also got to see a bunch of college friends and sorority sisters last Thursday night in Dallas. I had a great time and it was good to catch up and plan our next get together, which will hopefully be a weekend long fiesta.

I'm back in Houston now, about to head to patrick's to hang out w/ some friends and watch the LSU v. Ohio game. GO OHIO! This week I am going to get my life back in order since I was gone for almost a month, see friends, relax, pratice moot court, and train to be a mediator. YAY for my last semester of school EVER, finally!

Much love.

Yay: My wonderfuly supportive and encouraging boyfriend.
Dang: Laundry.