Favorite Comment.

So, today I finally collected an assignment that I turned in to my Civil Procedure professor (a.k.a. favorite professor, but very intense professor). I already knew that I had passed the assignment because he sent out an email, so I hadn't really taken time to go pick it up as it was a pass/fail grading scheme.

Well today I finally went and got it. I think, nay, I know my favorite comment from the blood bath of red ink (k, it was blue but it felt red) that covered that one solitary page was the following...

With a large arrow pointing to my heading where I have listed the names of the parties I am representing and the names of the opposing party, he has circled the names of my clients and said, "Don't you think your clients would like you to at least be able to spell their names correctly?".

And I have to say, after much consideration, yes, Professor Davies, I do. In fact, I think that would be a great first step. Guess I have a lot to learn :-)

Three Strikes, you're...

So, today was going along pretty well until I got the following email in my inbox:

October 25, 2011

Dear Patron of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir,

We received requests for over a million tickets for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square Christmas concerts. We are sorry to inform you that your registration was not selected to receive tickets.

Add that to this one from last year:

Dear Patron of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir,

Thank you for your interest in attending the 2010 Christmas concerts of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square on December 16-19, 2010. We received requests for over 1.5 million tickets and we are sorry to inform you that your registration for the Christmas concerts was not selected to receive tickets.

And this one from the year before that...

Well, I couldn't find it because I was using a different email back then, but Natalie King Cole sang with the choir that Christmas, and I got rejected for that one too.

(know in your heart Jane Seymour is going to be there this year and that David Archuleta was at it last year)

Here's to three years of rejections! I am beginning to think this lottery system is bunk. How do people end up going year after year? Who do you have to know to attend this event???? It hurts to be rejected this way Jane, David, and Natalie! Hurts, I tell you. Your albums/movies/books/jewelry/Gerber baby food will not be finding its way into our home. Nay! Not until I can find a way to mend this torn heart gapping open in the cold of the Utah winter season.

Dare I say that I will try for next year???? Probably not...but let's be honest, I actually probably will, this is church approved gambling I suppose and call me an addict, but I probably won't be able to stay away from my one chance to hit it big (i.e. attend a free church sponsored event).

I just so wanted the Christmas season to top off with actually being able to attend this event, but again, I will watch it from the comfort of my living room (as can all of you! Sunday morning December 18, 2011, 9:30am, BYU Channel), but then...I suppose there is always the stand by line, perhaps that is just the ticket for us this year!

If you are interested in finding out more about this concert click here, hence my great displeasure at not getting to attend in person. Better luck next time I suppose.

RIP Favorite Glasses, Favorite Sandals, Favorite Bra

It's been a rough week for the articles of clothing I most love and most neglect.

The glasses accidentally ran into a parked car on my run to the shuttle this morning while not-so safely tucked into my side bag.

The sandals have been on their way out for some time but met their utter demise when the center fastened part came in contact with a table leg and a forceful jerk by yours truly set it free.

The bra went in the washer as one and came out as two...can you guess where the division occurred?

I hope the replacements, when and if I get them, can do their predecessors proud. Unlikely.

A Law School Post

It is really late, and I need to go to bed really bad, but I know that I have kept many people in want over a law school post, and since it appears that I am in a posting mood, I will just hit this up right now.

Law school is good. I don't love it. I mean I don't know how else to say that. I don't hate it, and I am not sad that I am going, but I am not thrilled when I wake up every morning that I will be attending another day of lectures. Certainly, some days prove more exciting than others, but on the whole, the first year is just kind of rough.

Do I think law school is a beast? Yes and no. Law school can be as beasty as you want to make it. Some chose the full beast. I am not the full beast type. I prefer the minimum amount of beast needed to continue. Does that mean I think law school is a beast? Yes, but I do not think it is impossible. In fact, I think it is very possible so long as you are doing the work. Which, don't you fret, I am! I still have a lot to learn, and a lot to review, but I think by the time finals come that I will feel prepared.

I don't know how to stress enough though that I am in no way aiming for the top of the class. In fact, I would feel guilty to be at the top of the class, because the top gets opportunities I would never want, and I would feel bad taking those from people who do. So I am rather content in my little group of middleroaders. We have a lot of fun and usually learn enough to make heads and tails of school.

I do not like feeling dumb. In fact, I hate it, but here's the thing, feeling dumb just means you have hit upon something you need to understand better, and if there is one thing that I love...it's learning. If there is one thing I love even more...it is learning with a purpose in mind. Holla welcome to the cycle that gets me through law school. There will always be some amount of dumb feeling that goes along with school, but so long as I look at it in terms of the continuum of my learning and progression in school, feeling dumb is the best really, because it is the REAL start of invested learning for me at Law school. Perhaps not my favorite method to learn, but it will do.

Here's the thing. YOU could go to law school. Don't be psyched out by what people say. If you are thinking about it and have a reason to go...something that will sustain you through the hard days, I say do it. Never think you can't! YOU CAN, but I hope the thing you want to do is something more fun, like opening a second Disneyland, because that would be infinitely cooler and more fun. Food for thought.

Here comes Bekah Cotton-tail

K, the very last line of that altogether witty previous post triggered a subsequent blog. Here's the deal. I don't know what the problem is with this particular package of toilet paper that I purchased, but I practically need to keep a permanent lint roller next to the toilet. Truly, I am thinking about collecting the TP dandruff and beginning to spin thread. It could be a side job. It is a little ridiculous though. The other morning, I got up and started into my daily morning routine, when I finally stopped to look at myself in the mirror, I was practically pulling a Santa Clause with the beard that had formed from stray cotton drifts. It's tragic. People are going to think I am growing peach-fuzz, and then probably that I am a woman/man and then probably that I am a human/rabbit, and then probably just a straight up rabbit, and its not even the right season for rabbits to be cool. Typical.

Talking Me Down to Earth

So, I don't know if this is the case for you, but occasionally, I will get these pretty wild ideas that I am just certain must happen. Now that I tell you this, I am blanking on a good example...um....hmmm, okay well, here is kind of one, but it is not the best example, but hopefully it will give you an idea. Like, a few years ago, I made Parker promise me that we could go live in Africa. I am sure I started leaving african words on his facebook. Packing his lunch with photos of cute African children. Tailoring a wardrobe for the African climate. Surrounding myself with African books. Because when I have these passing thoughts, they sort of leach on to me. Some people struggle with door-to-door salesmen, not me. I struggle with passing thoughts other people would dismiss but instead begin to pattern my life after them...awesome right?

Well, what I am getting at it this. I had one such idea today. For hours I thought of this thing, in fact because of a recent dream I had (which we all know how reliable and realistic my dreams are, if you don't know what I mean see here) also, let me clarify that this dream is a different dream than the cat dream but similarly strange. Anyway, based on an event today and then this dream, when Parker arrived home at 9:15 this PM, I nearly pounced on him to unload this sure idea. I didn't have time to make a collage this time, but I am sure I was already planning it in my head. Anyway, the moral of this story is that I am really grateful for my husband.

But first, a disclaimer. I do not know why some people get married seemingly effortlessly and others have to seek almost endlessly to find a match. I swear to you this is not one of those posts that will make you feel lousy that for some reason you are fortunate enough to have a spouse. So please keep reading.

Like I was saying, I don't know why some people get married and others don't, but I do know why Heavenly Father threw Parker in my path and hit me up side the head to marry him...because I think I have impaired judgment without him.

Parker always listens thoughtfully to my wild and crazy ideas. Occasionally, there is a chuckle, but generally he pulls off a straight face, and he doesn't even tell me NO...ever, he just gently talks me down to earth.

Sometimes I still wish I was living in that hut in Africa and that I had 23 rings around my neck making it super long and unstable and supposedly attractive, sometimes I still find myself wanting to run and hide in bushes to exemplify my native capabilities...but for the most part, I am glad that I married someone who helps me see the good in where I live right now and what I am doing in my life right now and most of all...someone who has kept me grounded in a place where I don't have to wipe my butt with a leaf.

Home Again, Home Again

Oh my goodness, we are home. We had a lovely visit in Oregon, and this will not be the last mention of that. But tonight my post will be brief.

I buy Parker big bags of frozen burritos for his lunches. Healthy? No. Functional? Yes. Enough said. I am not one to eat these frozen delicacies. I figure they probably aren't good for me, probably won't make me feel good, and probably won't be able to argue my need for a larger lunch budget if I succumb to them.

Tonight, however, after coming home from a 15 hour drive spread over two days...the frozen burrito called to me, and I ate it. Oh my gosh, I nearly cried I think. It tasted sooo good to me. Just your standard bean and cheese variety, but in my mouth, it might as well have been thanksgiving dinner. Here is my conclusion, just about anything is overwhelmingly tasty after such a long time in the car.

Second conclusion, I truly am glad to be back home again.

Christmas is Just Around the Corner!

While on hiatus in Oregon, I have learned a few things. First, Parker needs sunshine at least once a week ... a need foreign to me and my parents entirely. Second, sleeping in the same bed with my husband in the room that I grew up in is a little strange (I couldn't stop thinking we were somehow naughty for just sleeping in there...together.) Third, even Oregon cannot induce Parker and I to remember to bring our camera on the trip. Fourth, seeing my parents is delightful. Fifth, I do not like doing homework while on break (evidence: this blog post). Sixth, Christmas is right around the corner!!!!!

All of these are exciting, but especially that last one. I LOVE Christmas, and while home, I have sat down and played some of my Christmas favorites on the piano ( #1: my parents have a piano. #2: my parents have the Christmas music). It sure has made me excited for that holiday upcoming. Parker and I are staying in Utah this year, and I can't wait, because for that break, I won't have to do ANY homework... almost any at least, and that will be terrific! Is anyone else getting excited for Christmas? If so tell me what you are most looking forward to about it :-)

Also, if you don't mind, jot down your address so that I will know where to send our Christmas card this year. If you don't want to leave it on my comments thing, just email me the address at butterfield.rebekah@gmail.com! Hope you are all having a great day!

Green Curry

Here is tonight's dinner. It is so yummy, and super easy. I will include the link to the recipe.

http://homecookkirsten.blogspot.com/2007/06/thai-green-coconut-curry-with-chicken.html

I substituted things. I didn't put corn in, instead I put green and red peppers, but I think you can probably put just about whatever your little heart desires. SOOOO DELICIOUS.

Clothes

Here's the thing...I kind of hate wearing clothes. Pants in particular. I always have. I dislike how restricted I feel in pants. I hate how my temperature rises and falls at will. I hate feeling my legs sweat under the heat of jeans. I hate how long the bottoms take to dry after getting wet. I am just not a fan of pants wearing. As a result, I have sort of a bad habit of getting my pants off as soon as possible when coming home from school, work, life, outside, etc. Naturally, I still always wear my unders, but this habit does add an extra step in the answering of the door when someone arrives unannounced.

Here's the other thing... I love when people arrive unannounced, so it is no big deal that I have to throw on pants again to greet people. DO NOT WORRY, I am always happy to have people stop by. DO NOT LIVE IN FEAR. I am actually socially adept most of the time, and you will never catch a glimpse of my tighty whities.

But it's that last promise that I want to address most specifically in this post. When we moved into our new apartment, my sister in law helped me sew the curtains for our enormous wall of windows. Unfortunately, at the fabric store, the lady cut the fabric on a weird line, so for the curtains to hang right, we had to do some significant trimming. This all sums up to the fact that my windows are not entirely covered. The last inch or so on either side can likely be seen through. This does not worry me so much in the day time, but at night, when it's dark outside, and light inside, it is hard to know what kind of traffic you are receiving around your establishment. I have also heard that much like bugs are drawn to lights...so are humans, and it is nigh unto impossible to look away from that entrancing apartment light while passing in the night.

For some time, I have lived on the edge. At times venturing out from behind the closed hall door of the bedroom wing of our little apartment, into the living/kitchen space beyond. Generally, my ventures are focused and rapid as I lack the drive to throw pants on when I just need to grab a drink of water or a snack or a pencil etc. I have lived on the margin of chance since moving here in June...but tonight, I commit to you, no longer will I take that risk.

Nothing drastic happened, no terrible scene unfolded, no shocked person witnessed my pants-less wanderings...to my knowledge that is. And having to wonder about it is enough to quit these underdressed ventures. I commit to reform. I commit to be better. I commit to wear pants.

Fall Break

In approximately five days, this is where I will be. Thank you FALL BREAK. This is my favorite Oregon beach. It's called Neskowin. It feels like ages since I have been there. I am so excited to return, and enjoy my home state for a few days.

Health Update

So, I had some more blood tests this week. I am so good at giving blood it is amazing. But, I believe my junkie days are over, not a moment too soon for my petite veins either. I am happy to report that it appears the medication is working, REALLY WORKING. Many of my symptoms are clearing up, and I am feeling more energy too. It is hard to gage that since law school sleep deprivation has already kicked in, but still, I can feel that I am leveling out, so I think that I am getting better. I had been scheduled for a few ultrasounds to look at various parts of my body and figure out why they weren't working right, but my blood work came back so good that those were canceled. I am really feeling blessed.

In terms of my health challenge, it is going really well. I am a week in, and I am feeling very successful. I have denied countless sweets, and I honestly do feel better. Not only that, but I have added SOOOOO many more vegetables that I feel my body systems working together better.

Now I sing the Utah State Anthem to myself...only I put Bekah in instead. So it goes like this...."Bekah, her body's working together. Bekah its a great way to be..." And that's as far as I sing, but I think that is really all of the anthem most people here in Utah know, so I don't feel too bad. Anyway, I am grateful that my body seems to be figuring itself out!