Remember That One Time?

Oh yeah...I had a sweet Spring Break. I went to Cali with Brenda to visit her fam. Then we road tripped all over the state. It was intense. Enjoy some pics that illustrate:

Started the trip off in sorta-matching outfits. For the record: I got dressed first!! 

Drove to Sacramento. Spent time with the Gomez fam and played in Old Sac.

Then we drove to LA. We stayed with a few of Brenda's good friends. And we went to Disney Land.

Then we spent a day with her friend that is the Project Manager for the architect and team building a sweet mansion.

We also ran into some celebs on the Santa Monica Pier. Chatted with them and the rest of their fam for a few minutes. We're basically BFFs.

Then we spent a night in SLO...Brenda's mansion friend joined us. Tanya is da bomb. She got us a sweet deal at a hotel right on Pismo Beach. Then we enjoyed the sunshine all afternoon. By the ocean. Whatevs.

We then drove to San Francisco. We stayed with one of my best friends from high school. (Remember Sam...went on a cruise with her after BSU graduation). We walked all over San Fran...and sped across the Golden Gate Bridge in her 2013 Mustang GT. NBD.

 We went an a cool boat tour. "Shane the Pain" told us it would be 30 minutes. It ended up being an hour because we stopped to watch the sun set behind the Golden Gate Bridge. We also cruised around Alcatraz. Pretty cool.

Then we drove back to Sacramento and stayed another couple days with Bdawg's fam. And went back to Old Sac for some more salt water taffy. Duh.

It was very exhausting...but it was a good way to spend the last spring break of my life. *SIGH* I don't want to be a grown up.

Bday, Missions, and My Future

Oh hey...I turned 26. Weird? Yeah. Really weird. I feel like it was just yesterday that I turned the BIG 1 - 6. But alas, it was TEN years ago. TEN!! 26 has so much to offer me...and I'm hoping that offer includes a job and a new place to live. Either way, I'm graduating law school. Putting the stamp on finishing school. Forever. That's enough for now.

I celebrated my bday a day early in Moscow. Above is a pic of the girls that joined me for my bday dinner. The boys were in charge of taking the picture I guess. Below is a pic of me in my decorated room. There were balloons all over...every 26 year old needs lots of balloons.

THEN, on my actual birthday, I drove home so that I could spend the weekend with my fam. As I've mentioned, both Malea and Charles are going on missions. And, folks, the time has come. The two of them spoke this afternoon and they are leaving Wednesday morning for the MTC. I am going to miss them so so much. Luckily I kept it together saying goodbye to them after church, but I sorta cried the whole way back to my house. Oops. I was doing SO good through Sacrament Meeting...I just couldn't hold it together when I drove away. We had such a good weekend: partying with bday dessert, cheering on Reed and Kevin at their bball game (they were both all-stars, by the way...Ericsons hittin 3 pointers like Jimmer...well...almost like Jimmer), and then squeezing into two full rows for church today. We are so blessed to have such an amazing family. And we were SO happy Mallory came up from Rexburg to join us!!

So this, right here, is our LAST Doug/Carl fam cousin picture with all of us together until 2017-ish. Our cousin pictures have been frequent and we are rarely missing a cousin (sometimes we're missing Elsina, and we missed Bryce on his mission for a couple years). Now there will be overlapping missions for about 4 years. Ahhhh!! So soak it in, folks.

Other than celebrating my day of birth and saying farewell to my dear cousins, I am just truckin along in my LAST SEMESTER OF LAW SCHOOL!! Man, it's hard to care about school at all. I am currently working on my BAR EXAM APPLICATION. (are all of these capital letters making you excited? it's working for me). I'll be sending that off in a couple weeks. I decided on taking the Idaho Bar. Whether or not I end up here is still up in the air. I can transfer my score to any other state that offers the Uniform Bar Exam, so there is still a chance of moving to a brand new location. We shall see. Lots of unknowns right now, but oddly enough, I'm not stressing out too much. I'm excited for whatever is coming. And I'm enjoying my last semester. A lot. 

Life is great! (and seriously, if any of you out there reading this want to employ me after the bar exam, sign me up).

Why hello blog...

I'm writing a new blog post! Must be a special occasion. Like......maybe the new year? Or the fact that I'm down to ONE more semester of law school? Or maybe because I haven't blogged in, like, forever? Whatever...here I am.

First, let's do a super quick, pretty lame, but informative semester-in-review:

1. I did a week-long course before the official semester started where I learned (well...sorta) how to go through a trial. At the end of the week, we did a mock trial and spent the better part of an entire day in "court." Basically, I realized I can totally do that for real someday. I mean, it was fake, so it wasn't that scary...but at least I know the prep and logistics. I'm totally adult enough for that. I think.

2. National Moot Court was an enjoyable challenge for the most part. I was on a team with two fellow 3Ls. We got through writing a brief with three people...which is a lot more difficult than writing a brief by yourself believe it or not. We had three two-hour practices a week leading up to competition. We were good. Like, really good. Unfortunately, a round of old-geezer judges that thought they knew what they were talking about, but didn't, scored us a point lower than our opponent in the regional quarter-final round. It was a really, really, massive bummer. But the positive: I don't have to put any more time into it this semester since we are not going to Nationals. Hmm.

3. I totally snagged TWO intramural champion t-shirts! No, I didn't steal them...I won them. My team and I were the champs of a 3v3 sand volleyball tournament, and also the 6s indoor volleyball season. Booyah! Our intramural flag football team and 3v3 bball team came away with "Runner-Up"...which we got nothing for...so big whoop. BUT...our 3L flag football team won the law school tournament AGAIN! Rarely do classes win back-to-back, but we sure did. 

4. Otherwise, I spent my time avoiding schoolwork, staying away from the law school, and generally just partyin it up as much as one can in Moscow, Idaho (well...let me rephrase that...as much as one nice Mormon girl can). Trying to make the most of my time left with my roommates and my classmates that will be lifelong friends.

 

(I clearly don't know how to edit this little blog to fix the placement of those pictures...sorry for those of you who are OCD and don't want to look at that mess...it's surely buggin me, but I can't fix it)

5. Tried not to fail my finals. Yep, that was my only criteria. I have adopted this "I don't really care" attitude, and let me tell you...it is fantastic. Living through finals with minimal stress and lots of free time was so refreshing. I might change my mind when I see my grades and get some C's...but C's get degrees, and that's pretty much all I want right now. Oh...and a job...I want a job too. I love any one of you forever and ever if you find me one. Seriously.

Okay, okay...so now a quick blah blah blah about my other life. The one outside of Moscow.

My cousins Malea and Charles got their mission calls. These cousins are more like siblings to me because we've grown up in Kuna together. We spend every holiday together. We have family dinners together. We celebrate birthdays together. We go to events together. We go to church together. You get the idea. It is so sad to see two of them go at once, but I am so so excited for them!! We have been trying to party extra hard before they go.

My cousin Brooke also got her mission call! All three are going to Spanish-speaking missions in Central and South America. I'm going to do some Rosetta Stone to be fluent by the time they get back.

We've had lots of fun this Christmas Break. Elsina and Bryce spent Christmas in Idaho with us this year. Luckily Bryce likes the Mighty Ducks, so he was alright with our tradition of watching the series three nights in a row. He even got in on some NBA Jam Super Nintendo action...an Ericson favorite.

We also had another cousin and his wife here, and his parents. So it was a big Ericson Christmas. And of course I LOVE that. We partied with some Minute-To-Win-It challenges. Even the old-folk got in on it!

 
 

(once again...I don't know what I'm doing in terms of where these pics go)

My family is great. And hilarious. It has been a GREAT break, and while I am dreading my return to school, I am excited to get back and FINISH law school!! Ahhhh!!

What It's Like to Be a Champion

What would cause me to blog for a third time in less than a week? A story of sweet victory. Let me set it up for you:

So last summer Collin, Kylie, Kara, and I decided to dine together at Flatbread. On a Tuesday night. Who cares that it was a Tuesday night? Well, everyone should care. Turns out, Tuesday night is a special night at Flatbread. Toss-Up Tuesday. It seems to be somewhat of a secret, which, at first, I was worried about sharing with the world-wide-web, but then I remembered only, like, 15 people read my blog...so I think it's safe. How it works: you order, you eat, you enjoy...then at the end, a manager comes out and does a coin toss. One person at the table calls heads or tails (you know the drill), and if you win the toss, you get a free pizza (buy one get one free)! The luck all started with showing up on a Tuesday, it continued with our server letting us in on the little secret of Toss-Up Tues. Surely our luck had run out...

Not so. It came time to flip, and we decided Kylie was the best (wo)man for the job. The manager tossed, Kylie called, nerves skyrocketed, the coin landed, anxiety set in, and we waited for the reveal. VICTORY! We went quickly from complete silence to hoop-hollerin cheers. Seriously, you would never expect a table of "adults" (we are all adults, so I don't know why that's in quotation marks...but it just seems more accurate) to be so excited about winning a coin toss....and a free pizza! Chello! So it was settled: Kylie was the hero of Toss-Up Tues and we just had to do it again. Winning is addicting, you know. Unfortunately, it was the end of the summer and Collin and I had to return to school...so the world would have us wait.

This summer we decided we needed to try our luck again. We went early in the summer so that we could have multiple Flatbread nights. We set-up a Tuesday and we began to stress. Once you've won, you don't want to experience a heartbreaking loss. We happened to get the same server we had the first time...fate? I think so. We asked if she remembered us, and she tried to pretend for a second that she might, but then told the truth and said she didn't. Bummer. We told her right away that we would be doing Toss-Up Tues, so we would need a tossing manager at the end. Kylie was obviously calling the toss. When you're hot, you're hot...gotta ride out the streak (of one win, I know...but it felt so much bigger than that). So it comes time for the toss and we are even more nervous than the first time. It's hard to win twice! Defending the champ? Could we (Kylie) do it? The toss went up, Ky called it, it landed, and we waited for the reveal. VICTORY! This celebration was even more embarrassing than the first. Our server came back to our table and said, "after that celebration, I definitely remember you guys." We had done it. TWICE!

So this brings me to last night. Our final Toss-Up Tues of the summer. Collin and I must return to school, once again, so our time has run out. The night was marked on our calendars and we felt pretty confident coming off of two wins. Then, the bad news came. Kylie, who is one-half of the talented duo Steady Rush (check out their facebook page by clicking here...they are great...and getting famous), could not get out of band practice to come to dinner. Oh the life of new-found fame and celebrity status. Sigh. So, obviously panic sets in. Who's going to call the toss? I am at home and I start analyzing what I should or shouldn't call, what timing I should use to call (do I call before the toss, while it's at its peak in the air, when it lands and before the reveal?), and what would happen if we lost? Clearly, I can't call the toss. I would be a mess! Collin and I put the burden on Kara. It was her time to shine. We assured her that we wouldn't be mad if she lost, only disappointed (so much better, right?). After discussing the Olympics and how hard it is to win THREE times in a row, Kara decided to look up some stats online about coin-tossing. Thank goodness for smartphones, eh?! We learn that a coin is more likely to land with the same side up as it starts (and lots of other scientific things that didn't seem helpful). Well, that would be great info if we could see the starting side. But our tosser was NOT having it. She secretly wanted us to lose. So Kara made a split-second decision on the toss, shouted TAILS, and we waited. The tosser looked at the coin, shrugged, and said, "oh lucky" in the most monotone, unexcited voice I've ever heard. We didn't know what that meant, since the emotion didn't match the words...so we waited for Kara to take a peek. VICTORY! 3 for 3! Our hands go up, and we do an unplanned, perfectly nailed, three-way high-five as we cheer. Judging by the looks on the faces of the snotty girls at a table next to us, we probably looked like gymnastics moms/dads whose daughter just won the Olympic gold medal....you've seen 'em...you know the celebration I'm talking about. We did it. We join champions like Michael Phelps, who defeat the odds and THREE-PEAT! Do we get medals? Maybe not... But a free pizza for the third time? Sounds pretty golden to me.

Now the question is: can we do it again? Stay tuned.

P.S. I have no idea why there are no action shots of this team in action. Maybe next time.

A Long Post About My Life That You All Care About. Obviously.

Somehow the summer slipped away. It's time to return to school for ONE. LAST. TIME! I'm sure this little carrel row has missed my presence. Don't worry, carrel, I'll be living there again soon.

So, entering my last year of law school. How does it feel? I'm so glad you asked. The positive feelings I'm experiencing include: happiness, readiness, excitement, relief, and maturity (ha...kidding on the maturity part...but I think I should be feeling that). The negative feelings I'm experiencing include: exhaustion, panic, terror, and craziness. Do you all realize that I have to find a real job soon? Like, a career. You know, with a salary. A real salary that will pay off my real loans. Ughh. 

I hate it when people say, "I never thought I'd make it this far," because, well, DUH...you'll make it as far as you want to make it. So I'm not going to say that. But I will say that I never expected to be at this point in my life so soon, so quickly. The past two years of school have been the fastest of my life. And they are the ones that I would prefer to be the slowest. I am not ready to grow up at the pace my life is asking me to. I know this year will be the absolute fastest, and that is the terrifying part. The part where I am back to a future that is unknown. And we all know how I am with the unknown, right?! An anxious mess. Sigh. I wish I could have control over everything...but that's not how life works, I guess. 

So negatives aside, I'm stoked. I kinda love(hate) school. I don't love the studying, the sitting through boring classes, the stress during finals. BUT I love the routine. It's very easy and comfortable for me. I'm really good at the whole being-a-student thing. Anyone considering going to more school: DO IT! With that said, I am a bit relieved that this is the last time I'll be going through all the things I don't like about school. For me, part of doing the whole law school thing was to be challenged. And let me tell you, I was challenged. For the first time in my life, school has been hard. Hard enough for me to be over it. I have done well and haven't given my entire life to books and studying...so I guess I can't complain. But how exciting that I'll never have to sit through class or take finals again! WhoopWhoop (insert 'raising the roof' hand/arm motions). And I feel so comfortable as a law student now. I can laugh at my 1L-self and wonder why I ever thought law school was scary. Oh the perks of being a 3L. I feel like a Senior, laughing at all the little Freshmen. It's great to be at the top, eh?!

Anyway, less than a year from now I will be taking the Bar Exam in an unknown state, preparing for an unknown job, and living in an unknown house/apt. So many unknowns right now. I think I have narrowed my future down to Utah or Idaho, but I honestly think I'd go anywhere. I'm kinda over Idaho right now. I know what it has to offer me, and I'm not sure I want it. I'd eventually like to end up in the Boise area...I love it, but my life will just be same-old, same-old if I stay here. Seriously considering a move to SLC, but my main criteria is a paying job. So wherever that takes me, I'll go. 

REMEMBER HOW I'M ALMOST DONE WITH LAW SCHOOL?! (I know, I still have whole year left, so you are all thinking I'm jumping the gun with this excitement...but really, it goes so extremely fast that I feel like I'm already done...don't judge me).

My summer at the federal courthouse was actually really fun. I researched and wrote for several different federal judges and worked closely with the Staff Attorneys there. It was really hard getting the hang of a 9-5 work schedule, but when my internship was over, I was actually a little sad. Which took me by surprise. It was a really fun/great experience. I could actually see myself doing it for real. So, that seems right. 

And this year has much in store for me. I'll continue my work with the Law Review, working as a Managing Editor (guiding the little 2Ls through what I did last year). I am on the National Moot Court team with two of my classmates (I always wonder why I choose to do these things; researching for and writing a brief all semester and then going through oral arguments right before exams isn't my favorite thing). We'll be competing in a regional tourney this fall, and if we finish in the top two, we go to a national tournament in February. I will continue to serve in the Stake Relief Society Presidency, which has turned out to be stressful, but rewarding (as much as I hate to admit the 'rewarding' part). Our powder-puff football team has a law school tournament championship to defend and a 5-(wo)man intramural championship to defend. Our intramural basketball team needs to redeem itself from a second-place finish last year and bring home a championship tshirt this time around. Wish me luck! Other than that, Brenda and I will welcome a new roommate once again (she's on the vball team at UI and in our ward...I think she'll fit in just fine), I'll enjoy movie nights and dinners with friends, have a lot of dance parties in the kitchen (and probably some solo concerts as well, with the help of Whitney, Mariah, and Celine), and will find some time to take the MPRE, apply for the Bar, and hopefully breathe now and then. 

See? All under control. Here I come, 3L year!

Growing-Up Is Stupid Sometimes

This is what I have been doing the past three summers:

This is what I'll be doing this summer:

Is it "Just M.E.," or does this make you wanna cry (for me)?

Stay tuned. More to come on this sad, but 'good-for-me' situation. I bet you all can't wait for the details.

A story to brighten one's day...or worsen. Depends on how much you like bacon

So I did something really terrible this morning. I hesitate to share it with the world wide web, but I thought it was about time I share a good laugh with everyone at my expense. Don't judge me, okay?! Or do judge me. Whatever.

This morning before class, I decided to bake a package of bacon. I like to bake it all at once and then have it for sandwiches throughout the week. I freaking LOVE a good turkey, bacon, avocado, and [add any extra ingredient that won't be as good as the previous ingredients mentioned, but go on a sandwich just to make it seem healthier] sandwich. Fave sandwich ever. So anyway, I bake the package for 15 mins. Result? Perfectly crisped bacon, ready to be stacked onto some bread; the rest, ready to be stored in the fridge, waiting its turn to make it onto one of my delicious school-lunches.

Unfortunately, the bacon didn't make it to the sandwich. And none of it made it to the fridge, either. In fact, it all went to the exact same place. My tummy. Ummm, WHAT?! I ate an entire package of bacon in less than 5 minutes? Yep. It happened.

You know those mornings when you lay in bed and you think: well if I get up now, I'll get ready in 20 minutes, but I think I can get ready in 15. Five minutes later, still in bed: well, I bet I can get ready in 10 minutes this morning. Five minutes later, still in bed: I'll just rush and get ready in 5. Five minutes later, still in bed: CRAP, I'm freaking late! I think that's how this whole bacon thing went. I thought: well, I only need to save 3 slices for 3 sandwiches each this week. A few slices later: I really only need enough for two sandwiches. A few slices later: I'll just make one for lunch today. A few slices later: CRAP, I freaking ate the whole package.

So what does one feel like after finishing a whole 12 oz package of bacon? Well, not good when you consider there are usually about 8 servings in one package; and about 80 calories in each serving (60 cals being from fat). Google the nutrition facts. I dare you. I did. And ouch! I just kept thinking about how it was just like something you'd see on the Biggest Loser. The portion of the show when they show video clips of the contestants BEFORE they came on the show. Usually of them going to the drive-thru of some fast food restaurant, then eating some pizza when they get home. You know, or eating a whole package of bacon in less than five minutes. It's disgusting to watch. People would be sickened if I was on the Biggest Loser. But I'm not. So everything was fine. And my body has handled it like a CHAMP! I thought my digestion would disagree with me. But, I had no such problems.

So I guess I didn't learn my lesson. I have suffered no consequences for that little adventure. Except I had to go get some more bacon for my lunches and a dinner recipe I was planning on. Whoops.

I'd like to send a special THANK YOU to my best friend, hundreds of miles away in UT. I confided in her after I made this mistake and she responded by saying:

"Well, you were hungry and you need the protein!!"

Yep, she's the best friend ever. Supportive, even in my darkest hours.

(Though I suffered no consequences for this silly mistake, I do not suggest or condone this as a regular practice)