Book #2: A Game of Thrones

The second new book I read was one that I had heard about from my friend Cassie (yup, same one who lent me Divergent, we have similar taste!) and from Chris. Now having Cassie recommend it was enough for me to read it, but a book that my husband (who is not a reader at all) was interested in was surely something I had to look into.

So while we were on our cruise I used the kindle app on my phone to read the book that Chris had bought, A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin. It is the first of a series called A Song of Ice and Fire.

via (no you can't actually click to look inside, but the pic from amazon was the only one I could find)

It was a good one, although different than the books I usually read. A medieval fantasy adventure with a lot of fighting, drama, and love. Although an incredibly well-written book, it isn't one that everyone would love. The fighting is gory and every detail is vivid. Characters you love die and horrible things happen to children, that well, shouldn't. But, if you enjoy a well written story and are looking for a book that will pull you in and keep you interested every step of the way then this series is for you.

I'm excited to read the rest of the series eventually, but right now I've got a couple of other books I want to get to.

Now i've finished 2/30 . . . 28 to go.

Update: #8 Pass the Texas Bar

Well I don't know if I passed yet, but one thing I do know for sure, I completed the Texas Bar Exam.

I endured 2 months of intense studying which may or may not have included: multiple emotional breakdowns, numerous stress eating trips to the grocery store/burger king/whatever I was craving, and a couple pounds of weight gain.

However it also included an awesome bar survival kit from Jill:

The best part:

(you can read more about the kit, and "alphaing" here)

Then I flew to Texas to take the bar exam.

I stayed in a hotel right next to the convention center, which was a huge sanity saver (our rental house was about 45 minutes away without traffic). Each morning I woke up early and started my day with caffeine and more protein than any person should ever have to consume in one sitting:

The protein consumption was worth it. I was never once distracted by hunger (which was the goal).

I would be lying if I didn't tell you that it was 3 days of horrible. I would also be lying if I told you that I just breezed in, took the test, and breezed out. I was a stressed out mess.

2 days before the exam we had eaten dinner with Phil and Jill. Phil had told me about how in his college running days they would have big races. And before those big races they would sit around and say:

"What are we going to do?"

"We are going to complete the race."

It takes the stress and pressure off of winning or beating someone. You just have to focus on completing it. And this was how I got through those stressed out mess moments. I would say in my head, "you just need to complete today's exam." No need to focus on passing, just complete it.

And that is just what I did, completed the exam :)

A quick rundown of the days:

Day 1: Practical Test (they give you a practice senario and you have to write a memo about it), and Texas Civil Procedure and Evidence short answer test (40 questions with 5 lines following each for you to answer in). This was by far my best day, or at least that was how it felt. I felt really good about the practical, and pretty good about the short answer. The only bummer is that this day only counts for 20%

Day 2: Multi-State Multiple Choice Exam. 3 hours to answer 100 questions in the morning, and 3 hours to answer 100 questions in the afternoon. It was really hard, and I didn't feel great about it, but I feel like I performed at a passing level. Counts for 40%

Day 3: Texas Essays. 3 hours to do 6 essays in the morning and 3 hours to do 6 essays in the afternoon. This day was BRUTAL. I felt decently prepared for it when I walked in, but the more questions I read, the worse I felt about it. They asked about little nuanced things some of which I didn't know. Luckily BarBri (my prep course) had prepared me for making up answers, and I made up some awesome answers like a boss :) Counts for 40% (unfortunately)

Results don't come out until summer. I'm not super confident that I passed, because those Texas Essays were brutal. But you never know, the reality is that you only have to pass and I am hoping that the other days might balance out my horrible day. Either way, until the results come out I am hoping for the best!

Allergy Elimination Diet Week 1

I decided to start the allergy elimination diet on Jan. 2, 2012 for a couple of reasons. First, I was just going to be studying for the bar. No work, no school (except for a week long j-term class) no where to be. This meant that the eating restrictions would be easier because I wouldn't be out and about. Second, Chris would be in Texas. He wouldn't have to live with all of my crazy restrictions, and i wouldn't have to be tempted by his yummy food.

So on Jan. 2 I headed to target and whole foods and stocked my pantry with phase 1 eliminating foods.

look at all that fruit, yum!

The first week is supposed to be pretty rough. your body is detoxing chemicals and caffeine and that isn't always pleasant. Safe to say my body had a lot of detoxing to do. The caffeine withdrawal was awful! i had an almost constant headache for about 4 days. The withdrawal peaked on day 3 ( mid-point of my j-term class, fun!) with really bad nausea and a headache. but by day 5 I was back to normal headache and nausea wise. The symptoms i was attempting to figure out through the diet, however, were still present throughout the week. i am hoping they will get better next week.

what i learned: legumes and my stomach do not mix. i had to switch to nuts and lamb as my primary proteins because the mass amounts of legumes were tearing up my stomach. I definitely noticed the difference once i switched. Also, living without bread isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I also learned what a caffeine headache feels like. As some one with chronic headaches, this was very helpful. i would guess that 1/4 of my headaches could be cured with a coke, good to know.

what i craved: Pizza! on the horrible day of caffeine withdrawal Jill heated up some pizza for lunch and my first craving hit me hard. My rice pasta and salad just didn't compare! Then i was at target later in the week and smelled the pizza at the cafe and had to get out of there quick!

best food: cashew pancakes: ground cashews, rice flour, water, and oil. the texture is just like pancakes and they taste super yummy.

Done: #7. Move to Texas

It's official, we have moved to Texas! I am writing this blog post from our rental house in Plano, TX (A northern suburb of Dallas). Last night, as Chris and I lounged by the pool watching Arty swim we marveled at the fact that we were here, in Texas, living the dream.

We set a goal for ourselves: move to Texas this year. And here we sit, having completed that goal and so proud of ourselves for doing so!

So here are some pictures of our journey down south:

It all started with one box

And then it magically turned into 200 boxes. Or I slaved away at packing 200 boxes (with some help of course . . .)

Seriously, do we really have that much stuff !?!?!? Yes, yes we do. I can't help it, I like my stuff. (it is important to note that this is after we purged a giant dumpster full of stuff last summer . . . what can we say, we will never be minimalists)

Then the lovely orange truck came and picked up our stuff:

Yeah, we decided to get movers. Why? Well have you ever seen our bed? It weighs thousands of pounds, and that is just the mattress! Plus, who wants to drive a giant truck filled with 7,400 pounds (yup, that was our final count) of Larson stuff 1000 miles? Not us.

So we just drove our car, and D'artagnan

(Note: Arty and Chris's car had already made the trip in January when Chris started working)

The drive, even minus the stuff, was not easy. Mostly because we drove through this

and even better, this

Yeah, see that blue dot? It was us. See the red "line" of horrible rain? That was our path. Not fun, not fun at all! But we made it safe and sound, and two days later, so did our stuff

So there you have it, our moving journey in pictures. And my first item to officially cross off the list!

Book #1: Divergent

Well I read my first new book for the list, and it was a good one.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

My friend Cassie, who likes the same types of books as I do, had borrowed it to me last summer and I wanted to make sure I finished it before we moved, so it was the first book I read while we were on our post-bar cruise.

Here is how the author describes the book on her blog:

"In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris, and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together, they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes-fascinating, sometimes-exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret: one she’s kept hidden from everyone, because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly-perfect society, she also learns that her secret might be what helps her save those she loves . . . or it might be what destroys her."

via

As for me, I really liked it. It was no Harry Potter or Hunger Games, but it was a really good story intertwined with a really good romance. There was some action, some suspense, and some sweet and tender moments. Which to me has all of the makings of a good book. The story was also written really well, making it a pretty easy read. All in all I would recommend it, especially if you like the Hunger Games/Eragon type books. The next book in the Trilogy comes out this Spring and I am super excited to read it as well!

1 down . . . 29 to go!

30. Digially scan Chris and I's childhood photos, print them in a book

Finally, #30. Writing these posts has definitely been a bit brutal. I started them in November, and did a good chunk then. Then finals came and I didn't have time. Then I started up again in January, attempting to take a daily break from bar studying to watch Grey's Anatomy and write some posts, but then I quickly got too busy with the bar and stopped. The last batch was done during and after our big move (which I will post more on later . . .) so that is why they were so sporadic. But now, they are finally done and I can get to the fun stuff, completing the list. While writing these was kind of a pain in the butt, I think having them to look back on will be great so I can remember why I choose each one! So with out further ado . . .

#30. Digially scan Chris and I's childhood photos, print them in a book

This one sounds hard, but it won't be that bad. The various deal sites (think Groupon/Living Social) are always having great deals where you can pay $20-40 to send in 1000 printed photos and the company will digitize them for you. The hard part will be tracking down the photos.

The reason I want to do this is because (as you can probably tell by the last 3) I love photos. I hope for my house to always be filled with may photos of my family and friends and all of the memories that we share together. I think it would be nice to digitize the old photos, not only so I can use them throughout my house without worrying about ruining the originals, but also so my, bound to be curious, future children can look at them down the road to see what mom and dad looked like.

The plan is to scope out the deal sites until one of these deals comes up. Then I will try and get my hands on all the photos (from my mom and Chris's dad) so that they can all be digitized!

So there you have it, all 30 of them. Here's to completing them by the time I'm 30 . . . let the adventures begin!!

29. Digital scrapbook every year and print out the pages into books

This one will be pretty easy. I used to love paper scrapbooking, but never had the time or resources to make them look as good as my perfectionist self wanted them to be. Enter the digital era. Now they have digital scrapbooking where you can do just about everything you can with paper, but it is so much easier! If you don't like the color, you can change it with the click of a button. If you want a different background just go into the background and pick a different one. Digital scrapbooking also means not having to print and then cut up all of the digital photos.

I have this software that I bought last year:

So far I love it! Last winter I worked on (and almost completed) all of 2010. My hope is to catch up by doing 2011 and then one book with 2007-2009 (which will likely be less detailed). Then I hope to make time about 4 times per year to scrapbook the last season. I think getting in this habit will hopefully allow me to continue scrapbooking even after I turn 30. Then I can have beautiful picture books to look back on one day.