March Madness

Spring is in the air, school is winding down, and this can only mean one thing: NCAA basketball is well underway and the NBA playoffs are just around the corner! It is officially my absolute FAVORITE time of the year! In my best Dick Vitale voice: "You gotta love it, baby!

My bracket is basically busted (thanks Kansas and Georgetown *sigh*). I took a big gamble on St. Mary's going all the way to the Final Four and I'm hoping they come through for me! It could mean big money! We entered a pool with a bunch of people in my class. So, if the stars align, I could be back in business!

I'll quit talking about basketball, but first let me just remind everyone to cross your fingers for the Jazz, too! They've played great since the start of the year and could make some noise in the playoffs if they get their stuff together. Here's hoping Utah can show they are a contender!

Well, despite a whole lot of basketball watching (Heidi is thrilled about that), believe it or not, I am still in law school. Things are still going well. I can't believe the end of my first year is just six weeks away. I'm well over half way there. It seems like it just started, but sure enough, here we are. That means that I will be applying for a transfer soon too. I might end up only applying to BYU, however. I've been looking into the possibility of applying to BYU, Utah, and UNLV, but the last two don't seem that feasible.

For IN-STATE tuition at Utah it costs $17,950 (before books). If I can get residency here at the University of Wyoming it would only be $9,966. However, the possibility of obtaining residency is still unclear. Some say it is near impossible, others say it is almost guaranteed if you do it right. UNLV is close to $30,000 out of state and there's no way to get an out-of-state tuition waiver. BYU is only $10,280 for LDS students. I will probably still apply at the U and BYU, and just see what happens, if/when it happens. I'm happy here in Wyoming (the school, not the state or city...just so we're clear). We'll just roll with it, I guess.

Right before Spring Break I took a multiple choice Torts exam. Not as easy as I thought it would be! I think it took a lot of people by surprise. The average score was a 67%, the high was 87%, and the low was 47%. I was right in the middle, so I'm not too worried about it. He grades on a curve anyway, so realistically I got like a B (and it is only worth 25% of my overall grade). Plus, Torts never has been my strong subject. So I'll take a B.

In other somewhat-related law school news, a few weeks ago Jared and I went and watched the Wyoming legislature in action over in Cheyenne. It was pretty cool! I've never done that before. He used to be a reporter at the Capitol so he know everyone there. We saw the governor as we were walking by and he invited us in to sit down and chat with him. We also got to go visit with a couple of the state legislators. Kinda cool to see that stuff in action.

The picture to the right is a view from the main floor. The whole building was beautiful, and the woodwork was amazing. There is kind of a cool story about the stairs. The architect who did all the wood work was a very religious guy and made some statement that "Only God's creations are perfect." He then took one of the balusters holding up the banisters on the stairs and turned it upside down so it would be imperfect. Jared pointed out the baluster that was upside down to me. I would have never noticed it, but now that I know it is there, that story is pretty cool.

Anyway, in other news, Heidi and Trey are still doing great! We were able to come back to Utah last week for Spring Break. It was so fun to spend a whole week with them not doing anything in particular. We actually had the opportunity to fly in an airplane with my old boss, Tom Greer (owner of Greer's hardware). He took us up in his private airplane and took us over to the spiral jetty and over Tremonton. We got to the runway and Tom started turning up the engine, preparing for take off. All of a sudden we heard Trey, over the headset, say, "One, two, three!" Hilarious. He did pretty good once we were up in air, except at one point when he started getting a little restless and started throwing a fit. I had Tom dive the airplane down a little bit (enough to make your stomach drop -- Heidi screamed!). Trey didn't make a peep after that! Tom even let me fly the plane for a little while! The whole experience was pretty cool.

As for Heidi, she's been doing amazing at trying to lose weight. She's stayed consistent and determined. I haven't got an update on how many more pounds she's lost, but I'm sure it's some! I know it is hard to stay motivated for this kind of thing (I couldn't do it!), so I've been so impressed with her.

Well, I think that is all I can think of, for now. I guess I'll sign off and we'll see what happens in the coming weeks!

Nine

Well, I have some good news to report from the land of Frostbite. We received our class rankings last week and I'm happy to say that I am ranked #9 out of 83. I was pleased. They ask the top ten students to write for Law Review, which is a VERY prestigious thing if you get published (in fact, some court decisions have cited Law Review articles!). I'd like to do it, but I don't think I'll be able to. My goal is to transfer after this year, and if that ends up happening (keep your fingers crossed) then I don't want to devote a bunch of time to writing an article only to not see it through. So I don't think I will.

Anyway, the semester is starting off pretty good. I enjoy all my classes, more or less, and I think I have a better grasp on how to study and prepare now. The schedule is a lot more kind to me as well. No more 8:00 classes (except Tuesdays) and the work load toward the end of the week gets significantly lighter. So no complaints there. I won't get another vacation until spring break in March, but I guess I'll live.

I celebrated my birthday on Sunday! Big 27. Weird. I spent it the best way I could imagine - with Heidi and Trey. We went to Fort Collins on Saturday and shopped for some new slippers for Trey, to no avail (however, Heidi found him some "Melmo" slippers right here at KMart in Laramie). We went to the mall and just let Trey run around for an hour, which he LOVED! After that, we went and ate at Coccina's Italian Grill. It was pretty good! Sunday, we just did our usual and relaxed all day. Not a bad birthday at all. Thanks to all of you who posted a birthday greeting...and shame on all of you who didn't! I kid. If anyone is guilty of that, it's me!

Last Thursday we hung out with Jared (my best law school buddy), Ellen (his wife), Tony (my other good law school buddy), and Sam (yet another law school buddy). We all went over to Jared's house and had pizza. It was pretty fun and the conversation never died. Of course, Heidi and I were mostly distracted from preventing Trey from breaking the decorations! This Friday we invited Josh and Miri (from our ward - he's a 2L) to come over and eat pizza and play Wii. So that should be fun too.

I was invited to participate in an intramural basketball team with a few guys in my class and a few of my professors. Most of the guys are NOT good, but it's all for fun anyway, right? We had a game last Wednesday and we lost by 10. However, I had 17 points, so I can't complain too much. The refs sucked, but what's new? I'll spare you the details. One of the professors who is playing is Prof. Wilson who is from Utah, went to the University of Utah, is a member of the church, and served a mission. I'm hoping to get in good with him so he'll write me a letter of recommendation when I apply to transfer.

As for Trey and Heidi, they are doing well! Heidi is perfect just the way she is but apparently she disagrees with me so she's been working out really hard. I don't know if she wanted me to mention this, but she has lost three pounds in two weeks! I'm really proud of her and know she can reach her goal (whatever that goal is?)! I just want her to be happy!

Trey is the funniest, cutest little kid I could have ever hoped to have as my son. He has figured out what toenail clippers are for and Heidi caught him trying them out! He's become a big fan of Elmo and loves to play with his two stuffed Elmos. Here's one last funny story about him. The other day I came home from school and picked him up to hold him. In the meantime, I was really mad about our neighbors (I can't remember what it was now...it could have been a NUMBER of things...**sigh**). I was talking to Heidi and was venting to her. As I was yelling and complaining about them, Trey grabbed my cheeks and turned my head to him so I would make eye contact and then he started yelling at me! He was trying to get me to settle down! As soon as I quit yelling, he stopped holding my cheeks and gave me a big cheesy smile. Kids sure know how to correct their parents, don't they! What a kid.

Anyway, I think that's it for now. We're just counting down the days until we're outta here! At least the weather hasn't been that bad lately! Knock on wood. Till next time...

Party Like A Rock Star!

Where has the time gone? I don't know if Heidi agrees with me, but I think that time is flying! Maybe it is because I feel like I can never get everything done that I need to!

I'll be honest. I'm a little nervous. I have a Contracts midterm coming up on Monday. I guess now is the time to prove that I really know what I am doing. But do I? I like to think so. Only time will tell. My contracts professor is actually pretty intense. She got really mad at us the other day because she thinks that we don't read or study the cases. She told us, "You all think that you're just a bunch of g** d*** rockstars and you don't need to study or do anything!" I thought it was kind of an unfair assumption. I truly think that most everyone reads and studies. The problem is when she calls on people to answer questions, they don't seem to know the answer. However, I think it is because she is so intimidating! Oh, well. I guess the tests will show who really does know their stuff. The test will cover: offer, acceptance, consideration, promissory estoppel, and option contracts. That's a big load! So wish me luck.

On the family side of things, my little Trey bug is getting smarter and smarter! He blows me away everyday! He can locate his eyes, nose, hair, ears, fingers, toes, cheeks, chin, bum, and...weiner. He walks around saying "mom" and "addy." So freakin' cute. If he has a poopy bum, he'll go into his room, grab a diaper, and bring it out to Heidi so she can change him! Whenever we bless the food he will bow his head until the prayer is done. He helps me do the laundry by handing me clothes from the hamper or I'll hand him clothes from the washer to put in the dryer. He also helps unload the dishwasher by handing me all the utensils, dishes and stuff so I can put it away. He usually won't leave until the job is done! He's the most loving little boy I've ever met. Sometimes I'll whisper in his ear, "go give mommy loves" and he'll hurry off to find her to give her a hug and kisses. There is numerous times when he'll randomly walk up to Heidi or myself, just to pat our cheeks or legs and give us a hug. What a guy. I don't know what it would be like without him. It's been great having him around.

On the social front, things are going good too. This past Saturday we went out to the Indian restaurant with Jared (my school buddy) and his wife Ellen. The service was terrible but the food was incredible! They are both good conversationalists so the evening went well. This coming weekend we're going to hang out with Sam and Brittany from my class (yes, the Brittany I mentioned in my last post). Sam is from Brazil. He's a cool guy. Brittany is one of the few members here. She's from Delaware. So that should be fun too.

Anyway, other than that there's not much else to say. I turned in a couple of papers this past week. A three pager in torts and a ten pager in legal writing. So I am staying busy. I'll let you know how my mid-term and this weekend goes next time. So look forward to that.

Goodness Sakes! and Tummy Aches

It's been a little while since my last post. As you probably have guessed, I've been pretty busy. School got a little more hectic and I've been putting in about 60+ hours per week trying to keep up. I don't get home until after 7:00 now. I'm still keeping up with my school work, so that's good.

I have a Contracts test coming up in the next couple weeks and I have a feeling that it is going to be brutal. It all makes sense in theory, but when you get under a time constraint and you have to put the application into words, it gets a little tricky.

The home life has been good, although I feel like I'm getting less and less time with my family. Poor little Trey Bug has had the stomach flu for the past few days. We gave him a blessing and I think he's pretty much over it now. We only had to wash our love seat three times, our carpet and Trey's crib twice, and our kitchen floor once. Where does all that puke come from? Poor kid. But he's back to being his happy-go-lucky self now.

The social life is still alive and well. It seems like Heidi is meeting new people all the time. A really nice girl in my class, Brittany, came over and talked to her for a while the other day at a school chili cookoff. They really hit it off and Brittany has reminded me every day that she wants to get together with Heidi. So that should be a good way for Heidi to be able to get out of the house.

As for me, I've made a new buddy, Jared. I sit by him in all my classes. We get along great and our personalities really mesh. We're constantly exchanging cynical remarks. He's been good to study with and get input from.

This past Saturday he convinced me to get up early on Saturday and go running with him up in the mountains. I'm not a distance runner so I was hesitant, but I eventually conceded. Big mistake. I haven't worked out, played basketball, or done any serious bodily movement (except turn pages of books) in about two months. Yet, for some reason I agreed to go on a four mile run, UP the mountain, at 8,200 feet elevation. What was I thinking? I kept up for the most part, but I was dead by the time we were heading back and ended up walking most of it. Right now my quads, calfs, feet, hips, and lower back are all VERY sore. It makes me walk a little funny (of course, everyone in Wyoming has a funny, cowboy walk. So maybe I just blend in now). It was nice to have the conversation with Jared, but maybe next time we can leave the running out!

Other than that, not much else is going on. We're just trying to make the best of our time here in Laramie and looking forward to Heidi's family coming to visit us this weekend! I'll have more to update at that time!

Oh, I know people have had a problem posting comments. I've been trying to get that all sorted out, but I don't know if I have yet. Please do me a favor and try to post something. If it doesn't work, send me an e-mail and let me know what is going on. Thanks!