...

Everybody knows
It hurts to grow up
And everybody does
It's so weird to be back here.
Let me tell you what
The years go on and
We're still fighting it, we're still fighting it
Oh, we're still fighting it, we're still fighting it

-Ben Folds

I might just get up and dance, or buy some acid washed pants

All right. So I'm completely lame. So lame, in fact, that my lameness astounds me. No more promises from me that I will update often because we can all see how well that works out for me. Let's just say, from now one, I'm going to try. Hey, at least I have an excuse, right? Law school takes up a lot of time!

Anyway, it's the Fourth of July, one holiday that I've never gotten too excited about. And at this point, I'm just ready for the neighbor kids to stop lighting firecrackers. I mean really, what is the point of setting them off at two in the afternoon? If someone could please enlighted me on this subject, I would appreciate it.

Gabe's working today, which means time and half, and in one word, that is: excellent. Harri and I are just hanging out studying (yes, even on holidays), cleaning the house, and playing a little Guitar Hero (ok, so some fun is had on holidays). Tomorrow night we're going to see Tool in GR. Gabe loves them, but what it really means for me is that we get to go to Marado for dinner...yum! Seriously thought, can you picture me at a Tool concert??? I've seen A Perfect Circle, and they were amazing, but Tool is a whole different story. Who knows though, maybe Maynard will surprise me.

Friday night is BBQ time: good friends, food, beer, and fun. And maybe, just maybe, I'll have some firecrackers. For the kids, of course. Josh and Crystal are bringing Lolli Pup so Harrington is going to have a playdate! We're super excited about that! The rest of the holiday weekend will consist of more BBQing with Gabe's fire academy friends and studying.

Anyway, that's about it for me. I will leave you with a pic of Ben Folds whom I saw in concert last month, and as always, he was AMAZING!!!

Spring is officially here!

The lone crocus at the back fence.

So we finally had another warm day today. So, to take advantage of it, I decided to take the Harrington (and Gabe) out back for a little Frisbee. As we were out, I noticed that my yard is in great need of some post-winter clean up! Unfortunately for my yard, I am in law school, and free time to spend cleaning up the yard and gardening does not come as often as I would like it! In any event, it's nice to see that signs of new life are "springing" up through the dead leaves. I can't wait for our break from school so I can get some planting done!

In other news, I'm going to Denver! Becky will be staying in Denver for the summer (she's at the University of Denver working on her masters) and informed me this week that Ben Folds and John Mayer will be playing together at the Red Rocks on June 16. That works out perfect since it's a Saturday night. So, I booked myself a ticket to the "Mile High City" for Friday after class to hang out for the weekend with Becky, Ben, and John in Denver!

With only three short weeks until finals, things are really busy with school. It's going well, but it's a lot of studying, and now is crunch time! Speaking of which, it's time to get back to the books... :)

So, it's March 3rd....

I know I said a hundred times that I would post more often...and I have failed. But this time, I'm really going to try...lol

School is going well. We had midterms a couple of weeks ago, and thankfully they're over. The thing with midterms is you study really hard to do well, and at the same time you still have all of your regular course work to do and all of your normal studying. And you work really hard to get a decent grade on a midterm that is only worth 20 points (10% of the final grade). The school mainly has midterms (in three classes only) so that we can have some feedback as to how we are progressing. Therefore, if you do well, you really don't have to worry about the score making or breaking your final grade. However, if you don't do so well, you have to make up those points in the final. Thankfully, I did alright.

Other than school, not a whole lot has been going on. Gabe is full speed ahead with the fire academy, and really loves it. Next week is the Westwood Firefighter's dinner, so I get to meet his classmates, chief, and other guys from the station.


Last night was Josh's birthday, so Gabe came up to Grand Rapids to celebrate and meet my friends. Crystal, Josh's wife, set up a surprise party for Josh and some of us were able to make it out (the weather was HORRENDOUS!!!!). Crystal even got party hats...lol!

Gabe and I are going to Chicago in April, and I finally was able to get a hotel for us. What you must understand is that I book every hotel through Priceline. I REFUSE to pay full price. And of course, I wasn't going to go any less than 4 stars. So, for the past month, I have been trying every other day to get a four star hotel in Chicago. Both Gabe and my mom were telling me that I should give up and lower my standards to a 3 star, but I refused. And finally, on Thursday, I pulled it off. Gabe and I will be staying at the Hilton on Michigan Ave! And, as you see in the picture, we'll be there during the tulip festival!


Well, I should get back to the studying. I must say, after the horrid lake effect snow and wind storm that we got all day and all night yesterday, I find it rather nice to sit here and hear the birds chirping outside my window. It gives me hope, that yes, today is March 3 and it's still in the 20s outside, but it proves that spring is just around the corner. Anyways, it's back to the books. Even Harrington loves studying!

Does anyone know what the definition of "busy" is?

Oh shit! She lives! Sorry for the long lapse in posting.... And this isn't going to be a long one, cause I'm really freaking tired, but in my defense, things have been crazy busy!!! School is going really well, but it's a TON of work!! So much, in fact, that I quit my job so I could put all my effort and concentration toward school. So far, I am very happy with that decision.

Midterms start on Tuesday, so I think we're all putting it into overdrive to prepare for those on top of our regular work.

So...with midterms quickly approaching, study group has been meeting quite often...including last night at Melissa's (green sweatshirt).

So I'm going to leave with that for now...I promise to update more frequently!!

Geocaching

So before law school started, Gabe and I went on a geocaching adventure. Our adventures took us around the surrounding counties in search of camouflaged Tupperware containers filled with little trinkets and log books. In exchange for one of the trinkets out of the geocache, we left behind army men and drug rep pens (can we say Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra?? This is why I worked in Urology for so long!). In order to find the geocaches, we needed to use Thomas, our new handheld GPS (Thomas is not to be confused with TomTom. Thomas is named such because we use the British voice to talk to us, and I think he sounds like a Thomas.). Gabe visits the official geocaching website www.geocaching.com and finds different geocaches for us to find. On this adventure we decided to head into the woods and cemeteries of the surrounding counties. Can I tell you, when you find a geocache, you must keep in mind that it has been exposed to the elements for months, sometimes years. It is always wise to bring gloves and hand sanitizer, and nose plugs if you think of them...geocache's are quite musty! Geocaches can be found on the ground (covered up or camouflaged of course), attached to fences, or even hanging in trees, as we soon found out! Our adventure lasted about five or six hours and ended at Nina's Taqueria in Augusta for some yummy Mexican food. (Homemade chips!!) Erin would be proud:)

So this is how it's going to be...

wow. It's been a long time! School has started, and it's been crazy! All last week we had orientation and it was pretty crazy. Long days in Lansing and in Grand Rapids. I met some really great people, and it looks like things are going to be pretty good. My schedule is crazy though. I work every day and have class four days a week. And then there's all the studying! But it will all pay off in the end, I know it will.