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The scenery in Washington makes me question why people live in Lubbock.






On Friday, I traveled a couple hours east of Seattle to visit family.

These cousins make me look short...


And these cousins make me look tall!

Views

Here are some views from my day today. The first three are from the ferry commute I will be making for the next week and a half. The last one is the view from my window at work.

I don't think we're in Lubbock anymore...

That's the Seattle skyline. I arrived here this afternoon and will be here for the next ten weeks. I'll keep you posted on everything I do!

For now, the only wisdom I can impart is something I learned yesterday: when packing a suitcase for a two and a half month trip, fill it up and then get another suitcase.

Chicken Joke!

This morning I was watching an amatuer morning news program. There were two announcers: one was dressed like a normal announcer and the other was dressed like a chicken. The announcer dressed like a chicken made an off-the-wall comment. The other announcer responded, "What the cluck?"

School's Out for the Summer

Woohoo! Summer is here and that means time to have fun and play a little. Here are some pics from the beginning of summer.

The in-laws dropped in for a weekend visit.

From our apartment, before a rain storm.

Heather and I connecting with our inner-selves.

With the family in Fort Worth.

Kharma?

It started with a grocery store groping. I was at the back of the store making my way to the front when I sensed that someone was following me. I picked up my pace a bit, but so did they. Just as I moved to the far right edge of the isle in hopes that this stranger would pass me, I felt a tight pinch on my butt. I instantly turned around but before I could get over my astonishment or formulate a clear thought, I realized that the culprit was my husband. He just happened to stop by for some water, saw my car in the parking lot, and found me with my back to him. He took great delight in his prank.

Later that week I came home from the library at almost midnight. I was surprised to find Chris still awake. He explained that earlier that night he was gearing down for bed when the phone calls began. Three different friends in Fort Worth called to congratulate him on his "expecting" wife. HA! As if I would tell others before telling the culprit (notice that he's the culprit again). As if I would break the news to [insert your name here] via blog. Anyhoo, it was CLEARLY a prank on Chris, which he really didn't fall for. Of course, if he really didn't fall for it, then one would ask why he couldn't fall asleep until I came home. Perhaps he got a taste of his own medicine after all?

Pay-backs are h-e-double-hockey-sticks.

What Can Brown Do For You?

Remember the UPS whiteboard commercials with the nifty little sketches? I always thought those ads were strangely mesmerizing, and I found the whiteboard guy to have an unexplainable "coolness" about him. Maybe this was a sign of things to come...

I'm not the first person to blog about the UPS whiteboard guy. In fact, not everyone feels the same way I do about these ads. One blogger writes, "It's the guy with the worst haircut in North America. Who would actually want to style their hair this way? And who would let you on television looking like this??...It's baffling to me... I hate the ads.. I hate that guy's hair... I hate everything about those commercials..."

Another blogger posted this edited photo:



So, who is this brown guy? And why am I blogging about him? Chris has been growing his hair out since our wedding (over a year), and it's pretty long now. Last week I realized he looks like the UPS whiteboard guy.



First, let me say that I do not agree with the aforementioned blogger who calls this the worst hair style in America. I think Chris wears it quite well. And if you go to google images, type in "worst hairstyle," and take a gander at the beauties that pop-up, you will quickly see that this blogger is clearly wrong. I mean, what is this - a homage to Shrek?



Second, I think Chris would make an excellent UPS whiteboard guy. Not only does he have the hairstyle and the sketching skills, but he's also brown. I can't decide if the current whiteboard guy is also brown or if it would be politically incorrect to use a brown person as a spokesperson for a company who's catch line is "what can brown do for you."

Whatever. The bottom line in these ads, and in this blog, is "what can brown do for you?" A lot, if you're me.

Visitors

This weekend we were blessed with company. Thank you Lindy and A.J. for choosing to spend your three-day weekend in Lubbock. We love you guys!

A fine group of young adults:


Posing with the glasses:


Okay, so this is actually a Lubbock friend, but he was too precious to leave out:

Wedding Crashers

Last weekend Chris and I attended the Law Review Banquet. What could have been a very mediocre Law Review function turned into an amusing snafu when an older couple joined our table of seven. They were a very friendly couple and immediately began small talk – something about not being able to find anywhere to sit. They asked us how we knew Jacquelyn and were surprised that there were so many law students in attendance. We were confused but didn't say anything for fear they were some dignified, albeit confused, Law Review guest. As they began eating their plates full of food, they noticed the programs at their place setting. Somewhat meekly they said, "This isn't the wedding, is it?" Oh, now we knew who Jacquelyn was - the bride. And now this couple knew why there were so many law students in attendance - this was not the wedding at all. The couple joked about the embarrassing predicament as they quickly finished their steak and green beans - no need to waste a plate of food - and then they quietly snuck off to the next floor of the building for the wedding.

Thank you Law Review crashers for making the evening memorable.

Kim Goes to a Rock Concert

Chris and I went to see the Toadies. The tickets were "standing room only." Somewhere between the occasional crowd surfer and the overly aggressive girl fighting for my square foot of space, I discovered that I do not like "standing room only," which should be code for mosh pit. I would much rather enjoy the band than defend myself from the unpredictable movement of strange bodies. I would also like to see the stage without having to stand on my tip-toes. Nope - "standing room only" is not for me. I need my music on a CD or in a chair.

Yesterday

I wake up with a frizzy mess of hair and immediately go to the shower, but there's no hot water. I wait an hour - still no hot water. There's no hot water in the entire building - only frigid ice water. We're not going to church due to our unclean state and our general disdain for 40 degree showers, so I decide to make a hot breakfast, only I burn the biscuits. We eat our hot and some what charred breakfast and then turn to the kitchen. It's a nightmare - dishes everywhere, week-old beans fermenting in the fridge, food spilling out of the cabinet. We clean out the beans as a team but the smell still makes me gag. I boil some water for the dirty dishes, which Chris spills on the floor. I then spill dry pasta in the puddle of hot water – It’s like we’re cooking pasta on the floor. Chris washes dishes for ten minutes and then breaks a cup in his hand. He pretends to pass out from the blood. I help him get dressed while he keeps pressure on his wound and then we're off to the emergency clinic. We sit in the waiting room an hour, during which time the bleeding stops and we learn how to transform an ugly backyard into an oasis on HGTV. Finally, they call Chris' name. Chris gets five stitches across his right pinky knuckle and I watch. The doctor says he will throw away the little metal tweezers, scissors, and forceps used to sew Chris together, so Chris asks if he can keep them; I laugh, but when we leave we're carrying a red biohazard bag full of shiny instruments wrapped in a bloody paper towel. Back to the apartment where a kitchen full of dishes remains largely untouched, only now my dishwasher is out of commission and our boiling water is cold. I boil more water and then wash dishes for an hour. I finally check the time - Only 3:00!?!?!? Can we go back to bed and start this day over?

At a Wedding

Congrats Ryan and Amber!



By the way, Chris, Gina (purple dress on the left), and I made sure the get-away car reflected their new status! It was lots of fun!.

Spring Break Re-Cap

It's Sunday night at 9:45, the end of my much anticipated spring break. Not many people over 25 get a spring break, but I am one of the furtunate few (or possibly unfortunate because this means I'm still in school) who do. So what do adults do during spring break? Well, we don't go to Mexico and get drunk for days on end. Here's where I went for spring break:



I also went here:



That's my kitchen. I made lots of yummy food, including these delicious cupcakes:



Instead of going out of town for spring break, Chris and I were blessed with our first parental check-in. You know you're an adult when rather than going home to visit your parents, your parents come visit you. We showed them what Lubbock has to offer:







And we found some time for a friendly bowling match, during which Chris and I played as a team and scored a 146! My dad proudly pointed out that, as a team, we could beat President Obama, who is currently bowling in the 120's.



Hopefully my parents went home with good reports.

Of course I found a little time to goof around - Chris and I put our matching guitar hero guitars to use, we made our cumbia dancing premier, and I shared one of my passions - baking - with the local pathfinder club.

As a result of my vacation, my books are full of yellow highlighting, my husband's stomach is full of food, and I'm ready for the final countdown for final exams that will begin tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.

So, that's what an adult does during spring break.

Smart enough for the bar exam, but not for other things...

I recently recieved an email from school administration explaining that one of the front doors to the law building is not working. This door has been having problems for a while. Nonetheless, the administration felt we were incapable of understanding the situation, so they attached this picture to the email.



Yes, we are smart enough to take the bar exam, but not smart enough to try the left door when the right door doesn't work.

Update on Current Events

(1) My oven is clean! I have lived in my apartment for a year and a half. Aside from normal cooking mishaps, like a french fry falling off a pan only to burn and smolder on the oven's bottom, there have been much messier culinary adventures, like the Thanksgiving Turkey, a roasted chicken, and melted butter on a cookie sheet with no edges. The net effect was a very dirty oven. I tried to clean it, but was unable to make any progress (probably due to my eczema break out that prevented me from exposing my hands to anything but moisturizer). Then Chris tried to clean it and almost killed himself - there was a spark that caused the entire apartment to lose power and required the assistance of our maintenance man Joe to restore. Although the oven tried to kill my husband, my husband refused to let the oven win, and now I have a clean oven!

(2) I am a law school cover girl. I recently picked up a Texas Tech School of Law catalog for a friend. After looking at the student pictures on the cover for a minute or two, I realized that I had failed to notice that I was in one of the pictures. It was one of those situations where your grandma would say, "Had that been a snake, it would have bit you."

(3) Valentines Day. Chris and I are truly in sync with each other. Chris decided to forego the traditional chocolates and instead bought me a delicious cheese ball and some fancy crackers. Being that cheese is not only my favorite food, but also the greatest food on earth, this was the perfect way to start Valentines Day. Then we exchanged gifts. I thought I would really surprise him with the gift certificate for a hour and a half massage that I had purchased, but I was more surprised to find that he had bought a gift certificate for a couple's massage for me.

Looking Good

Password Paranoia

I was recently prompted to change one of my many internet passwords. The do's and don't's for password selection were neatly listed and can be summarized as follows: An acceptable password is 8 to 15 characters long, using both upper and lower case letters and at least one number, which can not be the first or last character. Additionally, a password can not contain any part of your name nor any word found in a dictionary. A password can not be repeated within a one-year period; however, punctuation marks are permissible characters.

Suggested passwords were UGZ34Bbc3k and similar combinations. I have one such combination memorized but am blocked from using that password for the next year because it was my previous password.

The point? This is ridiculous...

Update: In response to this blog, A.J. wisely suggested that I use words like sk8. Thanks A.J.!

Laptop Surgery: The Final Chapter

I can't write very much about the last round of work on my beloved laptop. The new screen arrived today and was installed before I came home from school. But I can convey the extreme excitement I felt upon seeing my computer in one piece and the even more intense excitement that occurred approximately ten seconds later when the computer powered-up in a completely normal fashion. Once again the screen displays a clear and visible picture. Time, patience, $100, and a handy husband gave my HP DV2000 a second chance at life. The screen transplant was a resounding success!!!!

Laptop Surgery Continued

The parts for my laptop arrived last week. The first part arrived in a simple envelope; the second part arrived in a long, narrow pink box with a bow...??? Re-assembling the computer and installing the new parts was more intense than the previously described disassembly, requiring Chris to bust out his head-mounted flash light. Once the essential parts were reconnected, we anxiously hit the power button. On the upside, everything powered up as normal. Phew - everything was connected correctly. On the downside, the screen image was no better than before. More parts are on the way and only time will tell if our laptop surgery will be a success.