Happy New Year!!

As is the norm, another 3 months have gone by and I am just now updating our site. So much to cover and catch up on. I know I promised pictures from my trip home in Sept, but I'm having trouble getting them loaded, along with some pictures from Halloween and Thanksgiving. So those will have to come at a later time.

In October Ross had his Trial Advocacy competition down in San Diego. Both teams did an amazing job but unfortunately the judges thought differently. For Halloween this year we dressed up as Red Riding Hood and the Wolf and we got to celebrate it with Judah, Michelle, Morgan, and Bo at Disneyland. The workers at the park liked our costumes so much, we were invited to participate in the parade!

In November, Ross found out his article for Law Review is going to be published!! YEAH! The final publication should be out sometime this semester. For Thanksgiving we headed to Las Vegas and spent the long holiday weekend with Mom and Dad. For me, November brought great news regarding my new job. I started out as a temp doing HR Assistant work and within two months I was hired on permanently as the Executive Assistant to the Vice President and General Manager of the company! So many prayers were answered with this job and things have been going great.

December brought finals for Ross which thankfully involved only 2 exams this year. After finals, we headed to the Mexican Riviera on a cruise for 9 days! We spent Christmas and New Years out on the Pacific Ocean and had a very relaxing time.

Ross started classes again on Jan 2. This week he is taking a 1 week course over the last week of winter break. The Spring..and final...semester officially starts on Mon, Jan 8. In addition to the final semester of classes starting, Ross will also be starting an externship at a private defense firm in Long Beach. He is super excited about this opportunity since this is the path he wants to take.

Graduation is Saturday, May 12th! Unfortunately for Ross, the celebration will be short lived since Bar prep classes start Monday, May 14th and lasts until mid July. He will sit for the Bar July 29-31st with the results being sent out the middle of November.

So that was a short and sweet summary of the last 3 months of 2011 and a quick overview of the next 7 months of 2012. This year is going to be not only exciting but full of a lot of unknowns. But without those two ingredients, life would just be boring!

Enjoy some pictures from Halloween, Thanksgiving in Vegas, and Christmas and New Years on our cruise to Mexico!

Back on the ship after the day in Ensenada.

All dressed up for Christmas!

We go to watch this giant fish get hung up for a photo op while we enjoyed our margaritas, beer, and guacamole.

A black Jeep with Colorado plates in Cabo?? Shaun did you miss me for Christmas?

The Nativity made entirely out of sand from the beach in Puerto Vallarta!

Santa Claus and a Christmas tree "sand castle".

Enjoying lunch at Pipi's in Puerto Vallarta. The best margarita and guacamole!

Happy New Year!!  Taking a minute to pose next to the 2012 ice sculpture

Where did the summer go??

So it has officially been over 4 months since I last posted on this website and so much has happened that I don’t even know where to begin.

Ross ended his second year in the top 3% of his class…again, which means he was awarded another full tuition scholarship! This year he has quite a full schedule. He is on the honors board for Law Review as an Executive Editor. He is also on the honors board for Trial Advocacy as the Treasurer. He is also a member of Trial Advocacy and will be competing in San Diego October 13-15. And he is the President of the Criminal Law Society. In addition to be involved in all the above groups, he has two other classes he attends. So needless to say he is busy again this year. Once the competition is over, his time will free up a lot more. And this summer Ross got a lot of court room experience thanks to his externship at the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Besides school, we were actually able to take a few small trips or mini-vacations. In June we did a super quick trip out to Las Vegas to see Shaun and Amanda. Our entire trip ended up costing us $40 thanks to my luck on a slot machine. In August we came home to Colorado to celebrate a cousin’s wedding. Even though it was a short 3-day trip, we still had fun seeing family. The following weekend we headed back to Las Vegas to celebrate Aileen’s birthday. This time I wasn’t so lucky, but we still had fun.

Once we got back from our last mini-vacation, things changed for us. Ross started his last year of school and that same week I was laid off from work. As disastrous as I thought it was, it actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I was unemployed for about 2 weeks and had already made plans) to go back home to Colorado for 3 weeks (per Ross’ suggestion). However, those plans were quickly changes when I was offered a job with a start date in a little over a week. Thankfully I was able to find a last minute flight home and I spent an entire week in Colorado catching up with friends and spending some time family. Unfortunately I had to do this trip solo as Ross was busy with school and getting ready for the Trial Advocacy competition.

So now we are finally to the present and I have spent my first week at my new job. Right now it’s hard to gage and explain what it is I really do considering it’s only been one week and things are still being worked out. But so far I have no complaints, maybe except for the commute. Going from 5 minutes to 30 minutes is a change. But I’ll get used to it.

Hope this is a good summary of the last 4 months. If you’re wondering about the potty training deal with the cats, we had to start over because one of them is a little stubborn. But so far things are going good.

I’ll post a few pictures from our two trips to Las Vegas, the wedding in Colorado as well as my week stay back at home. Enjoy!

It’s been almost another 3 weeks and I only have a few things to write about. Finals are over which means Ross is now officially a 3L (third year law student)! To help celebrate the end of another year, we took a mini vacation to Carlsbad. It’s a city about an hour south of us before you hit San Diego. A co-worker of mine has a timeshare down there. And his week of ownership just so happened to be the same week we were looking to get away! So I took a day off from work and we hit the road after Ross’ last final. We stayed in a cute little resort with a gorgeous view of the ocean. We relaxed by the pool and enjoyed some shopping at the nearby outlets. Even though we were only gone for about 3 days, it was needed and very nice!

After our short trip, Ross had a week to himself where he didn’t have to focus on school or work/externship stuff…which means he was able to catch up on some video game playing. This past Mon he started his summer externship with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. Since they have been EXTREMELY busy his first few days, I don’t have much details of what this summer is going to look like for him. But as soon as I get some, I will make sure to include them in my next post.

As for this next item, I’ll let you make the call as to whether it’s exciting or not…but on Sunday we started the attempt to potty train our two cats. That’s right….we are training them to use the porcelain bowl just like people. I’m tired of cleaning two litter boxes every week and buying litter every other month. Ross is tired of our office having a not-so-pleasant odor (especially in the summer) and not being able to use that room when people come to visit. So after much research, we are making the attempt. The first step was to move the litter box next to the toilet and train ourselves to keep the lid up, seat down on the toilet. This task has been hard for me because I grew up in a house where the toilet lid was ALWAYS closed! Anyways, back to the process. We currently have two automatic litter boxes in our office. To start this process we emptied one automatic one and placed a regular litter box next to the toilet. Being the smart cats they are, they had no problem using the new litter box. So the plan is to remove the other automatic one so they are left with just the one regular one next to the potty. After that, we will slowly start raising the height of the litter box a little at a time until the bottom of the box is the same level as the toilet bowl. After they master using the box at this new height, we place a metal bowl filled with litter into the toilet and hope they continue using it. Here is where the tricky part comes into play. We have to make sure when they use the “litter bowl” set in the toilet they have all four paws on the toilet seat….not in the bowl (if that makes sense). Basically they need to learn to balance on the seat and not stand in the bowl…because once that metal bowl is gone they will be falling in the water, or using a corner of the house as their “litter box”. So, if they can balance on the toilet seat with all four paws, the next step is to slowly reduce the amt of litter in the bowl until there is none left. You then replace the litter with water so they get used going in water instead of sand. After they master that, you remove the bowl and in theory, the felines should be potty trained! Ideally this should take quite a few weeks so are hoping to have them trained by the middle of summer. Wish us luck and I’ll keep you posted on the status.

Playing Catch Up...Again

I find myself yet again creating another long post to sum up the last month. I’m not real good at being a “blogger”. I guess when you stare at a computer for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week; it’s hard to get on the computer once you get home from work. But then I guess that’s just another excuse. Either way, I finally made time and here is what has happened with us since Spring Break. Oh…and I finally got the rest of the spring break pictures loaded up online. I ran into some problems with the site. Apparently the size of my pictures are huge because it said I used up all my free space. So I had to delete some old ones and reload the new ones…and it just took forever! But they are finally all loaded and should be viewable in the slide show at the top on the side.

Things were exciting that first week Ross went back to class. For one class, they had to put on or participate in a mock trial…from start to finish. Everything was as authenticate as could be from an actual court room layout, a real judge, witnesses, and even jury selection. And what made this more exciting was that I got to participate! The case was about an armed bank robbery. There were four attorneys total (two for each side). Ross was one of the prosecutors and I got to the play bank teller who was robbed. Even though the students had to do most of the work, I felt like I was more nervous than they were. And to add to the nerves, I was the first witness called! Thankfully Ross practiced with me (since he is the one who questioned me) which made me feel a little better. However, during the cross examination I started to get nervous again afraid I was going to say something wrong. But on the re-direct examination, Ross was able to fix anything I messed up. Once my part was done I got to watch the rest of the trial (which was more fun). Once the closing arguments were done (which Ross did awesome at), the lawyers and judge waited in the hall while the jury deliberated. I stayed in the room to listen to the jury. The final verdict was a hung jury (8 guilty, 4 not guilty). But a couple said they were swayed by Ross’ closing argument and that he presented a good case that the guy was guilty. While the lawyers/students waited in the hall, one of the student’s father was there watching (who is an attorney also) and told Ross that he did an amazing job and that he could walk into a court room that day and have no trouble winning a case. At the end of March, Ross attended a National Law Review Conference down in San Diego for school that lasted 4 days. So while he was down south learning ways to improve the Law Review program, I got to spend time socializing with my girl friends…which meant happy hour and coffee time.

A week and a half ago we got all dressed up, nice and fancy to attend the annual Barrister’s Ball. This year it was held at a hotel in Costa Mesa which was about 5-10 minutes from us. Last year it was about 20 minutes away. The week before the event Ross took me out shopping to quite a few stores to find a new dress. I eventually found one for a reasonable price…a cute little red dress which worked well with the theme; Sin City, black white and a little bit of red.

Last Friday was the last intramural sports event which happened to be themed volleyball. Ross' team dressed in 70s attire and had an awesome time! This past Saturday we went to a Law Review Awards Brunch. It was mainly to honor and recognize the graduating students. But it was still fun being. Ross had a great time dressing up and taking pictures.

For Easter, it was just the two of us again. But this year we actually cooked an Easter dinner which included a 10 pound ham. That’s right….10 pounds. Tonight will be the third meal I make with left over ham. After our big meal and kitchen clean up, we relaxed for a few hours to let the food digest and then we continued with the Easter tradition of coloring Easter eggs. Yes even at 28, I still like coloring Easter eggs. Brings back great childhood memories and sparks good conversation.

This week we have one last big event to look forward to…FINALS! Ross has three finals this semester. Two are on the same day and just happen to be scheduled for the first day of finals (Monday, May 2). His last final isn’t really something he needs to study for which is good so he can focus all his time on the two big ones coming up. After finals are done, he will start his externship at the District Attorney’s office this summer. So until more excitement happens, that’s all that has been going on with us. Enjoy the new pictures.

Spring Break

I can't believe it's been another three weeks since I last posted. Time is going so fast. Well the majority of our excitement took place last week during Spring Break! Not only did Ross get a break but I took the whole week off from work to enjoy it with him. And to add to the fun, my parents came out for 4 days to visit. So we not only got to relax but we got to play tourist, which was a lot of fun!

We wasted no time starting our vacation. After work on Friday the 11th, Ross and I headed up north to Long Beach and went to the Night Dive at the Aquarium of the Pacific. First time ever going to an aquarium (besides Sea World). The Night Dive is a special night time event for adults only with live music as well as a variety of art on display. We also got to walk around the aquarium and see a lot of the exhibits all lite up at night. And to top things off, we even got to dissect a squid!! The only thing I dissected in high school was a chicken wing (like the kind you eat) and an earthworm. So that was a lot of fun.

Sunday morning we picked up my parents from the airport and to start the trip off we walked around the classic car show that was near our place. After walking down memory lane, we headed to the beach to relax in the sun where we got to see a handful of dolphins swimming along the coast. To end the night we enjoyed an AMAZING dinner cooked by yours truly...(which would be Ross) followed by a trip to Yogurtland (frozen yogurt) and a game of cards.

Monday we found ourselves down in San Diego walking around the world famous San Diego Zoo....all in search of the panda bears. Thankfully they were out and we got to see them do what they do best...eat. The weather was perfect...warm and sunny with an occasional light breeze. And thanks to my awkward sunburns, I was proof of the nice weather. After a lot of walking, we had dinner at the Old Mission Mexican Cafe (which was referred from numerous people) and it was fantastic. I think everyone left feeling a little overstuffed.

Since we spent Monday south of where we live what better way to spend Tuesday than north. We started the day off at the Getty and walked around the amazing museum! Hadn't been to an art museum in a long time and it was just breathtaking. Unfortunately we were all hungry and so we didn't have time to see the entire place, which means we have a good excuse to go back. After lunch at the cafe, we headed to Mulholland drive to try and scope where the stars live.

Unfortunately, they do a pretty good job of tucking their mansions away from the public eye but it was still fun to do the drive and see an overview of the city and a view small glimpses of the gorgeous houses. After our Mulholland drive, to avoid heavy traffic on the way home, we made a stop at the Santa Monica Pier to enjoy a drink, some people watching as well as watch the sun set.

After two days of walking around and site seeing, Wednesday was a nice lazy relaxing day. We didn't leave the house until about 1 or 2 and guess what we went to do?? You guessed it....more walking. This time it was for a purpose. While Ross and my dad enjoyed the pier in Huntington Beach, my mom and I went shopping!! And boy did I do good. I got new sunglasses, jewelry, clothes, and new pair of shoes. I do have to admit I miss my shopping buddy.

With everything that we did in the last four days, Thursday came fast and we found ourselves saying goodbye to my parents at the airport. After we got home later that morning, we found ourselves wanting to do nothing but relax. We thought about going out to celebrate St Patty's Day but decided it would be more fun to just stay home and enjoy each others' company. And somehow that same feeling carried over into Friday and Saturday. But it was well worth it as we both felt relaxed and refreshed. Which is a good thing because these next two weeks for Ross are going to be CRAZY! But all that fun is for a later post (otherwise I wouldn't have anything to write about). I posted some pictures from our Spring Break for you to enjoy and I am working on updating the slideshow with new pictures. Check back soon to see all the pictures from Spring Break.

Catch Up

I know it's been over a month since I last posted something but there hasn't been much going on to post as often as I'd like. However, a lot of excitement took place last weekend....and Ross was the one with all the excitement. So since it has been awhile let me recap what Ross has been busy doing with school this past semester. In addition to his regular classes, he is a member of Trial Advocacy (like moot court) and Law Review (kind of like a school newspaper but is public).

And now for a quick summary of what Trial Advocacy is. It's a group of students that argue a case in a competition against other schools. To be part of this group the students had to try out. Unfortunately not all the students that are on Trial Ad get to compete but they still get school credit for being apart of it. Ross did not make the competing team but was considered a "shadow" so he still had to be apart of the "training" sessions/meetings to get school credit. These meetings were held on the weekends for about 6-8 hours each day. Last weekend was the competition and even though Ross wasn't competing, he still wanted to attend to support the school and see what it's all about. One of the big surprises that happened at this competition was that Ross and two other "shadows" got to actually compete because there wasn't enough teams due to some schools dropping out. So Ross got to experience what it was like to prepare and argue an entire case! Just confirmed for him how much he really enjoys this and can't wait to be done with school.

Another exciting thing that happened (again for Ross) was his new position on Law Review. There are a variety of positions that make up Law Review and this past semester Ross was one of the Site Checkers. He would review articles to make sure the sites that are used as support in the article are correct. A few weeks ago they held try outs for the other positions that are currently held by 3rd year students. So Ross tried out and got the position of Executive Editor. It's the second highest position on the board and he will oversee and mange 3 articles. Basically the site checkers come to him whenever they have problems or questions and he reviews all the articles after the site checkers do their part. Just one more thing to add to his resume of achievements.

And to sum up the excitement of everything that took place these past few weeks, Ross found out that his class ranking changed from 8th to 5th. He is in the top 3% of his class! Oh, and he also had 5 interviews for an externship position this summer. We are still waiting to hear back as to where he will be "working" this summer but he feels like all his interview went really well.

Not much excitement going on with me except that I get Ross back on the weekends now that he is done with Trial Advocacy. Work is still work and I get to take a week vacation in two weeks to spend Spring Break with Ross!

Crazy Schedule

Getting back into the habit of everything didn't take too long. School started for Ross on Mon the 10th and this semester is proving to be the craziest schedule to date. Out of the 5 classes he is taking, 4 of them are in the evening. So once I get home from work, I see him for about an hour or so before he goes to class. And to top that all off, being part of Trial Advocacy (similar to mock trial but for law school) he has to attend the meetings/practices...and these happen to be all day Saturday and Sunday. Since I will be spending a lot of time by myself this semester I plan on starting my scrap booking again. The first step is getting all the stuff organized.

Other than school starting and getting used to the new schedule, not much else is going on. Work for me has been really busy but at least it helps make the day go by fast...at least most of the time. I'm just thankful I have a job. Well, not too much to write about...keeping it short and sweet!