I know, I KNOW, it’s been a while.

I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus the past couple of months. I know I shouldn’t be neglecting this here blog, but a LOT has been happening.

As you all know (and by “all”, I mean Aunt J. What up J!!!) this is my last semester of law school and I have been working the past two months trying desperately to keep my head above water so that I could finish everything that needed to be done while keeping a semblance of sanity.

However, I am proud to say that I completed my final law school exam yesterday and I can now say that I have a Juris Doctor. In other words, I am a Doctor of Law. That’s right. A Doctor.

::Waits for the roaring cheers to quiet down::

So on top of studying/filling out bar applications/writing papers, we (and by “we” I mean “I”) have been packing up the apartment in anticipation of the move that will occur on Sunday.

I.Cant.Wait.

We are moving back in with my mother. I know that may sound weird to some people, but those people would not understand the relationship I have with my mother. She’s totally my BFF. She loves my husband as if he was her own, and of course as cute as Babylicious is, I’m sure even Queen Elizabeth would invite us to stay in her humble abode just for the chance of getting to kiss those chubby two year old cheeks. My mother is thrilled to have us moving in. What grandmother wouldn’t love to see her first grandchild every single day, amirite ladies?

(you are thrilled, right Mom?)

So all in all it’s been a hectic couple of months. I’d like to say that I’m out of the woods and I can relax and look for a job and maybe have some down time. But alas, it is not to be. Starting next week I have thousands of  appointments to get us settled into our new town. And in addition, starting very soon I have to dive head-first into studying for the bar. I will be doing nothing for the next two months but doing practice MBE MCQ’s and Sample Essays. Model Essay Answers, here I come.

No, but really, studying for the bar is going to be brutal, and I am not looking forward to it, but it has to be done. I want to pass the bar the first time. I think I will pass the bar the first time, so long as I put my heart into studying. I’ve told the mother and Hubster that I’m going to need lots of help with Babylicious and they both (mom probably more so than hubster) understand that they will really have to step up and be the primary care-givers to Babylicious. Kind of breaks my heart a little, but look at it this way. If I was working full time I’d be away from him just as long. And to get this done in one go is my primary goal, so then we won’t have to worry about it any longer.

So, what’s babylicious been up to you ask?

He’s found the microwave. Loves to stand on his little step stool and push the buttons. As soon as I say, let’s go eat dinner/lunch/breakfast, he runs to find his stool and then “helps” me with the microwave. We’ve had to keep it unplugged when we’re not using it as we’ve found quite the unsuspecting metal car waiting to be cooked many a time.

Words that babylicious is now saying on a regular basis: car (CAR CAR CAR), train, oh man, uh-oh, eat, cheese, Dega, thank you, ball, cracker… and so many more that I just can’t think of at the moment. His vocabulary grows even though his words aren’t coming quite as fast. He understands everything we tell him to do, “Throw that it the trash”, “Put that back where you found it”, “Let’s eat”, “It’s bathtime”, “Do you want to watch Mickey?”, “Go find your car”, and so on.

Speaking of Mickey, I know “they” say not to allow your child to watch television until after his second birthday, and even then to limit it. But let me tell you, without Mickey’s Clubhouse in the mornings I would never be able to get out of the apartment on time. He watches Mickey almost every morning and he is no worse for the wear. It could be worse. He could be watching Family Guy or American Dad.

pfft… as if I “model mother of the year” would let him watch Family Guy… ha… ha… hmmm.

Anyhoo. Until next time.

::sobs quietly in the corner::

I realized today that I will be unable to attend blogher.

::Collapses dramatically to the floor::

I’m so very sad.

Originally this was going to be a trip that the sister (also a blog fanatic, at least fanatical about a couple o’ blogs) and I would make together. It then evolved into a trip I would be making with Hubster. I was so excited as I’ve read so many of these women for years and I was finally, FINALLY, going to meet some of them.

But it was not to be.

As some of you know (::waves to Aunt J in the front row::) I will be taking the Virginia Bar Exam in July.  This exam is a two day (and by “day” I mean like 12 hours) exam that begins very early on both mornings. This exam is also held in only one city in Virginia. Seeing as though I don’t live anywhere near this particular city, I will be forced to travel. Travel involves hotel rooms. Hotel rooms require funds. I know, right? They actually expect you to PAY for a hotel room? What nerve. Also, lest I faint from hunger and fatigue, traveling also requires food.

I was crunching the numbers today and it will be quite impossible for us to afford both the Bar Exam (which I’ve already dumped QUITE a bit of money into) in addition to Blogher. ::picks self off the floor, wipes nose, sniffles::

Seriously though, I was this close to taking the February 2011 Bar Exam so that I could go to Blogher this year.

However, there is a silver (albeit a little tarnished) lining. Originally I was going to take the Bar by myself, as in travel and stay in the hotel alone. However, since Blogher is no longer feasible, Hubster has decided to travel with me and stay with me in the hotel, and we are going to stay an extra night after the exam as a celebration for getting through it.

(For those of you in law school wondering how in the world I can celebrate after simply “taking” the exam, fear not. The celebration will be muted considering I don’t get the actual results of the exam until October)

I’ve found a lovely woman to purchase my conference pass. I’m sure she will have a blast, as will all those attending.

It just wasn’t in the stars for me this year.

My current obsession…

Etsy.

I know I’ve talked about how I tend to obsess over one thing for a while, and while I’m emersed in that obsession I don’t think much about anything else.

Well Etsy.com is my current obsession.  I’ve known about Etsy for a long time but only recently took the time to browse around the site. I am so glad I did. Because everything is hand-made and most items you can get custom there is something for everybody. You can find very unique and interesting things.

My favorite category is the jewelry. It’s amazing to me what people can do on their own. I wish I was talented enough to construct something like these people do.

I think it would be great if certain ladies in my family *cough*Mom and Jessi*cough* who actually ARE talented with crafts/photography/stained glass/etc start an etsy page.

Anyhoo.

51 days until graduation, but really, who’s counting?

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend…

I was a bit hasty about the ring.

Having absolutely no experience with diamonds I had an idea in my head about how big the carat size would be, and when it arrived and was much smaller than I imagined, I panicked just a tiny bit.

However, I was assured by Hubster and the Jeweler across the street that my ring was indeed the size it was supposed to be.

I was a little hesitant about the color and clarity. This being the first black diamond I’ve ever seen I was unaware of what it would actually look like. Again, I had this idea in my head that a black diamond would be as black as an onyx and that just isn’t the case. I was again assured that my diamond, although not perfect by any means, is very typical of a black diamond.

Also, I at first had an issue with the simplicity of it. The ring is a simple solitaire in a white gold setting. I wanted to keep it simple because my wedding band is very simple and being that my wedding band is the most important ring I wear, I didn’t want the diamond to overpower it. It does go wonderfully with my wedding band. The only problem is that the rest of my jewelry is very very flashy (if you knew my mother, you’d know where I get it from. My sister is the same way. Hey Jess!!!) So, when I first saw the ring (and yes, I did see a picture of it online, but as mentioned previously I thought the stone would be much bigger and thus more flashy) in person I didn’t think it would go with the rest of my jewelry. But, considering I only wear a watch and my wedding band on my left hand, and go more crazy with my right hand in terms of jewelry, the ring actually fancies up the left hand more so than I thought it would at first.

So, all in all, if I were to return it and buy a different black diamond, chances are I’d get one that looked very similar to the one I have now.

Thus, we are keeping it and after wearing it for the past two days I have become quite smitten with it.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Bullet Points: Bad Week Edition

Reasons this week has been horrible:

1. Babylicous is feeling under the weather. Again. Update: Went to the doctor yesterday and was told it was Fifth’s disease. Most children get it under the age of two and only get it once.

2. I turned my ankle pretty badly. Swelling and bruising ensued. Update: Feeling much better, but still swelling, and I  an occasionally feel a painful pull if I move it the wrong way.

3. I had 2 quizes (what is this? Middle School?), 2 MBE questions, and about 300 pages of reading. Update: Babylicious started feeling a little better just in time for me to get in absolutely no studying for the quizes.

4. The weather is still crap. It finally started snowing here. Sigh. Update: Still snowing.

5. Babylicious lost my keys. Update: Found them in the laundry hamper after frantically searching for two days.

6. I was outbid on a very affordable pair of shoes on ebay. Update: I actually did win the shoes but was forced to pay an extra $12. Still very affordable for this brand of shoe. My theory is that the owner of the shoes bid on them to increase the price they would eventually go for.

7. The Spring Line of Petunia came out and the majority of the prints are hideous. Update: Still Ugly. Still dissapointed.

Yes, it hasn’t been the best week. We’ve also had some issues with Verizon, but that’s a whole post of its own.

One final thing that makes this week suck suck sucky, the engagement ring was a bit of a bust. I guess that’s what you get for buying a diamond online. It’s not quite what I was expecting, so chances are we’ll be returning it and I will once again be without an engagement ring.

*sob*

I love me some deals…

I made an amazing discovery this week. Ebay. (I know right? Welcome to 2003.) 

No, but SERIOUSLY. Ebay is fabulous. Up to this point I have always been very weary of the whole online auction thing. I didn’t understand Paypal. I didn’t understand the whole “maximum bid” thing. I was really just ignorant to anything Ebay related. Give me Amazon any day of the week and I can purchase you under the table. There’s nothing fancy with Amazon. You pick out what you want. You put in your credit card number. And BAM!!! You have the product. Not so much with Ebay. Until now. 

The first time I EVER used Ebay was when I was in desperate need of a Starbucks Ceramic Mug (Hush. You can TOTALLY be in desperate need of a travel mug) 

Anyhoo, I could not find one ANYWHERE. Not one online store (or real store for that matter) carried these fabulous mugs. In one such Starbucks store, one of the cashiers said the words that forever changed my life. “You could always try Ebay”. So I bit the bullet. Within 5 minutes of perusing the site I located the coveted Starbucks Mug. I was dumbstruck. There it was. And the best part was: there was a “buy it now” option. No bidding. No risk of being over-bid. Almost instant gratification. 

So, of course, I purchased it. And never looked back. 

Now, lest you think I am one of “those people” who maxes out her credit cards on frivolous items that are not needed, I’d like to make it clear that my first purchase was made over a month ago and since then I have purchased one other item and am currently bidding on a second (both of which I cannot live without). 

My second purchase was a watch. Something that is great about Ebay is that you can find BRAND NEW items that are being sold simply because a new line of the brand has been released and the old stock must be sold. This is how I got a STUNNING brand new fossil watch usually retailing for $125 for MUCH LESS. SO much less. And I needed a new watch. I only had one watch and it was horribly scratched on the face (seriously, like to the point it was hard to read). 

That is the only other purchase I’ve made on Ebay. However, I am currently bidding on a pair of almost-new Sofft shoes (if you don’t know Sofft, look them up). I am graduating in the next few months and have not a single pair of suitable graduation shoes (Shut Up, I don’t). The shoes I am bidding on, if won, will be gorgeous, and a INCREDIBLE deal. 

All of this to say… I love Ebay. 

That is all. 

P.S. I have been married for 2.5 years and just yesterday purchased an engagement ring. That’s right. We like to do things a little backwards here at JWH. I can’t wait for it to be delivered.

It’s coming to an end.

As much as I gripe about the tiny mountain village in which  I live, upon graduating on May 1 and heading back up north there are quite a few things I will miss about living in a town with a population of 1,384…

1. The Huddle House within walking distance of my apartment.

2. Being able to look out my front window and see the giant clock/thermometer at the bank

3. Granola and yogurt from Mountain Perks.

4. My apartment. Old? Yes. A little rundown? Perhaps. But it’s HUGE and CHEAP and it was my son’s first home.

5. My school. It’s been hard, but I will miss the faculty and friendly ambience.

6. Some, albeit not ALL, the local grundy-ites. They can be so friendly.

7. The fact that the entire Huddle House staff knows my family by name and always lets babylicious run around without comment.

8. The chinese food buffet. Also a friendly staff who don’t seem to mind when babylicious raises havoc on the restaurant.

9. Being able to get in my car and be ANYWHERE in town within 5 minutes.

10. The movie theatre. We can get the same experience for half the price of seeing a movie up north.

However, as with everything in life, there are also quite a few aspects of small town living that I will not miss:

1. Online shopping. I cannot wait to be able to go shopping again.

2. The lack of indoor options for children. Not even a Macdonalds playground. Seriously, there is nothing for children to do during the winter.

3. No front yard. The best part of moving up north is that we can open the door and let Babylicious frolick until his delight.

4. The hard-core-conservative-red-neck population who have never met anyone black, gay, or educated and would like to keep it that way.

5. The fact that everything takes twice as long here. You want to go run a couple of errands? Plan on spending two hours outside of the apartment DESPITE the fact that you can get EVERYWHERE within 5 minutes.

6. The expired dairy products that sit on the shelves of the grocery store for days before anyone notices.

7. The ABC (liquor store, for those readers not residing in VA) that closes at 7 p.m. Dubbya-Tee-Eff.

8. Trash pickup that occurs at 6 a.m. two times a week directly under babylicious’s bedroom window.

9. Not being able to make ATM deposits at the only Wachovia in town that doesn’t stay open past 4 on weekdays and is closed all weekend EVEN SATURDAY MORNINGS!!

10. Being 6 hours or more from civilization and everyone who I love.

Oh, for the love…

It’s been another long break from me. For no other reason than I’ve just been SUPER busy!!!

How about a quick recap. Let’s see, last we spoke it was Thanksgiving, is that right? Yes, sounds about right.

1. Spent a wonderful Thanksgiving with the fam, although the mother was still quite sore from the knee replacement.

2. Drove back to tiny mountain village and got to have two weeks worth of finals (my last fall semester finals EVER)

3. Drove back to the mother’s house for the three week holiday. Babylicious was THRILLED to be back with Grandmommy, and she was doing MUCH better after the two week break between visits.

4. Since the mother was still recuperating from the knee replacement she had the entire three weeks off while we were home. It was fabulous.

5. Got to spend plenty of quality time with Hubster and Babylicious.

6. Worked a little on my bar application. Thank goodness I’m not sitting for the NC Bar. That application was due January 5th. As it is, the VA Bar application isn’t due until May 10th, so I have some time.

7. Started my last semester of Law School!!!! WOO!!! Actually, this is my last semester (fingers crossed) of school EVER!!! (unless I decide to go for my L.L.M, but honestly, WHY would I do that?)

8. Babylicious and I both were ill a week or so ago. He got it much worse than I did, but he’s such a trooper.

9. And finally, we’ve just been settling back into the groove of things, trying to make plans for after graduation. As it stands May 2nd we will be saying toodles to tiny mountain village and moving back up north with the mother.

10. Oh, also, we’ve decided to put babylicious in daycare for a few hours a day starting when we move. He will be 2 on May 10, and he has never been to daycare yet. We think that with me studying for the bar and hubster hopefully being able to work, now is a really good time to enroll babylicious into daycare. He needs more child-interaction. Right now, whenever he sees a child he gets so excited, but doesn’t really know how to approach them. I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but he’s going to be starting school in a little over 3 years, and we’d like him to have some social skills before then, you know what I mean?

Anysnootch, that’s what’s been going on for all my loyal readers (shout out to Aunt J)!!!!

I promise I’ll try to keep writing.

This one’s for the sister…

So, I was at the mother’s house for the Thanksgiving holiday, sitting on the couch with the sister when she pulled up this blog, turned the screen to me and said “I’ve looked at the same post for a month now”. I guess I haven’t been keeping up with the Joneses.

Hi Jess!!!

For months now Hubster and I were thinking that we’d stay home for Thanksgiving and not make the trek up North. It seemed like such a hassle considering we’d have to turn around a few days later and head back home. Add in the fact that I have three weeks off in a couple of weeks and we were going to make the trek AGAIN. finals are coming up and I had two ENORMOUS assignments to complete that week, so it just seemed logical for us to stick around the school so I could study and what not.

So anyway, the Friday before Thanksgiving, when the rest of my classmates were making a break for it, we remained. I spent Saturday, Sunday, and Monday at the school library. Monday, after finishing quite a bit of my work, I went home and said to Hubster “I think we should go visit mom”. And he said “Ok, let’s pack”. Thirty minutes later we’d thrown Babylicious and a bag or two into the car and were on the road.

There were definitely some ups and downs of the week:

1. Babylicious wasn’t feeling himself for about three days.

2. Mother just had a knee replacement and wasn’t able to move, so  I was left helping out (which, by the way, was one major reason we decided to visit).

3. Hubster was being worthless, even though he promised me time and time again that he would help out as well.

4. I got to see the SISTER!!!! WOO!!!!

5. We were able to have Turkey with my favorite three women in the world (well, we didn’t actually have Turkey with the Sister, but she was at least there to watch the parade).

For the most part it was a good week. I didn’t go shopping on Black Friday mainly because we are broke, but I was able to find a Boston Coat for 50% off the original price. By Friday Babylicious was back to his old self (which is being the most adorable little boy in the world).

We’re back at school now after making the drive yesterday (apparently one of the busiest travel days of the year) and thankfully we didnt’ hit any traffic.

Now I’m holed up in the Library for two weeks studying for finals. I may emerge before then to say hello, but chances are you won’t see me until around December 11th.

Testing, one two three

I have a whole post in my head about sleeping, but I just downloaded wordpress for my itouch so I wanted to test it out.

This is just a test.