Italy highlights...

Brian and I had a great time in Italy. Here are a few picture highlights. More to come in the next few days, but they load slowly.

The Alps...

The market....

The inside of the Cinema museum...

Brian in the Matrix....

Chewie!!

Trial Competition

Most law schools have a Moot Court program. At ONU, the program sponsors teams of law students to compete nationally (and internationally) in trial and appellate competitions across the country and beyond. In addition, the program sponsors three annual intra-school competitions: the Daniel S. Guy First Year Appellate Advocacy Competition, the Burke E. Smith Trial Competition, and the Anthony Celebreeze Appellate Competition. First year, I won the Guy competition. Last year, my trial partner and I lost in the semi-finals of the trial competition (and I passed on participating in the Celebreeze competition).

This year, armed with another year's worth of legal education, and a new partner (Randall Petrouske - another native Wisconsinite), I won the trial competition. In total, between preliminary rounds and the finals there were five mock trials in total. It was a long and tenuous process, and I am glad it is over, but also glad to have the win! On to concentrate on Law Review duties and academics for the next two months!

Flying Time

The time is flying by. Four weeks of the third and final year of the J.D. have concluded, and each has felt like a week of finals. Not that I had enough on my plate with Law Review, I decided to team up with my fellow Wisconsinite classmate Randall Petrouske to compete in the intra-school Moot Court trial competition (the Burke E. Smith Trial Competition for those keeping score). After the initial rounds we made it through the quarterfinals (judged by a past Chief Justice of the Moot Court Program) and the semi-finals (judged by a court of common pleas (circuit judge) from Allen County). Saturday 3 October is the Finals, where we will face off in front of the son of the competition's namesake. We are hopeful for our chances, but will diligently prepare for the trial (*sigh - another week . . .*).

The weekends have also not left much time for catch-up. Unfortunately, we had to travel to Wisconsin last weekend for Don Darnieder, the father of one of our friends, and my closest friend growing up. It was with profound sadness that we celebrated Don's life, and the world is less of a place without him in it.

On the lighter side, we had the pleasure of playing host to our friends Jeff and Mary this weekend in Ohio. Fortunately for us, the weekend was largely filled with relaxing by way of Wii bowling, board games, and a bit of outdoor activity.

Weekend next, after the trial competition, Janet and I will hit the road again, headed back to Wisconsin for a wedding celebration luncheon for one of the Anderson cousins (hooray). As always, our time in the Dairy State will be short lived, so please do not feel offended if we sneak in and out without announcing our presence. We'll be back in December.

Aside from the added activities for me (Moot Court and Law Review) the semester is moving by at a fast pace, and I try, as always, to keep up.

Life is well for Janet - for now at least. She had pledged to wear Cardinal and White at the WI-OSU football game in two weeks. We'll see if any of her OSU employers see us!

More updates soon.

news...

Brian passed his MPRE exam with flying colors! The MPRE is the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination. There are 125 minutes to complete 60 multiple-choice questions, designed to measure the knowledge and understanding of established standards related to a lawyer's professional conduct. Most states require successful completion of the MPRE, but passing scores differ state to state, and there may be other rules such as when the MPRE is supposed to be taken and so on. If you're wondering, WI doesn't require the MPRE, but they do have a separate ethics portion on their bar exam.

On the job front, Brian is applying for a number of government positions and judicial clerkships. He's got an interview with the Attorney General's office tomorrow, and he's very interested in a separate fellowship with the AG's office doing appellate advocacy work. He "booked" his Advanced Legal Research and Appellate Advocacy classes, so here's for hoping!

Classes Have Resumed!

Well, summer is pretty well come and gone. Brian started classes again this week. This will be his last year! He's been busy with law review, and the job hunt. And, classes will be taking off shortly. We made the mistake of getting Guitar Hero World Tour for our anniversary, so Brian is currently keeping me company by freestyle drumming...so he's not too busy yet.
I've been very busy at work, which is good. I much prefer busy. This Saturday we have a kids' science program at the local Library...I have dry ice in the kitchen. Hopefully I wake up early enough. My garden is doing great. Lots of zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and onions - I've been sharing them with lots of co-workers, neighbors, and friends.
So, seriously, Brian's drumming is pretty good. If the law thing doesn't work out, maybe he'll just get his Christian rock band, yet. I'm playing U2 on my computer and he's drumming along. I've been reading a lot lately. I would recommend Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, and In the Woods by Tana French. I'm definitely getting her second book. For work book club, we just finished A Mercy by Toni Morrison...tough read, but good discussion. We just started My Sister's Keeper, good story, tearjerker. I also read Tweak by Nic Sheff, about his struggle with meth addiction. I don't necessarily recommend reading it, cuz it's so graphic, but it was good if you can handle it.
Ok, now I'm selecting iTunes and Brian's drumming along with them. It's AWESOME!!! That's all you get now. We'll keep you posted on the job thing...
One last shout out to my friend Kate's new business venture...if you want vintage fabric, support my awesome friend. www.midwestneedles.etsy.com

garden pics

Greetings!
Just wanted to share some pics from my garden. These are the first fruits of my (and dad's) labors.

Zucchini


Tomatoes


Tiny little green pepper


Onion starting to come up


Front of our porch with flowers


First zucchini and onion picked...could have waited to pick the onion, but I put the phone there to show how big the zucchini was! :)

happy father's day.

Happy father's day!

We haven't blogged in forever. We've been busy.

Quick rundown in bullet form:

Brian's reading: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. He likes it and it's gotten rave reviews according to media...

I'm reading: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It's really interesting. All about slow food, eating locally and seasonally. It could easily be one of those books that you just read here and there, though. Just cuz it's not an adrenaline storyline or anything like that. I would definitely recommend it though. (Support your local farmer's market!)

Recently: I led my first book club meeting on Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. For a work book club - it went very well. Everyone actually read the book, and conversation stayed book related, instead of diverting to work related. Success!

We're planning: On a trip to Italy in October to visit Keith and Christopher. Watch for details! Brian's religiously studying his Italian. I'm more of a dabbler.

We recently watched: Dexter, Season 1. If you can get over the disturbedness of the premise, it's good. We also really liked Star Trek, and the Hangover.

Brian made Dean's List this last semester.

He's busy with law review stuff and work - he's really enjoying his clerking work.

I've been busy at work - our biggest fundraiser of the year is in a week.

All my flowers and vegetables are looking good. I should have a good supply of onions, tomatoes, peppers and zucchini to look forward to.

My Little Sister is doing well. Her favorite summertime activity is to go swimming, which works for me!

That's pretty much our summer so far as a list. Time for bed!

random ramblings.

Brian's done with classes and is already off to work for the summer. i just got a free couch from a 3rd year and accidentally punched my friend in the face with it. (I dropped my corner and it flew up and gave her a fat lip.) And, as I sit on it, all I can think of is our scabies couch from undergrad. then i get itchy. other than my being paranoid, it's a lovely couch.

that is all for now cuz i have a cold and need to go to sleep.

What we've been doing...

Brian has been doing these things of note (not in this particular order):
Studying for finals.
Working on law review.
Finishing papers.
Eating with me while we watch Criminal Minds.
Frantically drinking coffee and trying not to sleep. (don't worry, I make him sleep.)

I have been doing these things of note:
Reading magazines & books - just finished Snow Flower & the Secret Fan. good stuff.
Work has been busy - last week was a luncheon, this week President Gee visits.
Watching Grey's Anatomy with our friend Shannon.
Having dinner and watching Criminal Minds with Brian. (Unfortunately, this makes me slightly paranoid.)
Just started aerobics again.
Hanging out with Misty - we went swimming last weekend.
Gardening.
Laundry!

Things I've learned from Criminal Minds:
Do NOT go near the kidnapper van. (It's a good reminder.)
It's always the person you least expect, probably someone you know but don't pay much attention to.
Everyone is crazy - all they need is a "stressor" and it's on like donkey kong, but not so fun and usually bloody.
You can outsmart someone with a gun, but only if you are a genius in profiling. that leaves me out.
They usually go after the "pretty" kids and women. See? Workout clothes keep me safe.
Lastly, I have nightmares when I watch police shows. (I'm working through them.)

And that is my quick boring blog to give you an update. Cheerio! :)

Happy Easter!

Since we're in Ada this Easter, we're making the best of it. Last night we went to went to Brian's professor's house for an Easter dinner. He made pate, a mushroom bisque, and grilled tuna steaks. Some guests brought greek salad and dessert, and everyone seemed to bring wine. The food was delicious and the conversation flowed nicely with the wine. Today we're having our friends Jon and Shea over for an Easter meal at our house.

Professor Hill shared this video with us that I wanted to pass on. It's a dance class of about 60 students that start dancing in a train station - by the end of the song there are about 200 people dancing along with the students.

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Brian's Old Now.

It's been 2 days since Brian's birthday party, and we're still recovering. Originally, our friend Amber was going to host, because we didn't really want a party. The day before we had such an overwhelming response we decided to move the party to our house since it's a bit bigger. Our friends Amber and Shannon brought a LOT of food, which was delicious. Watch for recipes to be posted. Guests came around 8pm, and kept coming...steadily. It was BYOB, and the party was still going strong at 11pm, but I kicked everyone out to the Beagle, so I could sleep and make it to work the next day. (Really we had a few key guests who spread the word discreetly that the party was moving.) We had at least 50 guests coming and going. At one point, our garage (the smoking room), the kitchen, and the living room were standing room only. I hadn't even met everyone that showed up. Poor Brisco was manhandled by everyone. Once there were more than 6 people, he stopped barking and started hiding. He ventured out after a couple hours, but then all was lost. He smelled like our friend Ashley when everyone left, because she wouldn't stop cuddling him. I didn't actually go to sleep when everyone left - I put away food and tried to throw away all the beer cans and bottles, so the house didn't smell like a bar. We also had a few drunken messes to clean up - spilled beer, stupid pranks which trashed a few things in our house. I got to bed around 1am, but was restless until Brian got home at 2am. I'm happy to report he was not wasted when he got home - he gave me the report on bar shenanigans. In the morning he had a migraine though, probably from lack of sleep. Thankfully, his classes were cancelled - happy birthday to him! So Brian's 30th birthday was a success! Thank you for all your calls, cards, and gifts!

Here are a few pics from the party.

Brian dancing with Fenz in our packed living room:

Tyler, Brian, Kyle, Randy:

Packed kitchen:

Corey, Brian, Pat:

Ah Youth!

I've been going around telling people "I'm young, and in my twenties." I give the same sentiment to TOE readership, on the last day that I can.

Do I feel like I'm turning thirty? No. However, my back makes me feel like I'm fifty!!!

Miscellaneous

Kudos to any Earth Hour observers! These pics are from the Boston Globe. Starting with the second picture - click on it and it goes dark. Pretty cool!!

As a side note, Brian just said that, "if terrorists ever come to ONU, he'll save the world like Sam-wise Gamgee." (I misspelled that Hobbit name, I think.) We just finished watching Toy Soldiers with Sean Austin, of Goonie and Hobbit fame.

Last but not least, I am a fan of ZenHabits.net, and today the site creator posted some book reviews. I have read a couple of them that are mentioned (and liked them) and wanted to read a couple others, so I just thought I'd share.

I'm going to go play Wii now.

It's a circle.

A vicious circle. Work out --> rotate hip backward --> go to the chiro --> can't work out for few days --> work out --> rotate hip backward --> go to chiro. You see the pattern. The only one that wins here is the chiropractor. Three cheers for sedentary living! (kidding.) I go back on Monday to see if my adjustments stuck over the weekend. They probably didn't cuz I went rollerskating...and fell. Oops.

In other news, I've found an article worth mention because I'm sick of work buzzwords. Some of the most frequent offenders include dialogue-ing, transparency, collaboration, community outreach and engagement. Yes, I use these words frequently. It doesn't mean I like it. Kudos to the Brit's local government for trying to "crack down on weasel words." I don't think they are going to have much luck, but it's entertaining to watch them try.

Now I'm segueing (which could argueably be a buzzword) to British actors and actresses. We just watched The Holiday with Kate Winslet and Jude Law. Super cute chick flick. That is all.

As promised - Earth Hour and the plight of the polar bear.

As there's a continual call to go green, this Saturday, at 8:30 p.m. (local time) is Earth Hour US! Started by the World Wildlife Fund two years ago in Australia, it has now spread to include 2,100 cities across the globe. Last year, more than 50 million participated and the lights went out at the Empire State Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Sydney Opera House and the Coliseum in Rome, just to name a few. Even Google's homepage went black for the day!

Although, it's fun to sit in the dark for an hour, the purpose of the lights out is to show your support for climate change. One of the most notable and publicized events of the climate change is the plight of the polar bear. As you may know ONU has the polar bear for its mascot. Poor polar bears. They're running out of ice to frolic on. In an effort to assist in educating local communities, schools with the polar bear mascot have been holding educational seminars - Ada's had at least two so far. (Yes, it's very bizarre to have a polar bear mascot in northwest Ohio.) And, I found this website to be interesting...you can follow around a polar bear!

So in an effort to support our local polar bears, we'll be sitting in the dark this Saturday at 8:30 p.m. I encourage you to do the same. Get out some candles, get out a board game, roast some mallows over those candles. Or just take a nap and you'll never know the difference. The movement is really only symbolic, so you can still have your 'puters and tv's on, but really shouldn't we power down occasionally anyway?

updates all around!

Time for some updates! I've updated the blog a bit - I was sick of the old layout. As you can imagine, we've been busy. Hence the missing blogs. I know you've been wondering...what have they been up to?!?

The quick update is that Brian studies a lot, and recently got back from a seminar for law review which was held in Baton Rouge. Law review is also keeping him very busy. While he was gone, the house looked FANTASTIC! I cleaned and cleaned. Who knew we had so much floor?!? I also *finally* finished my Watchmen book. I would recommend the movie, but with the caveat that you will probably appreciate it a bit more having read the book, and it is VERY graphic. We saw a family leaving the theater trying to shield their children's eyes - which was a little funny, because it is R, so they probably shouldn't have been there in the first place...

I also have to report on another book I just finished. This was not serious literature, but one of the funniest, trashiest books ever!! Recommended by two friends from different states, it's in the same vein as David Sedaris, but a girl version with all sorts of sexcapades and antics. My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler - great beach read and summer's coming fast!

I've also been keeping very busy with my "Little." (I hide my trashy books and magazines when she comes over.) We've painted pottery - I do not ever want to do that again. I just don't have the patience. We play LOTS of guitar hero and Wii. We attempted racquetball, and have played some HORSE basketball games. We went to the movies, the library, the nature trails at OSU Lima. And, this week we're rollerskating! (I'm very excited to rollerskate.) I'm happy to report she seemed to really enjoy the library and she wants to participate in the summer reading program. (yay librarians, even though angie doesn't read our blog...)

last but not least - in an effort to blog more and because my brain needs something new to do. i'm going to try to blog at least once a week on something educational. Most likely a cause or something that i've stumbled on, but maybe something else. I have this week's picked out, just have to post it...hopefully tomorrow, but my battery is almost dead and i'm sleepy now. more to come later!

p.s. shout out to laura for the milwaukee pic on our header.

Third year

Spring Break in Ada. Nothing exotic on the travel plans. I may go to Detroit one day with some friends to the MGM Grand to try my luck with some poker or slots (not to worry, Janet retains all cards, and I depart with only a small wad of bills). As for the rest of the week, it will be spent largely studying, if I can find the motivation to get working.

Third year: Some people find this to be a time to relax, take an easy course load, learn to play golf, etc. I have not chosen this path, as last week I was named as Editor in Chief of the Ohio Northern Law Review. It means a lot of work, but it will pay off.

That's all to update as of now.

state hopping

Brian is in Chicago, gearing up for moot court tomorrow. We'll keep you posted.

In other news, I went to see Jesus Christ Superstar on Tuesday with one of our friends - Amber from law school and her mom. The original Ted Neeley was in it and everything! Twas good.

I also met my Big Brother, Big Sister family w/little on Monday. Now I'm trying to set up our first just us venture, but I haven't been able to get a hold of them. Hopefully tomorrow, so we can do something this weekend.

And, today - I had some wierd allergic reaction at work, I think, from cutting cellophane and my face got all hot and itchy and red. ALL DAY. it seems better now that i ate nearly a pint of ice cream. cake batter. yum. tomorrow i'm taking benadryl to work. although, i prefer the ice cream medication.

happy valentine's weekend.

book readin'

Not much to report. I've gotten sick like Brian. I've been back on the reading bandwagon and wanted to share some of my recent reads. And, I wanted to encourage Mary P. to definitely read Coraline. I find the Tim Burton cartoons a bit creepy too, but after reading the book I think I'll like movie.

So on to books. Over the summer, Brian and I visited a super cute bookstore in Charleston and a kid's book caught our eye - The Mysterious Benedict Society. It was on some local school required reading list and it just looked fun. I finally decided I needed a fun kid's book read, and finished very quickly around New Years. It's in the same vein as Harry Potter with kid's having to save the world, but no magic, just quick thinking. Apparently, it's a trilogy, so I'll have to get the next two soon. (Thankfully, the story wrapped up at the end, so no urgency necessary.)

I had also been meaning to read Water for Elephants for about a year. I had picked it up several times to start, but then got sidetracked by something else before starting it. Well, I finally started it thinking it was going to be more historical than dramatic, but it was sooo good. It followed a guy that joins the circus during the Depression, but it's written as flashbacks because he's now 90-something and in a nursing home. Super quick read, and I don't want to give anything away!

A long time ago, I also read Three Cups of Tea, and have been telling everyone individually to read it, so it just needs a mention. It might be the best nonfiction I've ever read - very inspirational - about an American climber's promise to build a school in rural Pakistan which ends up being more schools, and grows into a nonprofit - The Central Asia Institute.

Right now, I'm reading Obama's Dreams from My Father. So far, so good. I'm only about 100 pages in, but I can't imagine all of a sudden it will get bad. So I'm pre-emptively recommending it. I'm also reading The Tales of Beedle the Bard, which are fairy tales for the "Wizarding" world. It also includes Dumbledore commentary, which makes it even more of a clever Potter spinoff. It might actually be a good introductory for kids that want to read the Potter series, but aren't quite old enough. It's short with 5 fairy tales. I've been just reading the fairy tales one at a time when I feel like it.

Next up will probably be Devil in the White City and The Pillars of the Earth. I'll keep you posted.

delinquent....

i don't have much to contribute. not much going on here. new computer, new loan funds. lately our typical day is:
6:30 get up.
8:10 say bye to Brian cuz he's still sleeping cuz he's sick.
8:30-5:00 work
5:35 get home, play with dog
6:00 elliptical/rock out to my itunes
6:40 celebrate being done working out by singing along as loud as possible to music & lyrics soundtrack while making dinner (hope brian doesn't come home mid-song)
7:30 play Animal Crossing (brian's sometimes home around now....)
8:00 watch a netflix
10:00 go sleepy, have crazy dreams
the 6:40-10:00pm time slots usually switch around depending on brian's moot court schedule

to all the kid's book readers out there....here's a link for you. anything by neil gaiman - i encourage you to read it.

In the News

"Flaming Squirrel to Blame in Jones Wildfire"

The story, tragic. The imagery, comic. Imagine a squirrel running with its tail on fire, lighting up everything it passes...

Also, it's time to note that Janet has a replacement computer, so there's not much excuse for lack of blogging from her these days!!!

2008 - out. 2009 - in.

Happy New Years everyone! For 9 years, with little exception, new years has been marked with a tradition amongst friends of midnight mass followed by a massive multi-coursed dinner party. This started on the event on the eve of 2000 at the Newman center at UW-Oshkosh, hosted my our friend Fr. Tom. He moved to the outskirts of Appleton, and so did our gathering. The tradition morphed over the years, usually with the continued realization that we couldn't tackle as much food between 2am and 6am as we wanted, and started to add a "sleep course" between diner, and lunch. One year our obligations prevented a new year's event, but dinner still happened the week prior.

This year, because of our obligations in Ohio, we weren't able to celebrate in WI. Fortunately for us our friends Keith and Christoper, home visiting from Torino, spend the week with us the new year. After an afternoon trip to Columbus to buy the freshest of ingredients at the North Market we spend the days cooking, and the evenings with delicious food, wonderful wine, and great company. As a caveat, to same on the labour of dishes, we served largely on Dixie over chargers...our photos are surely not to make this month's cover of Food & Wine as a result, but we'll survive.
A rundown of the menu is as follows:

1. Crepe with salmon and dill creme fresh sauce. Wine: CA pinot noir.

2. Pate de campagne (country pate) with homemade horseradish, mustard, and cornichons (pickles). Pate de campagne, made largely with chicken liver and ground pork (here veal) was a way for rural French to enjoy the delicacy of a pate at a fraction of what a fresh pate or foie gras would cost. Wine: CA Pinot Noir

3. Soupe - Tom Khagai - It's Thai, it's delicious (hence the photo mid-eating, because we were eager to get into it!) It's a chicken broth/coconut milk based coup with mushroom, lemon grass, and wonderful flavour. It was one of two welcome diversions from our otherwise French menu. Wine: WA Reisling

4. Pasta Amatriciana - originating from the town of Amatrice - it's a tomato based sauce with pancetta and with a bit of spice. Delicious! Wine: Alsacacian Pinot Noir (not common)


5. Coquille St. Jacquen en Surprise (with the ever-so-tacky transaltion of "scallop surprise!") This is Brian's specialty, made all but one of the past 9 dinners, made by Brian all but one of those. Sauce: sause a la saffron avec tomates fraiche (safforn sauce with fresh tomatoes) Wine: Alsacian Gevertztraminer




6. Steak au poivre - Here we got the finest ribeye cuts that were offered at North market, coated with fresh cut peppercorns, cooked and flambeed with cognac, and coated with traditional au poivre cream sauce. We were so excited to dig in, we realized only afterwards we didn't take the requisite photo. Here is evidence that the dish was indeed prepared. Wine: I can't remember!

7. Chocolate cheesecake with raspberry wine reduction (made with Door County Raspberry Wine) and served with fresh raspberries. Wine: shamefully, we had no port, but enjoyed some Poire William (pear infused Cognac).

Part of the dinner was joined by our friend Randy - also a native Wisconsinite. He prepared the non-french dishes. Sorbets were also a pineapple-rosemary, and a grapefruit-coriander (which tasted like gold bond powder). Keith blamed me for sleeping in and not preventing his damaging the sanctity of the grapefruit sorbet. Thankfully, there was enough juice for me to make a "normal" batch. As a side note - Keith is notorious for trying to make magical spiced creations with sorbet. Such flavours have been "tomato-garlic" and "wasabi." We are generally opposed to him doing this, but from time to time he still gets away with such cullinary...um...experiements.

More blogging to come. Janet's computer has finally bit the dust, and we're working on a replacement.