An Attorney.

All he had to do was sign the rolls....

{oh and go to law school and study and pass the bar}

And he became an Attorney.

Amazing, he is.



Cinnamon Rolls and Such

Today, an old lady asked me where I got my shirt and I lied and told her I couldn't remember because I got it at Forever 21.

This household is now fully employed. Mike got himself a job as a real life attorney. And the fun begins.

Yesterday we celebrated the birth of Mike. 27 years old, he is. And just as cute as ever.

And that right there is a white chocolate, funfetti cinnamon roll made by yours truly for the birthday bash. In the beginning, it was touch and go, but they turned out pretty tasty.

This past weekend we added to our little family. 2012 Honda Civic.

Sean is the next bachelor. I told Mike I needed to get my audition tape ready. Umm....

Jokes, people. Jokes.

In the middle of season 2 of Lost. How did we miss this bandwagon when it was on TV? But I tell ya, not having to wait for the commercials or the next season to come around is pretty awesome. It's a borderline addiction.

Still trying to talk myself into the half marathon I've been training for. Blah. Blah. Blah. I'd rather eat cinnamon rolls and watch Lost.

Hate this blogger layout.

Guess what...

Mike passed....

 the Bar!!!

Outside of our wedding day, this could possibly be the best day of our lives.

What We Did: {The Most Important Parts}

This weekend...

We drank ginger ale on an airplane.

We ate 25 chocolate chip cookies in less than 24 hours.

We got told we were a "cute couple" by a lady yelling out her car window while we walked home from church.

We convinced my sister that she and her family should hurry and take a trip to DC while we are still here. And it worked! They come out on the 8th.

We watched and watched and watched the Olympics.

We stayed in bed until 10 AM.



This week...

Mike took the bar.

The rest is moot.

What Our 24th of July Looked Like: {Outside of the Bar Exam}

So yesterday was the 24th of July, which means celebration here in Utah. Thank goodness for those Pioneers coming here so long ago and settling this beautiful valley. But the 24th of July also marked day 1 of the bar exam for Mike. Whoa man.

The best I could get out of him was, "Well it's exactly what I thought it was going to be". So I guess that means he was prepared, right? Currently, he is finishing up with day 2 of the bar exam. Which also happens to be the final day of the bar exam. I cannot believe that this day is finally here. I say that outside of our wedding anniversaries, this could possibly be one of the best reasons for celebrating so far in our marriage. We are celebrating with pizza buffet. I know, isn't that just so us?

Anyway. Back to yesterday. The 24th of July Utah holiday also coincides with Mike's nieces birthday. Double whammy. Which meant a backyard roast and fireworks! {And some nice evening relaxation for the bar exam taker.}

Oh Summer, I love you.

 

What Is Officially Official: {Law School}

Well the verdict is out. Mike received his grades yesterday for his final semester in Law school.

He did a smashing good job!

So relieved to know that that whole graduation thing we did a month ago, is actually legit now.

Not that I was worried. I'm married to a smarty pants.

But still, we both breathed a sigh of relief.

He really is done!

What I Saw: {The Work of a Few Famous Guys}

No big deal or anything, but here are a couple things I saw today...

Claude Monet

Leonardo da Vinci

Raphael

Vincent van Gogh

Pablo Picasso

Thank you, National Gallery of Art, for giving me a solid few hours of pure viewing pleasure.

What I Consider To Be In The Top 5 Best Days: {Law School Graduation}

I feel so out of practice. This whole typing a blog thing seems almost foreign.

But I am so glad to be back! My computer still hasn't been hooked up, but hopefully my posts can be a little more consistent than they have been.

There are several days of updates to come, but one of the best updates...

That handsome man standing next to me in that picture, yes, my husband, has officially graduated from Law School.

Yes, I am married to a lawyer.

Okay, okay, he hasn't actually taken/passed the bar exam yet. But no matter.

Just call me Mrs. Esquire.

May 12, 2012.

It was a dreary day in Oklahoma. Downtown provided the graduation venue with construction and mud. But nothing could dampen our spirits. He was finished. We were finished. Law school would no longer rule our every waking thought. Our folks had come to town. And we were so grateful to have their love and support.

Mike's brother and his family had also driven up from Houston, giving Mike's parents quite the joyous surprise.

Even being surrounded by those that are dearest to us, nothing could distract me from the pride that I felt. That was my husband. That man up their being hooded; receiving his Law degree.

The effort that he put in to his education suddenly all became worth it. Every moment I felt lonely. Every $300 book. It was all for this. This joy of being educated. This joy of seeing his efforts be rewarded.

Now on to our next adventure!

What He Won: {Awards}

Look!

Mike wins awards and stuff! Good job babe!

What I Appreciate: {Working}

I'm not a job person. I have never liked working. I don't want a career. I went to school and got an education because I knew that was the smart thing to do. I did not go to school and get an education so that I could help support a family. That's Mike's job. And he's completely okay with that. He wants to. And he wants me to stay home.

I have been asked many times, by many different people if I plan on sitting for the CPA exam. And I honestly considered it. I thought about returning to school to get my Masters in Accounting. I prayed and prayed about what to do.

Mike knows more than anyone, I'm not the most fun person when I am in school. I had to work really hard to get good grades in college. Therefore resulting in a stressed, wanna-rip-my-hair-out attitude. But suddenly, you graduate, and you forget all the bad stuff. I imagine it's quite like child labor. But after much prayer, and remembering what it was that I really wanted for myself and what we had always wanted together as a couple, I decided to not go back.

I have never once regretted that decision.

I consider myself successful. I don't need a CPA license to tell me that.

A few weeks ago at work, we had our annual reviews. I am known around the office as being "the favorite". I hate that term. I don't think I am the favorite. But I do know that I am quite the brown-noser. I like being liked. Of course I am going to do everything I need to do for my boss to like me.

{Picture Taken July 2009}

That being said, my review was first out of all the employees in the Accounting department. Annual reviews are scary. Like the feel-like-I'm-getting-up-to-bear-my-testimony feeling.

Immediately after walking in the room, I was put at ease.

"Well Abby, I have a really hard time coming up with things to criticize you about."

I was shocked. Coming out of this guys mouth, that is quite the compliment.

He continued to give me positive feedback throughout the entire review. I left feeling elated.

To accompany our annual review, we also receive our annual raise. Because the raise doesn't go into effect until the end of the month, I didn't think they would be giving me one. My last day is two weeks from today. I figured they would think there was no point because I would only have about a week and a half at the new rate.

Boy was I wrong.

I got a great raise. So much so that when I looked down at the paper, I didn't even see the correct number. My mind changed the numbers to what I thought it would be.

Yes, there was a double and triple check.

I love the company that I work for. And no, not just because they gave me a good raise to enjoy for a week and a half. But because it's just a good company. And a great job. I have learned so much from being in this position.

My boss was always the type to give as little information as possible. The entire year and a half that I worked there, I always complained about the poor communication. Why doesn't he just tell me what I need to know to do this project?? Because he was teaching me. I couldn't get past the frustration at the time to see that. I feel like I learned and retained more at this job than I did during my entire Bachelors degree.

I'm grateful for opportunities to work. Even though I hate work. Even though providing for us during a time when Mike needs me to is sometimes downright frustrating. Work gave me the opportunity to prove myself. To prove that I actually did learn something in college. To prove that I actually can contribute to the income of this family if I need to.

And even though I wish I could say this is my last job ever, it's not. We're on to a new city where I will be on to finding a new job. Where I will be learning something new, and proving even more that I am capable of these things. And when the day finally comes that I can quit my job and not have to find another, I can look back and be glad. Glad that I had the opportunity to be a working girl so that I can truly appreciate being home with our children.

What I'm Thinking About: {Today}

It's Monday! I hope that everyone had a successful daylight savings weekend. I struggled. Getting up for church on Sunday morning seemed easy. But man did I feel it later and ended up taking a twoandahalfhour nap. I hate naps. What a waste of time. Then we went to bed at 9:15 {don't gasp, that's quite normal for us} but I didn't fall asleep until 11:00. And getting out of bed this morning? Blah.

Let's talk about today though. Item of business number one. Today marks exactly two months until graduation. TWO MONTHS! Which means nine more weeks. Nine more Monday mornings. Nine more weeks of studying {for school anyway, don't even remind me that we have the bar coming up}. Nine more Sunday's with my Primary kids. Nine more Friday Accounting meetings. Nine more weeks until our folks come out for graduation!

Aren't they the cutest?!

Which may lead to item of business number two, what our plans are for after graduation. Well we are in the process of figuring that out. We have a couple different roads we could take but we want to make sure that we are making the right decision. Which means a heck of a lot of prayer. But don't worry, you'll get the scoop on that later.

And item of business number three. Today also means The Bachelor finale. I know, I know, for those of you who don't care, you can just skip this part, but for those of you who do......I totally hope that he picks Courtney. I know, she is crazy, but lets be honest, so is Ben if he has let her go this far. And the 'After the Final Rose' part will be so much better if he picks Courtney because of all the scandal behind it! Yes, you better believe it's a pizza occasion tonight. Pizza and three hours of juicy television? Bring.it.on.

Item number four? It's going to be in the high 70's today. Yes, you heard right. HIGH 70's!

Happy Monday!

What I Found: {Emails}

From: Mike
To: Abby
Subject: RE: Where you at?
Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:33:55 -0700
So I think that maybe there should be real life dragons. I would like to live back when dragons really existed, that would've been so cool to be a real knight and not like an Elton John knight. Well that's what I think. I would meet at the round  table with king arthur and begin a quest that he would give me. Pretend you're king arthur and give me a quest. 


From: Abby
To: Mike
Subject: RE: Where you at?
Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:41:50 -0700

Sir Michael, the kingdom is in danger. The evil sorcerer, Botanin is gathering his army to come and fight against us. He will first take our women and children and force them to bake Brownies, all day, every day, in torturous conditions. Then he will come against us and threaten to slaughter our Ninja Turtles if we do not surrender all of our stuffed animals. We must not let him prevail. A word of caution, Botanin tames dragons for times of war. You must first get past the three dragons at his gate before you can fight against him. You must hurry, or all our women and children and ninja turtles and stuffed animals will be taken forever!


From: Mike
To: Abby
Subject: RE: Where you at?
Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:52:14 -0700

Question: Do I get some of the brownies they are forced to cook? 
Question: Can the Ninja Turtles help me fight?
I embark on the journey. I begin walking through the vast countryside in search for the land of Botanin. I begin walking and find myself facing a vast gorge in the landscape. I see no apparent way of crossing the gorge until I look and see a huge bald eagle with talons that can rip your skin right from your bones. Seeing that it is the only way for me to cross I approach the bird and ask him for some assistance. The bird with rage in his eyes merely laughs at me and turns to fly away, but before he does I throw a rock at him and tell him to pick me up. He gets angry and swoops in trying to pick me up with his talons. Instead of letting him catch me, I grab on to his tailfeathers and now steer him to the otherside of the gorge where I let go and as I land I pluck a feather from the eagle for I know it will soon be useful...... your turn. 


From: Abby
To: Mike
Subject: RE: Where you at?
Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:58:21 -0700

Answer: No you don't get the brownies, they do.
Answer: If the Ninja Turtles aren't tied up by then.
Comment: Botanin is an evil sorcerer, not a place.
It begins to grow dark as Sir Michael finally meets up to the river in which he must follow to get to the great mountain in which he must go over. He leans over to take a refreshing sip of the mountain water and finds himself face to face with a fish. Not just any fish, a small red fish with teeth like a shark. Popolones. Intimidating yet harmless if you can call the fish by name. The fish says, "You have 3 tries to guess my name, otherwise I will swim upstream and alert Botanin that you are coming." Sir Michael grows nervous. How is he supposed to figure out the small poplones name?


To be continued......
{Yes, the story does get longer}
{And yes, these emails are 100% real}

What I'm Good At: {Nutrition Facts}

So some people are good at sports.
Some people have an eye for fashion.

Me?

I'm a math person.

Always have been. Which I guess is what led me to current career choice. Not all accoutants are boring, you know.

I did have a moment over the Christmas holiday while in Utah with family. My 14-year-old brother asked for help on his math homework. I'm not gonna lie. Talk about an ego boost. I love that he knows that I'm a math person. {Even if it is self-proclaimed.}

Hah. I still have no idea how to do that algebra problem. I made the poor kid figure it out on his own and I quickly grabbed a laptop and googled the answer.

I know, I have stooped to a new low.

Oh if I was this proficient with the internet when I was in high school.....
But of course, that wouldn't have been necessary anyway, because remember....I'm a math person.

Anyways.

So there I sit, enjoying myself a good book.

Okay, okay. There were treats involved. Really, when is there not treats involved?
Current obsession?
Chocolate Animal Crackers. {Huge bag at Walmart...2 bucks.}


Then my eye spots a couple of the nutrition claims on the front of the bag.
Oh come on, when I buy chocolate crackers, I'm obviously not so concerned with anything but the taste.
And for an indulgence, I would say 13 crackers for 100 calories is just fine.


Then I thought I would see what else is going on in this little cracker that I'm on the brink of overconsuming.
A serving size is 16 crackers. Good
130 calories per serving. Good.
Wait. Not good.


Anybody else catch the math on that one?
See, I told you I was a math person.

Lets do the calculations, shall we?

13 crackers = 100 calories
7.69 calories per cracker

16 crackers = 130 calories
8.125 calories per cracker

Or maybe its, the first 13 crackers are 7.69 a piece, and then after that you jump up to 10 calories per cracker.

{So it's either some form of rounding going on, which even then doesn't make much sense, or they justify that the crackers are possibly different sizes therefore, rounding down...}

Either way, from a math person's point of view, things are not adding up.
But lucky for me simple math mistakes seem to not affect the deliciousness that is chocolate animal crackers.

What We Learned: {Sparkling Personalities}

Happy Thursday everyone! You know, I really like Thursdays. The week is nearly over, but the anticipation of the weekend {and casual Fridays} still exists.

Anyway.

Last night, Mike caught me mid-Mac n' Cheese bite {which by the way was homemade and so not good, so I will not be sharing on this here blog} and told me that they were taking this quiz today at work and that he wanted me to take it.

A personality quiz.

I love personality quizzes. Not like Which Hogwarts house do you belong in or Which Cullen character are you but real ones. Well as real as the Internet can provide {let's be honest, we just never know what we're getting out there on the WWW}.

So go here to take the quiz.

My favorite part about taking personality quizzes, is to find out if they really are true to what I think about myself. And to find out if they are true to how others perceive me.

This one was dead on.

Not to mention it put to words the things that I thought but could never express verbally, without sounding completely self-centered.

So here are a few excerpts of what my personality claims to be...

The Nurturer

want to believe the best of people
are likely to be very sensitive to other people's feelings
has an exceptional memory about things that are important to their value systems
have a very clear idea of the way things should be, which they strive to attain
...a lot of theorizing and abstraction, are likely to be a chore
extremely dependable
they will speak up when they feel another individual really needs help
feels a strong sense of responsibility and duty
has a difficult time saying "no" when asked to do something
they intensely dislike conflict
they tend to place other people's needs over their own
need positive feedback from others
have strong feelings of inadequacy
strong ability to keep things running smoothly


Here are some of Mike's, who's was also pretty dead on.

The Duty Fulfiller

quiet and reserved individuals who are interested in security and peaceful living

place great importance on honesty and integrity
have an offbeat sense of humor and can be a lot of fun
resist putting energy into things which don't make sense to them
hold a tremendous store of facts within themselves
not naturally in tune with their own feelings and the feelings of others
extremely faithful and loyal
good and generous providers to their families
excellent ability to take any task and define it, organize it, plan it, and implement it through to completion
may fall into "catastrophe mode", where they see nothing but all of the possibilities of what could go wrong
enjoys being in positions of authority
express their affection through actions, rather than through words

There are 16 different personality types, which I guess, means more accuracy? I dunno.
Go here to see the different personality types.

And if you take this quiz, let me know what you get! I'd love to learn some new things about my readers! :)