This still feels like a dream. I can't believe it was over 3 years ago I began this "Journey to JD" Blog & now I have finally obtained my degree.  

I will not say that the road was easy, but it was certainly worth it. I not only did this with a tweenager & a husband but I was also brave enough to have a baby along the way 😅 

I commuted over 1000 hours in 3 years to and from class. (1L Year we lived 45 mins each way from my law school) & 2&3L Year we lived an 1hour & 15mins each way, thanks to my husbands residency!) I sacrificed sleep, food, & fun because I was determined to make my dream a reality and here I AM. 

My car became my sanctuary. I spent many mornings praising God on my way to school, & a bunch of evenings crying & venting to him because I was just tired and overwhelmed (especially during finals) lol but I survived!  

He brought me through. He who began a good work in me, was faithful to complete it.

Most women complain about being a "residents wife" & the lack of help they get at home but I can honestly say, I would not have survived law school without my husbands help. 

From making the bed every morning because I never had time to, washing and folding the laundry on his 1 day off because my weekends were spent studying, taking my heavy books to the car for me so I didnt have to carry them, being my mock professor for presentations and papers, being my free99 editing pro with no complaints, but more importantly being my biggest critic when I was procrastinating and falling off.  I can not complain about not having help from my resident husband because I receive a ton. I'm grateful to have such a hands on spouse who's been through a rigorous graduate program so he GETS IT. I would not have been able to hold it all together without him. 

Many of my classmates marveled at my ability to "balance" it all. Family, commute, school, personal life.. & when they asked how I did it, my response was always because I had no choice. There were sooooo many moments where I felt like this was impossible, but I just kept going and before I knew it, I found myself doing the impossible!! 

From Teen Mom to JD -- God has been so good to me!  

Honorary Grad. He did one year 😂

The Family

CGS

Ok so seeing as though I started this blog to document my journey in law school, its only right that I give a review as I'm nearing the finish line of my first year!

I have been gone wayyyyyy to long. Sorry. Law School will do that to you, but I will try my best to keep updates going. Weekly :)

I'm currently writing this post in what is suppose to be an "Assessment DAY" from what I know its an hour long survey so the law school can "see how its doing". Well as you see I'm not participating. "Im only here" for the free lunch ticket they will provide when its over.. Which brings me to my first point!

• Meetings are your friend! - OK SO no one really enjoys sitting in long seminars or boring meetings listening to speakers, but what you will learn is that almost all law schools cater to their guest, in a literal sense, so as a reward for attending you get free food at most of these events which is a winnnnn! This may not seem like "much" but as a law student trust me its a gift from God! & You also do sometimes get to network and meet great people who can help you along the way!

• CONSIDERATION... before law school if someone where to ask me what that meant I'd have a totally different meaning.{If you decide or have attended law school you know what I mean or you will learn} Upon completing Contracts I (MY FAVORITE CLASS- or maybe its just my professor and I'm bias. Whatever. Rice Rocks!)... my appreciation for consideration has changed, and I'm looking for it in every promise or statement given by someone! hahah Which leads me to my last point for now....

• Torts is tortious! As a 1L you learn what a "Tort" is and then you begin to see them everywhere. It literally changes the way you maneuver through life. I know for me it has, as well as some of my classmates. You view life through a different lens, causing you to be wayyy more careful, which I guess can be a good thing.

But whats not a "Good Thing" .. is that fact that in law school there is no such thing as a

BREAK

.. No really they are all "

Illusory

" They gave us a "fall break" so I thought, ----- that was a time to prepare for midterms 1st semester... THEN-  I kept hearing everyone say "On Thanksgiving break" you want to shorten your outlines... I didn't realize this meant that on Thanksgiving Break, you could only afford to take a "Break" for about two days to enjoy all the food and family, because upon returning ughhhhh your hit with 1st semester finals! BRUTAL.... THATS ALL I WILL SAY FOR NOW ABOUT FIANLS.. BRUTAL. 3 HOURS OF Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress. {For Each Test}

And not to mention spring break... If you're anything like me when you think "Spring Break" you remember undergrad and taking trips to the beach and having fun.... well Um yea.. In law school, you can do that but you probably will carry along with you 60lbs of books instead of a bikini. 

Spring Break while relaxing because we didn't have class every day was really an opportunity for us to get to work on our outlines.. {Outlines... are your lifeline in law school- you learn to love them} & preparing for moot court! ... I will talk more about that in my next post! 

Theres so much I have to say but I need to cut it short.. Its almost time to pretend to do the survey so i CAN GET FREE FOOD! 

I feel so relieved with this update. I've been gone way too long. So much has changed! God has been blessing my family and although law school is hard and every other day I want to quit, I'm so happy to be living out my dream!

So not only are we half way through July.. Which means we are half way through the year... yea already( seems like it was just January 1st) .. but Hubby is halfway through his first away rotation as a married man.

Boy has this month been interesting...

I've actually enjoyed the peace and quiet with out him or the kid around, just me all alone in the house = Serenity.  lol

I took a trip back home last weekend and really enjoyed spending some time with the kid before he went on his overnight camping week & my family... especially seeing my dad who hasn't been feeling too well lately. ( He's is the walking definition of faith, so he refuses to see a Doc, but God has given him signs that everything will be ok ) .

Although he wasn't too happy with my trip to Baltimore July 8th, I enjoyed just being around my family.. seeing my sisters, and going to MY church... (We have been visiting churches here but we have not found "the one" yet so going to NBCC was so refreshing.. I was even able to attend one of this years Vacation Bible School classes :)

Ne who about July 8th... yessssss as I said before GIRLS LOVEEEE BEYONCE.. only this time I realized that I actually like Jay Z more. I went to M&T Stadium to see the On The Run Tour featuring the married Duo and I have to say that I was more excited for Jigga Man than Bey (Guess its my NY roots) .. but I will say that to all who went it was not a waste of money, they put on a great show... To see them show intimate family pictures and videos was amazing! I admire how private they are with their personal life. "This is not real life" .

Since being back home again things have been more relaxed and refreshing.. Counting down the days til pieces of furniture arrive lol... I'm actually about to put together our dresser.. the nightstands came yesterday. I will post some pics of our home once my projects are completed.

I actually plan to surprise hubby today and go visit him on his rotation and maybe stay a day or two. (He's only an hour & 30 mins away) !!! Hope everyone is doing well.. I am certainly enjoying the last bit of summer break that I have until LAW SCHOOL begins next month ... eeeekkkk!

Soooo I have some great news... Although I'm sure you probably already know what this is "I GOT ACCEPTED INTO LAW SCHOOL" To God be the Glory! 

Although I've worked so hard over the past 6 months of my life to get to this point I still can't believe this is now a reality. (&& that I can put the LSAT behind me for the rest of my life) !!!!!!!! 

On Monday as a Family we "Touched & Agreed" as the bible instructs us to do... & great things started to happen the next day for my family.. My confirmation came two days later while I sat at my desk at work and recived an email, as I thought with the LSAT, I heard it go off and something in me knew what it was. 

I opened it about 10 minutes later and I saw a message from one of my Two First Choices.

It had only been about a week and a half since I submitted my application to them so I was completely shocked to hear from them this soon. I had to get up and text Doc W "answer your phone, it's an emergency" because I needed to share my great news with him first! ( I contemplated on using the word emergency .. But I figured hey if the hospital can make you run when you hear that word... I should be able to too.. I know Evil, hahahah judge me later). 

I ran from my desk to call him...&& we screamed and praised God together. 

I later shared with my family the news and everyone offered sincere congrats. 

I'm so excited to actually be able to say I am going to Law School in 2014! This will be the greatest 25th Birthday Gift everrrr! This journey is going to be challenging and I'm ready to embrace that. I look forward to all that God has in store for me and this next chapter in life :-) 

I will continue to keep my readers posted and I look forward to sharing the journey with you all! 

So just 4 days ago I received my long awaited {ok not really it came 2 days early} LSAT score. I had already planned to attended an "Expierence Law Weekend" at Liberty University law school in Lynchburg Va prior to receiving my score, but attending with score in tow made it even more fulfilling! 

Something that is top priority to me is my faith as a Christian and most people believe lawyers to be very deceitful people. For that reason and a few others I am very interested in the two law schools in the Nation based on Christian Values and Principals. Both ironically in VA, one being Liberty and the other Regent (Close to home-- 40 mins in fact)! 

I arrived on Thursday night for an early morning beginning Friday at 8:30 am. 

Driving up to the campus was a sight in itself, Liberty is located in the mountainous region of Virginia, so in the middle of the fall you can just imagine the beauty of the mountains and trees. 

Upon arrival we were greeted by some faculty and staff members in the mountain view room. [The name of course gives away that one wall is all glass and you can look out into the beautiful mountains, they seem endless.] We signed in and recived a couple of cool trinkets {Liberty Lip balm, a coffee mug of course a pin and notepad, as well as a book bag} to carry along with us when we depart. They provided breakfast, lunch, and a snack (Chic Fil A) throughout the duration of the day! I will never forget that harvest peach salad! It was amazing!!! 

We had several events planned which included us sitting in on an actual law class ( I chose Civil Procedure) & learned a lot from a skit of the Famous Mattel case, we reviewed Rule 11, 26, & 37 sanctions. Very insightful lecture & interesting lecture. 

We had a couple of panel discussions with the faculty and current students, of course they answered the million and one questions us prospective students had. They were very helpful and welcoming! Everyone was.. 

I've heard some positive and negative things about Liberty and it's culture pre visit, I didn't let those negative connotations alter my view or my opinion. Honestly after visiting this weekend they have jumped to the too of my list regarding my school choices. Their loving and close nit "family" is something I felt myself being apart of and the love of God and Jesus resognates heavily in that place and I LOVE IT. 

Not to mention I spoke with the Admissions Commitee told them my scores and just had genuine conversations with some faculty who asked what I was waiting for to apply, they would love to have a student like me at their School :-) 

I am looking forward the application process, and certainly open to all the Liberty has to offer. (They have a replica Supreme Court room, two court room/classrooms, and the number one Lawyering Skills program in the nation... They are also one of 12 out of all ABA approved schools to have 100% merit based scholarship retention!!! I'd love to join their student body .. Oh and did I mention it's only 45 mins of Doc W's school!! He's hoping to complete his residency in this area as we'll so it would just be perfect, and if it's in Gods will it will all fall into place.  

Stay Tuned. 

Well the numbers are in! Like so many of you [those who've taken the LSAT & those who plan to take it one day] I waited in anticipation for the past 23 days for my LSAT Score to come in ... & today was that day of Truth! 

As I sat at my desk at work... I heard the email sound go off on my phone... & for some reason I just "knew" what it was! 

I actually opened it by accident. (I wasn't ready) lol .. Once it was open there was no looking back... So I peeked at the score, yes peeked one eye open as I scrolled down to where it said "Your October 2013 LSAT score is" & I couldn't contain myself! 

The exact score I wrote down at the beginning of my study process is what what I received!!!! 'Write the vision & make it plain' Habakuk 2:2

Just like I thought. Section 2 was a wammy... By far the weirdest of questions & structure! I felt so uncertain about that section and as I guessed, it was the practice section! :) 

To my suprise I actually scored the most points in my challenge area [Logic Games]! Whooo hooooo! That was the first section and I thought at the time man these games can't be this easy but I Guess that Logic Games Bible (book) came in Handy! 

The weight has been lifted and now I can move forward with the application process! I'm so excited... The journey has really just begun! 

Well well well. October 5th has come & gone. I'm still in shock. Sometimes I look over at my books like I'm suppose to be reading them.... But prayerfully I never have to open them again...! 

The night before my test my routine was pretty exciting. I guess lol. 

I grabbed some Blue Bell Ice Cream (Krazy Kookie Dough--cake batter ice cream with sugar cookie pieces) amazing! Then watched Legally Blonde for a little motivation. Let's face it, watching Elle Woods get a 179 & get into Harvard  Law gives us normal people hope :-) 

I attempted to go to sleep around 10pm but failed. Miserably. I simply couldn't sleep. So I convinced Doc W to stay on the phone with me. He laughed at how anxious I was. My mind was racing, although I packed everything (or so I thought). I was like what should I wear, should I bring a jacket although the weather was saying it would be 80 degrees, what snack should I bring. What if I over slept or my alarm didn't sound. I had a million what if questions that he brushed off by encouraging me to calm down & go to sleep. 

Eventually I did but it was a light sleep... I heard every creek in the walls that night... I woke up around 6:30 after Doc W called as a just in case my alarm didn't go off. Oh yea I forgot to mention he came down this weekend to surprise me so Saturday morning I got a text and met him after getting dressed. He followed me to the testing center. That I def scoped out the day before. Don't forget to Do THIS if you can! 

To my surprise it was the schools homecoming so the parking lots and entrances were blocked off.. So I illegally got on campus and parked right in front of the building. We said a prayer for my success on the test, & not to get towed and then I headed in. 

My Mug Shot: 

I had coffee that morning so I had to use the bathroom upon entering the building. I found the class I was suppose to be in that wa listed by last name. I was the first to arrive to my room so the test instructor advised me to wait. I sat & waited, & waited, more people showed up.. I waited some more... Then she finally says get your ID & test ticket out. Oh shoot. I realize at this time my ID was the one thing I forgot to put in my ziplock so I raced down to my car, thankfully I illegally parked in front of the building or I would have been in trouble... Then I rushed back up, got checked in and was ready to roll. 

The test was a challenge but I feel good about it. We were done by 1:15 so I spent the rest of the weekend celebrating with Doc W. 

Today I also went back to work & that was amazing. Helped me to not refresh my email every 5mins looking for my score :( lol. The struggle. 

Still learning the ropes in training but it seems pretty exciting. 

I will update more hopefully since the test is over, now I'm anticipating October 30th. Test Score Release Date by email 😲😬