Barrister, Esquire, J.D.

Well I've finally graduated and things have been a little busy around here lately. but here are some pictures from graduation.

let's hope I can tap into my daytime potential

Next week begins my Bar review, and I’m actually pretty pumped. I’m excited at the change and being able to sit in a law class during the day, when my brain hasn’t been completely fried by the day at work. Last week I took a test from the hours of 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. At the end of which, I just wanted to wave the white flag of defeat and I swear I heard a bugle playing taps for the expirations of the last few brain cells I depleted. The next day when I awoke from my exam hangover, I did begin to ponder about how terrible the 2 day Bar exam is going to be. The only solace I could find in the situation is that I will not be taking the exam at 6:30 p.m. after a full day at work. I’ll get to take it in the morning, while my mind is still fresh. For four years now, I’ve been taking difficult exams in the evening hours when most folks are comfortably at home unwinding from the day. Focusing on one thing is going to be a nice change.

Kittens

Mom and Dad’s cat Maggie has given birth for the ga-zillionth time. I am exaggerating a bit, but I know this has to be at least the fourth fifth time the cat has had kittens. We were actually apprehensive about mentioning the “K” word around her. For fear that she might perk up her ears say, “Kittens! Kittens! Did somebody say kittens?! I can whip you up a batch of those if you need some.” It’s as if the very mention of the word gets her pregnant. It doesn’t seem like she’s stopping anytime soon either, in fact she’s just hitting her stride. She’s a cute kitten producing machine. We should ship her to stay with the Duggar family. I guess she is mad at us for thinking she was a boy in the beginning and naming her Magellan. Now she feels she must prove her womanhood to us through her ability to procreate.

So needless to say, if you are in search of some melt your heart cute kittens, we have 4 that are in need of good homes. They say that you can’t get anything for free, but you sure can. You can get your very own little snuggly friend.

Aren't these the cutest little lap warmers you've ever seen?

Yarn

Hand spun yarn from the Arts and Crafts fair-
I imagine that this is what a Muppet's brains would look like :)

Peace out Brussel sprout

Last weekend was the first weekend that I was not studying for a big test. To celebrate the occasion, Matt and I wanted to go do something for a change. Of course, I could tackle the over whelming amount of house work that has accumulated over the 4 years of law school, but it’s waited this long right? How much more damage is a few days really going to do. We had a fantastic day. We had breakfast out and then made our way to the farmers market in Nashville. We had never visited the farmers market and we had a good time. We bought two gardenia trees for the Moms as Mother’s Day gifts. They smelled absolutely divine. We strolled and browsed through the produce. Matt was really interested in seeing what a vendor was selling their beef for. Matt squeezed over to check out their prices. He came back bewildered and proclaimed that they must be feeding their cattle gold, because they were selling some sort of steak for $9.00 a pound. That is not the case at Silvey Family Farms, just in case you were wondering.

inside the Nashville Farmers Market

local producer at the farmer's market

Matt and I had lunch at the farmers market and then decided we would head over the Arts and Crafts Exhibit at Centennial Park. It was an awesome last minute decision. Awesome I tell you. Well, the weather wasn’t awesome. In fact, we had to stomp through lots of mud from all the rain we have been having lately (good thing I was wearing my new rubber boots). There were a lot of very gifted people showing off their works. We saw artisans from Clarksville that we had not seen their work before. Matt fell in love with works of Russ’s Rural Rockers (click on the link and check out the Gallery on his website. Seriously neat stuff). He was in complete awe the creations of Mr. Russ Jacobsohn of Sparta, Tennessee. I’m pretty sure that Matt would order one built in his size if he could have. They were truly beautiful and full whimsy.

Tennessee Association of Craft Artists

Me channeling obi one kenobi in the rain at the Arts and Crafts Fair

* I'll post some other pictures later in the week.

opportunity NOT's

As you all know, Matt is currently finishing up the requirements for his agriculture teaching license. He will be wrapping up his student teaching next week. I am very proud of him and he has been working very hard this spring to learn and develop teaching skills.

Now comes the search to find such a special teaching job in the area. It has been quite a challenge and I can already tell the competition is going to be tough, but Matt has a lot to offer. The local school system has opened 3 new high schools in the past 10 years, one of which is due to open next fall. Did you know that not a single one of them offers an agriculture program. How sad. Last night Matt and I attended the FFA banquet for the school he has been at these past few months. The kids had done really well. They spoke well in front of a crowd of 300 people (something that would have scared me to death in high school), and many of them received awards for their achievements throughout the year. I know I mentioned it earlier, but Matt assisted with the junior parliamentary procedure team that won 1^st in the regional competition and advances to state in a few weeks. I saw them hand out more scholarships than I ever saw awarded at a single basketball banquet my entire 4 years of High School. I had already figured out that studying, and doing well in school was going to be the only way I was going to get where I wanted to be. So it doesn’t surprise me that the last half of my senior season, I took a backseat to a younger player that “wanted it more” (and she did). Anyhow… the administrators for these new schools have told Matt they do not intend on starting agriculture programs. It just seems terrible to me that the students at these schools won’t even have a chance at the scholarships that are out there. If they had the programs, it would increase their odds of going to college and getting a degree. I don’t know if you watch the news but there have been a few changes in our economy. I’m sure that increasing the odds of students getting scholarships would be appreciated by some, but currently the don’t even have the opportunity. I know I also have my husbands employment in mind, so I might be a little bias. But hey, with all those local kids in the NFL, NBA, and getting great college scholarships then graduating with degrees, there’s little to be concerned about. Right? I’m just staying they may want to cover their bases.