And on the 101st day ...

... I left. I survived the first 100 days of the Obama Administration in D.C. And I am pretty happy to say I will be spending the next 100-plus days somewhere 2,250 miles away ...

New River Gorge Bridge. Or something like that.

I am not much of a night photographer.

Dad in front of the opera house in the darling town of New Harmony, Indiana. For the record, my dad flew to D.C. then drove the entire way back to Salt Lake. Yep, I am a lucky girl.

Two signs for Illinois.

The Gateway Arch

The view from the top of the arch.

We went to the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, Kansas. President Eisenhower grew up in this home.

Finally, some blue sky. This must be the place ...

Miscellaneousness ...

Two finals down, one to go. I am trying to focus on studying. Trying being the operative word.

The scene: Carly and I sitting at neighboring tables, facing each other, in a study room at school. I am sitting next to a large window. It is raining outside. Apparently I find this fascinating. I notice Carly laughing. She comes over to explain:
Carly: Every time I have looked over at you in the past two hours you have been staring out the window.
Me: It is pretty outside. (I proceed to keep attempting to study. And yes, I keep looking out the window. Only now, every time I look out the window, I get embarrassed, and I look over at Carly to see if she noticed.)

So the next day I decided to go to the study room at the local public library. I sat at a table in the middle of the room, trying to avoid the temptation of the window. That worked. But our library has quite an eclectic population of patrons who check out the book sale in the study room. So instead of staring out the window, I stared at the people. (Yes, my mother did try to teach me manners. But I mind them selectively.) I especially liked the 70ish man with a braided ponytail pulled through the back of a very vibrant orange hat. He spent some time thumbing through The Devil Wears Prada. Ultimately, he decided not to buy it. But it seemed like a difficult decision.

And in unrelated news, I am giving up the only-using-initials-on-the-blog business. Now I am advancing to the first-names-only business. I think this means that I am beginning to forget the horror stories about identity theft I heard at the bank. Speaking of (OK, writing of) the bank, I think I might be the first person in the history of GW Law to bring a made-for-children (and plastered with the Zions Bank logo) ruler calculator to a final. Yep. Like any dedicated public relations officer, I am still spreading the good word about my former employer nearly two years later ...

Fine, I'll study ...

It always takes me by surprise when what I am learning in law school seems relevant to actual life. Like this morning, when I decided that it would be more interesting to read the newspaper than to study for the final I will be finishing in twelve hours. (Which means I will be starting it in nine hours and that yes, I really should be studying.) Apparently the universe really wants me to learn about the Fourth Amendment. Because it turns out that what I should be studying also appears in the New York Times today. Now you can ponder it too, here ...

Question ...

At what age does the wearing of rainboots stop leading to the uncontrollable reaction of splashing through puddles? (And does the circuitous wording of the query make it seem more legitimate for someone one year and two weeks shy of a J.D.? Nope? Dang.)

Lately ...

Finals start in five days. I move across the country 10 days after that. But I am a girl with priorities. So instead of packing and studying, I decided to take advantage of my dwindling proximity to one of my favorite people, H., who lives in NYC and has a very comfy couch bed. Conveniently, I have an air mattress and a very speedy pump. So this week we relished double doses of bus rides, museums, frozen yogurt, wonderful buildings, shopping trips, rainy days, late-night chats and reminiscing ... H., I miss you already!

On the Upper West Side in New York City.

Everywhere in New York. I love it.

In Central Park.

In Georgetown.

In front of the Capitol. I promise.

See. I told you ...

A few notes ...

This week, I finished writing my law review "note." Despite its name, this note did not fit on a gum wrapper or the back of a receipt, as a proper note should. This note involved 9,533 words, 40 pages and 140 footnotes, seven months of my time, and a style so formal that I became bored reading my own writing. This is serious, since I chose my own topic. And since I inherited the family trait of generally finding myself completely enthralling. But it turns out I was right all along: I am bad at long, scholarly writing. I prefer 500-word articles for the masses and poems for preschoolers. So, in the spirit of fewer words and sunny note-free days, a few pictures. With captions. Which defeats the fewer words part, but oh well ...

Yes, it is cherry blossom time in D.C. This, however, is not a picture of the cherry blossoms. This is a picture of a tree at Arlington Cemetery. Because while I did see the cherry blossoms yesterday, I did not see them with my camera in tow. Because I saw them while I was running. To the Mall. From my house. On purpose. (Although running into the cherry blossom parade was NOT on purpose. Oops.) So I am once again attempting to like running. I know I once vowed not to attempt such a feat ever again. But I really like to eat cookies. You do the math. So far, so good this time. It turns out that I am much better at running when I have an actual goal rather than an aimless plan "to run." I sense a life lesson there, but it is not that kind of blog post, so there.

C. and I hosted a little bridal shower yesterday. This picture shows three important things. First, we are adorable. I know. Second, I am quite adept at choosing tulips. (Thank you, Costco.) Third, these are the cookies I like to eat. You should probably click on this picture to enlarge it so you get a better view. But apparently not every girl at a bridal shower likes cookies in the same quantity as I do. So I have a nice supply of them at my house. Which means I must continue with the running.

We went to Arlington Cemetery today between General Conference sessions. And neither subject deserves silly, sarcastic commentary from me ...

Announcement ...

I recently watched Twilight. I did not hate it. Mostly because I did not hear the word "dazzling" even once ...