It was a busy couple of days. Friday morning, Brian and I headed off to Ohio to visit the closest Ikea. We both made some purchases. I bought a beautiful new quilt cover and a couple of other fun items for my kitchen and Brian got a new chair, pillows, and some other fun stuff as well.
Pulling into the Ikea area we passed a McCain rally – even though both McCain and Palin were not in Ohio yesterday. That is a tossup state for you – having rallies when the candidates aren’t even there!
From Ikea we headed off to northern Kentucky to the Creation Museum. Picture time!
Jesus? Um . . .
Welcome to Eden!
Look closely in the trees . . . the serpent awaits!
WAIT NOAH! WAAAAAIIIIT!!!!!!!
That last picture is of Nessie . . .ok, not really. It is supposedly a sea serpent. Looks like Nessie to me though. Admittedly, I have no clue wtf that has to do with biblical scripture. I was spent on reading every last little piece of info by the time we took the scenic walk outside in the botanical bog and petting zoo.
There did have a zorse and a zonkey at the petting zoo! And to think, I had suggested we skip that part!!
We left the museum right at rush hour and got on a nightmarish I-75. Fortunately we weren’t on that for long and instead we were headed west toward southern Indiana to visit our friends Leslie and Sarah.
We arrived at their place around 9 and finally got to meet their daughter Clare. She is just lovely and only was 11 days old! I haven’t spent a lot of time around infants – she was a very good baby and just so sweet. We spent the night at Sarah and Leslie’s place and then had a BBQ picnic lunch with them and the baby on Saturday afternoon before Brian and I had to hit the road once again to return home.
We got back here at a decent time last night – I was able to unpack and prepare some scrapbook pages from our trip (with photos that actually have US in them haha) and I just relaxed and caught up on my recorded 7th Heaven episodes. lol – that is my new TV show addiction.
Well, tomorrow school resumes and so today will be full of related fun stuff. Ciao!
So bright and early tomorrow morning Brian and I will head out armed with a cooler of sandwiches and our directions. We are first going to Ikea in Ohio – 2 hours away. Brian has a small shopping list and, even if we didn’t plan to buy anything at all, who doesn’t love Ikea!?
After Ikea we will be back on the road to the Creation Museum in Kentucky. From there we head 3 1/2 more hours away to southern Indiana to visit our friends and the newest addition to their family, their baby Clare. We are super excited about visiting them!
We’ll spend the night with them and then come home Saturday. Brian works first thing Sunday morning and I have a lot of odd ball items to take care of before school is back in session on Tuesday.
I will be sure to take tons of pictures and gather lots of info about our fun filled weekend.
Ciao!
I’m pretty sure not too long ago I mentioned something about wanting to update the blog at least a little bit each day. So much for that.
So what has happened this week?
Well, Saturday Brian and I worked out in the morning for the first time in a while since he and I had been sick. It was really rough! In the afternoon we went to the State Museum. Some of the exhibits were really interesting and it was a pretty quiet day there so we had the place pretty much to our selves. The museum stayed true to its’ location and showed the evolution of the plants, people, and animals from the area over the millennia. At the exhibit about the pioneer era, I found myself looking around to try and figure out how someone could have stepped in cow shit. Brian found the source of the smell the hard way by sticking his nose right into a tube of manure. There was a whole set of tubes with different scents from the era. Go figure that you had to press your nose right against the tubes smelling like corn bread or lavender but the manure scent managed to permeate the entire area.
School is school. Evidence is somewhat entertaining as I watch a good number of my classmates look cross-eyed at the rules. I know how they feel, I am just glad I have gotten a taste of the rules already. Trusts and Estates is a really boring subject and although the professor is trying to spruce it up, it doesn’t help a whole lot. My other two classes have great potential to be interesting, we just haven’t gotten there yet. Hopefully it will get better here soon.
Today is a Thursday and Thursdays stink. The rest of the week I’m hoping to make the best of and get caught up on some school stuff.
The 4th was really nice this year. Brian came over and we made city chicken as part of my Ultimate City Chicken Showdown. This batch was Crisco vs. margarine. The verdict? Tie!
We had our lunch and then headed out to the theatre to see Hancock. My take on the movie: it could have been a LOT better. With all of the great “super hero” movies that have recently come out (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and very shortly Batman), this one fell short. Will Smith did a great job in an unusual role for him and the first half of the movie is really good. Then it got . . . odd. Fortunately the movie ended before it went overboard. I just think they could have taken this movie in a zillion different (and better) directions. All around I say it is worth watching… on DVD.
After the movie Brian and I headed downtown for the fireworks. They were fabulous! Shot off of one of the tallest buildings in the city, there aren’t many “bad” locations to be. We happened to find a great spot, take a walk, and then head back to the car for the actual fireworks. We really enjoyed them.
When I got home at 11, I wasn’t tired. I have been cleaning and organizing for quite a while now and last night the TV show “Clean House” came on. Brian had told me earlier in the day not to be a packrat - this pissed me off into action. I decided last night I have too much stuff for my place. So I bagged/boxed up a ton of things. Some for sale, some for donation, some for the dumpster. I certainly didn’t need to get rid of it all, but its nice to have more storage space. For the most part it is impossible to tell I got rid of anything unless you know what my desk and closets looked like… nonetheless, I am impressed with myself.
Today I have to write a motion and get it finished. Tomorrow – homework. Monday – trial. *phew*
Ciao!
Yesterday I got my mail and finally the letter I have been waiting for arrived; the State Board of Law Examiners sent me my certification. Basically this letter says I can represent clients in court under the supervision of another attorney – I essentially can act as any attorney. As excited as I was to finally get this letter, the first thing I saw when I opened it was the official seal on the letterhead.
If you have any clue wtf this is, feel free to let me know.
Yea, I don’t know either.
In other news, yesterday’s trip to the Supreme Court was nice. We met with one of the Justices before the argument and we also met with an appellate court judge that our supervisor was a clerk for. They were both very nice and had some interesting stuff to share with us.
The argument itself was interesting; the Defendant in the original trial had been charged with an “A” felony of attempted molest of a child 13 years or younger. At the last minute (and past the time they can actually file new charges) the prosecutor added a second charge of attempted sexual misconduct with a minor between the ages of 14 and 16, a “B” felony.
During the trial, the only real evidence presented was that the young lady was 13 years old at the time this happened (only one specific event so there was an actual date and time in this case), but the jury only found him guilty of the B felony. So the question now is can this guy be charged with a crime that he couldn’t have possibly have committed because the girl wasn’t the age defined in the statutory language? And the “real” question is what do you do about the fact that he did commit a crime!? The Justices didn’t look too prepared to let him go scott free…
Tonight, Brian and I go to see Hulk! Woohoo! And this weekend I will be in all weekend cleaning – my place desperately needs a spring rub down. Oh and of course there will be some city chicken being made Sunday most likely!!!
Brian and I went to Evansville for the weekend to see our friends Leslie and Sarah. We had a great weekend. I will have to update you all about it tomorrow when I am more awake.
While we were away, we missed out on some major storms which caused the area to flood pretty badly. I took a couple videos of Columbus, IN on the way home. The footage isn’t really clear but you can certainly get the idea.
Talk to you later!
Columbus, Indiana Flood – from I-65
Columbus underwater
We are in Florida – “we” would be Brian and I, three of Brian’s good friends, along with their significant others (sans one who got stuck staying home), and Brian’s Aunt and Uncle. After a bizarre snafu at the airport on Saturday, I ended up flying without Brian and instead with two of his buddies. Brian had forgotten his wallet and didn’t realize it until we were standing at check in! Yea, he looked pretty pale and panicked but he ended up flying to Atlanta on stand-by and by 6pm was here in Florida with the rest of us.
We take pretty frequent walks on the beach finding all kinds of fun stuff. This year has been particularly lucrative thus far. On night number one, I discovered a large snail on the sidewalk – he seemed friendly (as friendly as a snail can seem) so I gathered him up and took him out to the picnic tables where I fed him a large crumb of Nutter Butter cookie – he ate the whole thing leaving behind only a gooey smear where the crumb had been!!!
Today, Brian and I found a really big crab on the beach before he was washed away with a big wave and right after that we scoped out a buoy that had washed up on shore and grabbed a bunch of nice big mussels off of it – we decided NOT to eat them after the fact 
Right now we are waiting around to get everyone together so we can go have a Cuban dinner. Sounds fabulous.
Vacation is just beginning but has already been very nice.
Tuesday, my sister Kim and brother-in-law Patrick came to the city for business so I was able to spend the day with Kim. It was my first day free from classes and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate! It was really great – shopping, wondering around the city, enjoying the sudden onset of beautiful weather… It was great to finally catch up in person and just spend a relaxing day together.
Patrick was busy with work most of the day but we had an ironic meet-up later in the evening. Kim and I ended up having dinner at the same restaurant that Patrick was at which also happens to be across the street from Brian’s second job at the hotel (he was working that night). So after Patrick had dinner, he joined Kim and I and then we all headed to the hotel to say hello to Brian.
Brian has been working at the hotel essentially the whole time we have been dating but I have never seen him on the job! It was nice to finally catch him in his snazzy duds, meet co-workers, and get a private tour of the hotel (which has very swanky bathrooms – I swear that is the test of a good hotel).
Oh and I met Kim’s new dog, Cooper, a labradoodle who has quite a bit of “doodle” in him – he has the curliest hair ever. He is quite the conversation starter!
So in short – it was a great day. We really do need to do it more often!
Interesting weekend. Went to see a roller derby. Yea, like girls on roller skates (yay for skates! I hate rollerblades), wearing fishnets and skirts that are too short, checking each other into crowds of people sitting on the sidelines. It was pretty cool.
I went with a group of other students to the roller derby and then a couple of us headed to an after party hosted by the roller girls at a local bar. I had two drinks and could barley stand up – that would have never happened in college…. hell, that would have been even less likely in high school!
As the rest of my social peers become more and more likely to become alcoholics, I become less and less likely to even take a sip. Not because I am avoiding alcohol but because I seem to always be avoiding appearing “typical”. I have yet to discover what a “non-typical vice” is. Regardless, none of the people I was with the other day are alcoholics or aspire to be so the subject doesn’t really fit here.
Yesterday Brian and I spent some time together realizing there isn’t much to do on Easter Sunday. Everything was closed for the most part, including the gym. We managed to find a restaurant that wasn’t fast food and wasn’t totally jam packed and then headed back to my place to watch an 80’s movie. It was a relaxing afternoon.
This week begins preperation for finals. Joy. Probably the biggest challenge won’t be my typical finals – it will be preperation for the final trial in Trial Practice. I met my partner for the final trial on Saturday and found out he has three people he can ask to help out as witnesses and jurors. That is good. Between the two of us we need two jurors and three witnesses. I figured it wouldn’t be too big of a problem until I realized that the jurors need to be at the city county building from 9am till 2pm on that Saturday, get no lunch break, AND MY juror doesn’t get to sit in MY trial – they send them elsewhere to avoid anyone stacking their own jury. Sure, that is “fair” for the competition but not for the potential juror who is stuck watching strangers conduct a trial that isn’t mandatory for them to attend. Being a witness could pass as being a good time … heck, being a juror would be fun but I get the feeling not everyone would agree with me. We’ll see.
Friday afternoon I spent in a maximum security correctional facility.
Saturday afternoon was spent at the city zoo.
It is uncanny to me how much the two places have in common.
The Prison
The prison visit was organized by the president of our student criminal law society and I am so pleased it was on this years agenda. We discovered that the prison was not the medium security facility we had anticipated but was instead a maximum security “in-take” facility meaning that every male convicted of a felony in the state (except for death row inmates) comes to this facility first, is assigned a “level” based on medical/psychiatric needs and or behavioral/crime variables and is then sent to a prison corresponding to that level.
Everyday, between 17 and 130 new prisoners arrive. We saw a large group of men who had just been dropped off and were sitting in line waiting to have their heads shaved. We walked between and among them, the three females of our group looking particularly uncertain as to where to rest our eyes.
I would have liked to have spoken to some of the men, but as we walked down the corridor of one of the cell areas and we darted our eyes in and out of the barred cell doors, I couldn’t help but think that it would be somehow rude to ask questions of them. It is their “home” afterall that we were peering into and as much as we kidded with each other that our dorm rooms had been comparable in size, there was certainly a feeling within those walls that is much unlike anything I have ever felt. It is a combination of dread, boredom, anger, pain, curiosity, disgust; all of which is aggravated by the bland beige decor which seems so miserably out of place in a house that has so much “color” within it. And by color, I mean the color of the feelings within the building. As far as the color of the men, the vast majority appeared to be black, between the ages of 18 and 30. And yet there was something familiar and “certain” about the young black men, whereas there was something very sinister and unsettling about the white men who appeared to be older, gruffer, and generally suffering from psychiatric disorders.
The Zoo
Brian and I visited the zoo and botanical gardens yesterday. We have wanted to go for sometime now to check out a new ocean exhibit. It was very nice; huge aquariums full of a cousin of the hammerhead shark, another with tropical fish, and another with elusive jellyfish (I particularly enjoyed the jellies). In the center of the exhibit is a large dog shark touch pool. We spent time there at both the beginning and end of our trip petting the sharks as they swam by. One shark seemed “friendly” almost – he swam back and forth in front of us multiple times toward the surface of the water and seemed to really enjoy the attention.
I really love how this zoo has a walrus exhibit. When we visited last summer it was my first time to see a walrus so close and I was stunned at their size. It was difficult to see them this time but we still got to peer at them from a distance at least.
After the zoo, we quickly enjoyed a trip through the bonsai exhibit in the gardens which we saw during our last trip to the zoo as well.
After the zoo, Brian and I headed to Wild Oats. We were treated to some cheese sampling and ended up picking up some rather pricey hunks to take home. I have been eying up a sourdough recipe and went the easy route by picking up a nice loaf instead. After a quick trip to check out a Trader Joe’s (big disappointment), we beat a large crowd into a Five Guys – a burger and fry joint. Definitely one of the tastiest burger and fry meals I have had in quite some time.
We headed home after a very long but enjoyable day and I have to say, this was a really great, educational couple of days.
So I found out Friday “morning” (midnight) that I made the order of barristers! Very exciting news! We had a meeting of barristers and the moot court board on Friday and my next argument is on Tuesday. From this point forward, my partner (who also made the order) and I will be scored as a team. Normally I would be apprehensive about this, but I like my partner and he and I are going to work together tonight or tomorrow to work on a few specific strengths and weaknesses we have and I think we will do really well from this point forward.
We argue until we lose so if we keep winning we will argue Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday night, and the final argument is to be held at the State Supreme Court the following Monday night. I plan on making it that far 
In other good news, Oliver is fine – we didn’t go to the vet because the night before his appt, on a whim I went out and bought new cat litter…. apparently Arm and Hammer doesn’t get it all right all of the time. Either I am allergic to that litter OR Oliver’s chemistry just didn’t work with that stuff. This litter is totally dye and perfume free, clumps up better than the A&H variety, and (when he covers his business appropriately) there is NO SMELL whatsoever! WOOHOO! I was really nervous for a while that I would have to spend a ton of money on an air purifier or that he had some kind of kidney disease but it turns out that every thing is fine.
Oh, and Oliver and I had a fun outing today – I hitched him up to his harness and leash and we took a quick walk outside. He actually “walked” on the leash for a while and we watched a squirrel and heard a bird in a bush… that was all exciting and then Oliver walked directly over to my windows (I’m on terrace level so they are essentially “sitting” on the ground) and he began to meow over and over. I decided that must mean out trip was over so I picked him up, proceeded to slam my forehead into the balcony above (causing a major headache, some kind of weird hearing problem in one ear, and a lovely bruise), and we came back inside. No dogs, no other people, no kids – it was a good trip lol. Hopefully we will get to try it again in the future
So, this has been a great week and I am looking forward to another great week ahead… busy, but great!
A teaser: I have the BEST Halloween costume picked out!!! Brian and I are going to two parties this year so I wanted something I could pull off quickly and with little hassle two weekends in a row. Sadly, I can’t tell anyone what I am going as lol, because (A) it NEEDS to be a surprise and (B) because I really don’t want to have to explain what it is or what it means to some of the older crowd lol. I will say that it is perfect for the two parties we are hitting – full of open-minded, quirky individuals who will see the humour in it.
Hmm… what else…. Oh yea – Steffie, a co-worker of Brian’s, lives here at the same apt. complex as I do. Yesterday she invited me to go to Brown County with her (think Frankenmuth minus the “German” theme), we decided to go today. Sadly, it was about 90 degrees today and the power to the whole TOWN went out. We overheated quickly and a lot of stores just flat out closed down. It was sweet of her to invite me though and it was a nice break from the regular hum-drum of every day things.
Tonight I continue to organize and tomorrow I will be at the laundry most of the day studying while I wash. Ciao for now 
Last night Brian and I went to the Capital Grille in Indianapolis. The Capital Grille is well known for it’s fine dining and luxurious menu items and last night the restaurant lived up to its reputation.
The first excitement of the evening came in the form of an amuse bouche of a smoked salmon mouse on top of thin cracker, topped with fresh herbs. Although I knew what an amuse bouche was and what it was supposed to represent, I didn’t know how to spell it and today looking it up I learned that it literally is translated to “mouth amuser”. Well this certainly amused my mouth. It was everything an amuse bouche should be – an artful showcase of what is to come.
For an appetizer we were served steak tartare. Brian and I were both wanting to try it but both apprehensive at the idea of the raw egg; fortunately for us there was no raw egg. The tartare consisted of a strong layer of capers, hardboiled egg, and the main layer of filet. We were both stunned at how much we were served for the price. Some of the appetizers can be as costly as an entre but ours was reasonably priced and absolutely wonderful.
For dinner I had a porcini rubbed delmonico steak with an 8 year aged balsamic vinegar. What more is there to say!? Today I couldn’t bear to nuke the left-overs – I ate the rest cold and I would have just as happily have eaten it raw!
Brian had a filet with cippolini mushrooms and onions. It was fantastic as well. We both ordered our steaks medium well and they were done to perfection.
I don’t mean to go on and on about food…. but it truly is an art form to get some of these things just right and whoever was in the back of the house last night was an artist!!
We ended our night with chocolate espresso cake and left very happy. Yes, it was a pricey meal but I think we both agreed it was well worth it. Hopefully I picked something up while I was there because I will probably be cooking some meals while Brian recoups from the bill lol.
And so it was a perfectly wonderful and long weekend. This will be the very condensed version of course but here is a sampling.
Thursday afternoon Brian came to my place to pick me up for dinner. I must admit, we were a smashing pair – Brian can always almost effortlessly look like he is dressed for a black tie event and I finally was able to wear a red cocktail dress I have been saving for just such an occassion. The resturaunt was fabulous – from the amazing martini, to the fabulous fish, to the menus (personalized to congratulate us on our anniversary) – it had great ambiance.
After dinner Brian surprised me with a white, horse-drawn carriage ride which took us through the government center of the city and near the canal. The dimly lit buildings and the echoey clopping of the horses hooves against the brick streets made it so easy to drown out everything else. I’ve been wanting to take a carriage ride since moving here but I am glad we waited till Thursday night – it was perfect and made me feel like one heck of a lucky lady!
Friday morning we woke up early and headed out for Holiday World. The ride down was pretty long but actually really fun – we sang along to the few and far between good tunes we were able to find on the radio and chatted and snacked the whole way. The park itself was really nice – we rode the three big wooden coasters (which were really cool rides!) and then we headed over to the water park. I have never been to a water park and I have certainly never been on slides like these before – they were pretty wild! The weather was almost perfect, the rides were awesome, and the company was charming.
Saturday came and the fun continued. Brian and I went to his Aunt and Uncles for a big get-together. Brian’s roomie and his gf as well as another friend of Brian’s also came along this time and with everyone else that was there, it was quite the group of people. We spent almost all afternoon in the pool having some very interesting and bizarre conversation lol.
Last night we just tried to come down off of all of the craziness. I taught Brian how to play Egyptian Rat Screw (nope… no clue what the “real” name is) and so we played some hands of that and had some new drinks to relax with. It was a nice way to end the long anniversary celebration/weekend.
No, no, no…I’m not talking about a gassy tummy. I’m talking about the painful gas prices! Today the average cost of gas in the Midwest is $3.44 – the highest average in the country! So is there any way to avoid going over your budget this summer on your vacation?
There is help out there and here are some links to get your started! (All links open in new windows)
There can be as much as a 20% difference in gas prices from station to station in any given area so it is important to find the cheapest places to buy your gas.
www.gasbuddy.com and www.gaspricewatch.com can help you find cheap gas in your area and along your entire travel route!
If you are wondering how much your trip is going to cost you in fuel, check out http://www.fuelcostcalculator.com - a site from AAA that allows you to enter the make and model of your car and your start and end points for a fuel cost estimate. (Doesn’t work for vehicles older than 1998).
If it turns out that gas is going to comprise most of your budget (which it probably will at this point in time), you can cut down on your food costs to help mitigate. Try out www.roadfood.comto find local food in the area you will be in. It will help you to avoid tourist traps and generic boring meals while you are on the road. And remember, you can always pack a nice picnic. That is always a great idea for long road trips and vacations to theme parks where the cost of food is asinine!
I hope everyone enjoys their memorial day. I am continuing on the job hunt!!
