Someone one else asked me what it was like to be awesome, I replied, "Awesome!"

My My, I don't quite understand what has happened to me lately. I was doing so well posting each week on the scheduled day + 1 and now I'm fall off the track and even missing days... Oh well to repentance I go as I now will discuss the past week plus. Before I do so, a few other notes to touch upon. Feel free to skip those if you'd like.

First, Survivor! What an awesome season. Nearly ever elimination has been filled with back-stabs and betrayal. While they may make life on the island unpredictable and a bit scary it makes for quite the interesting show. The biggest mistake of the season occurred in this last episode where John won the right to either have a piece of apple pie for himself or could give a full pie to, I think, four of the other members of the merged tribe. Once again selfishness ruled the day and he was voted out that episode. His famous words with the pie were something the lines of, "I'm confident that no one would vote me off for choosing to eat the pie myself." FOOL! Much like Cindy in Guatemala, who took the car instead of giving a car to the other five remaining tribe members, John was voted off and so the story goes. There are three more episodes I believe and it should be interesting to see what occurs.

Second, Sports! Utah Basketball is picking up steam and actually beat a very decent Michigan team last night at the Huntsmen Center. The Running Utes under Boylen are a much more defense oriented team so it'll be interesting to see what prevails in their matchup against OU an offensive team. The Football Utes will be traveling to San Diego for the Poinsettia Bowl against Cal. I like our chances to extend the streak of bowl wins to 9. OSU Basketball has been on, and then off, and then back on. With the run-and-gun offense Ford likes to employ some nights they will win by 100 others they will lose by 50. They are playing so so right now and hopefully will be able to pick it up for conference come the first of January. OSU Football is once again traveling to the Cotton Bowl to take on Ole Miss. Which is the same matchup as their last trip to the Cotton Bowl, when my family attended. That game was won by the arm of Eli Manning and so it should be an interesting matchup this time around. I feel like OSU should be able to pull off the win. Chelsea FC is frustrating me. We were trotting along looking invincible until last week occurred. A shock loss to Bolton in the Carling Cup, on penalties oh how I hate penalties, follow by a thrashing by City and then a draw to APOEL in the champions league! Comeon the Chels! The Blue Flag is flying high in Norman but we need to pick it up.

On to the running assessment of the past week and a half.

Tuesday, the 1st.
Tuesday was abnormally busy for most tuesdays. Due to the fact that we were on a condensed schedule Tuesday's schedule was that of the normal Wednesday schedule. Although there truly is nothing to report from that day, I remember a longing to attend Institute as that usually occurs following that schedule so I remember being quite messed up that entire night.

Wednesday, the 2nd.
Wednesday was abnormally quite as compared to most Wednesdays. Due to the fact that on the condensed schedule Wednesday's schedule was that of the normal Thursday schedule. Once again nothing truly amazing occurred that day so there is little to report. Institute was good as usual and I did the usual things. Albeit with one slight difference. I volunteered myself to go to the OU Women's basketball game on Thursday night with Lena Tenney + 1. The +1 being Lena's roommate Molly, from Dallas.

Thursday, the 3rd.
Thursday was much like Tuesday and Wednesday, abnormal in the fact that the schedule was different but not very spectacular. Rather the saving grace of Thursday was the basketball game that night. As per the draw up plans I met Lena in front of the University Cafeteria at around 5:30-6:00pm, I can't remember exactly when, Lena was able to swipe me in and I got to enjoy my first taste of cafeteria food since the long ago days of RAing at the University of Utah. That day of course being the 15th or 16th of August. The food was decent the company was good and it seemed every at the table enjoyed the meal. The table included myself, Lena, Molly, Robert, Nathan, Mick, Brandon, Jen, and so many more that I cannot remember them all. Among topics discussed were the logistics behind Bros before Hos and a variety of subjects some of which should not be repeated. The game was pleasant affair as most Women's games are. The OU women struggled in the first half and only went into the locker-room up 1. After half they blew them away and finished with an even 100 points. The first time I have ever seen a Women's team score that much. I was true to my OSU roots and refused to clap during "Boomer Sooner", the OU fight song. I did make one exception at the end of the game where I did do the clap but that was to applaud the effort of the team and not to support the heresy that is OU athletics.

Friday, the 4th.
Friday was brief, thankfully. With only one schedule class, an optional review for property, there was little that had to be done and much of the day was spent doing something that I can't remember so probably nothing important. The review session was good and I felt very good about property heading into the finals. The only class I'm truly worried about is Civil Procedure and that final is to take place on the 18th. It is the last. Friday night I drove out to Stillwater for my last time out there until after finals in order to visit with Natalie, Jacob, Polly, and Walter, the bad boy, before finals began. As well I picked up Natalie's laptop so I wouldn't have to hand write my finals. Natalie and I went to Charlie's Chicken which was pleasantly pleasing unto me. We watched Psych, Arrested Development, and other odds and ends to fill out the night before we retired.

Saturday, the 5th.
Saturday, we awoke and had random breakfast before we started the day and once again watched Psych, Arrested Development, and other odds and ends to fill out the extra time. Around noon Jacob's nanna came into town and we went to Crepe Myrtle where we enjoyed the pleasant company of each other and the good food, although it did take quite some time for it to arrive. Oh before I forget, I may have ruined Christmas for Gracie or Georgia, I'm not sure which, when I asked ambiguously whether or not they still believed in Santa to their mother Liz. Liz got angry and was not pleased. In my defense I made sure to craft my question in an ambiguous format that a normal 3rd grader should not be able to infer what I meant. Either way, Parents should not lie to their children. I returned home that night and watched Texas defeat Nebraska in what was probably the worst game of football I've ever watched.

Sunday, the 6th.
Sunday the 6th started as most Sunday's do. I awoke, I dressed, and I journeyed to church. The abnormal, the word of the day, event was the occurrence of the Church Christmas Devotional that night. I invited Ms. Lena Tenney to come with me to the Devotional. I picked her up 10 or so minutes before the devotional and we got there right on time. What a Devotional! I extremely enjoyed it and I would gladly watch it again. President Monson's talk was most uplifting and I'm very glad that I attended so much meeting.

Monday, the 7th.
Since school began on the 24th of August we have been building towards one event. That event of course is the end of semester finals. For me those finals began on Tuesday the 8th and so Monday the 7th was set aside to ensure that my understanding of property law would be such that I would be successful on the test. As I noted before this post, I felt very good about property law and as such not a lot of review was conducted. Perhaps the better term for what did occur was a refresher. Either way, I felt prepared and I ensured that I went to bed early enough so I was not tired in the morning. I also finished the Book of Mormon that night. I started regularly reading it in the middle of October and finished on the 7th of December. I think that is pretty respectable.

Tuesday, the 8th.
Whoooooo Weeeee! I awoke at about 7:00am but laid in bed until at least 7:30am. I then proceeded to prepared and to represent myself on the property final. I decided to wear my Real Salt Lake Natalie bought me back in 2008. This owing to the fact that it was the only jersey I own that is not familiar with some losing event currently. My blue Chelsea jersey I was wearing during the debacle in the Champions League Final in Moscow, we lost on penalties, my black Chelsea jersey I was wearing during the debacle of the semi-finals of last years Champions League when we lost in the 93rd minute to a strike by Iniestia. My, or perhaps my fathers, white Real Salt Lake jersey was worn when we lost to the New York Red Bulls last year in the Western Conference Semi-finals. Thus leaving the red RSL jersey which I wore during our victory in the MLS cup this year. The property test was in one word draining. It was a four hour affair that took just about everything we had and demanded more. I feel very good about the test and I feel like I knew what I was doing and how to answer. Of course we won't truly know if that is true until grades are released in January, but I feel good enough that I'm not going to worry about it.

Wednesday, the 9th.
What a weird day Wednesday was. With the final on Tuesday and the impending final on Friday, Wednesday had to be one of the most unproductive days of my life. Nothing happened. I read, I played rockband, I read, I played arcade games online, I read, I slept, and I ate.

Thursday, the 10th.
Today is Thursday and my Torts final is tomorrow. This means I will have to put a bit more effort into review then I did for property. Not much has really occurred today so far as I slept in kind of late.


I will try to keep you guys updated as things occur. I hope my grammar wasn't too atrocious as I'm not taking the time to reedit/reread this mass.

One Love

At least it hasn't been 12 days...

Whoops! I don't know what happened there. One moment I'm chugging along updating my blog once and week and 11 days later I'm finally updating it again. My bad.


That last time I left you was during the middle of the Oklahoma State v Colorado game. Oklahoma State ended up remove Cate, the second stringer, and replaced him with Weeden, third stringer. Weeden played very well and carried us through the game and to a 31-28 win. Go State! Robinson never played in that game and that kind of left a sour taste in my mouth and definitely did not make confident about the upcoming games. Well my prediction played out and OSU was smashed into tiny little pieces by OU. 27-0. There are truly no words that could describe my emotions through that game.


And now, I'll take you through the riveting journey that has been since that Thursday night the 19th.


Friday 20th
Friday started out pretty normal and did in the usual weekend way. Natalie and Jacob were still in New Orleans so I traveled up I-35 in Walter, the bad boy, and spent the night there with Polly. Polly was not scared, nor alone, as she had had consent visits from Matt and Liz next door. Thankfully, this left me with a very small mess to clean up. A few scraps of cloth. That night, I discovered the internet was permanently down at the Hurst and so I spent a peaceful night watching Psych and reading.


Saturday 21st
I was awoken to a delightful little package Polly, the monster, had left for me. After cleaning up, I laid on the coach followed the football games on my iPhone and watched Gilmore Girls season eight backwards. That is, I started with the last disc and worked my way back. I, sadly, got through all the disc but the last two. That is okay as I do enjoy the witty dialogue and the good sense of humor. That night was the adult session of Stake Conference and so Walter, the bad boy, and I traveled back down I-35 for the two hour meeting and then returned back up I-35. 


Sunday 22nd
I, once again, awoke to a package from Polly. I, quickly, got up, showered, and dressed myself before I once again traveled down I-35 with Walter, the bad boy, for the rest of Stake Conference. Leaving Polly was slightly sad as she howled(barked/made audible noises) at me as I left. Sorry Polly! I got back to Norman with time enough to spare a quick trip to my apartment to check my email and the scores from the night before. I then picked up Lena Tenney and Corey Hokanson and we made it to our metting on time. Unfortunately for Lena, Corey and I were to be sustained to the office of an Elder and were thus required to sit up front. I will be ordained in Stansbury on the 27th of December. I dropped those two back off before I retired back to my room to prepare for the coming week and waste some time. Natalie and Jacob eventually returned to Norman where we switched Stanley for Walter, the bad boy, and once again Walter, the bad boy, was on his way to Stillwater.


Monday 23rd
A usual Monday filled with grogginess and slight panic in Civil Procedure. You see, Civil Procedure is my Achilles heel. It is truly the only class I'm worried about in relation to finals. Nothing bad happened that day in Civil Procedure but it did in Contracts. I was called on in Contracts and although I had read the case I wasn't fully prepared. I feel like I did okay but I did make myself feel like an idiot for not knowing all the answers. Such is life. That night was FHE and I ducked out a bit early to get ahead start on a quick trip to Wal-Mart and avoid having to put a skit on. Go Me!


Tuesday 24th
Much like Monday, Tuesday felt a bit over crowed but this was due to my Torts professor. Professor Tabb decided that we would hold extra classes on Monday and Tuesday so we could use next weeks classes for review. Although a good plan now it did place some extra preparation burden on us. I redeemed myself in Contracts that day by volunteering and giving satisfactory answers. After classes were over I returned home to find one suite-mate on his way to Colorado, another lounging about waiting for his ride, and the third was still at class. I read for awhile until I was bored and then reemerged to find the lounging suite-mate had left as well. This left me to my own devices for quite some time until Matt returned. He quickly got his stuff put together though and then left. It was kind of odd to have the entire apartment to myself but I didn't do anything to revolutionary anyways. Just the laundry. 


Wednesday 25th
I tried to sleep in as much as possible because this was truly my first free day in quite sometime. That only lasted until 8:00 am when my body declared that it was fit for duty. I laid in bed in that awful half-sleep/half-awake mode for 3 hours before I roused myself and showered. I read for a bit and followed Chelsea's match on my laptop before I resigned myself to my fate and left for Stillwater soon after. I arrived in Stillwater to find Jacob alone working on his assignments and promptly interrupted him so he could pay attention to me. Natalie arrived home soon as we traveled to Long John Silver's for breaded chicken. After Long John's we went on the traditional trip to Wal-Mart rented Angels & Demons and Star Trek and retired to their place. We watched the movies before heading to bed.


Thursday 26th
I awoke, this time, to the delightful sounds of Natalie and Jacob moving about the house. Natalie was busy baking while Jacob was escorting the monster outside to do her business. That morning we watched Up! which in my mind is a very good movie and a Pixar classic. Thanksgiving was with the Hurst and I won't event attempt to name who was there. The meal was good, not as good as yours Mom! , I especially enjoyed Natalie's chocolate pie and someone's mashed potatoes. That night we went to Wal-Mart and looked around the store.


Friday 27th
As per tradition, we awoke at the crack of dawn (9ish) a traveled to Wal-Mart to partake in the festivities. Nothing there was really spectacular and thus I didn't buy anything. After Wal-Mart, we went to Hastings. Once again, nothing too exciting but it was nice to get out and about. We watched Arrested Development most of the afternoon and Natalie made chicken-fried-stake which was quite good for dinner. After dinner we watched Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and I left for Norman about halfway through it.


Saturday 28th
Rivalry game day. Also known as the day Oklahoma State choked it up in Norman. I accidently slept in too late so I was unable to help setup the Family Fun Zone (FFZ) so I decided I would watch the game there and help them take down the FFZ. A big mistake as 10-15 of my closest friends were on hand to watch OSU's biggest disappointment of the season. Later that night, I had my heart ripped out by the BYU jackals as they stole another game from Utah. I personally believe we were the better team on the night but it doesn't matter if the scoreboard doesn't go your way. Max Hall, also, provided Utah with motivation for next season as he stated something the the effect of: I hate them(University of Utah fans, organization, alumni) all and they are all classless. Poor Poor Maxie. Can't even enjoy your own win can you? That night Utah and OSU played against each other in basketball for the Las Vegas Invitational so at least one of my teams won that night. I guess with that game I was 1-3.


Sunday 29th
A pleasant Sunday after the storm. I arrived early to church in order to help set up the chair but was pleasantly surprised when I discovered the Elder's had already done so. Thus, I sat down and read a chapter or two of scripture before I engaged others in conversation. Sacrament meeting was very good as  once again the Stake President was there too speak. I starting to think I must be missing his counsel if he is required to keep attending our ward! That night, I read quite a bit and did homework before once again retiring for the night. 


Monday 30th
I awoke this morning in semi-stage of panic as I had accidently slept it. I was able to make it to class on time, but was unable to ensure I had a good grasp on the material. Uh Oh. I was called on and in my opinion once again, I made myself look stupid. Such is life? Contracts went well as I once again volunteered some information and I think did a decent job at it. That gets us to tonight, or right now, and I'm currently typing away at this blog post getting ready to start homework again. With the condensed schedule this week. Tomorrow is suppose to be Wednesday which is heck day for us. Wednesday is Thursday and Thursday is Friday. At least we will be done early but we still have to get through the week. Tonight is FHE and I plan to attend. 


I am currently in 3rd Nephi working my way to the end and I am still on pace to finish before I come home to Utah! What a crazy few weeks I have ahead of myself so don't expect too much in way of publication. 


Well I should do some homework before FHE and Wal-Mart so off I go. I'll leave you with the Chelsea shield.

O Babylon O Babylon we bid thee farewell....

Well, I guess there goes another week eh? This last week was fairly tame but it was good nonetheless.

Nothing spectacular happened on Thursday as it was rather tame and contained nothing else besides class, at least that is all I can remember.

Friday, not only did I have class, but the ward had its annual Halloween hayride. Sure the Halloween hayride occurred on Friday the 13th of November but it was fun. Lena Tenney brought four friends with her and I got the opportunity to give those four a ride up there. They are quite the interesting crew. All are very accomplished and intelligent individuals, and perhaps a bit egotistical. So was I at that age and I guess I still am. Lena's friend Robert was riding shotgun and as per the rules he was navigating. Unfortunately I didn't screen him well enough and I discovered he had no idea where we were going. We accidently got on I-35 south. We were forced to turn around but with some quick thinking nothing was lost. We arrived at the event and I immediately got myself a hotdog and some home-made root beer. We then rode around President Keyes property and it was okay. Afterwords President Keyes spoke in a fireside setting and he had some very good instruction for us. After he was finished Lena's crew and I, and Lena, headed home. Overall everyone had a good time.

Saturday I got the opportunity to help setup the Family Fun Zone. Always a good time when you get the opportunity to hang out with the Elders and once again get a free hot dog. Oklahoma State was successful against Texas Tech which was excellent. Utah got throttled by TCU. Finally, Real Salt Lake beat the Chicago Fire and advanced to the MLS Cup. I guess that is 2/3, which isn't too bad.

Sunday I got the opportunity to pass the sacrament which is always a good time. Mainly due to the fact that you always get to see who is with who in the ward. We discovered the early church's missionary program and I was quite surprised to see where the church originally had missions. Such surprising countries included China. Priesthood, I don't remember the subject, but it was enjoyable as well.

Monday in between classes I went and washed Stanley and got his oil changed. This was so on Wednesday Natalie and Jacob could borrow him and take him New Orleans. He is currently there and from what I hear he is enjoying himself. I restarted my streak of FHE attendance and it currently stand at 1. My friend Matt taught the lesson and it was about the importance of temperance and the dangers of anger.

Tuesday was probably the most incredible experience in law school to date. As we were sitting in our civil procedure class at 9:00am, Chief Justice John Roberts walks in and proceeds to interrupt the professor. Of course, Professor Swank was more then willing to give up the podium and let the Chief Justice speak. He gave us a short spiel for about 5 minutes and then told us that surely we had some questions for him. He then proceeded to tell us that he was going to pick the first person to ask the question and suddenly pointed at Brandee Raney and said, "YOU! What is your question?" I'm so glad he didn't pick me, I would have crumbled.

After awhile I asked him, "Where do you think the major change in the law will be over the next twenty years?" He said that he felt it would be in relation to technology. Such as copyright laws, how technology can be employed by the police, and such. After spending about 30 minutes with us, he encouraged us to come hear him speak that afternoon and then bid us adieu and left.

That afternoon Lena came down to the law school and we went and listened to him speak. The problem was that we had to go through security and were required to have a photo id. I had forgotten mine at home. I was forced to run all the way back to my apartment and then back to the law school. Sadly, my unpreparedness led us to not being able to get seats together, so we opted to going up to the sky boxes and watching Chief Justice Roberts speech from up there. Chief Justice Roberts spoke about Abraham Lincoln's appointments to the Supreme Court. An interesting subject but one that surprised me. I was hoping for maybe something more current or political I guess. After the speech Lena and I went to Braum's. A good time was had by all I believe.

Wednesday was pretty normal. Classes were normal and nothing too exciting happened. Sadly, institute was frustrating and seemed to be small reflection of my seminary experience. In my opinion quite a few inappropriate things were sad and not corrected. As I said to some individuals I talked to about it later, this is the exact reason why your testimony is in Christ and not in people.

Today is Thursday and I'm currently watching Oklahoma State play Colorado. Oklahoma State's defense is playing much better but our offense is leaving much to be desired as we are playing without our senior quarterback Zac Robinson. Currently the score is OSU 10-7. The defense already has 4 sacks.

Real Salt Lake plays on Sunday for the MLS Cup in Seattle. The game will be televised on ESPN and I'm completely stoked. I hope we win and I feel like we can do it this year. Oklahoma State is obviously playing tonight and we'll know what happens by the time the night is over. Utah plays SDSU and I like our chances there. Chelsea F.C. this week plays the Wolverhamptom so it should be an interesting game with all the injuries we have sustained so far.

I've missed Survivor tonight because I'm watch Oklahoma State but thats okay as I'll watch it tomorrow. Last week Russell was once again able to find the hidden immunity idol without any clues. That takes brains. They were able to use the idol to blindside one of the Galu 6. This means with a possible Shambo betrayal the game is now tied up 5-5. Of course, this week is the week that Shambo would betrayal Galu so perhaps she didn't. I missed the Office as well, but last weeks episode was actually a lot funnier then they have been recently. This is a good sign and lets hope this continues. StarGate: Universe once again were no sci-fi series should ever go that is time travel. Basically, the last episode I watched was worthless. With the use of time travel that whole episodes content was wasted...

Well with Real Salt Lake playing this weekend for the MLS Cup, I leave you with the shield.

This must be Thursday, I never could get the hang of Thursdays.

A Thursday has come and gone and wow the time sure does fly.

It seems like it was just one simple week ago that I sat at this desk and composed my narrative of the weeks before. In fact, now that I reflect upon it, it has only been a week!

Once again, I journeyed up to Stillwater last weekend and spent that time with my Natalie and Jacob. Those two are quickly becoming, if they haven't already been, my favorite married couple in the family. I'm sorry Pam and Rich but I don't see you enough for you to keep maintaining your #1 rank streak! Come to Norman and we can have you two duel it out with those two. Bring cake.

Sunday was church as usual. The speakers spoke on a variety of topics and most of them did a fairly decent job at it. Of course some struggled, and one I feel was a bit off putting but such is life when you allow amateurs to speak. I'm not suggesting I would do better, but there is always a difference between General Conference and your usual sacrament meeting. In Sunday school we talked about genealogy work and I surprisingly I thought back to my father sitting in front of our old computer in Vernal trying to research information and use the genealogy software. Hopefully the work is still continuing but on much faster technological pace. In priesthood we talked about the restoration and the last dispensation. A very interesting subject but, I must admit, by then my attention had waned and I don't remember the entire discourse.

After church, I had an appointment with the Bishop. We discussed mission plans and tithing settlement. He told me he was going to get me set up with the online papers so I could start filling them out that night. On that note, I've completely filled out the paper work besides the papers required for my physical and dental. I have a dentist appointment set up for sure and my mother was going to set up a physical so that all should be taken care of over Christmas. Hopefully, if everything works out like I want it to, I will be leaving on my mission sometime in the early summer. I would like to learn a foreign language, but I realize that it really is not my choice and so I will go and do what needs to be done.

That night as well I spent quite a few hours trying to write a rough draft of the legal memo that is due this coming monday, 16th. It was not my best work but it fit the requirement and I will improve it before it is handed in. A task for the weekend no doubt.

Monday was atypical insomuch that I did what is normally done by a 20-year-old law school student from Utah. That is, I read, I went to class, and I ate. I actually missed family home evening for the first time this semester, besides the first two weeks but I'm not counting those, for the simple reason I didn't feel like going. Probably not the best choice, but I will rectify the decision this Monday night by starting a new streak!

Tuesday was class again and there really is nothing about Tuesday that stands out.

Wednesday, or yesterday, I once again had class and proved my worth to myself. I volunteered information in Contracts and provided the exact line of reasoning my professor was looking for. As well, I feel like I truly am understanding that subject. Once again though, my undergrad system of preparation will not carry me through the day so I will need to ensure my outlines are more than adequate. Again, a task for this weekend.

Today has been a pretty good day so far. I was called upon in Torts and I fill like I provided the adequate responses. Torts is not my favorite class and I don't see it ever becoming such. That is alright though.

Survivor is tonight and I'm super stoked! They have been advertising this weeks episode as such that my favorite survivor, Russell, is up for elimination and my have to stave off his opponents with superior bargaining skills or winning immunity! It shall be a good night for Survivor! The Office is also tonight and I'm hoping they will move the show in a new and fresh way. It is becoming a bit stale for me and I will soon abandon it unless it make the required changes! Heroes has taken a bad course and I'm worried that I'm about to lose that show as well but we shall see. Which leads me to my last favorite show currently, Stargate Universe. Stargate has been taking a unique angle in comparison to the past shows and I won't ruin it for you by posting here about it. It has potential for greatness and potential for failness.  It all hangs on what happens in the next few weeks... We shall see.

Currently, I am reading By Reason of Insanity by Randy Singer. I noticed the book was for free if you downloaded it onto your kindle and I couldn't resist. I've thoroughly enjoyed this fictional crime thriller and I'm about 60% of the way through it. If you have any suggestions on some good books to read in my limited down time let me know. I'm also currently in Alma 11. I'm moving at about 10 pages a day and I'm hoping to have finished it by the 20th of December, which is when I fly home. I must admit, I've never read the Book of Mormon with as much dedication or understanding then I have been reading it currently. Perhaps this is due to the Book of Mormon class I'm taking at the institute, perhaps. I would like to believe its due to the fact that I'm doing what I should be doing and the moment and I am reading the Book of Mormon for the purpose of understanding. Once again, I'll let you decided what you believe.

In sporting news Oklahoma St. and Utah both won last weekend and I'm hoping for wins out of both of them this weekend. I must admit, I'd be surprised if it happened though. Basketball season is just around the corner and that is quite exciting. RSL play Chicago this weekend in the Eastern Conference Finals and I'm hoping I can find some somewhat-legal feed to watch it on. Chelsea has Wolverhampton Wanderers which should be a walk in the park.

Well that is all for now. I will leave you with this seasons survivor logo.

Sometimes you just need to lay on the grass and let life flow by

The last week has been quite fantastic baring the tiny three - four hour event that occurred last Saturday.

Friday, after class, I once again traveled to Stillwater and spent the weekend with Natalie and Jacob. We went to Sirloin Stockade, the restaurant of mine and my sister's youth. While we were there, we were accosted by an older lady who was fairly scary. I'm still kind of worried that she may one day find me...

Saturday, we once again got to hang out with Jacob's nannie and that is always a blast. That night we attended the Oklahoma State v. Texas game and I'd rather still not talk about.. A most disappointing lost that in my mind should not have occurred. After the game, we drowned my sorrows in ice-cream and pizza and thus all was not lost.

On Sunday, we choose to attend my ward in Norman. This was a very good decision. As we were walking in on one side of the meeting room, President Eyring was walking in on the other. Luckily, we got to hear from my Bishop, the Stake President, and then President Eyring. All three gave inspired talks and it was well worth the time. After ward conference we headed down to Ardmore, Oklahoma, so I could receive my patriarchal blessing from Patriarch Jack. Once again, this was a very special opportunity.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were fairly plain besides my meeting with the Stake Presidency. All went well with the meeting and I'm set to be ordained to the office of Elder over Christmas break. Other than that, I'm really starting to feel like everything church related is finally coming together like it should, and with that I'm feeling like I need to serve a mission soon... There is no need to put it off. All three speakers on Sunday emphasized that and so did Patriarch Jack. We shall see what happens.

No property class tomorrow and so I'm heading to Stillwater pretty soon after my last class. Everything is going very well...

Got a new toy by the way, I like it quite a bit heres a pic.

We sometimes get more then we were expecting

As per required policy wednesday just occurred and thus a new post is guaranteed.

As I mentioned in my last post, I spoke with my Bishop about receiving a patriarchal blessing. We agreed with me that it was time to receive such a blessing and I received my recommend for that blessing. On the recommend is a box asking for which position of priesthood is held by the member receiving the blessing. He looked and me and said, "Elder right?" I quickly corrected him and stated that I was a priest actually. He glanced up at me and then said, "Well have we started to do anything about that?" I assured him that we had not and he asked if we could just have my interview for becoming and elder and receiving the Melchizedek priesthood. I felt like this was the correct thing to do and it was done.

What this means is if all goes to plan, and it probably should, I will be receiving my patriarchal blessing this Sunday in Ardmore, Oklahoma from Patriarch Jack, and my father will ordain me to office of an Elder and to the Melchizedek priesthood sometime over Christmas break.

It's amazing how things work out. With stake priesthood conference coming up, if I had delayed in talking with my Bishop and he had not mentioned that fact that I was not an Elder who knows when this would have occurred. It is another testimony of perhaps a coincidence or maybe more. I'll let you decide for yourself which one it is. I know this for sure, it was not a coincidence.

Tonight is Survivor: Samoa and I'm still cheering for Russell! You should definitely check it out if your interested at all. I know I am. Also, coming with Survivor is the office, but I'm going to wait until Friday/Saturday to watch that with Natalie and Jacob. I leave for their apartment tomorrow after class and I can't wait to get back to Stillwater. OSU plays Texas this weekend and I'm personally hoping for the best. Utah plays Wyoming which should be an easy win for them. Chelsea FC plays Bolton this weekend and it should be an easy win as well. RSL plays the first half of their playoff series with Columbus and they have a good chance of an upset if they can pull off a win at home, and they could.

It is of course no matter in the end who wins and who loses as long as the good games are played(and state wins).

Go Pokes!

Only the Good Die Young

While I contemplated the subject matter of what is to be another quite excellent post this song come up on my iTunes. I feel like its a mostly appropriate heading.

The past little while, as can be seen by previous post, has been a roller coaster of sorts. Extreme highs followed by debilitating lows. Right now, I feel like everything has leveled off and is on a general upwards incline. I was able to accomplish everything that needed to be accomplished last night and I see no reason for that trend to discontinue. I guess when it comes down to it, I just had to remember what I was doing here and for that I needed to talk with my brother.

Now he won't recognize the role he played in this, and in truth, it wasn't him that did anything. Either way, while we were talking about how things were going out here I rehashed how my only goal was to do my best and let the chips fall as they will. This expression of my inner self was undoubtedly the most truthful thing I needed to hear at the moment. Ultimately, fail or succeed, I will be proud of myself as long as I do my best. As such there is no need to get down or depressed at minor setbacks. They are indeed only minor setbacks in the grandiose theatre that is my life.

In other news, it was a surprise to me that I could go almost 12 months without going to church and now after only attending 10 straight weeks I feel like I've never left. Perhaps I never did? This Wednesday I'm meeting with the Bishop and I'm going to ask him about receiving a patriarchal blessing. I feel like this is the next big step for me. I'll post later to address how that goes. Tonight is family home evening at the Hack's, the second counselor of the ward. Should be an interesting time and I'm excited about attending.

Other than those two things, the rest of the week should be rather tame until Friday night. Once again, I'm making the trip to sojourn in Stillwater with Natalie and Jacob. We are then attending the Oklahoma State v. Texas game at Boones Pickens Stadium! Should be the most exciting game of the week and perhaps an upset is brewing? My thanks should go out to Natalie and Jacob. I didn't realize how much I would miss the family when I was out on my own and they have provided great support.

Along the church front it should be noted that I've set three major goals for myself for the rest of the year. Those being that I'm planning on reading through the Book of Mormon, to maintain 100% church attendance, and to pray twice a day. So far success has been seen and I'm nearly through the second book of Nephi. This is probably the furtherest I've been on my own. As well, last night I nearly forgot to pray and found myself unable to go to sleep until I did so. Hopefully, I will be able to maintain these good habits.

Oh well, I should be leaving for class right about now and so it is time to go.

Nathan

P.S. My current desktop picture is a continual reminder of who I am. I will share it with you.

Morale is High

For every night there is the dawn and I feel like I've finally reached the symbolic morning of sorts.

I don't know if it was the weather or if I just needed some time, but I know I Natalie and Jacob did make a difference. I've spent the last two weekends with them, and I totally appreciate their time. Hopefully, I'm not too burdensome to them. Other then that, the weather was changed from a misty/foggy/gray skied mess to a lot more sunshine and comfortable weather. I love that!

Other things are looking up as well. I still feel like I doing pretty well academically and a little bit better socially. That is due, of course, to church related activities and such as the social life in the section is not any better. Oh well.

This is kind of a throw away post. I guess so lets see if I can add some deep impressive thought. I think, over the next few days, I need to reevaluate what I want in life. Both spiritually and temporally. I've already started to evaluate this and I've decided that if want that revelation, I will need to put the work in. So as per that, I've decided to recommit myself to finishing the Book of Mormon within the year and that means reading scripture both morning and night. As well, I'm going to try and make sure I pray morning and night as well.  With continual church, FHE, and institute attendance coupled with these other two factors, I'm hoping I'll be able to get some revelation that is needed.

Well today is Monday and so there is a lot of week to go until some extensive free time. So here we go!

Morale is Low

I'm feeling horrible enough that this is my second writing of this post. The first draft sounded too pathetic to post and perhaps a little bit whiny.

The last few days have been a continual cycle of ups and downs... FHE was enjoyable as the activity was a lot of fun and I feel like I met a few more people there. Monday night after that was wasted though as I just couldn't focus. Tuesday, I felt I did pretty well in class, but again I feel like I wasted a lot of time. I had a dinner of pasta that night and I thought I was full but I got hungry a lot quicker than normal and was forced to prepare another meal. Today again I felt like I had a good handle on class but I've felt pretty lonely to be honest. I feel like an outcast and perhaps I've done this to myself through my actions, but I don't know. Last night, my roommates all went to Braum's together and I didn't get an invite even though they knew I was around.

I don't know... For someone who always feels like he is the life of the party today and yesterday have been kind of rough.

I don't wish to play the role of the victim as I don't feel like one, but I feel like academically I am as capable as anyone else, but perhaps I lack the social maturity that is required to be a member of these groups. I lack the shared experiences that are required to bond with the individuals. This fact seems to manifest itself day by day.

No matter what, I will prevail. I've done what I've done because I don't give up on the things that matter the most to me. Hopefully this will be a very cathartic event for myself. I realize that no one owes me anything and if I want something I will have to do it myself.

Another thing of note is the dreams that I've been having. Since I moved out here, I've had the strangest dreams. Nearly every night is a dream about some past acquaintances or friend and they've haunted me. I don't know what my subconscious is trying to tell me. Perhaps these are the individuals I feel the most grief about my actions towards them? That hypothesis doesn't make sense though as some of these dreams are about individuals I don't think I've hurt. Perhaps these dreams mean nothing and I need to just purge the recollection of them from my thoughts. Once again, the raw number of these dreams do not support that hypothesis. Perhaps I'm thinking about this just too much... Probably the last.

For those who might read this and worry about me, don't. This is a temporary downer moment for me which shall be overcome. If none of this post is understood by you, don't worry about it. In the end this post is for me.

Quick post to help get back to the regular schedule

The last week has drugged on... Not because anything big or special happened but rather because it was just another long week. Monday was class and FHE with broom hockey. I sadly did not score but I did cut myself pretty well on my broom. Tuesday was library day and I spent a good amount of time there. Wednesday was institute and that night I went to Braum's. I do love those Sherbet Freezes! Thursday deserves its own paragraph see below. Tonight has been fairly tame so far and probably remain so. Kind of a bummer but I'll get over it. Tomorrow is General Conference and I'm currently planning on going to the stake center to watch. Sunday is General Conference again and then the week begins again.

Thursday, Justice Anthony Kennedy of the United States Supreme Court was in town and he taught all the 1L's a class in constitutional law. Although the material was nothing too dramatic or incredible, the person teaching it was incredible nonetheless. I don't know of many people outside of the law school who can say that they have seen and heard from a Justice from the Supreme Court. If I remember correct Chief Justice John G. Roberts is coming later this semester so that is awesome as well.

Late Post

So.... I'm late posting this but here we go!

Since my last post on the 17th here is what has happened.

Thursday the 17th was the Hartzog event in Oklahoma City. The event was interesting but definitely not something that was enjoyed. It was a packed house with a group of interesting individuals. It as loud, packed, and alcoholic. Not really the best time I could of had. It was actually kind of disappointing. They deal mainly in civil cases, and I'm mainly interested in criminal so no harm done.

Friday was rather tame, but on Saturday I got the unique opportunity to help set up the Family Fun Zone! This is when I realized that even the LDS Institute in Norman, Oklahoma tailgates better than all of BYU combined. Yay! The fun zone consist of three moon bounces for the kids, a big flat screen television, and a grill/snow cone machine/cotton candy machine. I wore my Utah shirt as a form of passive protest.

Sunday, I taught the lesson in Priesthood on the family. I feel like it went pretty well and now I have to hope they won't call me to teach.

Monday was the FHE for the Jay Reuben Clark Law Society. We met at Rudy's BBQ, and I forgot my wallet. So, I got to meet everyone but didn't get to eat with them. That was okay because I then got a convenient excuse to go Braum's and eat a 2/3 lbs. Well worth it.

Tuesday was boring. Wednesday was institute as usual and then I went with a friend to Braum's and got ice cream. Thursday, I was up early to finish some homework and then went out to the class social at Professor Swank's. That was a bit of fun and we had a really good time. Professor Swank has probably the greatest house ever. It is round and is like a tepee it is way awesome.

The best part of Thursday of course was the next episode of Survivor: Samoa. I love this season its been fantastic. Friday night I left for Stillwater and I spent the weekend with Natalie and Jacob. We went to the football game against Grambling State at Oklahoma State and had a great time. I also defeated Jacob and Natalie in card monopoly.

Today has been pretty good. Church went well and I've watched quite a bit of scrubs and been prepared for class. Well done!

A first or at least a first in the last little while

Wow, It is Wednesday night and I'm updating on schedule... I'm impressing myself here.

This last week has been fairly mundane. Thursday and Friday are notable for class reasons alone. Saturday forced me to watch an uninspired performance by Oklahoma State University and monitor another uninspiring performance by the University of Utah. At least Utah won. Sunday passed away as the usual and no problems were had. Sunday night though I did find out there would be no contracts for this week. That really lightened the load and was deeply appreciated.

Monday was classes as usually without contracts, but I also attended family home evening. The spiritual message for the meeting was very good... The activity was not... So it seems I'll be doing a there for the message out before the activity. Oh well!

Tuesday was spent doing some major studying in the library and now I should be good to go for about the entire week. Today was institute which went well. Tomorrow and Friday should go pretty smoothly and I should slide into the weekend with no problems. Yeah!

Auto Uprising

Finally, Nathan left his computer unlocked and I went ahead and took advantage of that moment. I'm going to use this blog so I can document my incredible excursions around the United States and the World! Are you ready for this? I don't think so...

So yesterday I got to go to church and sit in the parking lot for three hours. That may not sound exciting to you, but I usually have to stare at apartment building H ALL DAY. I also got to sit next to a cute little chevy... I'm totally going to hook up with her next week!

That is all.

What a week....

Wow, how things change in one short week...

I feel absolutely great currently, I got over that stupid sickness with no major complications and now I'm just trying to catch up.

Thursday night of last week, I got the chance to watch Utah beat Utah State in the rivalry game and that is always a good time. Utah played okay. Definitely not their best win in the last few years but still a pretty good performance.

Friday, I stayed home and just watched the football games and hung out. Nothing too special.

Saturday, was an interesting day.... It started out shaky as Oklahoma St. went down 7-0 fairly quickly. They soon rebound and won the game 24-10. A good performance in which the offense struggled and the defense carried the team. Which is unusual to say the least. After that was the no infamous OU-BYU game. I'm torn.... As a Utah grad I hate to see BYU win, but as a OSU fan I hate to see OU lose. As well, I'm LDS so you'd think I should support BYU, but I'm an OU grad student so I should be supporting OU... So torn... It was a lose lose for me.

Sunday was a fun day. I first went to church which wasn't anything amazing but fun nontheless. I got called to be on the fun zone community. I guess every saturday before a home game they do a "fun zone" at the institute. So I was called to help put that together. I'll probably wear my OSU orange each week. After church I headed to Stillwater and I got to spend the night with Pollie. That was fun, I beat Jacob at Monopoly card version each time, but don't tell him that.

Monday, I was with Natalie and Jacob still and we went and bought some OSU shirts, ate at Eskimo Joe's and then went to Braums for treats. Good times.

Tuesday-Thursday have been class-eat-study-sleep-study-class-eat-study-sleep and repeat. Only one small incident to report. My classmates told me that in Torts we were going to be started on intentional inflection of emotional harm. So being the person who I am, I prepared from there on and then started chronologically from where I had missed. Well.... We were actually two cases from that point, and I got called on. So I was not prepared at all for the cases I as selected for. That is a bummer. Important less learned there, don't trust your classmates!

Not much else going on

I'm Sick

Ugh,

So I'm sick. It's flu like and I'm just going to assume it's H1N1. Symptoms started around Sunday and they have continued through to today. It's a bummer, but at least I'm getting sick before the first or second mutation so I should be able to get over it soon. I hope.

Other than that, school was going pretty well until yesterday. I haven't been in class since Tuesday so who knows what I'm missing. I can't believe I enjoy contracts as much as I do. I wouldn't have expected that coming in. Overall, I have been enjoying all of my classes.

Not much else to say

I think I have time to post.... I think...

Wow... Law School to this point has been very time intensive and that is for sure.

We arrived, we being my parents and I, in Norman on Wednesday after two days of unspectacular road tripping. The most surprising thing about this trip to me is the fact that no one actually lives in Wyoming... I mean no one... I didn't see a single Wyoming license plate... Take that evidence as you will.

Thursday morning I was up bright and early to attend Law School Orientation which was interesting in part, boring in part, and confusing in part. Overall, good information was given but I have seemed to have forgotten it all since then.

My parents, my sibling and sibling-in-law (Natalie/Jacob), and I, all went to the Oklahoma City National Memorial after orientation and that was quite a somber experience. I remember the attack on the Federal building and the aftermath and as I was walking through the memorial all those memories came back to me. For those who haven't been or haven't been recently you should go again. Although, this may be heresy, that attack had more impact on my life then 9/11.

Friday, my parents and I, bought a lot of supplies and stuff for my room (ie fridge, shelf, hangers, etc...) and then road tripped it up to Stillwater. For those who forget, I was born in Stillwater and still consider it my hometown. Although I didn't remember everything about Stillwater, I did remember the last house we lived in and we did go see it. It's amazing how small it looks today when compared to how I remember it. I also got the pleasure of meeting the infamous Pollie. What a dog!

Saturday, my parents, sibling and sibling-in-law(Natalie/Jacob), and I got to tour Boone Pickens Stadium and Gallagher-Iba Arena. Oh how many games I have watched broadcast from those two and it was amazing to finally tour them. Boone's (as I chose to affectionately call it) was absolutely amazing. The locker room was amazing... The weight room was amazing... It just was. I even got to see the stable where Bullet chills between performances. I loved every minute of that tour. The tour of Gallagher-Iba Arena was incredible as well. I've really wanted to go there someday and now I can say I have. Of course, I still want to attend a game but that will come.

Sunday was church with my parents and then I took them to the Airport. On the way to the airport we stopped at Braum's and ate. I was still in my white shirt and tie and thus a nice gentlemen confronted me asking what I learned in church that day... To be honest I was scared out of my mind. I hurried and responded that we learned about self-improvement and such, and then asked him what he had learned. I quote, "We learned about Moses keeping up his hands, and they were victorious." It was something along those lines. My dad enjoyed this.

I got my parents to the airport and was fine until the security gate... I cried I'll admit it. I soon bucked it up though and lessened my tears for the entire ride home. By the time I got to my apartment I was fine again and no one was the wiser as to what occurred.

Classes have been challenging. The reading material isn't so hard as it is complicated. Missing a single fact or sentence can change or ruin your interpretation of the case. I'm doing pretty well I think. I was called upon today for answers and I feel that I adequately gave them (I nailed them imho). I've gotta go to bed 'cause I've got four classes tomorrow. I'll make sure to start posting regularly. Usually every Wednesday about this time.

Upto August 10th

Oh Wow.... How this summer has faded away like a bruise from football season.

As the summer has worn anticipation and excitment for law school has grown in leaps and bounds and I'm ready to leave.

On July 29th, I purchased my new car. Its name is Stanley and he is a 2008 Pontiac G6. He is used but was a rental car in Las Vegas and only had 33k miles when I got him. I was pretty excited about that and I love the car. It has XM radio and all the features we got a good deal on him.

On August 3rd, I finished my final paper and then gave it to my peer reviewer. After I few more edits by Marcie and myself, I turned it in on the 6th a full day earlier then it was due! I haven't heard back from the professor but I'm happy with how it turned out so I think I should be fine.

On August 8th, my residents finally moved out, at least most of them, its nice to be in an almost abandoned building, but that has its draw backs as well. I've been getting Marcie moved into her new room and we got that all finished today which is good for her but it'll take her a while to get organized that is for sure.

Wednesday, we are going to the Pie for a some-what organized seeing off and then I leave for good a week from tomorrow (11th). I'm pretty excited but a little bit scared. I'm sure I'll do okay but it is a semi-new thing for me to be in competition with peers, I probably will respect more than my current peers.

My new mail address is:


2500 Asp Avenue H 305A
Norman, OK 73072

So I expect many letters and packages... Don't let me down.

We leave for Oklahoma on the 17th.

Good Luck Ya'll

Nathan Nielson

btw.. The night before orientation Wednesday the 19th, I'll start posting regularly again. That is to say at least once a week.

The Month of July

So June has come and gone and its time for a new update on the process. I'm currently waiting for a housing assignment from OU and should received it before the 13th. As well I received my schedule and it looks a bit like this:

Monday: Civil Procedure - Contracts
Tuesday: Civil Procedure - Contracts
Wednesday: Civil Procedure - Torts - Property - Contracts
Thursday: Torts - Property - Contracts
Friday: Torts - Property

Not a bad schedule and I would post it in a more user friendly approach but oh well! As you can see Wednesday will be heck and Thursday bad as well, but Monday, Tuesday, and Friday are nothing to complain about.

I'm leaving for OU on the 18th of August and I'm still pretty excited. I'll have everything wrapped up early on the 17th and be packing in preparation to leave.

In other news, my dad and I looked at a car to purchase and settled on the 2009 Pontiac G6, but just could not find it at a price that would fit my budget... Aw Super Sad! That is okay though because we will look again around Christmas break and Pontiac's will only get cheaper! Let me know how you are doing because I would be glad to hear from you!

ps BTW I have a twitter feed which is LawTyro so feel free to tweet me or to follow!

Month off and OU!

Well I took the last month off in order to recharge my batteries and get ready to go again... Or maybe I just forgot for awhile.... Either way. My plans for this blog have changed now that I have decided on where I'm attending (more to come on that), now I'm going to use this blog to document my experiences in law school. I'll be updating once a month through the rest of the summer and starting August 20th I'll resume the weekly posting.

It's official! I'm attending the University of Oklahoma College of Law! I'm pretty stoked and I can't wait to finish out the last bit of my undergrad. Orientation for law school starts on the 20th and so I'll be leaving Utah on the 18th. I haven't received my room assignment but hopefully I'll still be in the law building in East Traditions. Other than that, everything seems to be falling into place...  Law school is where I need to be come Fall and that is where I will be.

OU and TU

This Tuesday I received a call from April Fox from the University of Tulsa and she offered me additional scholarship money! I'm now up to $21,000 a year which reduces the debt to $8,000 a year for tuition. That would be a SwEeT ride! So currenlty I'm trying to decide where I want to go to school, its between Tulsa at $8,000 a year and OU $15,000. There is more to it than just that but let me know what you think!

UNM and Housing/Fiancial Aid and Tulsa as well

Well, I finally received a response to my application from UNM and it's a big fat NO! Although I'm disappointed I was not accepted, I'm not too hurt I'm still planning on attending OU and I'm good with that.

In regards to going to OU, I've decided to live in their Traditions East on campus as it's VERY VERY close to the law school. It fits my budget and it'll be very nice to live there.

Financial Aid is being processed by OU right now so I should be hearing from them soon as well which is good.

Also I'm still waiting to hear from Tulsa about additional scholarship... I'm thinking it'll have to be quite the offer to get me away from OU now

OU

I missed my usual Wednesday posting, so oh well. Once again, not much is going on. OU has received my deposit and I've applied for housing in their Traditions East so we'll see how that turns out. I think I'm 90-10 OU to Tulsa so it would take a considerable offer to swing that number in any direction. I'm excited about getting this semester over and working through the summer. The current plan says that as soon as summer classes/RAing is over I'm hoping in the truck and going to Oklahoma with Dad.

Either no new news which is too bad.

No news is good news?

I suppose there really is nothing to post today... I recently joined the OU Law facebook group and participated in an online chat with Tulsa...

I'll keep you posted if anything occurs

OU and Tulsa with a bit of UNM

Well its official... I mailed off my deposit to the University of Oklahoma on Monday and so I think that's where I will be going come next fall. I'm excited and kind of worried, hopefully I'm making the right choice.

The only other law school option still available in my mind is at the University of Tulsa. They are still reevaluating my application for more scholarship money, and if they were to reward enough I'd have a difficult decision ahead of me... Do I eat the deposit? And go for cheaper? It'll be fun.

UNM, in one word is frustrating. I haven't heard anything from them since I last emailed them so who knows whats going down there. I guess if they were to offer an extremely good scholarship then there is a chance, but definitely not a very high one.

Utah

Well, I received a "bite me" letter from the University of Utah which will mean I will be attending a law school outside of the state! Unless UNM lets me know soon and with lots of money, I'll be going to Oklahoma. Its what I wanted anyways.

Nathan Nielson

Sickness, Tulsa, and OU

UHHHH, need I say more? I have a sore throat/maybe strep so not much new to report besides a few email communications and a phone call. I feel it should be noted that I had 0% chance of surviving this without the wonderful support of my favorite redhead. When you read this thank you so very much.

University of Tulsa's Assistant Dean of Admissions has been in contact with me the last few days as they had received my intent to withdrawal in the mail. They didn't like it. They emailed me and wanted me to reconsider with a possibility of more scholarship money. In order to do this they will extend my deposit due date until May 17th and will hopefully let me know about additional scholarship money after the April 17th deadline. I'd be willing to go to Tulsa.

I emailed the University of Oklahoma on Tuesday in order to extend my deposit due date by a week so that I could still hear back from UNM and Utah. I still haven't heard back from them. Either way OU's Associate Dean of Scholarships, Admissions, and Recruiting called me to see what was going on. They agreed to extend the deadline from the 1st of April to the 10th.

Other than being sick everything is going okay.

FAFSA

Nothing new to report, but I did get my FAFSA sent it. All else is as normal, no word from UNM or Utah. I would break down the probability of me attending each school at Oklahoma 60%, Utah 30% and UNM 10%.

Law School Choices

I've narrowed down where I'm going to go to law school to three schools now.

1. Oklahoma > Offered me instate tuition and its OKLAHOMA!
2. Utah > Have not heard back from but Marcie is here and it would be instate no matter what.
3. UNM > Have not heard back from but I might be able to live with my Aunt.

Utah was #1 until my boss messed up and I wasn't offered a RA position for next fall. This means I would either have to live at home or find somewhere to live close to campus. This pushed OU to the number 1 spot. Any ideas?

The University of Oklahoma, College of Law

Well... In short my decision was made for me today. I will be attending the University of Oklahoma, College of Law unless something unforeseen happens. I still haven't heard back from UNM or Utah but I have emailed UNM about a week ago(no reply) and Utah's chances were severely hurt after what just occurred...

Boomer Sooner!

OU and New Rankings

I received my official acceptance from the University of Oklahoma, and although I wasn't offered a scholarship with that letter there was a personal note at the bottom of the letter that was extremely nice.

Rankings of where I want to go:

Utah: Ultimate #1, I'd be close to family and I'm fairly sure I will be offered a position as an RA so that will save cost on room and board. Also it's the highest ranked and would be the cheapest to attend. Utah does suffer from the fact that some seem BYU as the dominate school in the state but that's okay. Still haven't been accepted but I'm hoping something fierce.

OU: I would be returning home to Oklahoma which is what I've wanted since I've started this process. OU is the school from Oklahoma which should ensure a decent job in a great market. I'd be close to some family and instate tuition is quite cheap as soon as I qualified for it. Have been accepted but not scholarships yet.

UNM
Tulsa
OCU
Quinnipiac

OU! Sooner Boomer! Boomer Sooner!

I received a call on Friday the 20th from the University of Oklahoma, College of Law and I'm in! Thats good news and it really gives me direction on where I'm going to law school. OU is my number #1 unless I'm accepted to UNM or Utah. No more problems with that decision unless the best happens. The offical letter should be received this week hopefully.

OCU and new rankings

I received the official acceptance letter from OCU last saturday. It contained a scholarship worth $22,000 which isn't bad and by my calculations would make it the cheapest so far. The problem is it's only $6,000 cheaper which does not make up for the +30 difference in rankings. Normally I would not care about rankings but I think Tulsa is just superior than OCU.

So here is how I rank the schools I've been accepted to:

1. Tulsa > Great location, good scholarship requirements, and fairly inexpensive
2. OCU > Good location, poor scholarship requirements, and the cheapest
3. Quinnipiac > Far away from everyone I know, horrible scholarship requirements, and the most expensive

Here's how it will look if I'm accepted everywhere else, with not more addition scholarships:

1. Utah > Possible gradute with under $40,000 of debt, good location, close to family, possibly will not have to pay room and board
2. UNM > Out-of-state tuition would be a bummer for a year, possibly be able to live family to save money, Unlce is a lawyer so that would offer great networking
3. OU > Be able to live in Oklahoma which is what I've wanted to do, OU is the dominent school in Oklahoma which would mean a good chacnce at an excellant job
4. Tulsa > See above
5. OCU > See above
6. Quinnipiac > See above

Quinnipiac and OCU

I finnaly received my offical acceptance from Quinnipiac and I received a 28k/year scholarship. Thats pretty good, but considering that tuition is something like 36k/year it'll still be cheaper to attend Tulsa. Also their scholarship has some weird strings attached that just doesn't make it worth taking.

I received an email from OCU telling me that I've been accepted, and so I'm just waiting on the official letter once again. Much like Quinnipiac if it's not a full ride or very substantial Tulsa will still be the best option. Utah's upside, though, is on the rise we'll see what happens there.

Tulsa, Quinnipiac, and Me

Sorry about the late post, but here is what has been going on:

On the 3rd I received an acceptance letter from the University of Tulsa along with 15k in a scholarship. The scholarship is renewable every year as long as I maintain a 3.0 gpa. It doesn't need to be said but I was ecstatic to receive that letter.

On the 4th, I received an email accepting me to Quinnipiac University. That was good news as well, but I haven't seen their official letter yet and I think it'll take some money for me to be packing up and going there.

I actually flew out to Kansas on the 6th so who knows whats in my mailbox but I can't wait to see. Also I actually asked my supervisor to consider me for a position as an RA if I get into the University of Utah and I decide to study here. My new list of schools based on where I'd like to go is now: Utah, UNM, Oklahoma all tied up with Tulsa, OKC, Quinnipiac bringing up the rear in that order. I'm hoping to be able to make a decision by the end of this month...

Utah

After talking with my father I decided to hurry and rush an application to the University of Utah. It's not my first choice but if it happens then it happens.

OU

Oddly enough after my last post talking about how I had not yet heard from the University of Oklahoma, it now appears that they have requested my report for LSAC. This is good news and should mean that when they receive the report I'll be complete. Excellent!

Tulsa - Quinnipiac - University of New Mexico

Since my last post, I have now applied to Quinnipiac University and University of New Mexico. I don't know if I'd like to attend Quinnipiac but I should be in good shape for a scholarship so if I get offered some serious $$$ I'd consider it highly. The University of New Mexico though would be nice because I'd be able to live with my aunt and save a lot of money that way.

I actually just heard back from the University of Tulsa on the 16th and they received my application on the 12th. So that’s good. Also my last letter of recommendation was received by LSAC on the 14th so I should be becoming complete very soon. I'd bet I start to hear back some time around the middle - end of February.

On a side note I've not heard back from the University of Oklahoma yet so I will probably be calling them here soon.

OU - Tulsa - OCU

Applications to the University of Oklahoma, University of Tulsa, and Oklahoma City University have all now been sent in and paid for. All we really have to do know is to sit and wait.

On other news I finally received all the transcript information and I found out that LSAC only dinged my GPA a little which is quite nice. I finally moved back in the residence halls and restarted the RA position. Classes start on Monday and residents arrived tomorrow so wish me luck!

Change of Direction

I completed my first application last night and that wasn't so bad. All I need to do is slip a resume and personal statement in the envelope and away it will go. The application was for the University of Oklahoma college of law which is my new number 1 choice.

I've also decided to have a change of direction when it comes down to which law schools I apply. I've decided I really only want to attend school in Oklahoma so I'm no longer applying to the University of Texas, Penn State, and University of Idaho.

Since the first application is away all we have to do now is wait.