Encouraging Lyrics

I was encouraged by these lyrics Friday night. If law school isn't a storm I don't know what is.

I was sure by now,God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.

And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away

I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth

Quick Catch Up!

It has been almost a month since I've last blogged and I really didn't want that to happen, but obviously law school did. BOO.

October flew by and I'm still looking for where exactly it went. The highlight of my month was, of course, my birthday. My friends made a huge deal out of it all week and made me feel so special! I have truly been blessed by the Lord with some amazing girlfriends here at Regent. I have no doubt that we were all perfectly placed in each others life by the Lord.





The best birthday gift of all was getting to go home 2 days later and spend some time with friends and family that I have dearly missed. I really think I got to see all the favs in my family except for my cousin Will and Aunt Suzy. I even got to keep my favorite kiddos Emily and Russell for a night!

If any of you know me well at all you know that I am always looking towards the future. I think that partially is because something inside of me always wants something to look forward to! Every month since law school started I have had something big to look forward to: in September I got to go see Heather in Chicago, in October I got to go home, in November Heather is coming to spend Thanksgiving with me, and December I get to go spend Christmas at home! Next semester will hopefully be the same way. So far I have Alison on the calendar to come spend her spring break with me in march!

So my first semester of law school is OVER halfway done and I still wake up wondering if I'm actually still doing this?! The work has NOT eased up at all, but I do feel like I have more of a grasp on time management. The only thing that really annoys me is when we are assigned 4 or 5 cases to read for a class and we end up only getting to one of them. I just leave class mad because it is such a waste of time! Other than that I'm getting by.

Still coveting your prayers daily for strength and knowledge!

Very Elle Woods during the climactic part of the movie with music

Week 7?? More like week 7 hundred!!! I feel like I've been in law school forever!!!

I heard one of my classmates tell another 1L in the hallway a few days ago that we have read 107 cases since our first day of classes. I can honestly say that I really have read and briefed every one of them. I wish I could also honestly say that I read everyone of them because I was vigorously trying to learn everything about the subject that I could. The truth is that some nights after 8 hours of studying already, the only motivation I have to read and brief a case is the knowledge that there is a chance that I will get called on to stand in class and present the case. To me, that's fundamental in law school. The teachers ask you to stand and usually keep you standing anywhere from 5 minutes to the duration of the class depending on how they are feeling. If you do well everyone knows it, and if you don't...it ruins your day.

Last Friday all of my reading paid off when I was called on for the first time in Property. It was the last class before the weekend and my mind was already taking a nap when I hear "Miss McKinney, will you please stand and tell us about this case?" My first instinct was to freak out, but I remembered that I had just taken notes on this case during lunch and so I just start saying what I remember. I grab my notes and he starts asking me questions pertaining to what he wants us to get out of the case. To make a long story short I knew what I was talking about. I did really well and the prof was pleased. Several classmates found me after and told me how impressed they were. My heart was so full of joy at that moment because everything I had worked so hard to learn since August was all worth while finally!

It was the BEST start to a weekend I've ever had, and I even sang karaoke that night to celebrate!

So my first "getting called on" experience in law school came and went, and as most attorney's say I will always remember it!

Law School

I finished my first week of Law School last week. So if I don't make it through at least I can say without lying that "I've been to law school" :)

Here are some of my thoughts:

- The amount of work/reading that I did last week seems like I should have finished 2 weeks worth of normal school.
- Everyone has an incredible drive to please the prof's the first week...I'm thinking it may linger on in some cases
- I'm going to need more sticky tabs
- I wish that there was some sort of brain cleansing pill that took things out of your mind that you didn't need to know, because I think I'm running low on space
- I LOVE living alone
- My love for office supplies will, without a doubt, continue to grow throughout the next 3 years.
- I love the complexity of the law, right now at least.

A part of me still can't believe I'm here!

P.S. - some of the Latin words/phrases remind me of Harry Potter spells...maybe J.K. got her inspiration from Black's Law Dictionary :D

Judy

In the past year I've been more of a Judy Garland fan than ever. Maybe it's because I'm more grown up now and will actually sit down and read a biography, or maybe it's because I received an awesome gift set of 5 of Judy's movies that I had never seen and watched them all within 3 months. This summer was no different. Of course every June I think of Judy because the month marks both Garland's birth (in 1922) and her death (in 1969), but more importantly I read the so called "best" Judy bio out there called "Get Happy" by Gerald Clarke which came out in 2000 but has recently received fame for another reason:

It has been confirmed that Anne Hathaway will be portraying Judy Garland in the film adaptation of Gerald Clarke's biography.

Although I should probably be happy, I am slightly conflicted about this news for a few reasons.

1) This book is more critical of Judy than any others that have been written, and I don't want it to be sort of "walk the line"-esque in a way that people discover things about her that they would have been happier not knowing, thus dubbing her an addict and swearing off of her because of it. I am a huge Judy fan and the book was hard for me to get through...
2) I'm not really sure if Anne Hathaway is the best pick for the role. There are the obvious reasons like Hathaway is 5'7-5'8 and Judy was barely 5'1, but also Anne Hathaway always ends up glamorous in her roles, whereas Judy never even tried to be glam because she knew she wasn't made for it (not to mention she was told she wasn't good enough for Hollywood her whole life).
3) The company who bought the rights to make the book into a stage production/movie hasn't come out with whether Hathway will be lip-syncing or if she will try to embody Judy's voice on her own - that will be another telling factor for me.

It will definately be something that I pay to go watch, but I won't get my hopes up as of right now. Judy was/is a star in my heart and I hope that Hollywood does the best they can to show the world that very thing.