the past 2 months looked like this:

They also looked a lot like clerking in a law firm, staying up way too late, riding in the car way too much, and getting stuck overnight in the airport...but that's beside the point.

I'm not sure if the blog is going to be back in action now or not.  I really like being away from technology and off the map for a while in Maine and may try to keep that up even though I'm back in Lexington.  But for now, this is what I've been up to, though I doubt anyone reading this has actually been wondering.

A quote regarding many things but somewhat relevant to summer adventuring:

The unrest of the quest ends in the discipleship of Christ.

[Franz Hildebrandt]

Until next time?  We'll see what happens.

I'm going to Jackson

So, I survived 1L.  I will write about that later, but I have to actually process it first.  For now, I feel like I just woke up from a long, intense dream, where all I remember is that my brain hurt a lot and the Lord is really, really good.  Even now that school is out, things are still a slight whirlwind.  Since my last exam on Friday I have watched my sister graduate from Asbury, attended a research seminar at school to prep me for my summer job, gone on a nice long walk in the park in the rain with the boyfriend, had a lot of hammock time, and crashed Mom's 2nd grade field trip to the Arboretum.  And now, as a result of a bizarre series of events, I am leaving first thing Saturday morning to go spend the first half of the summer clerking at a law firm in the closest thing to a "hometown" I have, with my best friends nonetheless!  

Cue Johnny Cash:

I am excited.  Still, leaving is kind of overwhelming, and packing for a real job for 7 weeks is more ridiculous than I bargained for.  But regardless of what makes sense, where the Lord leads we follow.  So Jackson it is, for May and June, and then after that I am "wandering"...yeah.

Really though - this is the 23rd summer in a row I have lived out of a suitcase.  Why break the streak now?

Bluegrass State, thank you for a wonderful first year welcome.  Sorry that I have to leave you now that the weather finally got good and the flowers are all blooming.  I'll be back as soon as I can.

Mississippi, I am not looking forward to your humidity but I have terribly missed your food, your tea, your accent, your culture, and your people.  See you in 48 hours or so!

People of the Deep South, look me up the next 7 weeks.  I'm excited for some time to spend with you!

oceans | hillsong united | zion

click.  listen.  repeat.  worship.

via

and one month later...

One month blogging hiatus.  That's not too bad.  Actually, I'm shocked it hasn't been longer considering the circumstances.  March. was. crazy.  For multiple reasons, but namely these:

Guatemala
appellate brief due
oral argument speech competition (a.k.a. Triwizard Tournament)
family in town for Easter
trying to sort out which classes to take next year
too little sleep
too many allergies
way too much snow for what this Mississippi girl considers the first month of spring
contracts and property and con law...oh my

And just like that, March is over.  And now it's April 5, with two weeks until finals, and it's warm outside again, and Keeneland has started, and all I want to do is to press pause and have adventures and soak up life without an ever-ticking clock.  But the clock continues to tick, and so we make the best of the time we have.

Which is why yesterday, when I was sitting in class at 1:00 and got a text that said "Hey, let's go to the Gorge," the answer had to be yes.  Even though we couldn't leave until 2:30 and it takes an hour to get there and we had to be back by 7 and Turtleback Arch is an unmarked trail that's supposed to take "3 to 5 hours" to locate...

We never did make it to Turtleback Arch, but we did see Rock Bridge and jam to some Page CXVI in the car and have good conversation and make it back in time to change into formal clothes and dance the night away.  And it was so, so good.

How is it that spontaneity always, always wins?

6 days

until I am here

with her (and we will take a picture in this exact same spot for the fourth time now)

and them

 Excited is a serious, serious understatement.  Spring break come quickly por favor...¡quiero ver a mis amigos!

on remembering

On the (rare) days I drive to school, I have the friendly UK parking garage elevators to help me remember which floor I parked on:

Helpful, considering the dozens of small details I remember (or, try to) these days:  

My locker combination.  Not locking the keys in the Jeep.  Packing a spoon with my lunch on the days I bring yogurt.  That Contracts happens on Monday/Tuesday/Thursday this semester instead of Tuesday/Thursday/Friday.  These things are so much harder for me than they should be.  

But while not locking my keys in the car is good, there are other things.  More important things...

The book of Deuteronomy talks a lot about remembering.  Remember the Lord.  Remember what His laws are.  Remember why His laws matter.  Remember how He led you through the desert.  Do not forget...  

When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.  Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees...  You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me."  But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today...  [from Deuteronomy 8:10-18]

Lately I just feel the need to remember.  Last year was a big year, a blessing year.  A mountaintop year.  And this year is great, in so many ways, but there are things I need to remember from the mountain.  Things that, while we were on the mountain, we said we would never forget...

I want to remember - and I mean vividly, deep-down-in-my-soul remember - the chaos of Mondays at the Brick House.  The frantic washing of dishes.  The blasting karaoke machine, the broken English, the shouting voices.  The way that ice cream to make milkshakes was like manna from heaven and would always show up, somehow, from somewhere.

I want to remember the power that is in total and complete transparency.  The transparency that comes at 6:30 on Friday mornings in a room full of best friends with bared souls, open bibles, and muffins.  That comes on warm Sunday afternoons with brothers and sisters on blankets under Rowan Oak trees with Newks chicken salad and Mama Jo's to-go plates.  That comes when love triumphs over judgment, and everyone knows it, and everyone acts on it.  Weekly.  Daily.  Always.

I want to remember the constant encouragement.  The answered prayers.  The excitement, the laughter, the pain, but the joy.  To remember - really, truly remember - that we were dead, but now we are alive.  That we had needs, and that He met them.  That someone died, on a cross, to save us.  And that absolutely must change everything.

It's not that I have forgotten these things.  I could never truly forget.  But that's just it.  You never start out thinking you're going to forget.  When you leave your car on the fourth floor of the parking garage, when you see the friendly UK elevator, you assume you'll remember.  But come 4:00, after a couple hours of property law, citation quizzes, and library time, that memory of where you left the car is a little bit fuzzy.

Another thing...  Remembering gets a bad rep because people equate it with living in the past.  That's not what I'm talking about.  God didn't tell the Israelites to actually go back to the desert.  He told them to remember the desert to strengthen them for the now, to keep them on track for the future.  That's why remembering matters.  Not so we can dwell on what was, but so we can take what was and use it to help us today and tomorrow, and the day after that.

So this is what I need to do, and I'm inviting you to do it with me.  Let's take some time and think about where we've come from, where we've been.  How He was more than enough.  How He's always been more than enough, to everyone, always.  And we can draw from the strength of those memories for whatever challenges we're facing today.

Let the Word, let your memories, let this post be your friendly UK parking garage door.  Not because you've forgotten, but because we can always use the reminder.

He has been faithful.
He will be faithful again.
Remember.

to do this week:

Source: himiveheardof.tumblr.com via Katie on Pinterest

things I didn't see coming

- having 13 exciting but exhausting interviews in 2 terribly long but terribly short weeks

- loving every single person I've gotten to talk to during these 13 exciting but exhausting interviews in these 2 terribly long but terribly short weeks

- a no-notice overnight road trip to Nashville

- Nerlens Noel tearing his ACL (I kid you not, this has legitimately been making me sad)

- the random snow flurries yesterday, and a lot of other days, that just keep coming back

- flowers + dark chocolate + fruit snacks + car mail + etc. Valentine's Day surprise package

- that this would be one of the most whirlwind months of my entire life

- the way that my heart is feeling life lately even in the midst of this being one of the most whirlwind months of my entire life.  A lot of times when things get crazy, I go into autopilot.  My feet take me places, my mouth speaks words, my body and hands move, but my mind and heart withdraw.  But somehow lately, my mind, body, and spirit seem to be moving as one.  Which is pretty exhausting, actually - to let myself feel the real weight of everything that is going on.  But I like it better this way.  It's kind of scary, but it's real, and, after all, there is never anything to be afraid of...  Does this even make sense?  This probably doesn't even make sense.  And that's ok.  I didn't really see myself writing that either, but keeping with the theme of the post, the stream-of-conscious rambling can stay.

The list could go on for a long time.  Basically, I have no idea what is going on lately, and it's overwhelming, but it's awesome.  There's a lot more I should be journalling about, and definitely some things that are blog-worthy too, but since it's moving so fast I'm obliged to just keep moving along with it.  But it should slow down soon, I think.  Once I get this appellate brief written.  Yeah, I'm going to go work on that right now actually.

Before I go, here's some music for your Sunday afternoon.  This is probably my new favorite!

Enjoy the day, friends, and celebrate this truth with me.  (Also my new favorite!)

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

[2 Corinthians 9:8]

if, then...

"In short, I had always believed that the world involved magic: now I thought that perhaps it involved a magician.  And this pointed to a profound emotion always present and sub-conscious; that this world of ours has some purpose; and if there is a purpose, there is a person.  I had always felt life first as a story: and if there is a story there is a story-teller..."

[G.K. Chesterton, Chapter 4, Orthodoxy]

what i "learned" today

Well, good.  This clears things up...  Any law school lovers out there that want to help a sister out with the Erie doctrine, give yours truly a shout.  In the meantime, my flowchart and I will be working on it.  

For the record, I do love a good flowchart.  But usually ones more like this, or this.  There's nothing I can say, a total eclipse of the heart...seriously, click on those two links!

It's Wednesday after 5:00 meaning we have officially begun the downhill slope towards the weekend!  So go knock out Thursday, slide through Friday, and then celebrate the fact that you have once again successfully survived another week.  Perhaps an enlightening flowchart of your own is in your future! But actually, yeah, you're right.  Might be best to just keep those within the Beatles' hits, 80's love songs, and Civil Procedure worlds, for now at least.  

Live + laugh + love, until next time.

even though it's january...

Grapefruit.  Avocado.  These two foods will help you beat the winter blues and make you feel light and fresh again.  Guarantee it.  Add lots of water, a little bit of exercise, and vitamins to fend off the flu.  Then mix with happy thoughts from the fall when you were actually excited at the idea of breaking out those scarves and boots, and a list of reasons why winter really is ok - e.g. hot chocolate, warm blankets, oversize sweaters, falling snow (I know it's cold, but it really does look like magic)... 

via

via

Hang in there with those avocados and grapefruits.  It'll be spring again soon.

strike the bell

I'm on a quote kick lately.  (But aren't I always?)  But also, somewhat unusually, I seem to find myself in various situations lately where I am faced with that age-old life choice: take the leap of faith or play it safe.

Sometimes I'm a risk-taker.  Sometimes I am very much not a risk-taker.  (Surely this is a result of being born to my mom and dad - the calculated, collected, predictable one and the risk-taker extraordinaire, respectively.)  I've been trying to figure it out for years.  Ole Miss made me more of a risk-taker.  Law school is making me less of one.  I'm not sure if I like that.

As I think on these decisions I have, the play-it-safe side is more apparent, more in my face.  Be careful.  Slow down.  You might get hurt.  Someone else might get hurt.  But then there's that part of me deep down, that's always there even if it's whispering, with a question - the question - that will always and forever overpower the play-it-safe side of me.  What if?

What if you go for it?  Think what could be waiting.  What's the worst thing that could happen?  You are always safe in Me.  You have nothing to fear from this world.  Make the leap.  Take the plunge.  What are you waiting for?

Earlier today I stumbled across this gem.  Luckily (yet again), Clive Staples has already articulated my thoughts for me...

Make your choice adventurous stranger,

Strike the bell and bide the danger,

Or wonder till it drives you mad

What would have followed if you had...

[C.S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew]

Riiight.  Got it.  I remember now.  The anticipation of things unknown usually doesn't make me afraid, it makes me excited.  I just forget that sometimes.  But I don't want to forget.  I have to go for it.  I choose to go for it, boldly.  "Make your choice..."  I strike the bell.

twenty thirteen y'all

After much adventuring, I am back in Lex.  Details on all of that soon, but first, just had to acknowledge the fact that 2012, the year of all things, has officially come and gone.  In all of the planning I had done for my entire life up to this point, I never made it past 2012.  I guess even from middle school I was predicting the whole Mayan apocalypse thing.  But just look where we are now.

2013.

Source: typographyserved.com via Katie on Pinterest

Source: feefeern.tumblr.com via Ainsley on Pinterest

Who would've thought it?  Join me in celebrating the newness of another January 1 all day long!  Happy 2013 friends.  May it be blessed.

so they say

Source: 26.media.tumblr.com via Katie on Pinterest

Two down, two to go.  A week from now exactly, I'll be leavin' on that jet plane to see Mary McCall White become Mary McCall McArthur, to dance it up all that night and then crash at the beach for a few days with all my brothers and sisters who are still stateside.  And if that in itself isn't a dream come true, THEN I get to go to Maine, where I will enjoy the freezing temperatures with a fire in the fireplace and Christmas lights in the cabin. 

But before I get too lost in those magical thoughts - contracts calls.  Offer and acceptance, parol evidence, promissory estoppel...anyone?  Looking for a friend...  (But seriously, if you have no clue what I'm talking about, good for you.  I would keep up whatever you're currently doing that isn't law school finals for as long as possible....) 

Happy Friday, friends.  Hang in there, whatever you're up to.

thanksgiving

Super blessed to hang out with these kids last week, during a quick but totally-worth-it trip to Charlotte, NC.

Last week.  Was that just a week ago?  Because it feels like a solid month.  I miss them already.  Thank goodness for Snapchat - the Snapchats are priceless.  I really can't believe it's only been a week since that day - when we were still in Thanksgiving food coma and exploring UNCC's campus and roaming IKEA.  That was a good, simple day.  Totally different than how my next 14 days are looking...  

Not sure if these next two weeks are going to be the longest ever or fly by.  There are moments of gold, and there are flashes of light - wait, no, totally kidding.  (I have had Celine in my head for a couple of days though!)  There are moments, sure, when the fear starts to creep in and tries to take over.  But there are many, many more moments where I am so incredibly calm, it surprises me.  Totally throws me off, actually.  I'm not supposed to be calm, I'm a 1L.  I'm supposed to be panicking, right?  Too often we forget...nowhere is that written.

Nowhere does it say we should give in to fear.  Nowhere does it say that we should prepare to fail.  Nowhere does it say that we should just try harder, and pull it off from our own strength.  Everywhere it says the opposite.

Do not fear.  Take heart.  Peace be with you.  I have overcome.  I have overcome.

There is nothing to fear.  

That is why we give thanks.  That is why Thanksgiving is every day.  Not only the day(s) that I got to hang with my cousins, eat, sleep, watch football and Duck Dynasty, and laugh together.  But also today, when I get to sit here and work on negligence hypos and my Civ Pro outline.  And also, believe it or not, next Tuesday, when I have the first of four 4-hour exams, all of which play a fairly substantial role in how the rest of law school, and potentially the rest of forever, starts to shape up.

Hear me again.  Better, hear Him again.  There is nothing to fear.  Only thanks, always.  And that, friends, is about as good as it gets.

Yesterday, I met Sam.

Every day I walk a mile to and from the law school.  Every day I pass apartments, bus stops, a hotel, and the UK hospital.  I stand on street corners with undergrads, pharmacy students, hospital janitors, patients, and surgeons.  And every day, we march together to the beat of Lexington's drum...

Beep-beep, beep-beep.  
Wait.  
Beep-beep, beep-beep.
Wait.
And then finally: South Limestone.
Walk sign is on to cross South Limestone.

Yesterday, towards the very start of my walk home, I found myself right behind a boy in a red hoodie.  We walked at an almost identical pace, so that it would have been impossible to try and pass him or for him to really distance himself from me.  We walked awkwardly in this rhythm for three-fourths of a mile, even stopping to cross at all of the same crosswalks.  And neither one of us ever said a word.  Until...

After about 15 minutes of walking and waiting, boy in the red hoodie turns down a side street.  "Good," I think.  "I can walk faster now."  But before boy in the red hoodie gets too far away, he turns over his shoulder, grins, and yells - "Nice walking with you!"  To which I stop, look after him, shake my head, and die out laughing.

I continue walking, taking my usual shortcut through the hotel parking lot, and thinking about the boy.  About how much nicer that walk would have been if we had talked to each other the entire way.  About how, when I first started school here, my least favorite thing was that no one on my daily walk would speak back to me when I said hello as I passed them.  About how, four months later, I had become just like them, exactly as I vowed I never would.

I make it through the parking lot to turn on Waller and realize boy in the red hoodie is back, now about fifteen paces ahead of me and walking up the steps to his typical campus-area house.  He sees me.  I yell to him, and he waits for me on his front porch.

Boy in the red hoodie is no longer boy in the red hoodie.  He is Sam, UK student who lives around the block.  And he knows a faster shortcut than I do, through a grassy area, behind the hotel.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sam jolted some life back into me.  Sam reminded me that just because the Deep South's hospitality and friendliness I grew up with isn't exactly the common thing up here, that doesn't mean it isn't the right thing still.  Reminded me that, despite hundreds of pages of dense reading and impending final exams and a largely auto-pilot lifestyle, I do not live in a world of cardboard cutouts.  I march to the beat of Lexington's drum with immortals, with very real lives, and very real souls.  Even if the voice telling me when it's time to cross the street is automated, the people I cross the street with are not.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"To live is the rarest thing in the world.  Most people exist, that is all."
[Oscar Wilde]

Thanks, Sam.  I meant it when I said I hoped you have a great rest of the week.

harmony

Make anyone else want to watch O Brother, Where Art Thou?  Add that to the Christmas list.  Only 10 days of class, a trip to North Carolina, hours of studying, one paper, and four exams to go.  

P.S. If anyone wants to get me Avett Brothers tickets for Christmas too, I'd be ok with that.

quoted: the original george w

A little bit of post-election perspective, from the man who started this whole presidential thing anyway:

"We must never despair; our situation has been compromising before, and it has changed for the better; so I trust, it will again.  If difficulties arise, we must put forth new exertion and proportion our efforts to the exigencies of the times..."

[George Washington]

For the record, I am not thrilled about the results.  But I'm standing by my Rule #1 - just don't freak out. Roll with the punches, guys.  We (Republicans, Democrats, Independents, non-voters, I don't care who you are) have just been given an occasion.  Time to rise to it.  

Ready...set...GO.

#USA

the times, they are a-changin'

October has slipped into November.  70 degrees has changed to 40.   The general law school attitude has changed from distant thoughts of finals to panic because finals are now only a month away, and a month cannot possibly be long enough.  I want the break to come quickly so that I can see my brothers and sisters in Mississippi, go to Maine, celebrate the holidays, and rest.  But at the same time, I am scared of what I face until then, and while I would consider myself more emotionally stable than a lot of people at this point, I'm just saying.  If I could get a hold of Hermione's time-turner, I would be totally down with that.  

But the times, they are a-changin', and if I have been in denial about that at all, I have had this tree to remind me.  I pass it every day, on the way to school and back.  And it's as good an example as any that 

The leaves have changed,

changed some more,

and finally fallen.

Can a girl get a pause button around these parts?  Where does the time (and the leaves!) go?

But that's the challenge, isn't it?  We want life to speed up, we want life to slow down, but regardless of our personal desires and wishes life goes on.  The only real choice is to go on with it.  So here's to embracing the changin' times - the new month (although I will always and forever mourn the end of October), the colder weather, the barren trees, even the studying.  It will all be beautiful in its own way, regardless of what anyone tries to tell us.

Even still - if you want to find me a time-turner or a pause button for the sake of my Contracts exam...  I'm just throwing that out there.  This may be the hardest month and a half of my life to date, but tonight, at least, I think I'm feeling up for the challenge.  Outlining, flashcard making, tea, and apple pie await...

come gather 'round people wherever you roam

and admit that the waters around you have grown

and accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone,

if your time to you is worth savin', 

then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone

for the times, they are a-changin'...

[bob dylan]

lately

I'm not going to lie.  This week was pretty rough.  I thought school was already in high-gear.  Apparently, there is turbo-gear, and it is scary.  But a bad week of class does not equate a bad week of life.  Especially this month.

Fall in Kentucky is beautiful.  And while this state is so different than Mississippi (more on that later), it has its own grand adventures that I have been fortunate to take advantage of lately.

 More time at Keeneland

Red River Gorge last Saturday.  Absolutely breathtaking. 

And of course, leaves falling everywhere.

I still feel kind of out of place here, but I definitely love it.  And I think the water must be getting to me or something, because the Bluegrass music is rubbing off on me too.  This song, on repeat, all day:

No action-packed activities planned for this weekend (besides the ridiculous law school Halloween party I just got back from) - it's time to sleep and study for a day or two.  I love October adventures, but I think I can stand to handle a little rest for a change.