Lawbrary |:| learning to compromise

If there is one thing I have learned in law school, it is the art of compromise. Sure, I mean it in the context of clients and cases, but more in life. Take this weekend for example. My wonderful mother offered to take our kids overnight on Saturday (thank you Mom). So Corey and I started thinking about what we would like to do. We have been wanting to go to the outlets, but didn't want that to be our only adventure. So we decided we would take the kiddos to the outlets Saturday morning and then have a nice date night after we dropped them off. Dinner and a movie maybe (or skip dinner and eat popcorn and candy AT the movies :). However, in order to have this wonderful Saturday, my Friday night and most of the day Sunday will be spent reading and researching. I am currently parked at my dining room table trying to knock out as much of Labor Law and Consumer Protection (EW) as possible before I make dinner. After dinner, I will park myself here again to push through more Consumer Protection (because it NEVER ENDS) and Wealth Transfers.

And Tomorrow???

I WILL NOT LOOK AT ANYTHING LAW RELATED!

Life is compromise. And tonight is not rainbows or butterflies, but tomorrow will be lovely. So we just keep moving along...

DIY Corner |:| Be forewarned I am NOT crafty

As evidenced by my endeavor today.

I have been on pinterest for a bit now, and one of my favorite aspects are the DIY ideas. I love looking at things and seeing how doable they are. But then I remember. I am not crafty. I am almost positive that the right side of my brain is missing.

But my friend Lauren had said she was going to get crafty this weekend, and I thought--"Pinterest says that I can do this...so I will." And the one thing I know how to do is knit. So I went to Michael's and got some pretty yarn.

 I grabbed my size 13 needles and sat down to make this...

So cute. Seemingly so easy--short, wide scarf with a button. I had to figure out the pattern. I was thinking Knit, Knit, Knit, Knit--Purl, Purl, Purl, Purl. But I started and it didn't look right. So I called my very, very crafty mother-in-law, Becky. I asked her to pull up my pinterest and tell me what she thought the pattern was. After a few minutes of looking for the picture, she said, "Well, Cole, that's crochet." And guess what? I don't know how to crochet.

But Becky, being a wonderful mother-in-law, said she would show me how (maybe a good Thanksgiving break activity for the two of us). So that scarf will have to wait for a bit. In the meantime I will use my size 13 needles to make a normal scarf for myself or some other lucky person ;)

BTW |:| Bozic-Taylor Weekend

At least a couple times a year, we have Bozic-Taylor weekends. More in the last couple-which is fine by all of us. The weekends generally involve really good food, really great fellowship, and a whole lot of vegging!  This past weekend was a family affair--all 7 of us in participation. And it went remarkably well. I say "remarkably" because having 3 kids sleep in one room could have been horrendous, but they all got along WONDERFULLY! (and they slept pretty wonderfully as well!).

Here is the time-line with photos (although, Danie has a lot more photos - so check her blog for more):

Thursday
AM: Bozics leave Morgantown
PM: Bozics arrive at Taylor residence; DINNER--brats, chips, beans, homemade salsa (YUM)

the rest of the evening was spent hanging out, letting kiddos play, catching up on all the new and exciting things that had gone on since the last time we were together.

Friday
AM: I hung out with kiddos while Scott and Danielle went to work and Corey ran errands. We did all kinds of fun things like...

play with balloons

jump around

play outside

take photos (typical brother behavior)

Early PM: Once the Taylors got home, Danielle and I headed out to have our girl time.

 Which involved a tattoo for her (SO EXCITED TO BE THERE) and yummy drinks and apps at a downtown place. I will let Danie share her tattoo with you, but I will steal her KILLER pic of our drinks with the reflection of the buildings in the background.

Later PM: Delicious butternut squash stuffed shells, fun fall drink called a Boardwalk Boss, and just hanging out.

Saturday:
AM: Boys turn to head out and enjoy some early morning golf adventures.

Girls manned all three kiddos-we went to Ainsley's soccer game, brunch at Tomato Head, and the Farmer's Market.

Early PM: Mountaineer Football--wings, spuds and lounging.

Later PM: Dinner--tempeh and green bean stir fry with peanut sauce. recipe here. Once kiddos were tucked in, the adults VEGGED OUT. We watched funny videos and ate cookies (or cookie dough for me :). As always, we laughed (until I snorted) and wished tomorrow wasn't the day we left.  It was loverly!

Sunday:
AM: Church at OneLife. It was great to get to worship with our friends and see what they are doing in their church.

PM: the long drive home-always sad to leave.

the office |:| sunny days

 

I'm working today, and realized I haven't blogged about my new office. With the influx of new associates, I moved out of my old office a month ago. It was only sad for nostalgic purposes-it was my first big girl office, I realized for sure that I wanted to be a lawyer in that office, and I had a lovely little bird that liked to fly into my window (and scare the crap out of me) every other day or so.

My new office is fabulous though!

Especially on sunny days like today--thank goodness the rain stopped. I have lots of windows and space. My window looks at 705, but there are some trees to make it seem picturesque :).  We have our own little kitchenette on this end of the building with a coffee pot and water cooler (but it is FAR from the kitchen where candy and treats tempt me constantly). I don't have a bird, but a stink bug named Carl likes to crawl on my window (on the outside of my window--no bugs on the inside. You can ask Lindsay McIntosh about a fly situation we had in here the other day!).

I hang here 2 days a week-researching and writing and listening to Pandora. Next fall, I will be here permanently. It is crazy to think I will be a baby-lawyer in less than a year! (as long as that pesky thing called the Bar exam goes off without a hitch). Hope your work days are made better with a little sun too!

Kitchen Adventures |:| Noodle Bowls

I love going to a restaurant and discovering things that I can recreate at home. I have done this with the chicken caeser pasta salad from Cheddar's and certainly different drink recipes like Tennessee Manhattans that I first had at a place called Baker Peters. So a couple weeks ago, on a chillier day, I went to lunch at ZenClay. I usually get salads for lunch, but I was cold. So I opted for a Noodle Bowl. YUM. A few days later my friend Danielle told me about Noodle Bowls you can get at the grocery store--also YUM. The ingredients are simple... the prep shouldn't be too hard (right?)...so I gave it a whirl. And I think the end product turned out pretty tasty!! (and pretty)

Ingredients:
Broccoli florets -- 1 head
carrots--2 sliced
sugar snap peas--couple handfuls
(steam the above until fork tender and set to the side)
mushrooms--cup of whatever variety you want
shrimp--I used a bag of frozen
vegetable broth--1 box
garlic--1 teaspoon
crushed red pepper --1/2 teaspoon (or to taste)
soba noodles (8 oz) --cooked according to package directions--(PS I really like these noodles, they are new to me, and delicious!)

In a pan I heated a little oil and got the garlic and crushed red pepper going. Then I added the mushrooms. I let them sweat a bit and added the veggie broth. I heated it to boiling and dropped in the shrimp to cook for 4-5 minutes. Add the veggies and let them reheat for a minute. In a bowl put a quarter of the noodles and top with a quarter of the broth/veg mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

I liked it in this very clean form. I think the hubs would have liked it to be kicked up in the sauce department. Maybe next time some soy sauce and sriracha could be included. It is really a Choose Your Own Adventure type of dinner :)

Weekend in Review

The weekend was damp--ok downright soaked. And COLD! I mean it is October, but I was unprepared for 44 degree weather. Still, we made the most of it. Friday night the kiddos and I (and my momma) bundled up and went to the Homecoming Parade. It rained and rained, but my kids were so excited--jump over to the family blog to see some pics.

Saturday morning, we had a wonderful family breakfast. I think it needs to be a tradition! We whipped up some blueberry muffins (for Joe) and sausage (for Libby) with lots of French pressed coffee for me and the hubs (YES--my husband is now a coffee drinker-who would've ever thought?). We hung out around the table and enjoyed each other's company for a while before Corey had to head to his gig.

Joe "reading" me the recipe

The coffee drinking Bozics

The kiddos and I spent the rest of the day indoors. It would have been great to go to the game, but wrangling two kids in the dreary conditions didn't seem like a good plan. Instead we watched from the warmth of our basement. They even performed a half-time show for me.

Later on Meghan paid a visit. She and I made some snacks and had some wine. It was great to catch up and hang out. We threw on PJs just in time for Corey to get home. The three of us watched the documentary about Conan and called it a night.

This was actually before the Marshall game--aren't we cute in our dark gray shirts :)

 Sunday was church and lunch with Meghan and the med students (band name possibility?). Then HOMEWORK. 7 hours in the same chair is too many. But the finish line is in sight--8 months. That's the long term excitement...the short term excitement?? Spending some Q-time with these people in 3 days!!

cityChurch |:| encouragment

We had our community group last night--the topic? encouragement. We looked at different stories in the Bible where God encouraged his People-Moses, Elijah, Peter, but the one that stood out to me was Joshua.

In Joshua 1, God tells Joshua that he is to lead the Israelites into the promised land without Moses. Moses was the leader all through the desert-Exodus. But God wanted Joshua to be the leader now. And over and over God reassures Joshua-don't be afraid, I'm here. Joshua 1:9 was one of those verses I clung to in high school. I had it memorized...I wrote it in my locker. But sometime in the last 10 years, I forgot it. But what a powerful thing to be reminded of - everyday. Don't be discouraged. Why? Because God is with you wherever you go. HE is capable, HE is strong, HE is powerful. And HE is with me.

and I want to encourage those around me--like he tells me to. "Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but ENCOURAGING one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:24-25