Survived Irene!!

Experienced my first hurricane yesterday! I went over to Chase's place in Newport News after class on Friday and just got home this morning. There was lots of really strong wind and rain, but luckily we had power until sometime in the middle of the night last night after we had gone to sleep. I came back down to check on the house in VA Beach and there was lots of debris everywhere, but about half the street lights were working and the house has power! So that's nice. I'm racking up quite a few life experiences this week... First day of law school, first earthquake, first hurricane! I don't even want to know what my second week of law school has in store for me! 

Shake shake shake, shake shake shake, shake Virginia!

Yesterday, my second day of class, was pretty eventful! I was called on in class which was super scary, but successfully answered the question and survived! Also experienced my first earthquake! I  was in the library when it happened and the whole building was swaying and the bookshelves started rocking, but luckily fell. We left the building and ever since it's all anyone is talking about. The also new talk of the town is the upcoming hurricane! What have I gotten myself into?!?! Earthquakes and hurricanes? I'll keep everyone updated on how the rest of my first week goes and my plans for the hurricane!

First Day of Classes!!

Had my first day of actual school today! I started off the morning with civil procedure, then property right after. After a three hour break I had my last class which was Legal Writing, Research and Analysis.  All my teachers seem really nice, intense, but nice! My teachers seem like they really care that we learn the material. Also I met some new people who are in my classes. Have lots of reading to do this semester and I'm pretty intimidated. I've already started a mini study group with two other people who have all the same classes as I do, which is making me feel a little more comfortable.

Oh! And to back track to update you on my car difficulties... The fan in my car is getting overheated through its wires causing it to shut off. My fan shutting off caused coolant to get backed up in my radiator and it cracked in the front of it. Sooo my car is leaking all of its coolant out while I drive and causing my engine to overheat. I'm guessing this is what was actually wrong with my car when it broke down in Brinkley... I should be getting it fixed on Wednesday and until then I'm just borrowing spare Pam's pick up.

Suit up!

Today was professionalism day so... we had to dress like professionals! And as Barney from How I Met Your Mother would say, I had to "suit up". It was my first time ever wearing a suit!! Of course on the first day I was wearing a suit my car decided to make noises and then proceed to overheat... I made it to campus and googled the car symptoms during orientation and adding some coolant has appeased my car. My car is very braty though, so who knows how long it will be happy for.
Here's some pictures of me all suited up :)

3 days down 1 to go!

Just finished with my 3rd day of orientation!! We had a little test today, it didn't go too bad, I feel like I now have a better understanding of what they're looking for.  I went shopping today for some business clothes after orientation because tomorrow is our professionalism day, so we have to wear business attire. I hit like the sale + discount jackpot today though!! I got slacks from Express 40% off and then I got a suit jacket and two button up shirts from the limited $60 off and then 30% off too (Went from $215 to $87!!)!! So I'm super excited about my great deals! I'm getting anxious about starting school, I just want classes to start so I can get the ball rolling, we keep having speakers tell us about how horrible the year is, so I just want to get it going. Aside from that, things are going pretty well! I'm starting to settle in and learn my way around a little. The roads here make absolutely no sense, so it will probably take awhile before I don't need to use a map to go farther than a couple miles, but at least I can now make it a couple miles!

First Day of Orientation!

Just finished the first day of orientation and a little intimidated, but not quite as nervous anymore. I got there a little late this morning because parking at Regent is horrible! The first hour was for getting paperwork done and mingling with other new 1L's so it wasn't too big of a problem. Tomorrow I am definitely leaving earlier though. The Dean introduced himself to me and the two girls I was sitting with during the mingling time and he was really friendly so that was calming for my nerves since I also have him as a teacher. After that we went into the mock trial room and heard from some speakers on introduction to law school basics and about study skills. We also had basically the first day of our Legal Analysis class today, since what we are learning in Orientation is potentially going to be on our final. They provided us a lunch which was actually pretty good. After lunch we learned how to brief cases and did a few examples. We start our property class lectures tomorrow, which is also going to be potentially covered on our final exam. They already gave us homework too! I have to read 4 cases and a statute and brief the 4 cases. I did make two friends today which is good :) I met a bunch of other people who were all very nice as well so the school year shouldn't be too bad! At the end of lunch I received an email from the Financial Aid office that said I owed about $17,500, due before the 22nd.  I panicked a little and went to the Financial Aid officer after orientation to straighten things out. The Financial Aid office sent me to the Business office and it turned out there was a glitch in the system which caused me to be billed double for everything including tuition. They got that straightened out thank goodness so all went pretty well today.  Off to office max to buy some school supplies!

Fun Weekend!

Had a fun weekend so far! My Dad came in town on Thursday and hung out with Pam and I till last night (Friday night) and we went to some awesome dinner spots! The first cool place we went was Bubba's on the Chesapeake bay (photo below). The next night we went to Mahi Mah's with Chase and Mike. After dinner we walked around on the boardwalk (photo below). My dad also got the excitement of getting a desk with me off craigslist and the endless shopping for a chair to go with my new desk and curtains, I still don't have either of those.  Chase and I had lots of fun at the petting zoo this morning and got to feed some goats and chickens etc. Here's some pictures below!

Decorating!

Today was very odd having Chantel gone (she returned home safely after a very annoying flight home full of delays and a night spent in Dallas).  I went to lunch with Alana, a 3L (Third-year Law Student), who I met for lunch during my tour of the Regent Campus back in March.  She was very helpful with answering all my questions from about orientation (which starts on Monday, Aug. 15th) to how school is to what type of bag is most commonly used. Once I returned to the house I was all excited/stressed so I decided to unpack more and finally hang up all the pictures that I had laying on my floor.  My room is for the most part put together, aside from needing to get a desk. My closet on the other hand is a mess... but that's for another day! Why do today what can be put off to tomorrow, right? Probably not a good mind set as I enter into law school, but oh well! Hopefully the saying will flip flop around soon.
Here are some pictures of my room :)

Smoke on the water

Was planning on going to the beach with Chantel today, but of course with Murphy's Law, the whole town  was covered in smoke. There is a fire south of the city on the Virginia/ North Carolina border in a swamp. You could barely see and it smelled horrible! So we decided to wait a bit and then go to the aquarium. The coolest part of the aquarium was the otter out front which was free to see! A little later Pam and I dropped off Chantel at the airport and she unfortunately has a delay there now. It's weird to see Chantel go because it's like the vacation that I felt like I was on isn't a vacation and it's official. Not sure how I am feeling right now, slightly sad but slightly excited for the change. I'll keep you all updated on how things go tomorrow!!

Washington DC!!!

Went up to Washington DC with Chantel to go see Jess Barnes and her fiance Mike! It was a super fun weekend and we stayed with them in Alexandria, VA which is right outside of the city for Saturday and Sunday night! It was amazing getting to see all the sights that I've heard about and seen in the news. We walked all over the city (and sometimes even while being rained on) and got to see some awesome sites like the Washington monument, Capital, Lincoln memorial, White House, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Holocaust Museum and went up the tower of the old post office building for a great view of the city! Mike and Jess were awesome hosts and we also got some delicious cupcakes from Georgetown Bakery. We had to wait in line for about 30 minutes in the rain for those cupcakes, but they were definitely worth it! Here are a few pictures from the trip: 

Settling in VA Beach

Sorry to be so slow about posting! These past two days have been pretty busy. Yesterday we woke up early to go to breakfast in Nashville at this delicious restaurant, Pancake Pantry, honestly the best pancake/syrup I've ever had! Then we made the long drive to VA Beach and made it to the house at about 11:30 pm! I was sooo happy to finally just get here, I was starting to think the driving would never end!!

Slept in till about 9:30 this morning and after some breakfast burritos that Pam made us, started moving everything up into my room. It only took about an hour with Chase and Chantel's help, but oh man does humidity make you sweaty!! After moving we went to Rudees for lunch and then Watermans. After an orange crush, we walked around on the beach for a bit and called it a day after that. I started to unpack everything this evening and it's coming all pretty well... I'll post a picture once I get everything unpacked and hung up :)

Never been so happy to see Tennessee!

Escaped Brinkley, AR yesterday!!! They tried to hold us prisoner by not having the right piece for my car and then charging a lot to install the other piece that would make it work yesterday. Although the 4 people we interacted with were very friendly and went above and beyond to help us, I have no desire to ever go back.

Last night we made it to the suburb Chantel's aunt lives in and went to dinner with her grandma. We're really bummed that we missed our day in Nashville for a day in Brinkley, cause quite frankly there is no comparison between the two. One has awesome bars, shops, and a long history of music celebrity. The other has sonic, closed shops, and an obsession with the ivory billed woodpecker. So the better choice is obviously clear but apparently my jeep decoded it really wanted to try to see one of those woodpeckers... But hopefully this morning Chantel and I will get to spend at least an hour I'm Nashville to at least see the city as we eat breakfast.

Today is our last long drive, thank God.

What can go wrong will go wrong...

My car randomly broke down on the side of the I-40 right by the guard rail... apparently the worst place to be stuck.  We called AAA, but since I'm towing a uhaul it's not covered under my plan so we had to call another tow truck company and were stuck on the side of the road for 45 minutes with semis and cars whizzing by in the heat and what looked like a swamp behind us. The tow truck driver was awesome and took us to the small town Brinkley, AR and brought us to the auto repair shop where luckily the owner happened to still be there after hours. The mechanic took a quick look at it and thinks at least our electric fan is shot because it smelled like an electrical fire, but there was also fluid leaking from the car so who knows. The awesome tow truck driver then took us to McDonalds to get some food and then to the nicest hotel in town because according to him there are some not very nice areas. We were instructed to stay in our hotel room and not to wander around town. The hotel is okay... kind of like a motel 6... and this is where I am now... I'll keep everyone updated on the progress tomorrow!!

This is horrible

Chantel must be a masochist and I am sadistic for doing this to her, because there is no fun in waking up at 3:50 am to get ready to drive for 16 hours for the second day in a row. Teleportation needs to be invented NOW.

Stopping in the Lone Star State

It was very bittersweet leaving Phoenix this morning. I'm sad to leave my family and friends, but excited for all the new experiences. Chantel and I headed out a little late and the uhaul was a little scary at first, but we're getting used to it. Stopped in Amarillo, Texas because we're 4 hours behind the plan because of how slow we're going and we hit a couple storms on the way. We're both excited to be out of the car and sleeping for a bit before we wake up early and head back out on the road.

Miss everyone so much already!