And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...

Hopefully everyone realized that my last blog post was a joke... Brought to you by the always exciting, occasionally inappropriate, comedic stylings of Miss Lizzy.

Anyway... I know it's been a terribly, horrendously, inexcusably long time since I last updated, but ... I've been busy? Yeah. We'll go with that.

Things here have worked themselves into a pretty steady routine. I go to class, go to the gym, go to the library to study, go home and go to bed. Repeat. On the weekends, I have a bit of free time. I try to balance it between friends and family and my own sanity. It seems to be working thus far.

I'm still very much enjoying school. I have more homework now than I did at the beginning, but that was expected. I've made some good friends who like to study in the library just as much as I do! Makes it much easier and much more fun to study in the evenings. And between classes. And on the weekends before football games and after church and pretty much any moment that I can't come up with a legitimate reason to not be studying, like sleep or class...

Life in Lincoln is an adjustment after 6 years in Chicago. I miss things I didn't think I'd miss. Especially the things I was only just starting to discover before I left. But Lincoln has great football, and my parents have great cable, which means I get to watch great soccer on a fairly regular basis, too. (By the way - this was a GREAT weekend for college football and English soccer. Huskers beat OK State, OK was pummeled by Mizzou (eat it Sooners!) and Iowa State beat Texas; AND Arsenal beat Man City, moving up to 2nd in the League! Oh to be a Gooner!)

Haven't got a whole lot else to say... This next month and a half is going to be hectic and probably pretty rough for me. Lots of homework, our first real research assignment, the beginning of the career search (officially begins Nov 1), and studying for finals... So I'll close with some pictures, per reader request.

These are some of my friends from the law school. This is Siobhan, Caitlyn and myself at Barristers' Ball (aka Law Prom).


This is a picture of the LHS Marching Band getting ready to perform at the Lincoln High Marching Band Competition at Beechner Field. My younger brother plays snare in the marching band so I've been going to some of this competitions this year.


You wanna know where I've been spending all my time, right? I knew you did, so I included some pictures just for you!

This is a picture of the lovely Nebraska Capital, located in the Star City (Lincoln). They've got some fun nicknames for this baby, but I can't put them online, so ask me later and we'll make "That's what she said" jokes.


And here's the Law School and library. The first picture is the front(ish) of the law building. Attached to the law school is the law library, where I spend a great deal of time. The second picture is the back of the library. The giant glass windows are the Reading Room, in which you CANNOT talk or listen to headphones. The smaller windows are some of the study rooms we like to hang out in.



Finally, I pay homage to some of my fave sport teams.

First, is my current school and the great flagship school of the "Good Life" state - the Cornhuskers! Below is a picture of our lovely new QB, Taylor Martinez. He's kinda hit or miss, had a rough go of it against South Dakota State (let's not talk about it), and Texas (ditto), but looked pretty good this past weekend against OK State. Plus, he's a red-shirt freshman, so he's got time to grow into it. T*Magic!


And last, but never, ever least, are my favorite boys in red, currently 2nd in their league, Arsene's Red Army, the unstoppable Gooners! Here's a picture of Fabregas, Chamakh, Nasri, Sagna and Arshavin dogpiling on Song after he made the second goal of the game against Man City this morning. <3 Plus a nice shot of the final score.



That's all. Enjoy!

Samantha.

Pink Resume Paper

It's been a while, dear readers, but I'm back for another entry! A lot has happened...I met a boy. Well, I should say a man--compared to him, everyone else has been a boy. I guess I should really start with how we met. I'm going to leave names out, just for privacy sake.

In my International Criminal Law class, there is this incredible opportunity to intern for the professor, Professor C. The whole class is basically vying for that Professor C's attention through excellent marks and answering smartly in class just to get a spot in the internship. Probably because as an intern you actually get to participate in a criminal defense suit! Anyway, they *finally* announced who made it a couple of weeks ago and I made the cut!

That's where I met E. E works as Professor C's associate and together they're working on a case. I can't say too much about the case because it hasn't gone to trial yet, however, what the press releases have stated (and I can share with you) is that the (legendary) fitness instructor B has been accused of murdering her husband. I am so ready to assist and find out the truth behind this, but nervous about being responsible for such a big case so early on.

I'd go on more about E, but I'm afraid I'll jinx things by discussing them here! And it'd be weird if he found this posting. Let's just say he looks kind of like this:


I'm more than a bit smitten.

So you'll see that I've been a tad busy, and I do apologize for taking so long to update. I'm not sure when my next chance to update will be as Professor C has been working us quite hard despite our busy course load. It might just be me, but it seems like he's working E and I harder than the the rest. He's also been giving me weird eyes sometimes. Probably just my imagination!

Time to go get my nails taken care of and catch up with my manicurist. I'll catch up with you all later!

One Week Down... Three Years to Go.

Well the first week of law school has come and gone and -- surprise, surprise -- I'm still here!

It was a whirlwind of a week and I really enjoyed it. I love my classes (except for maybe Legal Research and Writing…) and my classmates seem interesting and intelligent. I don't want to bore you all with the details, but I would have to say that, so far, my favorite classes are… never mind. I can't pick any of them as favorites. I'm sure I'll change my mind about this later, but for now, I really enjoy my classes and my professors and my classmates.

This past week has consisted of about 13 hours actually in class, at least 20 hours of reading/studying, lots of coffee, many late nights and an abundance of my favorite tea drink - Hot Fuji Snow. I am finding time for fun and relaxing, and I'm still working out - which I've heard on more than one occasion is really important (like I didn't already know that, hah).

We've had a lot of car drama this past week, too. I knew I'd have to buy a car when I moved home, but I wanted to get all my financial aid ducks in a row before committing to anything too seriously. My brother also turned 16 and finally got his license this month. As a result, we had 4 drivers in the house and only 2 cars. This is the first time in a very long time that I can remember drivers outnumbering vehicles in my household. It was okay during the summer when Michael and I weren't doing much, but we knew we'd need to get things figured out before the start of the school year.

Well, last Friday night, the radiator in the Jeep cracked, which makes the Jeep completely un-drivable because it overheats super fast. My poor mom was driving when it happened, but she got the Jeep towed and made it home just fine. The Jeep was then sitting in the shop all day Saturday, all day Sunday, all day Monday (when they actually opened, could look at the Jeep and figure out what was wrong) and most of Tuesday (when they actually got to fix it). This left us with 4 drivers, 1 car and four very different schedules on Monday and Tuesday.

It was a bit of scramble to get everyone dropped off at their appropriate places of work or school, but we managed. And mom and I went shopping for new cars! Mom settled on a bright red Pontiac Vibe, and I found a cute little blue Chevy Cavalier (very similar to the Corsica which we were all now sharing and would eventually be inherited by Michael). By Friday afternoon, the cars were ours and the Jeep was sufficiently repaired to be put back into commission. So now we've got 4 cars for 4 drivers and everyone is quite happy (although I think my mom is totally freaked out by Michael driving around Lincoln on his own…)!

PICTURES.....

Mom's Car

Sam's Car!!!!

That was my drama for the week. I know - I live a terribly exciting life, right? :) I'm quite content to have such minimal drama these days. School is enough work as it is, without adding drama llamas on top.

Random Notes of Interest:
(1) I'm cutting back on dairy, because this is supposed to help reduce the symptoms of allergies (ask Johnny for more info…)
(2) Amy and Ty's puppy, Ezra, is doing awesome. He is the cutest little guy and he is SO smart. He is the star of his puppy class, of course. I'd expect nothing less of someone from our family!
(3) I love Lincoln. It is really a beautiful little town and it is so happily green and windy these days. If you're not here, you're missing out.
(4) Can't wait for my upcoming trips to Chicago and Colorado. I miss you out-of-staters and I hope I get to see some of you within the next couple of months!

Love,
Samantha

Orientation

Orientation for Law School was preceded by an optional session on "Reading Like a Lawyer" on Wednesday. I decided that since I was in Lincoln already and since I don't have a job or anything else pressing or productive going on, I should probably attend this session. It was interesting and informative, although not as exciting as some of the other sessions I have since attended. I got to see my Civil Procedures professor in action, as well as Dean Pierce, whom I must say I really enjoy. I wasn't feeling particularly social at this session, so I pretty much just left afterward.

Later on Wednesday night I went to the ice cream social for students who had signed up for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, which pairs a 1L student with a returning 2L or 3L student. I was supposed to be paired with at 3L named Brooke, but she was unable to attend, so I was randomly paired up with this guy Stephen, a 2L, whose "Little Brother" also did not show up. I had a good time talking with Stephen about law school, sports (soccer!!! he's an Aston Villa fan - boo!), and other random stuff; and he was nice enough to introduce me to some of his friends. As it turned out, his friends were headed out for a drink at Risky's after the ice cream social and they invited me and a couple of other 1Ls along. It was great to get to meet real law students and see that they are regular people just like me. They have fun, they have jobs, they struggle in classes, they go out, they hate some professors and love others (and they don't always agree on which professors fall into which categories). They gossip and shop and make plans to go out for pizza. It's just good to see that you really can still have a social life while in school!

The first day of Orientation was a whirlwind. We had to have our pictures taken in the morning - these will be attached to our transcripts for the next 3 years (no pressure, right?) - and then we got to talk with students from various student organizations. I'm thinking I will join a law fraternity (they have a massive compilation of outlines for every class), the Student Bar Association (you get a good discount in the bookstore), the Women's Law Caucus (they have great parties and networking), and the International Law Association (they help with study abroad). After this we had a welcome from Chief Justice Heavican of the Nebraska Supreme Court, as well as some other people. The Dean spoke briefly and the associate dean (Dean Pierce, my favorite for sure) spoke at length of academic integrity and various rules that 1Ls are expected to follow. According to the ABA, 1Ls are not allowed to engage in any career oriented activities until Nov 1, so the dean from the career center could only give a very brief talk to us, but there will be a lot more of that to come! I then had lunch with my academic advisor, who is my Property professor for the fall. He's a pretty interesting guy, but he makes a lot of baseball analogies that I don't really get…

Then we had a big ethics session with Chief Justice Riley of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. He gave a kind of somber speech about how the law profession is viewed as lacking in integrity as of late, and how we should strive to change that. He paraphrased another judge (can't remember who, sorry) when he said we should respect the law, but never worship the law. The law is not the highest power of the land. Rather, it is the lowest common denominator, the lowest acceptable standard of conduct; and we should all hold ourselves to something higher. It reminded me of something from Law & Order (omg) when they said we should not just uphold the Letter of the Law, but the Spirit of the Law. Anyway, after this, we broke out into smaller groups to discuss various ethical hypotheticals. My group was led by Chief Justice Heavican - a pretty cool guy who was appointed by Clinton. He had great questions for us that would completely shift the paradigm in which the hypothetical might currently stand. If he wasn't such an excellent judge, he could be a great teacher.

Day two of Orientation was quite a bit shorter. We had a brief overview of the library, and then we got to meet our "registration groups". These are groups of 18 students with whom I'll have all of my classes. Each of the classes have a mix of different registration groups, so you should have at least one class with every other 1L. I don't really know my group very well yet, but I'm excited to get to know them. I hope I like them, since I have to spend several hours each day for the next 9 months with them… :) We ended the day with a lecture from our Legal Writing professor. It was kinda boring, but it was good to learn to brief cases and see what exactly they're looking for.

Later that night, the Student Bar Association hosted a "Back to School" party at The Alley. Lots of people went out and we had a good time. It was a lot of fun and I met a lot of new people, especially older students. The students at UNL are all so nice. Everyone wants to give you their outlines and their briefs and their advice. It's really reassuring. I'm not sure I would particularly enjoy one of those really competitive environments where students hide books and stuff. That's just crazy.

Looks like I'm getting better at this whole blogging on a regular basis thing… I'm headed out for the evening now - going to watch the No Coast Derby Girls for the first time with a bunch of girl friends. Should be quite exciting! Apparently there is a 2L who plays on one of the teams.

So I will probably update you all again on Monday-ish. By then, I should have completed my first day of law school and I'll give you some fun updates about my car shopping experiences!

Samantha

Colorado is calling...

Sorry it's been a while since I last updated my bloggy blog. Things have been a bit busy here, and I'll tell you why...

When we last left off, I had just finished telling you all of my fantastic family trip to the cabins at Platte River State Park, and of my growing excitement and anticipation for both my trip to Colorado and the beginning of my law school career. As I write to you now, I have returned from Colorado and just finished my first official day of Orientation at law school.

Let's start with Colorado… I went to Colorado with my best friend Mikayla to visit our other best friend Whitney who recently gave birth to the beautiful baby girl Zia. Mikayla and I drove to CO, a trip I know many of you would consider quite boring, but there's a reason I"m in Nebraska and it's because I have a very great love for wide open spaces, rolling hills, corn fields, soy bean fields, sunflower fields, open blue skies and decrepit windmills. That pretty much describes the landscape for about 6.5 hours of the 8 hour trip. Nebraska is a truly beautiful state, especially in the Spring and Summer times. Colorado is, of course, a lovely state as well. I always enjoy the mountains and the canyons and the multiple levels of ear poppery.

Our visit with Whitney and Zia (and Joe - Zia's daddy, and Chris - Zia's uncle) was pretty much fantastic - definitely one of the best trips I've had in a long time. It was great to see my best friend again. I think sometimes we forget how important it can be to actually see each other - to hear laughter, see the eyes smile, give real hugs. It's refreshing and nourishing to the soul (excessively descriptive, I know, but so true). Zia is such a cute and perfect little baby girl. She has the most beautiful and infectious smile! Toward the end of our visit, I could tickle her plump little cheeks and her little bitty chin and she would smile in the most adorable way. She is also a very blessed little girl, to have such loving and devoted parents, and an uncle who obviously cares very much for her. That house is full of love.

We didn't do much while we were in Colorado, besides fawn over Zia, catch up with Whit, and get to know Joe and Chris. Mikayla and I took a quick trip to Estes Park to see the canyon, the mountains and the Stanley Hotel (which The Shining is based on). Whitney, Mikayla and I also went shopping in downtown Fort Collins, took Zia and the dogs (Balou and Nanook) for walks, and on Saturday we took a big trip to the river (minus Uncle Chris). The river was pretty excellent - there were lots of families with dogs there and it was just a really relaxing and beautiful place to spend a few hours and get some sun.

It was incredibly difficult to leave Fort Collins. I knew that I would be returning to Lincoln to face the regimented ferocity of law school, while I was leaving behind a world of natural beauty, outdoor excitement and home full of loving friends. More than once, I wanted to turn the car around and bid "adieu" to Lincoln and law school. I think this kind of panic and uncertainty is common among 1Ls. I've spoken with a few others already who are nervous, intimidated, completely unsure of what we are attempting to throw ourselves, head first, into. But the car moved steadily east, away from rock climbing, camping and my cute baby Zia, and toward a different kind of adventure.

And so I write to you today from a favorite coffee shop of mine in the big small-town that is Lincoln, Nebraska. I've finished my first day of Orientation, in addition to some other pre-Orientation events, and I've briefed one case and will commence the reading and briefing of another once I finish this blog. I'm excited for law school. Sometimes I forget my own ambitions, until a zealous law professor raves passionately about his love of the law, or bright and eager 2Ls chat about their Law Review articles, or my orientation welcome is performed by the Chief Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court, or the Chief Justice of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals talks to me about ethics. Oh yes, it's been a fun couple of days. More about this on Saturday - I promise!

Love you all,
Samantha.

P.S. If anyone is curious about my Hot Fuji Snow, it's the awesome drink I get at the CoHo with mint tea, cream and vanilla. Delish!

We Are Family

I have been living at home for a little over two weeks now and I think we are all starting to adjust to my presence here. Sort of. :)

About a week after my arrival, my family hosted the 76th Annual Jambor Family Reunion. For those of you who aren't related, this is a reunion on my mother's side consisting of my grandfather's siblings, their kids (my mom), their kids' kids (me) and, their kids' grandkids (my cousins' children) and, in some family lines, their great grandkids! It's kind of a big deal. This year we made key chains with a picture of my grandpa's parents at their wedding. Also, my mom has a charcoal portraits of my grandpa's grandparents - both sets. She is big on genealogy and it is very cool.

After this reunion, we always take a family vacation with my aunts and uncles and cousins to some cabins at Platte River State Park. We stay out at the cabins for a week and generally do a lot of nothing, play cards, go to the water park, and now that we're all a bit older, drink. This year, some of my cousins played paintball! They have some really lovely red welts surrounded by gorgeous purple bruises. I opted to stay home for that outing.

To be honest though, vacation is getting kind of boring. Or rather, time off is getting boring. I miss working and having things to do. I've been doing a lot of reading for leisure and watching lots of soccer (so glad my parents have cable). And I'm very much looking forward to my next trip out of state - I'm headed to Colorado with one of my childhood friends, Mikayla, to visit another old friend, Whitney, who just had a beautiful baby girl in June!

As soon as I get back form that trip, I've got three days "off" and then it's time for Orientation. We go all day Thursday and Friday (August 19-20), but there's also an optional session on Wednesday, which I intend to attend. Also, in the next few weeks I need to buy a new (used) car and tomorrow I'll be ordering a new computer - a MacBook Pro! Super excited for that.

Oh and some updates since my last entry: (1) Michael passed his driving test and is now a licensed and legal driver. Please be safe and cautious when driving the streets of Lincoln!! (2) My foot is not healed. Super lame. Taking more time off from running.

For now, I'm kicking back to watch some MLS Soccer. NY Red Bulls are playing Chicago Fire at Toyota Park. Wish I could be there, but I'll settle for watching from the comfort of my air conditioned living room with Bo.

Samantha

P.S. I will try to update more frequently in the future to make these posts a bit shorter!

Settling In

Hello everyone. Welcome back for the second edition of my oh so exciting blog! I am now officially moved back to Lincoln and settling in at home. It was a long a somewhat treacherous trip home, but we managed to survive.

Amy and Tyson flew into Chicago on Friday morning to help me move. They left Lincoln at 5:30am to catch an early flight out of Omaha - they must really love me! :) We had one last meal in Chicago - breakfast at Yolk, a restaurant I highly recommend - and then headed to the apartment to pack up. My roommate Jef helped us, and it only took us about an hour to get all my things loaded up.

The drive through Illinois was relatively uneventful... until we reached the Iowa boarder. Right as we pulled off the interstate, we drove in to one of the most terrible thunderstorms I've ever been in or seen. The rain was coming down in sheets, we could barely see out the windows, the trees were blowing so hard they were practically covering the streets and the truck was was vibrating because the wind was blowing so hard. Eventually, we pulled off to the side of the road and sheltered the truck next to a shed to wait out the storm. Tyson was driving the whole time and stayed much calmer and more collected than I ever could have. Thank, God. We all made it out alive and in tact though, so I guess it worked out.

We got back on the interstate and drove a little more until the car in front of us slowed down suddenly, and then the car next to it slowed down suddenly. We couldn't figure out what was going on, but Amy noticed a car pulled off on the side of the road ahead. And then we saw a dog running down the interstate into oncoming traffic. The car ahead of us and in the next lane tried to slow down and avoid it, but they nicked him a little - he stumbled, rolled and then just kept running. Really scary sight to see.

After driving through a few more rough patches of rain, getting cut off three times (twice by the same jerk-face) and then getting stuck in construction outside of Council Bluffs, we finally made it home to my parents after about 10 hours driving. Many, many thanks to Tyson for driving the whole way! And to Amy, Ty and Jef for helping me move my things. I am so grateful to have such loving and helpful people in my life.

Now I am just settling in at home, getting things in order for school and running errands around town with Michael. Today we did a lot of driving to help Michael prepare for his driving test - it's almost that time. And I got new running shoes today! Brand spankin' new yellow and purple Mizunos. Beautiful.

Went for a run today, first time in over a month. I've been having some problems with my foot (plantar fasciitis). The run was okay... my shoes feel great, my foot had minimal pain, but the buys were really yucky! The plan is to just ease into the running for now, only run every other day and stop if there is any pain at all. Can't wait to run around the park at Platte River, and run some stairs up the tower!

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

The Intro Post!

Hello everyone! And thanks for taking some time to read my silly little intro blog post.

I created this blog to stay in touch with people after moving away from Chicago, and also to keep everyone updated as I begin my journey at UNL's College of Law.

Since it's still July and I'm not even back in Nebraska yet, I don't really have much to report. I will be leaving the Windy City in exactly two weeks and I am so excited to be moving back to Nebraska. I am a little nervous about moving back into my parents' house - especially the part where I'll be sharing a bathroom with Michael - but I think it will be a great experience in the long run. I will miss all my Chicago friends very much, but Chicago really isn't a long drive from Nebraska, so I'm sure I'll be able to visit on occasion!

That's all for now.

Samantha