Tim's Done With Finals! (And Other News)

His 1L (that's "first year of law school", for those of you unfamiliar with the lingo) is done! On to being a 2L. He won't get his grades back for a couple weeks, but he feels like he did okay on his finals.  It's always hard to tell, because you never know how well anyone else did.  But he worked like a big dog for them, and I'm sure that will pay off.

You'd think he'd be done and able to relax now, but sadly that is not the case.  NOW, he has something called a Write-On competition, and basically everyone competes to write something that will be accepted into a student-run publication called Law Review.  If you make Law Review, your chances of finding good employment go way, way up.  Needless to say, Law Review could mean a lot to us--maybe even more than his final grades.  Scary.  Anyway, your prayers are certainly appreciated in our behalf.  He has two weeks to do it, but the second week we'll be in Utah (yay!!), so he has to do the work of two weeks in one.  Blech.  I don't envy him, but I'm so grateful for how hard he's been working and how diligent he has been.

After that's over, then he has his internship to worry about.  Poor guy never gets a break.

Speaking of his internship, we bought plane tickets to Russia!  So exciting! For those of you who may not know, Tim is going to Russia for an internship this summer, and I'll be going over there for a couple weeks at the end.  Don't even ask how much we spent on plane tickets.  We pretty much had to sell our firstborn child in advance.  And BOTH of our arms and legs.  Yeesh.

In other exciting news, we'll be in Utah in a week!  It's our turn to come out and visit family, and Tim's sister Kate is getting married on SATURDAY! So we'll be going out to do that.  Here's our to-do list for Utah so far:

• Spend as much time with friends/family as possible.
• Eat at J-Dawgs.
• Eat at Cafe Rio. (They have something called Chipotle out here, and it is a sad, sad substitute.)
• Eat at In-N-Out.

So, you know, our lives pretty much revolve around food.  For Tim, anyway.

In other news, I got a new sewing machine!! And lemme tell ya, it is so great to finally have one that works and is reliable.  It's a Brother, which I've never had before, but it's working like a champ and I have no complaints. I've already taken in a couple of my thrifted finds and I looove that I can do that now.  The only thing that I hate right now is that we're so cramped with space, my sewing area shares a table with my art studio, so I'm constantly having to clean up one or the other. 

Speaking of space (wow, the flow of this blog post is going so nicely...and I didn't even plan it! How amazing am I?), we are moving (!!!) in July (!!!) and I feel compelled to tell you why, even though it will thoroughly sicken you.  If you don't like bugs, you should skip down to the paragraph that starts with "One of the biggest reasons we're moving".  Seriously.

So.  Three main reasons we're moving out: 1. No space or storage space.  Our two bedroom apt is probably 700-800 square feet.  There is hardly any storage space at all, which is why the extra bedroom has crap lining the walls.  2. Our next door neighbor smokes.  A lot.  And sometimes it seeps into our apartment through the air vents.  So gross. 3. BIGGEST REASON WE ARE MOVING OUT: Cockroaches in the kitchen.  If I think about it too much, it starts grossing me out, so I try not to think about it.  But you guys, last night I saw the biggest cockroach I have ever seen in my life.  It was seriously 2 1/2 inches long.  Crawling on my stove. Over my clean pots and pans.  Tim was brave enough to kill it, and then we went out to eat because there was no way in hell I was cooking anything on that stove.  I'm not super squeamish about bugs, but cockroaches are a whole 'nother matter.  Usually they are tiny ones, and it hasn't been THAT bad over the winter, because the coldness kept them away.  but now it's getting warmer, and the one last night was so. disgusting. Aaaand that's why we're moving to an apartment complex with once-a-week bug spraying. 

One of the biggest reasons we're moving is because we want to be able to stay in one apartment for the next two years--no more moving, changing wards, packing/unpacking!  We tried to find an apartment that would cover all of our needs for the next couple years (including space for BABIESSSSSS...okay, probably not multiples...never mind, DEFINITELY not multiples), like having room for family to come visit, being able to have an art space for me, and having plenty of storage for all the stuff we haul around with us.  I cannot tell you how excited I am to move to a new place.  Also, I will finally have a washer/dryer and dishwasher back! More important things when a baby comes along.  Our apartment now has none of those things.  

All things considered, it's been a great apartment for a childless, petless newlywed couple.  We've really enjoyed being so close to the city, being able to walk to our favorite restaurants, having Tim walk to class every day, and saving money on rent to boot. This apartment was super cheap for its location (although now I know why), but it still was a good place to live for our first year.

The best part is, we don't even have to sublet or double pay rent--we already found someone to take over our lease, so come July 7th, we are tearing out of this place with smoking wheels and no rearview mirror glances.  The place we're moving to is definitely more of a commute out, but we're getting 1550 square feet for $75 more per month. I'd say that's worth it.

Sorry for talking about gross things.  Here is something that will make you feel better.  Or maybe a little more creeped out.  (PS, he is Russian...of course.)

You're welcome.