Another Year

What a year.

I started the year as a 3L law student living in a mouse infested apartment building in Whittier.

My weeks were hectic. I spent my time jetting between my last few classes, my internship in the suburbs, tax training, and a public defender clerkship in downtown St. Paul.

Things changed quickly when I secured a permanent position at my company and started working full-time in February. There were also drag shows, long nights at Jetset, and blizzards.

blizzards

The snow melted and classes ended quietly. Pride came and went, I turned 25, and I finally moved out of my ghettotastic apartment.

Work got busy once I moved.  Drag shows and dancing were exchanged for Netflix marathons. I was promoted at work and got good at making brownies and mojitos.

By the time of my Miami trip I was 20 pounds heavier than I was at the beginning of the year.

I took the love handles to Miami anyway, which was fairly epic.

The Manor House Fort Lauderdale

mojitos

I started personal training at LA Fitness again upon returning, so I was horribly sore once New Year’s Eve rolled around. I was one of the DDs for New Year’s despite the best attempts of some people in our group.

mojitos

My goals for this year include working harder, spending more time on creative projects, and losing these 20 pounds. Hopefully my grueling morning workouts help me get there.

Ending the year plump and employed isn’t bad, but 2012 will be better.

Best Fall Ever 3: The Leaves a-turning

The leaves around Minneapolis are turning orange again and I actually bought a pea coat, this fall thing is mighty real.

Minneapolis Fall

Some of us are less amused than others.

Minneapolis Fall

Besides going to parties and cleaning up copious amounts of dog shit, the most exciting thing that happened this week was that I finally finished reading a novel!

I have not read an entire novel since the beginning of law school three years ago. And it’s not that I don’t read – I read more in the past three years than I did in the previous 21 – I just did not make time for fiction. Well no longer! I finished one novel this week and started another.

Okay, so it was a James Patterson book. WHATEVER. The page count was 464 and I’ll take my wins where I can. Who cares if the chapters are only 3 pages long? At least it didn’t have pictures…

And yes, the next book is by John Grisham. I’m slowly working my way back up to Dostoyevsky.

The Lower Trail

The dogs and I went down to the river ended up on the lower trail by the Stone Arch Bridge.

Lower Mississippi Trail

Lower Mississippi Trail

Lower Mississippi Trail

The views were nice, aside from the stray meth heads blocking the path. I think there was a body found in that park on The First 48 (episode 115)…but I tried not to think about that. I wasn’t worried about becoming another victim because of the size of my dogs, but I am convinced that they are going to find a body someday. Cue the Law & Order music.