I'd Rather Be...

Doing anything but studying the law of Trademarks and Unfair Competition. I'm sure you guessed that by my out-of-the-blue blog post after 2 months of no blogging. I have a crazy exam schedule this semester. Three exams in 24 hours. Guess I decided to go out with a bang! I take my Family Law exam Tuesday from 6-9pm. Then my Trademark Law exam Wednesday morning from 9:30am-12:30pm. Then my Law & Religion exam Wednesday afternoon from 2-5pm. I'm not sure yet exactly HOW I'm going to do this...but in all likelihood I'll survive. And will then be recovered 4 days later enough to take my Criminal Procedure exam.

That's how it always happens. I get super stressed with all the studying and stuff I have to do...don't think I'll ever get through it...and then. I do. My faith in this fact has grown strong over the years. I've been through lots of semesters and finals. This, though, is my last one. Hard to believe. And soon I'll be married, buy a home, and begin my career. Every way in which I can justify feeling like a kid still is disappearing within the next month. Crazy. But I'm so excited! I'm so ready to move on to this next chapter in my life! And I can't tell you how blessed I feel to be marrying Spencer.



I remember back when we were dating (I can't believe I just typed that...cause we are STILL dating...shows you how long it's been)...anyways...awhile ago when we were starting to get serious about our relationship, we'd have conversations and Spencer would say things like: "Well, if you're on my team...." then go on to say how it would be. (Hinting at marriage in a subtle way since he hadn't yet formally discussed it). That marriage analogy of "teammates" pops in my head a lot when I think about Spencer. He's the best teammate ever for me because he fills in where I lack and helps me to be my best. He's very optimistic and positive (provided he's not talking about the Jazz or the Beavers ;). I tend to worry and focus on risks and problem that could occur (this no doubt has been multiplied by my law school training...that is how we are taught to think). But I appreciate so much Spencer's optimism and consistency. He is a rock in my life. I know that I can achieve or conquer anything with him. He is my one and only. The most supportive man I can imagine. And that is really saying something considering that more than half of the time, all of that support comes from 2100 miles away.



On another note, I miss Gracie too.



I love that when asked who her favorite aunt is, she says "Carn" (at least when I ask her, she says that).

And that whenever I leave she says "Carn? Come back soon?" It's so funny to watch her knock eagerly (though trying to be patient) on the bathroom door saying: "Treece? Tweece? (my Mom's name is Teresa) It's Grace." Can't tell if she gets the "r" in there all the time or not.

I love that she calls my dad (her grandpa) "Pow". I'm sure it makes him feel like Batman or something.

I love watching the Mavericks play the Suns on TV with her while she chants "Lets Go Jazz." She brings such joy to my life!


Finally, I am going to miss DC. I've enjoyed my time here so much! I've loved living in close proximity to all this excitement. I'm so happy I came to GW for law school! I would do it all over again. People ask me if I'm going to miss DC and if I'm geared up to move back to Utah. I tell them that I will miss DC but that I can't wait to move back to Utah! I've enjoyed these three year immensely, but I'm just tired of being away from everyone that I love.





I'm coming home soon!

Spencer made me promise him once that I would never write a blog post dedicated to how much I love him and how wonderful he is...I may be breaking that with the above text, but my defense will be that the post covers multiple topics (school, Spencer, and Grace), and that it reveals more about me than it does about him.

Valentine's Day Minus My Valentine

So I was pretty bummed about not being with Spencer for Valentine's Day. I know it's not big deal...that it's sort of a made up and cheesy holiday...but I'm engaged! And to not be with your fiance on Valentine's Day just seemed really sad to me.

Spencer is adorable though! On Friday he texted me telling me Happy Valentine's Day and to go downstairs and look on the table. These roses were there! I love them! He apparently asked my friend Callie an entire month ago to get them for him and sent her a blank check in the mail to pay for them...he was so on top of things. It was really cute! And if that wasn't amazing already, on Saturday, I received two things in the mail from Spencer! One was Season Five of The Office :) and the other was a cute card he wrote for me. I loved it!



The past few weeks have been hard for me. I really am sick and tired of being away from Spencer...seriously done with the long distance. I know it's over soon, but that doesn't make the days go by any faster. With the week off of school that we had because of the huge snow storms, I just had too much time to be stuck in my house and sad about it. This is one of the longest stretches of not seeing each other that we've had since we started dating...almost two months...and I'm ready for it to be over. It helps to be back in school and busy again, but I just can't wait to go home next Wednesday!! :)

On another exciting note, Grace said my name for the first time this past week! She said "Car---ee" so cute! I hope she practices so she can say it for me in person next week! Can't wait to see her too!

Dear Sunshine,

Please come out and melt all of the snow so that I can get back to my normal life. This is day 7 of being snowed in at my house and I'm going crazy.

Thank you!

Carly




You can't see my car because it got stuck in the snow down at the bottom of my street. We got 2 feet last weekend and then another 10 inches Tues/Wed. And it's the really wet heavy stuff. We don't even own a shovel at our house. Above-ground metro is closed...there is no way to get into the city. I also don't own a pair of boots, so I've hardly been outside at all. There's just nowhere to put all the snow. They are heaping it on the medians in the road and most of the right-hand lanes are 10 foot snow mountains. It's really crazy. Church has been canceled the past 2 weeks in a row. School was canceled every day this week. If only I'd had enough advance warning!! I could have gone to Utah for 12 days without missing a single class...ugh.



Click here for an awesome video that shows the snow pile up over the course of the storm.

Superbowl Week

I read a fantastic article in the Washington Post today about the Tim Tebow Superbowl ad. (Written by a pro-choice woman). I couldn't agree more and wish for all to read. Check it out HERE. In today's world where sexual promiscuity seems to be the norm of celebrities, professional athletes, and politicians, I applaud the king of college football for remaining true to what he believes in and not being afraid to share it with the world. I think we could scrap one of the myriad commercials full of beer-drinking girls in bikinis and spare 30 seconds to listen to a REAL role model's message of courage, hope, and family. This world needs more guys like him.

Ironically...

So I met this girl 1L year at school. Our first and only conversation went like this:

Me: So where are you from?
Girl: Wyoming
Me: Oh, we're neighbors! I'm from Salt Lake City.
Girl: I hate Utah.
Me: Really?...(odd thing to say when you first meet someone)...Why?
Girl: Because I hate religion.
Me: (dumbfounded, not sure how to respond to such a ridiculous comment...who hates religion in the general sense?) I think I said: Hmmm. Okay. And walked away.

Fast forward 2.5 yrs (to the present) and who walks in to my LAW & RELIGION CLASS?! The girl. Really? Kinda funny. Either she's had a change of heart or more likely wants a forum to express her ridiculous views. 2 weeks down and nothing crazy out of her yet...I'll keep you all posted.

Christmas Break 2009

I pretty much have the cutest niece of all time...



Making her cheesy camera face...



I just got back to DC this week from spending a long Christmas Break with the family in Salt Lake City. I was home for 3.5 weeks and it is hard to come back (leave Spencer and Grace) and start school all over again. But, it's the last time. This was my LAST first week of school EVER! I think I will enjoy my courses: Law & Religion, Family Law, Trademark & Unfair Competition, and Criminal Procedure. I've got some excellent professors this semester so I think it will be a great end to my law school experience. But back to Grace... This video is of her dancing....if you listen, you can here her say neat after I ask her if she was dancing...who knows where she learned that word...probably my Mom.



She got a wooden pizza for Christmas...you can velcro toppings to it and cut the velcroed-together slices with a wooden pizza wheel. She loves cutting it and after 15 minutes of cutting the pizza over and over again, was getting a little tired. Instead of putting the wheel down, however, she just laid her head down and kept at it... (I should also note there that I am the one that dressed her in her tutu, white pants, and swimsuit top...all personal requests of of little G herself). :)



Too busy for you, Aunt Carly...



I love playing trains with Grandpa...





Spencer and I sadly spent Christmas apart as he went to Oregon and I was in SLC. The whole Williams family had a blast in Corvallis and I'm sad I missed it. Us Waltons had a great time too! It sure is great to have Sam back home! Spencer and I both have birthdays in December. His the 10th and mine the 19th. So we had lots of celebrating to do. Here's Spencer blowing out candles on his birthday oreo carmel ice cream cake.



Yes, I am wearing an Oregon State T-Shirt just days before the BYU Bowl Game. I've been wanting to get an Oregon State shirt of some sort and Spencer's Mom sent me one for my birthday! It was Spencer's birthday request that I wear it for his birthday celebration. Note that I do cheer for cougars first and beavers second...



I had such a fun time at home over the holidays! Spencer's parents came down from Corvallis for a few days and were were able to spend some time with them which was really fun. I spent tons of time with Grace. I got to see Traci and Collin a few times, Natalie and Kevin a few times, see Karen, hang out with family and extended family, and spend time with my cute fiance. We were able to get lots of wedding plans done too! I'm really excited for the big day....just 4 months away come Sunday!



Enjoying the lights at Temple Square (or rather getting warm in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building).



Spencer and I visiting his grandparents

Deep into finals studying...

...and all I can think about is this guy!...And how excited I am to see him on Friday!!



I thought long-distance relationships were hard but long-distance engagements are even harder. All I want to do is be with him and plan our wedding...but instead I have to study the Bankruptcy Code and ways to manage risk in Real Estate transactions, AND write papers on Professional Ethics in Negotiations and the tendency of public school officials to go so far in trying to prevent an Establishment Clause violation that they end up unconstitutionally restricting student religious speech in public schools. And on top of all that...it's Christmas time. So I'd much rather be shopping, visiting the National Christmas Tree, ice-skating on the National Mall, going to see the Christmas Lights at the Temple and so much more... Anything but get my work done. I did manage to hear Handel's Messiah performed at the National Cathedral on Friday. (Which was fabulous). But I'm ready to go home! And I'm ready to live in the same city as my fiance!