Yes I'm Am A Lawyer

So now it's official.  I was sworn in to the Illinois bar yesterday by my boss.  My family is here for Christmas, so they got to join me.  

Christmas Tree

This week, we finally got around to putting up our new Christmas tree.  I think it looks pretty good for a cheap, fake tree.

We need to thank my cousin Pat Jordan for his contributions to this work of art.  Pat gave us these ornaments as a wedding gift.  Which is great, 'cause they're awesome.  Just like Pat.

A Cornucopia of Museums

Happy Thanksgiving! I am pleased to report that we had a great time in Houston over the long weekend. Thanksgiving dinner was a scrumptious feast at Gravitas Restaurant. We also went to see the Houston Ballet's Nutcracker where the Sugar Plum Fairy stole the show.

Of course, we managed to squeeze in a few museums...

• The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston where I enjoyed seeing American paintings which will soon go home to Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, Arkansas and Claes Oldenburg's Giant Soft Fan.
• The Menil Collection surprised me by being the home of Rene Magritte's The Dominion of Light. The Menil Collection includes a stunning Byzantine Fresco Chapel Museum, in which thirteenth-century Byzantine frescoes from a chapel in Cyprus are supported by a modern glass, concrete, and metal structure. The Menil Collection also encompasses an entire gallery devoted to color-challenged scribbler Cy Twombly and a chapel designed around several dark, monochromatic works by Mark Rothko. Moving on.
  
• The MFA, Houston operates Bayou Bend, the home of collector Ima Hogg, who acquired American decorative arts and installed them in her home in period-room settings. Miss Hogg is to Bayou Bend as Henry Francis du Pont was to Winterthur, so you can understand why I would want to visit. It was great to see the home and collections, as I had only seen them in catalogs.
  

Thus ends your museum-style tour of Houston, Texas. I want to extend a big thank you to my sister for putting together the weekend's schedule of feedings, ballet, and art sightings.

11 Months

So, I know it's probably not all that exciting to the rest of you, but Katherine and I are celebrating our 11 month anniversary today.  Truth be told, I don't find it all that exciting either.  Still, the marriage is going great, and this just provides a reason for us to celebrate.

If you didn't know, 11 months is the "scone" 

anniversary.  So I made Lemon Cranberry scones this morning.  And, as a public service to you, I'm linking to the recipe.  The skinny (not that you'd stay skinny eating these) is that they're easy to make.  It only took me an hour this morning from pulling out the ingredients to enjoying my pastry. And they taste great.  I don't know what else you can ask for.  Mmmmm.

We're Locals

Its been a busy several months since moving to San Diego, mostly because of all the adjustments to living in a new place and starting new jobs. I am pleased to report that we are officially San Diegans ... because we ran into someone we know at the grocery store last Friday. You know you are a local when you run into people you know in public.

Here is a quick rundown of some major and minor happenings since the move to San Diego:

• Greg and I joined the Sanford family for a late August vacation in Walt Disney World. It was great to see family, to ride the Mad Tea Party and to see La Nouba by Cirque du Soleil.
  
• I am thrilled to report that I started work as Administrative Associate at the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership in early September. Balboa Park is San Diego's major urban park which is the site of many museums and cultural institutions. The Balboa Park Cultural Partnership (BPCP) is a collaborative of 24 institutions in the park; we work on a range of collaborative programs, from collective business operations to a learning institute for park and area museum staff. I am really enjoy working with cultural institutions in such a beautiful setting.

California Tower and Dome in Balboa Park
Courtesy of a stranger on Flickr

• In mid-September Greg started working as a law clerk in the Southern District of California.
• We ended a short church search at Flood Church. Shout out to our Wednesday evening Community Group - it's all about the Love and Respect.
  
• My parents visited in mid-September for a combination of self-guided, Greg-guided and Katherine-guided sightseeing. They visited the San Diego Museum of Art and took a lengthy audio tour of Balboa Park while I was working. Then we took off for a day trip to Coronado Island in San Diego Bay to see the historic Hotel del Coronado. Our day ended downtown at the Top of the Hyatt, looking out over San Diego, the bay, and Coronado Island.
• In mid-October I traveled to the Winterthur Museum in Wilmington, Delaware to conduct a workshop titled The Needlework Detective at the conference Who's Your Daddy? Families in Early American Needlework. It was great to see friends and colleagues and to revisit some subjects and materials that I enjoyed very much working on in Connecticut. I also spent an evening with some friends from Delaware and Pennsylvania, catching up and reminiscing about the good old days.

Looking forward, it's all about the holidays. Greg and I are flying to Houston for Thanksgiving with my family. We'll celebrate in traditional Hunt-family style with Heavenly Salad, museum visits, and The Nutcracker. Over Christmas the Sanfords are coming to San Diego, for a lot of sunshine and warm breezes.

Happy Holidays!

Fruited Amber Majesties

Quite some time ago, Greg and I hopped in our trusty Toyota Corolla and headed west on I-80. Since it is never too late to blog about life events, I present our move West, occurring between July 31 and August 3, 2008.

The trip occurred in four acts:

South Bend, Indiana to Lincoln, Nebraska: spacious skies and amber waves of grain. I remember lots of farms, straight roads, and an alarmingly flat landscape. Perhaps the best part was a stop at a Nebraska state rest stop (offering free wi-fi) featuring some great art.


Lincoln, Nebraska to Denver, Colorado: Are we there yet? After more Nebraska we tackled the high plains of eastern Colorado, driving through Fort Morgan, where I had actually visited previously on a fantastic vacation to visit a friend working at the Fort Morgan City Museum. Sarah has since moved on, but Fort Morgan is still there. In Denver, we stayed with friends of Greg's from college. They fed us some delicious grilled dinner from their back porch with beautiful views of the Rockies.

Denver, Colorado to Las Vegas, Nevada: Purple mountain majesties and then Utah. We got on the road early for the longest leg of the trip, starting with a steep climb in the thin air, then a long slow decline into western Colorado and Utah. The morning drive through the mountains was a stark contrast to the flat, unending nothingness of southern Utah, Arizona and Nevada. The most memorable portion of this section of the trip was I-15 as it cuts through the extreme northwest corner of Arizona. The interstate runs through the Virgin River Gorge, and seems to hang suspended in the air along the side of the some of the most beautiful mountains I've seen to date. I wish I had a picture of it, but I was too busy staring out the window. I recommend that you see it for yourself.

Las Vegas, Nevada: Neither of us had been to Las Vegas before, and given the lack of towns in the desert, it seemed like a great place to stay. We chose the Luxor, for its delightfully tacky references to ancient Egypt. Based on a recommendation from a Sanford family friend, we had dinner at Shanghai Lily in Mandalay Bay. Then we went to bed at 9:15 p.m. local time. Yes, readers, I went to Las Vegas and went to bed early. But I was tired! And cranky! The next morning dawned bright and early for us (we were still on Eastern time) and we went to grab breakfast at the Bellagio. But not before a little photo shoot in front of the Luxor...


Las Vegas, Nevada to San Diego, California: we're home! This was the shortest leg of the trip at only 5 hours. Honestly, I don't remember much from this part except for the wonderful feeling of pulling the car into our parking spot and entering our new rental condo for the first time.

So join me in a rousing chorus of America the Beautiful:

O beautiful, for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America! God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea.

It took me from December 2007 to August 2008 to make it from one sea to the other, but here I am!

Captain Terrific

So, I've been meaning to write a post for months, since a lot has happened.  I took the bar exam (a story of personal terror), we've moved to San Diego (long story), vacationed in Orlando (short story, but Mickey Mouse is prominently involved), found a church (short story again), had a visit from Katherine's parents (where the story prominently involves museums), and did lots of other stuff which isn't worth bothering any of you with.  I'm sure I'll post about many or all of those topics sooner or later.

But now it's Wednesday, October 1.  And it's 12:20 am PDT.  So why am I posting?  Why was I not in bed at 10pm like the normal, boring, thirty-year-old that I am?  Well I was in bed.  But I can't sleep.  The bar exam results were supposed to post hours ago.  Sleep seemed futile, so I got up.  And checked the computer.  And there it was . . . 

I passed. 

Eureka! or How Greg and Katherine Found an Apartment With a Normal Refrigerator

I failed to mention previously that Greg and I are moving into a downtown apartment, in the Little Italy neighborhood of San Diego. It is a short walk to Greg's work and very close to the Gaslamp Quarter, the Marina, Balboa Park... really, a central location from which to explore everything San Diego has to offer.

However, finding the apartment from Indiana was not a breeze. In late May Greg and I went to San Diego to find an apartment. While there we worked with a fantastic real estate agent who showed us apartments and condo rentals live while introducing us to the different San Diego neighborhoods. We returned to Indiana and monitored CraigsList for units opening up in the buildings that we had seen. In June we were rewarded with a posting for an apartment in our first choice building, at a reasonable price, with a balcony and view of the bay. We sent in our rental application and asked our agent to take a look. She did, and reported back: the unit was perfect and came with a painted refrigerator.

... ummm, what?! The unit came with a refrigerator that had been painted by a local artist, purchased by the owner, and placed in the rental unit for her tenants to enjoy.

Sadly, we didn't think we could live with it for a year (could you?). One could possibly compromise and deal with the woman clutching her stomach while standing a mountainous landscape, but the bunny and the green head make it too weird to live with. (I believe Greg disagrees with me, as he finds the whole thing unappetizing.) After some back and forth with the owner, who wouldn't replace it for us, we had to look elsewhere for an apartment with a normal refrigerator.

This was a frustrating experience, because who ever thought a painted refrigerator would hinder their apartment search? And we were uncertain that another apartment would open in the same building, which we loved. However, a few weeks later we found a posting for a comparable apartment at a lower price in a different building. We ended up taking that unit after confirming that the appliances were normal, and are very happy with the way things turned out.

Eureka!

I Must Walk Where Squirrels Scamper*

The bar exam and our move is next week, so in the interests of procrastination I thought it was time to update Sanfordtopia. What have our intrepid bloggers been up to in the last few months?

We've been working and studying during the day, but entertaining ourselves with food and travel on nights and weekends. In June and July Greg and I managed to have a good time exploring some of Indiana's culinary delights with friends:

• First, we visited a large farmer's market in Elkhart. We purchased some Amish salsa, because when else will we have a chance to eat Amish salsa?
  
• We ate at Das Dutchman Essenhaus, an Amish restaurant in Middlebury. I had the pot roast, which was delicious, but not as good as Mom's (Hi Mom!).
• After a first failed attempt, we made it to the South Side Soda Shop and Diner in Goshen. The diner was featured on the Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and lived up to all the hype.
  

I know we've done more than eat in the last two months, but I just can't think of what that might be...

Onward! During the week of July 28th Greg is taking the bar exam in Chicago while I am herding the packers and movers along at our apartment in South Bend. We'll leave Indiana on July 31st, and arrive in San Diego by Sunday August 3rd, with stops in Nebraska, Denver, and Las Vegas.

Good-bye Indiana, hello California!

*The blog title is a reference to the state poem titled "Indiana" by Arthur Franklin Mapes. Seriously, you can't make this stuff up.

May 18, 2008

Stuff Normal People Eat

I have a problem. What is it you ask? Well, I've got all sorts of boring stuff to say and I don't want any of you trying to beat me up for wasting your time. Are we agreed that you won't physically harm me for any boredom this post causes? Don't read any further if you can't agree to that.

You still here? Phew. That's a relief.

I'm done with law school. Which is nice because finals are always a lot of pressure. I want to do well, and I study hard. Maybe even too hard. Katherine saw very little of me for the last month or so as I was spending at least 12 hours at school most days. I think she's glad to have me back. Mostly. Graduation is on the 19th and my parents and Collin and Kim (my brother and sister-in-law) will be in town for the weekend. It will be great to celebrate my freedom with them.

Apparently Katherine bought me a graduation gift, which strikes me as somewhat odd. I think it's mostly because I hadn't even thought about receiving gifts when I graduate. I'm SO glad to have the pressure behind me; that seems like a gift in and of itself.

Also, I am compelled to admit that I am a law nerd, and wouldn't mind a fourth year of law school. Classes are much easier than the real world, other than those finals. But no use dreaming of years more in school, I need to get out into the real world and start paying off my debt.

So, the real question is: "What do I do with my time now?" I was thinking tonight about starting another blog. Not that I have the willpower or mental energy to do so, but it sort of sounded like a good idea. Katherine thought that I could call it "Stuff Normal People Eat." We've learned how to feed ourselves food that is the envy of Katherine's coworkers without putting in all that much time and effort. I'm so proud of my work, that I figured I'd share it with the Internet. Does the Internet care? No. And that's what is causing me to hesitate a little. Plus, I'm not sure I care for the extra work.

So, we were in the mood for some Asian food this week. One of our wedding gifts was a non-stick Wok that we LOVE, so we try to use it regularly. Since Sunday is the only day we know that we'll have a good chunk of time to make dinner, generally that's when we try to make the complicated recipes. Tonight it was Emeril's Chicken Stir-Fry with Green Beans. Allow me to HIGHLY recommend it. Fair warning, it's a little spicy. Too spicy for Katherine's palate, actually. Personally, I found it to be a relatively mild warmth that just enhanced the flavor. Other than that, I was a little surprised by the hint of sweetness in the chicken. Anyway, I highly recommend it.

I figured that I should include some photos of the food. Why? Because I think it's pretty.

First Quarter Update

Greg and I have been racked with guilt for not updating since February... no wait, that's not true. We have been living a very quiet life, one possibly unworthy of any blogging at all. Greg writes papers, reads, and studies for his upcoming exams. I found temporary and mind-numbing employment at a local home medical supply company. We go to church, we spend time at our favorite coffeeshop, we cook delightful meals for ourselves. Who wouldn't want to be us?




We've also taken to playing Scrabble. Its my turn, and I've got the letters A, I, I, U, T, P, and E. What would you do?






Looking Ahead... here is a brief outline of our plans for the next several months:

• May 18th, Notre Dame's graduation including Martin Sheen sightings and visits from each of our families
• May 29-June 1, visit San Diego to look for a place to live
• June and July, Greg studies for the Illinois bar exam while we stay in South Bend
• July 28-29, The Illinois Bar Exam
• August, move to San Diego
• late August, golf school and Disney vacation with the Sanford family
• September 22, Greg starts work
• October 17-18, Katherine presents a workshop on historical needlework and genealogy at a conference on needlework at the Winterthur Museum outside of Wilmington, Delaware

Excuses, Excuses

I know it's been over a month since either Katherine or I posted anything, and we're somewhat sorry. The thing is we've been busy. And lazy. Truth be told we've spent a lot of time combining Katherine's things, with my things, with the thinks we received for our wedding. That's a lot of stuff for a two bedroom apartment. But, I think we've finally squeezed it all in. Just don't look in the back bedroom. What else have we been up to, you ask? Well, we went on a cruise. That was nice. I've got pictures on my laptop. Maybe I'll even post one...


Tada! We've been back in the 'Bend for four weeks now and I've been in school and Katherine has been looking for jobs. Has she found one? Not yet, but she has some leads that we're hoping pan out. We'll see.

The point, however, of this post is to give you a link to our wedding photos. To access them, you'll need our "Event Key." It is: Katherine and Gregory. Our photographer, Andres Valenzuela, was super-duper so we really think these pictures are great. Of course, we won't be insulted if you don't stop by, but we thought we'd give you the option.

Well, I should get back to writing about how the First Amendment plays into courts' ability to consider lawsuits involving tort claims based on church discipline. Good times.