reality awaits

took the bar...what a terrible experience. I don't even know how to feel about it, but fortunately was so mentally exhausted afterward that I have not spent a lot of time stressint out, at least not compared to how much i spent before I took it.

Went to Thailand for 3.5 weeks with my mom -- completely the trip of a lifetime....we went to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Dao, Krabi beach, Koh Tao, and Koh Samui...so many great memories...I kept a diary on it.
Asia truly felt like being in another world...it continually amazes me how other cultures are so much the same yet so different. It is hard to chose a favorite place or activity or memory, but suffice it to say I did my best to enjoy every single minute of not having any concerns.

I start my job a week from now...I am looking forward with anticipation, a little nervous, excited, happy...I basically have my dream job and am exactly where I want to be, or at least I have that in my head...so it will be interesting to see how reality measures up. Obviously 9-5 (or 8) sucks and is a total life change, but one I feel I am ready for...could not handle any more school and honestly am a little bored and need somewhere to put my energies. And also keep telling myself that if it is absolutely terrible, I have other options.

I've met a truly sweet guy. Of course I have my committment issues and what not, but he is incredible and every day amazes me with reminders of how I should be treated. It is becoming strikingly clear how a relationship should work and can work when it is right, as compared to my strings of meaningless dating in the past. I shouldn't say meaningless, I just mean everything with he and I seems to fit really well. Like, we have the same group of friends so there is no awkwardness of wondering whether he will "fit in" with them...he has a good family...we like the same things....he likes to have adventures...he's tall...blue eyes...well-educated and smart...makes me laugh and smile....the opposite of flaky...

during the Bar he brought me a beautiful sunflower to the dreary library, made me dinner and brought it to me to eat late at night, always reminds me that he is thinking about me. He was so supportive during the bar, and I most certainly was not a pleasant person so that really impressed me. He's just as great as can be and I honestly believe that he came to me at just the right time. he was exactly what I needed then and there and everything has been good.

I was feeling a tad overwhelmed with it right after the Bar because it was like omg I have my life back, now what? But at the same time I wanted to spend every second I could with him before I left for Thailand. And then I got back last week and we have spent a ton of time together and its awesome. Although I do feel like life is coming at me fast right now, its like I trust him enough and he is realiable enough to be there with me through it. He's a strong guy, he remembers the randomest details so i know he actually listens (most of the time...after all he is still a man...)...

anyway, I'm gushing, but he's refreshing and I am thrilled. He's so good to me that it makes me just want to be like that with him....I've always felt like I wanted a person to just shower with affection and care and all that but no one ever seemed right to reciprocate it...he does and I have had so much fun showing him how I feel....although I'm not sure what it is yet, I know it is something special and different.

He left for a week for work and to go home for a wedding, and I am dreading the boredom without him around, but I also think the space is good, especially since I am starting work I need to just get my head together and do all MY stuff that needs to be straight.

Anyway, maybe in my new life I will actually get around to blogging more. I miss it.

whooooaaa

it just hit me that I'm taking the Florida Bar Exam next week. It obviously didn't JUST hit me, but it did in a different sort of way than before.

It just sounds so...major and serious and adult-like. I'm excited in a strange way. It is definitely a point I have worked my whole life for.

Now back to the books so I can make it happen.

is it really mid-july?

time is flying....

went home for the fourth of July...in midst of Bar madness right now. It really is as bad as they say, but I am doing my best to keep positive and not stress myself out so much...i'm definitely the direct cause of 90% of my stress.

not that i haven't made time for a certain new someone...a crush...distraction...that is all i am going to say. just trying not to let my head get in way of my heart.

the days have blended to weeks and now the Bar is within sight...as well as the end of it. It is such a routine, literally wake up, run, breakfast, library, lunch, library, dinner, pass time til bed, sleep, wake up. i've had a few random stress induced freak outs about random things and general stress and waking up early -- some days are a lot worse than others for some reason... i really just have to get ahold of the self-doubt because I think that is the most destructive for me.

I really hope it is just a matter of putting in the time. I'm trying my best but practice test scores can be discouraging when its been nothing but study for 6 weeks and I don't see the results i would like. but I also think that is the name of this game...at least I hope so.

its hard to come home and turn off too... like i feel guilty leaving school at 7 after having been there all day and i feel guilty messing around at home instead of reading or doing practice questions. planning my THAILAND trip is a fun distraction....I'm SO excited...

talked to work today -- start the day after Labor day...weeeee!!!

moping

so i let myself cry last night and today, mope around and feel sorry for myself becuase of the Brad engagement. i thought about the past and analyzed all the different ways my life could have gone. but the point is there was a beautiful sunset tonight, one of those big, orange, suns... and i had already decided that tomorrow is going to be a new day and i'm done being upset about decisions i have made regarding past relationships. it is destructive, counterproductive, exhausting, distracting and just plain silly. so as the clock turns tonight i am excited more than ever for the promise of a new day. (enter Celine Dion).

As usual, I felt what I needed to feel, let myself do it, and now i'm just plain worn out on the topic. life goes on. carpe diem. life is too short and too exciting. I mean honestly there are so many amazing things and experiences and people in my life i can't believe i actually wasted this day of my life (not to mention other people's time who were forced to listen to me complain) being so ridiculous. no mas.

i knew he had been on my mind for a reason

just found out brad is engaged. damn fucking facebook i knew i never went on there for good reason. he's been on my mind a lot lately and i had a dream about him last night. i guess some small vain hope in me thought i would get him again.

i feel so lonely and i went through this whole day of really regretting the way that i handled our relationship last week. i mean i know that ultimately i made the right decision, but it is just really hard to see that happening for him and not me. i am of course happy that he found someone that makes him happy but it breaks my heart to know the ring he gave me still sits in my jewelry box AND that the decision had ultimately rested with me. beating myself up over my selfishness that resulted in the destruction of that relationship. i hate this feeling.

oh, and the irony that summer 2009 was when we were going to get married. he got engaged instead. he asked me and i wouldn't have him.

back to zero

so studying for the Bar this week has not been THAT bad... i think i wore myself out with the stress the past few weeks that now i am just like whatever. not whatever about the Bar, but like, whatever, I can do what I do and I feel like I am getting it.

very comparable to first year...the same kind of stress level and unknowing-ness.

I feel like i am going through a lot emotionally, mentally, relational-ly, sexually...basically just trying to process and get through the days. it is unarticulable.

..."all i ever wanted was your life...." Chili Peppers...

So I just realized it is mid-june. That's so crazy. One of my best friends from high school is on her second marriage in a few weeks. I can remember when one year into her first, she asked me to be her divorce lawyer. I haven't had my first. so crazy how myspace and facebook etc. let you keep up with everyone's life. Amazing how perceptions and interpretations of marriage change and evolve as much as with your own experience as with everyone else's.

still talking to DJ. still concerns about emotional attachment yet somehow it is fitting. learning daily to live in the moment. Back to zero. Thailand in 1.5 months.

I feel like trolling memory lane...

and then...

my mom sent me this. Super cheesey, but still encouraging:

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear your nice clothes. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we would grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."