Check!!

I looooove to-do lists.

I have about 5 different lists going at any given time. I usually write them at night. You see, when my head hits the pillow my brain kicks into hyper-drive and I get thinking about everything that needs done and sleep evades me. If I write all of those swirling thoughts down, my brain can empty and I can drift off to sleep knowing that I won't forget anything. Plus, I get so much satisfaction out of being able to cross something off! There have been times when I do something that wasn't on my list and so I jot it down just so that I can cross it off. 

One of my to-do lists includes the big things in life. The long-term events. And as of 12pm today I can cross one of those things off..

Complete First Year of Law School.

CHECK!

If I were home with that list I would keep crossing that thing off until my pen ripped through the paper! I can't tell you how great it feels to have this year over!!!! 

This year has been a toughy. I can't put into words how proud we are of Daddy! He worked so incredibly hard and studied until his brain was mush, and then studied some more. He left at 5 am daily, and didn't get home until 9pm or later. He'd eat a quick snack, then drag himself to the bedroom to pass out, and wake up and do it all over again the next day. Groundhog day anyone?

He did really well the first semester, but Rob is the type that isn't satisfied unless he's number one. While all of his classmates loosened their belts and relaxed the second semester, Rob kicked it up a notch. Rob was known around the carrells (1st year study cubicles) as being all business. He told people from the get-go, "Every minute that I spend messing around and talking to you, is a minute that I could be with my family." I love him for that. I know that he would have loved to go out to lunch with his classmates and take a study break to mess around, but he knew the sacrifice we were making at home and didn't want to waste that.

The first semester he dealt with an very pregnant and emotional wife and a very sad little boy. He ached to be home with us, and we ached for him. He was used to being able to spend so much time with both of us and so it was a very difficult adjustment. The first 3 months of school Boston would sob everyday and tell me, "It's all my fault Mommy. Daddy is gone at school and he'll never come back. It's all my fault." It was heart wrenching. 

Two weeks before finals Rob was involved in a 5 car pile-up on the freeway. His car was totaled. He was stopped in traffic on the freeway when a car came over the hill behind him going 45 miles per hour. The driver was texting and didn't see Rob's stopped car until he slammed into him. Thank goodness Rob saw the guy coming in his rearview mirror and was able to brace himself or else he could have been hurt a lot worse. He's still in a lot of pain but there were no major injuries. He was definitely watched over that day! 

Mac was born 4 days before the start of first semester finals. I could see how broken hearted Rob was when he had to leave his newborn son and practically live at the school starting the day after he was born. Thank goodness for my sister Nicole! She came and stayed with us for Mac's first month. She is my angel. I don't know what I would do without her or how I can ever repay her for everything that she does for us. She definitely deserves some credit for how well Rob did his first semester because he knew we were taken care of with her around and could focus on his finals.

The second semester has gone a bit smoother... thank goodness! I think we all adjusted somewhat to never seeing Daddy. It's still been sad, but not as heart breaking. Like I said before, Rob kicked things up a notch and has been putting in more hours. He looks like the walking dead these days. With Law School, it's not just enough to complete it... you need to do really well if you want the big time jobs and Rob wants to make sure he does that so that our family will be well cared for. Sidenote: His dream job would be to eventually work for the Church's legal department in Salt Lake City. 

The President of the Moot Court society (appellate court competition team) saw one of Rob's classroom arguments this semester and later approached him and asked him to try out for Moot Court. U of H's Moot Court team is the current World Champion. They just got back from China where they cleaned house.  Rob tried out and made the team. I wasn't shocked in the least bit..Rob is so quick on his feet. I don't want to brag, but I heard he dominated in his try out. Go Rob!

In a few weeks, Rob starts his summer internship. He is doing a judicial internship for a civil court judge downtown. Then the second half of the summer he will be doing research for one of his professors. He was hand selected because he was the 4th best student in his Contracts class! So proud of my boy! 

Depending on this semester's grades, he will either be able to grade on to Law Review...it's a law journal run and edited by law students, apparently a big deal to prospective employers... or he will need to write on. If you are in the top 10% of your class you are automatically in (grade on), or if you are in the top 30% you have the opportunity to write a brief and submit it to fill in the rest of the Law Review's openings. We reeeeeeally hope he grades on so that he won't have to spend 3 weeks writing another paper!

So, that's our first year of Law School in a nutshell. Once again, SO happy it's done and very proud of my hubby! Next up on my to-do list? Spend some quality family time before Rob starts his internship!!!