Finally.

I've found my niche. Finally.
I took 5-1/2 years to graduate college, mostly because some of that was not in school while I tried to find my niche.
I spent 1 month looking for a post-graduation job, luckily because one fell into my lap. Not exactly my niche. Amazing job, but not my niche.
I taught fitness classes, and even considered it as a career. I loved it, and I missed it, but due to how sensitive I am, and how much I worry about other's being happy with my classes or disappointed with them, etc., not my niche.
And Wichita Falls... well, I'm one of the few who didn't hate it. I didn't run from it out of high school, or out of college. I didn't waste my breath dissing my hometown because it was "boring" or "too conservative" or "a hellhole (haha)" unlike pretty much everyone else I know. But, I have finally learned, not my niche-- at least, not for now.

I love school. I love learning. I love being challenged and being around people by myself-- albeit younger, sometimes less wise people than myself.
I love looking around a class room and seeing that we are all eating granola bars and drinking diet cokes or waters-- not candy bars and frappuccinos. I love talking about intelligent things-- then planning happy hour.
I love that I have to work very hard for anything I want-- and most of the time, because I'm surrounded by such great students, I don't get it. I hated learning disappointment, because it was not something I had ever been used to, but I love now the passion of REALLY going after something once I've decided I want it.

I love studying law. I love figuring out, logically, how and why it works-- even though someone usually has to explain it to me. I love dressing with self-respect everyday at internships, even if it's uncomfortable. I love the thought of maybe someday being a judge, and changing lives-- hopefully for the better.

I finally found my niche.... Took long enough!!

Every Girl Needs an Aunt

I have always wanted a niece! Now, don't get me wrong, I love Ivey, and he fills my heart with joy every time I see his face, get a text picture of him, or hear his voice in the background when Jen is trying valiantly to have some sister time on the phone. But growing up, and now especially as an adult, I have always loved the amazing relationships I share with the awesome women who are my aunts! I have been blessed with strong, caring, selfless women who love our family and have loved me like a daughter-- and I can't wait to be that for Miss Riley Beth! Thank you to my awesome aunts for all their love and support, and for helping shape the woman I am today.

Sharon, aka Sherry Belle, is my mom's sister. Her son John and I were born so close, and were best friends growing up. It seems like one of us was always at the other's house! Sherry is the picture of grace and Godly love. She has taught me the worth of appreciating all my blessings, because she definitely appreciates every one of hers!! She always has a smile to give and a positive thing to say, and is such a light for my naturally-old soul. Sherry is a natural caretakers of everyone around her. We can talk and laugh for hours, and I truly miss being close to her! Luckily, Sherry Belle takes the time to remember me whenever she is near the metroplex-- let's have another Mattito's visit soon Sharon! But without the tornado this time :)

Aunt Kathy, aka Kass, is my mom's other sister. I cannot believe I do not have a single picture of us anywhere on my computer except this one! Wow!! (Yeah, that's me, chubby + curls, and Kass is holding me.) Much like Sherry, I can remember few times when I wasn't at Kass's house playing with cousin Dustin or he wasn't at mine! Kass was very important in my life, especially as I was being raised by a single mom. The greatest school days were when Kass would pick me up and we'd go to Sonic for a Dr. Pepper and tater tots-- extra crispy! I got to sing a trio with Kass in church, and play handbells with her--I think it is great when aunts and nieces actually get to have hobbies together! This picture is actually from a going away present Kass and her daughter Ali made me-- a book of family memories that I still look at to this day. Kass, Kau-Kaus, and Ali have all come down to see me and were so sweet to stay an look at Christmas lights in Highland Park with me-- I was dying to have some family here to do that!

Aunt Robin, aka Bobber, is my dad's sister. She was very close to my mom and to Kass when they were younger, and now she is very close to me! Bobber is near to my heart in so many ways, and I have been so lucky to get closer to her as I got older. Bobber and I share so much! Our love for healthy living, challenging exercising, and of course, GREAT food and wine! Her friendship means the world to me, and even though she's an aunt, I feel like she's more of a sister. I wish I lived closer to her! A trip to Alabama in the near future is a must- I just need to start saving my pennies and make it happen. Like me, Bobber is a p90x grad-- you should see her legs-- rawr! And no griping, Bobber, about the pic-- you do not have man hands. Bobber made her last trip home to Bammy from Texas even longer by stopping into Dallas, just to see me. The sweet card she sent me after our visit reminds me every day just how much I'm loved!

I sure do have amazing women in my life. I hope and pray that someday I can be a tenth of the woman to Riley!!

And to state the obvious, there is another amazing woman in my life, the center to all this! But that's for later-- Mom deserves her own blog!

My Maria

 I have been so blessed since my move to Dallas. The people I've met and friends I've made have become my upmost assurance that I am right where I need to be. Case in point, Maria.
  I met Maria on the first day of orientation, walking in heels on a campus I've never been in, wearing dress clothes in 100 degree weather, totally lost about where I was supposed to be going, and fervently praying for assigned seats at our first event, so that I wouldn't have to suffer that awful, kid-in-the-cafeteria-with-no-place-to-sit feeling. The seats, as it turned out, weren't assigned, and I can't really imagine what I would have done in the middle of this group of 200 of the best-dressed, most poised young people I had ever seen-- thankfully, I didn't have to do anything, because en route, I had found Maria, just as lost as I was, but much more outgoing and willing to make a friend.
  Luckily, we landed in the same writing section, and she has been a blessing in my life ever since. She was instantly in my phone as "Maria SMU," because I couldn't really figure out if her last name was Rojas or Fernandez. She had a smile to offer everyone the first week of class, which is the only reason I was able to meet people-- I stuck by her side and just waited! I think Someone knew to put such a friendly, outgoing girl by my side for a reason.
  But enough with the gushy stuff... If you have met Maria, you definitely know one thing about her: that girl is FUN! While her dedication and persistence inspire me to work hard, her ability to blow that all off and laugh and enjoy herself inspire me even more! Maria is the kind of person who dresses up on Halloween... who makes up raps with her girls... who will bust out and dance any time, even on request. She'll leave you hilarious notes, send messages of herself and hubby doing raps together, and facebook tag you in pics of her dog-child that she knows you love. She is the first to share anything embarrassing that happens to her, because she has a weightless heart and simply doesn't care if people make fun, as long as they get a laugh.

  Maria is one of those few people you find in life that make you legitimately believe that angels walk the earth beside us everyday. She has made me positive when I was down, made me laugh when I wanted to cry, and kept me from being negative when all I wanted to do was pout. The first year here would have been misery without her. I love you Ri-Ri!!

Maria, proving her mad rap skills

Teach me how to Dougie!

Maria and I finishing a half marathon together

Rock & Roll Half Marathon 2011

...FINALLY!! A post that isn't about law school.

Sunday was the second year for me to run the Rock and Roll Half Marathon here in Dallas. This year there were over 15,000 participants running to benefit Susan G. Komen. I got to run 13.1 miles with two new Dallas friends, Maria and Jessica, who are in law school with me. We had an awesome run, at a good quick pace... and then, I got to eat all day! Literally. Here are a few pics we were able to get...

Here is a shot of all the runners taking off. It was CRAZY to catch glimpses of the crowd! I was trying to take a picture like this when we were about to start running, but then the national anthem started, so we all turned around to sing... I tried to hold up my phone behind me and snap a pic anyway, and... well, let's just say I think one particular runner was not too excited about being caught in my picture!

Maria and I finished together!! There is a video of us high-fiving at the end. (By the way, the clock LIES-- our corral did not start the race until it already read 30 minutes.)

Here are the girls I ran with, after we finished, all wearing our finisher's medals. It was sooooo cold and we were soooo tired!

And, finally.... FOOD! I always let myself eat whatever I want to on race days... I had a big brunch... some Italian nachos... some leftover mashed potatoes and mac 'n cheese... a huge salad... bread, bread, bread... a pizza... and a few twix ice cream bars!! Geez Louise! So worth the run though. This photo is at the awesome place we had brunch.

Update...

Pages behind on reading: 180
Sleep deficit: enough hours that I'd rather go fall in bed than go celebrate
Stories climbed (up the lawbrary stairs): 480... and that's low-balling.
Junk food eaten: Enough to make your cholesterol scared

Times cried: 4

Fun times missed: ?

Days it will take for shoulders to stop burning: ???

BUT. Most importantly....

Papers finished: 1!!

Spring Break, 2011.

Hours spent in the lawbrary: 52.5, and counting.
Trips to the bathroom: 21 (fourth flour, North wing, stall with the broken shelf and weird hole in the ceiling)
Caffeine consumed: In excess of 5,000 mg (Really? Then why am I tired?)
Hours of sleep debt accumulated: 23 (Oh, that's why.)
Pages printed: 1,118 (aka $55.90)
Printed pages trashed: 598 (aka $29.90 wasted)
Highlighters killed: 6: 3 yellow, 2 green, and a pink
Alternate careers viewed online: countless
Facebook activations: 7
Facebook deactivations: 7
Days diet broken: Only those ending in "-y"
Holidays missed: Mardi Gras, St. Patricks Day
Bruises on forehead from banging against wall: 4
Walks across the street for fro-yo: 4 (all to bring back sanity from head banging above)

Number of people who have cheerfully told me "It will all be worth it in the end!" (from whatever sunny place they are at): 8

Number of people I've had violent thoughts toward: 8

Papers finished: 0.65

Time left till paper due: 3 days, 17 hours, 21 minutes
Time wasted by blogging: 13 minutes...

...On that note, back to work.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

Well, it’s official—I have survived my first month of law school! Four weeks down, only…  well, let’s not go there. I think it’s pretty safe to say it’s been one of the longest months of my life! I’d meant to maintain a blog about law school once I’d moved, but, then again, I’d also intended to sleep occasionally. Both somewhat unsuccessful feats, in the same family as keeping a social life and taking the time to care about my appearance.

All in all, I can best describe law school life as a “cost-benefit analysis.” However, I no longer measure value in dollars … Now, it’s all about TIME. A few examples…

Hmmm… I could put on make-up today… but that’s 5 minutes that I could use reviewing Torts… oooooh! If I don’t fix my hair, that saves thirty minutes! (Not going to lie, I had to force myself to brush my teeth the other morning, and remind myself that fresh breath WAS actually more important than remembering the second point of the third section of the second restatement.)

Eating, sleeping, relaxing—all parts of life I used to feel were on par with breathing and thinking—have become somewhat optional, and can be replaced at later times with snacking, napping, and… well, I have yet to find a substitute for “relaxing.” Maybe that’s grouped in with “napping.” Cost-benefit analysis says that losing two hours of sleep or skipping a meal doesn’t begin to compare with the humiliation that could follow not completing your reading.

Also, I actually heard this statement before class the other day… “My wife asked me to run home and let the dog out. HOME. That’s five minutes there, five minutes back, plus ten minutes for the dog to take a crap. Can you BELIEVE that? I mean, HELLO, I don’t have twenty minutes! Do it yourself!” The most horrifying part* was that the three of us listening to the complainant were actually aghast at the possibility of losing an unexpected twenty minutes, too.

* Actually, now the most horrifying part is that I just referred to my friend John as “the complainant.” Hmmm… well, at least I didn’t refer to his wife as the Appellant…

So. Life is a cost benefit analysis of time. On this scale, making new friends is trumped by talking on the phone to old ones. Which is trumped by cleaning house. Which is trumped by working out. Which is trumped by eating. Which is trumped, ultimately, as everything is, by READING. Endless,  incomprehensible, occasionally torturous, reading. I read an about… oh, forty pages per class… so, about 120 pages a night. And this isn’t exactly Harry Potter we;re talking about.

So, all in all… I LOVE IT. I know, I know, all I’ve done is gripe, and with good cause! My life is beyond hectic; I’m next to broke; I haven’t been for a jog in weeks; I officially feel less intelligent than I ever have in my entire life. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. The challenge is amazing. Knowing the answer in class after I hear the prof call “Miss Bridges?” is the most satisfying feeling ever—next to not wetting my pants out of fear.  Talking with fellow classmates after lecture about legal theories and cases (dorky as it sounds) makes me feel like there might actually be a purpose to it all.

I am eternally grateful for the people in my life who have gotten me here—because believe me, it wasn’t ANY act of yours truly that did it! My sister’s constant encouragement (even though I know she’d rather have me at home) has kept me sane. My mom’s never-ending confidence in me is the reason I’ve always felt that I could do anything—and hell, even if I screwed up, I was still the “prettiest girl up there!” I never would’ve even thought to apply for law school if it weren’t for the encouragement of my amazing stepdad, Lewis. (He calls his encouragement “meddling,” but he’s mistaken.) My boss at my previous job was the only reason I even applied at SMU… I didn’t think I had a chance, but I did it for him, because he’d done so much for me, and… well, here I am!

I’m not sure how the semester will go… actually, I’m not even sure when I will sleep, or WHAT part of cost-benefit analysis said that ten minutes to write a blog was an acceptable use of time! But I DO know that I’m right where I am meant to be, and honestly, I’m pretty tickled about it.