On Faith

As many of you know, I lead a group that focuses on offering faith-life opportunities here at the Law School. Part of that ministry is a blog (full blog available here:http://ustlawfaith.blogspot.com/) , that various members of different faith-focused student groups contribute to. I thought you might find my recent post of interest:

May I have your attention?
St. Thomas has been a truly wonderful environment for me to grow and deepen my faith, while enduring the most difficult study and stressful times. I can't imagine going through the challenges of law school in any other way. I lead a weekly worship, attend Weekly Manna, and attend a weekly Bible study, all here at the law school. In addition to being involved in several communal faith practices, I am engaged in dialogue with God on a daily basis, most often tucked in the middle of a busy day at school. I pray every day for peace of mind with the stresses de jour, and for my fellow members of the law school community to find the same. For that reason, one might think I have a great sense of peace about exams, papers, and finding a job after law school. Alas, like nearly everyone else, I struggle to place my trust in God that all these things will transpire according to God's will. It seems like no sooner do I turn a care over to God than another pops up; another paper, another prayer request from a friend, another unforeseen obstacle in my path.Nonetheless, this is the first time in my life I've been so engaged in both a communal faith life and a regular prayer life. Have you ever wondered if the reason we have a lot to pray about, a lot of concerns to give over to God, is so that God has our attention to tell us something?I'll share an example that has grabbed my attention lately. I attended Susan Stabile's Mid-Day Reflection on the meaning of the saints to our lives last week, here at the law school. (for more on that, see this). When I was thinking about people who've been saints to my life, the life of Dorothy Day came to mind (a short bio can be found here.) I shared with the group that I have been often inspired by her fearless devotion to her faith and her work in God's name. She founded the Catholic Worker, the visible face of which is a regular social justice publication and houses of hospitality throughout the U.S. and Canada, and the world. The houses of hospitality are communal homes for people devoted to work in social justice, often working for little or nothing. Still, Day never worried about how a rent bill would be paid, even though most of the household members of the Catholic Worker houses of hospitality are what we would call indigent. Her faith in God was so strong that she was able to place her trust in God that food would be on the table, lights would be on and rent would be paid because the workers in the house were answering God's call. That trust and faith is an inspiration to me, and my reflection on this lingered long after the lunch gathering.Just a few days later, I was researching something really quite unrelated when I came across an article that by no means should have been turned up in my search. The article was about the message Dorothy Day's work and words have for the way we think about Work in the modern day. I made a note of the strange coincidence, printed the article, and went on about my work.Then, a few days later, a guest speaker at Weekly Manna read from a book by Jim Wallis, a social justice activist, writer and theologian. (his bio can be found here). Jim Wallis is another person, though living, who I consider a saint in my life. At least as far as I can tell, every aspect of his life is devoted to living out the social Gospel in real, tangible ways.You might be wondering how I went from Dorothy Day to Jim Wallis. In 2004, I received a scholarship to attend a two-week pilgrimage to learn about work and social justice. It was then that I learned about Dorothy Day, visited the very first Catholic Worker house in New York City, and saw how the Catholic Worker Newspaper is produced. Two days later, when my clan of pilgrims ventured to Washington, D.C., we stayed in a Catholic Worker house in Georgetown, and visited the Sojourner office, where Jim Wallis, CEO of Sojourner Magazine, presided over a weekly worship that is attended by members of the publication staff, their families, friends and neighbors. The worship was followed by a community meal.I met Jim Wallis and learned about Dorothy Day in the same week. Those moments were part of a pilgrimage that changed my life. I came to law school, motivated in large part by my desire to provide justice for workers.I haven't figured out exactly what I'm supposed to get from this, but I certainly no longer believe that these moments are coincidences. I will continue to pray about it, and return to the memories and musings from that pilgrimage, to look for the answer. The bottom line is: God has my attention, and I'm listening now.So we come full circle. I am in constant dialogue with God because I have so many cares on my heart, so many concerns for my life, friends, family, community and world. If I hadn't been so engaged, if I didn't have so many worries, would I have been listening for what God was trying to tell me?

How many posts will I have to entitle "I'm still alive"?

But, alas, I am. Most of you knew this, since you are friends with me on facebook, or call or write or see me in person periodically. That said, I'm a terrible blogger lately, and for that, I'm deeply sorry.
Here's what's new:
I'm interning with a judge at the Unites States Federal Courthouse (with my own office!) The judge hears all bankruptcy cases, so I'm getting even more experience in that area. Hooray! This information is often followed by the question "Do you want to practice in bankruptcy after law school?" To which I reply "Not really. It just sort of fell in my lap, and I don't dislike it as much as most people seem to." To expound on that, bankruptcy is like Tax law: it's weird, and most people gag just thinking about it. I find it tolerable, if not a little enjoyable, so that probably makes me weird, too. I would like to practice in bankruptcy if I could only help low-income clients for the rest of my life, which really means I can't make a living working in bankruptcy. Who knows, I could change my mind.

I would like to practice in Employment litigation (handling disputes between employers and workers), ideally representing workers (aka, the little guy.) If you know someone who wants to hire an attorney to do this in the next year in the Denver area, let me know! I'm pretty optimistic about finding a job after law school, but if all else fails, I'll follow the advice of my dear friend Ryan, which starts "Well you can wish in one hand..." :)

Hmmm, what else? I've been making some really, really good food. I whipped up pasta with roasted carrots, red onion, kale and turkey sausage the other day. I'm fanatical about kale right now, for absolutely no apparent reason. It just makes me happy. I also made orange ginger coffee cake on a test run before I bake for our church on Saturday. Recipe forthcoming. So far, results seem to be a winner. Last nite, I made us individual sweet potato casseroles with toasted marshmallows on top. It was a-mazing. Why do we only eat this stuff once a year? The take-away from this is that I might eat less of the stuff we load up on at the holidays if I made it more often. I'm going to follow up on that hypothesis and get back to you.

Also, I just registered for my LAST SEMESTER OF LAW SCHOOL! It is crazy how fast it's gone. I truly cannot believe I'll be done in six months. Whew! Although, for some reason, people always respond to that by saying "Time flies when you're having fun!" Really? Have you ever been to law school? I love law school, like way more than normal people, but I wouldn't call it "fun." That's just a lie.
One thing that I'm looking forward to is December. Normally, I dread the majority of the month because that means exams. This year, though, I have only one, lonesome exam on Dec. 20. I have over 2 weeks to study for ONE exam. To avoid insanity brought on by overexposure to "Sale of Goods" laws, I've started planning all the fun stuff I'll be doing for study breaks! Cookies, crafts, shopping, and of course, blogging about it! The holiday delights will abound. More on that soon.

And the announcement most of you really want to hear: I'll be home for Christmas! I booked my flight last week, and I'll be in C-O-L-O-R-A-D-O from Dec. 23-Jan. 12. I'll be "networking" some to get some feelers out for finding jobs, but I'll definitely have time to see some of you, and give you big hugs!


All my love,
Kelli

Here's your sign

I'm studying right now to take the first portion of the bar exam, the professional ethics exam (called the Multi-state Professional Responsibility Exam).

I thought it would amuse you to know that students at my law school routinely struggle with this exam because they are too ethical. I am running into this same problem on the practice exams.


Here's a sample question:
A woman alleges that she was assaulted by a very wealthy businessman. She contacted a lawyer about representing her in a suit against the businessman. After several discussions with the lawyer, the woman decided to employ another attorney instead. The businessman was later charged with criminal assault, and the trial was televised. The lawyer watched the trial, and was astonished when the woman testified to facts that the lawyer knew from their previous discussions were false.
The lawyer sent a letter to the court notifying it that the woman had perjured herself.
Were the lawyer's actions proper?
Answer: No. It doesn't matter that the woman lied because the disclosure was in confidence.
So, here's your sign: you thought she did the "right" thing, didn't you? You are too ethical to do well on this exam :) It's been a real adventure trying to learn to think this way.

On another note, I finally got my first tomato!! Even though we've enjoyed cucumbers, beans and bell peppers, there is something so rewarding about that first red tomato.

I'm staying busy studying for this test, and my reward will be a week-long visit from my parents! I am really looking forward to having them here, and all I have to do is push through this rotten week of studying legal ethics.

I hope to have more to share after their visit, so stay tuned!

Kelli

Feast your eyes

It's summer. This means 2 things: I have more time to cook and I have access to ingredients that I can't get any other time of year. Oh, sure, you can get strawberries or cucumbers all year, but they don't taste, look or smell the same because they weren't picked today 20 miles from my house; they were picked 3 weeks ago in Chile, or worse, grown hydroponically. After last summer, I even converted Andy. We no longer eat baby carrots (try a taste test with the garden ones, and you'll never eat a wet baby carrot again) or tomatoes out of season. Since we can't grow oranges in Minnesota (or even peaches, which makes me pretty sad) I still haven't convinced Andy that there really is a season for oranges and this season isn't it. We're far from going organic free-range vegan, any other such silly food snobbery, I mean "life choice", we just want to eat things that taste good. And baby carrots, seriously, do not taste good.
So here's my favorite things I've picked up at the farmer's market this month:

• ground lamb from a local rancher, which I made into spiced lamb meatballs. If you aren't a lamb person, try this with ground turkey or pork:

• Heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil, which I made into a Shrimp Panzanella (general recipe). If you haven't tried Panzanella, it's fresh, bursting tomatoes, cubes of day-old bread, and basil with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. Add grilled or sauteed shrimp, and this one's a real winner:



• Sugar snap peas and new potatoes (so fresh the skins were peeling off), both of which I steamed, then tossed with red onions, some dijon vinaigrette, and I folded in a can of tuna and topped with a few Kalamata olives for a quick Salad Nicoise (let's pretend that's French for cool, refreshing and delicious.):



• Fresh berries, especially strawberries and raspberries. I muddled (smashed) some raspberries with a huge bunch of mint from my garden and one sliced lime. Then I added 2 oz. light rum and filled the tall glass with ice. I topped it off with club soda to make the prettiest, most refreshing Mojito I've ever tasted. If you are looking to go non-alcoholic, replace the rum with 2 oz. of a lemon lime soda, and be sure to call it a Faux-jito.That's my latest, greatest adventures in everyday food. As I'm putting this together, it seems appropriate to thank my Mom for the lovely dishes that make my food look even prettier, and our friend Anna for the oh-s0-cool Mojito glasses.

Until next time, ever yours,

Kelli

It's Bliss

I don't know what it is about summer, but it's like we have nothing else to do but wax philosophic about younger days, and complain about the weather.

I had the truly rare opportunity this past weekend to actually enjoy the summerness of it all. I hate the heat, so my enjoyment most likely stemmed from the break in the oppressive heat wave. I was tickled to go to a friend's bridal shower. Naturally, I had to get my craft on and put this cute little card:It says "All the things you'll need to be happy forever...You've already found in each other."

It was a tea party, and I can't tell you how sweet it all was. We had tea sandwiches and the table was decorated with herbs growing in teacups on saucers. All I have to say is, Woman after my own heart.

The bummer of the weekend was that my car was being "fussy." I'd call it car trouble, but I've had car trouble. Bad. And this was just the power-steering going out. I'm counting myself lucky. Besides, it gave me the opportunity to watch my husband and father-in-law roll around on his garage floor fixing it (for only $13), while I sipped cold drinks in the shade on the porch swing. We had such delightful weather Sunday. After the guys finished up the work on my car, they made dinner (!) and we ate on the swing in the shade.

Today, I had an appointment cancel, so I unexpectedly had the whole day free. I made the spontaneous suggestion that Andy and I head to the lake in our neighborhood and rent a canoe. So, we did. I know what you're thinking "Kelli voluntarily paddled around in nature?" It was so nice! But I think the best part was having a quiet hour with my husband, and the mutual agreement that, while it was lovely and we could understand how someone would love the lakes, we would never miss the mosquitos if we lived somewhere else.

Rest assured that I had no idea how much I looked like something out of Huckleberry Fin until just now.

Here's a little video from our adventure:

We were brave and paddled back into a little cove filled with lilly pads and saw this beautiful Heron. I hope you can see it and that you can remember to bask in this long days while they last. We'll sure be singing a different tune in just a few months.

All my love always,

Kelli

Martin el Jardin

As promised, I finally have pics of the garden (for a reminder of last year's efforts, you can visit my blog archives for the summer months of 2010.) Andy has taken to naming our garden Martin el Jardin (this is Spanish for Martin the Garden, but you can imagine how Mar-TEEN el Har-DEEN is more fun.) I was joking yesterday that it's really like our other child (the cat being first), since I stand out there for hours every week with my arms folded over my chest beeming with pride like a parent seeing their child's accomplishments. So, Andy and I are the proud parents of Marcelle, the cat, and Martin, the garden.

Here's Martin pretty early this summer, I think this was the first week of June:

We had the great fortune of having our mint, sage, oregano and thyme come back from last summer (heaven only knows how because we got 7 feet of snow this winter.) That's why the one end looks particularly well-appointed and everything else looks sad and small. I planted pole beans in the row on top there, that were just coming up, and cucumbers down at the end. The empty patch in the middle is carrots (now) and there are 2 tomato plants and 4 pepper plants. It's been a work in progress, but now, we're looking like this:
I added a trellis along the side for the pole beans and cukes to vine up, and boy did they! I also decided I had a serious deficit of basil, so I've planted 4 varieties over the last four weeks. I also added rosemary and cilantro, cut back the mint and gave it to friends, and then went really crazy and put in garlic, shallots, chives and another pepper plant (now up to 5 varieties.) It's pretty packed! But, everything is looking really good.
We've had a few jalapenos, 3 "gypsy" peppers (a mild yellow pepper), a bell pepper and a poblano, and we got our first cucumber last week.
We have lots of little green beans and cukes and tomatoes, but I have to go out every nite to spray my homemade deer deterrant so that the poor plants will survive the midnite snacking. We have had several infiltrations when it has rained over nite and washed off my special sauce. I look forward to gardening some day where I can just turn our cat loose to scare off the munchers, but in the meantime I whip up a mixture of hot sauce, onions and garlic and then strain it into a spray bottle and then spritz the garden. It works for the rabbits, too, although we've been lucky not to have problems with that again this summer.
That's our update for now, but certainly more to come!

I Feel Really American

It has not been particularly summer-like here in Minnesota until recently. I have only had to water my garden a few times because we've had rain nearly every day of June (I promise, pictures of the garden are coming!) But, last week, just in time for 4th of July, things really warmed up, the clouds mostly cleared, and we got real, summer sunshine. In honor of this, I had my Study Group Girls over for a BBQ get together. I was feeling pretty starved for classic American BBQ.
On the menu for this fabulous gathering were Mojitos to quench our thirst, grilled chicken with homemade BBQ sauce (recipes below), coleslaw, potato salad, corn on the cob, fresh fruit and homemade ice cream.
My friends and I lucked out and got pretty perfect weather for outdoor dining, so we took our feast to a picnic table on the grass outside our apartment and dug in. It was fantastic!
To top it all, Andy's cousin got married this past weekend, and like any good big family, it was a weekend-long event. We had the rehearsal Friday, the AMAZING wedding on Saturday (the bride and groom hired a German accordian player to entertain the guests during cocktails and dinner-so, so fun!) and then, because we just weren't quite tired of each other, the whole big family gathered on Sunday for a cookout of burgers and hot dogs and all the accompaniments. After our super-stuffed dinner, we lit sparklers (they were wedding favors from the clever bride and groom) and some pretty flashy fireworks. As we sat there polishing off our strawberry shortcakes and rhubarb pies, watching the little ones run through the grass with the sparklers, I said "I feel really American right now." Perhaps it was the gathering of family, and newly weds and new inlaws, and friends that become part of the family, and the blend of BBQ smoke and sulfur from the fireworks, and it just comes together to make one realize that this is what we live and work for in America: one weekend to really enjoy being free.
Because summer is just beginning, here are my BBQ recipes that are sure to please:

Buttermilk BBQ Chicken
This chicken will blow. your. mind. I will never grill chicken any other way again. It is so moist, so flavorful, and easy. The BBQ sauce is almost unnecessary. For the chicken, I used drumsticks and leg quarters the first time, and then added a few boneless skinless breasts the second time. Just pull the breasts off a bit earlier (about 4-5 minutes per side).

6 lbs. chicken, preferably bone-in
1 1/2 c. buttermilk
1 Tbs. Paprika
1 Tbs. Seasoning Mix, like Mrs. Dash, Montreal Steak or Lawry's ( I used a specialty one)
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. black pepper
8 cloves garlic, minced or pressed in a garlic press

Whisk together all ingredients except chicken in a medium bowl or glass measuring cup. Divide chicken among 2 gallon-size zip-top freezer bags (I feel like these leak less). Divide the buttermilk mixture between the 2 bags, then seal. Squish the buttermilk around a little bit, then refrigerate. Marinate at least one hour, and up to 24 hours in advance, flipping the bags over about once an hour.
I was too hungry to wait last night, so they were just under an hour and they were just as good.
Heat grill to medium-high (or if you have some saint-like patience, lower heat, but, again, I was starving both times I made this.) Brush the grill grate. Take a paper towel and dip it in vegetable or canola oil. Using a pair of tongs, sweep the oiled paper towel over the grates. Then, place chicken on the grill, discarding excess marinade. For drumsticks and leg quarters, I did about 5-7 minutes per side, then did the little shuffle to move less done ones to the hot spots on the grill and the more done ones to cooler spots for another 5 minutes, for a total of about 15-20 minutes. The breasts I did only a bit over 10 minutes. All chicken should be tested with an instant read thermometer and should read 165 degrees in the thickest part. I find that because the chicken is so moist, though, it's almost impossible to overcook it if you want to be on the safe side and leave it on a few more minutes.

Kelli's Sweet Heat BBQ Sauce
1 can Dr. Pepper (can't be diet-won't work right)
1 can beer (Pabst Blue Ribbon works well)
1/2 c. Ketchup
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 Tbs. Tobasco or other Cayenne hot sauce
3/4 c/ brown sugar
2 Tbs. Worchestershire sauce

In a medium saucepan, whisk together ingregients until brown sugar dissolves and mixture is smooth. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer for 2-3 hours, or until mixture is reduced by half. The sauce should be just thick enough to start to coat the back of a spoon, but if you like a thicker sauce, continuing reducing.
Remove from heat and serve with any BBQ dish. Keeps in fridge up to 2 weeks in a sealed container. Makes about 2 cups.

Happy Summer, everyone!
Kelli

Why Hotdogs are the new Cupcake

You can't miss them: Cupcakes. They popped up everywhere a few years ago, and people are crazy about them! Who can blame them? Cupcakes are cute, clever, guilt-light (because they are portion-controlled, but really, I live by the mantra "These are small, so I can eat more"), and just plain fun! There are entire little shops devoted to specialty cupcakes. I've eaten strange, strange flavors in the last few years, mostly delicious, but there is only so much chocolate and chili or lavender and lemon can do together in a dessert. Cupcakes are also cheap, which, in my humble opinion, has helped maintain their trendiness. Well, move over cupcake.

Hotdogs: I have eaten them (I thought) in every way imaginable. Beanie-weenies (gross, I might add), corndogs (ok, shockingly delicious even in adulthood), pigs in a blanket, little smokies simmered all day in a crockpot of BBQ-sauce love (also gross, but people love those things), grilled, camp-fired, boiled, microwaved and even cold out of the fridge. I've never been all that crazy about them, but I can get behind this new trend because, like the cupcake, it's all about fun. And it also takes something beloved to the next culinary level. And, cheap, cheap, cheap! Check out this fun hotdog party:
http://www.hwtm.com/themes/everyday_parties/memorial_day_summer_bbq/tabletop
If you'd asked me 10 years ago what coleslaw goes with, I would have said the little corner pocket on a partitioned picnic plate; delicious but not a team player. Now, I'm pumped to try it with some other fun stuff on hotdogs. The Carolina Dog with Chili, Coleslaw, onions and mustard sounds insane.
This is the start of a revolution, people, I can feel it.
Again, feeling inspired (although with no party in my immediate future) I forged some gourmet dogs for lunch at the Riley house this week.
Philly Cheesesteak Dogs
Grilled hotdogs (this is important-all other cooking methods for hotdogs are inferior)
Toasted buns (I tried to make this healthy, so we did turkey dogs and whole wheat buns, which I toasted on the grill the last couple minutes)
Sliced onions and green peppers
Melty white cheese, I used Swiss
Mustard
MMMMMMMMM sounds (also an important ingredient)
To cut the cooking out of this recipe completely, I wrapped the onions and green bell peppers in a foil packet and grilled those, too. Bye-bye hot kitchen, hello delicious.
So, once everything is grilled to perfection (I could have done the peppers and onions a lot longer, say 15-20 minutes in the foil pack) assemble bun, add grilled dog, top with cheese (I was so hungry I got distracted and forgot this part, but I feel confident it would be delicious) then top with onions and peppers then a good dose of mustard, or if you're Andy, Ketchup (also, just gross.) Then add the MMMMMMMMM sounds and enjoy!
Similarly, The Cubano Dog
Substitute bread and butter pickles for the onions and peppers (or add to onions and peppers, equally delicious) and even more melted Swiss cheese.
Feel free to say "Delicioso" in your best Cuban accent for affect.


Coming soon: The Riley Garden 2.0. We've learned from our mistakes, and we're back for more homegrown action. Things are just starting to really look like more than dirt, so I'll have pictures soon.





Stay cool,


Kelli

Cool treats for summer time

Now that we've soared over 100 degrees, it's summer, June 21st or not. Feeling clever for owning my own ice cream maker, I set to work.

Melon Sherbet
4 cups melon, cubed. I used 3 cups cantaloupe and 1 cup of watermelon
3/4 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 cups whipping cream (normally I use something lighter, like fat-free 1/2 & 1/2, but hey, life's short)
2/3 cup sugar (I did only a fuzz under 1/2 cup and it was perfect with the sweet ripe melon)

Blend melon (I discovered it was easiest if you load the watermelon first, then then the cantaloupe because of the water content. Maybe your blender is more industrial-strength than mine). Feeling too lazy to wash extra dishes, I added all the other ingredients to the blender and gave it a quick whirl.Then pour into the ice cream maker according to directions. No ice cream maker? Try freezing it in a cake pan for 3-5 hours, then scraping it with a fork to get a more shaved-ice style treat.
If you've ever had a melon paleta from one of those little Mexican push-cart Popsicle vendors, this is like that, only better.

While I was feeling inspired, I whipped up another cool dish. I swiped the idea from a show I watched over the weekend with my friend Molly called "Mexican Made Easy."


Cucumber and Radish Salad
1 medium to large cuke, thinly sliced (peeled if you prefer)
5-6 medium radishes, thinly sliced
1/4 cup (good size handful) chopped cilantro and/or fresh mint (I was going to do both, but it was pouring buckets so I was not going to chance it running to the garden for mint.)
Juice of 1 lime
2 Tbs. olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Toss cukes and radishes in a medium bowl. Add cilantro/mint. In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice and olive oil and a pinch of salt. Taste, then add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over cukes and radishes. Chill until ready to serve, up to 4 hours. I had some of the leftovers the next day, and while tasty, the radishes turned the dressing and cukes pink, which grossed Andy out. Your call.


Stay tuned for my next post "Why Hotdogs are the new Cupcake"

A mouse in the house

You all know how many fun adventures our kitty, Marcelle, brings to our lives. Last summer, we discovered that mice climb the rain downspout up to our 2nd story deck and, having brains the size of peanuts, decide that is a good place to hang out. Our cat spends hours on the deck watching the birds, soaking in the sun, and now, hunting. The other night, I was getting ready to call it a day and climb in bed. Marcelle was on the deck, and pawing at the door to come back inside. "Perfect timing," I thought, since I was ready to wind down. I let her in, turned off the TV, and the lights, and then heard crashing and banging coming from the kitchen. I turned and saw my cat leap across the kitchen floor cheetah-after-a-gazelle-style and thought "crap."
It didn't even occur to me to start checking her chops again for "guests". After the first time last summer that this had happened, I'd been so diligent about making her open her mouth and say "Ah" before letting her in the house. Now I'd have to delay bedtime and get the new friend out of my apartment.
It didn't take long for Marcelle to get bored of flipping the mouse in the air, chasing it and then re-capturing and re-releasing it before she wanted to show me how grateful she was. She picked it up by a hind foot and dropped it in my shoe. Once I saw that it was hunkered down by the toe of my sneaker, I put on oven mitts, grabbed the shoe, and headed for the door. Just as I was opening the door, the mouse leaped from the shoe and scurried under the couch. Marcelle was elated, and I was annoyed.
I stood and watched my genius cat focus on the couch while I thought up my next plan of attack. Just then, the mouse skittered out the back side of the couch and down my hallway toward the bazillion places to hide in our bedrooms, closets and bathroom. Marcelle, meanwhile, couldn't be convinced that the mouse was no longer under the couch and just looked at me like "Shut up, I'm working!" as I tried to show her it had gone down the hall and even picked her up and dropped her near its last known location. I was on my own.
Deciding the oven mitts were definitely insufficient now that the mouse was on the ground, I added a pair of knee-high rubber rain boots. These aided my courage greatly as I went from corner to corner kicking the mountain of stuff we have on our floors (which, oddly, I'd never noticed before I had to search our home for a mouse the size of a circus peanut) hoping to flush the little monster out.
It was 103 degrees on this particular day, and I therefore did not last long at wearing oven mitts and rain boots while working up a sweat running and kicking. I decided to call someone decidedly more seasoned in these matter than myself: Dad.
He said, "Go down to 7-Eleven and buy some old-fashioned mouse traps and put peanut butter on them." I informed him I had a mouse trap; it just turned out to be the catch-and-release variety. He got a hearty chuckle out of my joke and said there was nothing else that could be done. I was exhausted, and Andy was expected home any time, so I decided to roll my bed a foot away from the wall, take my rain boots to bed, and see if a better solution came to me in the morning.
Andy then spent the wee hours of the morning researching, and evidently equally uninterested in going to 7-Eleven in the middle of the night, came up with this:
Bucket
wire with pop can threaded on it suspended over center of bucket like a log-rolling competition
peanut butter on can
ramp, yes, ramp up to the top of the bucket
Then, in theory, the mouse goes up the ramp, jumps on to the can to get the PB, slips or rolls of the can and falls in the bucket. Andy said, "Now what you put in the bottom of the bucket is up to you. Maybe you're humane and put food and some shredded paper down there; maybe you put 3 inches of water." I accused him of created "Rodent Abu Ghraib", but decided the mouse could only be tortured if it actually fell for the trap. The thing is still in my kitchen, now a week later, and still no mouse.
I'm sleeping fine believing it found a hole in the wall and left of its own accord. Or that my cat ingested it. Either of those two options is totally viable, right?
More on our latest, greatest adventures soon.
All my love,
Kelli

10 Steps to Understanding the Law Student in Your Life

Life at NYU Law » 10 Steps to Understanding the Law Student in Your Life

Click on this link (the part above that starts "Life at NYU") to see everything I wish you (and I) had known about law school before I started!
I so wish I could take credit for this, but thank you to the clever NYU Law student who sums it all up. And thank you to all my loved ones who've supported me, even without the insights of this helpful primer, and to all my dear friends here at law school for the interventions, the commiseration and the weekly baked goods.

This seemed like the perfect sendoff into my 5-day vacation!

Kelli

A year in numbers

The end of my 2nd year of law school has me waxing philosophic. It's gone really quickly, and in just one year, I'll be done and moving on to that place that once seemed so distant: "after law school."

So, since last May, here's what I've done by the numbers

11: exams I've taken

27: pages in my appellate brief I wrote this semester

238: cupcakes, muffins, scones, and other goodies that I made (and that's the ones since Christmas I can remember)

32: days (almost all of them in August, and at Christmastime) where I didn't have to work on something for law school.

42: highlighters I've used up

2: clients in my caseload for our bankruptcy practice this past semester

6: suits I now own

2: average number of times each week I had to wear a suit in the last year.

so, maybe not that exciting, but an overview for all you number crunchers.
Now that I'm on the other side of those numbers, here's what's ahead for the next year:
I will spend the next couple weeks finishing up grading of the write-on competition for Law Review, and inviting the top performers to join our staff. I can't believe it's been a year since I was in their shoes, and I'm excited to bring new energy into our office. Once I finish that aspect, I'll spend most of my staff hours planning the staff social events for next year, including the holiday party, and next year's competition.
I'm also doing research for my employment law professor, and she is a total rockstar. It has been a fun challenge and an incredible honor to work with her.
I will be interning with a Federal bankruptcy judge 3 days a week in the fall semester, and I'm really excited about that! It will be an incredible opportunity to learn from a highly respected judge.
I'll graduate May 12th, 2012, which is now less than a year away! I'm looking forward to finishing even though I'm already realizing how much I'll miss St. Thomas. I'm also looking forward to moving back to Colorado when I'm done with classes to start studying for the CO bar exam next summer.

Pile up

Probably tough to tell, but this adorable kite banner says "sunny days". The joke's on me because it has rained 10 out of the last 12 days. It was sunny on Easter, and yesterday, and poured rain every other day in between. My hair is just loving this (not pictured-it would be too scary, but believe me when I say "Bride of Frankenstein" would give you a good mental image.) So, as usual, things are crazy because tomorrow is MAY (May, people!) and that means the end of another semester, and another year of law school, is coming down the track. This also means that Andy is finishing classes, which spells full blown chaos at the Riley house.

Here's some snapshots of what I've been up to:

My mom visited for Spring break (over a month ago, that's how crazy it's been) and we made the best cards ever. Andy got artsy, but you can see my new "home collection" of miss-you cards. Yes, that's a 3D fireplace, with fire, and armchair in the background.

We had our annual banquet for Law Journal, with these classy folks. I am so lucky to be surrounded by such talented, brilliant, and nice people everyday. I really do love law school. Good thing they are so nice because right after this picture, I was surprised to learn I would be speaking in front of 60 people in about 10 minutes. Ask me how fun that was some time.

So, when I make chicken pot pie, I cheat, a lot. But this particular episode found me calling Andy to ask him to start by making the biscuit dough, and I would do the rest. We were also missing a few of my usual cheating ingredients, like cream of chicken soup, so I knew there would be extra work ahead of me. I came home, and because I told him to follow the directions on the package (what man actually does that?) he was rolling out the dough to cut biscuits. So, I figured, well, why not? We cut heart shaped biscuits to top the pies rather than my lazy drop (or, more likely, plop) method. Delicious and so cute.

This is our Easter pic. I know, we both look like Easter eggs, and you know what? I'm glad. It only comes once a year, and you have to be silly at least once a year. It's a rule somewhere.

And that's a quick gloss on what I've been doing since March. There's more, but, of course, I'm supposed to be studying business associations (gag) so another time.

I hope this finds you enjoying sunny days (just don't tell me about them) and basking in the new, the green, the rebirth, the graduations and warm breezes of spring.

All my love,

Kelli

Marching right along

I've posted some new pics (password to view is: kelliandandy).
At the outset, I never really intended this to be a blog about my domestic endeavors, but those are the only parts of my life that are very interesting :)
As you can see, I've jumped on the cute cupcake bandwagon. I was looking at a craft blog (shocker, I know) and a woman had posted these adorable sheep cupcakes. My classmate looked over my shoulder and saw them, and insisted I make them for our recent potluck. When I told her that we were supposed to bring green food, and sheep aren't green, she said "I don't care-you have to make those."
So, I made a little grassy hill for the sheep to relax on. Don't ask how much green food coloring it takes to make green cupcakes; I lost count somewhere after 40 drops.
Saturday afternoon, after weeks of plotting and planning, Andy and I sat down to whip up 20 or so St. Patrick's Day cards. Andy sends them every year, and I had such a blast with the Valentine's I decided these must be homemade, too. I have to say, I hit my stride about half-way in. Andy's were definately more consistent. Mine got progressively cuter (I had a dud in the middle there-got a little crazy with the stickers.)
As for our less frosted, glitterific, bedazzled real lives (see crafting is more exciting,) things are going really well! Andy was recently inducted to the Honor Society at school. I am so proud of how hard he works, and how well he is doing in school. He will finish his Bachelors degree next spring, but in the mean time will be picking up an Associates Degree this May before transferring to the school where he'll finish.
I have been working all semester at our school's pro bono legal services clinic, and this week I completed all the court documents to help my client file for bankruptcy. It was really wonderful to see it to completion, and it will be a relief to this person to be able to move on with a fresh start. My team has a second client that we are also working with, but it is moving a little more slowly. I will say it has been nice to have 2 different clients so that I can get a well-rounded experience. My first client is mono-lingual in Spanish, so I've been really using my Spanish skills. But, he is really, really easy to work with, so it has made the language challenge very manageable. Our other client is very difficult to meet with because of our schedules, but has a very straight forward legal situation, so it is a nice balance with our other work. All in all, working with these pro bono clients has been a real highlight of my law school career so far.
I was also recently honored to be elected to serve as the Membership Editor for law review for next year. I'll finish out this year with a few more editing projects, then I'll be creating and administering the competition that I had to do last year to get on to law review. Remember, I spent that crazy week finding 13,000 mistakes in a 10-page paper? Well, now I get to bless this year's class with that experience! Then, I'll spend most of May and June grading them. I'm really looking forward to it, actually.
I'm also applying for summer jobs, and Andy and I have already started planning our garden. It seems like summer is just around the corner, but I haven't even had spring break yet! My mama is coming to visit during my spring break, which starts next weekend. My study group girls and I are planning Kelli & Laurie's Spring Break Craft Camp. Stay tuned for updates on what will surely be a marvelous day!
I'm sure I've forgotten some important detail, but for now that's what's happening here in Minnesota. Only 7 more days of Winter, right?
Love always,
Kelli

March, in like a lamb or ...

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Valentines 2011

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Hey all!

as you can see, I've been relieving law school stress by channeling my energy into love notes! This is a spoiler alert for some of you, but they are just too cute not to share (not to toot my own horn).

If you go to the Shutterfly share site, the password is: kelliandandy

Enjoy! Hopefully I'll have more updates soon, but in a nutshell, things are going great here (except for the dreadful weather)!

Kelli