A Really Big Test

First, something funny Adam said...(I really need to keep better track of these gems)

Adam came home from work and said, "I almost forgot what year it was. I kept writing 2011 on things."...I said, "It is 2011." He looked at me completely surprised, "It is?...Whoops...I kept writing 2012 on things."............................haha............so silly............

I've figured that I've waited the proper amount of time in between posts and it's finally time to give my 3 followers an update. As luck would have it, those people have already been updated on life since they're my dad, brother, and sister.....haha...but I still like writing for all those anonymous followers...I'm sure I have many! =)...lol...

For the last 6 months Adam has been studying for the Law School Admission Test. (The cool kids call it the LSAT)...it's a test like no other. It's not fact based like the DAT (dental) or MCAT (medical) it's skills based. It's a test that can be learned. But don't misunderstand, it's not easy by any means. For Adam to study as much as he did is not unheard of at all...in fact it's encouraged and recommended--any less studying would almost certainly result in an undesired score. This semester he completed an internship at Congressman Jason Chaffetz's office. He did it for college credit and he went to it monday, wednesday, and friday. During down time while he was at the internship (which by the way he loved--the internship, not the down time) he studied. And on tuesdays and thursdays while I was gone he was home, studying. 8 hours a day for months and months.

Here's a sample question from the Games section: Three couples--John and Kate, Lewis and Marie, and Nat and Olive have dinner in a restaurant together. Kate, Marie, and Olive are women; the other three are men. Each person orders one and only one of the following kinds was able to study. In addition, every tuesday and thursday while I was teaching he was home studying all day. Literally 8 hours straight he'd studied. He was dedicated and the more he worked problems the more he was able to see what tricks and skills he needed to attack each problem.

of entrees: pork chops, roast beef, swordfish, tilefish, veal cutlet. The six people order in a manner consistent with the following conditions:

The two people in each couple do not order the same kind of entree as the other.

None of the men orders the same kind of entree as any of the other women.

Marie orders swordfish.

Neither John nor Nat orders a fish entree.

Olive orders roast beef.

Ok...that's the setup or something...there's a certain term for it. But then you have 7 questions to answer that go along with that setup. Here's the thing...the test is about 100 or 101 questions. There's 5 sections. (One is experimental and not counted, but you don't know which one it is until after you get your score) And it's timed. Each section you have a certain amount of time so when you do the math, you have approximately 1 minute to answer each question. If your mind wonders for even 60 seconds, you're behind. It's intense.

Needless to say, a lot is riding on Adam doing well on this test. So a couple weeks ago, we got up early (he couldn't sleep and neither could I) and got everything he needed for the test and I drove him down to UVU...he didn't want to take it at the U, although it would have been closer. Since we couldn't sleep, we woke up really early and got there really early. I've been meaning to take more pictures of us and the things we do, but haven't done a good job at it...but here is a before picture...

Adam is wearing his "lucky" Bruins t-shirt. It's not really lucky per se...

although he was wearing it when they won the Stanley Cup, but he wanted to wear it today and he said it was going to bring him luck! And you can't see it, but I'm wearing a Tulsa Hurricanes t-shirt, which represents the law school that he would like to go to. We got to UVU super early and went up to the Loft to try to relax for a minute...I turned on Sportscenter on the big TV for him to watch and try to take his mind of what he was about to do...we just sat and watched for about 15 minutes...as the time got closer for him to go I got really emotional (I get emotional now just thinking about it)...he worked really hard, he's a smart guy, and it's such a big deal...I just want him to do well. I'm very proud of him. Plus, he's so handsome. =) Anyway, I told him I loved him and Good Luck and he went on his way with his pencils, ID, bottled water, and a snack---it's a 4 hour test that was all he could take...oh and a analog watch...and I just waited.

After the test he came walking up, exhausted. He felt/feels good about the job he did on the test. It's out of a possible 180. He gets his score sometime in January (longer than usual because of the holidays). It takes so long to get the score because they have to do what I think is called "exacting" or something like that. Essentially, they create a curve for the test. If everyone scores unusually high then they know the test was a little on the easier side so they curve it so not everyone scored a 170...or the same on the opposite side, if everyone scored 150 then they know the test was too hard so they'll "curve" it appropriately so there's a broad range or scores. But if you're wondering what we've been doing for the past 6 months...that's what...studying for the LSAT...well, me? I just took naps and ate while Adam studied. =)

1 Year Anniversary

This post is a little late...we were married on April 17th, 2010...so for our 1 year anniversary we celebrated on the 16th, which was a Saturday. I wanted to do something a little special to make it stand out from all the other days. We were planning to go to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It is hands down our favorite restaurant, but it's a bit pricey...(everything is pricey when you're first married). So I had this Groupon for this place in Salt Lake that looked okay online...plus the coupon for it helped, so we decided to go there. Oh, and we were going to see a play at the University of Utah after so it just worked out to go to this place in Salt Lake. Well, we drove out there and after walking around Trolley Square looking for the place we found it...we walked in and it was a seedy bar! And the bar part wasn't even the worst part (they had TVs showing the NBA playoffs) but it was that the guy behind the counter was rude and so was the server. Luckily Adam forgot his wallet in the car with his ID (this was a bar, after all). So we decided to go somewhere else. But we were running short on time before the play so we decided to go eat after, and we stopped at Smith's to grab some snacks...mostly candy. After walking all over the University of Utah (in heels) looking for the Babcock Theater we finally found it and luckily we bought our tickets beforehand because the show was apparently sold out and people were waiting to take the seats of people that didn't show up! (Who know "MacBeth" was so popular?) The play was okay. The acting was okay. It's Shakespeare and so it makes it a little harder for people to understand the language, so the line delievery was crucial and sometimes I felt like the lines could have been delievered better. But overall it was good. It was late when the play was finished and Adam was full of candy so he longer wanted to go to the Cheesecake Factory....so we went to the next best place (that was open after 10pm)...Denny's! We both hadn't been there in YEARS! It was cheap; not too many people were there. Needless to say it was a fun night of entertainment and greasy, cheap food. Adam wants to make a tradition out of it! =)

Utah in the Summer

It's been a while since I've posted anything, and the last thing I posted was my favorite movies. Probably not the most interesting topic, but still informative. And I'm still waiting on my new camera, which isn't the worst thing because I'm not quite picture/photo-ready. But I'd like to get a new camera as soon as possible. Anyway, so we have been planning to go to Massachusetts for almost a year now. Adam has been so excited, and so have I. But plans change. As Adam nears graduation, and plans for the future, we realized that he needs to have more work experience, more internships that he can put on his Law School application. Sooooo...we'll be staying in Utah for the summer. I'll work full time and he'll take some summer classes, study for the LSAT, and hopefully get an internship. Money will be SUPER tight, but it's a sacrifice. We're giving up something that could have been really great (going to Mass) for something that will be even greater and will last forever...furthering our Education. Now, I'll be completely done in December, but unfortunately, I doubt I'll be able to find a teaching job...let alone a teaching job in the middle of the school year...but I'll find something to do. It's funny how life changes so quickly. I'm sure things will work out just fine, but in the meantime we have a tough road ahead.

Favorite Movies

Here is a list of my favorite movies:

We saw this movie at the Dollar Theater...because it was $1...we didn't really know what it was about or anything...but I LOVED LOVED LOVED it. And I really feel like it may appeal more to adults than kids. So if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry.
We rented this next movie along with another movie...we watched them over Christmas break last year when all my roommates were gone still because of the holiday. We had the whole apartment to ourselves, which was nice. I lounged on one couch and Adam on the other. I remember we put this movie on when it was already kind of late. I stayed up to watch the whole thing and loved it! Adam fell asleep 20 minutes into it. (I don't think he's seen it all the way through still.) But after he left I watched it again! I thought Jim Carrey and Steve Carell were perfect as those characters. Now, the latest movie I've added to the list is one that I just saw yesterday. You know I really don't care for Steve Carell in "The Office" because he acts too stupid sometimes. But I loved him in this. Again, I didn't really know what this movie was about before I watched it. But like my other two favorite movies, this one will make you laugh and cry. In a world that seems to just keep getting worse and worse (apparently there's a movie coming out where the guy pretends he's married to pick up on women!) these movies are a refreshing getaway from reality.

Quotes

Walking into the room, Adam says in all seriousness, "where are my glasses?...(touching his face) oh, they're on my face!"

What a silly boy!

Oklahoma

For Christmas break we went down to Adam's family's house in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It's an 18 hour drive and it was better for me than it was for Adam. He did 90% of the driving and I slept for a good portion of it! The drive back we got caught in a snow storm in WY and had to stay the night in a hotel, then I got sick so it was no fun!

But we had a ton of fun while we were out there! We did so many fun things! We were always going somewhere or visiting someone! So fun! One day we went to the Tulsa Zoo and it was way cold! It didn't snow, but it was really cold the whole time we were there. The zoo was nice because it felt like it was our zoo! We were nearly the only ones there! Unfortunately, because it was so cold some of the animals wanted to be warm too, so we didn't get a chance to see them! But we did get to see some pretty cool things!

I think by far the highlight of our time at the zoo was when we went to see the snow leopards! They were adorable! I just wanted to take one home with me! It was the mom and her two babies! And they were soooo playful with each other! We stood and watched them play for a long time! I thought it was so cute that their paws were so fluffy! And they had really long tails! We also saw some rhinos! They were huge! AND one came so close we could touch him! (Although we didn't) It was so neat to see him so close up like that!