Bridal Shower #2

March 15th was my law school shower. My dear friends JoAnna and Kiersty were gracious enough to offer to do this shower. I had them enlist Em and Kimber as well. It was a breakfast shower and so many of my adorable law school friends came to the shower. It was a bitter sweet moment seeing all of my wonderful friends, but knowing that our time together was almost over.

Law School Prom

Silly me, I go to one of these proms in three years and forget to take pictures. It was a very nice event though. Spencer was able to come with me and meet many of my law school friends. We sat with Jo and Cory, and Sarah and her new husband Jay. It was a wonderful evening where they recognized so many of my very accomplished law school colleagues. I must admit the highlight of the evening was a performance by Jericho Road. One of the members is a 2L. Spencer thought it was cheesy, but I was having a great time :)

Bridal Shower #1

The day after the proposal was my first bridal shower. This was the Ward shower. My dear friend Liz, who is the wife of my former Bishop, graciously offered to give me the shower. My ""other mother" Kathy assisted in the process as did so many other sisters from the Ward. The shower was amazing!! We had so much food and the number of gifts was very overwhelming. Kimber and/or Mom took these pictures of the gifts and shower. Crazy!!!

I had a great time and was so grateful to all the

sisters that came…

He Proposed...

Yes, I meant to do this two months ago when he did it, but life manages to get away from me quickly. It was Friday, March 7th. I knew that Spencer intended to propose that night. Ok, formally propose. It has been our long running joke because he told me he wanted to marry me last August, but we had to wait for the never ending diamond drama. Spencer picked me up and brought me the most beautiful set of roses. I handed the roses off to my mother and we headed for the car. As is usually the case, I drove. However, I had no idea where we were driving. Turn by turn, Spencer instructed me on where to go. We eventually arrived at the Joseph Smith Building. We took the elevators to the tenth floor. Spencer had made reservations at the Roof. It is a beautiful buffet that overlooks the Salt Lake Temple to the West and the State Capitol to the North. We had a very nice dinner with my favorite Lion House rolls. We held hands and stared into one anothers eyes (one of our favorite things to do). At this point, I was praying that he wouldn't propose in the restaurant. I hate crowds and I didn't want this to be a group moment. It was at that point that the couple sitting below us did the whole proposal thing. I started to tear up. It was so cute!!! We then asked another couple in the restaurant if they would take our picture….

Spencer paid the bill and we headed for the elevator. Instead of going to the bottom floor, we got off at the lobby level. We walked across the plaza and onto Temple Square. There is a fountain in between the Temple and the South Visitors Center. We walked over and sat down. I was ecstatic at this point!!! I had always envisioned being proposed to in almost that exact spot. I had told my mother for years that this would be the absolute perfect place to be proposed to.

We talked for a minute until all the other people in that area had left. Then he started to tell me about the symbolism of the evening (sorry readers, that's all the details you get.). He got down on one knee and asked if I would be his wife. I, of course, said yes. Then he took my hand and placed the most beautiful ring I had ever seen, on my finger. I designed it, but it turned out even better than I could have hoped for.

A sweet lady on Temple Square offered to take our picture.

Then we called up Adam and Em to go over for a visit. I had to show her the ring!!!

I am a bit disappointed that I can't get a great picture of the ring. Every camera makes the diamond look dark whereas it is anything but. The ring is made of rose gold and has an asscher cut stone. When you look into the diamond, it has many facets that appear to continue in forever. It is so clear. I absolutely love it. Good job honey!!

So Many Lawyers...

Yes, I am a slacker blogger. However, I am going to try to make up for it this week. I have a ton of pictures that I need to post. But for now....

I am blogging from the Campus of Arizona State University. ASU is the location of this years J. Reuben Clark Law Society Conference. I have had a wonderful time. I can't believe the number of impressive people I have listened to in just 24 hours. Last night began with an amazing fireside featuring Sheri Dew. She spoke on influence and being a leader.

I then made the 1 hour trek across Phoenix to my cousin's home. He and his wife have been nice enough to put up me and a friend of mine from school. We got back to their house about 10, and were back up at 5 to get to ASU for the morning sessions.

Elder Wickman, who is a member of the Seventy and General Counsel for the Church was the first speaker. He talked about the general legal issues that face the Church including the Main Street Plaza and Clergy Privilege. We then had an ethics session featuring Dean Gordon, one of the funniest BYU professors.

The morning ended with breakout sessions. I attended the Women in the Law session. It was quite entertaining. A female judge from the 9th Cir. was one of the panel members. She talked about the issues she faced while trying to get a job in the 1960's. I was again aware of how far my gender has come in these short 40 years. However, we have so much further to go in the legal field.

The highlight of the day so far was the Keynote Address by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. She spoke on being an ethical lawyer, but not in the sense of just doing what is right. She focused on taking a proactive role to do good.

"Where much is given, much is required" has seemed to be an underlying theme of this entire conference. As people of faith trained in the law, we have the skills to do much good. I can't wait to have the opportunity to use my education to do good.

This conference is also amazing to me because of the size. There are so many people here!!! 700 mormon attorneys and law students. The law students are from over 50 universities. Wow. Mormon law students outside BYU? :P

Back to the MAcc

In the last week, there have been many changes/ milestones in my life. Monday marked the beginning of my final semester of law school, of grad school, and of school in general. Because I am marrying a man who has more years of school left than I know what to do with, school will be a part of my life for years to come. However, never again will I be the student.

Tuesday I started back in the MAcc program. As I suspected, instead of being at the younger end of the students, I am headed to the older end. Almost three years have passed since I last stepped foot in the good ole' BuC. Not only am I three years older, I feel as though I am much wiser. How bad can this be? I have been to law school (or law school hell depending on the day), this is nothing. My classmates have thus far seemed impressed with my education and capabilities. I had one girl ask the professor if I could be in her group because she was hoping to have "the expert" on her side. (Only because the group project had cases to brief :) ).

Tuesday also marked a quarter century for me. I turned 25. That seems so old, but oddly enough, I have very few regrets. Twenty-five seems like a good time for the changes I am about to encounter. I will graduate with two graduate degrees and marry my sweetheart. I will take the bar exam. I will hopefully get my first real job. All very big things, but things I have looked forward to doing for many years. How the years do fly!!!

It's Christmas!!

You have no idea how glad I am that it is Christmas break. Even though I have to finish a 30 page paper by January 8th and have yet to make it beyond the second page, I am still so glad to have the time off. Christmas began at 3:35 pm on Wednesday, December 19th. That was when I finished my last law school final. Not just for the semester, but for law school. Never again will I have to take one of the dreaded little buggers (although I am sure the Bar Exam is 10 times worse). I had an enjoyable weekend and was finally able to spend some time with my honey. We went to his parents ward on Sunday where his father is the choir director. His choir did an amazing job, and Brad even sang "O Holy Night", which brought me to tears. Spencer and I then went to my parents ward for a less impressive Christmas program. We had dinner with the Dyes. On Monday, I had Christmas Eve lunch with the Woolleys. We then spent the afternoon with them. Spencer left for work at 4, and the Woolleys and I ventured across town to see Michael sing in a Madrigal performance at the Methodist Church Christmas Eve Service. They did an amazing job.

On Christmas morning, we had breakfast with the Woolleys. Then we retired to the family room to open gifts. My future in-laws were much too generous with their gifts. In addition to several books, they gave me a gorgeous bracelet with garnets, blue topaz, amethyst, citrine, and peridot. Much too sweet.

We then ventured to the Dyes for Christmas brunch. Although still full from breakfast, we (or Spencer when it came to the meat products) managed to eat our fair share of steak, Christmas mushrooms, eggs, bacon, funeral potatoes, and crab. After brunch, we retired to the living room for gift opening. My parents gave Spencer and I a mattress for Christmas. So comfy. I love it. In addition, I got a new camera and Spencer got some random items such as a blue bathrobe with his monogram on the front, Star Trek Season 1 (silly Dad has made my life interesting with this gift), and a pen and pencil set.

Spencer had to leave for work and I spent the rest of the evening with the parents. On Wednesday and Thursday, I spent much of the day helping Daddy with home improvement projects. I promise to post the pictures when we are done.

All in all, I had a very enjoyable holiday. I was so glad to spend time with my wonderful family.