I started out the year in the other Washington, celebrating New Years with Nick and meeting his family and many of his friends for the first time. It was cold, snowy, and tons of fun, and I was really disappointed that I couldn't go back this year. (Stupid adult responsibilities.)

I came back to school to start my last semester of school... ever. My last semester was pretty laid back. I took an awesome class on Supreme Court Advocacy (dude, I am such a Supreme Court junkie), during the course of which I met not one, but TWO of the justices. (Okay, so Roberts wasn't chief yet, but still... there were rumors floating around at the time.) I coached my moot court team on to winning best brief overall (okay, I wasn't allowed to help with the writing, so that was all them, but still) and they made it to the quarterfinals. I sent out gazillions of job applications, to no avail.

Spring break meant road trip through NY!!! Normal people envision flying to somewhere beachy and sunny... I decide we must go up to Niagara Falls and see friends in Buffalo and Syracuse. Unfortunately, spring break also killed my car. :-( Very sad, to see my first car go. Luckily, I could pay for a new (used) one outright, by taking out more law school loans, but at least I wouldn't have to worry on top of car payments on top of everything else. Plus, my new car was shiny and silver!

April came... the start of baseball season. And finally, in my three years of being in D.C., that actually meant something. I went to my first Nationals game opening weekend. It was freezing cold, but awesome... they won! (Although, by the end of the season, I was rooting against them... they are, after all, in the same division as my beloveds.)

Then, the end of school. Finals, graduation. Family. It was all sort of anti-climactic. I just don't get all excited for graduations, for some reason. But we did get to wear silly six-cornered caps!

Summer brought the bar exam. It's weird to look back on it and realize that it wasn't all that difficult, but it was just so intense. I mean, just the sheer amount of information that one needs to know for one of the exams is mind boggling. It could (and does) fill nine very extremely large and heavy books. But the material itself is not all that complex, just incredibly tedious. Really, the summer brought little else. More baseball... including finally getting back to Shea after a three-year drought. Of course, it was an extra-inning game. I wouldn't have it any other way, really. :-)

I then spent the next few months in the miserable hell of the unemployed. I have done a pretty good job of blocking this time out, but let's just say I spent a lot of time playing online poker until all hours of the morning because I couldn't sleep. At least I got good at it!

This fall, my brother moved down to D.C. to go to school and we are finally in the same town for the first time in seven years. I got to go with him to see Jon Stewart, whom I love, love, LOVE, which was totally awesome. I debated applying for LL.M. programs, and even filled out a few applications. I got to see my boys break the curse and finally beat the Nationals/Expos at an away game for the first time ever. (My first time seeing it ever, that is... they apparently beat them in away games all the time when I don't make the effort, LIKE LEAVING THE COUNTRY, to be there.)

The most recent few months flew by...

I developed an extreme addiction to Firefly and Serenity. Because they are awesome.

I got a job that I absolutely hated. Now, I have a mild-dislike/hate relationship with it. But, it's paying the bills.

I started paying back my school loans. It sucks.

I passed the bar exam.

I baked. A LOT. And then I got, no joke, THREE DOZEN mini-loaf pans for Christmas. And, no joke, more than 30 of them were from my grandmother. (Different sizes, but I'm still getting rid of many of them... anyone need/want any, let me know.)

And tonight, I am going to a New Year's Eve party where I plan to drink LOTS of champagne! :-)