Highlights in my life

Since I haven't written in quite some time, I'm going to write some highlights from my life. I'll tell ten things:
1. Mid-August I moved into my new home. It's located up on the east hill in Provo, underneath the Y. It's the basement of a house. A half-basement, actually - so the front half is all open and looks out over the valley. It's a gorgeous view. Every day I feel happy as I watch the sun set over the lake and see campus and the mountains on both sides of the valley and all the pretty things. Hopefully I'll take some pictures and you'll get to see them. The inside is also great. Big living room and kitchen - huge actually. It's a great place.
2. By the first week of September all my roommates were in place. Iva was already living here and she is a sweetheart. She's wise and kind. Sarah - my former mission companion - came with me and it's been really fun living with her. She's been such a blessing! And Chelsea (who at 25, is the youngest one here!) is a bundle of energy and cheerfulness. They are just a fun, spiritual, mature, clean, good set of roommates. It makes having roommates a huge blessing. When I was looking/thinking about housing I had to decide what I wanted to do this year and what I felt was that I didn't care whether or not I had roommates, but I wanted to live close to campus. And living close is nice, but mostly I'm grateful for a good house and wonderful sisters to live with.
3. During Labor Day weekend Rachel and I went to Las Vegas and visited with Jill Skinner Alvarado and Jenn Prince Hendrickson (sisters from my mission). On the way home we stopped at Cove Fort - which was a neat historical site, with fun interactive things. Fun!
4. The last week of August I started my 3rd, and final, year of law school. It was so much fun to see my classmates and I realized how much I've come to enjoy law school. I have a some really interesting classes and I'm having fun with it.
5. After Labor Day, undergraduates started school and I started teaching English again. I teach the freshman class like last year and I'm also interning (team teaching) an advanced writing class. I took that class as an undergrad and I really enjoy being back in it. I'm learning a lot! Both classes keep me busy. And happy. I love to teach!
6. I am part of a fantastic BYU ward. It's a little older, very friendly and a good level of spirituality. I was excited to find fellow law students, old friends from the past (ie., Nicole Kay) and even one of my students in it. My calling is to be the Sunday bulletin person - which is such a blessing to my busy, busy self: I have a lot of contact with different people, I get to know many people's names, and it doesn't consume my time.
7. In 2 weeks the annual International Law & Religion Symposium starts. I'm on the Recruitment committe and have spent many hours finding volunteers to help with informal translation and other needs. I enjoy it, but it certainly does take a lot of time! Despite fear of wishing my life away, I am counting the days until it comes and goes.
8. A couple of weeks ago I went to my storage unit (many of you have met my unit that I've had for 7 years now!) where most of my things were still stored - and found that water had leaked in. Many boxes of things were soaked. Some could be washed (dishes and clothes) but several were books and papers that had to be thrown away. Despite the loss of things that mattered a lot to me, there were two big blessings that I saw: 1. I was able to throw away things that I couldn't bear to get rid of, but don't need and whose absence will be a blessing when I move in a few months and 2. The most important things (ie. journals) were in the same stacks and "somehow" did not get wet. Really, through the many, many hours of sorting and salvaging, I felt very sustained by the Spirit and blessed. And I found my Grandma's square dance dress (that I've looked for for years) and it's so fun to twirl around in!
9. I am once again living near my favorite things in Provo - a gorgeous temple a couple of minutes away AND a loving and supporting family. Siblings and cousins who bless my life in abundance. They are SO good to me. I don't think I could have survived this past month without them.
10. Nancy bought me a bike and I'm trying to get into good enough shape to make it really useful. The first time I tried to ride it up the mountain, I made it half way and was in intense pain for several hours. However, in the car/walking, I figured out a more gradual route and the second time I made it all the way home! Now, it still took me 10-15 minutes to recover enough to get keys out to unlock the house, but at least I made it! That story will continue.
11. And an encore for good measure. This is especially for you freshman roommates. When I was telling my roommates about it, I thought you'd be impressed about how far I've come from my supposedly "secret" self. Earlier this month I applied for a job as a clerk for an immigration judge. I had to apply through the Department of Justice, along with thousands of other people. And to be quite perfectly honest, I didn't think I'd get past the paper application to an interview. I just don't think I'm qualified enough (law school grades). In fact, the only reason I went ahead with it was a strong impression to do it. But that's why it was all the sweeter this past Friday when I received an email telling me that I've been selected for an interview!! So, sometime in October they'll fly me out to D.C. (where headquarters are) and I'll have an interview. This in no way is a job - it's just the next level of the process. There are about 30-something immigration courts in the U.S.; my order of preference was Chicago, Kansas City, Charlotte and Memphis. After that I told them I'd go anywhere. So, I'll keep you updated as things happen with that.

Okay, I realize that's not any great insights or deep thoughts, but it is a brief update on my life. I'm extremely, extremely busy. Overly so, but so far I've been blessed to be able to manage it all. I very much appreciate prayers - and acknowledge again the many, many blessings I have right now.