Back in the Saddle Again.

Readin' the books once more.

Totin' my old bookbag.
Where you don't sleep every night.
And the only law is the professor's word.
Back in the saddle again.

So, I might have butchered Gene Autry's song, but it's true. I'm back in Sacramento, settling back into my apartment and a routine. The motivation to study is not there yet, but I'm working on it. Thankfully, I did get SOMETHING done over break, so it's a little less hard.

Winter break was just that: A BREAK. 

Poca Spot looking for Daddy. 

I was able to be home with my parents and the dogs. I've always missed my dogs when I'm away at school, but it was worse this semester. Why, you may ask? My theories: (1) finals were way more stressful for me than they ever have been. This is a different kind of exam: you have to write everything, and even if there is a multiple choice section, you can narrow it down to two answers which could go either way. (2) I live alone. I LOVE having my own space, but it's quiet. Especially during the exam period. I would go out at night to get the mail or take the trash out and realize I had never unlocked my deadbolt from the night before, meaning I had not had any face-to-face interaction that day. It's easy to do when you're focused, have stocked up on food so you don't have to go shopping, and have created a study command center on your kitchen table. (3) Dogs are just adorable, and all of my friends with don't have a dog, or had sent their dogs to their parents house so they didn't have to worry about them during finals. 


I got to drive Mama's new mommobile. She got a Rav4, which she has decided to call Babe the Little Blue Ox, because it's been doing all the work in the family. The best part about Babe is she has this awesome key fob that does everything without leaving the depths of the abyss called my purse. For example, I was using the car to go to work. I would walk up to the driver's door, wrap my hand around the handle, and the door would MAGICALLY unlock. I would throw the purse on the seat next to me, push a button, and it would MAGICALLY start. Also, my iPhone would MAGICALLY sync with the Bluetooth, and my music would MAGICALLY play through the radio. Awesome, right?

It was a great time to be a wildcat this break. The football team played in the New Mexico Bowl and kind of sucked it up for the first half. By the fourth quarter, we were still down, so I kind of wrote us off. THEN we got a touchdown with about a minute left. THEN we recovered the onside kick, and turned it into another touchdown to win. HOLY CRAP. Let's just say there was some screaming and jumping around in our family room that morning. 
That night, Daddy and I drove down to Tucson to watch the basketball boys play Florida. Same situation, we were down, and I had kind of written us off. THEN we came back to win in the last nine seconds. HOLY CRAP. All of McKale was jumping around and screaming. The game made me remember why I love U of A. Everyone was so excited to be there. Also, Tucson has some strange people, like the old guy who wears layers of U of A gear so he can strip down in the middle of the court during halftime. Not only does McKale 
tolerate him, he's encouraged and everyone is more than willing to 
join in on his cheers. So. Much. Fun. 
(Sidenote: the boys are currently 14-0. BEAR DOWN.)

I also got to see Baby Brother. He couldn't get days off work for 
Christmas, so we drove to him. 10 hours in the back seat each way. Let's just say I slept for a good portion of it. We were a little cramped in his one bedroom apartment, but it was so nice to have everyone in one place. We mostly hung out, watched movies, and played some Wii.

Baby Brother in his shop. He's the grubbiest mechanic there.

Mama was a master at Mario Cart.

As I mentioned before, I did get to go into Johnson & Associates and do some work. It was mostly filing, but it was nice to touch something legal that wasn't theoretical and had a right or wrong answer. And the office is just fun to be in.

For New Year's, a bunch of us went to C's house in Tahoe. It was fun because it was law school people, and our other people, i.e., B came with me. I was made fun of the whole drive up because I was so interested in the snow. I have seen snow, but it's always been dirty or iced over. Up there, it's stuck to the trees, creates snow banks, and there was powder everywhere. 

See! It covers the mountains!

The first day there, we just played in the front and back yard in the snow, mainly having snowball fights. I'm not very good at making snowballs.

SNOW ANGEL!

New Year's Eve, we hung out at the house to avoid the cold and the crazies. It wasn't a crazy night; we played games, made fun of the online coverage of the New York ball drop because their correspondents were AWFUL, and had a good time. 

My NYE kiss. Thanks B.

The next day, we went to one of the resorts to hangout for a little bit. We went to the casino, where C gambled for the first time. She won $9 from a slot machine. We ate lunch, then walked around Heavenly for a little bit. I found snow pants I really want; they're pink and $180, so we'll be waiting on those for awhile. That night we watched movies. They put on Fight Club because I had never seen it, but then I fell asleep for the last 10ish minutes, which everyone said was the most important part. Oops. 

The wind blowing around Heavenly was awful. Hence the ninja scarves. 

We came back to Sacramento on the second. I dropped B off at the airport, and since then it's been me trying to get back in a routine. 
Time to get back in the saddle again.