A Perfect Trip!

Last weekend Justin and I went to Washington D.C because they were having a law forum and since Justin wants to go to law school we figured we should go talk to all these guys. For those of you who don't know a law forum really just means a big room full of school answering the same 4 questions and throwing brochures at you. Justin has been signed up for this for months so we booked our hotel early. We used Priceline's name your price option which has gotten us some pretty sweet deals in the past. Unfortunately this time the hotel that accepted our $60 a night offer was the Sheraton right by the Reagan airport. Which is great since the room are a few hundred dollars a night and bad because the parking is $20 a night for hotel guests. BOO! Justin tried everything he could to get out of it but to no avail but we thought okay $80 really is not that bad for a hotel right in DC.

A few days before we left, we attempted to have Justin's prescription filled at Costco but we were a couple day to early and they sent us packing but told us to leave the prescription and just let them know when we were coming back and they would have everything ready for us. Well, we set out on our trip to DC and stopped at Costco on our way. They had everything ready for us and we also had a nice pizza lunch. Gas at Costco was 20 cents cheeper than Buena Vista so we filled up and counted our blessings, this trip was starting off pretty well.

We made it to DC in record time in less than 3 hours including the traffic we hit. That also included our stop. First on the list of things to do was to visit the Montgomery county court house to get a certified copy of our marriage license. They form said we could mail it in and wait 4 weeks or we could visit in person. We thought, "Hey! What better way to start a weekend away than by a visit to a State government office?" Turns our it took no time at all. We only had a few minutes wait due to the fact that a couple was getting married and had 50+ relatives with them. Isn't the point of a court house wedding to be cheep, low key, quick, and above all small? Whatever, it was hilarious and made me very grateful for my wedding experience.

After that we set off to the temple. That was awesome and a much needed portion of our trip. We need to go more often! We came out feeling so refreshed and very hungry. We went check in to our hotel and Justin (who is always up for a negotiation after his negotiation class) talked to the guy about the parking situation. The hotel basically told us that the parking was standard and everyone had to pay. Justin asked if there was anything the guy could do and the very nice hotel attendant said nothing and passed Justin a validated parking pass for our stay. Justin was so excited and told me "Everything worked out because we went to the temple!" I guess so.

After that the hunt was on for food! Once we got in to the area we were pretty grateful for that parking garage since we were in the hood. All the restaunts had signs in languages other than ours so we drove for a long time. Finally, after we were both about to lose it I found a Chick-fil-a on my iphone. Not exactly ideal but it would work and we were so hungry at this point we could not think. It started raining and then we saw it, blaring red and white like a red checked heaven, beckoning us to sit have some peanuts while we waited for our order to be ready, FIVE GUYS. Now, I like Five Guys and Justin had only had it once before and was not super impressed but it just seemed like we had to go there. We came in and ordered exactly what we wanted and when we got it it was so so good. I guess hunger is the best spice but man,we sounded like Five Guys sales people as we devoured our burgers. "This is so good!" "This is REALLY good!" "This is the best burger I have ever had!" "I don't want this to ever end" You get the point, it was the ultimate fat kid moment but we were happy. We went bak to the hotel, watched Lockdown, and then passed out.

7:00 am came way to early even with our early bedtime. We got up and headed out to the law forum. We check out but were able to leave our car parked take a free hotel shuttle to the metro and ride down to the Marriot. We arrived at the perfect time and Justin got to go to a seminar while I found a breakfast sandwich to tide me over till lunch. Then we went to talk to all the recruiters. It was super interesting and we found that some of Justin's initial impressions about what was important and what he wants in a school may not be what he ends up wanting. Ohio State, Dayton, W&L, and BYU were all good to talk to but a couple others we talked to just for fun turned out to be really cool too. Stetson Law in St. Petersburg Fl. was awesome. It has smaller class sizes and the liberal arts feel that Justin is thinking about staying with. It is also #1 in advocacy and has 9 practice court rooms. They also host prospective student on campus and would give Justin a day in the life of a law student by letting him go to classes and experience a little of what its like. All we know is they will be getting a visit from the Skinners because if  a free trip to Florida is offered I will spend the day on the beach while Justin lives the life of a law student. So basically, we have all of the options we had before and now just have added a couple more. We find out Justin's LSAT scores next Wednesday and he will decide if he is going to take it again. All we have heard is that they average the scores so it's bad to take it again. Every school we talked to said no one averages it anymore. We just want your highest score. That made Justin feel a lot better.

We took the metro back and arrive right when the shuttle back to the hotel did. Everything goes our way this trip. We got our car and headed out of the city but the city did not want us to leave. We got a little lost and had a tiny meltdown but finally made it to 66 and made it home in one piece. All in all it was a fantastic trip and we learned a lot. Life has so many choices but for right now we just get to worry about finishing Justin's undergrad and then we can go from there.

Mattress Giants

Sorry for the long time between posts. Justin took the LSAT and I have been trying to get him to write an entry about that but as he always says "I'm a busy man". Oh well, he will get to it eventually. The funny thing is he is really not that busy. Now that school is over he is enjoying life in the lap of luxury. Well sort of, at least he does not have to wake up early everyday.

Right when my regular tutoring job ended a local college student emailed me to help her with chemistry online this summer. That has been awesome since our income was about to go way down with my tutoring and crossing guard jobs both out for the summer. What a blessing! Justin's book business is still going strong and our little Pre-Paid Legal team is plugging along. I am excited to have some more time to devote to that again. Thank goodness for my Dad, without him I don't know where I would be.

Our HRA duties are picking up. We have our residence hall all set up for EFY to start this week. It looks so much better than when we got here. SVU's maintenance and housekeeping are fantastic! Also, THEY FIXED OUR SHOWER!!!!! It is so nice to take a shower in my own room and not have to haul my stuff down the hallway. This past week we did something I have never done before and will have the blessing to do again shortly. Our HRA team moved over 100 mattresses! Robey Hall received 56 new mattresses. We threw 12 away from Main, 1 from Craton, 2 from Robey and 3 from Carriage. Justin and I rode in the dump truck with Kyle and took them to the dump. The dump was a lot farther away then we were led to believe (Ahem Brother Bouchelle) and by the time we made it up there it was closed. We dumped everything in some huge dumpsters we are pretty sure we were not supposed to use and drove like we stole something. It was fun and the truck had SVU plates on it so they will never catch us. We then replaced missing mattress with the best from Robey. After that we took the remaining old mattresses from Robey to the second floor of a storage building. All I can say is I have never been so sore. Lucky for us after EFY more new mattresses are coming and YAY we get to do it all over again. Which I am totally okay with because my arms are getting ripped from all this work and the body flow classes I am taking. The best part about next week is that we get 3 meals a day in the cafeteria which = happy, full, husband!

Justin has earned the title "best daytime worker" since so many of the HRA are working this summer. This is not something he is proud of and it is slightly ruining his luxury. As much as he complains about it, he likes the trust that people place in him. They know if they give him a job he will make sure it gets done. I am really proud of him. With the start of EFY I really thought that I would be heartbroken that I was not wearing a brightly colored polo this year but I am not missing it at all. Maybe it is because I have worked the logistics part the last 2 years and have been so distant from the youth that I forget how great it is. However, I think it is more along the lines that there is no where else I would rather be than with Justin. Our life is wonderful and crazy. Maybe we did not get the leisurely June we were hoping for but whether we are moving mattresses or chilling on the ugly orange velour couch in the lobby of Main watching sports we are happy. EFY always made me really happy but Justin makes me happier.