first semester almost over!

is it just me, or does it feel like the end of the year, from around mid-november though december, comes in the biggest rush ever? i feel like just yesterday i was getting ready for thanksgiving, and now i'm stressed out over christmas presents and new years plans! where did all my time go?

i think this is a direct result of the mess i've been this semester. up until thanksgiving, i was a certifiable wreck. between class, work, relationship, not seeing my friends anymore, trial, research, future plans, etc., i just felt like i couldn't breathe. and then thanksgiving break came, when a majority of those things were finally done, and i could practically feel tension leaving my body in waves and shifts and floods.

that's when i started taking pages out of elizabeth gilbert's book, "eat, pray, love." i began asking myself, "what do you want to do right now, kahea?" so over thanksgiving break, i rested a lot. i slept a lot. i spent time with the bf. i even watched twilight again (and took N. with me. for the record, it is leaps and bounds better the second time around for some reason, and N. didn't think it was so bad either!). i listened to a lot of music.

and since then, things have been going okay.

• i took my federal indian law final on monday. i almost laughed out loud during the exam. i mean, i pretty much threw up 15 pages of "well, you could argue this, but the court will probably say that, unless they think this, then they'll say that instead, unless you're here, in which case the court will probably follow that other thing..." you get the picture. i'm constantly astounded at how interesting and frustrating fed. indian law is. at how...malleable and subjective it is. and that's the way it should stay i think, at least while these particular nine are on the bench. because let's face it, this bench would screw over all indians if they had the opportunity. maybe not intentionally, but it would happen. it's happened before. facts of life, my friend.
  
• I PASSED THE MPRE! the MPRE is the multistatate professional responsiblity exam that you have to pass in california in order to be admitted to practice law. in essence, it's a component of the bar. and it's really not that difficult, but given both my state of mind at the time i took it, and the fact that i didn't study AT ALL, i'm amazed that i passed. i'm so glad i don't have to retake it. now i just have to take and pass the bar. which i think i've decided to do after all.
  
• i've only got one more thing to do before my break officially starts and i am hawaii-bound: my upper division writing requirement. which also doubles as the article i'm publishing with a law journal. it's due to both my professor and the journal editors on monday, which is fine by me, as i already have 30 pages of it complete. it's another really interesting topic (which i actually rambled on about for nearly 4 pages on my fed. indian law final): the jurisdictional gap in the criminal justice system when it comes to sexual violence against native american women. maybe i could figure out a way to post the article, or a link to it, once it's done....hmmm...
• we exchanged our secret santa gifts yesterday at our christmas lunch for work. which was also my last official day (though i'll probably continue to work next semester remotely and for PAY). i bring this up because i got a gift i absolutely love. i'd been talking to one of my coworkers about the gift-giving marathon N. and i have coming up over the next few months (christmas, 4-year anniversary in january, valentine's day, our birthday in march - yes, we have the same birthday), and how we make wishlists so that the other isn't guessing at gifts. (i also gave the same wishlist to my family for our secret santa as well). on that list, i'd said that i'd love to have people donate money to the world wildlife fund, which is an organization i donate to as much as possible. realistically though, i don't know many people who give to a charity instead of giving a tangible gift to someone, even when that someone says that's what they want. so i was banking on just donating all the money i was given for christmas to wwf's conservation efforts. but my secret santa at work made a donation for me! i think it's always a great idea to ask for donations to causes you find important, and see, it works! best gift EVER!

and speaking of wildlife, here's something to leave you all with. N. found this video and was literally like, "i saw this and realized that this would be your dream come true." he knows me too well. :)