Hoppy Easter!

Hey! We wanted to share a few of the best Kyle pics from Easter. We had a wonderful time at my parents' house in Arizona. Kyle had his first bona fide Easter Egg hunt. I think he did really well!

In other news, I was picking up the tax form from Kyle's school (nothing like waiting until the last minute, right?) and one of the school's directors, Mr. Cameron, mentioned to me that he thinks that Kyle should be a baseball player, and that he throws the ball better than most of the other kids. Sweet! Maybe I have the next Nolan Ryan on my hands!

Speaking of taxes, I finished mine today. I'm glad that's over! By the way, the photo on the front of the H&R Block Tax Cut software really bugs me. Tell me what's wrong with this picture:

I'll give you a hint. That guy is way too calm and serene to be doing his taxes. Look at that easy-going smile on his face, like he's never had a care in the world. That would never happen in real life. And where's all his paperwork? You can't seriously expect me believe that everything he needs to finish his return is in that wafer-thin blue folder with two pieces of paperwork under the coffee cup. C'mon, H&R Block. We need truth in advertising. Your software may make it easier to do taxes, but it's not going to make it so painless for us that we will all turn into simpering tax zombies like in this picture.

Lastly, the bar results showed up with my actual scores. However, before I go into details too much, I need to give a huge SHOUT OUT to all the people who helped me for the six weeks leading up to the exam (much like an Academy Award speech), because without you guys, this simply wouldn't have been possible:

My super-awesome boyfriend, Jeff: Thanks, baby, for being there for me every day during this crazy adventure! Thank you for helping me study, watching Kyle for me so I could focus (including one poopy diaper change!), listening to what I had to say, and just being there for me. You are my sounding board and voice of reason. You are the best! Hopefully, we'll never have to return to Obligor (hehehehehe!)

My parents: Thanks guys! You let Kyle and I stay with you and provided us meals and entertainment so that I didn't have to worry for an entire week about things like food, laundry, shopping, etc. We couldn't have done it without you!

Rick, best ex-husband ever: Thanks buddy! You volunteered to rearrange your schedule on several occasions to help me out with studying, watched Kyle for an entire week when I had to leave unexpectedly, and didn't stress when I got snappy (like that would happen. LOL!) Anyway, thank you so much for all that you do.

Kristol and Asa: These guys are awesome! They chipped in to help me out on a couple work things that I just ran out of time to do while being gone. They also went above and beyond the call of duty on overnight Kyle patrol when I had to go out of town and Rick was in California. Thank you guys! You're the best.

Etta: Best legal assistant ever! Thank you so much for taking the initiative on so many things, being there, covering, and just being your awesome self. You rock, girl!

Jim: Best boss ever!!! Thank you for letting me take the time off, being my advocate, giving me great advice, and for being you. You're the best!

Everyone else: Even if I didn't name you specifically, thank you so much for being there, whether it was spending time with me, helping me out with something, feeding us, or whatever...Kyle and I hope that we can repay the favor someday.

Okay, back to the nitty gritty on the scores. In Utah, you need 270 points to pass the bar (out of about a possible 350, give or take...the results are scaled on a curve...but no one hardly ever scores that high, anything above 300-310 is considered outstanding.) The average score is usually about 284, or about a 142 per component. I got 300.8! I got a 151.3 on the MBE and a 149.5 on the essays. I was shocked -- I thought that my MBE score would be higher, given that I spent so much time on preparing for that portion of the test and did exactly 2,000 practice questions. I was hoping to score a 160 on the MBE. My practice tests in the two weeks leading up to the exam were 144, 160, and 163. Likewise, I thought my essay score would be lower -- around 140 -- since I spent very little time prepping the state subjects (compared to all the work I did for the MBE) and was relying on all the writing experience I have in practice (i.e. winging it if necessary) to get around a 140-142. LOL. I'm still very happy though. I increased my MBE score from a 134.9 in 2004 to 151.3 today -- almost 20 points. Plus, with everything that I had going on (Kyle, work, travel, other stuff) I was pulled a million different directions. Anyway, it just goes to show you that (1) you can't ever prepare too much for those tricky-ass multiple choice questions, and (2) 10 years of BS artistry sure comes in handy for bar exams! Hehehehehehehe!

Have a good week, everyone!