Question: What is Tanya going to do today?

Answer: Whatever I feel like I want to do! Haha! Kyle and I are home today, and we're looking forward to a day of just being lazy and maybe running a few errands. No more pencils, no more bar review books. Yay! We're just going to play and hang out and perhaps go to Target later. Then, when Kyle takes a nap over the noon hour, I might sort things for my garage sale or work on my cricut machine. If we're feeling very ambitious, we might head down to Fashion Show to check out a few suits for work in the afternoon.

Here are a few cute random pics from the last few weeks that I haven't gotten a chance to post until now:

I think this is on the way to Salt Lake City a couple of weeks ago. Kyle loves being on planes! He makes his airplane noise whenever he sees one. When we pull back from the gate, he waves to the terminal and says, "Bye-bye!"


This is at the Smith's in Herriman. I had to run over there in the morning first thing to get a few things for breakfast. (That's why he's still in his jammies.) They have a little merry-go-round in the front of the store. Kyle saw it and pointed and said, "Horse!" So, I put in a quarter and let him ride.

Another plane pic. This was on the way back from Tucson last week. While I was collapsing the stroller at the end of the jetway to give it to the ground crew, there was a line of people getting on board the plane. Kyle decided to join them and board the plane. I was right behind him, but when it was time to turn right and go find a seat, he turned left and walked toward the cockpit. I said, "No, Kyle, we need to go the other way and find our seats. We can't go up there." The pilot said, "Sure, he can," and scooped Kyle up and put him in the captain's chair. Lucky kid! Doesn't he look like he's telling the co-pilot what the new flight plan will be?

We went to a Mexican restaurant last week in Arizona. I couldn't help snapping a few pics while Kyle was eating chips:

Here is the best pic! I saved it for last. We went to the Tucson Children's Museum on the way to the airport last Saturday. They had a room full of real emergency vehicles. Kyle got to sit on a real police motorcycle (that has been retired, of course) that had a real siren and lights. I think he really liked it!

That's it, everyone! We hope that everyone has a fantastic weekend. Gotta go! I can hear Kyle start to wake up!

The bar exam...it's over!

The bar exam is over, everyone! I'm so happy. Now I can go back to living my normal life. I'm going to try not to stress too much while the results are processed. We are supposed to get them somewhere between six and nine weeks from now. Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later. The results will be posted online at the Utah State Bar website.

I feel pretty good about the test. Based solely on the pass rate, I think the results will be positive. I definitely won't sell all my bar exam books yet. Hahaha! There are too many people out there that felt just as good about their exam, only to be very rudely surprised on Bar Exam Results day. I hope I don't get any rude surprises. That would not be good.

Dateline: Salt Lake City

One day of the bar exam down, one to go. Today was the essay portion. I would have to say that the level of difficulty was about what I expected. I think I did well on some of the questions and just average on others. There are 60 points possible for the essays, and 35 points is usually average. It's also enough to pass if you get an average score on the MBE. I counted up what I think my points were based on how well I answered the questions, and I think I scored between 37 and 40. Hopefully I can get an average or better-than-average score on the MBE and then this will be DONE!

They also told us today that the bar results will be posted 8-10 weeks after the exam. I overheard a girl saying that the results are always posted on a Saturday morning, and that last February they were early -- in about six weeks. I calculated out that the results will probably be posted around April 10 or 17. We'll see.

Meanwhile, I'm chilling in my room at the Little America after uploading my exam answers to the database. Jeff is bringing me dinner from Crown Burger, and I'm going to review some MBE questions later this evening.

Also, I learned today that the admission ceremony for successful applicants will be held on Friday, May 15 at noon. Let's just say that I hope I'll be there! :)

Down to the wire!

Less than 72 hours to go and I will be in the first stage of the bar exam. I feel like there is quite a bit I still need to review. I think that Sunday and Monday should be enough to take care of that though. I don't feel as strong as I would like on the UCC subjects. But I'll get there.

I'm taking off tomorrow for the driver. I'll let everyone know what happens when I can make a report! :)

Dateline: Green Valley, Arizona

Hi everyone! Kyle and I are updating you from Green Valley, Arizona this week, where we've gone to focus on bar exam preparation (for Mommy) and spoiling by grandparents (for Kyle.)


Kyle's grandparents prepared for his arrival like some countries prepare for visiting heads of state. They had all kinds of toys that they had either bought or borrowed from friends all ready to go. His crib was all set up in the den with a stuffed bunny. The pantry was stocked with all his favorite foods, like Vienna sausages, canned green beans, and Spaghetti-os.


My studying is going well. My parents are AWESOME for taking on almost 100% of the daily Kyle care this week so that I can study 10 hours a day. And now that I'm off work until after the exam I only have one full time job instead of three so it's almost like I'm on vacation anyway...until a week from today, anyway, when I start stressing big time! Haha!


Here are a few cute Kyle pics from the week:


Kyle got to visit the fire station down the street with his grandparents. This is a retirement community, so apparently the firefighters were happy to get a visit from a little boy. They gave him a plastic fire hat as a memento of his stay:




Kyle got to pick an orange off the tree in the backyard:

Kyle tried to play with the backyard water fountain as well:

I'll try to post more later this week, as well as a few pictures from last week's trip to SLC that I never got around to posting.

In other news, I found out that I finished 3rd in my age group in that race on Saturday with a chip time of 27:46. That's not bad! I think I'd like to try another one in March or April...just to see if I can improve at all between now and then.

We hope that everyone is having a great week! :)

Just checking in!

Hi everyone! I'm just checking in to say HELLO and apologize for not having many K pics the last couple of weeks. Bar exam preparation is taking precedence over everything else, but it's going fairly well. I think I'll be ready for the test a week from Tuesday. I've got to make sure that I'm getting enough MBE practice questions done and then also review the last of my state subjects.

I did my 5k race this morning. My time on the clock was 27:55 but then when the actual computer time came back it was a 27:46. This is because our chips log when we cross over the start line and then when we cross back, and I started the race in the back and it took me 9 seconds to get to the start line. I know this isn't an extremely fast time, but it's an accomplishment for me since three months ago I could barely run 1 mile without stopping and now I'm able to average under 9 minutes per mile. They had a continental breakfast for us after, but I had to leave early to get back home to finish packing and get ready to go.

Kyle and I are off to Arizona today! Kyle's Grammy and Grampy are looking forward to some serious spoiling, and I'm looking forward to lots of study time at the library. We'll update everyone later in the week, and maybe we'll even have a few pictures!

16 days and counting!

Happy Sunday, everyone.  Only 16 days left until the bar exam!  And, more importantly, only two working days left until I can devote myself to full-time study.  It's going to get kicked off on Wednesday with my three-day class, and then on Saturday afternoon we're off to Arizona.  I'm just so ready to get dialed in on everything and then to just get it done and have it over with.

We got some super cute shots of Kyle this weekend on the plane and on the swings, so I'm going to try to post them later this week.  He's been a really good boy this whole week.  We have had a good time.  

Have a great week everyone!  :)

Mid-Week Update

Just checking in with everyone. The studying is going! I'm looking forward to a week from today, which is my three-day MBE class. Then, on Saturday, Kyle and I are flying to Arizona for a week with Grammy and Grampy. Kyle is looking forward to getting spoiled by his grandparents, and I am looking forward to a week off work to focus on studying. Trying to study while Kyle sleeps plus work 8-9 hours a day plus take care of Kyle and the house on my own is leaving me stretched a little thin.

In fact, I have taken the liberty of writing a list of things I'm looking forward to doing when this whole exam is over and done with. I am sure that this list will grow, but here is what I have so far:

1. Work on Kyle's baby book
2. Figure out Cricut machine that Jeff got me for Christmas that I haven't even had time to take out of the box yet.
3. Get a pedicure while reading a magazine or book solely for fun.
4. Sleep in until 6 am on a weekday morning.
5. De-junk my entire house.
6. Get a massage at Aquae Solis at the J.W. Marriott Spa.
7. Talk to Jeff for more than 30 minutes a day.
8. Put all my bar books in a giant box in the attic.
9. Read a novel for fun.
10. Go shopping for suits and clothes for work at Macy's -- all my suits are too big now!

Also, I met my running goal of 3.1 miles in less than 30 minutes -- 29:48, to be exact. I know that this isn't too impressive for serious runners, but it is for me -- two months ago, at the beginning of December, I could barely run 1.5 miles without stopping. Now I'm going to work on increasing my distance and speed.

Have a great week, everyone!