Final Spring Break

I'm in my final hours of my final spring break, so I thought I'd give a bit of a recap.

The first weekend of the break, I flew to DC for Denaye's shower and bachelorette party. It was a fantastic weekend including a stunning shower hosted by the Matron of Honor, Alicia; a fun night out with the ladies celebrating Denaye; and not nearly enough time getting to catch up with my best lady. It was also fun to spend some time with Miranda and Stacie, two friends from high school who I hadn't seen (in person) in years, but who I "see" often thanks to Facebook.

As you may know, I was supposed to fly from DC to London for the rest of the break. However, about a month ago, my competition partner, Josh, and I qualified for the ABA's National Client Counseling Competition in Waco, TX. It was scheduled for this weekend. So, instead of flying to London, I returned to Seattle. I got a few hours of down time and a chance to do some wine tasting with some of my law school friends.

On Thursday, Josh and I flew to Waco with our coach, Sharon, to compete in the national competition. Twelve teams competed; six teams went to the semi-finals; and three teams went to the finals. We made it into the semi-final round where we were eliminated, thus placing us among the top six teams in the country.

With a few hours before our flight, we were able to take in some "tourist" attractions. First, it was the Dr. Pepper Museum for a look at old bottles and a ton of posters and an old fashioned float. Then, we drove out of town for a look at the Branch Davidian Compound.

All-in-all, it was a nice spring break. I'm thankful that I'm not sitting at Heathrow caught up in the BA strike, and I'm actually excited to head back to work and school this week. There are just a few weeks of classes remaining and a couple of exams after that. Bring it!

A Good Day For A Walk

We've had a particularly mild "winter" this year. I have to put winter in quotes because, with the exception of about a week in December, we've only had a handful of frosty mornings and zero flakes of snow at our house. It seems we're also going to get away with a short winter as spring is showing up all over the place. The azalea bush in our backyard is in full bloom; the crocuses have popped up and are showing their beautiful purple petals; and sunshine is becoming more frequent.

So, with a forecast of sunny skies and 60-degrees (15.5 C), we had to take advantage of the weather yesterday. After considering our options, George and I decided to spend a good chunk of the day wandering around Washington Park Arboretum and its Japanese Gardens. Here's a snapshot of our day:

This view (Lake Washington and Mount Rainier) slows traffic on a sunny day on SR-520:

Even when there's a crowd, the Japanese gardens are serene.

Many of the flowering bushes are blooming.

Moss is everywhere.