december backlogs: long live friends

Everybody do the Chandler smile!

Welcome to the third annual Friends party. Oh, how we all love Friends.

Friends has efficiently permeated our relationships, resulting in constant quotes, references, and reenactments of this classic show. 

To celebrate this, Allison hosted the first Friends party 1L year. It was so much fun we decided to do a sequel, which culminated into a well-rounded trilogy when Greg and Allison moved back to town!

This time around, the only ones left in Lynchburg from the original group were me and Stephanie. We decided to open it up as a couples party, so Dusty and I carpooled out to Salem with Stephanie and her husband Josh. Our other friends Heather and Chris decided to come all the way down from DC to join the party, too! It was such a fun reunion!!

The menu was pizza, of course, and Allison made her amazing deep dish for the occasion.

We also had chocolate pie and cheesecake, because, the one with the cheesecake!

We always like to try and dress up as our favorite characters, and we each pick our favorite episode for the evening's marathon. It's always a fun and eclectic selection!

I decided to dress up as Phoebe, as I did 1L year. Dusty was going to dress as Mike, but he was a little bummed because Mike pretty much dresses exactly like he always does. He wanted a real character.

So, naturally, he chose Joey -- as Freud!

Greg and Allison went all out for their Chandler and Monica outfits.
If you've seen this Halloween episode, then you'll know how great this is!

Best costume award.

It was just great to be together again. Especially since so much had changed! Both Allison and Heather had had little girls that past April, Stephanie and Josh had graduated and were moving at the end of the year, and Dusty and I were getting read for our last semester of law school! It had all gone by so quickly.

So cute!

My favorite episode will probably always be The One with the Videotape. It's pretty incredible.

But, for those who care to know, this is my list of the top 10 Friends episodes (from a Facebook post I made our very first month living in Virginia, when I was still unemployed!):

Get ready for this. These last few days of unemployment have been spent making this list...now, I wouldn't say I am ready to laminate this...but it's pretty darn close. 

My top 10 favorite Friends episodes. 

1. “The One with the Videotape” (season 8)
--Because it’s brilliant, and hilarious. Nuff said.

2. “The One Where Everybody Finds Out” (season 5)
--Because I don’t think there is anything funnier in the history of friends, than when Phoebe screams out “My eyes, my eyes!” and they get Ross to jump into their excitement. I also enjoy "naked Ross". And on top of everything else, Phoebe’s dance to seduce Chandler. Chandler  Monica.

3. “The One with the Stoned Guy” (season 1)
--Because of tartlets, sugar-o’s, and dirty talk!

Side note: I've recently been rewatching this season, and it's so great. I also love "the one with george stephanopoulos"...you're still getting to know the characters, phoebe wears footy pajamas, the girls have a sleepover, and rachel realizes she's gonna be okay -- "i have magic beans!"

4. “The One where Ross is Fine” (season 10)
--Because of…everything. This entire episode. Oh my goodness. From Ross’s fajitas, to his L-O-V-and-E…hahaha. 

Side note: the one right before this, “the one after joey and rachel kiss”, has some of my favorite phoebe moments. Her and Mike on the plane, and when she’s talking to Precious, Mike’s girlfriend…”Dang it woman, pull yourself together! Have some pride, for the love of God!”

5. “The One with the Embryos" (season 4)
--Because of THE GAME. The rooster and the duck, and because of Mrs. Chanandler Bong…(and I love the intimate Phoebe/Embryos conversation. It reminds me why Lisa Kudrow is so great).

6. “The One with all the Cheesecakes” (season 7)
--Because of Chandler and Rachel. I love them together, and this is the only real episode where they’re paired up for a significant amount of time. I also love the portrayal of Phoebe and Joey’s relationship…I love that they spend so much time together. And David returns!

7. “The One where Eddie Won’t Go” (season 2)
--Because I LOVE the Eddie episodes. His laugh, his creepiness. And the Goddess meeting. 

Side note: “the one with phoebe’s husband”, also from season 2…phoebe never ceases to surprise, and i love the back-and-forth that reveals that chandler has a third nipple! "whip it out, whip it out!"

8. “The One with Ross’s Inappropriate Song” (season 9)
--Because of the rap. And, I love fancy Phoebe at Mike’s parent’s house. I love everything about this episode.

Side note: season 9 is a great. I love mike. I also love “the one with phoebe’s birthday dinner”, because of the baby/eagle fiasco.

9. “The One with the Apothecary Table” (season 6)
-Because I love Phoebe and Rachel as roommates, and love that they make an entire episode around pottery barn. Ah, the days of yore.

Side note: a close runner up to this is “the one where paul’s the man”…because I really like Ross and Elizabeth’s relationship, and Bruce Willis is hilarious. When Ross is behind the door in Paul’s room, and he slinks down to crawl under the bed…kills me every time.

10. “The One with the Giant Poking Device” (season 3)
--Because “if you’re alive, you ANSWER your phone!” and “Monica bang”…”It’s just a blood bath in here today!”

today

Today is one of those days.

One of the days that I feel panicky, and my heart beats fast and my head starts to swim (although that just might be my head-cold talking).
The months are slipping by. September starts on Sunday, and graduation is a mere 8 months and a week or two away.

My first blog post was one day short of 25 months ago.
I had no idea what I wanted to do with this blog, how I wanted to write, or what kind of pictures I wanted to post. I debated whether or not to include the names of my loved ones, like some blogs who always call their husband "Charming," "Handsome" or simply "Husband".
I didn't post many specifics for a long time, until I realized that was stupid and the only people reading this are my family and friends.

That first post included this summary of my blog:

This is a diary of adventures. Having just graduated from college, my new husband and I are now taking on the grand challenge of moving to the East Coast. To Virginia. We are both life-long Arizonans, yet we are encouraged by our new state's slogan, "Virginia is for Lovers!"

I was cheesy (ok, I still am) and excited and expectant, as well as insecure and shaky and overwhelmed.

The first picture in front of our apartment - dad and Dusty unloading.
We still hadn't even stepped inside!

Empty - so much potential there. 

Mom and I working on thrifted furniture. 

My "Arizona window", which lasted maybe a few weeks before I killed them all.

One of the things that makes me laugh the most is trying to go back and embody that person I was, remembering all of my thoughts and expectations when we arrived. This place is going to be clean all the time (HA). I'm going to garden. I will have a window with thriving plants (now dead and buried). I'm going to learn to cook. I'm going to be fresh and fit and fancy. 
I remember feeling like creating that "Arizona window" embodied all of those wifely things, this tiny clean kitchen and this new blog. A new me was beginning.

Which was actually true - Dusty and I were talking the other day about how much we've changed.
I asked him what he thought was different about me, from then to now, and he said that I am confident and funny, that I make him laugh all the time. I've become a stronger person, despite not checking off all of those "good wife" checklists. And in the long run, I don't think Dusty cared all that much that I killed the Arizona window, because he didn't marry me because of my (lack of) gardening skills.
I can point to many things we've done well, and many things we've fallen short of, in our expectations of moving out here. We still have to work hard to keep things clean in our little place, we rescued two kittens, which wasn't in the (Dusty's) plan. It took me about two years to "finish" the guest room, and it's still a work in progress. That first year we ate out way too much, probably a manifestation of our homesickness that culminated into culinary laziness. We gained weight and stopped cooking as much, and I lost that sense of creativity in the kitchen. Taco Bell was the salve to my wounds, some of which I didn't even realize I had.
It was a mechanism for comfort, I suppose.

Some of the things we did right?

Luna Lovegood. Evangeline. Making each other laugh, being silly. Not taking law school too seriously. Intentionally becoming a part of the law wives. Making friends. Trying new restaurants. Traveling. Winter Wonderland. Summer 12. Embracing our cluttered, fort-like home. Loving each other. Starting my blogs. Putting each other first. Being adventurous. Falling in love with Virginia.

During the first month of my blogging, I wrote another post on the day my mom and grandma left.
I said,

Tonight will be the beginning of a long and wonderful three years of togetherness for Dusty and I, wherein we will be changed and strengthened and blessed by all that we encounter.
During one of my bouts of tears and sadness this afternoon, I simply said, "Well, this is the price of going on an adventure."

What no one told me was that there would be a second price.
Another time to pay up...saying goodbye to that adventure.
I know some of you may be thinking that this is way too early to be sad, way too early to start the process of preparing myself to move.
But honestly, I'm going to need every single day to prepare. I already get teary-eyed thinking about it. I suppose I never spent much time thinking about these three years coming to an end - because we had no idea what that would look like, and we still don't. There's a lot of unknowns and a lot of apprehension, coupled with the excitement of moving back to our beloved Arizona.
The problem is... I'm not wholly Arizonan any longer. I fell in love with this place and the people and the memories it holds. Our silly little apartment and our favorite haunts. I'm going to be leaving part of my heart here when we leave.
But...that, my friends, is the price of going on an adventure.
One I'd be happy to pay again and again.

beginning of the end

Last night, we had our very last Dean's Reception at the law school.
It was weird, guys. Really weird.
First of all, some of my favorite familiar faces weren't there. People like Allison and Greg, who have graduated and moved on.

The Dean's Reception is technically for the incoming 1L students, but since we're mentors for 1Ls, we attend and mingle and pick at the finger foods.

We got there early to avoid the crowds, because once the Dean's address is over everyone comes piling in, following the scent of punch and cheese.

I realized before we left our house last night that I didn't have any pictures from the past two Dean's Receptions. I think our first one was so darn overwhelming (plus I didn't even have an iPhone then, how archaic) and we didn't know anyone, so we didn't end up taking many pictures.
I instagrammed one picture from last year, but completely forgot to take any pictures with our friends or anything. Complete fail on my part.

Dean's Reception, 2012.

In any case, I grabbed the camera on our way out and decided to capture some of the happy moments of our very last Dean's Reception. It's the beginning of the end, everyone.

The crowds are starting to feast.

A holy mountain of cheeses is always a good idea.

Looking around the room, we started spotting a few people we knew and loved.
People who have been around from the beginning, friends and classmates of Dusty's who have made this experience all the more wonderful.

Although the Dean's Reception is probably my very least favorite event, because it's so loud and noisy and intimidating with a room full of strangers, there was still this weird sense of we belong here and this is the end....

When it was all said and done, we walked outside hand in hand and just looked at each other.
How many times can we say "time flies" before we start sounding like a broken record?
How is it even possible that this journey is heading into the last stretch already?
I feel as if we just moved in, like that tearful goodbye to my mom happened mere days ago, instead of two years ago. I feel blessed and happy and so overjoyed to have experienced this. I know we still have a year left, but I feel like it's just a handful of days that's going to sprint past us before we even have time to make any plans.
I'm sorry for anyone who feels differently, but law school has been so fun. It has been magical, adventurous, delightful, and even in the most challenging of moments it has been great and so worthwhile.

I texted Allison yesterday about the Dean's Reception, and how I had missed her being there.
She said, "Today was just no fun. I wanna be a law wife again!"
I have a feeling I'm going to feel the same way. I'm so happy we came here, and I already know I'm going to miss it like mad.

Cheers to making it - the last year! We're officially 3Ls and it feels so fine.