becoming an immigration attorney- yikes!

It's time for some thoughts on the law. That is, my experience with the law, and once again, what the heck am I doing in it (in law school). Of course, it is after midnight, and the time has finally come. For the first time this entire semester, I am having to seriously ponder- am I cut out for this?
All week I have had numerous things piling up on my plate. Worst of all (I thought) was that next week I am on call in Business Organizations. I can expect to be ridiculed and humiliated for about 20 minutes in front of a class of 200. Convincing myself that it's no big deal has not worked. Until tonight, when all I can think about is one of my clients in the immigration clinic. He is in a wheelchair and paralyzed from the waist down because he was shot by a gang in Honduras. We decided not to argue asylum on his behalf because the law is not in his favor. He has court on Monday and will be ordered to leave. I can't help but wonder where he will go, and who will help him.
I knew that this semester would be hard for exactly this reason. I am finally dealing with real people. And I knew the law would not always help the people who need a break. What I need to figure out is whether this anxiety it is causing me is temporary- whether I will toughen up and learn to deal with it. Hopefully, this is just part of the learning process, and coming to law school wasn't for naught. It would have been easier to become a social worker, and that way there would be no limitiations on who I could help. As a lawyer, I must follow all the rules set up by the government. But like everyone told me, this was a powerful way of helping people. I have to figure out how to celebrate those that I am able to help, without letting the other cases eat me up. For that I believe only God can give me strength.

Day 2: Leftovers
Day 3: Baked eggplant with cream sauce (left over) and steamed brocolli


Day 4: Cabbage and beet soup

Day 5: Leftovers
Day 6: Cabbage soup, Sushi (our small cheat of the week)
Day 7: Brown rice and beans, broccoli with cranberries
Day 8: Brown rice and beans, dandelion greens, leftovers

Day 1: The Veggie Diet

Day 1: Millet, lentils with carrots, and steamed chard

Starting yesterday, December 15th, we are embarking on a new adventure. Our diet will be atleast 90% rice, beans, veggies, and fruits, for the next thirty days. The goal is to train ourselves to eat more fruits and vegetables. Our doctor says that after thirty days, we won't go back. The health benefits we are looking for are more than just a healthier digestive system (even though I am desperately in need of one). Besides the fiber from vegetables, we need the nutrients. Our doctor has impressed upon us that every single vitamin or supplement out there that we have tried or considered is worthless compared to getting those same nutrients from the true source- nature. So we are seeking to get the nutrients we need in the way our bodies were made to take them. Although we believe this is a good lesson for everyone, it is especially crucial for us because Jon has Crohn's disease. One symptom is that he is always low on iron, which is pretty much essential for all bodily functions because hemoglobin acts as a carrier for other nutrients to get around the body. So, we are going to be focusing on high iron vegetables.

Vieques Island

I would like to document a little bit of the beautiful place that we spent our honeymoon. Vieques Island has been largely undeveloped because until recently the US Navy had a large base there. Now that the base was shut down, the island faces a crossroads- whether to keep the island beautifully untouched, allow the sort of development that profit-seekers would encourage, or something in between. Hix Island House is an example of a business that is bringing tourism to the Island without destroying the natural topography. The designers idea was to construct lodges as much in harmony with nature as possible. For example, the houses used water collected from the roof and heated by the sun. For us, the place was the most refreshing place we've ever been. Tropical fruit trees fell into our window, lizards loved our bathroom, and we felt right at home. Then there were the special treats, like the non-chlorinated pool overlooking the rainforest, and the hammock under the stars. While we could have stayed there all day, we spent our days visiting all the nearby beaches. I can't quite describe the extent to which we loved that place, but it makes me happy just to know a place like that exists.

Valentine's Day

On February 13 we went to a cooking class that some of Jon's former co-workers has gifted us. The class was learning to cook homemade pastas. Jon already makes pasta, but it was neat to learn it from these chef's and to have all these gourmet ingredients to work with- fresh herbs, fancy mushrooms, and marscipone cheese. We created a tomato sauce, a mushroom filling for ravioli, and a cheese filling for tortellini. Then we made the dough, rolled it out, and learned how to shape it into ravioli, tortellini, and fettucini. In the end, all the simple yet rich flavors were just delicious. On Valentine's day we ate our left-overs with the tomato sauce Jon recreated. Here he is in our kitchen cooking. Notice the pink towel, which we received as a gift, which he had refused to use except that it made perfect sense for Valentines day!

December was fun

December fun. I'm glad I took these pictures to remember just how great it was to hang out with family before and during the craziness of wedding prep. Any time my sisters and I get to be together is pretty special. In this case it was even more fun because I got treated like a queen. It all flew by but it went just as planned. In the end, I got married to the man I love with all my favorite people around.