Saturday, July 30, 2011

One Year Away...

So, I don't usually blog on the weekends, and my one year was actually in June, but I missed that deadline. I know none of you care about this so it doesn't matter when I post it. Let's be real, it's more for me.  I am one year away from completing my One-Oh-One Challenge, which is basically a self-challenge to accomplish 101 personal goals within 1001 days.  I am very much a checklist person, so this is an ultimate checklist to me. I realized I need to keep myself accountable over time if I am going to do this, so there is my updated one-oh-one.  Here is the link to my original One Oh One post.

Lauren's 101 in 1001

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

 The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

 Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities. Learn more about the 101 Project here.

Start Date: October 2, 2009 End Date: June 29, 2012

Bold - In Midst of Attempting to Complete
Bold/italicized - Completed Item
<-- my commentary

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Get Artsy
001. Make and create a wedding album for our pictures.
002. Resurface/store the dining room chairs to a solid silk fabric.
003. Make window draperies. <-- not happening...I've decided I want plantation shutters.
004. Make a duvet cover/pillow shams for one of the beds.
005. Finish the needlepoint pillow.
006. Make a t-shirt quilt.

Get Healthy
007. Work out three times a week for a month. (12/12)
008. Run in a 5k with Cam.
009. Eat breakfast every morning for a month. (30/30)
010. Cut my sugar intake by at least half.
011. Stop drinking cokes.
012. Get back into yoga/pilates classes.
Posted by Lauren at 8:52 AM 1 comments
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Friday, July 29, 2011

Repairs

When we bought the house, there were some repairs that had to be done before anything else. Our handyman was wonderful at fixing everything that needed to be done. Ignore the quality on a lot of these pictures--they are mostly taken with my Blackberry.

First, here's some of the plaster damage from the leaking jacuzzi. It's hard to tell the damage in a picture (it was a lot more obvious in person), but if you look closely, you can see the large bubbling around the right and upper sides of spotlight:

Next, here are the pictures of the painful pictures where C ripped the original 1930s trim off the door frame to fit the desk into the office.
 
 Thank goodness for C that Miguel and his crew were completely able to repair the damage.  We asked him not to rebuild the piece as it was completely so that we can get the desk out if we ever need to, so he sanded it all down and filled in the ridges.  Here's the finished product here:
 
 Next, here is the damage to the upstairs wallpaper.  This wallpaper is from several owners ago so I would have loved to keep it, but the paper had faded badly over the years from the skylights and windows. You can see some of the fading in pictures:
 

 Also, on the other wall, someone had taken the wallpaper already off that wall but had not stripped the glue before they had painted it.  Therefore, the wall was very pocketed and damaged looking.  Also, the skylight had apparently been leaking at one point and there was damage and cracking on the wall around the light.
 Because of all this, we had the wallpaper upstairs removed and the walls resurfaced. We have left the wallpaper in the hallways downstairs as it was in good shape.
 Shockingly, once the wallpaper was removed we discovered serious damage to the plaster behind the walls.  There were over one hundred holes, some of which were as large as my fist. 
 
 To put the paint color into prospective, here is the color on the walls with the original trim color still up. The original trim color looked white against the  wallpaper and underneath paint color, but it was a very dark grey.  Our paint color for this hall is Porter Paint color Wheat Shaf.
 Here's the final product of the upstairs hallway and walls with Wheat Shaf on the walls and Edelweiss is the trim color (yes, the light fixture is going to be changed to a chandelier eventually).  I'm so happy with the repair work that has been done:
Posted by Lauren at 10:59 AM 4 comments
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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Done, With a Side of Done.

I have officially survived the Bar exam. I am so excited to finally be able to enjoy summer, relax, and move on with my life.  
I will post a little about the entire experience, and I swear this will be my only bar exam post until the results come out.  I refuse to let this test consume any more time in my life than it already has. 

Studying for the exam was a marathon. In June, I studied from about 8-6 every day.  Starting July, I studied about 14-17 hours a day.  I'm a note card person, so I made over a thousand flashcards to help me learn it.  I soon realized that no one could possibly get through that many cards, so consolidated it to about 200. 
pup helping me studying.
I went over these notecards every day for weeks.  We would take three to four hour walks (yes, in this gruesome heat) just to get out of the house.  We would talk out our notecards and come up with acronyms to help remember everything.  We ended up walking so much I had to buy new tennis shoes and socks. 
Pup loved these extra-long walks and has become a master squirrel hunter these past few weeks. We took different paths for a change of scenery and the walking really relieved stress.  Sometimes, these walks ended at Orange Leaf, with notecards still in tow. 
FYI: Orange Leaf has a frequent buyer card now that is 10% off. You're welcome for sharing.
At one low point on a Friday night, we made brownies, mixed them with ice cream, pulled out jenga and played a modified jenga where whoever missed the multiple choice questions had to remove the block.  Seriously.
On Monday I lost it.  The idea of packing up my stuff and driving to Louisville to actually take the test that I'd been studying for all summer without breaks was daunting. Once I got to Louisville, it was better.  I was able to relax and get some sleep.  

I woke up on Tuesday and took the essay portion.  I was terrified that there would be an essay were I had no idea where they were asking. Luckily, that never happened.  Yes, there were a few questions that I wasn't 100% confident in my analysis, but at least I was able to throw out the general phrases they were looking for. Overall, I think BarBri did a good job preparing me for the essays. 


Wednesday was the multiple choice portion (MBE) of the exam.  For those unfamiliar, the MBE is unlike any other multiple choice I've ever taken in that there are multiple correct answers, and it is your job to pick out the "most" correct/relevant answer. It's extremely frustrating in that it often ends up as a judgment call. A few of the questions were almost identical to BarBri questions, which was very helpful, especially because I had missed the practice problem and could remember the correct answer.  Some of the questions I had never seen the relevant law before (like the random zoning law question).  


Now for the dreaded question that everyone asks: "How do you think it went?" Honestly, I have no idea.  Will I be shocked if I passed? No. Will I be shocked if I fail? No. It's just so difficult to predict how I did on the multiple choice, which questions were practice/throw out questions, and how much they will scale the exam.  Right now, I'm just thrilled to say that I have survived. 
Came home to the sweetest husband ever. I hope he's right :)
Now, the eight week wait for the results begins.  I have a lot to keep me busy these next few weeks.  I have tons of back-posts about the house (yes, it is mostly remodeled and I swear I'll do the posts soon); I'm having surgery next week; C's brother and his family are coming in from Germany next week as well; we're going to Seattle and Alaska the week after that; UK football starts; C's sister, brother-in-law and adorable baby are staying with us at the end of August; we're heading to Tennessee for labor day; and finally the following week I start my big-girl/this-law-degree-actually-may-pay-off legal career.  

Sweesh.  Be ready for some excitement (finally) from this little blog.
Posted by Lauren at 10:45 AM 8 comments
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Friday, July 8, 2011

Crazy Going Slowly Am I...

 So I go to brush my teeth this morning, and notice two toothbrushes in my drawer.  C alerts me that one is his--that he put it in the wrong drawer--and he retrieves it.  Confused, I stare at him.  I'm pretty confident that one was mine, right? But it's wet from where he just used it, so maybe it is his. I look suspiciously at the one left, and honestly decide I've never seen this thing before.  I promptly throw it away and go get a spare. 

Only logical solution to all this: someone broke into my house and switched my toothbrush in the middle of the night with a  used toothbrush I've never seen before. Clearly. 

Is it July 27th yet? I need my common sense back...

Oh...and when I went downstairs to the basement to get the spare there was water on the floor--in the middle of the floor.  Nothing wet around it, and no cracks in the floor. Let's all pretend like it didn't happen until at least the end of this month, okay? I've had enough expenses and stress. 
 
Posted by Lauren at 7:44 AM 2 comments
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Sunday, July 3, 2011

All Moved In...So Let the Renovations Begin

We completely moved into the new home last week and it's been so busy around here. We are in love with this new house.  The new house was built in the 1930s by a local architect who designed quite a few of the buildings downtown.  The house has so much charm, so we are doing our best to maintain the vintage feel where its possible.

Oh but ladies, the biggest shocker was two hours after closing, I'm at the new house (with my wonderful in-laws who came in town to help us move) cleaning and getting things put away.  The inspector had mentioned that the jacuzzi tub had some brownish water when he ran it from where the water had sat in the pipes. So, we took some bleach, mixed it into the water, and ran the tub for a while.  After it had thoroughly cleaned, we drained the tub. I walked downstairs to put something away, and at the bottom of steps I see the bleach water running down my chandelier, down the walls, and the canned light fixtures in my eat-in kitchen (breakfast room). I panicked. Luckily, we plugged the tub and got buckets quickly enough that no damage was done to the oriental rug or table in the room.  The light fixtures all dried out, and the plaster ceiling has been repaired.  The drain on the tub had apparently dry-rotted and has also been replaced.  

Also, the desk didn't fit through the door frame to the office by less than a half-inch, even when it was taken apart.  I was beyond sick when I walked in and my darling husband was literally chiseling the 1930s crown-moulding off around the door. He completely ripped out the door jam, so the poor door frame was gone through major restoration over the week.  But, we got the desk into the office so apparently that's all that matters.

I've found a great handyman (who has a great painting crew) that can fix pretty much everything we've thrown at him thus far (everything--the plumbing, the door frame, the plaster repair, interior/exterior painting). Seriously, there is no question that he's become my new best friend.  Our wallet is probably needing a break, but I'm in love with all the updates thus far. 

I'll give you an itemized list of each thing we've had done to the house, and I'll try to post pictures of each room's before and after eventually (let's just say we can all agree that if I fail the bar, it won't be for over-blogging, sorry guys). 
  • Removed all wallpaper upstairs 
  • Repainted all trim, windows, doors, walls, and ceilings in the hallways, bathrooms, kitchen, breakfast room, and living room (they're still working on doing second coats to all the trim)
  • Refinished (er...refinishing as we are still in the process) the kitchen cabinets and the built-ins in the living room and breakfast room
  • bought new pulls for the drawers (and have narrowed down the selection for cabinet knobs).
  • Repaired all damage to the plaster behind the wallpaper and from the tub leak and sanded, filled, and restored the door jam in the office
  • Sanded and repainted all exterior trim (and touch up of brick when it was needed).
  • Most importantly--removing every inch of mauve in the house (unfortunately, we still have navy to do at a later point).  
Ahh, house decorating/fixing up is so much more interesting than the Bar exam.



Posted by Lauren at 12:02 AM 3 comments
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