Weekend in Colorado

Mother and I decided it was time to get away...so why not head for Colorado! We took our first mother-daughter trip together and drove late into the night to arrive at Kevin's house early Friday morning. All of Kevin's family seemed relatively happy to see us (or atleast they faked it pretty well) 

Our first stop, was Ikea!

We baked a little that afternoon (more to come on that!) 

And had a campfire in the evening. 

Then did a little antique/craft/junk shopping at this great place called "The Barn"

Our trip was just exactly what I needed, not to mention roadtripping with mother was such a great experience. For both my mother (who is a teacher) and myself, the semester is in full bloom, and getting away was perfect. Not to mention, Kevin's family was wonderful, as always! 

Baby N at 6 months

Just 3 months ago I met Baby N, and did a little photoshoot with him and his parents. I was so excited to do a 6 month shoot with him last week. 

This guy is just the happiest little baby. Sometimes as a photographer, its hard to get good shots with lots of smiles, but not with this one!

Thanks to Baby N for keeping my baby fever in the front of my mind :) 

Mother's Banana Bread

Another of those fun banana recipes for those single ladies that may have trouble eating all those bananas all at once before they turn gross. 

First step. You need a mother. 

Here you can borrow mine 

(just for the purposes of this post....I'd like her back later please)

This mother likes to bake, but only if it uses certain ingredients. Those ingredients commonly are...Craisins, and Oatmeal. 

So here we have Mother's Banana Bread.

Heat oven to 350, and grease bottom of the pan only!
2 cups Bisquick
3/4 cup oatmeal
2/3 cup sugar (or if you're one of our family...we use 1/3 splenda, 1/3 sugar)
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 cup craisins
Sprinkle cinnamon

Stir all these up in a giant bowl
then add in
2 mashed ripe bananas
1 cup frozen blueberries
(just be a little careful with these...thats why you put them in last)

Bake for about 55 minutes

This yields one loaf. (we doubled it...obviously)

Silver Tack Monogram Pumpkin

My mother founds this idea online, and many of you have probably seen it as well. But how cute do these pushpin pumpkins turn out??

Mother of the law student worked on this one. It safe to say all of my crafty energy came from her. I came home one day last week, to find her out in the garage spray painting. It came out just perfect!
So here we have it:
 She bought a real pumpkin (apparently the fake ones are expensive?) 

Spray paint your pumpking, then take silver push pins/tacks and monogram it with your family letter! Its only September, but that "V" pumpkin has started to put me in the halloween spirit!

Advertisement Space Winners

Its time to announce the two winners for the October advertisement space!

First, thanks for everyone who entered- I loved looking at your blogs and stores- you're all so creative!

In addition, even if you aren't one of the winners, you can still advertise with me for just $5 a month, or $15 for 4 months. 

And finally, the winners are: 

 Shaylynn said...

Ooooh, this is a neat giveaway! I'd love to be able to share my jewelry-- some with guitar strings, some fantasy-inspired-- along with art and crafts and such... I'd be torn between my Shoppe http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/Shealynns-Faerie-Shoppe
and blog
www.shealynns-faerie-shoppe.blogspot.com

Thanks for doing this!

 Kristina Grapes said...

An ad space for my blog http://kristina-zufall.blogspot.com would be neat! I've always been hesitant to advertise; this would be a nice foot in the door.

Be on the lookout for their buttons on the side of the blog for the month of October! Thanks to everyone who entered!

Banana Nutella Ice cream

2 Ingredients for this ice cream. Bananas and Nutella. Delicious!

For this I took two frozen (and grossly black and disgusting) bananas from the freezer. Nuked them 45 seconds, pulled the peels away (while making a snarling "ew this is so gross" face) and plopped them into the blender. I added two heaping spoonfuls of nutella, and blended it up! Them popped them back in the freezer a couple of hours.

Ta dah! 

Not only is this delicious...but its a great way to use those 'naners. I'll only eat bananas if they are about halfway green...so this is perfect for the rest of the bunch that ripen the day after we get them home from the store!

R & M

Thanks to law school, I now live in the very heart of Husker nation. Two of my good friends from law school will be getting married after graduation, and they asked me to do a mini shoot at the stadium before the Arkansas State game. Although they already did engagement photos, we had fun doing this mini-shoot which they hope to use for their Save the Dates!

These two are just wonderful! They met in law school, and are just perfect for each other :) Its always nice to hear that law school made two people's lives a little bit better, seeing as how it basically ruins everyone else's (sarcasm...mostly)

Birthday Week

Last week was my birthday, and I'm officially one quarter of a century old! (or halfway to 50 if you like to think of it that way!) 

At work they surprised me the day before (since I hadn't told anyone about the big day, I was shocked when they knew it) and bought mini bunt cakes for the whole office to celebrate. Its wonderful to know I work in a firm that cares so much about everyone there!

Mom and I went out for ice cream that night. 

On my actual birthday, I worked half a day, and went to classes until 7:00pm. My sister and her boyfriend took me out for endless shrimp (yum!)

This weekend my family celebrated as a group. My cousin and I always celebrate together since our birthdays are so close

And finally, my sister and I hit up the husker game on Saturday against Arkansas State. 

Bo and Lil' Red wished me a happy birthday too!

(yes, they did both actually say that to me during the game...the stadium was just so loud you couldn't hear them very well)

Sunday I was able to get caught up with a friend that I hadn't seen in about 4 years. At least there is one perk about being the girl that is still in Nebraska...old friends are easier to see when they are coming home to see their families! 

And finally in the evening my law school friends met up for dinner together. Talk about a bunch of nerds talking about nerdy things :) 

Despite that little thing called school, it was a wonderful week! 

Protein Balls

Special thanks to my mother's teacher friend who gave my mother this recipe. These are delicious, and perfect bite sized grab and go breakfast! 

Here we have the Protein Balls 

1/2 c peanut butter

1/2 c almond butter

1/2-3/4 c of honey or agave nectar

1/4 c wheat germ

1/2 ground flaxseed

3 tbp hemp seeds

2 c old fashioned oats

Craisins to taste (or other dried fruits/choc. chips)

Mix well & shape into balls or bars.  Put in freezer to set & store in fridge in sealed container. 

Delicious little snacks, perfect for the on-the-go person!

Job Applications

If I were to describe applying for jobs in one word, it would be....discouraging. 

There are so many questions, which really have no true answers:

How early do I start applying?

What type of firm?

What are alternative careers that I may be interested in?

How picky do I get?

What state should I look in?

How should I be searching for firms?

Should I cold call or cold email?

How can I better network?

I've contacted a handful of firms, and sent my resume to one or two alternative career choice which are hiring and I feel I would be a good fit (alternative career, as in not working as an attorney)

Rarely do law firms respond. If they do its a one sentence "we are not hiring at this time" 

Ouch. 

I know it isn't personal, but some days its hard not to think of it that way. 

I was told by the school, that only 50% of the law students from our school, that graduated in May have jobs. Prior to the bar exam, only 30% had jobs. 

Out of that 50% only 25% found jobs in Nebraska. 

Which is interesting to me, seeing as how our career services as almost nothing to do with jobs outside of Nebraska. 

That means out of the 50% that have jobs, 75% found a way to find a job on their own, without any help from the school.

So how did they do that??

Yes, it sounds like I'm starting early, seeing as how I wont graduate til May. However, a few friends already have accepted jobs with firms. Law firms start early, they want to get first pick of the students. Especially big law firms. 

A big law firm is not what I am going for...which leaves me with the question of how? How do I find those smaller firms?

Some Omaha law firms have predicted that about 10% of our graduating class will be offered jobs in Nebraska. I'll go ahead and move myself to that leftover 90% voluntarily. But now how do I get a job outside of Nebraska?

Don't worry, I haven't given up. In all reality, I've barely just begun. The process is tedious, but it really only takes one offer. One offer from that place that is a good fit for you. 

So out of my job searching desperation, and a way of throwing this out there to all my readers---if you are a lawyer-- how do you do it? If you aren't--have you heard of anyone that may be looking for a hard working, creative lawyer?? I am open to going all of the country (all over the world actually) Don't worry, I'm not desperate yet (its only September), but I am excited to find a wonderful opportunity and am open for that opportunity to be wherever it takes me. 

2 Advertisement Space GIVEAWAY

Sticking with tradition, a couple of times a year I love to give out 2 free advertisement spots! I haven't done a sponsor spot giveaway since March I believe, and decided it was about time! Check out the right hand side to see where your ad would be seen!

Last month, even though it was summer and I was blogging less, I had over 80,000 pageviews! Although I'm not as big as alot of blogs- it is still alot of little eyes viewing your advertisement!

If you have an etsy, a store, or even a blog that you want more pageviews of- comment on this post with the link to what you would like advertised! One entry per person!

Even if you don't win- I sell advertisement spots on my front page for just $5 a month! I also give my sponsors first choice of when they would like to guest post, or do a giveaway here to help promote their blogs/stores! Email me here to inquire about spots! I have a deal of $15 for 4 months of advertising!

Even if you don't want to have an advertisement- don't forget- you can always email me here if you want to guest post or giveaway! It is an awesome way to get more eyes viewing your store or blog!

So leave a comment to be entered (include a link to what you would want advertised!)
Pssst- it makes sense to be a follower when you sign up too, that way we can keep in contact :)

This will be open for a week! 9/20
(in order to give the winners plenty of time to get their advertisement to me for October!)

If you already advertise with me, dont hesitate to enter! I will just add a month on to your sponsorship

Replacing Your High Heel Tips

Who else out there has that one pair of shoes, that you hate to get rid of because they fit so nicely, never rub, and never hurt your feet? Yep, I've had these suckers for about 6 years, and they've been worn down to the nubbins. 

It wouldn't be so bad, if they didn't "clack" when I walk, or make me slip on hard floors. (I'd stopped wearing theses heels when I almost wiped out while working at the Oklahoma Capitol Building my Senior year of College) So here is an easy repair! 

I bought a few of these high heel tip replacements from amazon for a couple of bucks. Make sure to pay attention to the size, you'll want to make sure it matches up pretty well!

Now all  you do is take a pair of pliers, and rip/twist the old piece off

Then remove the nail/screw portion. It takes a little extra effort, but take your time. It wont take more than a minute or two. 

Now you want to take the piece you purchased, and start tapping it into the hole. Eventually I ended up taking the shoe outside to the concrete driveway and really banging it in. You could probably stomp your feel around to get it in place. The good thing is, it wont be going anywhere anytime soon! 

And that's it! An easy 5 minute fix, to save that priceless pair of comfy heels!