I Put a Spell on You!

Happy Halloween! I did my Halloween stuff yesterday, and it was good times! I dressed up as Abby Scuito from NCIS. I looked pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.

What do you think? I also had on one of those big ass wristbands she wears, but you can't see it in this picture. Anyway, I think I did pretty good for being on a budget. People even recognized me! I was so excited when people would come up and say "Abby Sciuto, right?" Anyway, I had a lot of fun getting all dressed up and dying my hair. I used the spray dye, and it got everywhere! After the party, I went home and took a shower. I should've taken a picture of my bathroom. There was black everywhere: the sink, the bath, the walls, the floor. I don't even know how it managed to get all over everything, but it certainly did, and it was kind of hard to get off the tile, but it was so worth it!

Anyway, a girl in my class had a pre-game, so I went to that with a few friends. Afterwards we headed to the party at the law school. Yeah! It was so fun. They were playing loud club music, and I got to dance my little heart out. It was so fun! I ended my night way too early though. I was at the school for about an hour, and then I just felt like death, so I went home, so that was kind of a bummer.

Still, I got to do everything I wanted this Halloween. I dressed up as Abby Sciuto, and people recognized me without prompting (in fact, a few people came up to me and said "Abby from NCIS, right?", and I said "Yes!" and we'd talk for a few minutes about the show, and then they'd introduce themselves and I'd say, "My name is Abby. Really. My name is Abby."), and I got to go the school party and dance. So even though I ended the evening being violently ill, it was still a pretty good Halloween. Oh, and I watched Hocus Pocus tonight. I love Halloween.

Aim for the flattop!

Last night I went to a comedy show with Michelle, Mike, and Andrew. We saw Louis CK and some random guy whom opened for him. Louis CK was pretty freaking hilarious. It was good times! The theater was amazing. First of all, it was huge. Second, it was so pretty. It was old school architecture and was extremely aesthetically pleasing. It kind of reminded me of the Eccles theater in Logan only much bigger. Anyway, the show was hilarious. I'm very glad we went! Plus, I got to get all dressed up, which is always fun because I never do it!
It doesn't look like I'm smiling, but really I am! My skin is just glowing too brightly... Anyway, it was a great weekend!

I bet I get a job before Jeff gets out of that coma.

I had my first real test today (and by real I mean it's actually going to be graded)! I'm so glad it's over! Honestly, I wasn't super stressed about it until after I finished it, but it feels like the whole school has been filling up with tension all week. It's ridiculous. Last night I wanted to go to the library and study, but I ended up waiting until like 9:30 because the library was so crazy. There were a lot of people there arguing over the United States Code and Reporters. I went upstairs and hid in a classroom. I didn't want to catch the fever.
Anyway, the test was... I don't know. It's hard to gage how I feel about it. Law school is in love with the curve, so my grade depends on everyone else's grade. I really hate that. Anyway, it's over now! Now I just have to wait to get my score! I think I'm more nervous about that then I ever was about actually taking the test. Is that weird?

Hakunah Matata

This weekend I went hiking. Yeah!!! It was so nice to get out of the city for a few hours. The scenery was incredible. Lots of colors. There are a lot of different kinds of trees out here, I noticed.

We went to a place called Partridge Run. We didn't see any Partridges though. In fact, I saw two sparrows and I believe that was all the wildlife we saw the whole hike. Oh well. It was still beautiful scenery and a nice day.

At first glance, it all kind of reminded me of Logan Canyon. After we started our hike, though, I realized it's not quite Logan Canyon; New York has a lot more diversity in their plant life. Well, in every kind of life, come to think of it, but they also have lots of different kinds of trees, as I said earlier. It was really pretty.

Another thing I noticed that was different from home were these little stone walls. Mike said they were built back in the colonial days, or some far away past, and they were meant to mark property lines. They were kind of cool though. They were quite old, as stated, so they were kind of crumbling and some of them had moss growing over the stones.

This is Arnaud posing on one of those cool little walls. I really liked them; they made me feel like I was walking through colonial farm land or something. Anyway, we also crossed this old bridge that had grass growing over it.

That was kind of cool too.

Aside from our colonial construction discoveries, we had some great adventures. We had to cross this creek a couple of times, but usually there was a log or something we could use as a bridge (or an actual bridge). We came to one particular juncture that had no bridge. And no logs. And not enough rocks. So went down stream a bit to see if we could find a better place to cross. No dice. So Arnaud and Mike decided they were going to build a bridge.

It was great. I tried to post some videos, but they wouldn't play once I had them posted. Anyway, they're on facebook if you want to watch them. So, anyway, this man came to tell us we were on private property (not his). He also informed us it was free range, and Michelle thought that meant in regards to guns, like "it's free range out here, so duck and cover." When I explained to her that it had to do with cattle, and the man told us they had bulls, she wasn't feeling much better about it. But we got out of the free range, and all was well. No one got shot or gored (although, just as an aside, apparently in New York you are allowed to target practice in state parks. I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to do that in Utah. Anyway, just FYI...). There was actually a bridge there, but the man told us a storm had come through a bit ago and wiped it out, so the only way we were going to get across was to wade in the water. So we did. And it was cold. Michelle and I made the guys go first; once we saw that they survived, we decided to wade in ourselves. It was kind of fun watching everyone get across. It was less fun on the way back when we had to cross the river again. My pants were almost dry....

It was a great hike, and I had a lot of fun. I'm glad someone finally agreed to go with me! There are actually quite a few hikes in the area, and the Adirondacks are only like an hour or so away, so I'll have to go check those out someday as well! Anyway, here are a couple of pictures from the hike. Enjoy!

Sorry. Could you come back later? We're trying to escape.

I honked at someone today! I've never honked at anyone in my entire driving life. See what New York has done to me? The light was green, and this schmuck was just sitting there, so I honked at him. I felt so mean, but he moved, so mission accomplished! I can add that to my list of new things I've tried in New York!

This weekend was fun. On Friday, I went down to Massachussetts with a friend to check out this outlet mall. Apparently Massachussetts doesn't have sales tax on clothing. Anyway, it was a little disappointing, but it was still kind of cool to go to another state! They also had this cool clock. Anyway, here's my proof that I went to Massachussetts, bought a shirt sans sales tax, and stood in front of the giant clock!

Michelle and I both agreed that Massachussetts has a different feel to it. Granted, I was only like twenty minutes from the border of New York, but it felt kind of quaint. Albany isn't quaint. It's more.... um.... experienced. Anyway, Boston is only three hours away, so hopefully someday in my three year sojourn here in Albany, I'll make it out to Boston!

This weekend I had my first experience as an attorney! Sort of. I volunteered for the pro se divorce clinic in Mechanicville, NY. I worked with another student, and we filled out divorce papers for clients who couldn't afford attorneys. It was interesting. It was a great experience not only to have to deal with all of that paperwork but also to get to interact with a client and explore that relationship. I've also learned a bit about divorce law, in New York anyway.

It's definitely fall here. My apartment is cold! My landlords control the heat, and they haven't turned it on yet... I am very grateful for the big heavy quilts I have (all of which, by the way, were made for me by a family member. My family is amazing!!!!). I'm so glad my family knows how to make quilts because if they didn't, I'd freeze to death! But I stay nice and warm every night. It's in the morning that I get cold! The library is pretty warm though, so it works out. Anyway, the leaves are starting to change, and it's pretty. Honestly, it kind of reminds me of Logan. I'll take some pictures and post them so you can all see fall in upstate New York.

Anyway, just thought I'd share my driving adventure! I miss all of you!