Advent(ures)

Happy first Sunday of Advent! I love liturgical seasons, because they present opportunities to start anew. Advent, in particular, appeals to me because of the wonderful sense of anticipation. Everyone is looking forward to Christmas! Moving away from home has intensified this expectant feeling, as I am excited not only for Christmas, but also for the chance to go home. And, of course, all students eagerly await the conclusion of final exams. I pray that this season will be prayerful, productive, and joyful for all of us.

In the spirit of welcoming Christ into our lives and homes, Jess and I decorated our apartment! An impromptu visit to Target yielded wonderful results--stockings, lights, and even a little Christmas tree!

My favorite part is that we spelled out our names on the stockings using pipe cleaners. And, the lights look so gorgeous. Jess and I keep finding excuses to wander into the living room when we should be in our rooms, studying. The little tree is just right for us, too. (The tree skirt is one of Jess's scarves!) We are very pleased with the resulting atmosphere of our apartment.

The past couple of weeks, while fraught with another brand of anticipation in the form of final exams, have nonetheless been full of good moments. The weekend before last, of course, Cal kept the Axe! Jess and I had a good time watching the game at the Cal-Stanfurd D.C. alumni viewing party at Bar Louie in Chinatown. Go Bears!

I'm currently looking for a spring internship, to take advantage of all of the amazing opportunities for law students here in D.C., and last week was exciting because I had an interview with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless! We'll see what happens... I've applied to other places as well, and have an interview coming up with the Department of Health and Human Services Departmental Appeals Board this week. I am looking for an internship to complete my Pro Bono Pledge hours, which I think is a great idea. So, keep your fingers crossed that I find an internship that allows me to grow through service.

Jess and I both stayed in D.C. for the Thanksgiving holiday so that we could get work done, but that didn't stop us from having fun! We attended not one, but two Thanksgiving dinners. The first was on Wednesday, hosted by the President of Georgetown University in one of the dining halls on campus, and it was fantastic. We ate a ridiculous amount of food, including multiple desserts, and made some lovely new friends at our table. Oh, and there was live music! Very classy, Georgetown. There were lovely flowers as centerpieces that [Jess and I decided] were up for grabs, so now I even have some gorgeous chrysanthemums living in my room!

The second dinner was on the law school campus on Thanksgiving day, sponsored by our dean and organized by Sr. Dorinda, who led us in an interesting Native American prayer before the meal. This meal was even better than the one on main campus, in my opinion. I'm not usually a stuffing fan, but something about this stuffing made it delicious. And, the gravy was fantastic. The best part was that they provided plates and plastic wrap so that we could take home leftovers! Mm, still have a bit of turkey in the fridge.

Thanksgiving morning, Jess and I did some volunteer work with Food and Friends, an organization in D.C. that delivers food to home-bound cancer and AIDS patients. After a training session at their very organized facility, we were off, armed with three gigantic bags stuffed with full Thanksgiving dinners to feed families of four, including entire turkeys, multiple pies, and all of the fixings. We drove around Northwest D.C., dropping off the meals at our assigned locations. One old lady cracked us up by asking where our "menfolk" were, and seemed disappointed to learn that it was just us. Oh, goodness...

On Friday afternoon, Jess and I went to the Kennedy Center to see the National Symphony Orchestra perform The Music Man, conducted by Marvin Hamlisch! We weren't sure exactly how they were going to do it, and were very surprised and delighted to see it performed on stage, right in front of the orchestra, featuring Shirley Jones, her son Patrick Cassidy, and Rebecca Luker. It was very entertaining, and a great way to take a break from our studies. (Though, admittedly, this break was not as productive as I had planned.) The best part was that we had fantastic seats in the orchestra for only $15, thanks to the Kennedy Center's Attend program for 17- to 25-year-olds. For goodness sake, parking cost more!

Other than that, I've been focusing on my studies, what with my Tax Law exam only ten days away, yikes! Well, actually, I did do one other little fun thing over the Thanksgiving break--I read Dan Brown's new novel, The Lost Symbol. Jess bought it last week (and raced through the 500 pages in a day), so I couldn't help but do the same. Obviously, as an English major, I could critique the writing--I mean, no one needs to use the word "esoteric" that many times in one book--but I don't think that Brown is trying to write a meaningful masterpiece. No, he's trying to entertain, and he succeeded in that regard. I was especially interested in reading the book because it takes place in D.C., which made it a lot of fun to read his descriptions of the city and think, I know what he's talking about! He made a few minor errors (e.g., the seats on the Metro are not hard plastic), but I'll forgive him. I enjoyed the story, even if Jess and I both saw the big twist coming from a mile off. At any rate, I recommend it if you're looking for a quick, light read, and, if not, it'll make a for fun movie in a few years.