Fight on

My co-workers (thanks Kevin!) gave me a USC shirt before I left in May, and I've been meaning to post pictures (I quit working on campus in May, but I've been working from home part-time since then - didn't want to confuse anyone). I figured it was timely since USC's football program is in turmoil e.g., Pete Carroll jumping ship, hiring Lane Kiffin, and of course the Reggie Bush scandal/NCAA recruiting violations. Basically, they can use all the shout outs they can get right now.

Fight on SC!

(Note to UCLA fans - Chris is not a traitor. He did not endorse this blog post or me putting Carter in the shirt.)

Train Wreck

Not to worry, the title of my post is not in reference to my life just the law conference that I've been working on since August. It took place on Friday, January 15th. Click on the title to go to the official website:

Train Wreck: A Conference on America's Looming Fiscal Crisis

You can even view videos of the entire event! I know, you can barely contain your excitement. It's riveting stuff.

I'm just glad that it's over. It was tons of work and much harder to do all the work from home than I thought it would be. It went off without a hitch. Apparently it was so successful that they're talking about making it an annual event. Yep, I am that good.

Hostile Takeover

If you thought Chris' writing was witty and entertaining not only are you in the minority but you're out of luck...I'm taking over!! It's time for me to take this blog into my own hands. We'll see how it goes:-)

And you're right -- by definition it's not hostile, just a takeover.

I'll be going back in time to blog about stuff that we never blogged about, so there may not necessarily be a real order to the madness. Don't feel obligated to comment or even read any of it. Chris will probably feel much better about his blogging if you don't.

Rancho Cucamonga or bust

I know I know. All I can say is that I've been busy. The problem too is that each blogless week makes it harder to blog again because there's so much I've missed. Suffice it to say that I passed the Bar and we moved to Rancho Cucamonga. We also spent a great weekend with the Hawkins' in St. George. At the time, I was planning to describe it all, but not, it will take too long and I've got to formulate a rant about TCU playing Boise St. in the Fiesta Bowl (heaven forbid we let the BCS look stupid by having two non-BCS teams beat BCS teams!). So, here's a video we took today of Carter, and hopefully I'll do better going forward (of course, Lorein can always post too.)

Halloween

Carter got his first taste of Halloween at our church's "Trunk or Treat" party. He went as a leopard (got the costume for $10 at Costco -- I love Costco!). I took him around to all the cars, but I couldn't get him to actually say "Trick or Treat". That would've been a good story to have if those were his first words. He did get the hang of it pretty quickly, though. He has a real nose for candy.

So, what do I do?

I just let people give me candy? Even Bob Ford?

And then I eat it? I can get used to this!

I got a job!

It's with a firm called Wood Smith Henning & Berman. They're headquartered in Westwood in the Helio building right on Westwood and Wilshire, but I'll be in their Rancho Cucamonga office. The entire firm has about 80 attorneys in offices throughout California, Phoenix, Vegas, and Denver. The Rancho Cucamonga office does mostly construction litigation, which I have no background whatsoever in, but it's always fun to learn new aspects of the law (and by "always", I mean "sometimes, depending on what it is"; and I think construction litigation will be one those things, unlike, for instance, the tax implications for the sale of securities under Sarbanes-Oxley). I start November 9 and Bar results come out two weeks later. My offer is contingent on my passing the Bar, so let's hope I did so.
I got an interview with WSHB through one of their attorneys who is in my parents' ward at church. He works in their Riverside office, but he knew an attorney had just left the RC office, so he sent my resume in. I interviewed on Monday and they offered me the job on Wednesday. Of course, I then had to fill out an 8 page application, including my job history for the past 10 years (which at this point in my life is basically full of three month summer jobs, which makes for a lot of writing) even though I already had an offer and had already accepted. During my interview, I was impressed that the people I interviewed with really did seem to like the firm. In response to my question about what they liked best about the firm, all four immediately answered "the people". So, that's positive. Obviously, I won't be able to form my own opinion until I begin, but it's an encouraging initial sign.
When I got the offer on Wednesday, I was excited, but Lorein was jumping up and down the hallway. Apparently she's tired of living with my parents.:) Carter's reaction, however, was priceless -- Also, when Carter heard the news, he immediately turned on his favorite song, threw off his shirt, and started dancing.





Unfortunately, I can't get him to dance longer because when he sees I'm taping him, he just wants to sit on my lap and watch. He doesn't yet understand there's nothing to watch if he won't let me tape him! Wow, that's a real modern day chicken and egg problem for you.

Summer Recap

We spent the past three weeks housesitting for my aunt and uncle in Utah, which is why we haven't posted in over a month. When we got to Utah, it was 90 degrees; when we left, it was in the 40s, which got me thinking it's about time for a summer recap. So here's some pics from a fun summer (except for the first part of the summer when I was studying for the Bar. That part of the summer stunk):

To begin, and probably most importantly, Carter spent some time learning the intricacies of baseball from his uncle Skip and cousin Abby.




He also furthered his very complicated relationship with his cousin Moriah (we were lucky to get this picture amidst the pushing and biting).

He experienced the bliss of an ice cream cone.

Lest you think it was all fun and games, Carter also helped clean out the fridge.

Lorein taught him the importance of properly accessorizing . . .

and the importance of knowing how to flaunt what you got.

Finally, he realized how fun it is to ham it up for the camera.