Another Notch on the Belt

I love running with Nike. He can keep up with me any distance from 1-30 miles, doesn't care if I go fast or slow, and loves running as much as I do.  Even though he was sick today, he was so sad that I almost left him home that I had to take him running anyway. I have this great leash that I use to run with Nike. It has a padded belt that goes around me (gotta love hands-free), a pocket for bags and cell phone, and also a leash with a bungee cord to absorb some of the shock if Nike sees a squirrel. It works much better than just having a leash around my waist.

I've been trying to avoid it until this point, but the belt has gotten tighter and tighter in the last few weeks as the baby has been growing. I have been putting the leash up higher on my waist instead of sitting low on my hips.  Today, I finally stopped denying the fact that I was going to have to loosen the belt because today was the day I needed it. It's a good thing it fits up to 54 inch waist!

Saint Augustine's Carnival '09

We spent Friday evening at the carnival at the St. Augustine Parish down the street. 

We were most extied fo the Filipino food, which is the best I have ever had this side of the Pacific.

Our only disappointment was that there was no whack-a-mole this year, April is unbeatable.

Biking, hiking, and philosophizing

Because April is pregnant she wasn’t exactly up to running the LA Marathon this year so yesterday we rode the LA Bike Tour Marathon instead. The race started at 5:00 A.M. on Exposition Blvd at the USC campus. 

There were about ten thousand of us that rode the course which mostly followed the path the marathon runners took after we finished.

It was fun to get to ride through the streets of LA without any cars to contend with.

April waves as we ride through Korea Town

We missed Julie as she ran by USC but April caught up with her at about mile 14 to run with her for a few miles and to snap this photo.

Kristi was down in SoCal for the long weekend so we met up with her on Saturday and hiked the Baldy Mountain trail in the Angeles National Forest.

Tree hugger!

Really, the redwoods were beautiful.

 Afterwards April and Kristi dropped me off in Claremont so that I could catch the last plenary session of The Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology  conference that was held at Claremont Graduate University this year (or as April calls it “my little philosophy club”).  It really is “little,” there were probably only about fifty or so of us in the auditorium.  But most of big* names in Mormon philosophy were there.  Professor Bushman’s presentation was very good and I even ran into an old Utah philosophy buddy.

*relative to the very tiny group of people who are into this sort of stuff.

Does the baby look more like April or Steve?

Got to see Baby today.  Everything looks good; 2 arms, 2 legs, and A LOT of energy. 2 inches long already! The head is near the bottom and this is a profile shot. 

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

In the one short week between graduation and the start of California Barbri I tried to cram in as much non-legal reading as possible. I got about halfway through Beyond the Hundredth Meridian, Wallace Stegner’s biography of John Wesley Powell-which I am thoroughly enjoying. I read Dan Brown’s Digital Fortress. I also finished Malcolm Gladwell’s new book: Outliers; The Story of Success. I fell in love with Gladwell’s writing when I read The Tipping Point back when I got home from my mission. Blink was possibly even better and so is Outliers. For those Freakonomics fans out there, Gladwell’s books are must reads.

I wish I had more time to get in the details of Outliers. I would especially like to compare Gladwell’s discussion of “the trouble with geniuses” with the mismatch effect, which I worked with as a research assistant for its discoverer a couple of summers ago. But, alas, that will have to wait until I am finished with the Bar. So instead, enjoy one of my favorite Gladwell speeches: What we can learn from spaghetti sauce.

Earthquake

We were just hit by a 5.0 magnitude earthquake that was centered in Hawthorne. April and I along with my mom and Uncle Dave and Aunt Mary Lou were visiting relatives in Long Beach when the house began to shake. It lasted for 15 seconds or so, which seemed like a long time while the quake was happening. Even though tonight's earthquake was smaller than last July's quake, this one felt quite a bit stronger because we were so much closer to the epicenter. Fortunately tonights's quake wasn't too strong. In fact it was like a good roller coaster ride, just scary enough to be fun.

Graduation

Here are some pictures from Friday's graduation (with some captions).

Section 12

Mom, April, And Dave and Mary Lou

With Van (my first real client)

The MTA Destroyers

With Kirill and Joy

With Chris

The Mormons

Brett and Mike

We went to El Cholo afterwards

With Brian at El cholo

Marcin, Steve, Mac, Kirill, and I 

My wife whose patience and support made it all possible.

Back to the Future

I ran 4 miles this morning down Culver Blvd on a nice little dirt path. I run this path 3-4 times a week, same exact route, same exact run. Only this morning, I felt like I had gone back in time! All of the cars driving down the street were classic vehicles from the 1950s or 1960s. It was part of a classic car show/1950s celebration in Culver City today. Makes me wish I hadn't left the 1965 Barracuda in my parents' garage (but then again, the drive down from Utah would be torture with only AM radio and no A/C).   

                                                                  

I'm Done!

It's over. I am done with my last law school final ever and I will graduate tomorrow. Unfortunately much of that joy was diminished yesterday when a giant box full of all of the bar review books that I will be ploughing through this summer arrived at my door. Between the multi-state and California, they probably weigh a total of about 50 pounds. But for the moment it feels good to have it all done.

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Guess Who's Having a Baby?

We are. 
FAQs:

1. When are you due? December 7th, 2009

2. How do you feel about being pregnant?  We're thrilled, except for the fact that the baby does not like Mexican food (and we do).

3. Why does the baby look like a blob? Because this picture was when the baby was an alien.  Now that it's a fetus it should look much more humanoid (hopefully we'll get some updated photos soon).

4. Do you have morning sickness? Not true sickness, but whenever the baby gets hungry (which is often), I feel terrible.

5. Are you showing? Not really, but it looks like I've gained 10 lbs (but I've only gained 2).

6. How do you manage to teach early-morning seminary while pregnant? Lots of naps; before work, during lunch, when I get home, etc.

7. Any cravings? Anything but Mexican food. I used to crave fruits and veggies, but now nothing seems appetizing anymore (including chocolate).

8. What has surprised you most this pregnancy?  I feel so extreme: extremely tired, extremely hungry/thirsty, extremely cranky, extremely happy.

9. Is this why you're not running any marathons anytime soon?  Yes.