We're Back!

I thought I might be forgiven a few days of laziness re: blogging since returning from California, but it appears I am too much missed. ;) Just kidding; thanks to Kelly and Lachen for checking up on me. It's so nice to know I've been in your thoughts and prayers during and since the test.

We arrived back very early on Monday morning (about 3:30 a.m.) after driving an insane 19 hours on Sunday. No, it doesn't normally take that long to get back, but we took several detours and drove back the "long way" in order to see some sights on the way home which we otherwise miss by taking I-5. I think if we'd known just how long our "detour" would be, we might've opted for I-5 anyway, but as it was we enjoyed some lovely views of the coast and even got to drive our car through the famous giant redwood tree in [Nowheresville], CA.

Needless to say, we slept in late yesterday morning and then spent most of the day trying to recover from the trip -- you know, unpack, do laundry, wash the car, etc. We did go over to Daniel's parents' for an hour or so where I picked what felt like a bushel of blueberries from his mother's blueberry bushes. [Incidentally, the blueberries are what kept me busy today; I waxed unusually domestic and made two batches of jam. :)]

Anyway, getting to the important part of this post: the test! We took it at the Sacramento Convention Center along with about 1800 other candidates. The first day, Tuesday, went pretty well, though the morning session included several incredibly difficult essay questions. Wednesday was entirely multiple choice questions and so more tiring than Tuesday. Dan and I still disagree as to which session was harder: morning or afternoon. Thursday was a little easier, though we did get an Evidence exam that was a bear. However, by Thursday evening we were simply happy to be finished. We took Jason and "celebrated" by eating out at a tiny, musty-smelling Chinese restaurant for dinner (which was really the best our poor law-student pocketbooks could afford *grin*). Thankfully, there were no issues with power outages -- something I was especially concerned about since my laptop's battery life is about 30 seconds. :)

Everyone we have seen since the test has asked us how we think we did and to be honest, we really don't know. It felt a bit like a boxing match; we managed to stay in the ring for all six rounds, but we won't know who landed more punches -- the bar examiners or us -- until the results come out around Thanksgiving. If pressed, I don't think we'd put money on the likelihood of our passing, but obviously we're both hoping for the best.

On Friday we drove up to Lincoln (about 45 minutes north of Sacramento) and stayed Friday and Saturday nights with our friends Joe & Cindy. They have a lovely home with an easternly view over a sort of canyon and Daniel and I enjoyed watching the sunrise from their backyard both mornings we were there. Their Maltese dog, Emily, just had a litter of puppies five weeks ago, so we spent inordinate amounts of time playing with and spoiling them. We took a bunch of pictures, which I'll post when I get around to it.

So that is it, in a nutshell. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and well-wishes. We felt very loved & supported while we were there. It was so nice to get random phone calls from some of you the day before the exam, to let us know you were thinking of us and praying for us. All things considered, I think the exam went well. God willing, we both passed. Stay tuned. ;)