Summer Camp at The Wilsons

Now that I don’t have any job or any responsibilities for school, I’ve been spending a lot of time with our kids. We are also watching two boys who are the sons of our church’s youth pastor, and we’ve had a great time swimming, picking apples, building forts, creating obstacle courses, and having lunch in the park, among other things. Today we made an apple pie with apples that were picked by the kids from a tree in our yard, and somewhat amazingly, it turned out really delicious!

A few days ago the kids built an airplane (with a little help from me). Here are a few pictures prior to painting (check out Drew wearing Missi's shades), and a photo of the finished product.

The Powell Pool Party

Missi and I had the distinct privilege of attending the First Annual Powell Pool Party this last Saturday, and we had a blast! Matt and Tanya Powell were excellent hosts (no surprise there), it was a beautiful day, and it was a great group of friends. Although we didn’t end up playing the championship game, I’m declaring my friend Courtney and me badminton champions, as we were the only undefeated team. I think our team name – The Death Squad – intimidated everyone.


Missi, Lisa, and Aimee


It's a bird, it's a plane...no, it's just Matt jumping in the pool.


The Death Squad in action.


Missi and me


One of the approximately 422 "girlfriends" photos from that day.


Photo 1: Yes, that is me about to throw Tanya in the pool (don't worry - I got the OK from her husband beforehand)


Photo 2: The eagle has landed


Photo 3: Mission Accomplished

Is this the one?

Here are a few pictures of the house in Newcastle, Washington that we are hoping to move into. It fit almost all of our criteria for what we were looking for (4 bedrooms, bigger yard, close to park & ride, good schools, etc…) and it seems to be a good value for the market.





I think the kids like the backyard!

Whew! It feels good to be done!

Well, after a long vacation from the blogosphere, I’m finally making my return to updating this online journal. But, as the 3 or 4 regular readers of this blog know, my absence was not because I was sitting in front of the TV eating bon-bons. The overwhelming emotion I have after finishing the bar exam is one of relief. After studying harder than I ever have in my life, it’s so nice to be able to return to “normal life.”

Here are a few common questions I’ve received about the bar exam:

How did you study for the exam?
Like most people who sit for the bar exam, I took a preparatory class from Barbri. I think the class was 6 or 7 weeks and we really rushed through 19 different subject areas. From the law school in Eugene, I would watch a DVD lecture that had been delivered the previous day in Seattle, Washington. The lectures were between 3-4 hours. When I wasn’t in class, I would study the material by creating subject outlines and writing lots and lots of essays. The Washington Bar Exam is unique in that it is all essay, whereas most states have a combination of essay and multiple choice questions. I also worked hard to try to memorize the material, both by writing it out over and over and over and by creating flashcards.

What was the exam like?
The actual exam itself was held at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue and there must have been 900 – 1000 people taking the exam. I wrote the exam on a borrowed laptop (thanks John and Robyn) because they don’t allow Macs, and I was seated at a table with another student (who, ironically, was one of the people I took the class with in Eugene). The exam was 2 days of essays on the “substantive” law subjects – property, criminal law, torts, contracts, civil procedure, etc…followed by a half-day of essays on ethics, or, as it is known, “professional responsibility.” I felt like the exam was pretty fair, but it was certainly grueling to exert that much mental energy over a continuous period.

How do you feel about it?
You can never be certain about exactly how you did, but I feel OK about my performance. I studied really hard going in to the exam, and I think I studied the right material. I just hope I put down the right stuff in the eyes of the graders!

When do you find out how you did?
The results are released by the Washington State Bar Association on October 13.

What’s next for your family?
It looks like we’re on track to close on the sale of our house here in Eugene on August 15. We are going to “rent back” from the buyer until September 21 or 22, when we’ll move to Seattle. We have found a house in Newcastle that we’re hoping to close on on September 19. I’ll post a picture of the house in another blog post.

Thanks so much for all of the support that me and my family have received during this time. Everything from offering kidcare, dogcare, support for my wife, or an encouraging phone call. It all helped and it was all appreciated!

On the Boat with Jesse and Nicole

Two days before the bar exam, our great friends Jesse and Nicole invited us out for a few hours on their boat. It was a great way to clear my mind before heading into the homestretch before the big test!


Captain Jesse at the helm


The ladies up in the front of the boat




It's never fun to have size 12 feet when you're trying to get your foot into a binding in the water.



I can't look at this picture without laughing.

The “Final Supper” at the Law School

On my last night of studying at the law school before heading up to Portland, and then on to Seattle for the bar exam, Missi and the kids came over to the school for dinner. This was the “final supper” of sorts, as we had eaten dinner at the school dozens of times over the past few years. It was a symbolic closing of the law school chapter of our lives.




Drew added some "artwork" to a whiteboard in the law school. I think this drawing should be called "Impending Missile Attack"

My Pet Peeve Strikes Again

Remember my weird pet peeve - misspelled words in public places (here's another example from the past)? Well, check out this screen grab from ESPN.com that I took several weeks ago. I just haven't had the time to post it here. I've added a red circle to show you just how proficient ESPN's editors really are.

Closing A Chapter

So this day marks the closing of our law school journey. John will be officially done with the Washington bar exam in just a few hours. It so funny looking back through these past three years. Hard work, late nights, new friends, hours upon hours of reading and outlining... he has worked his tail off to obtain this dream. After today, the only thing left to do is wait for the results... and pack, and get the house ready, and buy in Seattle, and, and, and:) But for now, I admire where the Lord has taken us, and can only be thankful for what He has taught John and I through this chapter. As always, He has been faithful and good, providing for us emotionally, physically, and Spiritually at every turn.

It has been such an honor to walk next to John and witness his ability to humbly succeed at pretty much everything he does, and not only do it well, but watch it turn to gold. I think it took me all three years to realize what a gift that actually is. God has given me an amazing man to walk through life with. I'm so blessed!!

Thank you to everyone who has kept our family in your prayers. I know that there were times that void of that, this day would not have happened. Now it's really time to celebrate!

Olympic Trials Recap

I really don’t have the time to do a full-blown recap of the U.S. Olympic Trials for Track and Field that happened here in Eugene last week, but let’s just say it was an incredible event to be a part of.

Here are some great articles by a few of my favorite columnists on the Trials.

Bob Welch (R-G)
Jim Caple (ESPN) (By the way...Caple's exactly right about running on Pre's Trail. It's really great. And I passed on buying a pair of the LunarRacer's he talks about in the article when I was at the Employee Store, and now I'm regretting it. Oh well.)
George Schroeder (R-G)
Lindsey Schnell (SI.com)


"Can we help you find your seats?"

This is a photo of the men's 400m final. 2004 gold medalist Jeremy Wariner is running in lane 4, but he finished second to LaShawn Merritt

Here are the runners warming up before a men's 1500m prelim. The guy in the middle is former Stanford runner, Eugene resident, and all around unique character Gabe Jennings (Check out his bio where it says he was "attacked by monkeys" during his bike trip from California to Brazil). He won his prelim but went out too fast in the finals and isn't going to Beijing.

I would have tried to get more (and better) pics, but it turns out my camera was out of batteries that night. Bummer!

This isn't a good sign

Maybe I’m going brain dead…

Here’s what I was trying to write: “compel disclosure”

Here’s what I ended up writing: “dispel composure”

Three Really Good Albums

Here are three really good albums that I’m listening to a lot right now:

Coldplay – Viva La Vida


Jason Mraz – We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.


Death Cab for Cutie – Narrow Stairs


Also, if you have a chance, go to NPR's All Songs Considered and listen to the acoustic set by Jim James of My Morning Jacket that he played at South by Southwest. Great stuff.