What a Decade!

I can't believe all that has happened in the last 10 years! In some ways they have flown by and in others they have crawled. I thought that I would look back on the last decade and highlight some of the events that have occured!

2000

• October - Boyd asks me out on a date. I don't even know that we went on an actual date, but on the day he asked me out we worked at the German Club Dinner at school and watched Shakespear in Love. AH, high school.
• December - LaGrange Leopard Varsity football team wins the State Championship.

2001

• January - Boyd totals his truck because he fell asleep while driving to a poultry judging competition (yes, poultry judging) and I realize that he is pretty important to me.
• May - We graduate from High School.
• June - Boyd moves out from his mom and Barry's house and into an apartment in Brenham with BJ..
• August - We start college at Blinn in Brenham.
• September 11, 2001.

2002 (pretty depressing, that's all I remember.)

• August - Boyd's Pop died.
• November - My parents divorce.

2003 (things start to look up!)

• January - Boyd and I complete our applications to Texas A&M
• March - My Grandpa Hunt passed away.
• April - Boyd and I are accepted to Texas A&M!
• May - Kyle (my brother), Sean, and Shane (Boyd's brothers) graduate from High School.
• May - My mom, brothers, and I move to Brenham.
• July - I have my first car wreck and total my car.
• August - Boyd and I go to Aggie orientation and start classes at Texas A&M, all on Tuesdays and Thursdays to start with.
• October - Mom moves to Michigan.
• November - I successfully make my first thanksgiving turkey on my own!
• November - Boyd and I move to an apartment in College Station.

2004

• April - we get our kitty, Emeril.
• July - we visit Michigan and mom decided to move back to Texas so we packed her up in one day and drove the moving truck back to Texas.
• August - We move into a large three bedroom duplex with our friend Michelle.
• December - Boyd asks me to marry him!!!

2005

• January - Boyd and I go to the Cotton Bowl with friends (where the Aggies get embarrassed and our car breaks down on the way home...bright side??? We chose a wedding date while waiting for my grandparents to pick us up and help us get home!)
• January - I go on a once in a lifetime trip to New York with my friend Michelle.
• April - I receive my Aggie Ring.
• August - Boyd and I move to our own apartment when Michelle goes off to Medical School.
• September - Boyd receives his Aggie Ring and we get ready for Hurricane Rita.
• November - I sit for the LSAT (the law school admission test)

2006

• January - I finish all my law school applications.
• March - I am accepted to South Texas College of Law and decide that is where I would like to go.
• March - Boyd and I go on our first cruise with my Dad and love it!
• May - Boyd and I graduate from Texas A&M
• June - Boyd and I get married!!!
• July - Boyd and I move to Houston.
• August - I start law school at South Texas College of Law and Boyd works there at the bookstore.

2007

• January - I passed all of my first year/first semester law school exams...I get to continue on in my pursuit of a law degree! Whew!
• May - I complete all of my first year classes.
• May - Boyd gets a new job at the Rice bookstore.
• June - We move to a new apartment in Houston (even smaller than the last)
• August - I complete the Law Review Write-0n Competition and am extended membership on the South Texas Law Review.
• August - I take my first tax class and love it!
• November - I make a Thanksgiving turkey and all the fixin's for a couple of my law school friends who don't go home because of finals. Boyd cuts his finger and drama ensues.

2008

• January - I get the flu for the first time that I can ever remember.
• April - I decide to run for a position on the South Texas Law Review Editorial Board and am successful! I was elected to the position of Articles Editor.
• May - My younger brother, Kevin, graduates from high school.
• May - I start my job as law clerk for Judge Hancock.
• August - I get to watch the Osteen trial up close!
• August - I start my last year of law school!
• December - my sweet kitty, Emeril, passes away.

2009

• February - I get my yorkshire terrier puppy, Alton.
• May - I pass all of my finals and graduate from Law School! WOW!
• May to July - I have no time to do anything but study for the bar exam and Boyd and I discover how not fun that whole process can be.
• End of July - Three days of torture known as the bar exam.
• August - trip to South Padre Island and Alton's first trip to the beach.
• August to November - Months of obsessive behavior, worrying, and crying over bar results and looking for a job.
• September - I become an aunt to Kaiden Matthew Williams.
• November 5 - Bar results are out! I PASSED.
• November 6 - Date I am officially admitted to the Texas State Bar.
• November 9 - Date that I am sworn in.
• November to December - The job search continues, with little success. I am very worried.
• December 31 - I am called to go to an interview in January!

Wow! That is a lot of stuff! Now hopefully in the new year I will get my first job as a lawyer! I can't wait to see what the next decade has in store! Maybe some kids and a home of our own. Now I am tired of typing, it took an entire half of the Dallas Game, so I am going to rest.

The final Final and Law School Graduation

So it is official! I am Kacie Marie Murphy, J.D. Granted I still need to pass the Texas Bar Exam (yikes), but nothing can take away the fact that I am now the proud owner of a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree! That seems so crazy! The last three years have been the most difficult and rewarding years of my life so far. I am so thankful to have Boyd on my side or I never would have made it. He has been the most amazing husband. He even helps me study for my exams by going through my flash cards with me and not letting me get too upset when I feel like I am missing too many. On Wednesday May 13 I finished my last law school final ever! After the end of the last law school exam it is tradition for South Texas College of Law students to ring the bell and have champagne. No one can ring the bell until 9 PM because it is so loud and it may disturb the students who are still taking their exams. The goal is to make the bell ring only once because the story is that the number of times it rings equals the number of times it will take to pass the exam. I only made it ring once, so that bodes well for me! Boyd was there with me and it was a very happy time.

After the Ringing!

Even though finals were over, we had to wait until the end of May for Graduation! It was a fun day! Though, the speaker left something to be desired, I did get my doctoral hood and I was able to be hooded by one of my favorite professors--Professor Yamamoto--a tax professor! I did manage to get through the whole thing without crying! Hopefully I will get more pictures from family members soon, but for now this is what I have!

Dr. Murphy!

Tribute/New Beginnings

Emeril playing at the shelter and his monkey tail!

The picture that made me fall in love!




The new puppy!!!!!!! Hurry up, Friday!

So, again it has been a while since I wrote. I got caught up in the studying for my 5 finals and then had a personal loss. I held off writing because I didn't really want to talk about it and if I wrote it down, it would become REAL. But now, I have healed (somewhat) and am ready to move on...in another direction. The night before the first of my two tax exams, my kitty Emeril started acting strange. He went in and out of the bathroom often and began dragging his hind end around and yowling. I was distressed, but Boyd and I decided that it could be that he was constipated, so we let him sleep in the bathroom and decided if he wasn't better in the morning Boyd would take him to the vet...I had a final that day. The morning was worse, he looked soo sick and so sad. I was very upset! So we called the vet and off Boyd went with the kitty, dropping me at my friend's house so we could study. I couldn't concentrate all day. Boyd called me before my test to say that the vet thought that Emeril had a urinary constriction, but that he would be all right when he passed some urine. But that this could be a recurring health problem because apparently it happens to male neutered cats. Emeril couldn't come home on Saturday and couldn't come home on Sunday, so Boyd left LG without him. I was so sad, the house was so different without him. But then Tutu was able to pick him up on Monday. I was so anxious to get him back, but we were not going to have time to get him until Thursday. Tutu said it was ok, that she would take care of him. I missed him and wanted him home, but we agreed that there was no better option. Then on Thursday afternoon, I called Tutu because I had a missed call and I wanted to check on Emeril. She said that Emeril had died in the night and that she was so sorry. Of course I lost it! She was so nice and buried him next to Samantha. But I was nearly hysterical; Emeril was my baby and he got sick and he was dying and I wasn't there. I was his mommy. I was shattered, I couldn't tell Boyd; my dad called him and told him. When Boyd came home I cried for a long time. It seemed like I cried for days and days. And then I started to notice it more, the apartment...it was empty, it was quiet, too quiet. I began to yearn for a critter. We talked about it here and there and cried and talked about it more.

Then about a week ago we decided, it was time for a new kitty. So we decided to spend Valentine's day looking, it could be our present. But the whole day do you know what we did? We went looking for Emeril. Everytime I saw a kitty with his coloring my heart stopped, but then when the kitty would look at me...it wasn't Emeril. By the end of the day, I was so sad. We talked about it and we decided that a new kitty would make us feel guilty, because it wouldn't be Emeril, so we wouldn't feel fulfilled and the new kitty would never live up to our expectations.

So we decided it was time for a dog. We have toyed with the idea of getting a dog a lot over the last few years, so it isn't something that just came to us. But now it was more real. So we began to look. Now, I have wanted a Yorkie for years and years. Boyd not so much, but I finally convinced him that it wouldn't be all that girly (we would keep it puppy cut) and that I wouldn't put bows in its hair or carry it in a purse (at least not when he was around to see it and disapprove). We started searching and were disheartened at the prices, even though it was to be expected. I just thought if I keep looking and this is supposed to work out, it will. I was just giving up today and I randomly looked on the classifieds page for the Chronicle and I found HIM! When I saw the picture of kitty Emeril years ago, I knew. When I saw this puppy I knew!!!! And the price was right and he will be ready on FRIDAY! I am so excited! But I will never forget my kitty. He will never be replaced and he will always have a special place in our hearts! We love you, Emeril!

Sorry About the Drought

For the few people who read this, my apologies for not writing since September! This second-to-last semester of law school has been determined to monopolize all of my time. One class in particular has been very time consuming. I spend roughly 20 hours a week on my Gift and Estate Tax class. That class is worth only 3 of the 16 hours that I am taking this semester. Add to that the fact that I am still working for the Judge on Monday and Friday mornings, my law review editorial board duties, and the fact that I try to make some quality time for Boyd as often as I can, and that I am trying to find a post-graduation/bar exam job and you have one very stressed and busy lady.

Now finals are coming up, which means I either give myself up to procrastination or I study for hours on end before dissolving into tears because I think I am going to fail whatever class it is that I happen to be studying for. Yes, the good news is that I have not yet failed any class. But because I am a pessimist, I tend to think that just because it hasn't happened doesn't mean it won't.

I plan on posting tomorrow so that I can talk about a new pet peeve that seems to be showing up and following me around where ever I go: People who are not nice to waiters/waitresses and who think that they are so cool/nice/better than you.

Funny things I read in law school

From time to time in my mountain of law school reading that I do EVERY DAY, I come across something amusing. Most of the time it is found in a footnote that most students may overlook in their haste to finish the assignment and move on to something else. This is one that definitely bears repeating.I was nearly done with my reading for Wills, Trusts, & Estates (the second to the last case) and I came across this footnote for the justice who wrote the dissenting opinion:

"Justice Musmanno was a striking individualist, sometimes injudicious, always colorful. In dissenting from a majority holding that Henry Miller's Rabelasian Tropic of Cancer was not obscene, Musmanno wrote:

'Cancer is not a book. It is a cesspool, an open sewer, a pit of putrifaction, a slimy gathering of all that is rotten in the debris of human depravity. And in the center of all this waste and stench, besmearing himself with its foulest defilement, splashes, leaps, cavorts and wallows a bifurcated specimen that responds to the name of Henry Miller. One wonders how the human species could have produced so lecherous, blasphemous, disgusting and amoral a human being as Henry Miller. One wonders why he is received in polite society...from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, from Dan to Beersheba and from the ramparts of the Bible to Samuel Eliot Morrison's Oxford History of the American People, I dissent.'

I could only hope to be this articulate. Even though I do not wish upon myself all of the attributes of Mr. Justice Musmanno.

Blessed

Well, we survived IKE. On Thursday morning last week Boyd and I decided that we would rather not "hunker down" as Judge Ed Emmett put it, so we packed up the cat (with a small dose of dramamine) and our other belongings (mainly Boyd's Wii and our wedding picture proofs...still haven't ordered!) and hit the highways. It was a long trip, at one point it took us 45 minutes to get 8 miles!!! Thankfully, Boyd and I are still country enough to know the value of backroading it, so that is what we did. Let me tell you, next time we will do that again! There were maybe 7 cars on the back roads and we kept a top speed of about 65 mph (they are curvy and hilly and only two lanes after all). So after about 4 hours in the car, as opposed to the usual hour and forty-five minutes, we arrived at Tutu's. We spent most of Friday watching the weather channel tell us that if you lived in Galveston you were dead meat and helping Tutu get the house prepared for strong winds. We also went to lunch with Gary and Gale, which was great! When we went to bed on Friday, we were fully expecting to wake up at some point and hear howling winds and rain...no such luck. It was a little windy and it did not rain at all! Saturday was spent watching the TV to see what had happened to Houston, but mostly they showed what happened at the coast, with the exception of the glass blowing out in Downtown. We also found out that Boyd didn't have to be back at work until Tuesday. I finally settled down to spend about 4 hours on my Estate and Gift Tax Homework and Boyd played Wii. Sunday we found out that our apartment HAD POWER!!! One of the very few places in Houston to have power back already, Tutu and Jim have family here that might not have power for three weeks. So, Tutu and Jim took them some generators. Sunday, I finished up my homework and watched the news and found out I have school on Wednesday (today). We decided that we would go home on Monday. We bought some groceries in La Grange, because we had seen the long lines on TV and hit the road. It really didn't take us that long to get back, we were surprised. And when we got to our apartment.....everything was fine. Down limbs and some trees and bushes fell over, but no damage to us. Our lights had been out for less than 18 hours so everything in the freezer was fine. We have electricity and running water! We have air conditioning and TV! I feel so blessed that we are able to have all of these things when just a few blocks over people have none of them. God is really watching over us!

WHAT?!?!

You know, I really don't like the fair all that much. It is a time to see people that you never see otherwise that you went to high school with! It is "always on Labor Day Weekend." This means that it is stinking hot and either muddy or dry and dusty! So, Boyd and I are making the rounds because it is the thing to do and we run into an old classmate (no names). We make small talk for a bit, both Boyd and I taking part of the conversation. All of the sudden, he looks at Boyd and says (while gesturing in my direction): SOOOO, is she producing yet??????

Me (aloud): AHEM, uh, no we aren't having kids yet.
Me (to myself): WHAT?!?!? Am I "producing yet?" I am not a heifer nor am I an oil well!!!!! Who asks this kind of question. I mean, personally, I think Boyd made a good investment in marrying me. I mean, I am an asset I guess (at least most of the time). But, why not just ask if we are having kids like a normal person!

Am I right?