New Year, New Outlook, New Food :)

School has started for the year, and I am so excited. I had a great summer in Houston, a super fun road trip with my little sister, and a great month off of school, but the beginning of the school year always brings a fun new treat for me. I moved into a new apartment in downtown Chicago and recently began my second year of law school. There are some definite perks to being a second-year, and I am very much looking forward to taking advantage of them! First, I get to choose all my classes and also be involved in other things the school has to offer that are only available to upper classes. This quarter, the classes I chose are: Trusts & Estates, International Trade Law, Corporations, and Microfinance.

In addition to those classes, I was fortunate enough to get into one of the clinics at school, called the Immigrant Child Advocacy Project. I will get to act as a guardian ad litem for an immigrant child who is detained in the United States without a legal guardian. I am so excited for this special opportunity and I cannot wait to get started. We had training this weekend, and the stories truly touched my heart.

In addition to school, I also plan to take more opportunities to be involved in UNICEF this year. I volunteered last year for an event called the Tap Project, and it was incredibly fulfilling knowing that my small efforts would make such a huge impact on children all over the world. This past week, I volunteered at a UNICEF event called Wine, Women, and Shoes. These events are held all over the country to raise money for non-profits, and this was my first time attending. I am convinced that the lady who started the program is a true genius. It was sooo fun getting dressed up and seeing all the ladies in their cute outfits, tasting wine, browsing the rows of shoes, handbags, and jewelry, and enjoying each other's company--all for such a wonderful cause! I am so thankful to be able to participate in an organization whose efforts save thousands of children's lives each year. In fact, we received a piece of news just a few weeks ago that really inspires me to continue giving as much as I can to this organization: the number of children who die from preventable causes has dropped from 25,000 per day to 24,000 per day, and UNICEF is a huge contributing factor to that drop. Hooray!!! Clearly, there is still a VERY long way to go, but we must rejoice that today, 1,000 more children had the opportunity to wake up and live a healthy life. What an amazing blessing.

Also, to the joy of all of those who enjoy cold weather, fall has hit Chicago with a bang. I should mention that I absolutely LOVE fall. Freshly sharpened pencils, the changing colors, the smell of football, a crispness in the air. There is no other time of year that makes me feel as cozy and happy as fall. And with fall comes lots of yummy treats. Pumpkin spice bread, turkey chili, spiced coffee, homemade hot chocolate with freshly whipped cream on top, mellowcreme pumpkins...the list is endless! And I am finding myself having to force restraint upon myself because so much of me wants to make a new treat every day. OH how I LOVE fall!!!!!!! It is really difficult for me to not "eek!" everytime I think of fall (and in fact, I often do anyway). You really just cannot beat a house filled with the smell of pumpkin spice bread in the oven and a hot pot of coffee. Love it. I have recently created my own hot chocolate recipe and will divulge that in a subsequent post. (be warned: it's very rich, so if you are not into super thick hot chocolate, you may be better off buying the package stuff)

In other news, Adrian is doing well, and we are both very happy to have his decision on a permanent job completed. (He will be going to work for Andrews Kurth in Houston upon graduation) We recently celebrated our 3-year dating anniversary and are very thankful that we have gotten to spend the last year and a half in the same city and school. He is such a wonderful gift, and I thank God for him daily. We have recently become members of a church here in Chicago and are so excited to be continually growing and learning.

I hope everyone is doing well, and I look forward to sharing more about my year! Until next time...