Friday, April 17, 2009

Big Developments

For those who haven’t yet heard, early this month I got a phone call from the law firm I will be working for after graduation. The point of the call was to let me know that my first day of work will be January 4, 2010. This wasn’t surprising since 80% of the big US law firms are postponing start dates for new associates, and Paul and I had been anticipating the call ever since Paul received a similar call from his firm. The good thing is that the firm is providing a pretty nice living stipend to make up for some of the lost income for not starting until about 2 ½ months past the time I had originally thought I would be starting (mid-October). So as much as we were originally hoping to be in California by September, we probably won’t make the big move until December.

This brings me to the point of this post: What are we going to do with ourselves for five months (August through December)?! I’ll be honest, it is actually kind of a pleasant thought that we will have five months off with no responsibilities after taking the bar in July. But on the other hand, five months is a long time to just sit around relaxing!

Here are some of the ideas that are floating around in my mind:

  • Finally put pen to paper and hammer out the novel that has been marinating in my brain for two years now (I actually have about 20,000 words written already, but they need some serious work to actually go from stream of consciousness to a real book)
  • Take a creative writing class from a community college – this could maybe help with the first idea
  • Train for and run another marathon
  • Volunteer at a food bank
  • Read, read, read
  • Head to Vegas and try to double or triple that living stipend. I would have to learn to play poker first though …
  • Learn Spanish
  • Go skydiving
  • Get SCUBA certified
  • Blog EVERY DAY – yeah right, I wouldn’t wanna do it and you wouldn’t wanna read it
  • Start my own cupcake business – I am ADDICTED to the cupcakes at this amazing little sweetshop that just opened in Provo
  • Travel – this is where things get tricky. For how long? Three weeks? Four? More? I would LOVE to head to Europe, South America or Southeast Asia and live out of a backpack for two months, but is that really something we should do? I don’t think it is realistic for us to backpack for the full five months, so what do we do with the rest of our time? Does anybody have specific suggestions for places to go? Here is my short-list of hotspot dream destinations for ‘09: Greece, Croatia, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, Italy (even though we have already been there), Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, New Zealand, Australia, Peru. When do we go (aug-sep? sep-oct? oct-nov?)? Maybe we could try to see the rest of the states that we haven’t been to yet – mostly the South, the Great Lakes region, and Alaska. We are DEFINITELY doing a trip, but we just haven’t decided how big to go with this thing because we don’t want to head out to CA at the end of December with an empty bank account.
  • Look for random jobs for the five month period? (Somehow I don’t relish the idea of having a law degree and working at Borders or J. Crew for 5 months just to get a discount. Although if I worked for an airline that could help defer travel costs …)

There are a couple more possibilities floating around out there, but right now they aren’t really in our control so I won’t go into them.

At least we have some time to make decisions. For now, the timeline is as follows: April/May – Graduate; May – Mexico trip & Bar Exam Study; June – Still studying for the bar & Paul’s birthday; July – Study, study, study, then take the bar the last week of July.

After that, who knows what we will be doing?! Do we do the responsible thing and stay home to save money? Or do we do the fun thing and travel the whole time? Any advice?

12 comments:

  1. That's easy! You do the fun AND responsible thing and travel a lot, cheaply. I would head to Asia and just adventure around there. Getting there is the expensive part, and since you've got the time, just stay and check everything out over there. Live the dream!

    AMY, WHY DID I NOT KNOW YOU WERE A WRITER? This may or may not surprise you but you are reading the comment of a creative writing minor.

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  2. I think that you should be my nanny. That would be lots of fun for you and your time would go by very quickly! JK! Travel is my vote and Greece would be my number place to go!

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  3. It should say number one but yet again I have lost my mind and left out a word.

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  4. Wow! Free time! When are you guys ever going to have an opportunity like that again in your lives before you retire. HAVE FUN!! You both deserve a break. I also love the idea of writing a novel. You totally should do that too.

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  5. Here are my suggestions!

    1) Ryan and I are going to Vegas over Labor Day weekend in Sept (my friend is getting married there) - come meet us! It would be so much fun! Ryan and I won't know anyone else at the wedding/weekend. I'm not a huge gambler, so we can go shopping and go to Cirque de Soleil!

    2) Definitely write your book! This is a huge opportunity to do it!

    3) Do some traveling in the fall, since you know that you'll be working a lot, at least for the first few years.

    4) Explore looking for a house to buy in the Bay Area. They are going at a great price right now, and with a FHA loan you can buy one for as little as 3.5% down.

    This is definitely a blessing I think, after all your hard work in law school.

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  6. Okay, so my vote is that you stay in Provo with me! Yes? Another idea, go to somewhere inspiring that would help to get your creative juices going and get that novel written!

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  7. For what it's worth . . . I say cruise the Greek Isles. Go and take beautiful pictures that will make those of us in Utah jealous. If I could talk my firm into a deferment (with stipend) we'd be there for sure.

    Whatever you end up doing, just know that it will be infinitely better than working . . .

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  8. I think you already know what I think you should do. But what really interested me about this post is the cupcakes. The moot court closing social really turned me into a believer. Do you know how much a cupcake costs? I seriously want to get in the car right now and get one.

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  9. The best time to visit Italy is September, after the height of tourist season, but when the weather is still awesome. (August is the worst month to visit Italy).

    I only had the time and money to go to Disneyland after I took the bar, and I was very glad I went. I'm still looking forward to going back to Italy. It's the best.

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  10. I bet that's frustrating having to wait but cool also. Go do something fun that will make me jealous.

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  11. Ohhh take fun and exciting break. My husband has one more year of law school left...so I know first hand that you both deserve a break. I say take a vacation...heavens knows we will be doing the same next summer!!! You've got a good list going of possibilities, so whatever you choose it will be great.

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  12. I have a cousin who volunteered in Tanzania a year ago for a couple months. On the weekends she traveled. They even went to a national park and did a safari.

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