Going to try this whole blog thing again.

Yes, so I have established  I am really and truly horrible at blogging.  :::hanging head in shame:::  But I am really going to try and give this whole thing another try.  I promise.

Law school exam season is back at the Miller household once again.  And we all know what that means...drum roll please...procrastination!  Thank the Lord I only have one more "exam season" after this one!  Well, that is if you don't count the upcoming bar exam, and I think that will qualify as worse than a season.  Yet to come up with that I will call it.  Just dreading it altogether and hating law school in general right now.  With the economy in the dumps like it is (How 'bout that stimulus?! Ha.), I often wonder if law school will be worth all of the time, money, sweat and tears.  And I think a lot of students in my situation are probably thinking the same thing.  I mean I spent all of this effort trying to keep up my GPA and pretending to study for the LSAT for nothing.  Fantastic.  That's my new word by the way:  fantastic.  You may say, 'Janelle, 'fantastic' is nothing new, it is certainly not catchy.'  And I'll admit I have no idea why it's my new word, but I do catch myself saying it quite a bit.  Personally, I think it's because it is once again Gator Basketball season.  (Did you see that win over #2 Michigan State this past weekend?!)  Anyways, getting off track.  Law school sucks.  Ok, back on track.  Three exams this semester (first one on Friday) and then the way my schedule is looking for next semester, I will only have one in May.

As far as life updates go, well the ones that matter anyway (I'm sure most don't care to hear me whine about school), there is a ton.  I won't go into great detail even though I have written in five months.  In August, on my first day back to classes and I going into my first day of my (then) new internship, I got a call from Hubs.  He had just been laid off.  Fantastic.  So, holding back the tears, I walked in and started my first day of my internship with, what I will refer to her as, "my judge."  The next moment I had to myself, I broke down.  Well, after a long and hard three months, Hubs has a new job.  Not really comfortable going into details about it though at this point.  It was really, really tough...especially being that this is our second time dealing with this situation in our 1.5 year-old marriage.  But good news, well really the best news, is that we made it.  And I really do think it taught us a lot about ourselves.

I will also, say that my internship (that has since ended) with "my judge" was the best thing about my law school experience thus far.  Always nice to get a dash of the real world in your education.  I tend to think that law schools around the country need to learn a thing or two from med schools:  the "practical" factor and the "real world" factor.  Enough with theory!  Show me what I will be doing when I (hopefully!) get a real, grown-up job!  K thanks.  Back to "my judge"...best thing ever.  She will be my mentor for life in all seriousness.  I am so lucky to have worked in her presence and under her guidance.  You wouldn't believe how many times I thanked God for a mentor like her in my prayers at night.  Especially during this stressful economic time not only in our household, but across the nation...there are many a nights where I worry worry worry.  I am Type A (I think it's required to pass the LSAT).  I like to plan/have plans.  I have always had a plan.  I have always followed that plan.  You know, the typical:  Get into UF.  Check.  Get into law school check.  Get married to Hubs. Check.  Graduate law school.  About to be a check in May.  Question is now, what's next on my to-do list?  Get a job, obviously.  But doing what?  Is there even a job out there to be had for me?  Civil or criminal?  I would love to be a prosecutor for a few years and get trial experience right off the bat, but then I face the obstacle of going from criminal to civil, not to mention an embarrassingly low salary.  So, civil right?  Well, which field of civil law?  All I know right now is that I do not want to do criminal defense, family law, or tax law.  Other than that, I guess you could say I am pretty open.  But with the way the economy is sucking, what other choice do I have?  This stresses me out as you can tell.  And it has been really nice to have had "my judge" all semester to help me walk through the forest, being that she's been through it before and all.  Can I also say, let's give a hand for all of the mentors out there?  Not everyone is willing to be as open, honest and helpful as "my judge" but for every single piece of advice she has given me thus far, from having children to oral argument advice, I am immensely thankful.

Other than that, there is not a whole lot going on in the Miller household.  Well, except for all of the excitement in the house (mostly on my part) due to the Gators making another run for yet another National Championship.  Yes, you read that right, "yet another."  I mean seriously, how amazing are the Florida Gators?!  Pretty dang amazing people.  And don't even get me started on the amazingness of #15.  Heisman #2 here he comes.  I am so ready to beat the Crimson Tide yet again and book those tickets to Pasadena (of course I am dreaming)!  Here's a video for all to enjoy of the greatest college football player ever:



Oh and one more thing, a HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY to my Dad who turned 50 last week.  Love you Dad!

Go Marco Rubio!

Please spread the word...Marco Rubio for Senate!

I am a Bad Blogger...

So yeah...haven't been so great at blogging lately. My apologies. Quite a lot has happened since 4/23. Finished my 2nd year of law school and now have 66.6% of a J.D.! And did pretty darn amazing in my White Collar Crime class if I do say so myself. :) Then three days after my last final hubs and I went on a family trip with the rest of the Miller clan to Deutschland. I will be brief about the details since it has been over a month now and tell you how much fun it was through pictures.

We stayed at a great B&B in Ingelheim that was also a winery and they had the best wine!

We love our new camera, a Nikon D40! And look how pretty the flowers are in Germany!

And let's just say the food, especially the white asparagus, was absolutely amazing!!! My mouth is watering just thinking about it. Never had a bad meal in Germany.Topped off a great first night with a shot of schnapps!

After hiking all the way up! Afterwards, we went to the castle below and watched a demonstration on falconry...pretty fascinating.

At the Schloss Castle in Heidelberg...so pretty!!!

Hubs being hubs and "drinking" out of the castle's ginormous wine barrel.After a nice cable car ride and a bit of a hike. The Alps are oh so beautimous. We could've sat here all day.That is Garmisch below us...and a 17 million Euro ski jump built for the 2011 world championships. Oh and a pretty hot couple! ;)The cutest restaurant in Bavaria...and to give you an idea of the style of the architecture. This is one area where I will say America could learn a lesson or two. I do love pretty buildings.
In front of the prettiest church in the whole world...Ettal Abbey. It quite literally took my breath away.

Off to take a carriage ride tour through Saltzburg, Austria! My favorite kind of tour! We saw Mozart's home and the house where they filmed Sound of Music. :)

At Linderhof Castle outside of Garmisch in Bavaria...King Ludwig II's summer home.

And more exciting news from the trip...my Brother-in-law proposed to his girlfriend at Linderhof!If you go to Germany and don't go on a Rodelbahn, you are seriously missing out. This was what hubs looked forward to for the entire trip and the whole time I was thinking 'Really?! You want to go down a stupid slide?!' I was eating my words by the first turn on this amazing invention. I felt like I was 5 again! Oh and this is the last turn of the Rodelbahn...I was going so fast I flew through the "Caution! Stop!" sign and almost went right back up haha. The Glockenspiel in Munich!Another thing you can't miss out on if you go to Germany...the Hofbrauhaus!

Auf Wiedersehen Germany!

We returned to sunny Florida just after midnight on May 17th, our anniversary. Not just any anniversary, our first anniversary! What was the first thing we did?? We picked up Mabry from Grandma and Grandpa S's house!! It totally made the day! What can I say we love our dog!And do you see what an amazing quality this picture is (along with all of the Germany pictures)?! Well, that's our anniversary present to each other, a Nikon D4o! We love it! We had the nicest of anniversaries. Spent the morning relaxing and uploading pictures then we had an amazing lunch at Acropolis where I ordered my favorite, Athenian Grouper. Did a little window shopping at a cute shop next door to Acropolis and came home to relax again. For dinner, hubs and I decided we wanted to go back to where it all began a year ago, the Rusty Pelican.
See that really amazingly beautiful necklace around my neck? That's the additional anniversary gift that hubs surprised me with! (We had agreed to just get the camera, but he's sneaky like that. I won't complain.) After a year of marriage, I can just say that I am really, truly proud of us. Not to brag, but I think we are quite a couple. We made our way over a few speed bumps and quite a bit of hurdles in our first year of marriage, but we made it. And most importantly, we are more in love than ever. This last year has taught us a lot and I wouldn't change a thing. Hubs is the man of my dreams, he makes me smile everyday, and he is my absolute very best friend. Let's waste a lot more time chasing cars baby!

What else? Well, not a whole lot to be honest. The "chill" days of summer are here. My summer is a little more uneventful than I had hoped...at least in the employment field. I had hoped to clerk with the same firm I clerked with last summer, but Mr. Obama's oh-so-wonderful policies haven't actually created any jobs yet...more like they have made the legal world come to a standstill. When you hear about partners getting laid off from large law firms, it's not a really good sign. Let's just hope the job market is looking a lot better this time next year. However, I am not very confident that we will have Obama to thank if it is, given his crap he has been pulling lately. "You want to do what?! Oh you want to give the government new powers to seize key companies?!?!" Oh yeah, that's really going to stimulate the economy and encourage companies to create new jobs. What a joke. Come on, you knew I had to add my two cents on politics!

Oh and one more announcement...I have decided to get my real estate license. In my spare time, I have gone out with my mom and showed some properties with her to clients and have discovered that I really enjoy it. So, I figure I have the rest of the summer...why not get my real estate license?! I figure I can do a little real estate on the side of law school because you know me, I like to see how busy I can keep myself! And a little extra money on the side will be nice! And with all of the incentives out there right now for buyers, I might as well jump in now to help them out! I sure wish hubs and I could've gotten the $8k tax incentive and the $10k in bond money that's out there for first-time home buyers!!! And just to think, there is talk of that $8k tax incentive going up to $15k!!! That's a lot of free money!

Until next time! I'll leave you with a picture from our anniversary at the gazebo at the Rusty Pelican where we exchanged our vows on 5-17-08!

Hooray for Tea Parties!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry for my recent slacking. Law school is taking over my life at this time of year. I have 1 paper and 3 exams standing between me and summer vacation! Cannot wait for May 5th...and then I can look forward to Germany on the 8th!!!

Since last time I posted hubs and I have been to Destin and back for Molly and Jason's wedding....which was the fabulous fairytale wedding that I forecasted it would be. And one of the best parts was the perfect weather...considering how bad it had been the week before and the day after. Molly looked absolutely stunning and it was a true honor for me to be a part of their big day.

We got custom aprons for our bridesmaid gift! How cute are these?!

I was very flattered when Molly asked if she could borrow the hair brooch I wore in my wedding for her something borrowed. :)

The old newlyweds with the new newlyweds!

For Easter, I baked a delish carrot cake...my 1st two-tiered cake! Although I had a problem making the icing pretty (thank you Kristin who made it pretty for me!), I was very proud of my cake.

Best Carrot Cake Ever

• 6 cups grated carrots
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup raisins
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

1. In a medium bowl, combine grated carrots and brown sugar. Set aside for 60 minutes, then stir in raisins.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 10 inch cake pans.
3. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light. Gradually beat in the white sugar, oil and vanilla. Stir in the pineapple. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, stir into the wet mixture until absorbed. Finally stir in the carrot mixture and the walnuts. Pour evenly into the prepared pans.
4. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes in the preheated oven, until cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan. When completely cooled, frost with cream cheese frosting.

And how 'bout those Tea Parties?! I was a little unsure of going because I knew I would have to be going by myself as I would be stopping by between classes, but I am SO happy to have attended a nationwide protest to the current administration RIDICULOUS and IRRESPONSIBLE spending! In case you haven't heard, President Obama has spent (and put us into generational debt) more money than every single U.S. President in history, combined. This is no way to get our country out of this recession. Not sure about you, but when I am in a difficult financial situation the last thing I do is go out and spend money I don't have...this is precisely what Obama and Congress is currently doing. Additionally, I would like to note that this was a protest against ALL of Congress...not JUST Democrats and not JUST Republicans...that has voted to act so irresponsibly, contrary to what the whacko CNN reporter says here. There was a great video on YouTube that had the scene after the CNN camera was cut off showing a lady telling the CNN reporter (who got rejected by FoxNews twice mind you!) how biased her report was and how incredibly factually unfounded it was, however it has since been taken down by YouTube ...surprised?! Nope...I guess YouTube is a part of the liberal media too. Anyways, the Tea Party attendance nationwide (over 1 million!) was so inspiring to see people take a stand, and unlike liberal protests, to do so peacefully! I could go on and on about this for days and days, but I am supposed to be writing a paper for my White Collar Crime class right now. So enjoy a few great quotes and some awesome pictures that I took at Tampa's Tax Day Tea Party...they pretty much say it all! :)

Ronald Reagan once said:

Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

As government expands, liberty contracts.

"We the people" tell the government what to do, it doesn't tell us.

A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have. (Actually a Gerald Ford quote, but it's very Reagan-like.)

And my personal favorite, although this picture is from the NYC Tea Party:

On Sunday night, hubs was a sweetie and he explored his emerging inner chef and tried a new recipe. It was sooooooooooooooooooooooo delish and healthy!

Alaska Salmon Bake with Pecan Crunch Coating (sorry for the blurriness)

• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 5 teaspoons honey
• 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
• 3 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
• 6 (4 ounce) fillets salmon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6 lemon wedges

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a small bowl, mix together the mustard, butter, and honey. In another bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, pecans, and parsley.
2. Season each salmon fillet with salt and pepper. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush with mustard-honey mixture. Cover the top of each fillet with bread crumb mixture.
3. Bake for 10 minutes per inch of thickness, measured at thickest part, or until salmon just flakes when tested with a fork. Serve garnished with lemon wedges.

Awesome Weekend!

What a great weekend!

Hubs and I helped out with my sister's Sweet 16 Scavenger Hunt and drove around two of the teams for two hours while they completed the crazy list of things I had made up for them. It was quite the flashback to be around a bunch of 16 year olds. They get so excited about the smallest things! Even though hubs' team beat my team (they were a bunch of little cheaters), I think all the girls had a great time getting guys to put on lip stick, singing "I'm a Little Teapot" in cofee shops, getting a stranger to buy them a hot dog at a gas station, getting a hair stylist to hair spray them a mohwak for free, etc. And then of course, hubs treated my sister to a little birthday brotherly love while her friend tried to save her:

I don't think she will ever learn to stop egging him on lol.

On Saturday, I had my final fitting for my bridesmaid dress for Molly's wedding next Saturday in Destin. The dress is gorgeous and her wedding is sure to be a fairy tale. Molly is a sorority sister of mine from UF and I had the pleasure of having her as a bridesmaid in my wedding. This girl is one of the most genuine and beautiful persons I have ever met. And watch out because she is bound to be the next Paula Dean. Her fiance is one of the sweetest guys I have ever met and we have all decided to forgive him for being a Bama fan. Everyone has their faults, right?! ;) I will never forget when Molly's fiance came down to Tampa to visit with her for the first time. Hubs and I had just gotten engaged the night before and he and Molly had just started dating not too long before that. Well the second he walks in the door, it was announced to him that we were engaged and the look on his face was priceless and the poor guy had to hear and rehear the proposal story about 343,548 times that weekend. But we had the best time celebrating! Here's to the future Mr. and Mrs. C!

Saturday afternoon, hubs and I drove up to USF for the USF Track and Field Alumni Reunion. I could not have been more proud to be his wife. We were not even there for 60 seconds before his old coach found hubs and was showing him off to recruits, telling them how many records he still holds in the Big East. Made me a proud wifey! Hubs was so excited to see how nicely they have renovated the track and field stadium and as we were walking around we found this:

Yay Hubs!

The reunion continued well into the night at Channelside. It was so great to meet some of hubs' old teammates and to catch up with the ones I had met before. Hopefully we will be better at staying in touch with everyone in the future.

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Not ready at all for my Spring Break to end!!!

Welcome!

Welcome to our new blog! I have to give credit for the name of our new blog to my hubby who is beyond obsessed with his Miller High Life hat (like the beer), that he continues to wear despite everyone telling him it is about time for a proper burial. Anyways, this is our new blog where we plan to keep everyone updated on what's going on with the newlyweds (we're still newlyweds at 10 months right?). I plan to write about life in general, decorating our home, my experiences in law school, our attempts at cooking, any travels we take (including Germany in 6 weeks!) and last but certainly not least, I will throw in a dash of politics.

Today is my little sister's 16th birthday, so I feel I should throw a shout out to her and wish a "Sweet 16"! I cannot believe she is already 16. It seems like yesterday when I saw her for the first time with a full head of jet black hair and I questioned whether this new baby that I was certain would take away way too much time attention from me, could actually be related to my all light-haired family. I was told she was, so I have accepted her as such ever since...even though when I was originally told I was getting a sister, I was truly hoping for a pony. But I love her more than anything now and sincerely cherish how close we've become despite our seven year age gap. She means the world to me! I am just so happy that now she will be able to drive over to visit me or actually drive me places, as she has a lot of paying back to do from my years of carting her and her friends around. So, Happy Birthday Bear Bear Show! And yes, she has many, many nicknames, some quite odd, but they all suit her I can assure you!

I would also, like to send out a "Congratulations!" to my hubs who just got promoted and started in his new position this week in IT. I am so incredibly proud of him for accomplishing so much (he has already received two awards) in just six months at his new job. Way to go babe! Now we are just hoping for a raise in the near future. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Oh and....yesterday was hubby's parent's 30th Anniversary!!!! Happy Anniversary! They are going to the Hyatt Grand for the weekend and then taking the whole family (us included!) to Germany in May as their anniversary present (lucky us!). I have never even been to Europe so I am just a tad bit, or maybe more like a whole-lotta-bit excited!

We have so much coming up in our lives I thought 'what better way to keep our loved ones informed than through a blog' (and I'm giving into my computer addiction and trying something new). So here it is, ladies and gentlemen: The Miller High Life. Stay tuned...much excitement ahead.

In the meantime, here is a picture of our Boxer baby, Mabry (oftentimes called Mabry Baby), watching her daddy play softball (even though mommy did not get the best of pictures):