What's new.

Well it's been quite some time since I've updated my blog. A lot has happened, but I've been too busy to tend to my blog. I woke up early this morning though, and since I have time I'll take a few minutes to write.

The biggest news of course is that we finally have a home. We began moving in on Thursday, and spent out first night in the house that same day. It was a lot of work purchasing the house. We put our offer in on the house around May sometime, and it was a difficult process purchasing the house since it was a short sale house. Don't believe them when they call them a short sale, it is anything but short. It has been even more work moving in and repairing the home. I sanded all the hardwood floors myself with the help of my brother-in-law. I had a professional come in and put the finish on for me since it was toxic. We also had all new carpets put in since whoever lived here before let wet dogs run all over the house.

I guess the new house isn't the "biggest" news, even though it is quite big, the biggest news of course is that Katy is pregnant with child number #3. We're contemplating whether this will be the last, but there is plenty of time to think about that. Soren thinks the baby is going to be a boy because he saw the ultrasound and noticed it had "short hair", so it must be a boy. How can you argue with that kind of reasoning?

As if that wasn't enough, Lindsey, my sister, has revealed that she is also pregnant. But not just any kind of pregnant, she's having twins! Katy has wanted twins for a while. Lindsey was afraid Katy would be frustrated when she heard Lindsey was having twins, so Derek (Lindsey's husband) sent Katy a text message on her phone with a picture of triplets before they told us they were having twins. Derek hoped that Katy would think that meant they were having triplets, and then the news twins wouldn't be so bad. Didn't work though, Katy's phone wasn't working, and she ended up getting all the news at the same time.

And if THAT isn't enough. My sister-in-law, Karen, is having a baby as well, and she didn't think she was going to be having anymore children. She is in her forty's, and is a grandma herself. So the only sister/sister-in-law in the Atkinson family who isn't having a baby is Lara, my brother Chad's wife. She said she is going straight down to the hospital and getting a hysterectomy.

Well, I need to get to work now, so I better wrap it up. I find it difficult to update my blog with my latest thoughts/news because many of them contain privileged information. I mean I can tell vague stories about different cases I'm working on, as long as I keep my client's identify confidential, but I rather play it safe and say nothing. Consequently that leaves me with little to talk about since that takes up the bulk of my life. At least that's the excuse I'm going to use for my laziness. If you are following my blog, and tire of not seeing any updates, just go check out my wife's blog, she updates a little more often than I do.

Update

Well it has been a while since I've updated my blog.  I figured I better or else everyone will give up on me and quit visiting it.  

So the most exciting news to post since I last updated is that I am a full fledged attorney now.  There are no more hoops to jump through, no more whipping posts to be strapped to.  I paid my dues, and was sworn in at the Idaho Supreme Court.  I can now appear in court without any caveats or explanations.  It feels good.

In other news, Katy and I are looking for a house.  We really don't NEED one at the moment.  We have a place to live, my parents have been really good about not making us pay rent while we are trying to get our feet under us.  We're right here by my parents, so if we need someone to watch the kids on a moments notice, my mom usually saves the day.  So we are in a good position to low ball a bunch of people on their homes and hope we get lucky.  If we don't, then we just move on.

We're working on getting a short sale home right now that needs a little TLC.  It's a beautiful home in Meridian, Idaho, just outside of Boise.  Its a little closer to work than I am now.  Probably about 30 minutes closer.  If you want to see a picture of it, click over the link to Katy's blog, she has posted a picture of the outside.  We don't post pictures of the inside yet, it isn't quite as fabulous.   We'll post pictures after we fix it, if we end up getting it.

Soren is doing pretty well at going to the bathroom on his own.  Of course he is still having accidents, but he gets better every day.  

Kaydence is trying to be good, but sometimes she forgets (I got that line from some kids book I read to the kids).  I have to get on to her about hitting Soren.  She likes to do that.  I told her that Soren is a boy, and he is going to grow up, and he is going to get back at you and really hurt you.  You better be nice to him.  She doesn't seem to get it.  She keeps whacking him.

Katy is getting into the whole house hunting thing.  The last house she took pictures of all the things wrong with it, and wrote a summary up to send the bank justifying we shot them such a low offer.  Maybe she should be real estate agent or something.  She might need to get a second job to pay for all the repairs we are going to have to make to this home (IF we get it of course).  Anyways, thats my shot gun approach of updating you all.  Hopefully as I become more comfortable with my job I'll have more time to write on my blog.  For now, shotgun posts may be the norm.

New Job

Well I guess I should formally announce on my blog that I got a new job.  I've been looking for a while, but most places are either not hiring, hiring but not me, or not willing to hire someone who hasn't received their results from the bar exam yet.  Out of a stroke of luck, I found a job working with a small firm in Boise as their criminal defense attorney.  

Initially the plan was to rent office space from them and go out on my own, but they decided to extend an offer to me to work for them as an associate attorney.  Last week was my first week working for them, and I can tell already that I'm going to really enjoy it.  There are only two other attorneys in the firm.  I'm the only associate.  And the plan is that once I get trained, I am pretty much responsible for all of the criminal defense work.

The office is right down in downtown Boise, and not too far from the Courthouse, although it's still a driving distance.

In other news, Kaydence has began learning how to ride her bicycle without training wheels.  She's pretty much got down how to ride without me holding on to the bike, but she's still working on turning around, and getting started on her own.  She wears a helmet and pads so that she doesn't skin herself up, but yesterday after I took the pads off she took off on a full run, fell, and skinned her knees up anyway.  

No other news at the moment, but I'll try harder to keep you all updated.

Post Bar Blues

Well, I've taken the bar, and now I'm waiting for the results.  I was under the impression that as soon as I got my results back I could get licensed and begin practicing.  I found out last night though that I have to wait another month after the results before I can be sworn in.  This really sucks.  They never cease screwing with us.

I've been looking for a job in Criminal law, but the job prospects are not good right now.  I've been speaking with an attorney in Boise who would like me to come and rent office space from him and begin working on my own in Criminal defense and also do some subcontracting for him.  I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not yet, but I'm seriously considering it.  Especially if I don't find a job elsewhere.  Problem is, I thought I would be able to begin working on my own as soon as I got the results.  

I hope I pass the bar, and I hope this is all over soon.  

Its all over.

Well, its all over.  I'm finally finished with the bar exam.  It took me three full days, but I'm done.  Today I went snowboarding to celebrate.  I pretty much get to go once a year for special occasions.

I really don't know how to feel about how I did.  Some things I knew well, other things I didn't know at all.  I'm really strong on the multiple choice, I really suck at essays because I'm no writer.  So I don't know what the result will be.  The results will be coming in six weeks.  So we'll see.  I just really really hope and pray that I will not have to do it all over again.  I may just go back to farming if that's the case.

Kaydence's birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. 5 years old!

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Wife's New Website

Well my wife finally got her photography website back up and running.  Go check it out!  Its a pretty cool website.  We've had this website on and off again, and we've owned the domain name for like 5 years now.  So hopefully this will get some jobs rolling in for her.  Send the address to all your friends, especially the friends you have that are getting married.

http://www.atkinsonphotography.com/

This is just an experiment to see if I can post pictures to my blog directly from my cell phone. It would be cool if this actually works. *crossing my fingers*

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Lindsey's Store

Not too much is going on with me.  I've avoided posting anything on my blog because I have no life right now.  Seriously, all I would be able to say is that I was in my pajamas all day studying for the bar.  Nothing worth mentioning at all.  However, my sister has a new store online where she sells bows, and trinkets, you know girl stuff.  So, I'm just encouraging all of you to check it out, and if you like the stuff, buy it.  She makes quality stuff.  You won't be disappointed.  Here it is, and for future reference I'll put a link off to the side as well.  

http://trinzy.mybisi.com/

Update: Bar Studying Status

Its been a while since I've written, at least it feels like it has been a while.  I guess its only been 3 weeks since I finished law school, but it feels like its been 3 months.  I've been studying for the bar for the past 2 weeks.  It isn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I'd much rather study for the bar than study for law school.  But it still isn't what I would call fun.  Not to mention it is very time consuming.  I spend an average of 8 hours a day studying.  And I don't mean 8 hours as in 9-5.  I mean 8 hours of actual time in front of a book or listening to lectures.  I'm not including breaks.  So most of my day is taken up with studying.  Its nice though to be able to go and hang out with the family when I do take breaks.  

Well, just thought I'd leave a note on my blog for anyone who may be wondering what dungeon I may be hiding in.  I better get back to studying.