2011

The year is almost over so I thought I would do the obligatory end of the year post. This year had a lot of trials and triumphs for me. Trials, I'm honestly not ready to talk about. This Christmas was probably the worst I've ever had without my mom and all I could do was pray it ended quickly. I'm not ready to really address that yet...one day. Triumphs were for sure in abundance. I finished 15 races as I mentioned in my previous post. It was a big accomplishment for me and I've never been more proud of myself when it came to a running goal. Another triumph was having my first case as a lawyer in immigration court. It was an asylum case. Asylum cases are for people that have fear of returning to their home country due to some persecution. These cases are long and a lot of work. My case was fast and a lot of work. My client came to me at the end of May and their hearing was the middle of June. I had 3 days to write a brief and get evidence submitted. Thankfully the hearing turned out well and my client did not need to return to their home country. I have never considered myself a great writer but the judge said my brief was really well written and very persuasive even though he did not buy all of my arguments. He also told my client that if it wasn't for my brief and evidence the outcome of the trial would have been very different. So that's always nice to hear. :) I also got to finish my mentor program and now I am no longer a first year lawyer. Kind of  a relief. I haven't been disbarred yet. As my friend Christi said I'm really good at flying under their radar. :) Well for the rest of this post I think I'll let photos say the rest, they aren't in any particular order. Enjoy!