What is this feeling of freedom?

So Amanda and I finished our finals on Wednesday.  And glory be, we remembered what it was like to have freedom again!  Hallelejujah, and all those other wonderful praises!  Oh man.  Law school finals were very rough.  I can honestly say that I have never been that stressed during a test before.  And that was the interesting thing- I was only stressed during the actual test.  While studying and building up to the test I was totally fine.  I told myself I would be ok with whatever grade I got, that it would all be groovy.  And then during the actual test, holy cow I was frantic and stressed and panicked.  So hopefully that doesn't reflect too poorly in my grades.  I told Amanda that I definitely didn't do the best of anyone, but I also definitely didn't do the worst.  So I'm thinking I'll lope somewhere along in the middle of the pack.  Amanda's finals were a little rough on her too- she stressed more before finals than I did for sure.  In her own words, her performance was "lackluster"- but immediately after saying that she said lackluster is her favorite word, so take that with a grain of salt.

So now we're back to that glorious position of having free time.  Its pretty funny though- even when you think you aren't going to be doing anything, things just kinda sneak up on you.  We've been pretty busy since finals ended.  Of course, when I say busy, I mean busy with skiing, Christmas parties, shopping, eating out.  Pretty stress free, for the most part.  I've also been applying to a lot of externships.  In law school its not only your grades that matter.  It also matters where you extern.  Amanda is dead set on moving back to San Diego, so I've been trying to find externships around there.  I've applied for probably 15, and I plan on applying for several more.  Its hard because I'm still not sure what type of law I want to go into.  There are so many things that sound interesting, and I can't quite set my mind on one.  Eventually I'm sure I'll decide one way or the other.

Lately (read the last few days) I've been obsessing over guns.  I've always enjoyed shooting them.  At home, we have an old Tekerov pistol and a shotgun that I would take out with my buddies a few times a year and shoot.  I always had a blast doing that.  And recently, I went with a few law school buddies to go shooting, and the gun fever once again manifested itself.  I've been researching a ton, and I've got a few ideas.

This bad boy is the one I think I want to start with.  The reason being?  It's super cheap- you can usually find a new one for under $150.  Its a Hi-Point C9, shooting 9mm in a stock 8 round mag.  Ha, I sound super cool saying that.  The reviews about it are pretty good.  They say it feels a little cheap and heavy, which is expected, but that it fires great and retains its accuracy over a long period of time, which is awesome.  So this will probably be the one I start with, because I want to eventually get a concealed carry permit.  Here's the other one I'm thinking about getting.

This ones a Russian Mosin Nagant, that shoots big ole bullets.  This is one that my buddy Garrett has, and that I've been able to shoot a few times.  Super fun, super accurate.  The only thing thats a bummer is that its a bolt action, meaning you have to reload it every time.  This is a super cheap gun though, and well put together.  This is another one on my short list.  Finally, the last one I want to purchase.

This ones a Maverik 88 pump shotgun, made by Mossberg, who apparently are pretty well known in the gun world.  This again is pretty cheap but has pretty good reviews.  I'm probably going to wait a while on getting this one though.  The reason is that I'm terrible at clay pigeon shooting.  When I went with my buddy a few days ago, I couldn't hit a single one!  Super frustrating, but shotguns are fun to shoot regardless, and eventually I'll get one of these.

So that is my recent obsession.  Guns are really fun, as long as they are handled with the degree of care warranted something capable of killing.  This is especially true as you think about the horrible recent shootings.  My heart just goes out to those families.  I feel such rage and such sadness at the same time.  I'm reminded of the passage in the Book of Mormon where Alma says that God lets the innocent suffer so that the wicked may be proven guilty and so punished, or something like that.  Its times like these that I do feel incredibly grateful to know that God has a plan for us beyond this life, and that those little children are up in heaven with the angels right now.

If I don't post soon, then Merry Christmas!