Graduation

You guys... He did it! WE did it! Stafford graduated Law School. 

Once upon a time 4 years ago, this was just a thought and now it's our reality. For undergrad, Stafford was in the Occupational Health and Safety field and (I'm going to brag now) excelling at it. He was confident in his classes, he had a great internship that would probably turn into a job. I thought we were set and I was completely happy and proud of that. One day he came home and brought up going to law school to become a lawyer. I was surprised, but supportive because with his personality I could see him being a great lawyer and I think anyone that has chatted with him would agree. He studied and took the LSAT, we applied to quite a few different schools ranking all over the board. With each letter back we would picture our future lives at each school. I was excited about Louisville, and really excited about Tennessee. Then we got the letter from Minnesota which was the only top 20 school we applied to as the "why not at least try?" option. Neither of us could believe he got in! For us it was an obvious decision.

The first year was hard you guys. It was hard on him and hard for me to see him so bummed about school. I couldn't understand it very well until I read this article. It reminded me that Stafford was at the top of his class in undergrad. He was intelligent in his field. He was successful in all of his endeavors (This is all totally braggy, but I'm trying to make a point... and I'm really proud of him). Now you throw him into classes with other people that were all at the top of their classes, the best in their fields... He's bound to feel a little discouraged. Not to mention this school is EXTREMELY liberal and Stafford is so not. It's hard to be preached at constantly about beliefs, that are opposite of yours, being fact. Then there is the actual school work itself. Hundreds of pages of reading a night for each class, 20 page papers and a whole new way of learning basically. It really is a mindset they have to learn. BUT we got through it. And I will tell you that the first year was definitely the hardest.

Throw in 2 more years, adding a baby girl to our family, working at the county attorney's office, participating in a clinic, being student director over that clinic and getting a job at the Washington State Attorney General's office, and we've graduated! Woo-hoo!! 

I can honestly say that everything we have achieved is because we had guidance from our Heavenly Father. I can't tell you how proud I am of this man. All he has ever wanted is to provide for his family and I know he has worked so hard to do that. I am beyond grateful to have this passionate man as my husband. I know he will do great things and I'm glad I get to be at his side for all of it!