Kip and Patrick's Birthday Party

My friend Patrick's birthday was on Thursday, March 25, and then my roommate Kip's birthday was on Saturday, March 27.  My other roommate and I had them a birthday party on Friday night.  It was so much fun.  We had such a diverse crowd - law students, non-law students, church friends, black, white, Cuban, single, married, etc.  It really was a great time.  Here are a few pictures from the night.

The birthday boys!  Patrick and Kip

Patrick, me, and Jamie - two of my most favorite law school boys.

Some of the law school girls that came to the party.

Gio (Mr. Politician) and me - He's going to be the next President!  :)

Wendy, Patrick and me.  He really is a happy person most of the time.  He was just trying to act cool.

Kip and me.

It was a fun party.  I'm glad that we had so many people come.  It was also at a good time.  We had one last fun shindig before we all have to buckle down and actually start getting ready for finals which are just four weeks away!!! 

Top 3 Thursday - Celebrities

This week's Top 3 Thursday is favorite celebrities.  I had a terrible time deciding.  Unlike last week when I had a hard time because I had too many to choose from, this week it is because I just don't really care about celebrities very much.  So, here's who I thought of that I like enough to make my list.

3.  Drew Barrymore

Ever since I saw Drew as the cute little, button-nosed, extra-terrestrial loving girl in ET, I have been a fan. 

I consider Drew a great actress and one that is very versatile.  She is not the most popular and has had her fair share of scandal and "bad decisions", but I still like her.  Some of my favorite movies starring Drew are: The Wedding Singer, Ever After, Fever Pitch, Never Been Kissed, and 50 First Dates.

Drew is also a director and producer and has done several pictures that have done very well.  I have not yet seen Whip It, but it is one of hers.  I'm pumped to see it!

Drew Barrymore is just pretty awesome!

2.  Matt Damon

Matt Damon is a super talented hottie!  I remember when I first saw Matt in Good Will Hunting - oh, how that movie inspired me!  Not only did Matt star in the movie, he co-wrote it with life-long best friend, Ben Affleck.  The movie then went on to be nominated for some 53 awards, winning 18, including 2 Oscars.  He has starred in numerous award-winning films and also some of the highest-grossing films of all time.  Matt is not only amazing in front of the camera, but behind the camera as a very talented director.

Some of my other favorite movies starring Matt Damon include:  Saving Private Ryan, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum, Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, and Ocean's Thirteen, The Good Shepherd, and Dogma.

Matt is also SUPER hot to me.  Whoa.

Even better than that, he's a family man.  He has a wife and two kids.  He's not a big publicity hog or someone trying to stay in the limelight - he's quite the opposite.  He wants a private life for he and his family and I think that is admirable.

1.  Denzel Washington

I think Denzel Washington is one of the most talented actors of our time.  He has been in the business for three decades and hopefully will continue for many more years.

Some of my favorite movies starring Denzel include:  The Pelican Brief, John Q, Book of Eli, Man on Fire, Remember the Titans, and The Bone Collector.  Denzel has also directed movies such as Antwone Fisher and produced several of his movies.

I consider Denzel my favorite celebrity (at least for the purposes of this blog post) not only because of his amazing film background but also because he is a great family man.  He has been married for almost 30 years and has four children with his wife.  In today's Hollywood, I consider that quite admirable.  He also spends a lot of time with his family, and I think that is important.

Finally, Denzel is one of the most charitable actors in Hollywood.  He has not only given a great deal of money to charities such as the Nelson Mandela Charitable Fund for kids and The Fisher House at Brook Army Medical Center for soldiers, he and his family have spent a great amount of time with these people and doing first hand charity work themselves. 

So, there you go!  That is my Top 3 Celebrities for this Thursday!

Honorable Mentions include:  Candace Cameron, Alexis Bledel, Matthew McConaughey, James Franco, Richard Gere, and Will Smith.

Top 3 Thursday - Places I've Visited

This week's Top 3 is my favorite places that I have visited.  I have been incredibly blessed and have had the opportunity to visit many, many places.  Because of this, I had an incredibly hard time trying to decide which places were going to make the cut for this particular blog post.  So, I couldn't just choose three.  I had to pick four.  Sorry.  Also, despite the many places I have been, all four of my favorite spots for this post (partly because of the availability of pictures) came from my backpacking trip through Europe the summer after I finished college.

4.  Santorini, Greece

This place is absolutely beautiful.  It was the last stop on our almost two month long trip.  We spent several days here and absolutely loved every bit of it.  The island of Santorini is the place where they filmed scenes for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie series.  It is a great spot to visit because there is so much to do on the island.  We spent quite a good deal of time at the beach (which by the way is open to nudity, as most European beaches are!).

We also got to take a boat ride and go on a tour of the entire island.  We climbed an active volcano.  This is a picture of our group on top of the volcano - talk about incredibly hot!  Whoa!  But, also incredibly cool.

We also rode donkeys (I didn't put those pictures up because they're a bit embarrassing!) up to the top of the island to watch the sunset.  This was one of the memories that stand out most to me looking back on our trip.  Sitting on top of the island in the village of Oia and watching the sunset was absolutely magnificent.

3.  Prague, Czech Republic

Prague was my favorite city for most of the trip.  There is so much undiscovered history in this city and it is absolutely beautiful.  We spent a lot of times just exploring the different areas of the town:  Old Towne Square, New Square, Prague Castle, and Jewish Quarter.  We also just had a good time in Prague enjoying the food, culture, and people.  The Czech Republic also does not yet use the euro, and Prague is so cheap!  We have a picture of us all holding a 1000 Czech Crowne bill which was like $50.

This picture is of part of the Old Towne Square and was taken from the top of another building.  While we were there, a couple came out of a church after their wedding and rode away in a horse drawn carriage.  Absolutely beautiful!

This picture was taken from Crowne Plaza in front of the Prague Castle.  We had to climb up this HUGE hill to get up there, but the view was absolutely breathtaking and totally worth the sweat.

This is part of the Prague Castle.  There were several different buildings and the coolest different architectural rarities at the Castle.  So cool.

One thing we LOVED about Prague was the delicious gelato, as seen here . . .

2.  Rome, Italy

I am a history person plain and simple.  I LOVE reading and learning about how things came to be and when we went to Rome, I got to visit SO many places I had read about my entire life.  I LOVED it.  I wish we had the opportunity to spend more time there so that we could do more things.  Alyssa, Bart, and I visited the Vatican City, the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, and the Trevi Fountain.  I just can't even describe the feelings I felt when I was in Rome and got to stand in the same places as popes and caesars and these people that other people have written about for centuries.  Awesome.  (I know, I am a bit of a dork.  I accept it.)

This is from inside the Vatican City and is looking into the Pope's private gardens / the city.

This is also inside the Vatican City.  Mesmerizing. 

This is of St. Peter's Basillica.  Please ignore me.  Remember we were BACKPACKING.  Also, think of Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons - parts were filmed here (along with TONS of other movies).

This is the Roman Forum.  OH MY GOODNESS.  The coolest thing of the trip (just about).

The Roman Colosseum.  How cool is it to stand in a place like this where SO much history took place?

Finally, the Trevi Fountain (think Lizzie McGuire Movie - haha).

1.  Lake Como, Italy

Lake Como, Italy is not actually a city.  It's a lake.  Ha.  There are about five different towns that border the lake.  You can take the ferry from town to town.  It zig zags across the water and stops every few hours every day in each town.  I loved Lake Como because it is so not a tourist spot (even though several celebrities, including George Clooney and Versaci, have homes here and it was named one of the top places for celebrity sitings). 

There is actually only one hostel on the entire lake in the little village of Menaggio.  I LOVED it.  We had a beautiful view of the lake from our hostel and we had a balcony so we were able to spend our evenings on the balcony overlooking the lake. 

We just wondered about our little village (where everything closed for the afternoon nap for a couple of hours) and relaxed.  Amazing.

So, there you have it!  These are some of my most favorite places.  I'm sorry it is such a long post!!

After talking to Sushannah, I decided to also list a few that made my Honorable Mention list.

- Las Vegas, Nevada

- Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico

- Salzburg, Austria

- Baltimore, Maryland

- Charlotte, North Carolina

Just for Morgs: The Exercise Post

This weekend Morgan told me that "Kickin' It With Keri" reminded her of an exercise blog.  So, I told her that I would do a post about exercise just for her.  So Morgan, this is for you!!

Recently, since the weather has gotten so much nicer, a law school friend of mine who lives two streets over and I decided that we were going to start taking our pups for walks in the afternoons together.  Well, from that, we've decided that we're going to start an actual exercise program.  She talked with her doctor husband and they decided we should do "From Couch Potato to 5K".  Basically, the program is where you alternate walking and running until you can build up to straight running for the 3.1 miles. 

I found this chart with an actual plan for the program.

We'll see how it goes over the next two months as Paige and I (along with Macy and Molly, our dogs) go from couch potatoes to 5Ks!

Morgan, I hope you learned!  :)

Top 3 Thursday - Music Artists

This week's Top 3 is music artists.  I had a hard time picking these out, but here they are.  I think they'll surprise you because they are super diverse and really random.

3.  James Taylor

I was introduced to James Taylor when I was in high school.  My roommate and I listened to him religiously for a while and so now I can sing almost every word to his songs.  I'm not that great at song lyrics or recognizing who is singing, but I can for sure pick at James Taylor.  I just love him.

2.  The Eagles

The Eagles are so classic.  When a group can start in the early 1970s and still be recognized, popular and still sell out concerts 40 years later, you can't help but say they're one of the greatest.  The Eagles have had so many number one hits and some amazing albums.  I have to give them credit and put them in my top 3.

1.  Norah Jones

I love mellow, folksy music and Norah is the epitome of this sound.  I love her.  She is only like 30 years old but she has already made quite the name for herself and had numerous hits.  She was also named Billboard's 60th-highest artist of the decade based on charting of her songs last year.  I saw her in concert a couple of years ago - most amazing concert I have ever been to.  She's just awesome and I hope she will still be making music in 40 years!!

Libel Show

Tonight was MC Law's Annual Libel Show.  I did not get to go last year so I was really excited about getting to go this year.  It was fun, but not really what I was expecting.  Libel is a legal term that basically means slander or defamation.  The show is sponsored by a combination of two or three student organizations and there are different "events."  It is held at a local restaurant/pub.  All of the money raised through the different events, cover charge, and t-shirt sales goes to the American Cancer Society's Camp Rainbow, so it is for a great cause and can be a lot of fun, too.

The first event tonight was "Kiss the Pig."  During the last week, they have had a table in the lobby with jugs for specific teachers.  The students put money in the jug of the teacher they want to kiss a live pig.  This year's professor was my first year Torts teacher.  He's crazy - literally.  He was a very good sport about kissing the pig, even kissing it three times while wearing a Elvis cape and sunglasses.

The next event was the date auction.  Several guys volunteer to be auctioned off to raise money for Camp Rainbow.  The guys that volunteer are guys that are not ashamed of anything, obviously.  They do not just get up on the stage and stand there.  They have dances and skits and are absolutely ridiculous.  One kid tonight acted like Jersey Shore's The Situation, pulling his shirt up and with his hair all done.  Another guy was dirty dancing, ripped his (exercise) pants off to reveal another pair of pants which, after some more dirty dancing, ripped them off to reveal his '80s bicycle shorts.  They also auction off 'dates' with professors to certain restaurants or whatever the professor decides to do.  These guys raised $200 - $300 each!  I think they're funny, but I'm not about to give $200 out of my pocket!  :)

The big event of the Libel Show is the skit competition.  Different students prepare skits and sign up to perform them.  This is where the name of the Libel Show comes from.  These kids make fun of teachers, other students, the school in general, and the administration.  It can be so funny.  One of my classmates was our App Ad teacher from last semester.  Her impersonation was amazing.  Another girl acted like Chelsea Lately and her round table and pretty much dogged every first year teacher and tons of students.  Terrible, but funny.

Here are the three pictures I took from the night.

Anna, me, and Jessica.  These girls were in my STAR group and went with me to the Libel Show.

Alex, Anna, Jessica, me, Trey, and Matt.

These kids were all in my STAR group.  They're all first year students and I was their orientation leader.

Aa'Keela, me, Juan, Gleason, Cliff, Katie (Cliff's wife)

Some of my fellow second year students.

Top 3 Thursday - Movies

Okay, so Lacey does a Top 3 on Thursdays, so I borrowed her idea.  No worries; she said I could!

This week is Top 3 Movies.  I did not have to think hard about this at all.  I knew immediately what my 3 very most favorite movies were.  So, without further ado, my first Top 3!!

3.  Dazed and Confused

Who can't love this movie?  It is hilarious.  It is so the typcial teen movie and represents pretty accurately many teenagers' lives.  The first time I saw this movie it reminded me so much of the hype of our high school and the rites of passage for upcoming freshmen.  And if for no other reason, who can't love it because of Matthew McConaughey in his amazing '70s get up!  So sexy.

2.  Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors.  This adaptation of the novel is amazing.  It is one of the most accurate adaptations I have seen.  The music is great.  The scenery and cinematography are absolutely beautiful.  The story itself is so sweet and depicts one of the struggles faced when falling in love.  This is just all and all a great movie.

1.  The Goonies

This is the best movie of all time!  What a great characterization of childhood friendship and their adventures.  Though I never had an adventure quite as extreme nor one that included pirate ships, gun shots, and escaped convicts, I remember quite a few crazy ventures of our own.  And I definitely had friends like these.  I could quote the entire movie and love watching it with friends who have never seen it before.  This is a classic!

Wednesday's Wise Words

This semester I am taking a class called Faith and the Practice of the Law.  There are only 8 students in the class and it is straight discussion.  I LOVE it.  It is my most favorite class of law school thus far. 

Last Thursday, Chief Justice Waller of the Mississippi Supreme Court came to speak to my class.  He is known as a very faithful man and our teacher, who is on staff at the Supreme Court, thought he would have great 'pearls of wisdom' for us.  There were a couple of things that Chief Justice Waller said that stood out to me during the two hour class and for this Wednesday's Wise Words, I wanted to share.

Don't wear your faith on your sleeve.
When CJ Waller said this, at first I didn't quite understand.  The more he talked, the more I realized that I completely agreed.  It means way less if you have to go into a situation and say, "Well, I'm a Christian, so . . ."  I think that it is way more important and leaves much greater of an impact for someone to look at you, the words you say, the way you carry yourself, and your actions and be able to tell you are a Christian.  That will stick with them.  They will remember that long after they would remember you having to tell them point blank that you are a Christian. 

We're marked.
As Christians, we are a marked people.  Today, there are so many people with whom we come into contact daily that do not believe.  One major excuse people use in their refusal to embrace Christianity is hypocrisy in the church and in those who claim to be Christians.  Everything we do is seen by someone.  Someone always has their eyes on us.  Because of this, we should be the best we can be in everything.  In everything we do, we also leave a mark.  What kind of mark do you want to leave?  You can leave a mark that symbolizes God's will, or you can leave a mark that symbolizes your will.  Think about it.

Be intentional.
This goes with the one above.  In everything we do, we should be intentional.  As Christians, we have to act inentionally to show God's love.  My professor shared a story he remembered about CJ Waller.  Shortly after Clint started working at the Supreme Court, he found out that his mother had cancer.  CJ Waller's administrative assistant goes to church with Clint, so he mentioned it to her and asked her to pray.  The administrative assistant then shared the news with CJ Waller.  Clint overheard her telling him and her asking him to pray for Clint's mom.  CJ Waller did not only say that he would.  He immediately stopped what he was in the middle of doing and called Clint and the other staff in their suite in and immediately prayed for Clint, his mom, and the rest of his family.  How often do we tell someone we will pray for them (or anything else, really) and then not do it because we forget or don't think anything of saying it?  We must be intentional.
Well, guys, that's this Wednesday's Wise Words.  Have a wonderful Thursday!

Most Amazing Music Video EVER Made

So, a friend sent me this link earlier today.  I just got around to watching the music video on YouTube.  This is seriously the coolest music video I have ever seen.  The song is pretty awesome, too.  Make sure you watch all the way to the end!

The Birth of "Kickin' It With Keri" and Lazy Tuesday

This weekend while Lacey, Sushannah and I were discussing this whole blog thing and the possibility of Sus and I starting our own, the first thing we had to decide was our blogs' names (of course).  Sushannah's blog was easier to name than mine.  We thought of a cute name for hers:  Sushannah's Spot.  Unfortunately, it was a great deal harder coming up with something to name mine.  I orginially suggested 'Kickin' It With Keri' in the car ride home with Sushannah as a joke.  She didn't like it.  But, then, I couldn't get past it and everytime I tried to think of something else, I couldn't.  Sooo . . . ta da!  Kickin' It With Keri, as lame of a name as that may be, was born!

Tuesdays are such a lazy day for me.  I do have to get up early for my very least favorite class at 8 and then go straight into another class at 10.  BUT, I can happily say that I am finished for the day at 11:15.  Because I do not have a job, I usually come home and hang out with Macy and take a nap and not do homework. 

Speaking of Macy, she is so funny.  She makes life in Jackson so entertaining. 

Since I got her back in October, she has slept in her crate at night.  However, I recently got a new 'big bed' and so I've been trying to let her sleep with me some.  She hasn't lasted an entire night yet.  She will wake up and waggle her ears and lick her lips and wake me up, so I've had to put her in her crate in the middle of the night.  Last night, I went to sleep with Macy in the bed with me. 

I woke up about 1:30 and Macy was no longer in the bed.  I whispered her name loudly and no Macy.  I turned on my lamp and she had jumped off of my bed sometime after I'd gone to sleep and gotten in her crate where she was sound asleep, despite my calling her name and turning the light on.  She's so silly.

Well, hope all of you have a wonderful night!