Where we stand now

It is near the end of October and I am ready for winter. I am looking forward to snowshoeing with my wife and father. I passed the MN state bar and in exactly one week I will be an attorney. Daniel A. Batten Esq. Now I just need a job. I am committing my thoughts to the Lord as it states in Proverbs 16:3. I am ready to take the next step and be an attorney with integrity and thrive in my field, whatever that might be. The dogs are fine and all is well.

God Bless
Dan

It is almost over again

I found out yesterday that I have just under 40 days until graduation from lawschool. This makes me very happy for several reasons. First, I will be ending one chapter in my life and begining a new one. Second, it will be nice to move back to Minnesota and leave Washington. Third, I will only have one test left to take.
This news also brings me some trepidation. I do not have a job lined up in these tumultuous times. Ellen has not found work either, but we will have faith that it will be taken care of for us and that we will not go hungry. All in all I am ready for the lawschool experience to end.

Dan

I passed

I received my results for the MPRE that I took in the beginning of March.The MPRE stands for the multistate professional responsibility exam. To practice law in MN, I needed to get a score of 85. The test is scaled from 50 to 150. I was able to score a 130. Although this is not part of the Minnesota Bar Exam, I am counting it as the first part. I am happy I do not have to retake the test in August.

Dan

NFL Predictions-NFC North

This upcoming year in the NFC North might have just become more interesting. Today the Bears traded for Jay Cutler. My brother-in-law is from Denver and must wonder what is wrong with his team. The Bears will be able to win at least half the games in the division and might become a factor once again. The beloved Packers will win the division, with a confident and noninjured Aaron Rodgers. Detroit will be a nonfactor and Minnesota will flounder under either Sage or T-Jack.

Lawschool is almost finished

It is coming to an end. Only about 45 days left and this 3 year journey will wrap itself up. I am looking forward to going back home to friends and family. No job as of yet. It does worry me a little bit but there is not a whole lot that I can do about it at this time. Ellen is also concerned about not finding a job, but we will cross that bridge in greater depth when we arrive home. Our tenant left the condo yesterday and the possibility of moving furniture back into our home excites me. I will try to blog on a more regular basis.

Dan

I am back

It has been about two months since my last blog. Ellen and I have been doing a lot of hiking lately. We are not the biggest fans of Spokane, but the surrounding area is wonderful for hiking. I am taking Crim. Pro. and working in the clinic this summer. It has been fun and also irritating in regards to the difficult clients.

I will be back soon.
Dan

The End is Near

Dan

Easter

Easter weekend was enjoyable. Ellen and I did very little around the house. We went to church and came home to have a meal. It was crusted salmon and potatoes with asparagus. It is possible that the salmon was past its prime date, or that it was salmon at all. We are going to buy our fish from a fish market and not the local grocery stores anymore. All in all it was a good time.

Dan

It was a good Thursday

Today I took a run with Steve for a distance of around 3 miles. Earlier in the day I watched around 3 or 4 games in the NCAA Tournament. After our run, Ellen and I went out to dinner with Steve and Jodi at "Gordy's" and had some of the best Asian food that I have ever had. Most of what I ate was the combination of vegetarian noodle dishes. The Kung Pow Salmon was phenomenal and the salmon fell apart when touched. It was a very good meal.

Dan

LRW IV is finished and other thoughts

It is finally over. It is possible that my partner was completely inept. The brief was turned in last Friday after spending the entire night up waiting for her to finish. It is nice to know that I will not have to write any other papers on topics I could care less about for my remaining tenure in law school.
Last night the Gophers lost to Maryland in the first round of the NIT (Not Important Tournament). I am excited for the NCAA to begin. At this time it is only about 18 hours 6 minutes and 30 seconds till the first tip. I think UCLA will win the whole thing. One of my loser friends believes that Wisconsin will be in the final four. The sconies are not that good. I predict a second round loss. Gonzaga will most likely win the first round but lose to Georgetown in the second round. I look forward to watching the games this weekend with Ellen.
I have decided that I am going to take up the hobby of running and other outdoor race related activities. In about a month Ellen and I will be running Bloomsday. Last year it attracted about 50,000 runners and walkers. It is a hilly course that might prove to be tiring. It is only about 7.5 miles, so it should not be that bad. I have set two new goals. I would like to complete the Hawaiian Ironman Championship, and the Badwater Ultramarathon. Both could prove very very difficult. I plan to attempt them by the time I am 31 or 32.

Pictures of Snow Shoeing

today

I am sitting in corporations and am wondering how this day is going to go. Last weekend Ellen and I went snow shoeing with some friends. It was hard work, but very beautiful. I think we have found a winter activity that both she and I like. This is possibly an activity that we would come back to the western part of the state.
Last night we lost our first intermural tournament game. I did not play well. I feel that my poor play has its roots in something much deeper. That is my new goal: to find out what is bothering me.
My brief is due in a week. I feel that it will be a good paper which will be enough to get me out of LRW.
I am a little worried about my corporations mid-term, since I did not do to well in the Agency and Partnership Final.

I think it is going to be a good year

I think the Gopher football team is going to be better in 2008 than in 2007. I will continue later.

As I have stated

I miss my beard, but it is nice to see how beautiful I am. Spring is coming to Spokane sort of. I am still annoyed with the method of teaching at law school. Today I am going to keep working on LRW which is a waste of time the way that it is taught. Just letting the students go without some sort of guidance is a crappy way to teach. It is possible that I have just had teachers who do not teach in a manner that is effective for me.
Gonzaga beat USD last night it was a good game. I am working out several times a week in the hope to get back to the weight I was when I started law school. Time to work on claim writing.

Shoeshoeing Fun

This weekend Ellen and I went snowshoeing with some friends at Lookout Pass. It was good exercise and very pretty. For my birthday the dog children gave me Ticket to Ride Europe. At this time I am flirting with the idea of getting an LLM in some from of business. My birthday was pleasant and a joyful time. The weather in Spokane has been very bad and the city does not plow the streets. That is one of the main problems Ellen has with this part of the country. Here are the pictures we took.

It has been a while

The title says it all. I have been very busy with finals and other school related things. I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful wife. Today we decided how to split up the chores. I will clean the main rooms and the bedrooms while she does the kitchen and the bathroom. It sounds like a good deal.

We are excited for our trip home tomorrow. We plan to depart at 6:30 so we can go to the dog part and allow the children some exercise. Lady looks so cute with her new haircut. She hates to go to the beauty shop but her pain is worth the outcome.

Steve has been wonderful as well. He gave us a $70 gift certificate to the Italian Kitchen. I had acupuncture for the first time and it was very painful, but helpful.

God Bless
Dan

Why Christians bother me!

I am tired of the Christian populous behaving in a non-Christian manner. One example is the critics of Joel Osteen and their representations that he is a false profit or false teacher. The message he teaches is one of hope and prosperity in the relationship with God and Jesus. Some critics claim that because he lacks seminary instruction he does not have a place teaching or relying on a "calling" from God. I look at other influential teachers that do not have the so called seminary teaching, for one the Apostle Paul, another Charles Finney (I am not as sure of this one, but I could not find any formal training). The calling upon an individual to serve the Kingdom of God does not hinge upon a formal training in seminary. All that such trite comments do to the relationship of Christians is to create strife and discontent. Such comments are made out of jealousy and not divine understanding. So the man whose name I no longer remember needs to look at himself in the mirror and before God and determine his true objective and if there is a calling upon his life or if he is a false profit sowing the seed of strife and discontent.

God Bless
Dan

More of the Packers

It was a good day yesterday for the Pack. 7-1 is not quite a good as 8-0 but it is acceptable. Ellen and I spent the weekend doing very little. On Saturday I played with Sixth Ward and won the Spokane Stake Football Tournament. We had the intention of going to Braden's blessing on Sunday, but fell ill, and spent the day doing nothing. I think I will do some work now.

dan

Packers beat Denver- sorry Tim

It is a little late to be talking about the events of Monday night football but I will anyway. It was a poor showing for the Packer's offense other than the two big plays. One in the first half and that beautiful play in overtime. It has been a good week. On Sunday the church had a potluck which was pretty good. It needed a few more salads and more food in general. A potluck should always have a large amount of leftovers. This week seems to be going very quickly but I am trying to rise earlier so that I can maximize the amount of time that I am awake. We will see how long it lasts.

Dan

Its Friday

Well the weekend is almost here. I am looking forward to flag football on Saturday and having a productive weekend. I am trying to volunteer at a company/governmental entity that specializes in helping people to secure their IP rights. Currently it does not seem that the company has any interest in me, since the majority of the work is patent related. Being that I want to do litigation it is not the best fit. Time will tell what happens. I am in the clinic which means that I should start working, so I will.

God Bless
Dan