The Locker Room

Law school is a lot like high school. There are students and there are
teachers. Everyone has lockers. A lot of people bring their lunchboxes
to school; others eat in the cafeteria. Everyone eats lunch together,
and no one ever leaves the building. There are even different crowds
of people. For instance, there’s the popular crowd (the politicians),
the partiers (the people that you can just tell they have a life
outside of law school), the brown-nosers (the gunners), and the nerds
(funny, unlike high school this group now consists of about 99% of the
class). All in all it’s like you just stepped out of Saved by the
Bell.

But, law school is also like a baby. It constantly needs attention;
never seems to be satisfied. It never lets you sleep through the
night. It always needs to be changed.

Lesson I’ve learned from law school, don’t have a baby in high school,
the two should never be combined...

Just kidding, law school is easy.

Well I think I here the baby crying, gotta go...


-Danny

making new friends with food

We are so blessed that we have already found a church home in Nashville. It took a few weeks of wandering, but we settled on Brentwood Baptist Church. We felt the most at home there, despite its large size, because of the connection we had with one of the pastors. It was so nice to go into a place in a new city and see a familiar face that immediately introduced us to church members.


After our first week, we decided to visit a bible study that was recommended to us by several people. It is a group of soon to be married or newly married couples. The leaders are a married couple who Danny and I love. We felt immediately connected there as well. After attending a few weeks, we volunteered to bring the breakfast this week. Of course I saw this as a great opportunity to try out some new recipes that keep popping up on pinterest.

My first choice was a Glazed Doughnut Muffin. What could be better? Two of my favorite things combined, yes please. They were super easy to make and tasted great. Second, I chose to make individual monkey muffins. Another killer breakfast item. We were all in sugar shock by the end of bible study, but we were all full and happy as well.

Glazed Doughnut Muffins

From Sweet Peas Kitchen

Ingredients

Muffins

• 1/4 c. butter (I used margarine)
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 1/3 c. brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. ground nutmeg (after tasting, I will probably use less next time, although that is just my personal preference)
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 2/3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. milk

Glaze

• 3 Tbsp. butter; melted (again used margarine instead)
• 1 c. confectioners' sugar; sifted
• 3/4 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tbsp. hot water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 ℉. Line 12 muffin cups with liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray (Baker's Joy is my favorite for baking).
2. With a mixer, beat together butter, vegetable oil, and sugars until smooth.
3.  Add eggs one at a time. 
4. While mixer is on low speed, add baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla, mixing just until combined.
5. Add the flour alternating with milk to the mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Make sure everything is thoroughly combined.
6. Spoon the batter into cups. Fill the cups and smooth the tops. 
7. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until the tops are a pale golden and spring to the touch. 
8. Cool in muffin tin for 5 minutes and cool an additional 10 minutes on cooling rack before glazing. 
9. To make the glaze, mix together melted butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla, and water. Whisk until smooth. 
10. When muffins have cooled for 15 minutes, dip the muffin top into the glaze. Allow glaze to harden. Muffins can be dipped a second time once hardened (I did this and would recommend it, who wouldn't enjoy a little more doughnut glaze?!?)

Yields: 12 muffins
Source: My Baking Addiction, originally adapted from King Arthur Flour

Monkey Muffins

From Pioneer Woman Cooks

Ingredients

• Leftover Bread Dough/ Refrigerated Biscuit Dough/ Crescent Rolls (made into three walnut sized balls per muffin tin)
• Butter 
• Sugar
• Ground Cinnamon
• Sweetened, Condensed Milk

Instructions

1. Place 1/2 tsp. of butter into each muffin cup.
2. Add slightly less than 1 tsp. of sugar and 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon to each muffin cup. 
3. Place three walnut sized balls of dough into each muffin cup. 
4. Add another 1/2 tsp. of butter, 1/3 tsp of sugar, and cinnamon to the top of each muffin. 
5. Bake at 375℉ for 15 minutes or until golden and bubbly (note: if you are using homemade dough, you will need to allow the dough to rise before baking).
6. Remove from oven and immediately drizzle with sweetened condensed milk, be generous! Allow to sit for a few minutes.
7. Scoop out with a spoon. 

Yields: 12 muffins

Source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks
*Since I was sharing with others and serving the monkey muffins at a later time, after I removed the monkey muffins from the muffin tin, I placed each one into a muffin cup liner (although I am not sure I would bake them in the muffin cup liners. 

Define

brief (verb): to give essential information to

A brief in terms of law typically describes a document presented at trial to defend something. For us, it could mean lots of things: the amount of time we have to clean the apartment, the amount of free time Danny will have away from the books, the amount of sanity I have left after a day with preschoolers, or the amount of regurgitated law I (Meg) can understand. Briefings, as used in our blog title, means to us that we will share tidbits of our life. Our thoughts, our experiences, our growth, our new knowledge, our pastimes, and our ideas will be posted here. In some ways the blog is for us to express ourselves and keep in touch, but it is also a way for us to inspire others.

To some getting married, starting a new job (with preschoolers mind you), moving to a new city, and starting law school within a two months span sounds crazy/insane/stupid. But to us, it just made perfect sense. We are thankful to have the Lord's guidance and blessing in the whirlwind of these changes. Danny and I are excited about our future. You may look at the first three years of our marriage and see struggles, but we know it will be a time of growth. Danny will learn all he can of law to become a lawyer after God's heart. I will pour my heart and passion into the hearts and minds of preschoolers while keeping myself occupied during Danny's long hours of studying by crafting and cooking. We look forward to sharing the essentials of our life with you...