Hi!!!!! I'm still alive! :DDD Also, I have (even better?) news. I passed my national accreditation exams! Huzzah! I received confirmation that I passed all five of my legal exams November 2018. I received my official certificate in September of this year. So, that's 1/3 of the licensing process complete!
I have to admit. When I logged into my on-line account and saw that I passed all of my exams, I cried. Yeah. I was that guy. Haha. I just erupted in a big ball of tears. I worked so long and so hard, you guys. Tears of joy, for sure. Now, somehow, I had totally missed the deadline to apply to take the bar exam (December 2018). As it turns out, I don't think my certificate would have been transferred in time, anyway. It literally took three months for me to receive it upon request. So, I had fretted about it for awhile, but then my partner and I both decided that I needed a longer break than just three months.
So, I took a year to recover and actually try to enjoy life and explore my new city and my new country. :D My partner and I went to Montreal, last year, and I had such a great time. Every person I met was super friendly. The photos above are from that trip. I have to say, I would love to visit, again!
This Summer, my partner and I went to Austin, TX for his sister's wedding. It was nice to go back to Austin, as I hadn't been there since around 2012. It was just as quirky and fun as I had remembered.
Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be going back to Texas, again. Just too many bad memories for me, there. I'll always have a special place in my heart for Austin, though. The majority of my best moments happened in that city. I don't know. Maybe I'll change my mind, one day, but I don't think it's likely.
More recently, we went to British Columbia! We stayed for 10 days in September and split the trip between Vancouver (middle right and bottom photos) and Kelowna (top photo and middle left photo). I came away from the trip with mixed feelings about B.C.. It was nice to visit, but I don't think the overall vibe and social culture is quite right for me. I think Toronto has more to offer in regard to my lifestyle.
For example, I really like playing board games and there were no dedicated board game cafes in downtown Vancouver. I absolutely love jazz, but I could only find one actual jazz club (where the music wasn't background music, but the centre attraction). I'm a huge gamer and would have loved to hit up a barcade to just play some pinball, but I could only find one arcade in the downtown area. It seems that a lot of great venues are being priced out of the city and have had to close up shop. Sooo, yeah. :/
Vancouver has amazing art galleries, though! Also, Stanley Park is just wonderful. Granville Island is adorable. There's definitely a lot going on if you're an art connoisseur or a real outdoors-y type. :D
Sooooo, here we are. It's November and exactly one year since I received my accreditation exam results. I just mailed in my provincial bar application and accreditation certificate. Now, all there is to do is wait until my study materials are released and then I'll be back to studying, again. O_o
Wish me luck! ^_^ I've been thinking about starting up my blog, again, but my posts would be comparatively sparser, because of studying for bar exams. I was able to keep up my blog while studying for my accreditation exams and it was nice to have something non-exam related to focus on. So, I don't know. I'm really giving it some serious thought, but I'd probably only post like twice a month. Heh.
Also, if you've been following me on Instagram, you're probably aware that I created an audio-diary containing my entire life story. It was a painful endeavor, but turned out to be the best thing I've ever done for myself in a long, long time. So, if you haven't had a chance to listen, I'll be making a separate post in the weeks to come that will include the entire audio library. You'll know me better than most! <3
Ok, that's it for now. I hope you're all doing well!
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