New in Newport Beach

Last Saturday marked our third week in Newport Beach, California—city of bronze bodies, high-level retail shopping, and beautiful homes. Living here is sort of like being on a permanent vacation.

Mr. Miller's job as a summer associate with O’Melveny & Myers proves to be fun with a little work thrown in for effect. The attorneys take him out to lunch at some great restaurant every day. He’s already attended three baseball games thanks to the firm, including two games between our Mariners and the Angels. This week he starts through work a two-week stint with the advocacy institute where he writes a brief and argues it.

Though I had intended to spend the summer putting together my wedding album, I instead chose a more challenging task: passing the California bar exam. The February pass rate was an encouraging 37%. Studying for the bar began two weeks ago and translates into attending morning-long video lectures Monday through Friday, followed by 5-6 hours of studying.

As one would expect from spending all this time under the care of florescent lights, Mr. Miller and I stand as the two alabaster skinned residents of Newport Beach! But even with all our work, we’ve had some great experiences. Keith whisked me away a week ago for an evening at the Getty. On Monday, we attended "Get Out the Boat," a concert to promote Evan Almighty and Habitat for Humanity. The concert featured Jeremy Camp, Switchfoot, and the always-amazing, incredibly talented ReliantK. Even more exciting, each Sunday we’ve been visiting a different great church in the area. More to come on the last topic.