Lots of good news on these boards this week - definitely a week to be thankful!
I'm excited to share something too. I'm going to start working on my LLM degree (advanced law degree in tax) starting in January. I will be doing an online program in the evenings so that I can continue to work full-time. It's a 2-year program. Even better, my employer has agreed to reimburse me for the tuition with very few strings attached on my end. They are drawing the papers up right now.
I'm really excited about this because it's an area of law I really enjoy. Besides, I already do all of the associate-level tax work in our office anyway... but I don't yet have the street-cred (AKA: the degree) to really put myself out there as a "tax attorney" to clients or other lawyers who don't know my work.
I'm also excited that we just hired a new partner who recently met with me about benefits work. I don't know nearly enough to actually practice in benefits (retirement plans, etc.), but it's a specialty area that clients desperately need, and it sounds like it's right up my alley - especially the retirement stuff! It's also an area that most tax lawyers won't touch with a 10-foot pole, so if you can do it then you have some pretty sweet job security. Anyway, this partner is willing to train me in benefits, and that's going to start next year as well.
The thing I've learned this past year is that you really have to put yourself out there. My firm does not have a formal reimbursement policy for LLM degrees. But I asked for it, and eventually it was approved, after months of work. I felt really awkward having to sell my skill set to the executive committee (most of whom I had never met before), but this outcome was 100% worth it. Same with the benefits work - that new partner sent out an all call for folks who might be interested in forming a benefits practice group, and apparently she got almost no response. But since I responded, she decided it was worth her time to train me, starting pretty much from scratch. You never know what sort of opportunities are embedded in the most mundane things!
Very excited for 2015 - it sounds like it's going to be a great year for many of the folks on this board!
Re: Exciting news
Love: March 2010 Marriage: July 2013 Debt Free: October 2014 TTC: May 2015
TTC since 1/13 DX:PCOS 5/13 (long, anovulatory cycles)

Clomid 50mg 9/13 = BFP! EDD 6/7/14 M/C 5w6d Found 11/4/13
1/14 PCOS / Gluten Free Diet to hopefully regulate my system.
Chemical Pregnancy 03/14
Surprise BFP 6/14, Beta #1: 126 Beta #2: 340 Stick baby, stick! EDD 2/17/15
Riley Elaine born 2/16/15
TTC 2.0 6/15
Chemical Pregnancy 9/15
Chemical Pregnancy 6/16
BFP 9/16 EDD 6/3/17
Beta #1: 145 Beta #2: 376 Beta #3: 2,225 Beta #4: 4,548
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Awesome!!