1 down, 2 to go

Luna says Hi!

The first week of finals is over. Only 2 more exams and I am free and officially done with my first semester of grad school. I turned in my big proposal project yesterday for Obesity/Weight Management and was relieved once I talked about it in class and turned that sucker in. It feels good to be accomplishing things. Today I had my first final exam for Lifecycle 2 which focused on older adults and aging. It was the most interesting of all my classes I had this semester but the most challenging when it came to the exams. I studied and knew the material but when I was sitting there taking the test I realized that maybe I didn't study the right things. I did the best I could but am kicking myself for not looking at certain documents and parts of the notes. Here's to hoping that I didn't completely blow it.

I am now sitting here catching up on some blog reading, Tumblr, etc. with a hot cup of green tea with coconut, ginger and vanilla. It's amazingly good especially in my Snoopy mug :)

I had a serious conversation yesterday with Thomas about life, career possibilities and goals I want to set for myself. I've been thinking about it a lot recently. I never realized how fast these semesters would go. In a year and a half, I will be out on my own trying to get a job and that is really scary to me. My plan is to complete a dietetic internship but I don't feel like I've gained enough volunteer hours to get accepted. All I used to hear from my advisers in undergrad was "get more clinical experience". Well I attempted to volunteer at a local hospital in Raleigh and I ended up just making my assumptions about it and deciding it wasn't for me. I feel like I didn't give it enough time to adjust to the assignment I was given. I chickened out because it made me get out of my comfort zone. I don't like that about myself. I made excuses and gave up and I don't want to be a quitter in the face of challenges. I have since then tried to contact local dietitians so that I may shadow or volunteer. I have yet to contact a dietitian that doesn't already have help from interns or they haven't contacted me back. I'm going to keep trying but it's a bit discouraging. I need to volunteer. It's as simple as that.

I also have been thinking about my options if I don't get into the internship. I know I will have to work but deciding what exactly I want to do is a daunting task. I have already crossed out clinical dietitian and food service. I am leaning more towards wellness dietitian or working with fitness and wellness. I like the combination of nutrition and exercise so I think that would be ideal to work somewhere that offers both. The hard part will be finding that job. I even considered working for WIC which I think would be a good beginning job and would provide good experience working with clients. I am just all over the place it seems. I am in classes with all these women who are already RDs, are already in the field and working and it's intimidating. Maybe if I don't get into the internship at first, I think maybe after working and gaining experience for a couple of years I could then.

As far as general life goals are concerned. I have to start getting active again. I have been so crazy busy the past couple of months it really has been put on the back burner. This makes me so sad because I love it and I feel that just taking Luna out on walks isn't enough compared to what I was doing. I must admit that in the past month or so even walks with her have been a rare occurrence.

So goal #1: I'm taking it slow and working on my 15 minute mile. This will involve me running for a mile and noting my starting point which I know is much more than 15 minutes. I will then work towards cutting my time. I find this will be challenging enough to where it won't be too time consuming and I can work towards gaining moderate intensity in my runs.

Goal #2: Drink more water. Yes. I haven't been drinking my water like I should. The straw in my water bottle has grown mold inside it because I haven't been cleaning it daily like I should. GROSS! (Grad school has taken over EVERYTHING) I need a new straw and I need to get my 8 glasses of water a day or close enough to it. I've been drinking coffee and tea like a mad woman and not enough of good ole plain H2O.

Goal #3: A simple goal that requires me to find a good cookie recipe and bake 5 dozen cookies for a cookie swap my cousin is throwing for the holidays. I am thinking gingerbread cookies but that seems too typical for this time of year. However, I have a ton of molasses leftover from the last time I made gingerbread cookies and I don't know what else to use it for. I'm sure I could be a good little Googler and find something to use it in but like I've said GRAD SCHOOL HAS TAKEN OVER MY LIFE. I might try and make a glaze to put on them this time. Make some Fancy Gingerbread cookies or something like that ;)

3 goals. This really shouldn't be too bad. I just need to focus. I still have 2 finals to study for before I can make real progress on them.

 Big weekend ahead! Activities include, Christmas Parade on Saturday, Birthday dinner and party that night for Thomas and Michael, Taking my Mom to see A Christmas Carol for her birthday and then ending the weekend with some last minute studying for my final on Monday!