Productive Day!

Things haven't exactly been busy lately, it's just that I haven't felt like doing anything for about a month now. Thanksgiving came and the feeling of Christmas has hit me and I feel like I'm on vacation. (But when you are in the midst of DICAS applications you are never on vacation). 
This has been me lately:

Like seriously.

Of course I'm working but Thomas has been sick all week so I pretty go home to catch up on Scandal and in between is Game Of Thrones books and Christmas music. Sad.

However, today has been a real catch up day of everything I've wanted to do this week.
I cleaned the kitchen, made these, worked on my personal statement for DI applications and have entered some more information in to DICAS. Yay! It's amazing what I can accomplish when I don't have to work on the weekends. 

Honestly, these applications should be my first priority since it's the only way I can get a better job than I have now. I have just been so tired of feeling like I'm not getting anywhere. I have a feeling that once 2014 gets here, my motivation will be on full blast to get everything done for these apps. I feel bad for even contacting references right now because I know Christmas is a week away so my plan is to ask my other two references after Christmas closer to new years. I have put off my personal statement for months and have finally sat down and written most of it today. Before this process I felt like I had no experience but after writing it all down, I feel like I have so much that it's hard to pick and choose what to write about in my statement. You never know what's going to win over the directors and I'm already close to the word limit and I have two more paragraphs to write. EEK!
Luckily I have an english teacher for a husband so he's going to read over it and let me know if there is any "fluff" I can get rid of.

BTW Christmas is almost here! Exciting! Yet, I still haven't finished my shopping and can't until I get paid next. So that is a bit nerve wracking but it will be done and it helps that I have the Friday and Monday before Christmas off. 
Here's our tree!

It's our little island of misfit toys tree but we love it!

Hopefully I'll have more to blog before Christmas but if not Merry Christmas!

Goals for November!

I know we are a week into November (time is flying by!), but now that I have some extra time outside of work I want to get some things going in November.

1) Get a head start on my DI applications. I am in the process of getting in touch with some professors and having them go over my resume and eventually my personal statement. Which reminds me I have to start my personal statement too! I think once I have secured 3 references and written and edited my personal statement the hard part will be over until February. Which is why I'm starting the process in November instead of January. I try not to procrastinate in serious situations as these. When I turn in my applications in February, the hard and nerve wracking part will be hoping I get an interview and if I get an interview preparing for said interview. Then the countdown to April will begin! In the meantime, I am trying to prepare for my phone conference next week with one of the directors of the internships I'm considering. I'm excited and anxious to get the ball rolling!

2) Keep my house clean. This past weekend my mother so graciously came over and helped Thomas and I cleaned our entire house. In 3 hours no less! It's fantastically clean now but I fear we will let it slip again. So my goal is to keep this way for as long as possible. The kitchen is the hardest part since that is where food is made and it tends to get messy. 

3) Exercise for the month: Yoga! I've been doing it this week and I feel like it's exactly what I need. My job has been a bit stressful this week, probably because the patient count has been steadily increasing. But I feel that this helps my posture from sitting in a chair for most of my shift. Another goal is to stand more at work too. What I need is a stability ball to use at a chair but I don't think my supervisors would care for that or my coworkers. I aspire to be more flexible, strong, and toned and I feel the more I practice yoga the better these things will be. 

4) Meet my reading goals . I need to read 4 more books before December 31. However I am choosing long books so I don't know if I'll make it to 25 books this year. Hopefully. I'm currently reading The Twelve by Justin Cronin . Seriously it's so good. 

5) This may be a silly goal but in anticipation of the 50th Anniversary Doctor Who special "The Day of the Doctor" I plan to re-watch the David Tennant Doctor Who episodes. He is by far my favorite Doctor and it's been a while since I watched those episodes so I am looking forward to seeing them again. Thanks Netflix!

Nothing is going to be better than seeing these two on screen together. 

Happy Halloween!

Hope everyone stays safe tonight! 
My plans?
Work then handing out candy when I get home. Luna will be dressed as Richard Parker (the lion from Life of Pi). Hopefully we will get to watch "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" tonight too!

I Passed!!

Today I feel fantastic since I took the DTR exam this morning and passed it!!! Woo Hoo!!

I went into the exam this morning calm, cool, and collected. I was halfway drowsy from the early morning and I didn't have any coffee, which is dangerous territory for me. I was a little afraid it would upset my stomach so I decided against it. I have to say that the only thing that made me nervous was actually finding the place, and then my gas light came on which was a bit nerve wracking when your going to a place you've never been before. Once I got there I went inside and sat down waiting for my turn to get checked in. It is crazy the things that go through your head while you're waiting. "OMG was I supposed to bring two I.D.s or one?" "People are bringing their own calculators, was I supposed to bring one??"  Everything worked out though. 
110 questions later and I was done. I think it took me about an hour and a half. 

Oh man, when I had to wait for the proctor to find my results page that was when the nerves really kicked in. Then she just turned to me and said "Congratulations!!" and I was so relieved!
 I am so happy that all the studying I did the past 2 months was finally worth it. I now  have this certification which will hopefully aid in my getting accepted into a DI.

Now that its over, here are some of my thoughts on the exam:
1) When researching on the internet (linkedIn, and blogs mostly) everyone emphasizes the importance of food service equations. So I studied the heck out of some food cost percentages, minutes/meal, and FTEs. I was so worried that this would be the worst part about the exam. I maybe had 3 or 4 food service math equation questions and thats it. So out of 110 questions that was not main focus of my exam but for others it may have been.

2) I focused on nutrition care a lot. Maybe because that is what interests me the most out of nutrition but I really didn't have a lot of questions on this either. That may change if I get to take the RD exam in the future.

3) The majority of my questions for exam were focused on management. This was to be expected but I feel like in my studying I had a hard time finding questions that I could really practice my application of management skills too. Plus I have no management experience so its kind of hard to really know what to do in management situations. If I had to go back and take the exam I would focus more on this. 

4) The LinkedIn DTR group was right about the test being mainly about management and food service. This group helped me out so much and I was able to get a good idea of what to expect for today's exam. The exam is never the same for everybody depending on how well you answer questions of a certain domain so maybe I knew my equations really well and thats why I didn't have many? I don't know.

For anyone planning to take this exam, it is still important to study everything because there will be random questions that pop up!

So what's next?
For right now, I am relaxing and catching up on some tv (Revenge, Teen mom (don't judge)). And I'm going to start reading 

I can have a life now!

DTR Exam in 2 more days!

My DTR exam is in 2 days and I am feeling so rushed and anxious to look at every note and do every exam at least once more. Part of me feels like I know this stuff but part of me wants to make sure I do understand the Diabetic exchange lists, management practices and food service equations backwards and forwards.

I know, Doctor. I know.

I have the day off so that was my plan was to just go over everything I can get my hands on because I work tomorrow and good quality studying cannot be achieved there so today is pretty much it. 
My mom wants me to go have lunch with her but I feel obligated to stay home. AHH but I want to see my mom. I have felt like a bum for 2 months and have barely seen anyone lately.

All. the. time.

Guess I'll go have lunch and rush back to more studying fun. 

I wish.

6 months later....

Time to update my blog. It's been a while, I know. I have been a very busy bee lately. Or at least the last 6 months. Things are not getting any less busy but I want to attempt (for the 100th time) to blog during it because I would like some sort of documentation of the things that have and will be going on in this next year. 

So my last post was in April and I was posting love songs up until my wedding day. Well that didn't work out but I did get married in June. It was amazing! I was stressed, excited, and so happy in June. 

First things first though. In May I GRADUATED!!

 I have my Master's now in Nutrition! All my hard work paid off and I graduated with a 3.7 GPA. I am still so happy that I went ahead and got my Master's because now the only thing standing in my way from a) becoming a RD and b) being done with school completely is my dietetic internship. 

Once the graduation festivities were over I was heading to Washington DC for Share Our Strength's Conference of Leaders in early June, where one day was committed to Cooking Matters and two days were dedicated to the No Kid Hungry campaign. It was so interesting and I was so lucky and appreciative for the opportunity to go. 

Jefferson Memorial

Made it to a Baltimore Orioles game while I was there too!

Once I returned from DC it was wedding preparation full force! But honestly it wasn't too bad. I had gotten so much done beforehand (thanks year and a half engagement) I didn't have too much to prepare for. I just wanted it to be here! Needless to say it was a perfect day. Well the night before was pretty great too. Lots of tears, laughs, and smiles both days. 
I am now Mrs. Baker! :)

One of the best days of my life. *sigh* Plus, it was such a relief to finally enjoy the day that you spent a year and a half planning for. My wedding day and experience was perfect I wouldn't change a thing.
Then came the other fun part of the wedding experience... THE HONEYMOON!
We went to Asheville and it was fantastic. We had great weather and toured downtown and Biltmore. 

One day we randomly decided to drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway and see where it would take us... that might have been the best thing we did.

Amazing trip but way too short. We only stayed for 3 days and I was not ready to come back to real life and start looking for a job /post-wedding life.

Once the wedding was over, I was in full job search mode.  And I have to admit it was a little bit of a daunting task. I actually scored an interview with a food bank similar to the one I was volunteering at in Raleigh. That, however, did not work out but it was great experience as far as interviewing goes. After that, I was in a desperate search to find something that would give me an opportunity to use the nutritional knowledge I have gained after 7 years of schooling. Unfortunately, WIC jobs were hard to find and the only things I could find were things like "nutrition ambassadors" "patient nutrition representative" which are just fancy job names for diet clerks or hosting in a hospital. 
Honestly, at first I was feeling  a little selfish and thinking since I have a master's degree I shouldn't have to settle for working at these entry level positions. Eventually I stopped thinking this way because first off I remember a girl (I won't use names) but this girl who used to work at Barnes & Noble with me, once refused to take out the trash in the cafe because she had a master's degree in music performance and "she shouldn't have to". I remember thinking of how awful that made everyone feel because she thought she was better than us just because she had a master's degree. Needless to say she didn't work there very long after that (she was fired) and I can't help but think about that and how that made me feel when she said that. Just for the record I am not afraid to take out trash, wash dishes by hand, or handle nasty gunk because of my barista job. Thanks Barnes & Noble!

So I decided to apply for any position I thought could give me some good experience. One position was called a "nutrition clerk" and it was a full time position at a local hospital only 5 minutes down the road from our townhouse. It sounded very promising. As it turned out they were the only ones to call me in for an interview. Guess it was meant to be!
I started my new job as "Nutrition Clerk" or "Diet Clerk" as it's really called at the end of August. It's going well so far. As a dietetic hopeful, I was very concerned where I was going to get my clinical experience and now everyday I am learning about specific diets, tube feeding formulas, diabetic exchanges, plus just the experience of working with the dietitians and nurses is great! I see patients every now and again, as well. I am so grateful for this job even if some days I feel overwhelmed by the busyness of the hospital. Even though some people ask me why I am there, I tell them that this is a stepping stone to bigger and better things for me. However, for the time being I am fine working and learning all that I can.

Also, I am currently studying for the DTR exam. I'm scheduled to take it in 4 days. DTR stands for Dietetic Technician, Registered. There are not a lot of DTR positions left in North Carolina but I was advised by one of my professors from Meredith to take it to increase my competitiveness for the upcoming DI application process.  The reason being that the DTR exam is similar to the RD exam so if I could pass this exam, it shows directors that I have potential to pass the RD exam. 

It's crazy to think of how far I have come from changing my major to nutrition in 2008 and now having two degrees in nutrition, and how I am currently working as a diet clerk until I can finally finish my goal of being a RD once I get into an internship. There's really no other option for me. I want and need to be a RD. There's nothing else I want or would rather be. I am so close to my goal and only have a couple more months to find out where the future will take me. 
I can do this.

87 to 77

87. Yellow - Coldplay

Look at the starsLook how they shine for you

86. Now and Always - David Gray

You're in my mind baby, now and always

85. Thank You - Led Zeppelin

And so today, my world it smiles

Your hand in mine, we walk the miles

Thanks to you it will be done

For you to me are the only one

84. Open Arms - Journey

So now I come to you with open arms

Nothing to hide, believe what I say

83. Stellar - Incubus

How do you do it?

You make me feel like I do

How do you do it?

It's better than I ever knew

82. Sonnet 29 - Rufus Wainwright

Haply I think on thee,--and then my state 

(Like to the lark at break of day arising 

From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate;

 81. Your Song - Elton John

Anyway the thing is what I really mean

Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen

 80. Where are you going?- Dave Matthews Band

But I do know one thing

Where you are is where I belong

I do know, where you go, is where I wanna be

79. A Lover Like You - The Avett Brothers

I haven't eyes for anyone else

I'm thinking of you and nobody else

I haven't eyes for anyone else but you

 

78. There is a Light that never goes out - The Smiths

To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die

 77. 18th Floor Balcony - Blue October

I can't believe this is happening to me and,

I raised my hand as if to show you that I was yours

That I was so yours for the taking

I'm so yours for the taking and

That's when I felt the wind pick up

I grabbed the rail while choking up

These words to say and then you kissed me