It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Okay so I only wish it was beginning to look like Christmas. I shouldn't complain, I am enjoying that I don't have to bundle up to get to my car in the morning and it is very nice to not have to have the heat on most of the time. I am ready to get the last 8 days of the semester over. I'm ready for a break at home and to get a little bit of cold.

Clinical has been a very big learning experience and everyday is a new thing. I am still at the same hospital and when I get back from break I will be at a different hospital for the last two weeks of my clinical experience. I have been exposed to so many different things in the hospital. I also can now feel more confident educating people on different diets.

Besides working and my internship I haven't been doing much more. I look forward to seeing everyone while I am home and I already have SO much to do while I am home. Sorry this is so short I just can't think of anything to say. In 11 days I will be back in Illinois for an amazing 2 week vacation. Christmas cookies, home cooked meals, and I get to have a dinner party! Can't wait to see everyone!

Back to Work

So I had an amazing week when Eric visited. We ate way too much food and did lots of window shopping/real shopping. I loved showing him all the places in Houston and just hanging out and relaxing. Going home was also perfect. I got to spend Thanksgiving at home with just Mom, Dad, Jimmy, and Christa. It was everything I could have asked for. Then Friday the grandkids took Grandma to lunch at our favorite Chinese buffet (or should I say she took us :))

Then I got to complete my Black Friday by going to Eric's house and going Christmas tree shopping with them. Since I had time I stopped for the new Christmas Starbucks coffee on my way and it was AMAZING. The smell of trees was amazing and I have decided that next year I am getting a baby tree and decorating it. After that I spent part of the night with his family and then got to go back to my house to see my two favorite people. Kara, Rachele and I got to catch up and just hang out like we used to. I missed them so much and hope I can see them more over my two week break.

Then Saturday I chopped all my hair, it is now above my shoulders and I love it. This began the sad part of my break when I had to drop Eric off to go back to Champaign and then the last night with my family. We spent the night in and got pizza. Sunday I got everything together and had to go to the airport. I already miss home and didn't get to see everyone for as long as I wanted. Luckily it is only 22 days from today that I will be back home and I got an early flight so I will have tons of time at home. Now to work hard and get through these last 3 weeks before the break. Since it is the semester break I shouldn't have anything to worry about while I am home.

Miss everyone!

I can see vacation...it's so close

So I am in my second week of clinical and I am learning a lot. This hospital has either rehab patients or geriatrics so it isn't exactly what I love but I am getting a lot of good experience. I will be moving to an out patient clinic this week for Wednesday through Friday. That should be a good experience and will allow me to learn even more and I am hoping it is more interesting to me.

I am exhausted from a weekend of work and getting ready for Eric to visit. It is finally almost here and I am so excited. This week will go by fast and then we have a full weekend of shopping and sightseeing ahead of us. And of course I found a nice place for a run so all the good food we eat can be worked off. I am really looking forward to having the next week to relax and spend time with him and then to go home and see my family. I can't wait to feel the cold Illinois air and see colored leaves. I also am ready for mom's home cooking and eating so much on Thanksgiving. I know I'm here for Dietetics but I will be forgetting everything and eating so much.

Hopefully I can work hard these next 4 days and get everything done so that once Eric gets here I can just relax and then when I get home I can do the same thing. I hope I can see everyone and if not I'll be back in December for 2 weeks so I'm sure I'll fit everyone in.

Miss and love everyone!

Little Set Back

So I was supposed to be starting my clinical rotation at the hospital on Monday but there was a small set back. I had to get all of my paper work processed and it takes around a week. I wish I would have known earlier and I could have contacted the director earlier to get everything set up. Luckily the dietitian at the hospital is very nice. She told me I will not have to come in and make up all the hours I can do case studies as well to cover come of those hours.

So this week I am at home all day and it is SO boring. I am getting all of my class work done which is good. This means that I will have everything for the semester done before Eric gets here in 2 weeks and I can start my Thanksgiving vacation a few days early. I also got the day before Thanksgiving off so that we don't have to rush to the airport.

Another good thing that happened yesterday was there was a Halloween decorating contest and my front porch won!!! The prize was $100 off your rent so next month my rent will be cheaper. This made everything better. I also found out that for the Christmas decorating contest there is a $150 prize so Brittany and I are going to get together and decorate like crazy to win.

I am so close to a vacation and I cannot wait. Just to get through the next 16 days and get all of the work done for this semester. I have one big presentation and a paper, as well as domain exams which I am trying to complete at least one of the three and pass it before Thanksgiving. I look forward to visiting Illinois. I want to feel the fall weather and see the leaves. Nothing changes color here and it's only cool in the mornings. I'm sure everyone at home wishes they still have the 70-80 degree weather but I'm bored of it. Miss everyone!

So Close

This week has been so tiring and stressful. I am very ready for Thanksgiving and the break. It was my last week at the school food service which made me happy. I had to travel to many different schools and had some frustrations with traveling far to schools and the information not even counting. Luckily one of the interns from a different school was with me so we made the best of it all and decided to get donuts her last day to treat ourselves. I got great reviews from the director at the school district which made me very happy.

I have been working a ton and think I might ask them to cut it down to 3 or 4 days instead of 5 a week. I am so tired and I got stuck with Friday and Saturday close shifts this weekend so I work until at least 12 midnight. Luckily tomorrow I get to work the lunch shift so I will be off by 4.

This morning we ran a Halloween 5K, Brittany my roommate and our friend Shana. It was so much fun and I knocked close to 3 minutes off my practice times. I think it was around 24:30 which I was pretty proud of. If there wasn't a big hill at the end I think I could have done it under 24 minutes. Once pictures and official results are up I will post them so everyone can see.

I'm really looking forward to a relaxing Sunday after work and for a Skype Halloween Dinner/Movie Date with Eric. It's really exciting that we are down to only 20 days until he visits. Compared to the 104 days/ 15 weeks we started with 20 days feels like nothing. I am already trying to plan so much stuff to fit in for those 5 days he's here.

On Monday I am to be starting my clinicals at Ben Taub Hospital. There may be a problem with all of my records being processed though. I think there was some miscommunication and I will have to go in on Monday and hopefully I can get everything processed fast and start the rotation this week. I am looking forward to the hospitals for a change of pace. I will be at this same hospital until January 20. It is all three of my clinical rotations. Thinking about that makes me realize how fast this is actually going. Texas has been teaching me a lot and I am very excited to get back to Illinois in May and start my career. It sounds so weird that this time next year I will be in the real world working.

I miss everyone so much and I am SO excited to be coming home soon. In less than a month I will be in Illinois and I am already planning so that I can see everyone while I am home.

Surprises

So this week was pretty long like all the others. It was a good week and taught me that I do not want to work in an office staring at a computer all day. I also got to work in the production area at the Houston Independent School district. This was 4 hours in the bakery where I helped package yellow cake and make extremely big batches of brownies. I was covered in brownie mix by lunch time...luckily they gave me an apron and gloves. Then after lunch we were sent to cold foods for 2 hours. This was basically a room set to the temperature of a freezer. I know my hands were freezing so I'm not sure how these workers do it everyday. The rest of the week was standard with going to schools and doing work in the office.

At work I got my first pay check which made my whole Friday. I also got a star because the hosts got perfect scores. I was very excited and really enjoyed working in the fast pace Friday night. I had to work again this morning and decided to wake up early to run. A few friends and I are running a 5K next Saturday so I am getting back into running. Then I went to work and it was a pretty normal morning shift. I got home and had a package waiting for me...one dozen AMAZING red roses from Eric. Yesterday was our 16 month anniversary and he made my whole day.

Now I am going out with some of the girls tonight and then back to work tomorrow morning. The next few weeks are going to fly by and in 27 days I will be picking Eric up from the airport for his Houston vacation. I can't wait!

Long Week

So this week was my first week working and having the internship and it was SO tiring. Luckily my schedule will be more work on weekends from now on so I won't have to be out of the apartment for over 12 hours a day.

This week at my internship I was working at a school everyday teaching PreK through Fifth grade students about nutrition. It was a very interesting experience, especially since most of the children were bilingual and some only spoke Spanish. I learned a lot of new words for foods. This is what I would want to do if I worked in a school district. I loved teaching the kids and seeing how much they know and want to learn.

Three days this week after my internship I also went to work. It wasn't too bad except that I ended up getting a pretty intense cold Wednesday and I am just starting to feel better with the rest I have gotten this weekend. I got through the week and am ready for the third week of this four week rotation. Time is flying by and I am learning so much from both the internship and the job.

I was so excited to find out that my apartment complex does a decorating contest for Halloween and I am so going to win since no one else has anything up yet. Here is the one picture I have. You can't see the lights in the window and there are a few things that still need to be put up. I will take another picture at night when it is all set up and post it. They judge on Halloween and announce the winner on November 1...and there is a prize!

I am so excited to be coming home in about 6 weeks. As beautiful as Houston is, I do miss the fall weather. It is still around mid 80's everyday here with the mornings being my prime fall weather of 60. I know that in December and January I will be praising Houston and it's nice weather.

Well onto another week where I hope to get back into my workout routine and maybe get a project done for class. Miss everyone!

And the Work Begins...

So I would have updated earlier but I had no internet from the time I got off work Friday until Monday when I got home. It was an AMAZING weekend. Christa was here all weekend and we had so much fun. Friday was pretty much just Walmart and Target shopping for things we really didn't need. Then we got up on Saturday and went to the Galleria all day. We shopped for close to five hours and got some great deals. We then went out to dinner and ate WAY too much but it was so good. On Sunday I dropped her off at the airport early.

Sunday was my first day of my new part-time job. I am a host at BJ's Brewhouse and I was pretty nervous. My first two days went pretty well. I learned how to seat and greet people. Today will be my last day of training and then I start really working next Monday. The thing I have noticed is seeing food all the time makes me hungry and everything always looks so good.

Yesterday was also my first day at the Houston Independent School District. This rotation is very different than my last one. I have been in the office both days so far and I am excited to get back into the schools. Tomorrow I will be in a elementary school all day helping with meal service and then a middle school on Thursday for the same thing. Friday is the best day because my mom is coming to visit and I arranged my day so I could get off early and pick her up from the airport.

Next week me and the three other interns get to go to one of the elementary schools and teach the preschool through fifth grade students in their PE classes about nutrition. I am excited to get out in to the schools and interact directly with the students.

This rotation is my last food service rotation and I will be there for four weeks. Halloween will be my first day in my clinical rotations. There are three of these and they are all at the same place for me. Thinking about everything is making me realize this internship will be over before I know it. It has so far been a great experience and I am learning so many things from both the internship and everyone I have met.

Ready for Friday

So since it's the middle of the week and I oddly have nothing to do so I thought I'd update everyone. I am still loving the school district. I have learned a lot and am kind of sad about leaving Friday. Next week I will be starting in the Houston Independent School district and that rotation is 4 weeks.

Today I was at the high school all day and got to help on the lunch line. I also got to help make an a la carte menu for all of the high schools to use. Tomorrow I get to go to the middle school all day and work with the staff there. This should be interesting and hopefully the kids are nice if I have to serve lunch. Then after a long day I get to come home to a Skype dinner date with Eric. Hamburger Helper is not something a dietitian should recommend but it is so good and reminds me of being in Champaign. Skype has become my favorite thing for keeping in touch with everyone. It makes you feel like you're in the same place instead of 1000 miles away.

Friday is finally the day for a visitor! Christa comes to visit and we have an amazing weekend planned. Whataburger with Ben and Jerrys while playing Wii and watching TV all night, followed by midnight shopping at Walmart and then a day full of shopping at the Galleria Saturday. I am really looking forward to a relaxing weekend.

Then on Sunday I start training for my new job and that goes for Monday and Tuesday as well. I am really excited to start the job and make some money. I'm sure I will be exhausted but money is a good thing and I am excited to be busy on weekends so I don't get too bored watching TV.

Almost Done with Rotation #2

So the last week of my second rotation just started and I am a little sad. The weekend was great. Friday I just stayed in and relaxed from a long week. Then Saturday was the Astros game. We had so much fun. I had the most amazing BBQ beef baked potato and the game went into extra innings. It was such a good time. Sunday was a day full of getting ready for the week.

The other thing the weekend brought was a new job. I got hired at BJ's Brewhouse as a hostess and I start training next week. I am so excited to have a part time job. I'm sure I will be extra busy now but it'll give me some spending money and make time go fast. Also, this Friday Christa comes to visit for the weekend and we have a great weekend planned: junk food, Wii, and shopping. Then the next weekend my mom will be here. The time is flying by and I am learning so much. I am very excited to start my new rotation next week and see how it compares.  Miss everyone lots! 

School District?

If you would have told me that I was going to LOVE working in the school district I would have said yeah right. I just finished my first week of the food service rotation in the Alief school district and I LOVE it. I am learning so much from the supervisors and I have gotten to go to most of their 46 different schools. I am working on two different taste tests in my last two weeks in the schools. One is a cooking class for high school students to get them to make hummus and see how they like it. The other is for one of the elementary schools in the third or fourth grade. I am doing a taste test with black eyed pea salad. They named the recipe Texas caviar. I didn't get to create that recipe but I did get to find the hummus recipes and I am really looking forward to working with the high school students and teaching them more about nutrition.

This weekend is full of preparing for next week and my different tasks. The only down fall to this rotation is I start between 6 and 7 each day and that means I get up before 5 so I can get there on time. Next weekend is the Astros game with a few friends so I'm really excited for that since I found us the best seats.

Rotation Two!

Today was the first day of my second rotation and it was AMAZING! My supervisor gave me a three week plan so I know where I will be at all times. This school district has 45 schools in it. Today I was with one of the main supervisors and the dietitian going to the schools and picking up payroll and things. It was so interesting to go around and see them all and how the kitchens run. I start tomorrow at 6:30 so it'll be an early morning. I am looking forward to this rotation a lot now. Hopefully the rest goes as well as today did.

The people I work with seem very nice and I am looking forward to meeting everyone. I also got to talk with the dietitian and get her input on a lot of things since she is young and has worked in both hospitals and now her second school district. I will most likely update this on Friday to let everyone know how my first week went.

End of First Rotation

Today was the hardest day I have had so far. I finished all my requirements for this rotation and today was just a free day to help out and get my last  few hours. What started off calm turned chaotic fast. I was told 2 different things while in the kitchen helping and then got the chef saying I should know what different pans are called. Then  one of the cooks told me I shouldn't even be helping in the kitchen because it wasn't allowed. After that hour of pure madness I was done.

Everything brightened up when during lunch the football coach came up to Brittney and me and asked if we wanted to go to the Prairie View versus TSU game tomorrow night. Obviously we couldn't tell him no so we get to go to the game with tickets from the coach! We also have our potluck with all the other interns tomorrow. That should be a lot of fun to get together and talk about our first rotation.

So with one rotation down I'm learning a lot. I now know I do not want to work in food service kitchen area. I am very excited for a fun weekend and for Monday. I go to the Alief school district which is about 30 minutes from my apartment. The dietitian there sent me a 3 week schedule of everything I will be doing every day so that makes me feel a lot better. The one perk is I get off by 3:30 at the latest (some days 2) but the downfall is I start by 7 every morning (some mornings 6). At least I don't mind getting up early. All in all everything is going well. I am missing Illinois but I will be back in a little over 2 months. Everything is starting to pick up and before you know it I will be back home looking for a job as a registered Dietitian.

First Day

So today was my first day of my first rotation. It was the first day of freshman orientation so there were tons of students for breakfast and lunch. I was kind of confused in the beginning and finally got in touch with the head of my rotation. He was very nice and I think tomorrow everything will start to pick up. In the three weeks I am at Prairie View for food service there is a list of about 17 things I need to accomplish. The director told me that his rotation was one of the most difficult because I will have to present at a safety meeting and go looking for new equipment to use in the facility. There is also a day I have to go in extra early and help unload a food truck. All in all I think I am going to enjoy the 3 weeks there. The campus is really nice and the students have so much school spirit. I would say at least 70% were wearing something that had PVAMU written on it.

I'm working on staying up to date on here with everything that is going on. I can already tell I will be starting to get busier as the weeks progress. After the first introduction day in the rotation it seems like it picks up fast. You are only in a certain area for 3 weeks normally and have tons of tasks that have to be done before you leave. I know I am going to learn a lot already.

Progress

So today was the first day of orientation and it made me feel a million times better. I have a 3 inch binder filled to the max with everything I will need for 9 months. It has my schedule, as well as all of the assignments I will need to turn in. Now that it is all planned out I feel like it is going to go by so fast. I miss everyone back home and I think getting into the swing of things will help ease the home sickness. Mom will be here in October and Eric visits around Thanksgiving.
I am very excited to start the internship on Monday and luckily my roommate is in the same rotation as me for the first 3 weeks. All of the girls are very nice and I think we will get along well. We all seem to be on the same page and hopefully be able to help each other if needed. I am hoping to update here once a week with main events of what has happened and how awesome it is going. I know I will be busy with working 40 hour weeks with assignments on the side.
Houston itself is so amazing. The people are very nice and the food is so good. I am hoping to pick up that accent and start saying y'all and maybe get a cowboy hat and boots. We will see how far all of that goes.

I'm here!

I just moved in this weekend and it is an AMAZING apartment. Houston is beautiful and the people are very nice. The weekend was full of building furniture with the parents and Eric. Saturday night Eric and I went to a Houston Astros game versus the Milwaukee Brewers. I loved walking around and seeing the park. It was a lot of fun even though they lost.
I will put pictures up of the apartment as soon as it is decorated. We start the internship next week for orientation and then it really beings August 22. I am very excited to start everything and get a nice tan with all the nice sunny weather.

It's almost time!

So sitting here I am getting ready to move. I leave on Thursday and it will be a long 17 hour drive down. Luckily Eric will be making the drive with me and my parents are meeting us there for the weekend. This blog with be interesting (I hope) and it will let everyone in on everything I am getting to experience.
If you don't already know I am moving to Houston, Texas for my dietetic internship at Prairie View A&M University. I will be there from August until May and will be working with everything from the schools to the hospitals to the public health centers. I am hoping to learn a lot and get tons of new experiences. Obviously since I will be in Houston I will be buying a cowboy hat and boots and hoping to pick up a southern accent while at it, so not all will be work.
I'm hoping this is also a way for me to keep in  contact with people since I know everyone is busy and life moves so fast. So let me know if there are any comments and I hope it's a good read!