April Already???!!!???

In the midst of school, I am now 50 days away from being a married woman! How exciting is it to know that God placed two hearts together to become one family in 50 days! As we are reading through some relationship books recommended by our pastor who is marrying us, we are gaining more and more respect for each other and things are coming together slowly.

Our house is coming together, Benton continues to work on it while I am in school and when I am home, I like to go over and straighten up and help decorate! I even tried to do some yard work one day.

Also going on right now, is I am working on second-round dietetic internship applications, and man is it a lot of work during the hardest week of school ever! I know God has a plan for me, but I just had such a good feeling about the University of Northern Colorado and then I didn't get matched. So now, I am applying for three or four more and will find out in the next few weeks!

If I don't get matched, I will be looking for jobs and beginning graduate school in the fall! Also, I will be reapplying for the fall round of internships which begins in January of next year.

I trust God with this though, and even though I do not understand it right now, he knows best and knows exactly what will happen after graduation.

Currently, my great aunt June is passing away pretty quickly. In 1912, my great-grandmother Lizzie, a twin, was born. Years later she married my great-grandad who I never met, Sam Barton. They wed and had 12 kids! 6 boys and 6 girls, 6 blonde's and 6 brunettes, 6 blue eyes and 6 brown eyes. How amazing is that?!?!?

In 2006 Granny Barton passed away at the age of 94. She outlived some of her children and some outlived her. Currently, 5 of the 6 boys have passed: David, Charles, Bobby, Donald, and Jerry. Danny is a pastor and he is still a healthy man with 4 grown children and a 2 grandkids and one on the way! As for the girls, all 6 are still alive: Vivian, Faye, Evelyn, Sue, Beth, and June. And currently, Aunt June is very sick with cancer in both lungs and pneumonia. This is such a strong family that is close and has grown even closer over the years. How sad it is to see one suffering, but I know that watching her suffer is worse than anything I've ever seen. I know that soon God will make her suffering stop, and in the midst of all this business, her brother and sisters will be together for a few days from miles and miles around, they will be together again.

How great is it that God gives us family? Family is a backbone of who we are as we grow and I love knowing that when family fails or passes that we still have our father, Jesus Christ to turn to in the midst of pain and darkness.

-ME

February

It's hard to believe that it is already mid-February.I finished up gathering all of my preceptors information and forms and put them all in order, made copies, filled out a rotation schedule form and was so glad to be done with it! Then I completed my personal statement and updated my resume and spell-checked everything on my application on Sunday morning. Finally, I submitted my DICAS application and mailed my supplemental things to the University of Northern Colorado on Monday. I signed up for D&D Digital and now I get to play the waiting game until April 6th at 6:00pm to find out if I will be in the 2012 graduating class of the University of Northern Colorado's Distance Dietetic Internship. I am praying that all goes well, but I know that it is in God's hands what happens and everything will work out for the best.

So for a backup plan - I am applying to Liberty University online for a Master's in Health & Wellness.

As for wedding plans, with one shower out of the way (thank you Caitlin & Mrs. Joni Towns for being wonderful hostesses) I am a little over 3 months away from marrying my best friend and love, Benton! He and I are starting to meet with my old youth minister, Daryl next month for premarital counseling and I am excited! It's always great to have someone who has been married for a long time and not to mention has four adorable little girls to be a mentor and talk with us about all aspects of marriage and how God views it and everything.

Now that I have engagement pictures out of the way, I am getting down to the nitty gritty details of wedding planning. I have all of my registries complete and have a second shower coming up March 3rd for all of my Statesboro friends! I cannot wait to see everyone!

Not to mention, I will be in my sweet friend Holly's wedding in June and in Jenna's in September! I also have a wedding almost every month from May through November to go to. How exciting! Benton will be busy being my wedding date this year! :)

School is in the full swing of things with twelve hours this semester I thought it would be easy, but no, I am busier than ever! I have Metabolic Nutrition Therapy II, Experimental Food Science, International Studies, and Quantity Food Practicum. Every Wednesday morning, I am going into Nevil's Elementary School at 6:30am sharp and working in the lunchroom for practicum! Learning the flow of foods, sanitation and safety issues, delivery mechanisms, procurement, and everything else is helpful and makes for a long day! I thank Georgia Southern for making it be a requirement though, because I definitely have learned to appreciate the lunchroom staff more because by no means is it easy work or a short day! In experimental, I am working on developing a new product: Candied Couscous Cornbread. Soon, I will begin my trials and we will pray that all goes well! The idea is to make cornbread a sweet bread, since that is what I prefer! I am interested to see how everyone elses products turn out this semester.

Well, I better run so I can work on my experimental food science proposal and my metabolic nutrition therapy II case study on diverticulosis! :)

May

So I am still on Christmas break and I have one more full week off! 5 weeks at home has been so nice! I substituted all week this past week. I had first grade, special ed, fifth grade, and third grade. I absolutely love third grade students! If I was going to be a teacher - I would pray that I could teach them! They are super cute :)

I am currently working on the DICAS application for Utah State Distance Dietetic Internship and for Northern Colorado University Distance Dietetic Internship. I am praying that in April I will find out that I am accepted into one of the two. I have two of my preceptors forms completed - Ms. Dena Barrows, RD, LD, School Nutrition Director and Ms. Millie Smith, RD, LD, is going to be my Clinical preceptor. I am waiting on a district person from the Health Department to e-mail me back about being my community nutrition preceptor and I need to find a long-term care center for 2 weeks to complete rotations at.

The DICAS form is a little aggravating because it is the first year it has been used and being a transfer student, when I am entering my courses, on my ABAC transcripts, I have no idea if it is wanting to know the way it was named at that school or if it wants how GSU accepted it and what GSU called the class and in the instructions that is not listed. I have to have the DICAS form completed and have additional information mailed by February 15th. Time is moving so quickly!

Besides, internship stuff - I have been walking! My roommate Caitlin said that she got a new Jillian Michaels video that uses a Kettle ball - so I am definitely going to get one. We love the 30 day Shred video Jillian has - so I have no doubt that her new video "with weights" is a good one!

My first shower is the 22nd of this month! I can't believe it! I am super excited and I have no idea what I am going to wear!

My grandparents gave Benton and I a set of really pretty fine china and I am registered for casual china. It is Juliska Thread and Berry! I LOVE it! It is very pretty and I have already received my first gift! I dinner plate from that registry courtesy of Mr. & Mrs. Harrington! I was super excited, and no, I did not break the bow :)

My wedding is 140 days away - it is sneaking up! I have the florist and photographer out of the way. Below is a picture of my two main colors for the wedding, I call it sangria & lime :) And yes, the boys are wearing "toffee" colored tuxess!

I really have been wanting a puppy. My mother thinks that it is not the right time in my life to get a puppy, but they are so cute and I have a lot of patience and I can't help but to look at the online constantly. Benton and I have talked about it a lot and it definitely is in the future! We both like miniature schnauzers! This is a white one that is irresistibly cute from the kennel in which we are going to buy one from!

Benton and I went to the Falcons game last week and I had a blast! I loved that it was in a dome and the people were all so enthusiastic! It was one of the best Christmas gifts! Brandy & Jake gave the tickets to Benton, second row seats! At first I was a little hesitant about a football game in January thinking it was going to be long and cold and full of old people. I was wrong! It was a lot of fun, only cold outside, and people of all ages! I would definitely go back!

Well, back to working on the DICAS form. I am excited to see if here in south Georgia if we will see the "snow storm" on Monday that the weathermen are predicting!