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! :)

Miss Nutrition

The future scares me - but when I sit down and think about what I love and what my dream jobs would be here is a list:

I would love to be a Martha Stewart - Have my own show/blog/network with home projects and recipes

I would love to be a Dietitian and work for a television station and do short segments on nutrition and food science and healthy living.

I would love to travel the world and have Samantha Brown's job.

I would love to plan weddings - oh how I love details in things!

A country singer ;) of course that requires talent!

Ah back to reality... I honestly have no idea what I am going to do with my life. I graduate with my Bachelor's degree in Nutrition and Food Science with an emphasis in Dietetics in May. I apply for graduate school and for dietetic internships in early spring. I find out if I have been selected for an internship the second week in April. Oh, and the other thing - I am marrying my best friend and prince charming at the end of May. So I have a lot of decisions to make! What do I want to pursue a Master's degree in? Journalism? Media? Community Health? Master's of Art in Teaching? Family and Consumer Sciences Education. So many options! I know that I want to work with people! I love children too! I love to travel also. So why is it that choosing places to apply for internships is so difficult? Well, first of all - Benton, my soon to be husband, has a great job but he is willing to move and he completely supports me in 100% of the things I choose to do. He constantly reminds me of what I am capable of and not to limit myself. I pray about this a lot and its still so hard to decide. Graduate school on the other hand, what do I want to do? Master's programs often have courses that are required before entrance into the program. I have researched and I just want to do something that I love. The question is where is that offered? Also, I kind of want to go ahead and begin work and pursue a master's degree online that way I can begin saving money and building up retirement. There are so many choices!

An option is school nutrition director. I can apply for jobs that may come open niear graduation and be under provisional status for 5 years that will require me to obtain a Master's degree and a certificate for a school nutrition director. I would love to do that, but I imagine it is stressful. That is why I have been researching, talking to current professionals in this field, and job shadowing.

Overall, I know that God has a plan for me and he will never leave me. He is in control and the more that I try to stress about it and take over and plan every detail, the more I am telling him that I am not trusting that he will provide. So I have prayed about it and decided that I am not going to settle, I am going to find what I love and go for it. I love my small town and family but if I never try new things, I will not allow a door to open in which God could be leading me towards. So here it goes - research into programs and internships and job opportunities has now begun. Will you see me on television one day as "Miss Nutritionista?" Maybe so! Will you see me in the hallway at your child's school teaching family and consumer sciences or planning meals for their lunchroom? Maybe so! Will I be in a clinical setting as a Registered Dietitian? Possibly! But my journey has begun and in these next six months, we will definitely have some fun and stress. Wedding planning - here I come!