A Very Merry UnBirthday

Well real birthday actually. I’m 24 today. Getting old

Made my mini bruschetta pizzas with a side salad for dinner. yum yum!

Now it’s off to bed and ready for another work day.

Spontaneity is not a word I know well

I’m a planner. I admit that freely. So while I think being spontaneous can be a good thing, it’s usually not something I consider doing. I plan, I make lists, I like routine. When things don’t go according to my plan, I usually freak out.

So last Friday (September 30th) I ended up having the day off because I finished my rotation a day early. I started my day with one of my favorite things – sleeping in! I’ve had to get up usually between 5-6 lately since my commute is over an hour so sleeping in is even more awesome now. Anyway, I just planned to use the day to relax, maybe start my 4 page paper on obesity in the long term care setting. At lunch time, I talked to my boyfriend who is now down in D.C. working on his PhD. He left in the beginning of August so it had been 2 months since we’d seen each other.  Somehow amidst our discussion, he ended up buying me a plane ticket for that afternoon! I was freaking out. Could I seriously just pack a bag and go to D.C. on a whim? Well that’s what I ended up doing. And I survived. Luckily I had about 2.5 hours to prepare myself before heading to the airport, which on a side note I don’t really like the Detroit Airport (this was my first time there). The flight was short, just over an hour, and then I landed at BWI where Raf was waiting for me! I was so happy to be there with him.

By next summer, I will be living right around the corner from this:

I can’t wait!!!!!!!!

PS – decorating and furnishing is a lot harder than I thought! The condo is a work in progress LOL

A little look inside my internship

So I wish I had starting blogging again earlier because it’s much easier to write as you go than to try to re-cap what I’ve done.  But I’ll try.

I’ve actually already completed one rotation! I spent 5 weeks at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing working in their food service department.  Like many interns, I was not thrilled at first.  Food service (especially hospital food service) is one of those rotations that the interns are usually least interested in.  However, I really lucked out and had an amazing preceptor.  She actually made it fun!

In the food service rotation, you are required to conduct a “theme meal” which ties in many of the competencies learned in the rotation, like purchasing, pricing, and prep.  For my meal I chose to focus on local foods.  The recipes I chose were Mini Bruschetta Pizzas and Greek Salad so the ingredients I chose to get locally were Basil, Chives, Parsley, Tomatoes, Garlic, Onions, and Feta cheese.  I even was able to make a video demo, kind of like my own 7 minute cooking show! My preceptor’s husband makes commercials so he filmed and edited the footage for me.  After 3 weeks of planning, I successfully served my theme meal! It was a hit and I got a ton of compliments – the supervisor even wanted me to have another one before I left! Unfortunately I wasn’t able to serve the second “local meal” but it is planned for mid-October and the recipes I chose are Turkey, Apple, and Cheddar Paninis with Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Soup.

So this week I started my second rotation – Community Hospital. I’ll be spending 3 weeks with inpatients and outpatients.

I’ll leave you with my Mini Bruschetta Pizza recipe. Serves 4.

Ingredients

3 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley 2 tbsp chopped fresh chives 4 tbsp minced fresh basil 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/3 cup olive oil Salt and pepper to taste ½ cup feta cheese 4 pita flatbreads

 

Directions

In a medium bowl combine tomatoes, parsley, chives, garlic, basil, olive oil, salt and pepper. Set bruschetta aside while preparing the pizza base. Brush pitas with olive oil and broil for 1-2 minutes, approximately 4 inches from the heat source. Remove pitas from oven and top with bruschetta and feta cheese. Broil for 2-3 more minutes.

 

 

And a little sneak peak at the setup I had for my theme meal. Nutrition Facts, copies of the recipes, and information about the farmer’s I got my ingredients from.

Where Oh Where Have I Been?!

I have no idea if anybody has even stuck around.  I know I’ve been gone since May. At first I was just going to take a little break and then I had all these plans to come back with a bang. Re-organize and Re-format the page.  Well as you can see that didn’t happen.  And every once and a while I would think “I should write a post” but I never did.  Until now.  After a little convincing by my brother, I decided to start writing again.  Now that I’m in my dietetic internship (!!!!!!) I swear my life is more exciting.

I’ll just take a minute to re-cap my summer.  I worked with my brother at his photography studio as an assistant.  I did everything from marketing to videography to editing.  It was so much fun and I got to spend a lot of time with family which was great.  Speaking of family, my niece was born in May . Her name is Danielle Layla and she’s a cutie! And I’m so blessed to be Godmother to both my niece and my nephew Bradley.

Danielle

Charlie & Bradley

This summer I also took my nephew Charlie to his first movie at the theater. We saw Cars 2 and he was great! I was super excited to take him to experience that for the first time.

I took a couple vacations this summer that included Nantucket, Newport RI, and Myrtle Beach.

I’m such a kid still.

And lastly, I participated in the Warrior Dash! I had a blast and definitely want to do it again.

I am a Warrior!

Later I’ll explain more about what I’ve been up to since I moved to Michigan a month ago.

Glad to be back. Ta ta for now!

1 More Day of School!

I present my thesis tomorrow afternoon and then I’m done! I’ve got mixed emotions of here. 1) Excited (obviously) 2) Scared, Nervous, etc

I know I haven’t been present online very much lately but once I’m done I’ll catch up with everyone, I promise :)

L8er G8ters!

Sleep Record

Wednesday night I couldn’t sleep at all and last night I went for the record. Not on purpose either time! I think my lack of sleep just caught up with me and I passed out in the middle of watching Dr. Oz. I woke up around 11:30 all disoriented thinking it was morning but it wasn’t of course.  So I just went back to sleep. In total I think I slept about 14 hours last night (compared to 3 the night before!). Whew. I didn’t even finish editing my final project that’s due today but it’s a good thing I started it a little early.

Since I fell asleep before dinner yesterday I only ended up with 2 meals. I feel like I ate nothing!

Breakfast was a giant bowl of fruit – banana, strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries.

Followed by a big ol’ spinach omelet. Just an egg + 2 egg white and spinach. Nothing fancy. It came out looking a little weird though!

Then for lunch I had baked a batch of sweet potato fries and made a homemade granola bar.

I cut that into 4 bars by the way. It’s just oats, dates, and walnuts with a little bit of water to stick it together. And drizzled dark chocolate on the top :) They are still a bit crumbly so I’m going to work on the recipe a bit.

Waking up this morning, I’m now in full force, ready for the day! I whipped up a banana mango smoothie and had a piece of the homemade granola bar for breakfast.

Goals for today: Finish the project for my last class and finish my thesis presentation!

TGIF!

A Shower for Baby

As I had said in my last post, I went home for my sister-in-law’s baby shower on Saturday! My niece is due in a month and I’m so excited! After a long afternoon of food and gifts, I snapped a quick shot of Nicole and I. I should have gotten a full length one because her dress was so cute! My beautiful SIL :)

I also spent some QT with the Bradster hehe

And because I have to go take my Nutritional Epidemiology final NOW I’m just going to throw in a few other pictures and make it a mostly wordless post!

I won those.

And made this with it.

Wish me luck! Only 1 week left :)