Art
So I got 15 photos printed, matted, framed, wired, priced and delivered in the past week. Whew. I'm hoping every single piece sells. It took me forever to select the photos I wanted to use, but once they started going in the frames everything came together. I really fell more in love with some of the pieces. I need to get out and take more pics, I haven't gone on a photography adventure in a while.
Work
I think I finally got everything submitted correctly for Early Steps, I now have online access. Hopefully this means I can block off times that I am available and the region I want to cover and they can start giving me kiddos! My goal is 8 kiddos a month, but at this point I'd take any at all. This enrollment process has take over a month to complete, I really thought I'd be working by now.
Finances
Still chugging along - reducing debt, saving, yada yada. I'm ready to start getting Early Steps money to make bigger dents in my debts, but all in due time. I can't imagine what selling all my photos would do for me. I'd definitely put some towards debt, some towards savings, and some towards buying myself a new camera for Christmas. I've been doing well selling off old text books and such on Amazon - usually about one a week sells. I'm glad my hospital has a post office in it, it's super convenient to mail stuff now. Just wish it had my bank in it...
Exercise
So I've been running about 2 miles every day for the past week or so, my knee is finally making me aware of that today. I'm giving it a break from treadmill pounding and going swimming all weekend instead. I'm pretty consistent with the weights Monday through Friday and I'm finally starting to see some definition. I like the gradual change, so I know it's something that's going to stick.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
Southern Miss...
...To The Top!!
Last night I attended what was apparently the largest Southern Miss NOLA Alumni Assoc. function to date. There was about 60 - 65 people in attendance. I have to say, it got me pumped up about my college again. I didn't attend a single Southern Miss sporting event at all last year which is a shame. I really do love my university and I'm proud to call myself an alum. Now I just need to pimp it!
I've spent the morning working on the Southern Miss Nutrition Alumni Group page on Facebook. It's kind of annoying trying to set it up and get everyone motivated to participate. I hope we can get some great ideas and participation. Soon we will have the website up and running and then hopefully it explodes! I'm looking forward to homecoming, networking and being back in the Southern Miss atmosphere.
I was privy to a bit of griping this morning about universities and how they just consider students a number attached to tuition. This made me wonder what these people were expecting to get out of their college years. I remember participating in the freshman social gatherings, which seemed silly at the time but some of my closest friends were met at those functions. I tailgated, mingled, networked and cheered at every football game. I had greek friends, honors college friends, stoner friends, run of the mill average kid friends. I took the time to talk to my professors. I spoke with some of the student/admin liaisons. I made my college years the experience I wanted them to be. The only way to make things better is to get involved!
I am a proud lifetime member of my Alumni Association. I recommend anyone who isn't a member of their respective alumni association to join, it's great for networking and seeing where your university is going in the future. Go Gold!
Last night I attended what was apparently the largest Southern Miss NOLA Alumni Assoc. function to date. There was about 60 - 65 people in attendance. I have to say, it got me pumped up about my college again. I didn't attend a single Southern Miss sporting event at all last year which is a shame. I really do love my university and I'm proud to call myself an alum. Now I just need to pimp it!
I've spent the morning working on the Southern Miss Nutrition Alumni Group page on Facebook. It's kind of annoying trying to set it up and get everyone motivated to participate. I hope we can get some great ideas and participation. Soon we will have the website up and running and then hopefully it explodes! I'm looking forward to homecoming, networking and being back in the Southern Miss atmosphere.
I was privy to a bit of griping this morning about universities and how they just consider students a number attached to tuition. This made me wonder what these people were expecting to get out of their college years. I remember participating in the freshman social gatherings, which seemed silly at the time but some of my closest friends were met at those functions. I tailgated, mingled, networked and cheered at every football game. I had greek friends, honors college friends, stoner friends, run of the mill average kid friends. I took the time to talk to my professors. I spoke with some of the student/admin liaisons. I made my college years the experience I wanted them to be. The only way to make things better is to get involved!
I am a proud lifetime member of my Alumni Association. I recommend anyone who isn't a member of their respective alumni association to join, it's great for networking and seeing where your university is going in the future. Go Gold!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Holy Crap.
Today I got a call from the Diane Anderson while I was in the middle of a very dull meeting. She was calling to inform me that I was accepted into the Baylor College of Medicine's One-week Neonatal Nutrition Update Practicum. What was my response, you ask? "Holy crap!!" Yes, I said holy crap to Diane Anderson...she laughed. And then I had to sit through the rest of my meeting excited as a kid on Christmas. I'm one of 12 dietitians selected to attend the program - BTW, that's out of the RDs in the nation (that applied), folks.
I'm getting to that point in my life where things are falling in place and I'm starting to make a name for myself. I NEVER thought actually making a name for myself would be scary, but it is. It is exciting though. My 29th year is definitely turning out to be a fantastic one!
I'm getting to that point in my life where things are falling in place and I'm starting to make a name for myself. I NEVER thought actually making a name for myself would be scary, but it is. It is exciting though. My 29th year is definitely turning out to be a fantastic one!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Diet and Fitness-ish.
A back story.
In May I signed up for the St. Jude Half Marathon in December in Memphis, TN. Since I got into running half marathons, I decided to always sign up for that one in particular because A) it is usually my ideal running weather and B) it is benefiting an amazing cause. Then, for our 30th birthdays, a friend and I decided to also sign up for the New Orleans Marathon here in New Orleans in March - a WEEK before my 30th birthday. *headdesk* I always said I wanted to run at least one full before I hang up my running shoes, so I decided to take on a flat, fast course close to home (in case I attempt to die) and for a milestone birthday.
Since that decision, wrote out my training plane from May 2011 until March 2012. I've been hitting the gym at least 4 days a week. Mainly working on building some lean muscle, hitting up the stairmaster for some cross training, and some yogaX for some flexibility. Mid-July I started my maintenance running of running low mileage daily - I destroyed my knee. Running 5 miles in Nike throwbacks isn't the smartest thing to do, lesson learned. So I focused on weights and yoga for the next 2 weeks and now we're up to date.
Present Time - Fitness.
Yesterday, I weighed myself and took all of my measurements. I noticed that I lost about 17 pounds since September 2010, but I never see a difference. So now, I'm going by numbers. If anyone reading this wants to know how to take your own measurements, read this. Make sure to do your right and left, depending on your dominance, you might have a slight difference. So I made my target marathon weight and to get there I have to lose roughly 2 - 4 pounds a month. Not bad at all. I know it will take a while since I will be decreasing fat and increasing muscle - hence why I took my numbers.
Present Time - Diet.
Being a registered dietitian, one would think I have my diet on lock-down - and if you ask some of my friends, I totally do. But those of you fitness minded people know that I do not. I eat my calorie range and I might only go about 400kcals above it on my cheat days, but my calories are taken up by crap. I have a major sweet tooth. Like today, I was a beast in the gym and at home. I came home and ate cookies for dinner. I needed to get them out of the house and I ate them at 6pm and that's all I'm eating. I'm working on eating more protein, less sugary carbs and eating most of my calories before I leave work/gym.
Since I was off yesterday, I made all my meals for the week - protein shakes, snacks, lunches, dinners...did it all! So I'll be good for a week at least. My hard work will have a better outcome if I actually stick to my diet. This means cutting back on my alcohol consumption, which isn't much mind you. I just can't do the 2 for 1 Margs, I need to learn to share. On that note, I'm off to make diet plans and grocery notes for the next month or so.
In May I signed up for the St. Jude Half Marathon in December in Memphis, TN. Since I got into running half marathons, I decided to always sign up for that one in particular because A) it is usually my ideal running weather and B) it is benefiting an amazing cause. Then, for our 30th birthdays, a friend and I decided to also sign up for the New Orleans Marathon here in New Orleans in March - a WEEK before my 30th birthday. *headdesk* I always said I wanted to run at least one full before I hang up my running shoes, so I decided to take on a flat, fast course close to home (in case I attempt to die) and for a milestone birthday.
Since that decision, wrote out my training plane from May 2011 until March 2012. I've been hitting the gym at least 4 days a week. Mainly working on building some lean muscle, hitting up the stairmaster for some cross training, and some yogaX for some flexibility. Mid-July I started my maintenance running of running low mileage daily - I destroyed my knee. Running 5 miles in Nike throwbacks isn't the smartest thing to do, lesson learned. So I focused on weights and yoga for the next 2 weeks and now we're up to date.
Present Time - Fitness.
Yesterday, I weighed myself and took all of my measurements. I noticed that I lost about 17 pounds since September 2010, but I never see a difference. So now, I'm going by numbers. If anyone reading this wants to know how to take your own measurements, read this. Make sure to do your right and left, depending on your dominance, you might have a slight difference. So I made my target marathon weight and to get there I have to lose roughly 2 - 4 pounds a month. Not bad at all. I know it will take a while since I will be decreasing fat and increasing muscle - hence why I took my numbers.
Present Time - Diet.
Being a registered dietitian, one would think I have my diet on lock-down - and if you ask some of my friends, I totally do. But those of you fitness minded people know that I do not. I eat my calorie range and I might only go about 400kcals above it on my cheat days, but my calories are taken up by crap. I have a major sweet tooth. Like today, I was a beast in the gym and at home. I came home and ate cookies for dinner. I needed to get them out of the house and I ate them at 6pm and that's all I'm eating. I'm working on eating more protein, less sugary carbs and eating most of my calories before I leave work/gym.
Since I was off yesterday, I made all my meals for the week - protein shakes, snacks, lunches, dinners...did it all! So I'll be good for a week at least. My hard work will have a better outcome if I actually stick to my diet. This means cutting back on my alcohol consumption, which isn't much mind you. I just can't do the 2 for 1 Margs, I need to learn to share. On that note, I'm off to make diet plans and grocery notes for the next month or so.
Monday, August 1, 2011
I'm Just a Girl in a Tutu...
I took an extended four day weekend for my mental health and I loved it. Today I've finally listed old text books and other randomness to Amazon Marketplace and took pics for things to list on ebay (once I do some pricing research). So far I've already sold $150 worth of stuff in a day. It's a great time to list textbooks for sale as all the smart college kids are ordering their books online before classes begin in August/September.
We (Alissa and I) finally got the eighteen billion learning modules sent to us so that we can begin training to be Early Steps Consulting Dietitians. We decided to take on these roles to provide more follow up on our kids (most Early Steps kids are discharged from our NICU/PICU or Peds Floors) and we wanted some extra cash. Basically we can choose the hours and areas we're willing to travel to and we can choose our caseload. I'm aiming to see 2 kids a week - possibly more if I can. That alone should bring in an extra $400 a month to put towards my debt. BTW, That's not actual pay, it's what I'd allow myself to spend. Since we're independent contractors with Early Steps, we have to do all our own taxes. A good chunk of my pay will be put in a savings account for tax purposes. Bleh. If I begin full swing by September I could potentially have an extra $1600 of debt gone by the end of the year! That would actually make one of my student loads down to a balance of about $200.
In other professional news, I was elected as President of the Southern Miss Nutrition Alumni Group. I had to build a group page and everything on facebook today. I have a lot of great ideas for it, so hopefully I get all those accomplished in the next 1.5 years I get to run the show =) I'm excited that I get to pioneer the group and *fingers crossed* build a good foundation for years to come.
I was just having a talk with an old pal, and telling her all these things going on in my life made me realize that my life is FINALLY on a decent path. Granted there is no "main man" or whatever, but I'm doing well for myself and going the direction I should be. The breaking of emotional ties between me and material goods today has also been nice. I sold a camera today that I liked, but I didn't have time to do what needed to be done with it. If someone else could put it to good use, then they totally deserve to have it. I'm ok with letting go.
We (Alissa and I) finally got the eighteen billion learning modules sent to us so that we can begin training to be Early Steps Consulting Dietitians. We decided to take on these roles to provide more follow up on our kids (most Early Steps kids are discharged from our NICU/PICU or Peds Floors) and we wanted some extra cash. Basically we can choose the hours and areas we're willing to travel to and we can choose our caseload. I'm aiming to see 2 kids a week - possibly more if I can. That alone should bring in an extra $400 a month to put towards my debt. BTW, That's not actual pay, it's what I'd allow myself to spend. Since we're independent contractors with Early Steps, we have to do all our own taxes. A good chunk of my pay will be put in a savings account for tax purposes. Bleh. If I begin full swing by September I could potentially have an extra $1600 of debt gone by the end of the year! That would actually make one of my student loads down to a balance of about $200.
In other professional news, I was elected as President of the Southern Miss Nutrition Alumni Group. I had to build a group page and everything on facebook today. I have a lot of great ideas for it, so hopefully I get all those accomplished in the next 1.5 years I get to run the show =) I'm excited that I get to pioneer the group and *fingers crossed* build a good foundation for years to come.
I was just having a talk with an old pal, and telling her all these things going on in my life made me realize that my life is FINALLY on a decent path. Granted there is no "main man" or whatever, but I'm doing well for myself and going the direction I should be. The breaking of emotional ties between me and material goods today has also been nice. I sold a camera today that I liked, but I didn't have time to do what needed to be done with it. If someone else could put it to good use, then they totally deserve to have it. I'm ok with letting go.
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