Thankfulness

Categories Reflections, Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: A Day with Joanna

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Today I’m thankful…

…that I was able to spend the afternoon (and some of the morning) with Joanna, quilting
…that both of us managed to get a great deal done on our respective quilts
…that we had some wonderful conversation on books, jobs, friendship, dating, eHarmony, marriage, childbearing (of course, we WOULD discuss this topic!), and life in general
…that I am not an Asian elephant, who has a twenty-five month gestation period
…that I do not have foot long fingernails like the woman in the Guinness Book of World Records
…that I’m one of those “readers” with an insatiable curiosity for life–and a desire to try everything
…that at least ONE person thinks I have a sense of humor :-P
…that if there’s a guy out there who can fit my absolutely ridiculous standards, God knows it and has him ready (for just the right time)
…that if there’s no guy out there who can fit my absolutely ridiculous standards, God knows it and has me ready (to make the most of my singleness)
…that God knows what He’s doing with me, even if I don’t know what He’s doing with me
…that I have a great friend who’s traveling with me along this unknown path

Categories Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: FNCE details

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Today I’m thankful…

  • that I have a ride to FNCE (and that I’m not the one doing the driving!)
  • that I have a roommate at FNCE (even if I’ve never met her before.)
  • that I can get CPE (Continuing Professional Education) for attending FNCE (thanks to my newly attained registered status.)
  • that I didn’t end up having on responsibilities at church this week (how often does that happen?)

And, apart from FNCE? I’m thankful…

  • that I woke up just in time for Journal Club this morning–despite forgetting to set both my alarms.
  • that it isn’t quite so cold today
  • that the dishes are all done (Thanks for finishing up, Casandra!)
  • that I currently have no fines on my library card.
  • that I’m starting to have a little more time to do things.
  • that God is faithful!
Categories Education, Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Three Days

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Today, I’m thankful…

That I have just three more days before my RD exam

For those of you unfamiliar with the process of becoming a Registered Dietitian, I’ll give you a quick summary. First, a RD-hopeful must complete a qualified Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD). I completed mine in December of 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in Dietetics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Second, a RD-hopeful must complete a qualified internship including at least 900 hours of supervised practice. I completed my internship at UNL just this last July. The final step in becoming a Registered Dietitian, then, is passing the Registration Examination for Dietitians (or RD exam). This is our version of med school’s “boards”.

The RD exam is a computer-based test that will test my knowledge in five critical domains of dietetics:

  1. Food and Nutrition Science
  2. Nutrition Care Process
  3. Counseling, Communication, Education, and Research
  4. Foodservice Management
  5. General Management

The potential scope of this exam is perhaps best illustrated by the list of references the board recommends potential RD’s review prior to sitting for their exam. The list is twenty-two books long. I own just five of those titles, but that alone is over 3000 pages of information. The texts I own that are analogous to the other suggested references are just as long. So imagine a test that could cover up to 13,000 pages worth of information. Of course, the test won’t be that long. I’ll have a minimum of 125 questions and the test will take somewhere around four hours. But still, I have no way of knowing what information might show up on my exam. Which means I need to review it all (Hah!)

Needless to say, this is slightly stressful.

So today I’m thankful that in three days the stress will be over. The results are scored immediately, so I will know Sunday evening whether I’m an RD.

And, presuming that I pass, I’ll be ready to accrue some CME (Continuing Medical Education) at FNCE (Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo–the American Dietetic Association’s National Meeting) next weekend.

Categories Education, Simple Sunday

Simple Sunday: Skipping

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~Thankful for (almost) guilt-free skipping today. With one week to go before my RD Exam (and 60 lab reports to grade), I knew I needed to get down to business. So I skipped the Sunday school prayer hour, choosing instead to spend some time in the Word at home. And I skipped the Precinct meeting of the Republican party (Mom and Dad will have to catch me up later.) And I skipped Life Chain (Probably the second time I’ve missed it since it began.) And I’m currently skipping a movie night at church.

I don’t feel bad at all. I spent some hard-core time with my MNT text–and am feeling much more prepared for my exam.

I’d never even thought of skipping. I don’t skip things. Especially not church things. Or political things. I go. to. everything.

But yesterday, my Dad told me that I had “permission” to not attend the precinct meeting–and it suddenly hit me. I don’t HAVE to attend everything. Not right now, when I’ve got too much on my plate already. I don’t have to attend things just because they show up in the church bulletin or in my mailbox.

Thankful for the realization–and thankful for all the work I managed to get done on my quiet day while everyone else was attending the stuff I skipped.

Visit Davene at Life on Sylvan Drive for more Simple Sunday posts.

Categories Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Negative Edition

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Today I’m thankful…

  • for NOT oversleeping this morning, despite staying up way too late last night
  • for NOT waking up with the same horrible headache I had yesterday
  • for NOT running out of gas, despite letting my gas tank get MUCH lower than normal
  • for NOT being late to class, despite leaving myself little extra time
  • for NOT get drenched on my walk to class

And I’m thankful for a few positives, too. Today, I’m also thankful…

  • for a call from a potential roommate (and she has an “A” name, how perfect!)
  • for the opportunity to be in journal club (I had SO much fun today!)
  • for getting some SERIOUS studying in for the RD exam (reviewed all the macronutrient and vitamin digestion, absorption, and metabolism pathways)
  • for uploading some more blog posts to WordPress (now I’ve got all the blog posts uploaded back to February 2009)
Categories Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday

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Today I’m thankful:

  • for Liz for agreeing to grade this second round of papers (so I can hopefully study for my RD exam)
  • for Dr. Miner for letting me turn in my biochemistry paper a little late
  • for Dr. Lewis and all my classmates for all their kind words when I came in to class yesterday an hour late and decidedly sick (as in: sniffling, raspy, and not very talkative–but I didn’t have a fever, so I wasn’t sure that I should just skip)
  • for Dr. Jones for telling me to go home when she heard me. Not having to attend her lecture meant I could get my biochem paper finished this evening.

I’m also thankful:

  • that I got to celebrate Frodo and Bilbo’s birthday yesterday with Joanna
  • that my roommate and I BOTH went grocery shopping yesterday, so I had a good excuse to make myself some poached eggs in milk over toast (now that I ate two eggs and a couple cups of milk, we have two dozen eggs and two gallons of milk in our fridge)
  • that my room is still tolerably clean despite my recent tendency to emotional breakdowns
  • that I found a nice cheap hand mixer at the used store today

And then there are the not-so-quantifiable things I’m thankful for:

  • That God is sovereign over my schedule, the RD exam, my thesis proposal (which I’m going to have to write someday here)
  • That God is faithful to provide whatever I need (money, a new roommate, more time, wisdom, the list seems to go on and on)
  • That God is merciful when I blow it one more time
Categories Simple Sunday

Simple Sunday: Stan and Carolyn

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~Thankful for the couple who has remained faithful in our congregation. Stan and Carolyn were invited to our church many (15-20) years ago because the church leadership felt a need for older couples in our church. They felt that we had a dearth of wisdom and experience–so they approached Stan and Carolyn to provide that wisdom and experience. Now, even when many of those leaders have left our church body, Stan and Carolyn are still here–years wiser and still eager to serve. What a blessing to the body!

Visit Davene at Life on Sylvan Drive for more Simple Sunday posts.