If Looks Could Kill

Did that blog title header thing grab your attention? Good. However this post has nothing to do with the killing abilities of looks, more about whats been going on with me since my last post. My bi-semi annual post is here! And not a moment too soon, I know my legions of followers have been checking every day for an update. Well, here you have it, Susan's happenings since March 20, 2011.

So, as my last entry detailed, I had finished my defense and was getting ready to graduate. I was just waiting for some notice to come tell me I had forgotten to do some unimportant minuscule task for graduation. But here was my plan: walk for May and just tell all my professors that I was done, and that way I woud have "witnesses" in case the registers (registrars?) office came a calling. And then never look back. Luckily, I didn't have any such shinanigans and I was able to walk across that stage, grab the empty diploma case, weakly shake a couple of people's hands that I've never met before (referring to both hands and owners of said hands), and then sit back down to talk during the rest. And might I say that I did walk the whole way, not wobble, not teeter, not trip. So, double bonus! Then I took A MILLION pictures with my classmates, meaning I am now tagged in dozens of identical pictures on facebook. And to honor me and my mastering of nutrition knowledge, we went and had sushi with just my immediate fam. Nothing better than telling people to not eat deep fried food and then going and getting some tempura sushi. Ahh, hypocrisy!

But the absolute best part of graduation was that it was one day closer to going to Michigan to see Tom, Beth, Ainsley, and the newest addition Sam!! I mentioned in my last post that T and B were expecting a baby of unknown gender. And before you ask and embarrass yourself, Sam is short for Samuel, not Samantha, and therefore he is a boy. I was at the Utah Dietetic Association annual conference that day (jealous?) when I got a text stating "He's here!" Which was great because it meant 1) They had the baby and 2) The baby did in fact have a gender. That day when I realized I would not be able to rush to the hospital to meet him like I did his elder sister, I made a command decision to buy a plane ticket to go visit. I also made a command decision that day to buy a chick to help our home become more self sufficient, but that hasn't worked out as well.... Fast forward a month, and I was on a plane BY MYSELF to Detroit. Two things of note 1) I have never flown by myself, so I was a little worried I was going to get on the wrong plane or get robbed or something, because I feel like sometimes I am just dithering about. 2) I was pretty sure I would be shot at some point flying into Detroit because it just seemed statistically plausible. 3) I am a list maker, there will be more lists. #2 did not happen, which is great, it would have been a downer on the trip. And #1 also went smooth, though I did keep my bags beside me so much so that it was nearly impossible to use the bathroom. I had a backpack AND duffel carry on because I had checked two suitcases. Now, this is not because I'm an over-packer. This is because it was Ainsley's birthday and I was the drug/present mule for the Reese family explosion of gifts. But that is neither here or there, everything worked out great!

The trip to Michigan was wonderful. I will not detail the details because it was two months ago, and I don't really want to. But the most important things are these (kind of pseudo list here, and LOTS of parentheses): Ainsley and I worked on completing one of those Costco sized things of Jelly Bellys (I don't actually like them, but they were there and she thought it was fun activity, so we did it); I watched LOTS of Parks and Recreation, which is funny, but still not quite as funny as Modern Family (I hope you are reading this Tom); pretended that I was going running every morning, but didn't (I had run a half marathon two weeks prior and didn't want to lose my distance, but vacation, you know?) ; held Sam whenever he wasn't crying or nursing; and visited a fascinating museum called the Henry Ford Museum (google it, it has LOADS of cool stuff, much is not related to Henry Ford) then ate at a very scary Taco Bell where we had to pay through a glass window and get our food through a glass lazy Susan contraption (there were bars on the windows at neighboring stores). It was fantastic, and I wasn't ready to go home....
Coming home meant studying for the Registered Dietitian exam. Which I was not looking forward to. I really had no idea where to start, so luckily my good buddy Jennie suggested we form a study group with another classmate and work on each section each week. There are 5 domains, so we picked one each week. One girl took it after 2 weeks, so it was just me and Jennie for the rest. She took it soon after we finished because she had a job lined up. Not me, no job here. I'm going to note here once and only once that I still do not have a job (other than my tech job at PCMC), and I am working on it. So, until further notice, assume I do not have one. This is not an attempt to sound bitter, only an illustration of my frustration of the lack of jobs available right now. Anyhow, so I actually scheduled a date, July 7th, but only told my immediate family. I kept straight out lying to most people when they would ask if I had set a date. I would do the whole "Oh yeah, when I'm ready" thing, or "Well, it needs to be done before my family comes into town...." I did this for two fold reasons 1) I was already super stressing out about this, so I didn't want added pressure of friends and co workers; and 2) I didn't want to not pass and then have to tell everyone. How embarrassing (and cowardly too I suppose). Anyhow, I studied and studied, and...... I PASSED!! I feel wonderfully relieved, however, like I mentioned, still no job.... But either way, I passed and I'm officially a Registered Dietitian!!! Yay! Since that day I have taken lots of naps and read lots of books.

This summer is also the summer for concerts. I am so sick of not being able to do anything because I'm busy, so I searched my local venues for any fun upcoming concerts. Apparently this summer is also the season for adult contemporary concerts. My friend and I have already seen Richard Marx (who is actually pretty impressive) and have tickets for Kenny Loggins. It would be more pathetic if I didn't have tickets to more age appropriate bands, but I'm going to be honest. I do love me some adult contemporary, soft rock action. The crowds at these concerts are pretty funny though. At Richard Marx my friend Avery and I sat in front of two women wearing matching Snuggies... I laughed at first, but then felt the green tang of jealously when I started freezing in my denim shorts/denim jacket early 90's combo I wore for the occasion.

I did go to a pretty cool concert in Provo though. Those do exist, the rare "not lame" concerts in ol P-town. It was part of the Rooftop Concert Series. This sounds neat, but replace rooftop with "Top of Parking Structure near Sammy's." My old BYU bud Christa (holla for Christers if she's reading this) invited me to go with her and her little sister (shout out to Emily if Christa forwarded this to her). They got there early to save seats, which turned out to be important because it was super crowded. We had to listen to some pretty crappy folk music for awhile, but I filled the time catching up with Christers and getting to know her sister, who I have declared as pretty cool due to the fact that she also likes Springsteen. It's an automatic qualifier. Then the real magic began. A bunch of local artists came together and formed a backing band with rotating lead singers to sing the entire Abbey Road album. It was pretty impressive and there were random fireworks throughout. They did an encore of Hey Jude (even though it isn't on the Abbey Road album) and everyone was on their feet singing and having an awesome time. It's times like these you realize how influential the Beatles are. But I'll stop there....
Harry Potter season is also among us. I started writing this post last Thursday, and was scheduled to see the new movie that night at 12:30 am. I worry that if I even start talking about how amazing Harry Potter is, specifically this last movie, will set me on a large digression. You can read my previous posts to fully understand how much I love it, but just know the last movie did live up to the epic hype, and I'm super bummed it's over!!

I also spent this last weekend with my fellow (and former) diet techs. Unfortunately, Hannah (Banana) didn't come at the last minute, so it was the Jen's and I (ie Jenessa and Jennie). Though low numbers, it was still incredibly fun. Jennie did trick/coerce us into making this a short video on her camera, which will most definitely not be posted on here (whenever she gets done with it). I'm really bummed that Jennie doesn't work here anymore, especially because now that school is out, I don't hardly get to see her. However, I feel confident in our email correspondence, Jennie, I hope you are reading this. I also haven't seen my bud Jenessa in awhile, as she is busy disliking her internships.

So, as for now, I am just working, reading, napping (A LOT), and trying to look for jobs. I have also been doing some "deep cleaning" in my bedroom. Mostly because I really and truly have no excuse not to anymore. My brother, sister in law, niece, and nephew are in town right now, so I'm using them as an excuse not to do anything. They truly are the cutest children ever created, and I dare anyone to tear themselves away from Ainsley and Sam. In fact, I am going to skip out of work a little early so I can hang out with them. So, until October (I'm sure), adieu.