Is that why they moved to Mississippi??

So today Natalie and I were asked to write two monthly articles, one for September and one for October, and turn them in by Friday morning. No biggie. 200-400 words is not a lot when you are a master of fabrication like myself. Anyway, we have this awesome preceptor this week who just lets us work on our assignments the whole time we're there which means no homework at night. I like this set up. A lot. Well the nutrition building, fondly called the Herz...I actually just made that up but think I will begin using it...got a little old after being there the past 2 days. I have this brilliant idea to go over to Barnes and work (it was more of my dying need for coffee that sent us there but whatever) and off we go. I don't know if you know this but there are lots of things to distract you in a two-story building. For instance, we were at a table on the second floor and a wasp suddenly appears beside Natalie's head. Not cool. The bathroom is always a good excuse for wasting time because you have to go back down to the first floor. Which leads me to my first story:

The only way to know if said bathroom is locked is to just turn the handle and push. If it opens, you simply hope and pray that no one is in there because this will inevitably lead to an awkward encounter. This is what I do, turn the handle, push the door, and as I am hoping and praying I see a woman of Asian descent right in the doorway (I see nothing) and hear multiple Asians freaking out that the door has just been opened. Do they have locks in Asia? Just wondering. Of course I apologize and close the door. And then I wait....and I wait....and I wait some more. I am beginning to wonder what in the world these people could be doing in there. I mean, come on. Others need to get in there too you know. After about 8 minutes of waiting and reading the flyers on the bulletin board numerous times over, they come out. Who knows?? That was a lovely way to use some minutes of my morning.

It has amazed me this week how quickly the hours fly by now. We didn't go to lunch until 1:30 because we thought it was still around 11:30. I kind of like it. We only have one more day with Extension Services p.s. Woo hoo!! For those of you who are wondering where the title of this post came from I will now put you out of your suspenseful state of being. This afternoon, still at Barnes, Natalie and I were discussing the two physicians from India who are in our Tuesday night grad class (there seem to be a lot of ethnicities in this post). We were saying how nobody could understand a word they said, even the teacher. And I'm sure the content is knowledgeable because they are physicians in their homeland, but we will never know because we can't interpret. I wondered, out loud, if they could understand us since we cannot understand them, and Natalie says, "I guess that's why they all move to Mississippi...because we talk so slow it's easier for them to understand us." Of course I die out laughing, and we both decide that this has to be the reason for them to move to such a random town as Starkville, Mississippi.

I'm not sure, but I think this post is getting kind of long. Hmmm (or Mmmmm....that's for you Libbie). I am off to my kitchen in my humble home to decipher cooking a chicken breast. Please pray I don't get salmonella. I don't own a thermometer.

Love and miss.

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Hello Amigos!!

So much went on this week. We started our rotations for DI on Monday. My partner, Natalie, and I started off with the MSU Extension Services. The Office of Nutrition Education is through Extension and they were having their annual training this week. So we helped with that all week. Monday was overwhelming (hello assignments) but each day got a little better in terms of how exhausted I was. I just have to get into this new routine. Some have heard me say this already, but I figured out a great way to explain what it is we're doing this year: I have a full-time job but instead of giving me money they give me assignments and on top of that I have my night grad class on Tuesdays and intern class every Friday morning. One good thing is that I don't think my grad class is going to be as stressful as I thought. Two papers, a midterm, and a final. I can handle that. So Natalie and I got to know each other really quick. I'm happy to have a partner that I didn't know so I can make a new friend! She is 3 years older than me so I guess I need to start acting more mature.

Sidenote: Last week during training I took a Coke with me when we went back for the afternoon. Okay, so I usually never drink Cokes because I don't like the way they taste, but I was out of DC. So I drink this Coke during our first lecture, that RD leaves, Dr. Lee starts going over something different. After about 10 minutes I start saying random things and wondering where they are coming from and laughing about nothing. Every time I look at Jane Gray I start giggling and CANNOT stop!!! Fortunately, Dr. Lee knows me well and just laughs at me, but I am on a serious sugar high at this point. I start crying I'm laughing so hard (again let me say that nothing funny has happened. I'm just laughing for the heck of it). Then, just like a 5 year old, I go from high to low in about 60 seconds flat. After that I'm ready to lay my head down on the table and take a nap. Okay, that was a typical Mary story that I thought I would share. End sidenote.

I think Thursday nights are going to be my new favorite thing. I felt like I had conquered the world yesterday at 5 o'clock and it was only the first week. I don't care though because every week that goes by that I don't get kicked out of my rotation is an accomplishment. So last night we had a girls night which I used as my celebration time. :)

Alright. More to come later.

Clever thinking lives here...

Hey friends! I say "friends" because I know no one else would probably be interested in reading a blog written by yours truly. However, if I don't know you personally and you're reading this, I think we can include you in that category as well.

So I did it. I decided to be like some of the cool people I admire most (Jane Gray & Libbie) and start my very own blog. I'm not sure how interesting it will be, but I do know that I will probably be finding time for this when I should be living the life of an intern instead. But with that said, raise your hand if you would like to hear stories from my hectic and jam packed life over the next 9 months. That's what I thought. No one raised their hand. Oh well, I'll be telling you anyway.

This year is going to be different to say the least. Same Starkville, a good majority of my lovely friends still being here, but no more college life. Getting up to be at work in Columbus at 5am or Tupelo by 7 for free. Anyone jealous yet? Graduate classes with the word "theory" in the title aka scary amounts of papers due on top of the gazillion assignments for each rotation. Hello Real World, my name is Mary and you make me want to cry.

With that said (not complaining, just giving you a picture of my upcoming life), I couldn't be happier to be in Starkville another year, living with my baby sister and loving the relationships God has blessed me with over the past 4 years. This internship that is most certainly going to break me down time after time this year is also a major blessing. No, I'm not playing as a Princess in Disney World right now, but God's plan was greater and He saw to it that I would be here again this year. And I am pumped to find out all the reasons why.