FTE=40 hours/week (Full-Time Employee)

I got a job!!! This whole weekend I've been excited because I found out that I got a job with the Salt Lake City School district. I worked with them during my internship and never thought that I would have the opportunity to work with their district again. I was contacted about the job opening while I was in Hawaii. Right when I got home I applied for the job, then I passed the RD exam, and then had a job interview a week later!

My first interview was this past Monday. After interviews on Monday, they were going to narrow it down to the top two candidates for another interview. I got a call back for another interview, on Thursday, where I had to do a 5-7 minute presentation and more questions. I went through that with a smile and they called me back later that day to offer me the position! I was so excited!!! I must not have done too much damage during my internship, because their bringing me BACK!

I start tomorrow and can't wait to work with the district and on top of it, this time I get paid! And FREE school lunch every day!!! And I get my own desk with my name on it! (I can't wait for Ben to make me something that I can take to hang up!) And business cards! And working with amazing people who I am ready to learn and grow with! And little kids! I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up, mostly because my mom is a teacher, little kids are funny and I like kids. But I changed my mind during college. I found the best major for me where I could teach and educate on nutrition and study food! Now I get to do just that, and even get to fulfill my childhood dream of being around little kids. I can't wait to be starting my professional career in an area that I know I already love. Timing of everything has truly been a blessing and I'm so very grateful.

Do you think this means I'm a grown up now?

(I know this picture isn't related but it sums up how I feel)

Little things excite me. Like....

Someone in the ketchup industry figured it out. New and improved ketchup packaging.

Say good bye to the mini .32 ounce packets that have enough ketchup for 3 fries.

And a BIG hello to .95 oz big boy ketchup!

I found this newly packaged ketchup at Chic-Fil-A. (By the way, how do they get their chicken to taste so good? Seriously, their chicken beats any other chicken.) Another great feature is the option to dip the fries or tear the top to squeeze it individually on each fry. And the instructions on how to use it are fool proof. Look at it again, it's a wish come true. There's even a facebook group called "I Hate Ketchup Packets. " Boy are they going to be excited about this!

I don't see why it has taken the ketchup companies this long to come up with the genius idea that everyone else was coming up with everytime they used the little ant packets. We're making progress. By the time we have kids, those little packets will be ancient history, and I'm glad!

I welcome the new ketchup packets with open arms and hope to see all restaurants around the globe making the same switch.

Jim Gaffigan has a funny bit on ketchup but unfortunately youtube doesn't have it any more due to copyright blah. It's really funny, but since I can't humor you with his ketchup bit, here is his bit on bacon. Enjoy but only with the peace of mind that ketchup packets have made a turn for the better.

To be R.D. or not to be?

I took the BIG TEST today to become a Registered Dietitian. It was quite scary and I have spent the last ummmm 6 weeks off and on studying for it. But this last week was serious crunch time. Since it is a computer based test, the results would appear shortly after I answered the last question. When I got to that point and clicked “next,” I then had to take a survey, of all things, while my score was being calculated. I don’t know why they do this before I know my score, it killed me! I don’t remember one thing from the survey, my heart was beating so hard, I just wanted to know, did I PASS or not? Phewwww, I PASSED!!! I wanted to tell everyone! I felt like I could breathe normal and that my brain could relax. My brain needs a short vacation and while I’m looking for jobs, it will do just that! I think I’ll have Ben refer to me as Kimi, The Registered Dietitian, at least until I get sick of it, or until others just catch on and it just flows naturally with the name. If you haven’t passed me on the street today, I just thought I’d let you know that yep, I’m a Registered Dietitian!

Sincerely Yours,

Kimi J. Sycamore, RD

(The “credents” look good)

bye, bye flash cards!

Paradise

I love Hawaii. Everything about it, even the bugs and how my hair goes puffy.

• We were on the Big Island in Kona.
• The weather was terrible 82 high 71 low.
• The water was warm crystal clear turquoise.
• My Ben wasn't able to come. He had to work :( (this is why being grown up and having a job stinks, but I'm very grateful he has a job none the less) He was the one that suggested that I go with my family since and I don't have to worry about getting work off (what a good husband, right). I jumped at the idea and told my parents I was coming!

Some pics from the trip. Chet boogying away. The waves were huge!

That's me! I think salt water and sand compliment my hair.

My grandma, uncle Ray, Yuki, Meg and Josh were on a Hawaiian cruise and docked in Kona for a day. We picked them up and spent a day at the beach with them. I buried Meg.

We also played beach volley. The guy with the long brown hair on the left looked just like Harry from Home Alone. The sand was HOT! We had to kick the sand around and make little holes in our area to keep our feet from burning off.

First snow cone of the trip! Mmmmm.... the best shaved ice is in Hawaii.
The BIGGEST snow cone of my life!

Lava rocks. This was the biggest surprise I had about The BIg Island, the lava rocks. When I was on Oahu, going to school, the island was lush and green. Parts of the Big Island are like that but because of all of the volcanoes it was very different.

We also went to the Kona temple.

With my dad vacation isn't vacation without a good round of golf.

Food!!! We packed a few lunches for the beach and had way too many spam musubi (I loved every bit of every one I had. They only seem fitting for Hawaii though). A worker at Wal-Mart referred to spam as the Hawaiian steak!

We each took turns choosing a restaurant to eat at. I choose Jackie Reys Ohana Grill. It was good but I don't rave it. The presentation was top notch though. I had the seafood trio. Shrimp, crab cake, mahi mahi, over a bed of purple sweet potatoes. (They think orange sweet potatoes are weird). I had some type of seafood at every meal. Mmmm, I had live it up cause I don't get fresh seafood in Utah.

I was really missing Ben by the end and he was the only thing that made me want to come back to the mainland. I LOVE Hawaii and I had a great time with my family. I can't wait to go back with Ben someday, then it would be perfect!

Oh and I saw a whale for the first time as we were driving to the beach!

Would You Rather..

....be studying for the RD Exam (my HUGE test that is my national licensing to be a registered dietitian) or playing with super glue?

I laughed when I read the back

I did have a mini freak out when I pulled and it stayed stuck, really stuck. I tried to slowly pull it off and scrap at it but true to its word, "bonds to skin instantly." Before turning to a youtube video, I resorted to finger nail polish remover. Thanks to finger nail polish remover, I'm back to 10 fingers minus a mini tube of super glue. If you'd like to learn more about the removal of super glue, I did just find this video, very informative about the subject "Super Glue: A Frustrating Experience."

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Hope it was a fun filled day of green smoothies and little leprechauns with gold!

Fun-Filled Week!!!

This past week my parents came into town for a Jazz game and then the BYU vs. Utah Game. We went with them to the BYU/Utah game but were late because I kept ordering more sushi at the restaurant we were eating at before the game (whoops). By the time we got to the game, they had stopped accepting all sports passes so they wouldn't let us in. Chet had made it to the game and was saving us seats but the ticket takers wouldn't budge. My mom snuck in somehow (very very sneaky) but Ben, my dad, and I were left to the watch it in the Canon Center. It was great though; we had flat screen, couch, and nice foot rest! Plus the company of other freshman who didn't make it in the game. So we were pretty much in the student section anyway ;)

The following Monday, Ben's parents came into town and spent Valentine's with us at Chef's Table! I hadn't been there before and loved, loved, LOVED everything that was served. The tomato basil soup, the butternut squash soup, the salmon, everyone's entrees and mmm the cheese bread! I asked for the recipe, but didn't succeed in getting it. Those cheese rolls were good!

Tuesday was my birthday. It started off with breakfast in bed. I took work off, and we went skiing at Alta. It has been a good 5 years since I have skied, but it didn't seem like it, until my legs B-U-R-N-E-D! I felt like a little wimp because I had to quit an hour before the lift closed (we were all tired and called it a day). It was a beautiful day and perfect weather for skiing. That night we stayed in Park City. For my birthday, Ben gave me a shopping SPREE! I had an hour to pick out whatever I wanted (ah... it was lovely). After we ditched an extremely overpriced Japanese restaurant, we went back to the resort were Ben's mom made dinner. We had a nice dinner, ice cream cake for dessert, and opened presents. The whole day was full of Ben's random outbursts of "Kimi it's your birthday!" I loved every minute, even the leg burning minutes.

We got stuck in Park City Wednesday night because of a snow storm, so we were able to spend more time with Ben's parents. It was fun being with them because we don't get to see them that often.

Saturday at the last minute, we decided to check out the MONSTER JAM! Ben has always wanted to go to a monster truck rally since he was little so we competed his life long dream. He tried to look the part too, Ben did a good job.

It was sooo loud, but my knight in shining armor brought me some napkins (I know ghetto) to help with the sound.

It was nice to see both of our families and I wish we lived closer to them so we could play all the time!

And to top it off I'm done with my internship on TUESDAY!!! Kimi Sycamore, RD here I come!