{MIMM #14} Easter 2013 + Excited for MINK

First of all I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!  

And I’m not going to get politically correct and say “if you celebrate Easter” like I’ve seen some doing…that’s kind of a given, right? 

The phrases we use like “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Thanksgiving” are never meant offensively, at least I can’t think of a reason why someone would try to be rude and say a phrase like that?  Easter is a day that some celebrate out of religion, some celebrate with a fictitious Easter bunny and others don’t observe.

I don’t get offended if someone says Happy Hanukkah…I say Happy Hanukkah back! 😉

//End rant.

Time for another MIMM or Marvelous in My Monday!  A great way to start the week off on a positive note.

I had a great weekend with my family.  I won’t get to see them for a couple of weeks so I was really savoring this time.  In fact I only seem to go “home” a couple of times a month now, as opposed to every weekend.  It’s sad, but at the same time it makes the minutes I do get to spend with them mean more.  I no longer take our time together for granted.

The weekend started out with a crazy 8 mile run (more on that later), then I hobbled around and got packed up to go make some food with sister Courtney and Mr. Aaron Sanchez.  Okay his first name is Aaron, but we got a little Food Network obsessed over the summer and that is a name of one of the chefs on Chopped.  He did help out a little with the cooking though…even if he was sleeping.

Courtney and I also got obsessed with Food Network Stars and when we heard that the winner’s show was going to premier on Saturday, March 30th at 9pm, we knew we had to watch it!  Since his show is called Rebel Eats, it was also fitting that we made some kind of crazy foods…well crazy for us.

We attempted to recreate two dishes I made in my nutrition lab: salmon cakes and lentil salad.  I had received lentils from a Foodie Penpal awhile back, but never knew what to do with them.  Thank you vegetable protein lab day!  (Recipe to come!)

Well, the salad turned out great, however for some reason we could not find dad’s spatula…and that makes it a little tricky to flip a salmon cake that is already falling apart!  So we dubbed the dish “Salmon Hash.”  And it was delectable!

It felt really weird to not go to church on Easter.  I am finding I really miss that fellowship I was getting, but things always seem to come in the way.  We had a late breakfast with my Grandma Rose, dad, sister Courtney and little Aaron and by the time we were done, I had to go to dad’s house and pack up all of my things to be ready to head back home after Easter “dinner” (that takes place at 1pm) with mom’s side of the family. 

I die when he smiles at me!!

Everything in moderation!

I am so grateful for that time together! 

We even took our traditional family walk, although we ditched the “adults” and continued on our own.

Sorry to embarrass the siblings, but how cute are brother Josh and sister Rachel?

 We played the game of walking on the overpass (where you can see the cars below your feet) and trying not to “get hit” by the cars.  It was somewhat disastrous and sadly sister Rachel got “hit” while I was trying to save her.  I tell ya, the fear of imaginarily getting hit by cars and running like crazy is a great way to get the blood pumping!

Although it’s good spending time with family, I still resolve to find a church here where I live or to make it a priority when I go to my hometown or to Kansas City when I’m visiting the BF Dave.

Speaking of KC…I am heading back there again to hang out with Dave AND to attend the MINK Conference, a dietetic conference I’m getting super excited/nervous about!!

I got my business cards in the mail this weekend, along with some dressier clothes from my favorite store ever Maurices, and it started getting real.  I will have the opportunity to network with dietitians from Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas as well as learn about some fascinating topics like Food Psychology: Why We Eat More Than We Think.  I had been debating on attending this conference for MONTHS and it’s kind of crazy that Dave is working there now!

Hopefully I will bring back some great information and pictures to share with you all!

So, to sum it up, sweet time with family and a great week ahead…this Monday is looking Marvelous!

What do you call your meals?  Breakfast, lunch and dinner or breakfast, dinner and supper?

Help me out–give me some tips for networking at a conference!!