Marci Wittwer RD

I can finally BREATHE! All the anxiety that I had about taking my registration exam is gone. It has been hanging over my head all summer so I finally just set a date to take it. After many, many, many hours of studying I took it and passed.... YEAH! I am now a registered dietitian..... Marci Wittwer RD. I am going to party it up this weekend.... cause all my freedom comes to an end in five short days (I go back to school full time...Boo). So with that ... Go eat your fruits and vegetables.

I am a Daughter of God!

Today in Relief Society we were asked to close our eyes and think of a specific time when we have felt the love of our Heavenly Father very strongly. I was immediately reminded of last November when I was sitting in a hospital room..... with fear of the unknown and what my future was to entail. When I first walked into the ER I didnt think that I was going to be there more than a hour or so. I thought they would prescribe some medication, get a few tests taken and I would be on my way.... But 12 hours later, after lots of weird sensory and vision tests.... I was still in the ER waiting for a MRI machine to open up. At this point I began to get a little more aprehensive and nervous about what was going on. Noone seemed to have an answer for me about anything.... Well I ended up getting the MRI.... a spinal tap... some other tests.... and then was immediately checked into a room. This was quite the experience for me. I had never been a patient at a hospital before... I was always the strong healthy one. Well this first night was basically a whirlwind of thoughts going through my head and emotions going every which way. That first day was hard.... I was in a strange place, didnt know anyone, my family was thousands of miles away, and really my future was in question? These are the times when you realize how amazing the gospel of Jesus Christ is, how the scriptures have meanings that they have never had before, and how great the power of the priesthood is. I was able to do lots of scripture study with prayer and was overcome with this overwhelming feeling of love from my Savior Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. I knew that I was a Daughter of God. With all that was going on... I was able to feel at Peace that the future would be bright... and that no matter what was to come my way... it was all part of the plan that had been designed specifically for me. I gained a great testimony that trials really do make you stronger. If it wasn't for the Love of God I would not have been able to handle this situation as calmly and great as I feel I did. The rest of the week stay in the hospital I was able to remain positive and have Hope for the future. After my diagnosis, I could have had the "woe is me attitude" but I still felt like I was blessed in so many other ways that I had no room to complain or feel sorry for my self. I was asked many times by the Doctors if I wanted someone to come in and help me deal with the situation... or really just have someone to talk to about it all. This made me realize that I HAD been talking to someone about it and I will ALWAYS have someone there to talk about it with me. Heavenly Father always has a listening ear and doesnt care how big or little the concern is. His LOVE for us is greater than anything else. With that I know that no matter what happens in my future, I will always have hope that things will turn out great and that I am LOVED!! Oh ya one last thing.... I want to thank all my amazing friends that supported me during this time..... I know that sitting next to a hospital bed just hanging out isnt always the most fun.. It really did mean the world to me to have you there next to me. Thanks for the love and support! I cant ask for better friends.

Just another day on the greens.... FORE!

So you think growing up in St. George, the golfing hot spot of Utah, I would have played many a holes of golf in my day. But its sad to say that today was my debut. I played my very first official 9 holes of golf (well it was a scramble so I guess it wasnt really all that official). Dont get me wrong.. I have played many a mini golf games, been to the driving range probably 2 times, and hit around on a golf course once.... but that is nothing compared to real golf. So I was matched with my partner who luckily had a decent golf game.....(thanks Jared) or we would have been in real trouble. Dont count me out for not contributing anything though..... we took my drives a couple times... I was actually pretty impressed with my skills seeing that I have never really played before (I think I owe thanks to Wylie for teaching me everything I needed to know). On hole 8 I even made it on the green on my first shot.... (I was proud even if it was just a par 3). So we struggled on holes 1 and 2... ending up with a double and triple bogey. Sad I know but we came around and the last 4 we totally ripped it up and pulled off some pars. Ya no birdies.... but remember I am just getting started on my golfing career. I also learned that all those dates to mini-golf didnt help me one bit.... my short game def needs alot of help! A few other things I learned today; 1-Golf carts are a necessity when it is 95 degrees F and a thousand % humidity. 2-Don't try to drink gatorade when you are in a moving golf cart.... you end up looking like a two year that doesnt know how to drink fruit punch. 3-You must look good.... golfing is one of those sports where you can dress to impress.... I loved everyones plaid shorts. 4-Dont go golfing at Franklin Park when the Carribean Festival of Dorchester is going on. Last- Hit the little white ball.... So ya I think my first golfing experience was quite the success and I hope to see you all on the greens.... very soon!

The Dunkin' Fascination ?

So yesterday I was driving down North Harvard when I could not help but laugh when I noticed a cute little Indian couple and their child standing in front of Dunkin Donuts having their picture taken. For those of you not familiar with the obsession of Dunkin' Donuts in Boston, let me catch you up..... lets just say there is literally a Dunkin' Donuts on every other corner.... no exaggeration. Their slogan is, "America Runs on Dunkin'." I have done some editing of my own and changed the slogan to, "Boston Runs on Dunkin'." I think... wait I know, that people in this city would shut down completely if they couldnt get their daily fix of coffee. There have been numerous times at work that I have been asked to go get some coffee for a coffee break. The look on peoples faces when I tell them I dont drink coffee is of bewilderment?? They don't quite understand how I continue to function and stay awake without it. It really isnt that hard....

I just want to say one more thing ....... Dunkin' continue on with the tradition and keep 'Running' Boston..... and I must add, you sure do have great fruit smoothies and white hot chocolate!

The Good The Bad and the Ugly

Well seeing that today I decided to start a blog I thought what better way than to give you a few of my thoughts on my life is in Boston. Today I had a few events that made me realize how fascinating it is to live here.... I came to the conclusion that there are lots of good, plenty of bad, and some ugly..... So let me explain.

The Good (why I love living in Boston):
1. The Beauty of the Everything!!! (well at least in the spring, summer, and fall. Winter is a different story) Here are a few of my favorite places:

-The Charles River; Either running next to it or simply enjoying its grandeur.

-Boston Harbor; especially at night. My dream would be to have my wedding reception here.

-Mount Auburn Cemetery; who knew a cemetery could be so peaceful and beautiful. -Fenway Park; yes I have even found beauty in a baseball stadium.

-I could go on forever about the amazing sites so I will stop now.

2. Lots and Lots of free concerts!! Mandy Moore, The Beach Boys with John Stamos, The Click Five, Lori McKenna, Harry and the Potters, and the Boston Pops.

3. Opportunity to tell others about "Us Crazy Mormons." For example just this morning I went outside to get my ipod out of my car so I could go running. There just happened to be road construction so 2 men made a comment, "Are you from Utah?" (they saw my license plate) I responded with "Sure Am".... of course their first response is, "Are you mormon?" So we had a good little conversation about what we as mormons really believe, that we are not polygamists, that Christ is the cornerstone to our faith, Mitt Romney, and the temple. I love being able to clear up peoples views on mormons. And really if I would have been in Utah, would I have been able to have a conversation with 2 construction workers about mormonism?... I dont think so.

4. The location to other states: I love that you can go a hour north or south in be a different state. Roadtrips are great back here... I think i have managed to see all the states in the north east this summer.

5. The Red Sox: yes I now have a special place in my heart for them. It really is magical everytime I go to a game.. haha.. there is no better way to spend a cool summer night than under the lights of Fenway park watching a little Sox action. Fenway Franks, the thousands of fans dressed head to toe in red sox paraphernalia, the green monstah, and 8th inning Sweet Caroline.

6. The People in the Church and great friends! I have never been in a ward where everyone is so friendly and sincere. We really are like one big family.

7. Cultural Diversity: I love being able to talk to people from all different ways of life.

8. The FOOD!! I will leave it at that... a never ending choice of amazing restaurants. If only I had a never ending supply of cash to support my eating habit!!

The Bad (why sometimes I wish I could just get out of this place):
1. Basically traffic... How it takes over a hour to go 2 miles.. and how the state of Massachusetts doesnt believe in labeling street signs. You are lucky if the street is labeled. Can I talk about frustration when you have no idea where you are going.. Thank you GPS!
2. The lack of good eligible men. I recently came upon this chart. I am clearly living on the wrong side of the country. As soon as I am done with Boston... Cali here I come. (the dark blue dots are number of single men, and the yellow are single women)3. How pedestrians (myself included) think that they can walk across the street anytime, anywhere, and in any direction. Whatever happened to stopping when the signal is flashing a 1 sec.

4. The Winter. There is nothing good about this time of year in Boston. Just thinking about it right now is making me want to run as fast as I can out of this city. Erica can vouch this for me. I think it was in January that I wrote her a letter and said, "If summer comes and I decide I want to stay in Boston, DONT LET ME. Just remind me how much I hate everything about Boston right now." I guess I have forgotten how much I hate it.... I decided to stay another year. Lets hope this winter is a little better.

5. The time it takes to get to friends houses. In Utah you are surrounded by hundreds of apartments and people that you know. When you want to hang out you walk over to their house in 2 minutes. If it were only that easy here in Boston. Living within five minutes of someone is super close. It just takes a lot more effort to hang out here.... but at least this way when people come over you at know that they really want to be there!!

The Ugly (the not so flattering sites of Boston)
1. The thousands of cigarette butts that line the streets. I don't think people believe that cigarette butts are trash. They are everywhere.
2. Bus and "T" Stops. It isnt necessarily that the stops are particularly ugly but when you are sitting and waiting wondering if the bus or train is ever going to come then nothing in site seems to be anything but ugly. I am so so so grateful for my car. My time on public transportation as significantly been cut down.