Registered Dietitian at Last!

On September 1, 2011 I passed the RD Exam!!!! I am now a Registered Dietitian and the paperwork will soon be out to become a Licensed Dietitian in the state of South Carolina. Amber Vlietstra, RD LD. I like the sound of that =)

What a journey it has been. I was getting worried that I was unknowingly working on my Doctorate in Procrastination for a while this summer. Finding the motivation to study was definitely not easy. I studied anywhere from 15 minutes to probably over 12 hours a day when it got to the day before the exam. I was completely exhausted and had a pounding headache after the 125 question, 3 hour exam. I am glad it is over and that the results were good.

Between all the studying I had three job interviews and two offers. I will be working for Carolina Nutrition Consultants as a consulting dietitian starting out at several different long term care facilities in the area. I am very excited to start this next part of my life.

To top off all the career excitement, I also got engaged on August 2nd, the night before my two week trip home to Wisconsin. There was no studying. Just fun with family and friends plus the very beginnings of wedding planning. 10/6/12 is the big day!

Dan & Amber - Engaged 8/2/11

Life in South Carolina - the land of Cockroaches

I had an interview on June 29th with McLeod Health for a clinical dietitian position. I got all dressed up in my business pant-suit and gave it my all. It went very well and I really want to work there! I will know by the end of July if I get the job. I just got everything put away at Dan's apartment. It took 17 days for my stuff to get here via U-Box. Every now and then I study for the RD Exam....that's right...its not completely over until I pass the exam and become a Registered Dietitian. I have lots of studying ahead of me.

Dan and I went to Surfside Beach for 4th of July weekend. We had a nice ocean-view room. The beach was crazy-busy! People went out there early in the morning to set up their beach chairs and umbrellas and reserve a spot. We got up to watch the sunrise both days and had tons of fun drinking on the beach, body surfing, skim boarding, and eating at yummy restaurants. I watched Dan fire off some fireworks on the beach from a life guard chair. The wind was crazy. The fireworks were cool, but Dan got some minor burn injuries.

It is very hot and humid here. Every day is curly-hair-day. So far, I like this little city called Florence. It has all the stores and restaurants that a big city would. I don't miss the Dallas traffic at all.

One Friday night Dan and I went to Chuck e Cheese to have pizza and play the games. That same Saturday we went to the Carowinds amusement/water park on the North/South Carolina border with Dan's friends to hit up some roller coasters and water slides.

We got a fish and named him Floyd...he's not as active and friendly as Lloyd was, but he'll have to do.

Surfside Beach, SC

Sunset dinner

Skim boarding

A festive Red, White, and Blue drink

After lighting fireworks on the beach

Floyd

Dietetic Internship Diploma

Clinical Staffing - Gastrointestinal and Wound Healing + Intern Dinner

6/13/11-6/24/11

The last two weeks of my dietetic internship went by very fast. I worked hard to get all my assignments done and turned in so that checkout on the last day would go quickly.
I had an amazing dietitian to staff for at Presby...thanks Kristin! I exercised many of the clinical skills I learned in the internship because she serves patients with a variety of issues. Most of the patients had gastrointestinal problems or wound healing, but I also got experience with cancer and heart patients. I quickly learned that Mondays and Fridays are crazy, busy days...mainly Fridays. There are lots of patients to see because there aren't any dietitians at the hospital on the weekends and then there are the last minute, unplanned, diet educations to give patients right before they leave. I got my practice, thats for sure! With the excitement of almost being done with the internship, I thought I would randomly look for dietitian jobs in Florence. Go figure, the one place I was hoping would have an opening had a clinical dietitian job posted. I stayed late at the hospital (midnight) a couple nights working hard on my resume and paper in hopes of getting them done by the weekend. I applied for the job on Friday. Unfortunately, I was a few topics short of being done with my paper, but fortunately, I woke up at the crack of dawn Saturday morning and finished...21 pages of Polycystic Kidney Disease = completed! I spent my last weekend in Dallas packing a few things up in my apartment and hanging out with Megan, including a much deserved manicure/pedicure with her and Rachel.
Mom and Dad were sitting in my apartment on Monday when I got home ready to start packing up all my junk. We temporarily moved a couch that someone else put by the dumpster and put it in my living room for extra seating space....this would have been nice the previous 11 months. The next day my apartment looked completely different...boxes and piles everywhere...they worked hard all day. That night some of the interns and I went to Suze Restaurant for a final dinner. We got a taste of many delicious things on the menu, including four desserts. The next night Mom, Dad, and I went out for Mexican food.
Thursday was a busy day. While I was working hard being an intern and having a phone interview, =) Mom and Dad picked Dan up from the airport, dealt with U-Haul, and began packing my belongings into the U-Box. I got done early, helped for a bit, and sent my fish, Lloyd to a better place. Then we all got pretty for the intern graduation dinner. The dinner not only showcases the interns, but also all the preceptors that allowed us to learn from them throughout the year. The evening started off with a cocktail/social hour, then dinner and awards. Dinner: Ceasar salad, tenderloin medalians with wild mushroom ragout, parmesean crusted halibut fillet, shrimp scampi, rissoto, and oven roasted asparagus. Dessert: Chocolate Swiss chalet cake tri-level with Guittard Swiss Chocolate cheesecake topped with White Chocolate Mousse, finished with moist dark chocolate cake, covered with chocolate icing and white chocolate drizzle...yes that was the description of the one and only dessert and it was AMAZING! After a million pictures we left and went to celebrate some more at Humperdink's with Megan and her fiance, Ryan.
Friday morning started early because there was still packing to do. I had to be to the hospital by eleven for a test, lunch, and checkout. After the U-Box was returned, Mom and Dad headed back to Wisconsin and Dan packed up the rest of my car. My last day was unreal feeling and bittersweet. I am glad to be done, but I miss all the great people I was fortunate enough to learn from and became friends with.
Friday evening Dan and I had dinner at Wolfgang Puck's Five Sixty Restaurant at the Reunion Tower in Dallas and then hit the road. Highway 20 from Dallas, Texas to Florence, South Carolina with an over-night stop in Shereveport, Louisianna. It was long, fun, and sleepy at times, but we made it to Florence on Saturday by 10:30 pm.

THANK YOU!!
Thanks to Kristi - You were an incredible internship director, I wish you and your family the best in Denver!
Thanks to all of my dietitian and non-dietitian preceptors - You were all great, I appreciate your time and willingness to share your wealth of knowledge with the interns.
Thanks to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, Dallas for having this dietetic internship.
Special Thanks to all my family and friends who read my blog, sent me mail, or had to listen to me complain.
Extra Special Thanks to Mom, Dad, and Sara - Y'all helped me so much - getting to and leaving Dallas, sending me mail, and being super supportive.
Special Thanks to those who visited me while I was in Dallas - Dan, Kristin, Tyler, Sara, Katy, and Kyle
Dan - Thanks for listening, understanding, and traveling to come visit. We survived long-distance, yay! I'm so happy to finally be with you.
To my fellow interns: Alyssa, Amberlee, Anna, Jenn, Kristin, Megan, and Rachel - Thanks for the memories, I wish you all the best in your future as dietetic professionals and I hope to see y'all again sometime. We did it!!!

Good Bye Dallas!

The Library at Presby - We spent many hours here

Dinner at Suze Restaurant

RIP Lloyd - You were a great fishy

Oh that cake!

My awesome crew at the intern dinner

Megan and I...miss her

Interns with Kristi

Interns with Presby Dietitians

Last lunch at Presby...no more meal card =)

Reunion Tower with Dan

360 Degree view at Reunion Tower

Surprised we made it?

YAY, WE DID IT!!

Veterans Affairs North Texas Health Care System - Outpatient Nutrition Clinic

6/6/11-6/10/11
This was the last rotation that I left of the dietetic internship! It was also my last of four weeks of being at the VA. Most of the rotations at the VA were fun, but I am just thrilled that I don't have to drive through the south Dallas ghetto anymore and see dead stray dogs on the side of the road and pack my own lunch. I'm so done with Dallas traffic. And the VA has a weird smell and some people are creepy. This week I practiced my outpatient counseling skills, which is not my best skill. I did lots of educations: weight loss, weight gain, diabetes, Warfarin (drug-nutrient), and high cholesterol. There were quite a few very interesting/challenging patients. I feel so helpless when money is an issue and patients can't afford to buy food or when the patient is in denial that he has diabetes even though he has been diagnosed for several years and has done nothing but gain weight. I just have to realize that not everyone can or wants to be helped. I gained a lot of confidence this week by talking to veterans and educating them. I had a lot of good laughs with some of the veterans, some with them in the office and some once they left. I still need practice with motivational interviewing which would also help me with keeping a flow of conversation during counseling sessions. I know I'm smart, it just doesn't come out like I want it to. Monday-Wednesday  I was at the library until 12:30 am. Not much sleep this week.
On Thursday, June, 9th I presented my case study on Polycystic Kidney Disease to the interns and dietitians at Presby. I'm not sure what the time was once I was done, but it was suppose to be ~40 minutes long, including questions afterwards. It felt like I was talking forever up there. I was pretty nervous. I am very happy to have that behind me, now I have to finish up the 20 page paper. Lots to do yet.
TWO WEEKS LEFT!!

Pre-presentation Pep-talk from Alyssa

Clinical Staffing - Week 1 - Oncology/Neurology

5/31/11-6/3/11
This week was only four days because of the holiday. I spent my first week of clinical staffing feeling comfortable with the Presby computer programs again. It had been a while since I had a rotation there. The idea of clinical staffing is to literally do the job of the dietitian by performing all of their job duties. I attended rounds and meetings and saw all but one or two patients each day. I'm sure in my last two weeks of staffing I will be seeing 100% of the patients. I noticed how much I improved since the first time I was with the same dietitian back in November. It used to take me all day to do one or two patients, now I can do six or seven. It was a great experience! I stayed at the hospital most nights to work on my case study presentation. On Thursday the first two girls presented their case studies.
On Friday afternoon there was a going away party for Kristi with some really good chocolaty cake. When I got home Friday my apartment was all decorated for Megan's bachelorette party. I hosted a party for Megan with all the interns and her friends. The menu was amazing! Jalapeno-cheddar slider burgers, veggies, Velveeta cheese dip, noodle salad, red-velvet cupcakes, Wisconsin cheese, and Flirtinis. We ate, opened some gifts, then went out in Uptown Dallas to the Penguin Dueling Piano Bar and then to a dance club.

Engagement Ring Red-Velvet cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Anna, Megan, and I

On Saturday we woke up late and ate leftovers and wine spritzers then went to the Village Country Club pool party for the afternoon. That night, Kristi hosted a fun "Clean Out the Freezer" party. She made burgers, ribs, and sausage and then the interns brought appetizers. After eating, all of us played Catch Phrase, which is something else I have improved at, no one wanted me on their team. I was very happy to be on the winning team =) Sunday I worked on my case study for most of the day.



Clean Out the Freezer Party at Kristi's



Meals on Wheels

5/23/11-5/27/11



Ready to Deliver Some Meals

 This week I was not feeling good. I was literally sick and tired. Not fun. The Meals on Wheels (MOWs) rotation was only three days long, Tuesday - Thursday, and I got to do it with another intern. I spent Monday at the hospital library all day long working on my case study. On Tuesday Rachel and I delivered 13 hot lunch meals to an apartment complex in DeSoto, TX. It was very rewarding to hand deliver the meals to people because it was obvious that they were in need. MOWs provides a nutritious, hot, home-delivered meal to home-bound residents who are unable to provide or prepare their own meals due to illness, advanced age, or disability. I loved walking through the apartment complex because outside the residents' doors were huge displays of plants and door decorations, it seemed like each person was trying to out-decorate their neighbor. Delivering all those meals made Rachel and I very hungry so we stopped for lunch at Cracker Barrel. That night I worked my last night at Suze, it was bittersweet, but I had to be done there so I could focus on my case study and get assignments done. I gained a great customer service experience by dealing with snobby, rich people. I will really miss the delicious food.
On Wednesday Rachel and I worked on MOWs assignments from the library. We re-did educational nutrition handouts for Vitamin A, Potassium, and Lactose Intolerance to be given out to the people who receive meals. We each also made a PowerPoints, my topic was protein and dairy. Case Study for the rest of the day.
On Thursday we met with our preceptor at MOWs and made a bunch of phone calls to MOWs participants to do nutrition screenings which determines their eligibility. For our intern class we went over all the competencies and objectives that we met during the entire internship. Case Study until 9:30, no dinner, got home and packed for a 7am flight to Wisconsin.
I put my brain to rest for four days over Memorial Day weekend, which was not easy to do, knowing how much needed to be done. There was a lot going on in Green Bay. Friday was Dan's nephew's baptism, Saturday was hanging out and a wedding rehearsal, Sunday was the beautiful wedding of Mr. Jay and Perry Kelly, and Monday was playing at the Tundra Lodge water park and flight back to Dallas. I did not catch up on sleep. It was so nice to see some familiar faces and Dan's family. Over two months and I will get to visit my family.

All dressed up for the baptism

Baby Emmet =)

Dan and I

Jay and Perry's wedding

Veterans Affairs North Texas Health Care System - RENAL

5/16/11-5/20/11

I spent one week with the renal dietitian at the VA. I interviewed patients while they were receiving hemodialysis treatments and assessed a few inpatients. Hemodialysis is a treatment for end stage renal disease (kidney failure), in which blood is removed from the body, filtered through an artificial kidney, and then the clean blood is returned to the body. Treatment needs to be done three days a week and takes four hours each time. The kidney has many functions like getting rid of the body's excess waste products and fluids, regulating fluids, chemicals, blood pressure, and stimulating the production of red blood cells.

The dietitian plays an important role because patients have to be on restricted diets. Kidney failure patients have increased protein needs and its necessary to restrict their potassium, phosphorus, and sodium. These values show up on their lab results. The diet gets complicated for the patient when they also have diabetes. There are about 60 patients that come to the VA hemodialysis unit every day. The dietitian is required to see every patient once a month.

Once again, I had a great time talking with patients and hearing their stories. I even like talking to the grumpy ones, they were frustrating and challenging because they eat whatever they want and just don't care.

Thursday afternoon we had class on Biomedical Ethics--dealing with feeding and hydration at the end of life. It was very interesting. I found out my case study presentation date...June 9th...guess what I'm doing this weekend!

5/20/11--Orange Stormy Sky

Veterans Affairs North Texas Health Care System-Inpatient Wards

5/2/11-5/13/11

For two weeks I was at the VA Hospital in Dallas working with a dietitian in inpatient wards. I was mentally drained and exhausted after each day. Many of the patients I saw had numerous health problems including: diabetes, hypertension, liver disease, heart failure, kidney failure, post traumatic stress disorder, amputations, gout, alcoholism, obesity, cancer, HIV/AIDS, drug addictions, etc...It was challenging and fun to test all that I have learned this far. I gained a new appreciation for clinical dietetics during this rotation because I got to experience the difference I can make in a patient's stay at the hospital or in their life. It was very rewarding hearing the veterans stories. I know I chose the right career path.

I worked at Suze on a Tuesday night during a big wine tasting party. I had a great time tasting $150/bottle wine. The wine maker himself was also there from Scotland, he used to be a lumberjack, nice guy. I also got to meet Dallas local celebrity, Dirk Nowitzki. Well, he's actually a national celebrity since he plays for the Dallas Mavericks (NBA), currently in the Playoffs. I recognized him from the news since I don't pay attention to that sport. He had to duck to get in the door at the restaurant. The chef sent me on an emergency run to the fish market to get some Sea Bass, special for Dirk's table. I got to deliver their fried potatoes and special dipping sauce.

Addendum:
I forgot to talk about Lloyd's near death/fight for life episode. I got home from Suze around 10:30 on a Friday night and Lloyd was NOT looking good. He had freakishly huge pop-eyes and was just floating without any movement. I performed an emergency water change and tried not to panic, but I did. Memories of him swimming happily were going through my mind. I wondered who would keep me company at home for the remainder of this internship. After the water change, he had a wobbly swim and did not eat. I kept a very close eye on him all weekend. He is better now and looks normal. I am pretty sure this all could have been prevented if a water change had been done after half a bottle of Andre Champagne sprayed all over my kitchen/dining room...also known as Lloyd's home. So maybe Lloyd was drunk.

Texas WIC (Women, Infants, & Children)

4/25/11-4/29/11
WIC provides services for pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women, infants, and children up to 5 years of age. Services provided include nutrition education/counseling, food packages, breastfeeding promotion/education, and access to prenatal, maternal, and pediatric health-care services. It is funded by the USDA, Food and Nutrition Services. The 21 WIC clinics in Dallas County serve more than 111,000 participants per month. Nationally, WIC serves 8.7 million each month. Back in the 1960's national nutrition surveys showed that children from low income families had high rates of iron-deficiency anemia and poor growth patterns and pregnant women from low income families had poor pregnancy outcomes. I observed the registered dietitian and counseled high risk clients: weight gain above or below recommended range during pregnancy, weight loss during pregnancy, and children less than the 5th percentile or greater than the 95th percentile in weight for height. I counseled a Spanish speaking client by communicating through a language line. It was difficult to hold eye contact with the client while trying to shout into the phone and it took twice as long because everything the client or I said needed to be translated. Counseling is very challenging for me and a skill that I definitely need practice with - I get nervous. Some things I need to work on include: establishing comfortable rapport with clients, asking open-ended questions, and making SMART goals for the client (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely). I spent part of one day with a peer breastfeeding counselor, she promoted breastfeeding by sharing it's many benefits with new moms. I taught a class to WIC participants called "Nothing but the Tooth," it talked about proper tooth care during pregnancy and infancy (limiting sweet/sticky foods, baby bottle tooth decay). I'm thankful I had a class with people who participated. It was fun seeing so many cute babies and kids, but not so fun when they were being naughty or screaming.

On Wednesday, I turned 24. I got to share my birthday with my internship director, Kristi =) I'm so excited I got to celebrate by having dinner at Rafa's Cafe Mexicano with some of the interns. We had a great time catching up! For class on Thursday, Alyssa made Kristi and I a Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake with chocolate frosting! YUM!

Birthday dinner at Rafa's Cafe Mexicano with interns

Amberlee drawing on the table

Alyssa with her masterpiece =)

After WIC on Friday I met some interns at Yogurtland, a yummy frozen yogurt place where the ice cream is weighed by the ounce and you can add any and all kinds of toppings you can imagine. I made a chocolaty-coffee creation with all the chocolate toppings I saw. Megan and I went for a walk that led to having a few beers and then doing a work-out dance video at 10:30 at night. Fun times!

Saturday I volunteered with some other interns at the Get Kidz Fit Fest at Market Hall in Dallas. There were all kinds of sports and fitness activities to try, cooking demonstrations, and booths educating the 5000+ kids and parents about nutrition and wellness. I was at the portion distortion booth explaining proper serving sizes. After, Megan and I went to a very unique and fun work-out class, then destroyed our hard work by eating Raising Cane's chicken fingers and french fries.

Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children--Clinical

4/18/11-4/22/11

Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children provides care for children with conditions related to their muscles and bones. This week was a very unique and rare experience. I worked with pediatric dietitians who help children with conditions like scoliosis, clubfoot, neurological problems, spina bifida, cerebral palsy, and much more. Some nutrition problems that need to be addressed are chewing/swallowing problems, constipation, tube feeding, failure to thrive, steroid therapy, underweight, and obesity. I helped the dietitian with nutrition screenings and assessments of children by plotting their heights and weights on growth charts and calculating their energy, protein, fiber, and fluid needs. It is truly amazing what this hospital can do for children who need the help. During the week I got to be involved in the care of a child with Juvenile Dermatomyositis. It is an autoimmune disease marked by muscle weakness and skin rash; it is treated with steroid pulsing therapy. I educated the patient and his family about the importance of good nutrition while receiving steroid therapy. There is an emphasis on getting enough calcium, vitamin D, and potassium because the use of steroids increases the risk of bone loss and fractures, limiting salty and sugary foods and drinks, and choosing healthy, low-fat foods.

I was able to observe a feeding evaluation with an occupational therapist and a video swallow study with a speech-language pathologist on a child with cerebral palsy. He was currently on a ground diet, but his mother knew he could eat solid foods. These studies are done to ensure that it is safe for the child to eat. In the feeding eval I observed his actions during meal time, how he moved the food around in his mouth, how he chewed, and how he swallowed. For the swallow study, a video X-ray shows the mouth, throat, and esophagus as you swallow a variety of liquids and foods mixed with a metallic liquid called barium. This study shows exactly what happens to the food once it is in your mouth. Very cool! This rotation was all very new to me, but it was very interesting being exposed to conditions that I've never seen or heard of before.

On Thursday we had class on medical nutrition therapy for the HIV/AIDS patient and medical nutrition therapy for the burn patient. It was very informative and kind of gross because we saw a lot of pictures of some nasty looking burns.

I was blessed with more company again over the weekend. This time my brother, Kyle, came for a visit over Good Friday/Easter weekend! He showed up late Thursday night (11:30); after talking for a bit he passed out on the air mattress while I stayed up for another two hours doing homework. His snoring made it hard to concentrate. He kept himself busy while I was working by getting his truck detailed and enjoying a small $9.50 Bloody Mary...welcome to Dallas, Kyle! When I got home he was laying by the pool with a cooler of Shiner Ruby Redbird (grapefruit beer...yum). After relaxing for a while, we decided to go to Billy Bob's in Fort Worth. One thing I hadn't tried yet was some Texas Barbecue. I got out my D-Magazine and checked out the dining guide. We picked Angelo's Bar-B-Que in Fort Worth. It was beyond delicious! We got the rib plate-it came with beans, slaw, potato salad, a pickle, bread and a cup-full of BBQ sauce. We also got a huge frosted shooner of Budweiser. Next, we traveled to the Stockyards for a night out. We went to the Basement Bar, where there happened to be a burlesque show...very entertaining! Then to Billy Bob's for Luke Brian where we made up our own dance...the Texas-two-step...Vlietstra style! Saturday Kyle bought some cowboy boots then we went to Six Flags Over Texas for some roller-coaster fun. We were there for six hours and went on a total of 3.5 rides. The 0.5 is because while we were in line for an hour for the Texas Giant-- it started lightening and they shut the ride down. So we had a total of two minutes of riding roller-coasters. Easter Sunday we had lunch at the hospital, layed by the pool, and went to Top Golf. It was a fun game where you get points if you hit the golf ball in the rings. I kicked Kyle's butt =) We had Outback Steakhouse for dinner, then watched a movie. He was off to work, back in Iowa, early Monday morning. What an eventful visit, so nice to see him!



Fall-off-the-bone hickory smoked ribs



Kyle enjoying the ribs

At the Basement Bar, Fort Worth

World's Largest Honky Tonk, Fort Worth

Top Golf, Dallas

Surprises =)

Megan chopping veggies and checking on the soup

Friday after work Megan and I decided to make potato soup and drink wine for the night. In the middle of making the BEST potato soup ever, we heard a knock at the door. I walked to the door in my cow apron with my glass of wine to look out the peep hole, I didn't recognize the face, but I opened the door anyways. It was DAN!!! With a suitcase, just standing there, I was shocked and speechless. His family was suppose to be visiting him in South Carolina and he wasn't suppose to come visit Texas for another week. My first thought was that he was going to ruin my plans with intern, Anna, who I thought I was going to the Kenny Chesney concert with on Saturday, but then Dan said I was going with him, and I was like, but what about Anna? It was all a trick! Tricky, tricky! He pulled off an unforgettable surprise =)


Dinner at Royal Thai

Since the soup had a lot of cooking left, Megan took it home with her to finish it. Dan and I went to dinner at Royal Thai because we were both starving and it was 9:30.

Before Kenny Chesney with the tickets

The Goin' Coastal Tour had an awesome line-up. Uncle Kracker, Billy Currington, Zac Brown Band, and of course--Kenny Chesney.


At Cowboy's Stadium



The Biggest TV in the World
Cowboy's Stadium



I cried when he came on =)

At the end of the concert all the performers came on stage. It was very cool. I was in disbelief during the whole concert. 

Long Term Acute Care at Kindred White Rock and Kindred Dallas

4/11/11-4/15/11
I was at Kindred White Rock and Kindred Dallas Hospitals two weeks ago, only this time instead of focusing on nutrition support, I did follow-ups and assessments on all types of patients. I monitored patients' lab values, blood sugar, and diet tolerance. Many of the patients are there for wound care. I saw some pretty scary looking wounds. A dietitian plays an important part in the healing of wounds by making sure the patient gets proper nutrition.
Thursday afternoon us interns had a class to learn about our strengths, writing cover letters, and writing resumes. My resume needs some work. I brought some Maple Coffee Cake and Alyssa brought some Black Bean Brownies for treats. After class, Megan and I went to White Rock Lake to go for a walk, but we decided to go kayaking instead. It was a very windy day! We paddled down the river for a while then turned around and attempted to go against the waves. It ended up being a very wet ride.