My Job...

When I say I majored in food science in college I usually get several typical responses. People ask me if its the same thing as dietetics (no), some people think I got a degree in cooking (no), and others think I'm trying to say I majored in nutrition in a fancy way.

Food science uses disciplines such as chemistry, microbiology, and engineering to study the nature of food, the development of food products, the preservation and storage of food, and the assurance of food safety and quality. Most food scientists work in product development, quality assurance, sensory evaulation, or technical consulting positions. If you think about it every product you buy at the grocery store had to be developed, packaged, and produced by someone.

I orginally decided to major in food science because it was a major that encompassed all the chemistry, physics, and microbiology prerequistes I needed for pharmacy school. But it turned out to the perfect major for me! I love cooking and I love science - so food science is my too loves of learning combined.

I don't think I ever posted about what I actually do at my job, so I thought I would since its what I do everyday. I work for company called NatureGen as well as its sister company Neuliven Health. I've worked here for about a year now and have 2 main jobs - managing the operations and developing products.

NatureGen is a company that supplies raw ingrediends (like chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine, green tea, stevia, etc.) to dietary supplement manufacturers. My job managing the operations is to make sure our products, which we buy from China, make it across the ocean, through customs, and to our customers. It sounds simple but really most of this part of my job feels like I'm constantly detangling some huge logistical nightmare. Customs clearance is crazy and there are always weird things happening like shipments arriving damaged and nobody taking the blame. My job is basically sorting out all this stuff and making sure our customers get the material on time. It can be stressful and crazy but sometimes fulfilling because its like solving a huge puzzle.

Neuliven Health is a company that develops and sells dietary supplements. I get to work on developing the products and am the only food scientist on staff. I currently get to play with developing candy and gummies in the lab. Its also fun because we are currently looking for a candy factory to manufacturer our supplemented gummy and I get to search out and tour all the candy factorys. Its exciting and I like feeling like a "real" food scientist.

Anyway thats what I do at work if you were wondering...

But in a few months I'll have the best job of all ;)

Old Wives Tales

Confession: I am not one of those women who would be ok with being surprised by the gender of her baby.

I enjoy a good surprise and spontaneity every now and then but lets be honest - I also have a compulsive, planning, organization streak.

The suspense waiting to find out is killing me! I keep getting excited about planning things like crib bedding, baby names, baby crafts, etc. - but in order to seriously endeavor in any of these things, I want to know if its a boy or girl. Several people in my parents generation have commented like its some tragedy that I'm finding out what the baby is before its born. They say that waiting until its born and having either a boy or girl pop out is the greatest surprise of all and "better than 1,000 Christmases"... That very well could be true, but I plan on taking full advantage of modern technology. Part of me is glad I am forced to wait till 20 weeks because it is a great thing to look forward too.

But in the mean time I thought I would test a few old wives' tales for kicks...

1. Chinese Prediction Chart

The Test: Match when the seed was planted with the mother's age.

Result: Boy (TMI?)

2. Cravings

The test: Craving sweets like chocolate? Then a sweet little girl is headed your way. However, if sour and salty things like citrus and pickles are your thing, then a boy is on the way.

Result: Girl (I can't imagine a time when I would ever want pickles over chocolate.)

3. Acne

The Test: Take a a good look in the mirror. Zitty teen complexion, girl. Soft and smooth without a blemish, boy.

Result: Boy (Thank you baby for better skin!)

4. Pillow

The Test: If your pillow faces north when you sleep you can expect a boy. South and a girl is on the way.

Result: Inconclusive. (Riddle me this old wives - What if your pillow faces East? What side of the pillow are they talking about?)

5. Heart Rate

The Test: If the baby's heart rate is faster than 140 beats per minute, then you are sure to have a girl. If the average heart rate is below 140 beats per minute, it is said to be a boy.

Result: Girl (Babies heart rate was 160 at 9 weeks.)

Final Result: Inconclusive. And old wives' tales are ridiculous. My maternal instincts tell me its a boy. But according to that poll I put up last week most people think girl!

We will see next week!

Boy or Girl?

So my friend Sydnie and I are both pregnant and due within 4 days of each other. Its fun to have a prego buddy because we reach certain milestones at the same time. We both find out if we're having boys or girls in 2 weeks. She just posted a poll on her blog for people to vote about what she's having - and I am copying her!

Happy Voting --->

Candy Holidays

Around Easter I start getting excited about these....




And around Halloween I start getting excited about these...


Last night Nate and I went to target to buy me a body pillow (because I get unhappy when I keep waking up from my legs falling asleep because I roll onto my back) and it made my night that these delicious pumpkins are back on the shelves! Of course I bought a bag...


And Mellowcreme Pumpkins on the shelf means Christmas is right around the corner!

And around Christmas I start getting excited about these...


Because everyone knows Santa always brings a 2lb box of See's Candy!...

Book Worm..

Lately I have been a huge book worm for baby books. I got a lot of book recommendations from my sister-in-laws and I highly recommend the ones I've read so far! I have learned so much that I didn't know before.

It makes me feel more ready to have a baby!

This was the first book I read and it was AWESOME. It had such good advice and so many tips. Also it was an easy read because he lays everything our so clearly with fun stories and examples. It am really excited to use what I've learned in this book for the first couple months of our baby's life.

Who doesn't get this book when they're pregnant? It really does answer every question you could have! The chapters are by month and I have been reading as my pregnancy progresses. I love learning about what is going on with my body as well as the development of the baby.

This book is great! It really does help you understand how important healthy sleep habits are for babies and kids. It gives more of an academic approach to napping and successful sleep routines. It was a little dry at times but definitely addresses every sleep problem you can imagine! I would recommend the happiest baby on the block over this book, especially for the first couple months. But it is great at addressing sleep habits and patterns as kids get older.


I decided to get this book because the happiest baby on the block was so good! I really like his ideas for preventing tantrums and making your toddler feel like an all-star. I highly recommend it! I will probably have to revisit it a year from now when I'm actually approaching toddlerhood, but it was a fun read!



And this is the next book I'm going to read. I'll let you know how it goes!

Summer Photos

I was looking through my photos and realized I have severely neglected blogging about lots of things this summer! Since the summer is pretty much over I thought I would post some photos of what we did.
Enjoy!

Nate's Birthday! He wanted to go to the BBQ Pit with his family

The German chocolate cake I made him melted slightly...

Going to Sea World with Susan and Aaron when they were visiting from Hawaii

Stopping at Cafe Rio on the way to Snowflake, Arizona. Their salad has never tasted better!

Hanging out with my grandparents in Snowflake! Eating at Trappers

Exploring historic sites
4th of July Rodeo in Snowflake!


Going to the Getty with Jessica, Kasee and our husbands

Visiting the new Mormon Batallion Musuem

Parties with San Diego friends

Grilling delicious food

Extended Family FHE

Baby Showers

Going to Dallin's wedding. Dallin is Nate's best friend Ryan's little brother. But we love Dallin too. He was in our Chem 105 class where Nate and I met!

Me with Ryan's wife Kaylee! She was 7 months pregnant and I was 2 months.

Nate, Me, Kaylee, Ryan. We spent the weekend with them and had a blast!

Eating ice cream at the reception :)

The Whitt Family Reunion at Bear Lake!

Family pictures

Intense Fooze Ball Tournaments

Bon Fires

Love them!

Hanging out with Wade in San Diego! At the USS Midway

Hiking at Tide Pools

They came to pick me up after work to hang out on the sailboat in Mission Bay

Hiking over the desert

Watching Nate and Wade swim in the cold ocean

Nate's sister Katie came to visit and brought her cute boys! At Sea World.

Nate playing the Wii with his brothers

I went home to Virginia for a long weekend! Bowling with the family

Wade and I

After church picture. Virginia is beautiful!

Back in San Diego making fresh squeezed orange juice from oranges in Nate's parents yard!

Yum!

Taking advantage of our zoo passes and the summer's late zoo hours (blurry pictures from Nate's phone)

Walks in the zoo at night are so romantic!

Its been a great summer! We are lucky to have so many great friends and awesome families!

16 Weeks!

These days Wednesdays are exciting days.

That's because each Wednesday marks another week past of being pregnant! Tomorrow I will be 16 weeks!
I am happy to be clear and out of the first trimester!

I thought I would do a "Pregnancy FAQ" post since I haven't updated my blog much about my baby whereabouts...

How am I feeling/Have I been sick?
I have been really lucky and had a pretty easy pregnancy! I only threw up a total of 4 times and had 2 emotion breakdowns (one of which was about Nate accidentally putting my shirt in the dryer... poor Nate). I did feel kind of nauseous for a few weeks and didn't want to eat anything. In fact all I really wanted consistently was salad and watermelon. At my 2nd check up I had lost 8 pounds! But they said its not a big deal since I will gain the weight back. The other major symptom (disregarding all the weird little symptoms I never knew came with pregnancy) was that I was SO tired! Even the week before we found out I was pregnant I was complaining about how tired I felt. I am happy to be in the 2nd trimester and not tired anymore!

Am I starting to show?
Hmm not really. I can tell that I'm showing a little but nobody else can. See the picture above. (I may be sticking out on purpose?) I'm actually secretly jealous of people who have bumps. I'm sure I'll regret saying that later...

Have I had any cravings?
Yes? I think so at least. I kind of think everyone has cravings now and then though so I'm not sure how accurate it is to say I do. I just crave things I already liked, nothing weird that I hated before. For example I always want sugar cereal - like Cocoa Dyno-Bites (yes I buy generic). But that isn't weird because I always wanted it before too. I was talking to my friend Susan who is also pregnant and we both agree that we get fixated on something we want to eat and are always slightly dissatisfied until we get the meal we've been thinking about. Like I really wanted chicken Parmesan for a long time until I made it. And I really wanted Cafe Rio and luckily got to stop there on our way to Arizona. I have also really been wanting one of those chicken taco wraps that comes with a roll from L&T Soup and Salad inside the CougarEat. I have obviously not gotten it. I didn't even love those wraps that much when I went to BYU so its weird I want one so much. If you're in Provo and reading this go eat one for me. I am so dissatisfied that I can't have one.

Do I want a boy or a girl? When do we find out what it is?
I honestly don't care! I just want a healthy, happy baby! We find in 4 weeks or less! I have an appointment tomorrow and will set the ultrasound date for it then.

Are we going to name the baby before or after he/she is born?
After! I'm sure we will have some names in mind but I want to wait to hold the baby and get to know him/her before we give it a name. It is so different for everyone and there is no right way - but that's the way Nate and I always envisioned it.


I am so excited for my appointment tomorrow!
I'll get to hear the heartbeat again which makes it more real each time. Yay for babies!