October in Review

Mentally, I haven't been able to let go of October just yet because it was such a beautiful dream. But if I'm honest, it was also a crazy hectic month too. And I'm looking forward to having a bit more routine and calmness with November.

Things started off with husband visiting me during the only weekend I was in town all month long, thankfully it was a relaxing one mostly filled with studying together on the sofa and sleeping in.

the only time we left the house was to take PJ to the dog park. Ha! 

As much as we love to travel, we can also be total homebodies

also, can't stop, won't stop baking the best blueberry muffins

 for these easy sunday morning breakfast for two

Husband flew back to Boston for the week, which gave me a chance to do some last minute shopping before our autumn trip. I think that Loft is becoming my new favorite store. 

Life really is in the details 

also husband sent these postcards to me as reminders of the fun we had on past trips. What a way to get excited for our upcoming one. And these postcards were on point since we did ride mules in Bryce Canyon and biked the Lakefront Trail in Chicago

Be sure to check out our exact trip budgets for Utah and Chicago 

During my fall break from grad school, Tom and I went on the best autumn trip through the Pacific Northwest. Fall really is the ideal time for traveling. We celebrated our wedding anniversary last month with this perfect weekend. But this trip to Washington State was our big gift to each other. I will never grow tired of replacing material gifts with experiences. 

Loved that we visited not one, not two, but three new national parks while in the PNW. Oh NPS, how we love you. 

Romantic walks along the shores of Lake Crescent +

 hiking the green moss carpet in the Hoh Rainforest. 

Olympic National Park did not disappoint {more on this coming soon} 

Neither did the Olympic Peninsula {even if it was foggy & rainy}

Hiking in Mount Rainier National Park happened to include a bit of snow 

Plus waterfall hiking in the rain, staying completely dry was pretty much impossible but worth it.

Even more amazing hikes thanks to this daytrip in the North Cascades 

But my favorite was visiting this Bavarian town of Leaveworth just in time for Oktoberfest

Then it was back to life as normal with returning to dental school. Weird to think about the amazing once-in-a-life-time days we had this month mixed in the monotony of everyday life. Don't get me wrong, we are thankful for our positions in grad school, but some days it can be so hard, especially since we live apart

thankfully I had all those amazing memories from our PNW road trip 

And days like this to remember to help get me through tough days at school 

October is quickly becoming my favorite month. And while I wish I could have slowed it down and enjoyed it more, I am so very thankful for all the best parts. Looking forward to November as I have 3 solid weekends in a row that I will be in town (this hasn't happened in months) and I plan on keeping it that way. There is plenty of work with grad school to keep me busy so here's to November being a more restful and productive month.
linking up with Amanda//