october//

every month, i end up with one these massive collages because it's just too difficult to pick only one photo to sum up an entire month. wouldn't you agree? 

i love doing these recaps and looking back because it really puts everything into perspective. the end of a month always seems so stressful for me with feeling like i haven't accomplished enough, but all these random snaps from the month are proof of just how much i did get done and experience. 

october started out with stocking up on a few fall grocery staples. buried under all that cheese is a plate of healthy sweet potato turkey chili.

 best fall recipe

lunch time walks with the pup. i purposefully live super close to the dental school so i can leave during the lunch break whenever possible. it's only about 45minutes, but boy does it make a difference in my day to take that time away.

escaped to the mountains this month and you really can't blame us. 

this is what is looks like packing up for a weekend of camping. it's a lot of work but i'm a pro at it by now. 

fallen leaves + puppies, i'm smitten.

hot chocolate dates + autumn camping for the win!

loved our autumn road trip along the blue ridge parkway. it was a beautiful way to spend my only weekend with the husband this month.

made a few new friends along the route 

may have overdone it with the pumpkin decor, but that's what fall is for right?

these pumpkins are of course from target and I'm obsessed with all of them on my coffee table, it makes studying here more bearable. sweet care package from the husband that was a big help with facing failure in dental school this month...bathbombs, facemark, and the best new coffee mug. he's a keeper for putting all this together himself. 

also helping me feel better---a successful week of dental surgery. definitely gained a new confidence about my extraction & suturing skills.

this autumn foliage...i'm a fan because it really is the prettiest time of the year.

this is how we do fall in the South....pumpkin cornbread, it's even better than the original.

I shared the simplest recipe here 

supplies for the day + the best seat in the house.

oh don't mind me, just hiking in a torrential downpour of rain.

mandatory cliche boot pics that i'm happy to oblige with...wearing these new jeans in both pics because they are super comfy and i've been living in them lately.

oh hello there dental school, you kicked my butt this month, but I kicked right on back. having to remind myself that this won't last forever.

his & hers bean boots

initially, husband wouldn't let me buy him a pair of bean boots because he thought they were just a fashion fad. then he saw how useful mine are and got jealous enough to buy a pair for himself.

-can i please just say i told you so? because bean boots are the greatest 

married to a daredevil...it's always hard to be in this long distance marriage and still have the stressors of grad school. and when i do get a chance to see this guy, he's always pulling crazy stunts like this.

another milestone this month, tom & i visiting our 17th national park together. i think we may actually hit our goal of visiting all 59 parks together some day.

did i mention...my dad and i put together a surprise 50th birthday party for my mom this month. so fun to head home for a weekend and surprise her with this. i was in charge of the cake, decorations, and setting everyone up for the big surprise. lots of stress but so worth it. 

 and signs of a good party is when your guests end up sleeping over because they don't want to go home. after filling the guest rooms and booking hotels for out of town guests, we still had mattresses piled in the living room to accommodate the unexpected sleepover guests. i don't how they did it because i totally couldn't hang. 

spent all month long blogging about our anniversary trip cruising through alaska...see our itinerary here with links to details on all of our port stops. also shared our budget since this trip was more doable then you would think. still working on a logistics post that's coming soon. 

running on caffeine all month long, but what's new?  

and i had to share puppy's halloween barkbox this month because it was the cutest. it was filled with toys themed after things dogs are typically afraid of like the rain of terror, count vacuula, and the doorbell of doom. ha! 

signs of a great trip, bringing back the best souvenirs 

sadly, i didn't get to partake in halloween this year which is a shame because i've got the longest list of costume ideas. but there are always sacrifices to be made with grad school and this was an easy enough decision to make.

 so i traded in the halloween fun for a night at the library. and trust me, that was plenty scary.

and even though we skipped the costumes this year, we still had a frighteningly awesome halloween weekend hiking through dark caverns and ominous fog in the great smokies 

of all the months in the year, october is always a favorite and this one was no exception. lots of wins and fails. definite highlights of this month included: a week spent learning to do dental surgery, our weekend autumn road trip, and hiking great smoky mountain national park. i'm realizing that october was a good mix of getting sh** done for dental school and still having a little bit of a life in between. and really, that's all i can ask for.