just back from Europe & Africa

 We are just back from an incredible trip of a lifetime, spending the holidays traveling through Morocco and Portugal. And when I say "just back", I mean that we only arrived home maybe an hour ago…enough time to start a load of laundry and shower off the travels of the day.

christmas by camelback

We had an unconventional Christmas this year with spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day traveling into the Sahara Desert in Africa. Never did I ever imagine that I would be passing the holiday in this way. 

november 2018//

Oh, November. I did not forget about you, I promise. December just took off and left no time to reminisce. But before this year comes to an end, I have to stop and pause and take a minute to reflect back on this incredible month that was the perfect reset before the craziness of December began.

a special Christmas gift

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, we are headed out to spend the holidays in Africa and Europe. I'm sure Africa conjured up all kinds of visions of safaris, but Africa is a unique continent with so much diversity from place to place.

friday favorites 12.20.18

Just 4 more sleeps until Christmas Day! Normally I would be totally freaking out with excitement, but mostly, I'm just sad that this season is going by way too fast. This week in particular just blew right on by. We spent the week visiting my parents and my in-laws to celebrate Christmas early, because as of today, we are traveling though Africa and Europe for the holidays! 

spreading holiday cheer

Choosing just the right moment that captured 2018 was an easy pick this year. I will forever cherish our photos from our day in the sunflower fields and now we have them in a Christmas card version too! 

an "away" rotation for the holidays

Today is the last official day of the semester! Unfortunately, these past few weeks have been just a little bit rough thanks to being on a true away rotation. 

snow day, study day

Hi there! 🙋🏾‍♀️ Just checking in to say that I'm still alive over here since its been a quick minute. When I said that this month would be a busy one, I didn't fully recognize the truth behind that statement. Mostly, I've been juggling between getting settled into my new away clinical rotation and studying for this beast. And today (and yesterday), I find that I have extra time to study...thanks to a snow day. So you can find me around town hauled up in the corners of various coffee shops and cafes...studying all the things. 

ho ho hold onto your {santa} hats!

Hold onto your santa hats ladies and gentlemen becuase it's going to be a bumpy sleigh ride. I don't know about ya'll, but on top of being the most wonderful time of the year, December is always always always the busiest month of the year around here. As if the holiday festivities and ending yet another year (and another semester) weren't enough to contend with, I go and do crazy things to our schedule. Case in point, later this month, we are headed to AfRICA! Oh, and also visiting Europe along the way because why not? 

friday favorites 11.30.18

What a week full of change this has been. I ended my first dental rotation and started my second rotation, only now, I'm not able to commute. Instead, I'm living away from my Husband and my pup. So this week has been a big transition. 

part two, round two

Here we go with part 2, round 2 of my dental school boards. Hooray for standardized tests. When I took the entrance exam for dental school, I postponed my exam over and over and over again...until I couldn't anymore. When I finally did take the darn test, I aced it and got multiple offers to dental school. A few years into dental school, when it came time to take the first part of the National Board Dental Exam, I was terrified all over again and certain that I would do horribly. But of course I passed. So when it was time to sit for yet another standardized exam for dental school, I finally convinced myself that it would be fine this time around. I've done this before.  

friday favorites 11.23.18

What a week this one has been. I finished out my first dental rotation, so I head off to a new clinic on Monday morning. On one hand I'm sad about leaving my current clinic that I have grown so fond of these last 8 weeks, but I also couldn't be more excited about the fact that I'm moving forward. Seriously, lots of transitions happening this week. Let's take a peak. 

a day in the life of a dental student: mission trip

Since this week is all about practicing gratitude, I thought that I would share a little more about one of the experiences in my life that I am most thankful for... my Dominican Republic Dental Mission Trip. This mission gave me a chance to combine two of my greatest passions, my desire to serve others through dentistry and my love of travel and experiencing different cultures. 

Each day of our mission trip, we visited a new location. And each day we were greeted by thankful hearts, as evidenced by the fact that the governor gave us his personal bus (featured above) to aid in our transportation. Below, I'm sharing just a glimpse into what a day on this mission trip was like. 

simple roasted butternut squash soup

Now that I'm living with Husband full-time, I almost never cook. He is the chef in our house and unlike me, he loves making gourmet meals with all the steps and a zillion different ingredients. I on the other hand, like to keep things simple.

This past week I was feeling under the weather. So much so that I even missed clinic and had them cancel all my patients, which I of course felt so horrible about. Though I think it was best not to share my fever. The only thing I was wanting to eat all week was soup, so I whipped up this easy recipe that is a favorite. 

why we're skipping thanksgiving

We are only a week away from Thanksgiving! Can’t you just picture it? That perfectly glazed golden brown turkey surrounded by a beautiful table-scape full of pumpkins and gourds and family and friends and all the best fixins. If this has your mouth watering and you heart bursting, if Thanksgiving is your thing, then more power to ya Sister. Get your gobble gobble on. I’m not here to judge. But for me, Thanksgiving never has been and never will be a good thing. 

Without ever really making a conscious decision, we slowly started skipping Thanksgiving. Small decisions at first that eventually turned into us out-rightly rejecting the holiday all together. This Thanksgiving is actually the first time we will even be in the country in years, since we were in Iceland last Thanksgiving and in Mexico the year before that. But even though we will be stateside for the holiday this year, we have no intention of celebrating it. And here’s why? 

october 2018//

Dear October, 

Can I please have a do over? Don't get me wrong, you were incredible, but it felt as though you went by far too quickly. And many of the things we had planned for the month never actually got done. But it does no good to dwell on what was missed.

friday favorites 11.09.18

Don't ya just love Fridays? What a happy sunshiny day! This week has been a frustrating one so I'm happy to see it end. Either the computer system was down, limiting access to patient charts OR we were short-staffed at the clinic. So it's been a rough week where even the simple things were unnecessarily difficult. 

But not to worry, there were still plenty of highlights to this week. 

Cuba Travel Budget 🇨🇺

Ah, Cuba on a Budget! You may have heard that Cuba is a cheap destination to visit. And that is both true and untrue. We went to Havana to mark a very special occasion with deciding to visit our 5th country together to celebrate 5 years of marriage. So we definitely spent a little extra and splurged on a few things on this trip, but still stayed on a budget. Let's take a peak shall we? 

Trip Length: 4 days & 3 nights for 2 adults 

Travel Dates: August 2018 

For simplicity, I've listed all costs in American dollars. At the time of travel 1USD was equivalent to 1CUC. Keep in mind that all totals listed below are for two people. 

sunflower fields forever

 You guys, I've been trying to get us out to a sunflower field for years. I'm not exactly a patient person, but even I have to admit that this was worth the wait. 🌻

Sunflowers are one of my favorites and always have been. So when I found out you could visit a sunflower field, this climbed to the top of my to-do list. For 3 years, we attempted to visit the sunflower fields in the Boston area while Husband was attending school there for his PhD. With me being in another state, we never quite got things right with booking flights though. I was always in town a week before the sunflowers bloomed or a week too late. I had essentially given up when I discovered a sunflower field near us and our new home state of Virginia. We decided to make this long awaited visit extra special by bringing our puppy along and doing an autumn family photo session here. 

Enjoy a full photo overload with pure golden sunshine! 

friday favorites 11.02.18

If you can't tell, I'm just a little bit excited that it's Friday! 

hanging up my dental loupes

How is it not Friday yet? 

Clinic this week has involved an emergency root canal, all the restorations, extractions, dentures, too much SRP for my liking, and treating kiddos. 

halloween things

 I was just saying to Tom that this is our last Halloween of our twenties. It feels like we have to do this year big while we are still in our youth.

a change of plans

I've been a little bit absent on the blog this past week because we have been having some unexpected changes around here. Most notably being that my in-laws are no longer visiting us this weekend because my MIL is in the hospital, so  we are now going to them instead. 

Some other changes that have been happening have been minute and had no effect, but others have had me rescheduling things that were supposed to happen in October and pushing them back as far as December. So this week has been a crazy one to say the least, but hopefully things will balance out again soon. 

an autumn weekend doing all the things

Hello Monday! 

I can't believe it, but I'm actually glad to have the week started, mostly because my week is so structured. Meanwhile this past weekend was a hectic one doing all the things to get our new place in shape. 

We made 3 separate trips to Home Depot. We also went to Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Hobby Lobby, and Michael's. We got our storage unit cleaned out and organized, re-planted our wedding succulents, shampooed the rugs & sofa, put up new storage shelving in our closet, organized our place, and cleaned the apartment from top to bottom. It was kind of a lot and exhausting and we are still not quite done with our place yet. Even with so many errands and chores, there was some fun mixed into the weekend. We got pup to the dog park, managed to get into a little hocus pocus, enjoyed coffee breaks on our rooftop, went out to eat a few times, and did a little shopping at Anthropologie during their 25% off weekend where I fell in love and went home with this adorableness. Here's a few snaps of our weekend.

but first, hocus pocus

We are planning for a productive weekend over here---hoping to finish up all the little projects on our never ending to-do list around our place. Since my in-laws will be in town next week, we are on a deadline to finally get our apartment settled. So we've got a weekend planned to do all the things. But first, hocus pocus! 

In mind, no matter how busy things get, there is always time for a little hocus pocus. There is always time for a little fun right? 

friday favorites 10.19.18

Happy Friday Y'all! This week felt like a long one and I'm not even sure why. Nothing major happened, just really busy. And I'm on emergency patient call today so I have a feeling that it's going to be a long Friday. But I'm definitely looking forward to this weekend and feeling pretty ambitious about doing all the things. But first, here are some highlights from the week. 

a lost American's guide to Havana

Never did I ever imagine that I would find myself in Cuba. When I was a child, Americans weren't allowed to go there. So in my mind, it was essentially a made up place that didn't exist. 

But just a few years ago, the Obama administration facilitated opening the gates of Cuba to Americans for the first time in more than 50 years. Unfortunately, since then, the Trump administration has begun to make it more difficult to visit. So we decided that if we ever would want to visit Cuba, now is the time because who knows if visiting Cuba will always remain a possibility to Americans. And since we did so much research going into this trip, I thought I would share what we learned about visiting Havana Cuba. 

Virginia is for Lovers ❤️

It's true what they say, "Virginia is for Lovers". At least, it's true for us. Because for the first time in our 5 year marriage, Tom and I have to place to call home TOGETHER.

what to wear in Cuba

When your outfit matches the scenery, you have to pose for a photo right? And when you're in Havana---a city full of the most colorful backdrops-there's a lot of posing going on. 

friday favorites 10.12.18

Oh October! You're nearly halfway over and I'm left feeling dumbfounded and confused about how this happened. My favorite month is blurring right by, but thankfully, I had some time this past week to slow things down a bit and just pause. 

a peek at our place

Since signing the lease for our apartment together back in July, a lot has happened. I left the country twice ✌🏾, sat for a portion of my licensing exam, and spent my summer quite literally drowning in work. So decorating wasn't exactly at the top of my to-do list. 

Over the summer, I only spent weekends at our new place since I was still finishing up one last term at the dental school. Finally, right at the end of September, I was able to move here permanently with starting my rotations. Now that I'm here on a daily basis, we have been able to make some real headway so I thought I'd share a peek at our place while it's in progress. Here are some snaps all from my iPhone for now until this place is ready for a full blown apartment tour. 

starting rotations

How can it be that it's actually here? I finally rode off into the sunset to start my dental rotations. In order to understand how phenomenal this is, I have to explain how they work.

september 2018//

Oh September! You were perfect in every possible way. 

my last month at the dental school

I returned to the dental school yesterday to deliver a few last cases and it felt like a different world. It's hard to believe that I've only been on my away rotations for a little over a week. It got me reminiscing about my crazy hectic productive busy last month at the dental school. 

At a glance, I completed my graduation exam requirements on patients for root canals, emergency dentistry, dentures, assessing outcomes of care, and periodontal (gum) disease. It was a busy busy busy month. To top things off, I finally got to sell off all of my practice models because I only drill on real teeth these days. It was seriously the best feeling E-V-E-R to know that I am capable enough to leave the protection of the dental school and spend the next 7 months rotating through various clinics across the state to gain as much experience as possible with so many different patient populations. Graduation is so close, I can feel it. 

5 years of marriage

5 years of marriage = 5 years of adventure 

Five years feels like such a big milestone for us, especially since things haven't always been happily ever after.  

oh, summer summer

It's official. Summer has come to an end and we are welcoming in the first full day of autumn today. But first, I wanted to reminisce a bit. This past summer has without a doubt been the busiest most rewarding season of my life thus far. So I have to take a moment to reflect and share a few highlights.

friday favorites 09.21.18

This past week has been a crazy one with Hurricane Florence throwing such a big wrench into the mix. Yet, I can honestly say that this week and today in particular have been the best that I've had in a long time. 

And here's why....

"Dear DXTTR"

Only 1 more day! 

One day until I leave the dental school and embark on 7 months of away rotations. It is beyond gratifying to be at this stage and closing this chapter of dental school. 

the garden maze at luray caverns

This past week, we've been staying with my in-laws in the mountains of Virginia. They were kind enough to take us in when we evacuated for Hurricane Florence so we got some unexpected time visit to spend time with family that we don't get to see nearly enough. 

A Great Big Southwest Adventure Road Trip

Here it is. A great big post all about our Great Big Southwest Adventure Road Trip! Every year, we head out to spend some time on the West Coast. And our 2018 adventure took us on a week long road trip through Nevada, California, and Arizona. 

I've been sharing bits and pieces from this road trip for a while now, but here is our itinerary with links and budget all in one place. 

Oh, these Havana nights

Happy Saturday!

I'm trading in my normal crazy weekend routine of studying for a night of board games with my in-laws. I know ya'll. I'm a total party animal. But it got me thinking about the last time I was staying out late on the weekend like the true 20-something that I am. And that was just a weeks ago during our trip to Cuba because the only more beautiful than the hot vibrant days in Havana were the fun inviting nights. 

that time I wished dental school wasn't cancelled

Dental school is a beast. Truly. I think the hardest part about it is that there never seems to be an end. School from 8AM to 5PM and then you get to spend your evening studying and doing lab-work. Breaks are far and few in between at my dental school, so I’m always thankful for a minute to myself. 

august 2018//

I don't understand how, but every month of 2018 just keeps getting better than the last. August was no different. It marked me PASSING my licensing exam, which is such a huge stress reliever. Tom graduated from his PhD program and started his new job working as a college professor and researcher. And we kicked off the celebrations for our 5 year anniversary a little early with a trip to Cuba. It's been a crazily busy month, yet a fulfilling one to say the least. 

friday favorites 09.07.18

Fridays are my favorite! Well, obviously they are everyone's favorite right? But I have an extra reason to be happy about Fridays. Because Fridays mean that I get to reunite with my Husband and our sweet pup after having been a week apart. 

Havana-Day 4

Our last day in Havana. 

I feel myself getting upset all over again. It's been nice to blog about our time in Cuba because it's been allowing me to relive the entire experience, but now I have to relive our last day there. And I don't want to. Is it possible to be homesick for a place that's not your home? Because that's how I feel about Cuba. 

a laid back labor day weekend

Everyone who knows me was asking what I was up to this past weekend because 3 day weekends normally = a trip. But this weekend, I took it easy. It was full of biking, napping, moving, kayaking, blogging, setting all the denture teeth, grilling out, and just relaxing. 

Friday night I went to bed at 7PM-no lie. And I had no trouble sleeping through the night because it had been a loooong week. Then I stayed in town Saturday to work on a denture case in the lab, pack, and clean my apartment. After some early lab time Sunday morning, I made the drive to Virginia to spend the remainder of the weekend with my boys. And that's where the real fun began. On actual Labor Day, I did an early morning bike ride 🚲 

summer 2018 clothing budget

Happy Labor Day!

With summer on it's way out, I thought it would be a good time to share my summer clothing budget---all the clothing purchases I've made these past few months. 

pretty palm springs

Oh Palm Springs! 

You are without a doubt one of my favorite places in the world. When I realized that this city was so close to our planned visit to Joshua Tree, I knew that we had to make a side trip here because Palm Springs has always been on my wishlist. But what was meant to be a half day detour quickly turned into two full days. 

I've posted here and there about some of the things that we did while in Palm Springs, but I wanted to do one full post with everything from our time there because I love this posh laid back city.

drowning in dentures

Be careful what you wish for. For months, I was feeling upset that I hadn't yet had the opportunity to fabricate any dentures for patients. I was really starting to get worried about it because at my dental school, dentures are one of those procedures that slows people down with being able to graduate.