Friday Favorites: Boston Bound + Fresh Face Friday Blog Hop

I always love Fridays right before a vacation. Though I am an anxious flier, I am always excited to explore new places. Here are my five favorites this week:

/ / One:
I am so excited to fly out to Boston at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning and spend a week relaxing with the hubby. It has been a stressful few weeks setting up interviews so it will be wonderful to not worry about the future for a week.

/ / Two:
I have been looking forward to our fall foliage cruise since May, and I am so ready to board our ship on Sunday! We will be going to two cities in Maine (Portland & Bar Harbor) and two cities in Canada (Halifax and St. Johns). We don’t get the beautiful fall colors here in Texas so I am ready to enjoy cooler weather and see some color!

/ / Three:
I finally started reading Where'd You Go, Bernadette, and I can’t believe that I waited this long to read it. (I’ve had it for over a year.) It is a quirky and fun read so far!

/ / Four:
We purchased tickets to see Baylor football play in December! Chris and I really wanted to see a game in the new stadium this season. I am glad we were able to make it work with the hubby’s interview schedule.

/ / Five:
Residency update: Chris had his first interview this week, and it went really well. There are still many more to go, but I am glad he came away happy with his first one.

Today I am co-hosting the Fresh Face Friday linkup with Casey from We Took the Road Less Traveled.

Welcome to the

FRESH FACE FRIDAY BLOG HOP!

No prompt, just fun!

Hosted by: Casey @ We Took the Road Less Traveled

Rules for hopping:

1| Follow your host & co-hosts (first 3 links), pretty please! 

2| Link up your blog's homepage or Bloglovin' page.

3| Hop around, meet new bloggers, and leave them love!

4| Have fun? Spread the word and share this blog hop with your friends!

5| Want to be a co-host? Click here for more info! 

Grab a button and share the blog hop love!

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I hope everyone has a great weekend! Note: I will have a few days on the cruise without access to the Internet so it will take me a bit longer to respond to your comments, but I'll respond as soon as I can! I will have a few posts up next week while I am gone. 

Linking up with Lauren, Amanda, Karli, and Amy.

Real Talk: My Struggle to Focus on the Present

March 20. Ever since I found out the date Chris will find out where we’re going for residency, I haven’t been able to get it out of my head. All I can think about is that little sheet of paper he will receive on March 20 could have almost any city in the United States on it.

Here’s the thing: I’m used to change and take it fairly well. I have moved 18 times in my life and have never really been attached to a house or a place. Part of me craves a new adventure. The problem is that I’m a planner. We will find out where we’re going on March 20 and will need to move sometime in June. It takes me longer than that to plan our vacations! 

My biggest struggle so far is focusing on the present. Right now, I am completely focused on the possibility of moving. I keep thinking this will be the last time we will go to the State Fair or this is the last time it will be this easy to spend Christmas with both of our families. I have been asked about summer plans and can’t give clear answers. My boss knows my situation, and the thought of leaving my job makes me want to cry.

However, these anxious thoughts aren’t actually getting me anywhere. Worrying about the future is not going to make March 20 arrive any quicker. The truth is, even though I am anxious about not having a lot of time to plan once we find out where Chris matches, this is such an exciting time.

Chris is graduating from medical school and is ready to take the next step forward in fulfilling his passion. He is traveling all over the country, interviewing with programs to find the right fit for him. I am his travel agent, booking flights and researching the cities.  He receives new interview invitations every day, and we get to pick where he goes. It’s a time filled with many possibilities, and if I keep worrying about things I can’t change, I will miss it.

My goal is to enjoy this season of life and live in the present. Life is beautiful, and I don’t want to miss a single second. 

My Top Five European Travel Moments

If I had to pick my favorite continent to visit, Europe would take the cake.  I have fallen in love with the history, the architecture, and the amazing, magical moments I have experienced. Those moments when I was so in awe, so giddy, so thankful to be alive, to be traveling and experiencing what the world has to offer. It sounds cheesy, but those in love with travel know exactly what I mean. Here are my top five European travel moments so far:

Seeing the Eiffel Tower twinkle at night for the first time: 
We went to Paris for the first time over a Valentine’s Day weekend, and on Valentine’s Day, my hubby surprised me with a night cruise on the Seine River. As we approached the Eiffel Tower, it began to twinkle. I had seen it in photos, but it was nothing like experiencing it myself for the first time. At that moment, I fell in love with Paris. Although I usually prefer to travel to places that I haven’t been, I would visit Paris again and again.

Watching Wicked in London:
I had so many different travel moments in London, but seeing Wicked sticks out in my mind. We decided to go on a whim and had an amazing time. It is now one of my favorite musicals, and seeing it in London made it more special.

Hiking up to the Marseille calanques:

This moment really stood out to me because it was one that I didn’t expect. When we visited Marseille, the calanques weren’t on our list, but we saw an advertisement for them and decided to check them out. I was blown away by their beauty. After our hike, we sat down and admired the view, and I never wanted to leave.

Taking a horse-drawn carriage up to Neuschwanstein Castle with light snow falling:
Our trip to Neuschwanstein Castle went beyond my expectations (and those were fairly high to begin with!). Though the inside of the castle is nothing to write home about, the outside is picturesque. I will never forget taking a horse-drawn carriage, holding a mug of hot chocolate with snow lightly falling as the beautiful castle came into view.

Exploring Prague:
I couldn’t pick one specific moment in Prague because I quickly and completely fell in love with the city. I loved the different styles of architecture throughout the city, the Charles Bridge, St. Vitus cathedral, and so much more. The mixture of Eastern and Western styles was unique and instantly made me feel at home.

Friday Favorites: Ready for Fall Color

Friday, we meet again. I can’t believe how fast this week flew by! Here are my five favorite things this week:

/ / One:

The Texas State Fair has started, and I’m hoping to go this weekend.  I love this time of year, and the fair is one of the reasons why. It’s so fun to ride the Texas Star, watch the pig races, eat the crazy fried food, and just walk around taking it all in.

/ / Two:
I got an e-mail that we will embark on our fall foliage cruise in nine days! I am so excited to visit the East Coast, enjoy some cooler weather, and see some fall color! Unfortunately, we don’t really get much fall color here in Texas so we are really excited for this cruise.

/ / Three:
Residency interview update: Chris is getting so many interviews that we are now at the point where he has to reject some of them. It is a great problem to have, but it is starting to get overwhelming. He flies out for his first interview next week!

/ / Four:
I painted my nails with OPI’s It’s My Year, and it’s such a fun color for fall. I was looking to buy another bottle, but sadly, it is discontinued. (I did find it at a good price on Amazon here).

/ / Five:
I got Ghiradelli’s Sea Salt and Almond Minis in my PopSugar box, and now I’m obsessed. I hadn’t tried sea salt in chocolate before, and I love that sweet and salty combination.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! 

Linking up with Lauren, Amanda, Karli, and Amy.

Blogtober 14: If I Won the Lottery...

Happy October, everyone! I’m so excited that October is finally here. Today, I thought it would be fun to link up with Helene and Taylor for Blogtober14. Today’s prompt is “what would you do if you won the lottery?” It would be boring to say that I would save quite a bit of it so, saving aside, here is what I would do.

If I won the lottery…

I would not quit my job. Honestly, I am too much of a workaholic for that, and editing is my passion. However, I would definitely consider switching to part-time hours so I would have more time to travel. (I could always do freelance projects on an airplane!)

My husband would be around more. Chris is currently in medical school, and even though he works hard, he is secretly super lazy. He constantly tells me that he would not mind being a stay-at-home dad. I don’t think he would quit being a doctor, but he would definitely work less hours, which would be amazing!                                                     

I would spend all of my spare time traveling. I think that I have established that I absolutely love to travel and do it as much as I can. I strongly believe that travel is the only thing you can spend money on that will actually make you richer. However, as my piggy bank will tell you, plane tickets are expensive. It would be amazing if I could travel the world without having to worry about what it's going to cost me.

I would give back to my family. My parents have done so much for my younger brother and me, and I would love to give back to them. I would buy them a house and send them on trips (it'd be a bonus if we could all go together!) 

I would buy way too many dresses.  Dresses are my weakness, and my hubby would tell you that I already have too many. I can't imagine what would happen if I didn't have to worry about budgeting as much. I would probably need an extra room for my collection.