Friday Thoughts: Let's Forget and Move On

Happy Friday, friends! When I started this blog, I promised myself I would be transparent and share both the good and the bad.  Today is a day I wanted to break that promise. To be honest, this has been a rough week, and I wasn’t sure I would have a post ready today.  I can’t go into specifics, but this has been by far the worst week at work in the two and a half years that I have been there. Thankfully, we are moving on, and I am so grateful for my job and my coworkers.  That being said, it was really hard for me to come up with five favorites for this week so this post is five random thoughts about this week and weekend. 

/ / One:

With the situation I mentioned above (Sorry for the vagueness. It is necessary, I promise!) and the hubby being gone, I have been working really hard on staying positive. So far, it’s been working. It’s been hard coming from vacation and right into complicated problems, but I am thankful for so many things in my life right now so it balances out. Cheesy, but true.

/ / Two:

I am volunteering at a Fall Festival tonight, and I’m super excited. Little kids + costumes = a lot of cuteness.

/ / Three:

I have starting going through photos from our trip and can’t wait to share them with y’all. I can’t believe that this time last week we were still on the boat. It feels like forever ago.

/ / Four:

Quick Chris residency interview update: Though the travel has been exhausting for him, Chris is enjoying his interviews so far. It is so fun to hear him tell me all about the different places when he returns…even when he can’t stop talking at 1:30 in the morning because his flight landed at past midnight, and he just can’t wait to tell me all about the program.

/ / Five:

I got so many subscription boxes while we were on our cruise that it definitely felt like Christmas! I have never shared my Ipsy bag on my blog because so many people do it, but I loved it so much that I think I will. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! 

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

Three Ways to Combat Post-Vacation Blues

Most of the time after a vacation, I feel refreshed and excited to get back to work. This time it has been so much harder to get back into a normal routine with the hubby’s schedule, which currently involves flying to two or more cities a week. I miss being together and exploring exciting new places. Although it has been a struggle this time, here is how I normally combat the post-vacation blues:
Schedule a day of rest in between vacation and work. One of the reasons I have had a hard time getting back into my normal routine is that we got off the ship on Sunday morning, flew home on Sunday afternoon, and I was back at work on Monday morning. I usually try to get home on a Saturday (or take Monday off), but that wasn’t an option this time. I use the extra day of rest to do the massive loads of laundry that accumulates after a trip, catch up on TV shows, and get everything prepared for the next day. This really reduces my stress by not forcing me to jump right into work.
Spend time with friends and family. One of my favorite things to do after a vacation is to spend time with the friends and family I missed while we were gone. It’s fun to share vacation stories and is a great reminder that there are reasons to be home and not traveling all the time (which I would love to do).

Book another vacation. I know that it is not always possible to book another vacation, especially after just spending money on a trip. In my personal experience, it is always easier to get rid of post-vacation blues when I am looking forward to another trip. When I know I can’t travel for a certain amount of time, I try to book a vacation far in advance or put together a weekend road trip. If I really can’t schedule anything at all, it helps me to plan “fake” trips that I hope to take in the future. Have you ever experienced the post-vacation blues?

Quick Thoughts About Our Fall Foliage Cruise

Hello friends! We just got back from our cruise last night, and I am exhausted in the best way. It was so nice for Chris and me to take a week away from the stress of interview season and focus on food each other. I can't wait to share the ports and some of the entertaining cruise experiences...like being placed at the "kids table" with three other couples and the night we thought the hurricane was headed in our direction. The fall color was even better than I expected (coming from a Texan seriously deprived of color)...and so was the chocolate mousse cake. 

October 2014 MunchPak Review

I am obsessed with subscription boxes, and it wasn’t long before I spread my obsession to Chris. While I love beauty boxes, he is a fan of snack boxes. One of these snack boxes is MunchPak. For $21 (though we got ours at a discount when the subscription was new), we receive new and popular snacks from all over the world. It’s a fun way to try snacks that aren’t always available in the United States. Half the time, we have no idea what we’re trying, but it is super entertaining to guess.

Here is what Chris received this month:

Japanese “Petit Cheese Bourbon” Cookie: This package says cookie, but it looks more like a cracker to me. My guess is that it’s like a Ritz cheese cracker, though the “bourbon” part throws me off a bit.

Japanese “Dream Animals Butter Flavored Biscuits”: These are a mixture between animal crackers and shortbread cookies. The back of the package conveniently teaches you how to write several animals in Japanese characters.

Herr’s Ketchup Flavored Potato Chips: We received these in a previous MunchPak, and I wasn’t sure about that. I actually enjoyed them and am glad we got another package.

Serbian Prima Snacks: These look like pretzel sticks, but the bag calls it a “salty pastry with peanut filling.” 

Serbian Smoki: These are puff snacks with peanuts. Chris has tried these before and didn’t like them.

Italian Balconi Trancetto: This is an “oven-baked confectionary product with fat-reduced cocoa filling.” It looks delicious so I might have to steal it when Chris isn’t looking. ;)

Toxic Waste Sour Smog Balls: According to the story on the back of the package, Professor Sauernoggin made these to transform “toxic waste” into useful products.

Magic Creams Combo from the Philippines: It looks like a chocolate cookie filled with chocolate filling. Sounds like my kind of cookie.

Puffy rice cake with pumpkin-flavored filling from Taiwan: We just tried this, and it was surprisingly delicious. The rice cake mixed with pumpkin turned out to be a great combination.

Cadbury Curly wurly from England: A milk chocolate strip with a caramel center.

Japanese Hi-Chew: These come in every MunchPak, and I have tried them in many flavors. Strawberry is my favorite flavor so far.

Italian Balconi Wafers alla Vaniglia: These are basically Italian vanilla wafers. Nothing special, but still delicious!

Japanese Apple Gummy Candy: We have received these before, and I thought they were great.

MunchPak is a fun way to try snacks we would not get to otherwise. This month, we received 13 items from at least 7 different countries. 

Our Day at the Texas State Fair

Hello friends! I am currently on a fall foliage cruise, but I thought I'd share a few photos from our day at the Texas State Fair last weekend. The fair is one of the highlights of the fall for me-I love the crazy fried food (this year we tried the deep fried twisted Texas tacos...it was chicken fried brisket, fried okra, corn salsa, coleslaw, cheese, and sour cream), walking around the fair and taking it all in, the car show, the shopping, and even the dog show. We went after church so I couldn't grab my nice camera, but here are a few photos from our day: