Influenster #FrostyVoxBox Review: Celestial Tea

Today I received my first full-sized VoxBox, compliments of Influenster! It's full of free, full and trial-sized products to test and review ad every box has lots of different items! This one is winter themed and has both makeup and snacks/food items! I opened the box this evening and was so excited to see the Celestial Tea in Candy Cane Lane flavor. I love Christmas themed teas and hot chocolates, especially when they are mint flavored (mint hot chocolate, mmmm). I quickly turned on the Keurig so I could make a cup of the candy cane lane tea to try out and after a few sips I can say that it's pretty good! It does have a nice peppermint flavor. It's a little funny because the tea is hot, but after I swallow I sort of feel like there's a cold sensation in my mouth because the mint flavor is pretty strong! I didn't put any milk or cream in the tea (usually I put milk and sugar in my tea or coffee) and I think I prefer this one plain- I'm not sure how milk would change the peppermint flavoring.

Thank you, Influenster, for sending me a Frosty VoxBox full of goodies to test and review!

Ramblings

I just returned from a two week trip to Ghana, where I spent my time volunteering in an orphanage in a small village. The experience was eye-opening and difficult. The culture, their way of life, the way these people, big and small, face adversity, is incredible to watch. They literally have next to nothing, yet they are praising God for their lives. They are so grateful for the limited quality of education that they do receive. People here take education for granted, children spend their time wishing they didn't have to go to school, such a boring place. These children would give everything they have (which isn't much) to have the school books they need to get an education.

Since I returned home two weeks ago, I've been thinking so much about my time in Ghana and the people I met there, particularly one girl. She is 11 years old and has been at the orphanage for less than one year- her father was imprisoned for the next 15 years and she had no other family to claim her. She was like my Ghanaian soul sister- caring, funny, loves science and reading, has great dance moves, and always smiling. I wish I could have taken her home with me and given her a much better life than the one I know she will continue to have for the next 7 years, full of uncertainty about whether she will get the medical care and education that she needs. Not to mention she has no family to speak of, no one to tell her "I love you" at night and to make sure she is thriving. Not for lack of trying- upon researching Ghana's adoption laws, it is clear I am ineligible to adopt her, as are my parents. It breaks my heart that I had to walk away from her and leave her there, know very well that I may never cross paths with her again.

The most difficult part of being home, I have found, is that people don't understand. Don't get me wrong, many friends and family have asked to hear about my trip, have listened to stories, some with more apparent interest than others. Many even donated money to help these children and for that I am very grateful. I guess I just feel as though there is no way for me to adequately describe what life was like there, and there is no way one can really, truly get it unless you have seen it yourself. As a result, I think that if I truly shared my thoughts about my experience, fully and openly, many people would write it off as me simply being overly-emotional about it, or "obsessed" with my trip, etc. Since returning, I think about my Ghanaian sister EVERY single day, multiple times, many times tearful because there is simply nothing more I can do for her at this point and I desperately want to do more.

I feel like my life here is so underwhelming now. I knew this experience would change MY life, but it's left me feeling like my current day to day life is so small and silly. Working my 3 twelve hour shifts, appeasing my patients, coming home to my house in this small town with nothing around, and very few people to spend time with.... I'm not DOING anything. It makes me want to totally change my career path and do something that has an IMPACT on the world... but I feel like I'm pigeon-holed into being a nurse now that I've paid all this money for my education. But what if just being a nurse isn't fulfilling? Because right now, it sure as hell isn't... I feel like I want to maybe work in health, but on more of an education level, in terms of working with a human rights or international health organization to improve communities, whether in the US or abroad. I feel like this trip has solidified something that I've been interested in for a long time, but now I know I'm passionate about, I just have no idea how to go about getting involved in that sort of career. I just know I need to take steps to do that soon, because I feel so useless and unimportant having returned home from Ghana to my protected, comfortable, boring life. And every day I don't actually do something about it, this little fire inside me grows and frankly, it's driving me crazy thinking about it all the time and feeling stuck with no action to take.

Happy Holidays!

So it's been a couple months since my last post... I had a feeling I'd be bad at this whole blogging regularly thing! Regardless, just a quick post to wish everyone a happy holidays and a wonderful new year! I am home visiting family now but am heading back to my apartment tomorrow to work the next few days. After the new year I'll have a few days off and will try to drop in and update this blog-- there's a new addition to my family!

Woof!

I'm so used to saying "woof!" to mean something negative, like "woof, that test went well" but thisss time, it means "woof! I might be getting a doggie of my own soon"!

I don't want to say too much yet because it still might fall through, but I mayyy be adopting a small dog from a woman near my hometown. The original owner of these 4 cute doggies passed away and a woman who was caring for them is trying to find them good homes. One is left, and she just might be my buddy. We have to wait and see if my parent's dog will accept her first, but if all goes well at that meeting, I may be taking her home with me in a little over a week. I have mixed feelings-- I want a dog so badly to love here in my apartment (it gets lonely living with a roommate and no animals) but I don't want my dog at home to feel like I am replacing her. Lame, I know. If this works out, though, I will be thrilled to have one of my very own to love and care for.

The idea of getting a dog, however, carries it's own concerns-- what do I name her!? She already comes with a name, but I'm not sure I like it enough to keep it. It's very hard to find a girl's name that isn't wimpy and princess-y. The second thing is that even though I won't have to pay to actually adopt this dog, I will need to get it a vet checkup andddd buy all of the things that dogs need (leash, harness, collar, food, bowls, toys, crate, etc). It adds up! Thankfully I was paid yesterday and am going to try to save some of the money so I will be able to afford those items come next week, if I need to.

Because I've been thinking about buying all of these things, I've been looking for websites that have good deals on pet supplies. If anyone has any links to places you like to go, please share! I'm taking suggestions!

Life

I am very bad at following through. I promised a post over a week ago on this blog, yet I don't see one! Life gets in the way. I'm not complaining, honestly, I'm glad that I'm busy with life here and forget to post... it means I have things to do around here and I'm not as bored as I thought I might be.

Work is going great! It's kind of crazy being a real nurse on the floor, but I'm adjusting well and I LOVE going to work each day. Even if I do get tired and some days drag and my feet want to fall off, I still love going because I worked for this. I earned it. I'm bummed that next week I am back in the classroom and not on the floor, but it's all part of orientation.

I am surprised that it was easier than I thought to find a couple of girls that I already consider pretty good friends. Both are new nurses like me and one of them actually is moving to the same apartment complex I live in! My own roommate just moved in for good the other day too and so it's been nice to have someone else here.

I'm still adjusting to being in an area that has considerably less to do than where I am from, but at the same time I'm finding that between working, sleeping, and relaxing, I don't really mind! I am so so glad it's finally fall, my favorite season, and this area is the perfect place to be when the weather changes!

I am going to TRY to come back with a couple posts this week, one about fall here and another about future travel plans. In the meantime, my friend from home is coming up to see me for the night and I can't wait to see her and catch up. I've been missing my family and friends from home so it's nice that she's bringing a piece of it to me =)

Oops

So this blogging thing is harder than I thought... I always forget about it and then POOF it's a week later, two weeks later, etc. and I realize I haven't posted. When I realize I haven't posted, I don't have anything particularly interesting to share, so I choose not to post at all. It's a vicious cycle... I promise I will post something with substance tomorrow, since I have the day off.

Work, Nails, Eat

My first week of work was a very big change from sitting in my apartment all day, waking up at 10, and generally doing nothing! It's so nice to be working full time, even if it does require waking up before the sun rises. Although I have started work, I have a long orientation process so I haven't actually started my 12 hour shifts on the floor yet. That will come soon!

The one thing that stresses me out about starting a real full-time job is that I don't know how all this scheduling works (what's earned time?!?!) and how to decide what benefits I want-- healthcare, retirement, etc. I'm only in my 20s! I do have sessions to help explain those things this week, though, so hopefully I'll feel a little more educated! Because of medications I take, I need to set myself up with a primary care here, but I can't do that until I sign up for health insurance and it takes effect, in about a month. A new doctor, a new dentist, a new license... real life is more paperwork and phone calls than I expected!

Speaking of "new"s... I went to a nail salon near my apartment Saturday to get a pedicure with one of the girls I've met in the past couple of weeks. I'm going to try to save my money and make smart decisions with it, but I'm pretty sure that a pedicure every two or three weeks is going to be one of my splurges-- it's just too relaxing and wonderful! Anyway, we went to this new place, and they were terrible! My nails smudged even two hours after leaving the salon... they were still tacky and got ruined. Oh well, now I know I won't be going back there... luckily there are a few other places nearby to check out! The important things in life =)

I added a page to this blog called "Fitness". There have been so many times I've said I was going to change my lifestyle and it all got thrown out the window when I got busy, lazy, or just didn't do it. Now that I'm living on my own, working and don't have classes to study for, etc, and can buy and prepare my own foods, I've decided it's really the perfect time to make good choices and change myself for the better. It's not so much that I want to lose a ton of weight to be skinny, but just I want to get in shape and feel good about myself. Right now all that's there is a weight loss ticker (I do want to lose about 20 pounds!) but I plan on adding exercise info and other related things as I go, to track my progress.

Here's to a great second week of work!