Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Best food on earth

My cute neighbor Payal is from Gujarat, India. I feel so lucky to have her and her husband Alex next door!  Alex is always giving great tips on home improvement, and Payal and I are constantly trading food (she supplies the healthy indian food, and I give back the baked goods!) and Cal adores her.  She calls him "bum-bum" - meaning chubby, and it makes me laugh every time.

A few months ago, I was sitting there eating a meal provided by Payal, and had the thought I need to learn how to make this, or I will forever regret it.  That week we picked a day and a meal, spent the hours between 4-6pm prepping, and the four of us (errr 5 but Cal didn't eat it) ate it together and had a wonderful evening.

Since that time, we have made some of the BEST FOOD that I have ever tasted.  Some of the dishes we have made are:

- Cucumber Raita
- Gobi Paratha
- Pav Bhaji
- Malai Kofta
- Garlic Naan
- Stuffed Eggplant
- Bhakri
- Papprichad

Ryan is probably sick of hearing me say it, but I want to go to India in the next decade so badly.  Sometimes I feel a little envious knowing somewhere in the world there are people eating that delicious food every. single. day.

That is why, when our kids are old enough to understand/appreciate it, we will start our "international nights".  I want to teach our children about different cultures and to be open to new and different foods, and to hopefully be able to take them there at some point in the future.  That's the ideal, hopefully we make it happen!

Friday, March 6, 2015

Success

This last week I was...off.  I was easily irritated, quick to take offense, defensive and just plain moody!  I kept trying to blame hormones or anything to justify my behavior, but deep down I knew it wasn't anyone or anything's fault but my own.

After mulling over my thoughts, both privately and with family, I was able to pin point what exactly was troubling me.  I was stuck on success as having one definition - making money.  All around me, there are people being unique and innovative, creatively finding ways to have an income during the rough years of medical school.  I kept combing through my skills and talents, and came up empty.  I felt like I was just lukewarm at everything, and it really started to get to me.  It felt like college was a waste of time, and any past job was also, worthless.  I started to feel overwhelmed by my negativity and it dragged me down within days.    

Then, it finally hit me.  Success is only what it is defined as, by me.  Not by anyone else.  Success can be perfecting a budget, or broadening my financial knowledge, even learning a hard song on the piano or guitar.  It could be to overcome a bad habit, or to get over how awkward I feel on phone calls.  Success needs to be broader, because if it isn't, I could miss a potentially very rewarding time of life. 

I'm not saying I'm not going to try to bring in money, as my sister and I have a plan (we can do it!) but I'm not going to rip myself apart if it isn't as much as others, or if it takes a long time to get there.  For now, I'm just going to focus on the simple successes life brings me along the way.