Weekend Coffee Share.....Come Sit with Me

It's another week of Weekend Coffee Share. I always love everyone's posts. Are you like me and try to visit everyone? It doesn't always happen but I try. 

I skipped last week as it was the first day of our vacation and the days leading up to it were busy with me being under the weather, and watching our grandson for 3 days/nights (that was a fun/crazy/tiring time) and trying to get ready to leave for a week. I did try to visit some of you thought. 

If we were having coffee we'd probably talk about:

The Weather: I'm starting this post on Thursday and we're ending our vacation in central Oregon, heading home tomorrow. The weather here has been beautiful, though VERY cold at night (in the low 30's). At home I've heard the weather has been rainy but my mother in law said today was nice. I'm not sure what it's supposed to be like once we get back, I haven't checked. 

What we're thinking about: I hate confrontation, etc and I try and stay away from topics that are controversial, especially lately, BUT I got irritated today after I saw a story my daughter put up on her IG stories about a Pinterest search she did. I'm going to preface this first by saying, no snarky comments or assumptions please. I am for doctors, etc, BUT I will always first look for ways to help my body heal itself, AND use natural methods of doing so before I will take prescriptions, etc. Apparently though Pinterest doesn't think these are good options because if you search for things like essential oils for flu season, home remedies for flu season, foods to eat during flu season and how to stay healthy during flu season, this comes up! That irritated me. I'm tired of this...our bodies are amazing and they were designed to work for us not against us. I'm tired of things being censored and filtered out if they don't fit the narrative. Our bodies need all the natural help we can give them. Fresh air, nutrient rich foods, exercise, etc. Okay, end of rant. I'm okay if you don't agree with my way of thinking. I hope you can be okay too. 

What we're thankful for: For me, the chance to get away for a week in our favorite vacation spot in Central Oregon, Sunriver. We have been coming here since we got married...literally....this is where we spent our honeymoon. It hasn't gone quite the way we had planned because the previous week, I came down with a sinus cold, that turned into a cough, that I passed on to my hubby (shame on me), so we left for our trip and I was feeling mostly better but he's been mostly miserable. So we've done things as he's felt up to it. He did say this has been a good place to heal because he's been able to just relax, rest, sleep, etc. The other downer was our oldest daughter didn't get to come with the grandkids. Her littlest had been having a nasty cough at night and neither she nor the baby were getting much sleep. She felt it was best if she stayed home. Soooo...I'm so thankful for this trip and being able to make the best of it despite the hiccups. 

Central Oregon is stunning. So much to see and do. We hiked the Big Obsidian Flow, which is nothing but rock but you come across some gorgeous obsidian and pumice, AND the views at the top are amazing. 

There are 32 miles of bike trails through Sunriver and it's one of our favorite things to do. Horses from the stable grazing at sunset. 

Bend, Oregon is about a 30 minute drive from Sunriver and we LOVE visiting the old downtown area and a few other favorite spots. We make a point to take a photo by this guy every time we come. 

We found a putting course not far away. I'm not very good but we had fun. We also played Bocce ball at the park. 

In the Newberry National Volcanic Monument, (I think that's what it's called) you will find much to see. This area used to have volcanic activity. This Paulina Falls. We've seen it flow harder, but end of summer has left it fairly dry. 

This area of the Deschutes and Sun River are so peaceful. Perfect for kayaking, canoeing or paddle boarding. 

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. This tree was at the house next door to where we stayed. So pretty. By the end of the week though, most of it's leaves had fallen. 

One of our favorite bridges to ride to. Cardinal Landing (which is funny because we don't have cardinals here). I couldn't find where it got it's name. 

I shared more photos and videos on my personal Facebook page. Just look for Kirstin Bozich Troyer if you'd like to see more. It should be the first album you see.

What we're reading: Today, Thursday, my hubby had to do work stuff all day so I drove to the village and browsed a few shops I hadn't gone in yet during this trip..one being the bookstore. This store has been here since we first started coming (I'm not sure if they have the same owners). Things have been so hard for small businesses the last few years I decided to not walk out empty handed. I purchased this book. It sounded good and I loved the cover and the pages. 

Around the House: Let's see, since last time I posted, not a lot has happened. We are picking up the plumbing fixtures for bathroom and kitchen on our way home from vacation. We're still deciding on backsplash for Kitchen. We did get all the material for the shiplap accent wall where the gas fireplace will go. Oh, and we picked up all our appliances, but they're not installed yet. We still need trim, carpet in our room, doors, light fixtures....seems like there's still so much to do. 

I don't think I shared a photo with the floors done in the new part. I love them.

From the Kitchen: The kitchen was finished just before we left for vacation so I still haven't done much there. Here on vacation, we've kept it simple; shrimp tacos, chili, BBQ chicken. I did make this Stuffed whole wheat braid...stuffed with ground turkey, spinach, etc...it is so good. I'm dreaming of the day when I'll be cooking in my new kitchen. 

What we're learning, understanding, realizing: Sometimes I struggle with downtime. When there's nothing to do I feel like I should be doing something more productive. I know that's not true and I know that I am putting that on myself. I've joined in a few times with Leslie from Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After when she had done her Bucket List Challenges. I haven't been very successful with my lists. She does them seasonally which is a great idea. I'm going to keep attempting to do these, though I need to find a way to be intentional at accomplishing them. Here is my fall list.  One thing I did do was keep it shorter and hopefully more manageable. I think if I didn't work outside the home AND do online work, it would be easier to find the time to accomplish things, so I just need to learn how to manage my time better. 

Favorite Quote of the week:

Our theme this week for our #WQWWC was imaginary. As I looked through quotes I found this one and I found it to be so true of what we often see or "perceive" or even portray ourselves on social media. What do you think of it?

"We are not satisfied with real life; We want to live some imaginary life in the eyes of other people and to seem different than we actually are" Unknown

What we've listened to or watched: My hubby actually turned on Christmas music to be funny today, but I listened to it for a bit. I LOVE Christmas music, but try to refrain until the day after Thanksgiving...literally. We also watched a few movies while on vacation. Have you seen the movie Awakenings with Robin Williams? Really good, but also sad. I didn't listen to any podcasts while we were here. I really want to get to doing this. 

Favorite Photo of the week:

Just a few that I thought were fun from the week. Whenever we see the "perfect spot", I always get a photo like this of my daughter. We have quite a few of her looking suspended in air.

She took a few of me and I like how they turned out. I'm not often in photos and often don't like them, and even though my eyes were closed, I loved them. We were at the top of Paulina peak. We didn't hike to it, though you can and we saw quite a few people biking up it....it is almost an 8,000 foot elevation. I give those bikers a lot of credit. We drove. 

Randomness: On the weekends in October, I'll be working at the Pumpkin Patch. I usually am in the booth taking money, but I also might be out pricing pumpkins too. I don't always feel as confident in that (pricing the pumpkins...it's done by size, not weight) but I know I'll catch on pretty quick. 

As I mentioned above, we took our honeymoon here in Sunriver, Oregon. I'm not sure what made us choose this location. Probably a recommendation from someone my hubby knew. But I'm glad we did. We came here almost yearly, up until our girls hit HS and then it was a bit harder, but we do try to come every couple years. The other day we were bike riding and both my hubby and I saw this street sign and said "hey, that's where we stayed on our honeymoon". I went back today to take a couple pics. It's also our anniversary on the 10th so I thought it was only fitting to take a photo where we started our life. 

This is the home. #1 Gosling. 

We've often said that if we could, we'd buy a home here. Not to live full time (though that wouldn't be bad either...just too far from family....4 hours from home) but to come whenever we wanted or for friends and family to use. 

Check out all the other posts on Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. I'm off to go visit some now. #weekendcoffeeshare

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin