A Weekend in Sisters, Oregon

This past weekend Cory and I headed over to Sisters Oregon for a little getaway. Cory's parents blessed us with a two night stay at Five Pine Lodge for our first year anniversary (back in September). We just now got around to using the gift. Celebrations were in order this weekend seeing as it was Cory's birthday on the 24th and on the 22nd it was our engagement anniversary. We headed over on Sunday evening and arrived just before nightfall. 

That night we just relaxed and watched the end of the blazers game. So fun seeing that we never watch sports. Yup, we are the bandwagon sports watchers. Playoffs, Superbowl, World Series… we'll be watching...but those are probably it. 

After sleeping in until 10 (don't even remember the last time that happened!) we decided it was onto a bike ride for us. We grabbed some bikes that the Lodge provides and headed into town. The ride is less than a mile into downtown.

Of course our first stop was Sisters Coffee Co. We got some coffees and a little food and sat outside to enjoy the sunshine. The smell of coffee, pastries, and juniper was just heavenly. This coffee is the best in town, and definitely worth stopping to get a cup even if you're just passing through.

Open 6am-6pm everyday.  

And for those who don't want to venture all the way to Central Oregon, they have a second location right in Portland . 

We spent the afternoon biking around downtown Sisters and stopping in every antique store we could find. Sisters has a pretty good quantity of antique stores and it's always fun to see what little treasures we can find. 

After a few hours we headed home to freshen up before heading over (the parking lot) to Three Creeks Brewery . We were very excited to try this place out and even more excited that we could walk there! 

Cory lost a game of Bocce Ball a few hours earlier so I got to choose his "first beer". I think I did a good job ;) 

Cory's favorite was the StoneFly Rye . I opted for a few Ciders. We ate some apps off the "Hoppy-Hour" Menu (Mon-Fri 3-6) and played some pool. Makes me almost want to get a pool table for our basement.

After the brewery we headed back to the lodge and tried some wines from their complimentary wine hour. Of course they didn't have anything sweeter than a Chardonnay so you can say my glass was left more than half full. We then do what we always do on vacation - zone out in front of HGTV for a few hours. 

We noticed the Sisters Movie House (right on the other side of the parking lot from the brewery) was playing The Grand Budapest Hotel so we ventured over there to watch a film. I liked it more than Cory did but it was a good time. 

This was the first time we had stayed at Five Pines and were very pleased. The rooms were clean, comfortable, and quiet. The staff was very helpful and kind. It was so fun being able to rent bikes whenever we wanted and ride right into downtown. They had everything so close by (brewery, movie theatre, a mexican restaurant - which we tried, bikes to rent, a spa…get my drift) it makes you really not want to leave.

Sisters in one of those quaint little Central Oregon towns that is a great place to hang up your boots for a little while. Even though the exact town doesn't have too much to keep you entertained all week, it is the perfect central location. It is a 30 minute drive to the busier Bend Oregon. Less than an hour drive from Mt. Bachelor where skiing/snowboarding, snow-shoeing, or sledding can be enjoyed. It's a two hour drive (little far but not too bad) from the Painted Hills and a 40 minute drive to Smith Rock State Park.

 This weekend made me remember how much I love Central Oregon and even more how much I love just living in Oregon. Everything from the views during the drive, to the smells of Juniper all over town, heading to Central Oregon is such a blessing for the soul. Cory and I think we started a new tradition of heading to Central Oregon in April. We headed there last April to enjoy a whole week away. I'm excited for this new tradition and can't wait to visit again. 

Until next time, 

xo leah

The Perfect Day: Tolovana Beach

A few weekends ago we ventured to the coast and landed at Tolovana Beach near Cannon Beach. The weather looked promising so we decided to take advantage of the sun and head to the coast. We had planned to get together with some of our great friends and decided to spend our time together in the sunshine. 

Good friends and warm weather… it can't get any better. 

 Josh, Lauren, and Logan

Joe, Pam, and Daisy

The Crew

Daisy, Gretta, Lucy, Logan

There are a lot of things about these people that makes my heart happy. 

This was Lucy's and Daisy's first time, and it was fun to watch how excited they were about the sand and the ocean.

To say the dogs had a great time would be an understatement.

My friend Pam is a great photographer and I'm so happy she clicked a few photos of our pups. 

There is something about watching a pup run around with abandon at the beach, truly soaking up the fun that makes you happy. I love going to the beach, and going with Gretta and Lucy makes it even that more special. 

This trip with our friends will forever be a very memorable one. We laughed, talked about some heavy feelings, and shared in each other's joy about the day. Doing life with people you love makes this world so much more enjoyable. 

This day was pretty much the perfect day. 

To sunshine and beaches; friends and pups,

xo leah

Easter Day

Yesterday we were able to celebrate our Redeemer with our whole family. Above is a photo of my sister and her boyfriend, my brother, dad, mom, and Cory and I. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of Cory's family. This is the first time my whole immediate family has been together since Christmas and the first time we have had both sides of the family together since our wedding. What?!  Too long. This day made me so happy. 

Bekah and Dave stayed with us the whole weekend. 

We watched my little niece hunt for little eggs after dinner. She was the cutest little bunny, and watching how excited she got over finding these little eggs was priceless. "Auntee Wee-ah I found a gween one!" Heart melted. 

Photo of my little niece from my sister-in-law Lauren .

It is because of Jesus that we are able to live so abundantly. I am so blessed and thankful that I can call him my Savior. It's not that he lived, but that He Lives. Celebrating that with my whole family, the abundant blessing that I've been given was such a treasure. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. 

xo leah

Goodbye March, Hello April

Photos from March:

1. // First Spring Blooms 2. // Home-made Banana Ice Cream

3. // Starting our Kitchen Renovation 4. // Happy Lucy

I cannot believe it is already April. Where has the time gone? I think the beginning of the year goes by a lot quicker than the latter part of the year. However so, this month has been a good one to us. We made a lot of time to see family and friends, and made a point to have some out-of-the-house date nights. For some reason those just don't happen all that often. 

It's been so wonderful to see the start of Spring - seeing the flowers, hearing the birds, smelling freshly cut grass. It has made me even more excited for summer. 

This month I've been trying new recipes and attempting to actually meal plan for the week. It has been a little success and a lot of fun eating new things and making things I never knew I could make. It's always a bonus when Cory really likes the dish too.

This last month we started our kitchen renovation. I could not be more excited! We've been dreaming up this kitchen since before we moved in, and now to see it start to take shape is a lot of fun. 

March was lovely, with quite a few sunny days. The pups enjoyed the sunshine just as much as we did.

Looking forward to April days, 

xo leah

Sluggish....

 

 

Lately I've been feeling so tired. Sluggish. Eleven am and my eyes are already burning-type of tired. Do I get enough sleep? Yeah, about 7 hours a night most nights. Am I just working too much? Those 12 hour shifts are long, but it's not like I haven't been doing them for years. What is going on?

 

Then it hit me. Leah, you don't exercise. Yeah I'm on my feet all day at work; Granted I take my dogs for multiple walks during the week. But, let's face it, I don't do anything noteworthy of being called exercise. And that is simply not good. Really not good.

 

I'm young and possibly have a slight feeling of "I don't need to work out yet. Don't need to worry about that till I'm older". Truth is, right now is most important. I heard once : treat your body nice now, you'll be thanking yourself later. I want that to be me. I want to thank myself in 20, 40 years for being good to my body. I need to work it out and push it to keep it healthy and strong.

 

My Pinterest board keeps growing and growing with little work-ups that I could do outside, or even inside my own home. Easy ways to keep me moving. I'm no good at the gym - too much unstructured time to myself to just walk around. Plus even changing into workout clothes seem to take effort, let alone driving to a gym. These little work-outs are great (yes I have tried a few) and I always end saying that wasn't so bad and I feel so much better about today! But why can't I keep that motivation up?

 

I think after these weeks of just being too tired, I've had enough. I need to be more active; for my life now and later.

 

Here's to starting again,

 

xo leah

DIY: Wooden Chalkboard Slab

This is a super simple, satisfying DIY. Things chalkboard are becoming very popular right now, as well as using wood. I've seen a lot of little projects and pictures that use chalkboard slabs in the projects. They are fun and look really great. Here is what you'll need for this little DIY: 

1. A wood slab (I found mine at JoAnn Fabrics)

2. A small paintbrush

3. A can of regular-black Chalkboard paint

Instructions:

1. Slowly paint the outlines of your "chalkboard". You can paint right up to the edge, or have a much smaller chalkboard area, whichever you prefer.

2. Fill in the rest of your chalkboard area. 

3. Let stand for about 30-60 minutes to fully dry. 

4. Paint one more coat. 

Hang on the wall of your choice and enjoy your new space for further creativity!

To simple DIYs, 

xo leah

Recipe: Easy Bread

Yesterday I ventured to make my first loaf of bread. The last skill on my resume is a baker. I do not bake. If you ask me to bring dessert to a food function, it will always be store bought. However, technically bread making is baking. I was determined to make a good (okay, hoping for great) bread; so I put aside my fears of the term baking and tried my hand at bread making. 

What you'll need: 

1 large bowl

1 wooden spoon

3 cups Unbleached Bread Flour

1 1/4 teaspoons Kosher Salt

1/2 teaspoon Instant Rising Yeast

1 1/2 cups very warm water (not boiling though) 

1 Stainless Steel pot w/ the lid (or a french oven)

Directions:

Mix all dry ingredients together..flour, salt, yeast. 

Then add the very warm water. 

(Side note: I had my dough all ready when my husband came home and asked if I used warm water. Um, no? Why? I didn't read the back of the yeast package before I started, and sure enough - to activate yeast mix dry ingredients together with very warm water. Hmm, okay. So I just whipped up a new batch.)

Mix until all ingredients are combined. And don't worry, you don't need to over mix. This is suppose to be easy. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let sit for 12-19 hours. 

Excessively flour your work station and lay the dough right in the middle. Begin to form a heavily floured dough ball; the shape of a perfect round loaf.

Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for another 1-2 hours. When you have about 30 minutes left of this sitting period, preheat the oven to 450 degrees and place your pot inside. Once the 30 minutes is done, take out your pre-heated pot and place your doughy loaf inside. 

++ Do not grease/spray the bottom of the pot ++

Make sure your dough is well floured on the bottom. If it isn't it will stick. (DO NOT use a spray because that will burn the bottom.) Bake for 30 minutes covered. After this time, remove the lid and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. It should be getting golden brown on top at this time. Once done, take out and marvel at your handiwork. 

Take out and enjoy warm, or let sit on a cooling rack until you are ready to eat. 

Either way enjoy!

Bread making, not baking ;)

xo leah