home leave

A Recap of Week 2 in Bend, OR

by Sarah Novak on August 22, 2011

What a fantastic second week in Bend, OR!  We got to check out a couple of the hot spots including Smith Rock (top 3 photos) where rock climbers do their thing.  Unfortunately we went at a time of day when not many were climbing, but the beauty of the place was still impressive.

So cool to catch a glimpse of the moon during the day!

These final 4 pictures were taken atop Mount Bachelor which can be seen from my in-laws deck.  We got to go to the 7000 ft point, as the summit (9000 ft) is only open in the winter when ski season is going on.  In the shot above you can see both the 3 Sisters Mountain Group on the left and Broken Top Mountain on the right.

This is the Summit of Mount Bachelor and YES, that is snow!

Here’s a great shot of the Novak family!

And I managed to find the cutest little puppy to hang out with!  Sorry for the brevity, but we just started an 8 day road trip with just the 2 of us!  It’s been FOREVER since we’ve had any alone time and we’re relishing this pre-baby opportunity to chill.  Only 2 weeks to go til we land in DC and 2 months (hopefully) til little Nia comes into the world!  My how time is flying!  Stay tuned for upcoming posts from the Oregon Coast and Washington State…

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A Recap of Week 1 in Bend, OR

by Sarah Novak on August 16, 2011

We just wrapped up our fourth week of home leave (2 more weeks to go).  A week ago we transferred from Minnesota to Bend, Oregon to visit Nick’s parents.  This is my first time visiting the Northwest and WOW has it knocked my socks off.  Perfect weather every day, fit people as far as the eye can see and views to rival New Zealand… Bend definitely has it going on.

Bend is a relatively small city, with just 75,000 people living here.  What they lack in numbers, they make up for in charm.  This places just oozes culture.  Take the adorable Mill District, for example (pictured above).  It’s set right on the river and was converted from an old mill into dozens of cute shops and eateries.  Bike and walking paths abound and the river is always packed with tubers, swimmers, kayakers and canoers.  In fact, during a majority of weekends in the summer you will find some kind of race going on in the water.  This weekend we got to watch a Stand Up Paddle Board race (which was going to be followed up by a combined Dog/Owner Swim heat).

Here’s a beautiful shot I captured along the Deschutes River.  You can see the kayaks blurred in the background, along with a tent from the weekend’s festival.

Bend may not be big enough for the major leagues, but it has drawn over 50,000 fans to its minor league stadium this year, where the Bend Elks play.  We were lucky enough to join in the excitement of the last game of the season.

Not ones to waste time, Nick and his Dad scheduled a 2 and a half day Whitewater Kayaking Course for the first weekend here.  The first day and a half were spent training, followed by a full day tackling the rapids of the McKenzie River (class 2 and 3 rapids).  They came home exhausted but exhilarated.

Joyce and I made the most of our girl time by scheduling RELAXING things to do.  We got Manis and Pedis, went to see the movie The Help, took long walks and went out to dinner one night.  It was nice to have some quality time to ourselves!

Since I put in a shot of Nick’s Mom, I thought I should throw in a picture of Nick and his Dad too.  Here they are on top of the Pilot Butte lookout.  Aren’t they a cute pair?

It’s tough to explain how breathtaking this scenery is because the pictures just don’t do it justice.  That’s the best I’ve got though, so it’ll have to do.  Above is a shot taken from the Lake Paulina Peak lookout which is part of the Newberry Caldera.  All of the formations in this area were shaped by the volcanic eruptions that happened long ago.

I’ll leave you with a beautiful shot of Lake Paulina Falls.  If you look towards the bottom of the shot, you’ll be able to catch a glimpse of a beautiful rainbow!

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The Growing Bulge: Sarah at 30 Wks

by Sarah Novak on August 11, 2011

My belly is finally getting some substance to it now that I’m 2 weeks into the third trimester.  Nick and I are currently in Bend, Oregon with Nick’s parents and I’m taking advantage of the beautiful views and peaceful environment.  The picture above is a shot from their deck with Mt. Bachelor showing in the background.  It’s become one of my favorite places to take my afternoon nap.  :)  I’ll have more shots for you from Oregon and Washington State in the next few weeks, so check back!

 

 

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Blissed Out

by Sarah Novak on July 5, 2011

One of the best pregnancy benefits I’ve experienced thus far has been an increased awareness of my body.  I think this occurs naturally for most pregnant women, but to varying degrees depending on the degree to which you let it affect you.  As with anything, I realized that there were two ways I could decide to respond to this increase in body sensations.  I could either choose to be annoyed with all the physical changes or allow this experience to give me a heightened understanding of my incredible body!  I bet you can guess which one I chose…

In the past, I thought of my body mostly as a vessel or container.  I didn’t pay much attention to it and expected it to function at all times.  If it was sick, I expected it to push through.  If it was tired, I expected it to ‘get over it’.  That way of tending to my body phased out around age 25 when my body DEMANDED that it be taken care of.  It went into full-on rebellion, gifting me with 2 years of physical pain, anxiety, depression and panic attacks.  And let me tell you, when your body wages war on you, YOU LISTEN!

Let’s just say that I got the message and employed every resource I could think of to make it stop.  I got a therapist, found a chiropractor, did physical therapy, hired a life coach and started Network Spinal Analysis, all within the period of a year.  It was slow going, but over time I learned how to care for my body and it responded in the most amazing way (translation: I feel the best I’ve ever felt in my life and now trust that my body has the capacity to heal itself.)

Surprisingly, the body awareness that came with pregnancy was on a different level (more like a class titled Body Understanding 201 vs. the 101 learning I had to do in my mid-20′s).  I have enjoyed taking care of myself these last few years, so with a little encouragement from my husband (and the gift of open time on my calendar), I entered into a period of radical self-care for my body.  It sounds easier than it actually was.  I had a lot of guilt at first as my gremlin whispered a constant stream of nasty messages in my ear:

  • You are being WAY too self-indulgent!
  • What a waste of your time this self-care is, you should be producing something!
  • Are you really going to nap AGAIN?  You already slept 10 hours last night!

I eventually was able to ignore the messages after my husband reminded me at dinner one night that the most important thing I could do for our family right now was to grow a healthy baby (which starts with taking care of myself and remaining in a sound emotional state).  What a smart man I married!  Somehow that released all the guilt and I was able to view growing a baby as my job for 9 months.  That was the best perspective shift I made all year!

Since getting to MN, I’ve taken my current ‘job’ very seriously, engaging in a variety of wellness practices that help keep me centered.  On any given day, I both take a 30 minute walk and do one of the following: Prenatal Yoga, Prenatal Massage or Network Spinal Analyis.  The combination of these 4 things has kept me in an amazing state of being these last 5 weeks.  I have none of the anxiety that existed early in the pregnancy and I’ve developed a strong connection with both my body and the baby.  I am proud of the work I’ve done and am curious about the impact it will have on both my labor and the baby’s demeanor.

Since this post is getting a bit longer than I prefer, I’ll give you a teaser that my next post will talk about a very cool experience I had that was a direct result of my increased body awareness.  Stay tuned for that!

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