I am an Oregonian

This summer I have truly discovered my inner Oregonian. This means that...

1.) A little piece of my heart breaks when I have to throw something away that can be recycled. My host family here doesn't recycle much, although I learned they have a bin in their garage that takes everything but glass :) Heart a little happier.

2.) I desperately desire to own a Prius or some kind of hybrid. There are so many here, when will the midwest catch on?

3.) I like that it isn't over 75-80 the majority of "summer." The Texans here are complaining about the cold...but I'm like wow it's really nice out! No humidity either!

4.) I have had so much coffee this summer at so many different coffee shops. There are a ton of great places here in Bend. One being Stricly Organic where I am typing this now. Or the best drive-thru coffee ever, Dutch Bros. There's also Backporch Coffee where my pulse group meets every week...and newly discovered Looney Bean which is downtown with a gorgeous backyard.  Most of the places here serve organic and/or fair trade coffee, so you can feel really really good about your purchases.

5.) Something particularly special with Bend is that there are a ton of round-a-bouts. Which are traffic circles if you dont know what those are you should look them up. I have become the master at driving through those, its definitely a skill that wont be used many places besides Oregon, but oh well.

6.) I way prefer the coast over the beach. This means that I am in love with the waterfalls and caves and the cute little towns of places like Seaside and Cannon Beach (even if they're pretty cold). I would much rather go there than any Florida/California beach where it's all flat and really hot and crowded.

There are more I'm sure... I will figure those out as time passes.