The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, we were hit with a spring snowstorm, despite my insistent denial that it was not coming. I was supposed to go to a bridal shower that day but was worried the snow would fall hard and fast {like it did that morning while we were at church} while I was gone, so I stayed home and rested instead. I really needed that rest, though. It had been a crazy weekend! That evening, Ryan and I watched a movie and worked on putting our house back together {still}.

 * Monday...the snow accumulated to 10 1/2 inches, rendering me homebound for the day. Ryan took the 4 wheel drive vehicle and braved his way to work...said he never would have made it in my car. You KNOW that means I never would have made it! I worked from home - even called in my portion of the Kitchen Caboodle show. And because I was feeling like an extra good wife...I made peanut butter cookies to surprise Ryan when he got home!

* Tuesday afternoon I had to go to the clinic to get some meds...nothing major wrong with me, but major enough that I had to pay the good doctor a visit. Those of you who know how MUCH I loathe going to the doctor better have been sitting down to read that news!!  :) I went to pick up my prescription that night and they ended up only giving me half of it...but I didn't know that until I got home!! I almost cried when I realized I had to go back. All I wanted was bed!

* Wednesday I felt MUCH better. SO much better. Amazing what a little medicine can do! That night, Ryan and I resumed work on our house - which is still in a state of, well, being a mess. :) He unearthed my first ever Mid-Morning interview...like back when I was a guest on the Author! Author! show. We listened to that together...so funny! And we ran to the store that night and saw this gorgeous moon on the way home. Picture doesn't do a thing for it.

* Thursday, Ryan and I both had particularly lousy days, so we decided to try to shake off the yuck by having a fun impromptu date evening. His mom told us it was National Food on a Stick Day, so we celebrated that and the apparent arrival of spring by visiting our hot dog stand for corn dogs! :)

Then we came home and Ryan worked to put together our new hammock. In the dining room. Do you not have a hammock in your dining room?

* Friday was Good Friday, so I worked from home in the morning and enjoyed the afternoon off. That night, when Ryan got home from work, we went on our weekly date - to Ivanhoe's in Upland for the inaugural strawberry shortcake of the season! It was Ryan's first ever shortcake from there! He loved it!! Then we came home and watched a movie. Perfect low key night!

* Saturday, Ryan had to work in the morning, so I used that time to run all kinds of errands, and then we went to get me a new phone! {Mine died a tragic death at the hand of some bad advice on how to fix it...advice given to us BY the cell phone store, mind you.} Then when we came home...Ryan broke out the grill for the first grilling of the spring!! OH my goodness - it was SO GOOD!

And yes. We do more than eat. :)

A Pinteresting March

Easter Printable
 

Source: antsi-pants.blogspot.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

Since Easter fell in March this year, I didn't worry about finding a "March" printable for our living room, but I went with the Easter theme instead. The colors worked so well with our living room and I loved, loved, loved the Christian theme behind it!

Coffee Bar Signs
 

Source: stylemepretty.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

This pin gave me the inspiration to have little signs for everything on our coffee and ice cream bars at our reception. I loved the decorative factor! I asked my friend Angi to make cutouts for me on her Cricut, and then I wrote the details on them at the reception!

Coffee Bar Flavorings
 

Source: beautyandbedlam.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

This pin gave me the idea to have different flavoring bottles and whipped cream as part of our coffee bar at the reception. We ended up having hazelnut, caramel, and vanilla flavorings for people to add to their coffee concoction!

Hot Chocolate on the Coffee Bar
 

Source: blog.hwtm.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

I've HEARD...there are people who don't like coffee???? :) So this pin inspired me to add hot chocolate to the coffee bar for those who prefer that. And there may have been some who preferred a little of both! And that's okay too!

Ice Cream Toppings
 

Source: creatingreallyawesomefreethings.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

I needed some inspiration for how to display the toppings for the ice cream bar...and this did the trick! I borrowed a bunch of small bowls from a lady we interviewed on Mid-Morning last year and had a blast putting together the topping combos!

Blog Planning Pages
 

Source: meandmarielearning.blogspot.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

I'm finding there is no perfect prefab day planner, so I tried my hand at combining my own pieces. Found this free printable to plan blogs. Obviously I'm very constant in blogging (doing it daily) but this will help me be more planned in it. {I've found that since getting married, it's hard to find chunks of time to sit and blog without taking time away from Ryan. He's so understanding about my blog and doesn't mind when I need to take some time to do it - but I still think this will help.}

Meal Planning Pages
 

Source: eatathomecooks.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

Also in my new binder, I wanted something to help us plan meals, as that has been a challenge since we got married. This helps me keep track of who might be eating out which meal of which day {thus showing who actually needs food from home} and gives me an idea of what's on the menu at home each week. I love the shopping list on the side, and the fact that I can just pull this page out of the day planner and take it into the store with me!

Daily Planner Page
 

Source: thehouseholdplanner.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

I wanted to try a daily planner page to see if that would help me NOT forget things throughout the day. I love the customized daily planner page from this link - gives me a chance to see my meal plan at a glance, financial tasks, household tasks, personal tasks, work projects, phone calls and emails that need to be made and a morning/afternoon/evening plan - with room leftover for notes!! :)

Weekly Planner Page

Source: alovelyarray.blogspot.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

I wanted a weekly planner page to sort of see everything at a glance - for Ryan, for me, for both of us - and this lets me do that! I love its boldness and the two big boxes on the right for notes!! I color coded this in red, blue, and black to see what is mine, his, and ours as far as appointments go.

Monthly Planner Page
 

Source: thetomkatstudio.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

I always want a monthly planner page to keep track of what's what at a month-glance. I found this very cute and colorful monthly planner, so I printed it for my binder too!

Mason Jar Picture Frames
 

Source: stylemepretty.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

I loosely used this idea for our reception. I saw pins that said to use water and some said to use olive oil. I didn't want to mess with laminating or ruining pictures - or buying lids for borrowed jars, for that matter - so I just put sand in the bottom of the jars to secure the photos {and create a beach look} and put two pictures back to back inside. The jars became frames and we put them down the center of the tables at our reception! Here is an example of ours:

St. Patty's Day Love Notes
 

Source: thedatingdivas.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

Y'all, I love the Dating Divas website. Lynne and I interviewed a couple of the divas a while back on Mid-Morning and I love what they stand for. They have a passion to keep romance in marriage, and they make it easy by offering great ideas...and this is one of them. Six love notes - free to print. While I'm not really a St. Patrick's day girl {I wear green to avoid getting pinched and that's about it} I figured any excuse to spoil Ryan was worth it! So I took the 30 seconds to print this sheet and cut them apart - and then I hid them around here and there...in his bathroom, his car, etc. Fun way to remind him I love him!

More St. Patty's Day Love
 

Source: thedatingdivas.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

Another quick thing I did for Ryan on St. Patty's day - printed out this free printable that gave me 10 blanks to list reasons why I love him. NOT HARD to figure out! I filled it in, hid it in his Bible, and loved seeing his face as he read the things I love!

Another Easter Printable
 

Source: incourage.me via Rebekah on Pinterest

Although I had the other printable up in the living room the whole month, I found this one online and wanted to use it on Easter weekend. Love the words and the layout of it.

Vacation Planning Pages
 

Source: 174.120.80.130 via Rebekah on Pinterest

I wanted to find some pages to help me for future vacation planning prep, so I found these! The only thing I don't like about them is that they're personalized to the family of the lady who made them! But I can scratch those names out and use ours instead. I like it that the planner has a way to keep track of hotel and flight reservations, confirmations for activities, notes, packing lists, and checklists.

The Day His Best Friend Died

Today is Good Friday, and I want to post something I wrote back in 2005....because I ran across it this week and the memory of it touched me. This was written after the church I attended showed the video presentation of the Gospel of John over a series of Sunday evenings. The production pulled only what the book of John says. All the dialogue and narration came straight from John. And you know – not every event is told the same way or in its entirety in each of the four gospels. Until watching the video, I’d never paid much attention to what any particular gospel did or did not say. And I’d never realized how much of my Bible knowledge is comprised of a mix of all four books. 

After we finished watching the crucifixion scene, a woman in the church piped up loudly, "Well THAT'S not how the crucifixion happened!" Her comment offended me...I wanted to ask if she was there...but I bit my lip. But as many offensive comments tend to do...I started thinking and digging through John to see for myself. And it is true that John tells the story with much less detail than the other gospel writers put in. 

It’s no secret that John and Jesus were close. Throughout the book, John refers to himself as “the disciple Jesus loved.” Anytime in any of the gospels, when you see Jesus taking what we have come to call “the inner circle,” on a little field trip apart from the rest of the disciples, John was in that group. John was the only disciple (I learned Sunday night in the discussion) who didn’t die some sort of horrific death. So I guess you could say that John and Jesus were best friends of sorts.

And on this day, John’s Best Friend died. I’ve lost a lot of people in my life who are dear to me. I’ve not lost my best friend – and I hope I never do. I hope I go first. Because I can’t imagine that pain. To lose from my life someone who has known me and loved me despite my quirks and flaws – I don’t want to know that kind of a void in my life.

But I do remember when my nephew died. That was the first time I lost someone close to my heart. I remember a lot of things about his death – from hearing others talk about it, from pictures, from journaling. But you know what I remember by heart? I remember that I couldn’t start crying when I heard that he was gone – and then I couldn’t stop. I remember that when I saw the nurse carrying his little body into my sister’s hospital room, she carried him like a football and I thought that was uncaring. I remember that he was heavy when I held him – and babies aren’t supposed to be heavy. I remember that he looked like a doll in his casket and some people thought he was a doll. I remember singing “Near to the Heart of God” in the funeral service. I remember the funeral director telling me to leave my mom alone at the cemetery because she was praying and I was trying to talk to her. That’s all I remember. The rest that I only know because others told me. I only remember what mattered to me on those days.

And I would imagine the same was true of John as he wrote of his Best Friend’s death. Why would he notice that Jesus restored the ear of Malchus after Peter sliced it off in a moment of impulse Jesus-defense? All he heard were Jesus’ words to Peter – “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” And in that moment, John knew this really was the end. His Friend was going to die.

Why would he retain that Simon of Cyrene was recruited to help Jesus carry the cross? All he could see was that his Best Friend, exhausted and beaten, had to carry his own cross for a bit – and that’s all he could replay in his mind.

And right before Jesus died, He said these words that only John records: “When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’” With that exchange, John took quite seriously his role as the caretaker of his Best Friend’s mother. And only he could understand what a treasure and responsibility that was, because only he would have known how much Jesus loved His mother.

John didn’t mention the crowd spitting on and mocking Jesus’ body as He hung on the cross. He didn’t tell about Jesus forgiving the thief who repented as he died. He skipped the telling of the earthquake, the curtain splitting in two, the graves opening, the storm, the darkness…none of that mattered to him. His world had become just two people – a broken mother weeping in his arms and a Best Friend gasping for His last breaths just steps away. Why would anything else matter to him? He had a new mother to comfort. He had grief beyond what any other man there could know. And later, as he wrote – the other things were not important. Other people could tell those parts of the story. He told what he remembered by heart.

It’s just a theory of course. I wasn’t there any more than the person who said it’s not how the crucifixion went. But it is how it went. In the mind of one man, these were the details that mattered. And though I don’t know exactly why he chose to omit some of the more dramatic parts that come to our minds when we think of this story – I can imagine it was because those things just were insignificant in light of his grief and responsibility. And it just makes sense to me. So that’s my theory. Maybe one day when I get to Heaven, I can ask John for myself.

Welcome Sweet Springtime, We Greet Thee in...SNOW?

In the list of things I don't expect to experience the week before Easter...SNOW!!!

But that's what we got last Sunday night/Monday morning. Lots and lots of snow. {I know. I know. Those of you who live up north or out west have seen WAY more of it this winter than we did. And I'm grateful our winter wasn't any worse than it was. But once spring has settled in on the calendar, I expect it to settle in outside as well.}

Yet Monday, the baby buds on my trees...and the sprouts of daffodils in the backyard...were buried under 10 1/2 inches of snow.

And I was buried INSIDE my house, doing Mid-Morning from my couch!! Ryan made it to work in the 4 wheel drive vehicle and I made it to the couch with a cup of coffee.

It really was a gorgeous snow...you know, from behind a camera lens...

 Snow covered pine trees...LOVE that sight. {In December, preferably.}

 Good thing we didn't plan to grill until the weekend...

 Proof that I didn't just, you know, make this stuff up.

 One very lonely, snow covered chair.

And just for a little perspective...this was this same time last year.

And one day - soon - I hope to see that again!! :)

Praying in Faith

I'm a visual person...and there's nothing I love more than a tangible example of something to push me forward in pursuit of it.

My visit to the prayer chapel before our reception was my visual reminder of God's answer to weeks...months...years of prayer prayed in that very pew...for a husband.

My ruby ring was a visual reminder to me to become a Proverbs 31 woman...and I wore it until Ryan replaced it with my engagement ring.

And on our wedding day, rather than doing a unity candle or a sand ceremony, we elected to place engraved stones in a bowl...each of us placed one there, and both stones bore a Scripture passage we'd chosen. In placing those stones, we declared to our tiny cloud of witnesses that we chose to lay a foundation together, based on the Lord.

And on our reception day, together, we placed one more stone in that beginning of a family altar. A stone that held another Scripture reference that we chose together - this time declaring to a bigger cloud of witnesses that we were committed to our vows, to the Lord, and to each other.

Our intention is to build on this altar as we go throughout our lives...placing a stone in the altar each time God does something profound in our lives. We don't know what those stones might be...but we will place them there as God moves.

A few weeks ago, after Ryan did some work on his house we're trying to sell, he came home with a rock, and he put it on the kitchen counter. I asked him what it was for and he shrugged. "I was working under the house and found it there. Thought I'd keep it."

I put my arms around him and said, "It'll be our faith rock. When the house sells, we'll put the date on the rock and put it in our altar. It's perfect."

The rock is sitting on the kitchen shelf, just above the sink, next to our little piece of Christmas tree trunk that we're making an ornament from...and every day when I work in the kitchen, I see the rock.

I'm reminded that one day, we'll get to pull it off the shelf, write a date of thanksgiving on it, and deposit it in our family altar - a testament to the day God answered one of our first big prayers as a married couple. And until that day comes, I pray in faith, believing that one day, the rock will become a rock of thanks.

Some Thoughts on Fashion. {a.k.a. HELP ME}

Help me.

I have never been accused of being a fashionista, and that is okay with me. I grew up fashionably awkward and while I like to think that I sort of have a decent style under control now...I am LOST beyond lost with what is happening in these stores today.

Help me.

It started with this - an ad I saw in a magazine.

I got lost after the ponytail. That was all I understood. Polka dot shirt with floral jeans??? And striped shoes???

It made me dizzy. And not in a good way.

And then there was this...that I saw in another ad.

Both sides, really, are betrothing...but really? Lime green dress pants? That are hiked up to his chin? with a blue belt? And a black jacket?

Help me.

And then Ryan and I saw this the day we were shopping for my Easter dress:

Again - both really, but the outfit on the right...do I have this correct? A t-shirt tucked inside a dressy skirt that has that uneven hemline I didn't like the first time around and I see I like it no better this time...and then a jacket made out of a sweatshirt? And a cross body dressy purse?

Help me.

And then this one...that just took the cake. I talked about it on Mid-Morning last week.

A long-sleeved shirt that basically has flowers in jail...with lacy neon running shorts?

I don't understand.

Help me?

Because right now I look like this:

Foundations

For our reception, Ryan and I elected to do a bit of a different style of guest book. Instead of doing a regular book that people would sign and we would put away and never see again...we decided to take our theme of stones...and expand it to our guests.

So at our reception...we had this table of stones...

 Stones that would soon bear names...names of people who had invested in our lives. Not a complete list of all who ever invested, of course, but of those who were there that day. Sunday School teachers. Pastors. Aunts and uncles. Siblings. Friends. Mentors. Accountability partners. Prayer warriors. Teachers. Parents. Nieces. Cousins. Co-workers.

 Because those people {and many more} poured into us, we were able to become the people we are today. We were able to stand and pledge forever to the other because of our foundation.

 And as the day progressed, people stopped by the table and signed stones. Inscribed their names in rock to signify the investment made in two people who were celebrating the beginning of a home and life together.

 People whose presence changed us in some way and prepared us for this day. For this journey.

And now the rocks are piled high in a jar that sits in the center of our home...as a reminder of where we came from. Of those who took time for us...to mold us...to be Jesus to us. Who made a covenant to invest in us. To take a risk on us. To pour into us.

Our foundation.

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw - each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

1 Corinthians 4:10-13

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday after church, Ryan and I stopped at an open house for some of his cousins who just had a baby. I got to hold her for just a minute - right about the time she decided to cry. :) After the open house, he took me shopping for an Easter dress, and we had SUCCESS! We had an impromptu dinner date at Panera, and ended up coming home with fun cookies - which we later enjoyed with our evening coffee. Not the day our day planner said we would have, but a beautiful day together!

* Monday we woke up to ice. ICE. Hello??? SPRING??? Anyway. We woke up to ice, so my commute, which I began at 6:25 a.m. took one hour and fifty-three minutes. I was late, but in one piece, thankyouverymuch. After work, Ryan and I worked hard on our kitchen. It's not that big and we received a lot of nice things for our wedding...and they needed a home. So we weeded out and worked to clean, purge, and organize. It looks so nice! Now for the rest of the house...

* I gotta tell you - after days like Tuesday - I'm reminded that you just never know what's going to happen. We looked outside at work during the early part of the afternoon to find a section just down the block all marked off with crime tape...and found out later, there had been a homicide right there on the sidewalk in the middle of broad daylight. For as many crime shows as I have watched in my day, I'm a flat-out chicken when it happens in real life right there! So very sad. I was so glad to come home that day and cook...and read...and help Ryan clean more in our house...and I may have used my *highly scientific methods* to fill out a March Madness bracket for Phats.

* Wednesday morning I got to work in time to find out there had just been another homicide in our part of Fort Wayne. Two in less than 24 hours is two too many for me!  It seemed like everything about the day went wrong...so I was extremely grateful to come home, put on my jammie pants, and sit for the evening. Ryan was home all night too and we just took it easy. And he asked me to dance to one of our favorite songs. So in the middle of our living room - in my jammie pants and socks - we danced. He's a good man.

* Thursday...Amy "deputized" me at work...as safety girl number one after all the mess that had happened earlier in the week in Fort Wayne. In truth, I'm NOT the girl you want in an emergency, but I was as excited as Gomer Pyle to wear my badge all day! 

That night, I got to meet up with my friend Marie for dinner at Culver's. It had been months - maybe even almost a year?...since we had a little time to ourselves. 

* Friday was a bit chaotic at the start...our guest didn't show up for Mid-Morning...so Lynne and I had an impromptu BLT on Friday! And that night, I worked the Big Daddy Weave/Citizen Way/Chris August concert...and had a complete blast! {Though getting home at 12:20 in the morning and seeing Ryan for the first time in 17 1/2 hours made me sad!!}

 * Yesterday morning we slept in for the first time since New Year's Day. No joke!! Ryan made me breakfast in bed:

 I went to a baby shower in the afternoon - for my friend Sheryl's daughter, and then that night, Ryan and I had date night - up to Lake Webster. Can't wait until it's warm enough to really have some lake livin'!