The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, after church, Ryan had to finish helping Adam and Sara pack their van to move, and I stayed home to do some writing. And that night, we watched {along with many of you, I'm sure} Nik Wallenda's tightrope walk across the Grand Canyon. I had cold sweats for that. MAN he makes me nervous. But it was so cool to watch!

* Monday night we had a bunch of errands to run and chores to do around the house. One of our errands took us to Lowe's {imagine that!} and we ended up leaving with a new tool box for Ryan! His old one broke and he had quite a mess on his hands. Dorky as it may sound, I was so excited for him to get a new tool box!! I imagine it brings the same kind of joy I experience when opening a new scrapbook....

* Tuesday was blessed hot, and I spent most of the afternoon outside working another Sticker Stop - this time in Marion! This is the first time I've ever worked an event in my hometown and it was SO. MUCH. FUN. I got to see some friends I don't normally run into, and working with Amy and Annie was a blast!

* Wednesday night I had a big ole surprise tucked into my commute. One moment I was scooting down the interstate like normal and all was well, and the next, I was in a complete downpour that made me pull over and sit still and pray hard! I honestly couldn't even see enough to know where I was on the road. God bless the inventor of the rumble strip; I felt that under my tire and that's how I knew where I was!

* Thursday I had the chance to go to a food truck lunch for the first time in my life! Apparently they have a line of food trucks every Thursday in downtown Fort Wayne, so Lynne and I went to check it out! SUCH a fun time! We felt like trendy city girls. :) And I do love a meatball sub, thankyouverymuch.

 * Friday I took another 1/2 day vacation and attended the retirement party for my former boss from IWU. Her name is Gaytha and she was one of my closest friends at the office. I'm excited for her that she gets to retire! Then I went to see my friend Sandee, also retiring this week...and then Ryan and I went on a date!! Our first trip to Outback!!!

* I realized I probably SHOULD be ashamed to admit this...but I'm not. Yesterday Ryan had to work, so I spent most of the day scrapbooking. I started our wedding album and finished 72 pages by the time I went to bed. I haven't cranked out that kind of work since before I got married!! We also got to have dinner with his parents - and unplanned but very wonderful addition to our day!

The Saturday Six

One.

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Amazing to me how even though I declared the "Worth it Wednesday" series done...God has brought back this theme in a variety of ways this week. This blog post, by blogger Mandy over at Biblical Homemaking stopped me dead in my tracks. Satan has not just whispered lies at me this week, but SHOUTED them over and over. So yes. I'm doing the worksheet.

Two.

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I fell in love with this room redo over at Thistlewood Farms. It's all done in neutrals - tons of black and white and gray and a great lesson in shopping from your own house to make a room look new, instead of shopping a store. {I will refrain from telling you how this is swirling in my own head right now.} {Ryan, don't be scared.} {Perhaps be a little scared.} Anyway. The room is lovely, the design plan is lovely, but you know what I loved most of all? She named the room. I think Shafferland rooms need names.

Three.

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My good friends, Brian and Jaye, just celebrated 25 years of marriage with a {surprise!} vow renewal ceremony. I hate it so much that I had to miss this in person but I loved reading about it and seeing the pictures. These two are the real deal. Brian baptized me two years ago and their marriage is one of those that I've seen for real and admire so much. Congrats, Brian and Jaye! 

Four.

My parents got us a Windstock wind chime for our wedding. I was pretty excited, because one of my first ever interviews on Mid-Morning was with the guy who makes these wind chimes! All of them play notes from a song, and ours plays notes from Pachelbel's Canon. {It's a wedding song.} We love it.

Five.

 Oh how I wish I'd gotten this picture myself, but I missed the whole thing! This was taken in my area on Thursday after a bad storm. Gail Laubsch is my Facebook friend who posted it - and it was so pretty, I thought you should see it too! Thanks, Gail, for the pretty picture!

Six.

Have y'all ever heard of ear candles? It's an alternative to flushing out your ears, which I can't do because it makes me crazy dizzy. Candles are grossly fascinating - and a danger to those with a hair product addiction. :) We candled my ears this week...and no hair was burned!! 

A Pinteresting June

June Printable
 

Source: thirtyhandmadedays.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

For the month of June, I used this printable in our living room! I love everything it stands for, and I was able to print it in a distressed format, so it looks really cool in the frame in the living room. This whole printable project has been one of my favorite ways to switch something up in our house each month, without spending anything!

Graduation Gift

Source: createmyevent.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

Ryan and I were invited to a few graduation open houses this year; we attended some but didn't make it to all of them...but we did want to give gifts! In most cases, we didn't know the graduates all that well, so we weren't sure what they might want or like for a gift. I found this idea, and while the printable link no longer worked, it inspired me to make a similar document in Word and attach money to the front. Nice thing about this one is that you can adjust the amount according to what your budget can afford!

Blog Post Love

Source: twothingsincommon.blogspot.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

I used this to inspire one of my Worth it Wednesdays posts!

And More Blog Post Love

Source: theaccidentalexecutive.tumblr.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

I used this one to inspire another Worth it Wednesdays post!

Coffee Station

Source: thecreamtomycoffee.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

Just realized that while this is not in the dining room {the board I pinned it to on Pinterest} - I did really make one very similar to this at the end of the kitchen, which I think looks pretty spiffy, post-kitchen renovation! I'm calling this one DONE!

Kitchen Curtains

Source: kenandhaven.blogspot.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

Source: curtainss.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

I combined these two pins to get my burlap swag curtain look for the kitchen. I found a roll of burlap at Hobby Lobby that was the size of a table runner - only longer. I used that for a no-sew swag that added lots of character, texture, and fun to the kitchen!

Father's Day Cheeseball

Source: cuteasafox.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

I was asked to bring a cheeseball to the Father's Day get together for Ryan's side of the family. I did the standard dried beef cheeseball but cut meat and cheese strips to make the tie pattern (as pictured above) and just shaped the cheeseball into the shape of a tie.


Manicure

Source: keepingupwithkatiek.tumblr.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

You know how I used to get Shellac polish done on my nails? Had to give that up with the commute and price of gas, so I'm always looking for something new to try to make the nail polish last. LOVE Essie polish and it does a great job of drying quickly and lasting a long time on its own, but I decided to try this combo with the Sally Hansen products. LOVE IT. It's only been a few days, but it went on quickly, dried fast, didn't chip or crack - so as of now, I'm a fan!

More Planner Pages
 

Source: mandicresswell.blogspot.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

Used this planner cover to finally make a cover for OUR day planner! Also used some of the page INSIDE the planner because they were good and generic. :)

Best Things....

On my last day of singleness, I wrote this blog post about what I'd learned from my single-preparing-for-marriage days. In it, I encouraged other singles to read, read, read...as much as they could. And I listed several of the books that helped shape me.

I forgot one.

I'd loaned it out and it wasn't back on my shelf as I perused the titles for that post. But this little gem is back with me now, and I want to be sure I tell you about it - and share some of its wisdom with you. {That might take more than just today.}

Are you married? Listen up. Good reminders in this book. Are you single? Listen up. That's when I read this one and some of those zingers I underlined really do come back to guide me now and then as I take the first fledgling steps of wife-hood alongside Ryan.

The book is called The Best Thing I Ever Did for My Marriage, and it's compiled by Nancy Cobb and Connie Grigsby. The chapters are actually written by lots of other people - sharing what they learned from their own marriages. I'm telling you: it's a gold mine.

{Back in the day, when I was single} I actually picked 20 of my favorite nuggets of wisdom - and wrote them on index cards. As I took laps around the indoor track at the gym, I'd pray over those pieces of wisdom, and in 2 miles flat, I'd prayed through 20 things for my someday marriage.

The first one I prayed about came from the intro to the book, written by marriage expert Dennis Rainey.

"The reality is, when two people join hands in marriage, there's a good chance their differences will collide like two gasoline trucks on the interstate."

True. Story.

I'm a passionate girl. And a creative girl. My perfect day starts by sleeping in until 10 a.m., fixing a large coffee, curling up in the chair with the laptop to write and scrapbook...pretty much until bedtime. I can get lost in the world of writing or scrapping for hours without ever knowing even a moment passed {except for meals, which I do not miss}. I cry at pretty much every movie, TV show and commercial. I'm scared to death of mice, spiders, and the thought of losing those I love. The only tools I recognize by sight are screwdrivers and hammers, and it's really better for all concerned if I use neither.

Ryan's a passionate guy. And a motivated guy. His perfect day starts bright and early in the morning, when he fixes a large coffee and before the pot has even finished brewing, he dives into the first of many projects he hopes to finish by day's end. He can get lost in the world of landscaping or house projects for hours without ever knowing a moment passed {including meals, which he can skip}. He's completely level-headed and logical about everything. He has no problems emptying mouse traps, killing spiders, though he's with me on the fear of losing those he loves. He knows how to use every single tool in the entire world - including drills that go into cement.

If we let it drift that way, we could be two gasoline trucks on the interstate.

But those differences can also be blended to be the most amazing team.

We compromise. Turns out there's an 8 a.m. that falls between 6 and 10. He can landscape while I sit on the porch with the laptop. Time spent together - yet time focused on our strengths. I remind him to eat and he makes sure I don't get completely lost in a scrapbook. My standing on a chair at the mere THOUGHT of a mouse makes him laugh, and his ability to check for one calms my heart. We alternate between his funny TV shows and my please-pass-the-Kleenex choices. He uses the tools and I take pictures of the projects.

I love our teamwork. Seven months in, I think we've done a pretty good job of blending our differences to make them strengths. Some of them have taken some work and some have fallen together seamlessly. And I'm sure there's much more of that to come.

Thank you, God, for every single one of those laps when I prayed for our differences to blend rather than collide. Your answer amazes me.

Sticker Stop: Hello, Marion!

I know, I know. I just worked a sticker stop a couple of weeks ago. A hot, sunny afternoon parked in front of the trifecta of goodness: Hobby Lobby, Cato, and a Christian bookstore. But yesterday, the WBCL van set out with a destination of MARION!

Hey wait! I live there! :)

So I joined up with Amy and Annie and we parked in front of another store of goodness: JuJuBerry!

 Can you believe I stood outside a Hobby Lobby for a whole afternoon and never went in to shop AND stood outside a frozen yogurt shop for a whole afternoon and never went in to eat? I must be ill.

No, seriously.

Worked with my good buddies Amy and Annie!

 And because I was on my home turf - I had the chance to see a lot of friends throughout the day!! Faith stopped by with her kiddos. {We are often accused of being sisters, but in fact, are not! Just good friends!}

 And a bit later, Kerri and Kathy stopped by. Kerri is, hands down, one of the funniest Facebookers I know. Between the funny conversations she has with her husband and her hilarious kiddo - my WORD she cracks me up!! And I'm not gonna lie - really wanted to steal her dress!

 Since it was so close to home, my parents stopped by, too! {Did you notice how this time I got smart and rolled up my shirt sleeves so I didn't repeat the unfortunate tan line!}

 Dad sported the new hat Ryan and I gave him for Christmas. I had to explain to him that was really more of a winter hat. He remained unconvinced.

There were many more that passed through...and we loved meeting all of them! What a fun afternoon - and a surprisingly quick commute home for once!

You Guys Are Great

I just wanted to pause in the middle of all my Shafferland stories to tell you....

YOU GUYS ARE GREAT!!!!!!!

I've been blogging for almost seven years - almost exactly, actually - and when I started this adventure, I did it because one of my co-workers set up a blog, named it Bekah's Bits, handed me the URL and the password and said, "Here. You should blog."

I was petrified out of my mind. My list of about three {sympathy} readers stuck with me and I chattered hesitantly...and then more and more often...about whatever was on my mind. Usually I told stories about my cat {...and then cats...and then back to just cat...} and offered samplings of Bible studies I'd written.

It took me forever to find my voice on this thing - but along the way of working through becoming content with being single...processing all that came with the tornado that took out my sister's house, church and town...falling into the darkest place ever with the heartbreak of my love-loss with Isaac...and much, much more, you showed up.

You showed up with words and hugs and cards and love, and you were so good to me. I've made actual, real-life friends through this thing, which absolutely BLOWS my mind.

And you stayed a while! You celebrated with me as I transitioned to my job at WBCL, and then you really celebrated with me when God brought Ryan along!

Every day I show up here and yammer about something - whether food or Pinterest projects or self-worth or Shafferland stories - and I never stop to thank YOU for showing up here every day and reading along!

I do appreciate you. So very much. And I thought it was high time I took a break to tell you that!

Big, big hugs to you, dear bloggy friends!!!

{And if there's anything I've not yammered about that you wish I would, just tell me!! Sorry, I've already been told I can't stop yammering, so if that's what you're hoping for, I'm not sure I can help you!!}

Meal Maestro

When I was fresh out of college, all my friends got married. Every. Single. One. Of. Them.

Okay that might be a slight exaggeration. But not much. I assure you.

My friend Christina was the first, and I was honored to be a bridesmaid in her wedding...and honored to receive the stack of bridal magazines she no longer needed once her big day had passed. In those first days, fresh out of college, homework, and a boyfriend, I spent hours on the bedroom floor, sifting through the pages, ripping out pages of dresses and hairstyles I loved so much.

For my own wedding.

In twelve years.

But in addition to that girly little practice, I also ripped out pages that I put in a scrapbook to give to my someday boyfriend...pages that exemplified what I hoped to enjoy in a someday relationship.

One of them...in fact, one of the very first pages I ripped out...was a picture of a woman's face, with these words: "And the journey begins. You're a future daughter-in-law, a keeper of new family recipes, a soul mate, the family's favorite restaurant, a late meal maestro. It begins."

Granted, in that season of life, my best meals came wrapped in papers stamped with "Taco Bell," and a "home cooked meal" meant a baked potato.

But there was something so exciting to me about the possibility of one day being a real cook. One who could prepare meals for someone...meals that would be ours...meals that his family would appreciate too.

I eventually learned to cook something more than a baked potato and eat more than Taco Bell cuisine.

And God answered that prayer mightily. It really was a prayer - just masked in a rubber cemented scrapbook page.

Ryan has embraced this keeper of the family recipes...and made it a joy to cook for him, and a bonus I didn't even expect...with him.

I just started reading Shauna Niequist's book Bread and Wine...where she talks about the life, joy, and memories that take place around the table. And that has inspired me to make a scrapbook of meals in Shafferland. I've already started...creating pages of memories of places we've eaten since our wedding in December, and next I'll tackle adding the recipes we love to eat most during this first year of marriage.

It's another dream come true. Being a meal maestro...so let the journey begin.

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday was Father's Day, and Ryan and I did the tour-de-families to celebrate with my family and with his mom's side of the family. You already read about it, but once again, here's the photo of my sister and I in our typical fashion with Dad. {Long-suffering is one of his virtues.}

* Monday I was excited to go back to work SO I COULD REST!!! It had been SUCH a busy weekend! Lynne was on vacation this past week, so I had all sorts of time at my desk to knock out paperwork that had been piling up. After work, Ryan and I went for a run {possibly my worst run ever} and then we enjoyed a new Dashing Dish recipe: buffalo sloppy joes. They were extremely scrumptious. And then we were bums. And I feel it was well deserved.

* Tuesday evening I was so pooped that while Ryan went to the gym, I came home and took a nap! WHOOPSIE!!! But I felt much better when I got up and went outside to crash in the hammock and work on blog posts. We went on a walk - the perfect night for it - and then I did a Bob Harper workout video. It was brutal. {AND later in the week proved to have also caused a hamstring injury. SUPER.} I enjoyed the hammock portion of the evening much more.

* Wednesday evening, I tried running again - DETERMINED to do better than last time. And I did. I ran my first mile a minute and a half faster than last time. Thankyouverymuch.  {And during said run...I discovered the existence of the leg muscle injury. OUCHEE.} Ryan and I had some serious work to knock out at home, and we made progress on that!

* Thursday was a weird day...with Lynne on vacation, there was no BLT show for this girl and that felt SO STRANGE! After work, I came home and made a Dashing Dish chocolate chip cookie and paired it up with the new frozen yogurt from Yoplait that I found while surfing the "Better for You" foods at the store. Still cracks me up that it's an actual section of frozen foods.

* Friday was so busy! I left work at noon and met up with my new friend Erica, {our first real-life meeting} for lunch, and then I headed back to my old stomping grounds at IWU for a retirement party for Lynette, who was our secretary for most of the time I worked in Financial Aid. Then in the evening, Ryan and I had an at-home date night. He grilled steaks and veggies on the charcoal grill and we enjoyed chocolate cake and coffee on the patio before coming in to watch a movie and eat popcorn. Loved the love-filled day! {Photo below is with Erica.}

* And yesterday we actually slept in until 9:00 {which may be a first for Ryan in his adult life. Never been prouder} and then we went to help our friends Adam and Sara pack their moving van. They were in our wedding and are headed to a new chapter of life. Hate goodbyes. :( But it was good to help them - especially when blessed with freakishly incredible strength like this:

{It's POSSIBLE that the box was extremely light.}

The Saturday Six

One.

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Okay so if you need a good laugh you should read this article. To give you a sneak peek: "Pastors attending the annual Southern Baptist Convention this week in Houston were faithful tweeters. But a hashtag mixup turned humorous when many of them mistook the Sneak Foundation's Sports Bra Challenge 2013 feed (#SBC2013) for their Convention's official hashtag (SBC13)." And then it lists some of the tweets the pastors unintentionally sent to the sports bra challenge. Not gonna lie. I giggled. Kind of a lot.

Two.

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SO excited to read that the Oakwood Inn up in northern Indiana is open again. I used to go up there about once a year with my friend Marie for retreats with her church {and sometimes we just went on our own for a spiritual retreat}. It closed about five years ago and it's just reopened. I cannot WAIT to go and take Ryan. Love this place!

Three.

I always wanted to be good at building sandcastles. Sadly, my architectural challenges reach even to the land of building in sand. These castles, though, are AMAZING.

Four.

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Proof that I do not think outside the box well when it comes to Pinterest. I feel every board must serve a functional, life-improvement purpose. Or at least the hope of it. Found this board called "My Imaginary Well Dressed Toddler Daughter" which sports some HILARIOUS captions on pictures of the Pinterester's imaginary daughter, Quinoa. {Ignore the occasional tasteless word. For the most part they are clean and quite funny.} And now I know it's okay to just be funny with Pinterest.

Five.

WORD NERDS!! You must watch. You will giggle. Actually even if you're not a word nerd, you'll giggle.

Six.

And in case you weren't sure I was serious when I told that story about getting a senior citizen's drink last week... 

HAPPY Father's Day!!

Yes, I know I'm almost a week behind. But we had such a busy weekend! So much to tell you!!!

Originally, Ryan and I planned to not see my family on Father's Day, because we'd spent Mother's Day with them. {You know how it goes...the great divide and conquer of holidays between two sets of families.} But then his family rescheduled their get-together for later in the day, so we were actually able to do both!

We had lunch at my parents' house, and gave Dad his Father's Day gifts. Started with this hanging plant. {He loves plants.} {That's probably a dumb thing to say isn't it? If he didn't love them, why would we have gotten him one?}

 

 Unfortunately he also loves these. Do these things creep you out as much as they do my sister and me?

 My oldest sister didn't get to join us, so he chatted with her on the phone during dessert.

 Julie and I were there and really relished the chance to honor Dad.

 Okay, okay. So we CAN be nice. But being goofy is EVER so much more fun. {Please take note that my farmer's tan from the Sticker Stop last week is still holding strong!}

 Julie, Mom, Dad, and Me...I think I missed the memo on the color scheme.

 Until, of course, Ryan got in the picture. Then I had a color scheme buddy!!

 One of my favorite pictures of the two of us.

 After lunch, we changed clothes and headed to Ryan's parents' house for our evening get together. It was HUGE in comparison to our family's group. {We have about 6 people at our family gatherings and there were over 50 at his.}

Such fun...everyone hangs out in the garage and outside and there are grills and smokers going everywhere...kids running around...lots and lots of laughter. I love those people!

Ryan's cousin even played for us! {I'm told this is a regular occurrence at family gatherings. He's GOOD.}

 This is Ryan with his Uncle Dave. Uncle Dave and his family have been so very welcoming to me. I really appreciate them. {That can be multiplied by every single person IN the whole family. Welcome, open arms from every direction.}

 Ryan's "Aunt Ruthie Woo Hoo" and her dad. {Quick story: When Ryan and I first started dating, and I didn't know his family very well yet, his mom had posted a picture of him on Facebook - at the lake - minus his shirt. Someone named Ruthie commented with a "woo hoo" on the picture and I sent Ryan a text saying "Who is this Ruthie and why is she woo-hooing your picture?" He cracked up and said, "Well, she's my AUNT Ruthie." So once I knew she loved me good and well, I told her the story and now we both just call her Aunt Ruthie Woo Hoo.}

 Another side note - Ryan's Grandpa {aka Aunt Ruthie Woo Hoo's Dad} and my dad are very, very good friends. So I've known him since I was a little girl!

And Ryan loves his grandpa so much. I love watching the two of them together.

 Ryan's Grandpa with all his kids - Uncle John, Aunt Ruthie Woo Hoo, Ryan's mom, and Uncle Dave. A good looking family!

 After all the group pictures, Ryan's niece Jenna asked if she could play with my camera. Well, I wasn't quite ready to turn over my nice new camera to capable three year old hands, so I asked Ryan to help her. He held it, but she did all the shooting...

We didn't get home until very late, but what a fun day with family!