In Which Bekah Goes For a Physical

Last week, I had to get a physical. Like a lab kind of physical. Nothing invasive {though I consider breathing the mere air of a medical facility invasive}. After it was over, and I recounted the story to my mother, she said she wished she could have been a fly on the wall...so I thought maybe I'd let you be a fly on the wall.

{You should know that when I'm uncomfortable, I compensate with humor. When I was a kid, and I'd get the flu, my mom would sit in a corner and try to mask her laughter as I paced the living room and begged, with great flamboyance, anything in the scope of my life that God would possibly want, if He would PLEASE not make me throw up right then. Mom said I was the funniest sick kid she'd ever met.}

I went to the screening room and checked in with the very kind gentleman running check-in. He took all my info, had me sign my life away, and proceeded to begin with height and weight. I asked if I could use the bathroom first {an hour and a half drive and a lot of water in the car were starting to lay a little heavy, if you know what I mean} and he said "Oh it's okay; this will only take a minute." So he measured my height and I stood in front of the scales, closed my eyes and climbed on, wondering just how much a full bladder weighs.

"I'm closing my eyes because I get obsessed with numbers. It's just better if I don't know." He promised to not utter those numbers out loud, and I climbed back off the scales.

He handed me a little device that looked like part of a gaming system and explained that I  should hold tightly to it and an electric current would run through me. The current shouldn't be felt, and would pass more quickly through those with less body fat. "So," I said, "You're telling me it's gonna be in me a while, huh?"

I squinted my eyes shut and had my BMI taken by the little game piece. Then he handed me a measuring tape and asked me to put it around my waist. I wondered how many inches could be added by a full bladder.

I sat down to wait my turn behind the closed door, and finally it opened, and the lady inside called for the man who took all my info. She spoke in low tones, but I could tell something was wrong already...she couldn't find me in her system. My blood pressure climbed...and right about then, my phone buzzed with a text. It was my mom...asking about a tornado in Indianapolis.

So to recap...I'm in a doctor's office on the third floor of a building with no windows, a tornado is somewhere in the distance, and no one can find me in the system. Sweet mercy.

The nice man finally realized he'd confused me with someone else and began to correct the issue. I called out, "Is that other girl skinnier? I can be her if I need to be."

When the lady called me into the office, I sat down across from her and said, "Let me just tell you. I have white coat syndrome and my mother is texting me about tornadoes. I'm gonna be a real treat for you today."

That sweet lady was so wonderful and she offered to just take it slow...starting with the finger prick for my blood. I told her I'd just look away for that - just to be on the safe side.

While she worked, she asked if I'd fasted that day. It was 3 in the afternoon. Do I look like a girl that can survive until 3 pm with no food? I told her I had not, and she said, "Oh it's okay.The machine will actually look back over about a three month history of what you've eaten."

"Well I've eaten a lot in the last three months," I told her.

"Oh? Stressful time?"

I shook my head. "Nah. I've pretty much eaten a lot since birth."

She took my blood, put it in a little thingiemadoo, and in no time at all, she had a history of my last three months of eating and who knows what else...and she launched into the news.

She informed me my BMI was normal.

I leaned forward.

"Say what?"

"Your BMI is in the normal range."

"Are you sure that's my info and not that other girl's?"

She laughed and assured me it was mine. Then she said my waist measurement was normal as well. I leaned back and shook my head. "Well that's new," I said. "Really? With all this fat, it's normal?" Ruffled shirts cover a multitude of belly fat sins, you know.

She went on about this number and that, and I nodded as though I had an osmosis medical degree from years of Grey's Anatomy.

She urged me to watch my caffeine intake {I let her know that wasn't possible} and she said if I wanted to lower my cholesterol, I might want to think about cutting down on meat, dairy and eggs. {So basically, stop eating.}

She told me my hemoglobin numbers were good and I said, "I just don't even know what that means." She laughed and said it meant I didn't have a sugar problem. "Oh, I have a sugar problem," I assured her. "We are GOOD friends."

In the end, she admonished me that should I decide to try to lose weight, I shouldn't lose more than a pound or two a week. Not a problem. That's not even going to be possible.

With that, she slapped the blood pressure cuff on me, and I breathed in and out, ignoring my phone, still buzzing with tornado news. The verdict? Normal.

The sweet lady leaned across the desk, looked me in the eye, and said, "What I'm telling you is that you're a lot healthier than you think you are."

"Well, SWEET CORN," I told her.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm the one she told her family about that night. "You will NEVER BELIEVE this girl I had to deal with today," I'm sure she said.

I walked out with a spring in my normal-weighted step and drove straight to the coffee shop for a latte. It may have had dairy and caffeine.

Sigh.

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday was our last day of vacation weekend...even though we were home...we still considered it vacation. :) We went to early church and then took a nap and rested and dreamed about the future all afternoon...and then we went on a 5 mile walk in the park. It was HOT but fun! And it's such a pretty park. My favorite part of the day, though, was at the very end, when Ryan read the last of the letters I wrote to "my future husband" before our wedding. It was a letter I wrote just a couple of days before we got married, and the only letter written after I knew the identity of this man I'd been writing to for so many years.

* Monday morning, my "Happy Monday and welcome back from vacation" gift was one of my worst driving fears come true: a flat tire on the interstate. Ryan had noticed my tire was low Sunday night, but he pumped it up and it seemed fine. It was, in fact, NOT fine. I was about 4 miles from my exit when I had to do the pull-over-of-shame and call for help. Yes, there was a meltdown. AND four new tires. When they said we'd need new ones before winter...they meant LONG before winter!! The car rides great now and I de-stressed that night by going on a nice long walk with Ryan. And we ate tacos. All better. :)

* Tuesday afternoon, I had to have an insurance physical...and you'll get to read all about those adventures tomorrow. I thought it was appropriate that the book I took with me was Annie Downs' new on, Let's All Be Brave. LOL! I survived it and treated myself to a latte at Gaither Family Resources on the way home. I LOVE THAT PLACE!!! Took it easy that night - though not as easy as Braeya, who followed us all around the house, napping her way behind us.

* Wednesday was a foggy, foggy day...but oh what a pretty commute! It was a long day...one that required some retail therapy on the part of this girl. I bought a new planner. I have been using a full size one and needed something that could fit in my purse. New planners always make me SO HAPPY. And I may or may not have eaten the last Cadbury egg in my possession. Braeya fought me for the milk. She is her mother's child.  And 50 extra points to Ryan for being a great husband - and supportive on a hard day. Make that 150 extra points.

* Thursday was a busy day!! I was later to work than I wanted to be, thanks to the never-ending train on my way out of town. I hosted Mid-Morning for the second time in my life - sharing the BLT day with Jim Barron, since Lynne was on vacation. I think it went pretty well! And then Thursday afternoon, I headed back to Marion early and worked one of our Sticker Stops along with Lori, our Promotions Director. It was fun to see so many people I knew! And it was fun that Ryan came for the last hour of it and got to be part of the stop too!

 * Friday night was DATE NIGHT! We were pretty worn out {mostly in our minds} from the long week, so we headed to Ivanhoe's for dinner and strawberry shortcake! The line was OUT the door, so we got our food to go and took it over to Taylor University's campus, and ate there. Perfect night for a picnic! Before we left, we stopped by their prayer chapel, because I'd never seen it. Beautiful building. We called in our strawberry shortcake order and stopped to pick it up on our way home. Apparently getting it to go means you get about 1/5 the normal amount of whipped cream, so we stopped at the grocery store on our way home to get more of that!!

* Ryan worked yesterday, so I stayed home and did work around there - and then - we went to a wedding! Our good friends Mike and Angie, that we've double dated with before, got married at this beautiful mansion in Kokomo, and Ryan and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the wedding. It was a small wedding, and it just felt like one big family party! A lot of the people there work with Ryan, so it was fun to get to meet more of his work buddies! And did I mention the wedding favors were coffee themed?? I was in heaven.

The Saturday Six

One.

I have to give a HUGE shout out to Yeoman's Car Care in Fort Wayne. They've been servicing my car for the last 3 years since I have been a commuter. Family run business - and they are AMAZING. Their latest above-and-beyond service for me was picking me up on the side of I-69 during rush hour Monday morning when my car got a flat tire. Not many car companies would drive out in their own vehicles to pick up a sobbing driver. If you're in the Fort Wayne area, show these folks some love. They rock.

Two.

Source

In the world of things that excite me probably more than they should...last week's wedding of Jill Duggar and Derrick Dillard. I cannot WAIT for that episode!! :) Excited for these two; love their love story!

Three.

Source

I was fascinated, back in the day, by the pilot that landed the plane in the Hudson River. You remember that, right? Well, I noticed that National Geographic did a documentary/movie about it and I watched it. Well. I watched most of it. Storm kicked out our dish and I missed the main part - you know - where they landed on the Hudson. Fascinating, though, to hear the stories from the passengers.

Four.

Source

So one of my friends sent me a link to a video about this guy this week. Clark Little takes pictures of huge ocean waves - from INSIDE the wave. Seriously look at his work. Unreal.

Five.

Source

Thanks, Natasha, for sending me the link to this story! This girl made her own prom dress...well, she bought a dress and then painted it. PAINTED IT! Amazing skills.  

Six.

 Source

 Our new favorite show on TV is Fixer Upper, which is on HGTV. I love these people!!! So real. So down to earth. I think I want to live next door to them and be their friend!! They make life look like fun and marriage look like fun, and anyone who does that gets a big smile from me!

Family Pics and an Anniversary Dinner

After everyone arrived back at the hotel soaked from getting caught in the rain, we scrambled to start over so we could take...family pictures! I feel that when all was said and done, we turned out pretty put together!

This is also when Lori, Julie and I recreated the picture from Father's Day, 1986. I got the idea from Pinterest...of course. It took some doing to get everybody situated where they needed to be, but I think it turned out well...and it was so fun to do!!

And then...the indoor family pic.

{Please note: if you are a photographer, I'm sorry for the shadows on the faces. We were working with the light we had...and a tripod. But for those limitations, I think it turned out really well!}

After we took all the pictures {there were more, but I won't make you sit through the slide show} - we headed over to The Blue Gate restaurant for dinner.

The Blue Gate has really good food - but we did struggle a bit that night. They have a family style dining room and an order-off-the-menu dining room, and we chose to order off the menu. We had to wait quite a while to get in to the dining room {party of nine, you know}...and when they finally called us, they weren't actually ready.

So there we stood, all gawking in the dining room...waiting for a table to open up. It was past dinner time {in my tummy} and I'd just ridden 14 miles on a bike. I reached the point of no return and Ryan resorted to digging the free samples of toffee out of a jar for me to keep me from keeling over waiting for a table. We were SO GRUMPY by the time we finally got seated that I apologized to our waitress for having to deal with us.

We got our dinner, though {Ryan had to go with plan B because they'd run out of fish on all-you-can-eat-fish night. Sigh.} and I was much happier with dinner in my tummy.

The waitress was kind enough to bring a little cake for Mom and Dad, and Dad was so cute - he reached over and helped Mom cut it...just like at their wedding!

I wanted to get some outside pictures, before the sun went down, and we were rapidly losing daylight, so we took some pics across the street beside a gorgeous bunch of flowers. I loved the way they turned out!

Shopping and Such...Heavy on the And Such

My mom and I have many things in common - and the love of a schedule is one of those things. But I was so proud of her...for our family vacation, she didn't schedule ANYTHING other than dinners. We were free to get up when we wanted, eat breakfast and lunch where we wanted, and do whatever we wanted all day long. And so...we did! :)

So Friday morning, we got up to have breakfast at the hotel. I love a hotel with a good hot continental breakfast. This one had biscuits and gravy...sausage...waffles...THAT is how breakfast should go. Except it should be a lot later in the day.

My parents...

Ryan...who is training for retirement...

And me. I really do hate mornings.

{Although getting up at 8 a.m. on vacation is considerably better than 4:30 a.m. on work days. I will give you that.}

After breakfast, we got ready and headed back into town to do some shopping. This is when Ryan and I did our coffee date you read about earlier this week in the county tour post. But here are some random glimpses into our shopping day.

I don't know if you're noticing a THEME or not....

...in the afternoon, my sister thought it would be fun to go on a bike ride. My niece had wanted to kayak with Ryan and me, but there were threats of storms and rain showers and party-pooper-Bekah did NOT want to be in a foreign body of water if that materialized, so biking seemed safer. {Keep that in mind, if you would.}

So Lori, Jeff, Cassie, Ryan and I rented bikes from a little shop in downtown Shipshewana and got directions to the Pumpkinvine trail just outside of town. We had to bike about a half mile from the rental shop to the trail - and that part was on a highway. No biggie.

{Also keep in mind, if you would, that I broke my leg on a bike at age 11 and have ridden one exactly TWO times since. Once in November of 2010 in Kansas and once {on the tandem bike} on our honeymoon in December of 2012. So it was about time again.}

So here we are at the start of the trail:

Couple quick things. Yes. Ryan is riding a girl's yellow and pink bike. It's because there was only one guy's bike at the shop and I knew Ryan wouldn't care if Jeff took it, so I gave that one up to Jeff. Ryan also carried my Vera Bradley backpack the entire trip - because it was heavy with the camera and tripod and he's a classy gentleman that way. He's rather bike through Amish country wearing a Vera Bradley backpack than make me get a sore neck carrying it. Husband of the year award.

The trail was GORGEOUS. It was scenic and smoothly paved and pretty much a straight shot. We went about seven miles before turning around to head back.

Some pics from the trip:

Right about the time we arrived back at the trail head and turned onto the road to bike the half mile to the shop...those storms they mentioned? SHOWED UP. Thankfully it was a rainstorm vs. a thunderstorm. I would have just keeled on over in a dead faint if there had been thunder and lightning.

Ryan took off the Vera bag and carried it like a football to protect my camera and my phone {which he had used to take all the above pictures.} Everyone pedaled like crazy to get back to the shop.

Except yours truly.

Apparently I am broken {in one of many ways} and in weird Bekah trivia...I cannot open my eyes in rain. Can't handle the water on my eyes. So there I was, even with sunglasses on to shield my eyes, trying to BIKE DOWN A HIGHWAY, with traffic and horse poop abounding, in the pouring rain, with my eyes shut.

True. Story.

Yes. I was crying. Everyone was so far ahead of me, they were almost out of sight and I was pulled over in somebody's driveway, trying to figure out how to get home. My clothes were soaked. I looked like a drowned rat. And I couldn't see.

I managed to catch up with them and the rain let up slightly and we got everything back and returned.

And we got our after photo:

Oh. And did I mention next up were family pictures??

Also a true story.

Despite the debacle, I had a BLAST biking with the fam. And I am gaining confidence on a bike again too, which is also exciting.

So that was that day!!! :)

Wednesdays in the Word: Verse T

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh how I needed this verse today. Yes. It's one of those verses.

I believe the Bekah version of this verse goes something like this: "Trust in Him when it's easy to do so, O Bekah. Pour out your heart to Him and hope He shows up."

And this is why I was not called upon to write the Bible and we can all be very thankful.

Trust in Him AT ALL TIMES.

I don't know what's part of your "all times" right now - but for us, it goes back to the broken record of selling houses. Trusting Him to bring buyers. Trusting Him to work out details of financing. Trusting Him with the timing of all sales and all future living arrangements. Trusting in Him AT ALL TIMES. Even the days when no one calls. When no one makes an offer. When nothing changes on my horizon. Still trusting.

And the part of the verse I absolutely ADORE is this: pour out your hearts to Him.

I love the invitation to gush my thoughts. To have a meltdown, if that's what I need to do. To beg for mercy, for help, for intercession, for intervention. To be gut-level-honest, even when said honesty is gut-level-ugly. To know that I'm safe in being completely vulnerable. To know that my words don't surprise Him.

He is my refuge.

Do you know what a refuge is? It's a place of safety and protection. When those days come that I feel I can't hang on one more second...He is my refuge. His protective arm circles around me and holds me close. His protective arm circles around these properties we own and holds them close as well. He's the refuge for me and all that concerns me.

So I don't know what He's teaching you through this verse today, but my target phrase today is "at all times." My assignment.

Gulp.

Gulp and lean...right into that perfectly safe refuge.

First Ever Freelan Family Vacay

One of the disadvantages of the wide age gap between my sisters and me is that we've never...since the year of my birth {which amazingly, I don't remember}...gone on a real family vacation together. This August, my parents will celebrate 60 years of marriage, and rather than having a big party, they wanted to have a family vacation. With everyone. So we all consulted our day planners and found that this past weekend was the time all of us could actually get together and enjoy the first ever Freelan family vacation.

My parents took care of all the details. They wanted to get together in Shipshewana, in northern Indiana, because it's one of my Dad's favorite places to go. Mom reserved rooms at the Farmstead Inn, and I was excited about that, because I love the Farmstead! I've stayed there a few times before - including twice for spiritual retreats I went on before I was married.

We all gathered there on Thursday afternoon...which was pretty great. Ryan and I took the whole day off work, slept in, went for an exercise walk that morning and out for breakfast...and then enjoyed our drive north.

Mom met us all at the door of the hotel to take our pictures - just like she does on Christmas Day when we arrive at their house:

 Ryan and I - and of course, our fountain pops and my camera. We are so blessed predictable when it comes to a vacation.

 My sister Julie and her husband, Tom - all decked out for golf. They are so blessed predictable when it comes to a vacation. :)

My sister Lori, her husband Jeff, and their daughter Cassie won the prize for longest drive...making the trek all the way from Kansas to join us for the weekend!

We had some time to kill on Thursday between arriving and heading out for dinner, so we went around town and shopped a little bit.

Yeah that's Ryan and my dad supervising a mural painting in town. Good thing they were there to keep it going!!

 Awwwww......

 Sometimes you can't wait. Gotta use what's open.

That first night, we had dinner at the Essenhaus over in Middlebury. It is a HUGE {whatever's in your mind right now - double, possibly triple it and you've got the Essenhaus} home cooking restaurant where you can eat either family style or buffet. We went with the buffet.

Dinner was fabulous!!

After dinner, we walked around at the shops near there...and Cassie hung out with Ryan and me for a while. We found this shop that had a silo on the side, and you could walk up to the top of the silo to look around:

So...we did!

 Fun to look out over the grounds:

 And I don't know if you can see him or not but look who I spied meandering through the car show? My Dad! He's right in the middle in the tan pants.

While we waited on Mom and Dad to stop socializing...because it's true that they actually found people they KNEW and were talking in the parking lot...we had some photo shoots of our own!

Sisters!!

 And checking the photo....

 Photobombing my Mom's phone....

Oh...and here's a nice one of the lovebirds:

After dinner, we went back to the hotel, and Ryan, Cassie and I hit the pool for a while. We found a beach ball and played some hard-core volleyball...which I believe canceled out our entire dinner, thankyouverymuch.

And that's how family vacation, day one, went down.