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.