The Shafferland Shuffle

An OFFICIAL happy birthday to Ryan!! Today is the day, and I'm excited to celebrate him all day long. {He's still getting used to the overdone birthday traditions. But he's a good sport.} I'm also looking forward to a day of celebration because this past week has been a rough one. Lots of little hiccups along the way that when added up, have exhausted us.

But here are some of the prettier parts of our week together!

* Last Sunday we stopped by our old house one more time {maybe?} to pick up a couple of things we'd accidentally left behind. Ryan needed some mental creativity time, which for him comes in the form of organizing, so he organized the garage while I sat next to our big stack of broken down boxes and played with computer projects. And we got to take a walk and enjoy a stunning sunset! Not a shabby Sunday!

* Several years ago, my dad built me some huge bookshelves for my office, and Ryan took them apart so we could transplant them to the new house. Monday I spent most of the day in the garage, running from makeshift-sawhorse to makeshift-sawhorse, painting all the shelves so he could put them back together! And on the drying-time breaks, I sat with Ryan, who was still working on his stone wall. He was determined to complete it THIS WEEK. House projects continue!

 * Tuesday, Ryan put the bookshelves back together for me, so I could unpack allllllllllll the boxes of books {that is a LOT of boxes} and get them organized on the shelves. It made me so happy to have all the books back where they belong! Also, to try to be a helper, I offered to mow the yard {which is normally Ryan's job} and he took me up on my offer. It turns out our lawn mower is NOT self-propelled, and by the end of the mowing adventure, I was smelly, sweaty, and pooped!

* I had to run errands on Wednesday, so that took me all over the place {including a stop for coffee and a chat with a friend who is about to move away}, and when I got home, I resumed work on the assembly of the office. Offices and garages take forever because there are so many tiny pieces to them. Ryan continued working on the wall, which was coming together SO nicely.

* Thursday was one of those why-bother-getting-ready days, because I spent the WHOLE day working on the office, taking a break only when our sister-in-law stopped by {with niece and nephews in tow} to visit for a while. I accomplished so much, and that night, I addressed all our change-of-address cards while Ryan {guess what?} worked on the wall. In a twist that neither of us expected, we were able to install the counter top ourselves, and we LOVED the way it turned out!

* Friday, my friend Amber and I spent some time together. {She's helping me know what flowers to plant in our new spaces.} She took me to a big, beautiful greenhouse and I found a goose to replace the one the old owners took with them. {Kidding.} And that night, Ryan worked SO HARD to knock out the living room portion of the stone project. Last stone in place!

* Last night we began the celebration for Ryan's birthday! His Dad and Lynn stopped by to see him and then we went to dinner with his Mom and Allen - at Tucano's, per Ryan's request. He was in a bit of a meat heaven followed by a meat coma. LOL! Delicious food and a fun evening!