The Shafferland Shuffle

Thank you all SO MUCH for the anniversary love this weekend. We had fun celebrating five years together, and of course we'll have much more on that to come! :)

* Last Sunday morning, I found our church all decorated for Christmas, complete with a sleigh in the foyer. So beautiful! (And no, I did not climb into it.) We had a wonderful day of rest that included much time under blankets on Mo, looking at Christmas lights! Sunday was also the day my laptop entered hospice care. We had to find an external mouse for it, because the mouse pad stopped working. I was begging it to hang on!!

* Monday I went to school to volunteer as a shopping helper for the Secret Santa shop. It was kind of fun! After that, I had a totally new experience that you'd never guess in a million years. I took a tour of the jail! (What? I know!) Ryan's brother works for the Sheriff's department and he offered to give me a tour. It was a very different and eye-opening experience, that's for sure! When I left there, I went to my Mom's therapy appointment...she did great!

* Tuesday morning was so stunning. It's easier to take the cold when it's at least pretty, right? I did a podcast interview that afternoon (buried beneath a blanket because of the aforementioned cold) and that night. Tuesday night, we decided to go out for dinner, because it had been a crazy couple of days and neither of us felt like cooking!

* Wednesday was so warm and wonderful that Ryan even got to rake leaves in the yard. (From our one tree which finally shed its leaves!) Can't believe it's this warm at the tail end of November! I felt bad about there not being any good dessert in the house, so I made protein balls. Oh! And while it's not really representative of the day, I also took a photo of this frozen yogurt which is the creamiest and loveliest I've ever found so far. I figured if I loved it enough to take a picture of it, it is collage worthy. LOL!

* Thursday morning I woke up to Braeya sleeping at my feet and the tree in the background. It was so picturesque! (Words I never say before coffee.) Another big thing that happened on Thursday? Our new Starbucks opened! Remember that tornado that came through Kokomo a year ago in the summer? It blew over the Starbucks and the gorgeous rebuilt building opened for business THIS WEEK!!!! It was also an exciting day, because I had extra time with Ryan for the start of our anniversary celebration. I'll have to tell you more about it next week!

* Friday was another lovely day spent together, and here's just a sampling of our day. Restful sleep, Ryan's sacrificial offering of making his head bigger than mine in a selfie, breakfast at IHOP, and realizing we'd forgotten our beloved chalkboards. It's just such a sad day when you have to make an extra stop at Hobby Lobby, isn't it?

* And yesterday - our fifth anniversary and a beautiful day together!! Impossible to condense into one small paragraph, so don't worry! I'll give you a million paragraphs soon! Meanwhile, allow me to say it was wonderful to have the day together with Ryan and to enjoy all our many beloved traditions. Watching our wedding video, drinking sparkling grape juice, eating cupcakes, and so much more. Happy fifth to us! :)