What I Learned in May

We did four million things this month, and in some ways, the month totally flew. But when I think back to the first of May, it definitely feels like it was f.o.r.e.v.e.r. ago. And now here we are, officially in summer in every way. School is out, the heat has arrived, and I'm excited!

I did manage to learn a few things in May, so here is my list!

1. It feels strange to speak without Ryan joining me!

Public speaking, that is. It is possible for me to speak in general without him. LOL! Early this month, I spoke at a women's dinner at a church, but he couldn't go, so I was on my own. While I am perfectly capable of it, of course, I missed him! We've worked out a great rhythm in working together when I speak, and I am glad that he goes with me most of the time.

2. My husband has mad skills as a party planner.

My 40th birthday surprise party was unbelievable. His literal months of planning and attention to detail made it unforgettable. Though he says he can't handle the anxiety of such a career, I have to think he could probably rock it!

3. Bekah trying to beat rain while mowing hills is probably very entertaining for the neighbors.

Ryan had to work the day before Mother's Day, and the sky did not look like it was going to hold the rain until evening when he could get home. Since all our other party-hosting-chores were either inside or could be moved inside, I ran out to try to beat the rain. My shoes were slipping on the hill in the backyard, I was SO hungry (I delayed breakfast to try to buy time) and I had two day old hair and mismatched clothes. Hopefully the neighbors popped some popcorn and enjoyed the show! (But let the record show, I got it done and only spent the last five minutes mowing IN the rain

4. I learned how to make my own raspberry vinaigrette dressing, and I like it!

I knew I liked the dressing, because I've had it at restaurants before. But I really wanted to learn how to make my own, because I'm a nerd that way. I found a recipe on Pinterest, and it turned out to be a keeper!

5. Lemon essential oil takes tree sap off hands.

I helped my dad take down some tree trunks and didn't even think about the fact that they were pine trees. I grabbed them bare handed and immediately got all sappy. (And not in a good way.) I could NOT get the sap off, and then I thought I had remembered hearing once upon a time that lemon oil was good on residue. AND IT WAS!!!

6. I can hold my own on a hike more than I imagined.

Clifty Falls State Park was more rugged than I imagined, but I picked hard trails over easy ones, made it through the bat cave/tunnel, and didn't fall on any of the wet rocks. We did nine miles on a hot day, so I call that a win!

So that's what I've got. Did you learn anything in May?

92 County Tour: Decatur County

Last vacation post - I promise!

When we left Madison, Indiana, to come home, we traveled via Decatur County so we could mark another one off our tour list! :) We've traveled through this county many times on our way to and from Ohio, but we'd never stopped to visit!

I learned that the county was named for Commodore Stephen Decatur, Jr, who was a war officer back in the 1800s. (We didn't see him. Obviously.)

So it turns out that (unless the internet just totally failed me on options of things to do in this county....) there's really not a lot to see here in terms of fun attractions. I mean, unless you love watching Hondas being assembled, because there is a large facility there that does that!

We started with the Westport Covered Bridge, and it was beautiful. 

Yep, it's still operational for vehicles!

The road was pretty deserted the day we went, so we enjoyed looking around:

After we were done enjoying the bridge, we went into the county seat of Greensburg. (Not the same one where my sister lives. Wrong state.)

The most interesting thing in Greensburg? The courthouse. It has a tree growing out of its tower! Yes! A real, live tree!

You can read more about it here if you want, but the short version is that back in the late 1800s, someone noticed a small tree growing out of the tower, and no one really knew how it ended up taking root there and growing. We talked to a Sheriff Deputy at the courthouse, and he told us that over the years, they've had to remove some trees and others have taken their place, but there's always one growing up there! He said they'd just completed a renovation project to help with some tree-induced leaks, but the tree was still going strong! Isn't that crazy?

Want to know something super disappointing? No coffee shops. Womp womp. They do have a Starbucks, but my search for a local shop turned up TWO shops that were both missing when we arrived. One is now a bookstore and the other a legal office. It's the first time we've been unable to find a shop in existence in a county! (Two other counties have failed us in the local shops being OPEN when we visited, but they were there!)

So instead, we went to Storie's Restaurant, which is a little local (and very busy) diner. We ate lunch there, but the main reason we went was to try the pie we'd heard was so good! (It most certainly did NOT disappoint.)

So that was our trip to Decatur County!!! And the end of our birthday vacation. :(

When It Rains, It Pours. (Literally.)

Podcast Tuesday! Today is the last day of school for our city, but Ryan and I are apparently just getting started on the learning. ;) And now you can learn from mistakes, mishaps, and misadventures! (And you can laugh at us too!)

 Listen here

I had a couple more stories from our trip a few days ago; hope that is okay! :)

I told you that the Sunday we were gone, we hiked Clifty Falls State Park, and it was so beautiful. We got back to the hotel mid-afternoon and were pretty hungry (because nine miles will do that to you) so we found a little local café and had some lunch! It was delicious. Tenderloin for Ryan and giant salad for me.

And because it was so hot we topped it off with a little frozen yogurt:

We sat by the river for a while:

And then we decided to go back to our room, watch some TV, and rest.

I really, really, really wanted to walk across the bridge to Kentucky (even though bridges and heights scare me) so I could say I did it. And since it seemed to be the day of conquering fears - and since we were leaving town the next morning - it seemed like the best time to go ahead and do that. We decided to wait until it cooled down just a bit, though.

So we rested, we watched TV, and then we strapped on our walking shoes and set out to conquer the bridge. I looked it up, and it said the bridge is a half mile long. It has a separate sidewalk for walkers and bikers. Tons of metal separates this sidewalk from the busy car lanes, so even if there's a crash, you should be safe.

I had to do some deep breathing, but we got up there and started walking! And as I glanced out over the river, I saw what looked like rain in the distance, even though the radar was 100% clear.

Do you see it there in the middle? Just to the left of the smoke stacks? I said something to Ryan about it and he said not to worry - it was just cloud/sun shadows. No rain on the radar, after all. So we began walking.

We paused for selfies:

And I said I really really thought that was a rain storm coming, and the noise we heard was in fact NOT the rumble of a barge, but the rumble of thunder.

The bridge felt a lot longer walking it than it looked staring at it, so by the time we hit the Kentucky side, I was ready to hurry - HURRY!!! - back. If there was one place I did NOT want to be in a storm, it was out in the open on top of a metal bridge.

So we picked up the pace on the way back. (I also had my good camera with me and didn't want it to get wet and ruined.

Yeah, that's definitely rain.

We were almost back to land when the first big drops began to fall. So we ran and made it UNDER the bridge just before it let loose.

Here's the funny (not funny) part. Our hotel was RIGHT THERE across the street, but it was up a big hill, and we didn't have any way to get there without the camera getting wet. So we stayed put. But the rain fell harder and harder, and we realized we might be there for the long haul. Also across the street was a park with a shelter house, so we decided to make a run for it and get into the shelter house.

Good thing we did. About five minutes later, the rain fell so hard that the spot where we stood in the photo above was completely rain-soaked.

Ryan made friends with another couple taking refuge there, and I rocked on a picnic bench. LOL. Oh how I hate storms.

I had to laugh a bit later when this guy pulled up and just sat. I wondered if he was hunting business from people who had gotten caught out in the rain?

The rain eventually let up, and we were able to walk back to our hotel and resume our evening resting.

Never a dull moment in a Shafferland adventure, is there?

Remembering

Today is Memorial Day, and I'll confess that across my 40 years of life, I've not done a great job of observing this day for what it really means.

Yesterday in our church, they paused to remember people associated with our church who had died since last Memorial Day. They showed their names on the screen, and as each one popped up, family members were invited to stand in honor of their loved ones. Our pastor reminded us that while we might just be seeing names, those names represent people who were dear to someone. They deserve to be remembered. So as the names flashed on the screen and people began standing around the room, I prayed for those people, because their grief is still fresh.

Even though I didn't know any of them personally, I thought over the past year and the people in my own life who have been touched by grief. I thought of a friend I met through a retreat a couple of years ago who lost her baby son before she even met him. I thought about my friend Michelle's family. They said goodbye to her with such little warning. I thought of my friends who lost a son to suicide earlier this year. And of course there were more, but with each one, a story. A story that deserves to be remembered. A grief that deserves to be recognized.

I think that's one of the hardest parts of grief when you lose someone. You don't ever want to forget what they meant to you, and you fear that the farther you get from them, the harder it will be to remember the specific things about them you loved so much. And you fear that everyone else will forget them altogether, and you know you never will. And how can life ever feel normal when you can't forget and they can't remember?

Remembering matters.

Yesterday was hot, hot, hot here in Indiana, and Ryan and I had a blissful sort of day with no plans after church. We came home, changed our clothes, ate our lunch, and curled up on Mo for movies and naps. I curled up next to Ryan, enjoying the blast of the air conditioner and the perfection of the day, and I began to remember...

...another Memorial Day Sunday eight years ago. It felt just as hot as this one, with the sun beating down mercilessly. I was in the thick of my broken heart, and the day suffocated me inside as much as the heat did outside. I remember feeling so very hopeless that afternoon, taking a long walk through campus, and not even caring about how miserable it was to walk in the middle of a hot day. I remember coming home to an empty house and crying out of hopelessness and despair.

I remember.

And I was so grateful for the comfort of this home and the presence of Ryan next to me. I still don't take him for granted. I haven't forgotten the hurt of the desert days, and I never want to. I remember because it matters. I remember because it shaped me. But I'm thankful for the healing that has come my way in the last eight years.

Remembering matters. It matters for us today as we remember the people who made a very brave sacrifice for us. It matters for those grieving a loss that maybe too many others have forgotten. It matters for seasons that shaped us, even if we no longer live in them.

And so today, I remember.

The Shafferland Shuffle

Happy Sunday! Hope you are enjoying your weekend! (To those of you enjoying a lake this weekend: enjoy it extra for me!)

* Last Sunday was a gorgeous day, and we were hiking Clifty Falls State Park! (But then you already read all about that, didn't you?) We were so thankful for a beautiful day, after the forecast said it would be otherwise allllll day. We hiked 9 miles, and I'm pretty sure almost all of it was uphill! :)

* We came home from our trip on Monday! We did one more county tour on our way home, which I will tell you about soon. It involved a very cool covered bridge and some delicious pie. (Not in the same place.) It was a great end to our little vacation. Thankful for some time away.

* We had a full, full, full day on Tuesday, so I helped Ryan by mowing the yard for him. I had to take multiple water breaks because of the heat, but I got it done! That night we helped our friends on their house again. Ryan had offered to haul some trim for them, but he found out the store isn't allowed to cut it to fit a vehicle, so we had our own cutting party!

* I had to finish my birthday thank you notes before I started looking ungrateful, so I worked hard on that Wednesday, and Ryan and I had a little coffee date that evening! OH! And we went on a walk. That was much-needed. It was one of those days when life just kind of crashed in and we needed to clear our heads!

* Thursday afternoon, I watched some kiddos, and we had A BLAST. I knew it had gone well when the oldest one informed her mom she was moving in with me forever and EVER. Sweet! :) They really were fun kids, and I had a blast! Ryan had a little extra time at lunch that day, so we even got to have a coffee date on the porch!

* I found our VERY FIRST rose bloom on Friday! I was so excited! I love it when the rose bushes bloom! That night we had (yes, another) coffee date - this time at a new coffee shop in town. This one just opened and it's the only one in town that stays open late. We are so excited to finally have options past 9 pm!

* Ryan worked yesterday, and I worked on my scrapbook! I'd been all caught up, but then, you know: BIRTHDAYS! TRIPS! Braeya helped me work and we watched Hallmark movies, too! I tried a new recipe for dinner (keeper!) and we went for a walk, despite the crazy humidity!

The Saturday Six

One.

The Annesley Writers Forum published one of my articles this week. I write for them each month, and some topics come more naturally to me than others, therefore I like some of my submissions more than others. For whatever reason, I like this one!

Two.

#marriagegoals. The man who went to the salon to learn how to style his wife's hair after she couldn't do it for herself anymore. Sweet!

Three.

As a massive dreamer myself, this post hit home! What if people laugh at your dreams? (What if you're laughing at someone else's dream?) Side note: I actually have a piece of art sitting in my office that says "My impossible dream...isn't" because I want to remember that my dreams do matter, and God just might cause them to come true!

Four.

I blogged about this more at length a few weeks ago, but we are officially LESS than a month away from participating in the kidney walk to help raise money for those facing kidney disease. We are walking with (and in honor of) my friend Pat, who has received two kidney transplants in his lifetime. If you want to help our team out, here is the link!

Five.

If you're local, a week from today is the first class in the "Write Your Story" series I'm teaching at the Marion Public Library. The classes will take place on the first Saturday of every month, starting in June and ending in October. This is especially for people who want to write their own stories to preserve their history but feel overwhelmed by the idea of the project. We're breaking it down into manageable, bite-sized pieces! I'd love to see you there!

Six.

The first home I lived in as an adult (which was also the first home Ryan and I shared together) had a small galley kitchen. There were many things about that kitchen that I didn't adore, especially once Ryan and I tried to cook together and were always bumping into each other. Eventually I learned to like it, though I won't lie about being grateful about our bigger kitchen in our current house. I think that's why I liked this article so much. The blogger has a heart of gratitude for her tiny kitchen most would find frustrating.