The Shafferland Shuffle

I know I sort of bid a fond farewell to September on Friday when I (apparently) quit learning for the month, but TODAY is the actual end of the month. So here's your peek at what we've been up to over the last week!

* Last Sunday was our nephew's baby dedication, so we went to church with Ryan's family to be part of that. We stayed to have lunch with them, and then we had to get home to see Miss Phoebe. And take naps. (Ryan watched football...Phoebe and I napped. That's the full story.) And I was SO proud of myself for finishing our gigantic vacation scrapbook so I could cash in on the sale that ended MONDAY. Nothing like coming in under the wire, right?)

* Monday was picture editing day. I'd taken photos at a bridal shower Saturday and the dedication Sunday, and I knew those people were waiting to see their pictures, so I hunkered down until they were done! Braeya hunkered down to, but I'll be honest - she was of no help. :) That evening, Ryan discipled a couple of guys and I met with one of their wives, and it was just a busy little night! Ryan wanted to make sure in all the busyness, I still felt loved and seen, so he came home with these beautiful flowers for me! YAY!!!!

* Tuesday? Tornado watches and bad thunderstorms. Sigh. Here's a little selfie of me standing watch in the kitchen. (I'm not really sure what I thought I was going to do if I saw a tornado, but it made me feel better to keep vigil. LOL!!!) We hosted our first official small group of the semester that night, and it went really well. We've missed our small group friends, and it was good to see them!

* I spent some extra time in Bible study on Wednesday, and I made a new meat loaf recipe for us that night. BBQ cheddar meat loaf with cauliflower poppers. It was delicious!!! It had been kind of a long week already, so Ryan suggested we make Wednesday night a Blizzard night. Twist my arm! :) Mmmmmm. Salted caramel truffle Blizzard for the win!!

* Ryan was a little late coming home for lunch on Thursday, so I tried to keep his lunch warm with a strainer. I kind of pretended it was one of those silver dome things that fancy pants restaurants put over plates, but in reality it was a plastic purple strainer from the dollar store. We are nothing if not classy over here. My newest Lemongrass Spa order arrived that day, and it included a brand new jar of healing balm. Anyone else get super excited over unmarred jars? (Butter...peanut butter...healing balm...) It was BOGO night at Starbucks, so we participated!!!

* I spoke at a women's retreat Friday night, and oh my goodness. What a good night it was! The retreat wasn't too terribly far from our home, so we didn't have far to travel. And though the women stayed the weekend, I just spoke Friday night, so it was just a one night adventure for us. They were all so kind and receptive, and I loved being able to share. (I wore heels, which is unusual for me, and I'm pretty sure my feet still hurt, but I like to think looking cute was worth it!)

* Ryan worked yesterday morning, but then we had a date adventure! We went down toward Indianapolis to visit Traders Point Creamery. It's part of a county we have already toured, but somehow we missed it (!?!?!!?) when we did that county, so we went back to check it out! I'll have to tell you all about it this week, but there were trails to hike, ice cream to eat, and a wedding to watch! Fun date!

The Saturday Six

One.

I'm told that today is National Coffee Day! (I mean, isn't that EVERY day?) My sister sent me this link to some freebies, but I'm sure there will be more celebrations not listed here. Couldn't hurt to check your favorite coffee place!

Two.

Printables are good, often free ways to decorate. I found this link with several fall freebies on it. Might want to check it out if you need some fresh fall décor in your space!

Three.

I have no idea if there are tutorials for this anywhere, but I ran into this picture on Pinterest, and I think it is adorable! I have a similar board (minus the paper roll) in my office and use it ALL THE TIME. I think this is great!

Four.

A story to bring a surge of hope to your heart today.

Five.

I don't know if I have shared this link before or not...but even if I have, it bears repeating, I think. Freezer recipes you can make in a couple of hours, if you want to make food ahead for busy seasons, but here's what I like about it: these aren't 9x13 dishes. These are small portions, so if you cook for one or two, these could work for you!

Six.

Source

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh how I loved my book this week!!! A few weeks ago, my friend Marissa Shrock told me she had a new book releasing, and she asked if I'd like to read it. TWIST MY ARM!! :)

I've told you about Marissa many times before. I reviewed her three young adult fiction books (The Emancipation Warriors series) and then a few months ago, I introduced you to the first book in her new series, called the Georgia Rae Winston Mystery Series. Deadly Harvest was the first book, and now she's just released Deadly Holiday.

I really loved Georgia - and all the other characters, too - in Deadly Harvest, so I was excited to read about them again! I also love, as I told you last time, that this series is set in Indiana. I can so easily picture everything she writes about, even though she fictionalizes the locations.

If you missed the first book in the series, Georgia Rae Winston lives in Indiana, where she works on the family farm and wrestles with being single when she'd really just dearly love to be married. In Deadly Holiday, Georgia has started dating a young man, but this is really her first official relationship, and she's wrestling with figuring out the nuts and bolts of how such a relationship should work. (Again, kudos to Marissa for so accurately portraying those struggles! When do you start buying gifts for someone you just started dating? How soon do you invite them to family gatherings! Real life stuff, there!)

Georgia finds herself roped into helping with the church Christmas production, after the original music director is in a car accident and can't continue directing. The drama director of the event doesn't leave the title "drama director" at church, and her over-the-top approach to life wears Georgia out in the first ten minutes of working together.

As if that headache isn't enough, on her first day of being the substitute director, Georgia finds the church's youth pastor gravely ill. As he fights for life, he says the word anchor...and with that, he's gone. Georgia is determined to find out what he meant, because she's certain it will point to the person responsible for his death by poison.

Known as the town's amateur sleuth, after helping to solve a murder just a few months earlier, Georgia launches into her own investigation, and it's soon clear that someone is not happy to see her poking her nose in police business again. When the youth pastor's girlfriend disappears, it just fuels Georgia to find out the meaning behind anchor, Zach's death, and the mysterious absence of his girlfriend.

I will admit I stopped breathing several times while reading and did not put the book down until I had finished it. I did not figure it out (again!!!!) and loved all the twists and turns Marissa included!

This was a decidedly different kind of book than the little heartwarming, seaside Christmas book I read last week, but it was still a fantastic holiday read. (I don't think I've ever read a Christmas mystery before, actually!) There was a clear presentation of the Gospel, suspense, romance, and a healthy dose of real life, all tied up in one book. I really enjoyed it.

Well done, Marissa!

(Marissa sent me an e-copy of the book at no charge, but all opinions are my own!)

Things I Learned in September

IT IS THE END OF SEPTEMBER, PEOPLE! The end!! Has fall settled in where you are? Many of the farmers around here were able to plant early, so harvest is well underway, and the crops still in the fields are good and brown, so even though most of the leaves on the trees are still very green, it feels like full-blown fall. Our temps have been pleasantly cool over the past week, and the only thing that makes me sad is the loss of daylight at both ends of the day. Sure is hard to get up when it's super dark out!

September has been crazy busy for us. Our calendar was packed, but we had a (mostly) good month and learned a lot in the process. This coming week, we'll mark off another monthiversary and the sixth anniversary of our engagement. What a fun day that was! I'm excited to celebrate by watching the video again. Fourteen times. An hour.

But until then, here are a few things I learned in September! Happy weekend!

1. I retained more Spanish than I thought.

I took two years of Spanish in high school and two more in college. Both experiences were abysmal. (I don't throw that word around lightly.) I just never clicked with any of my teachers and could not seem to learn from them. But this month we had a Spanish-speaking pastor at our church for a Sunday, and while he obviously preached with the assistance of an interpreter, I discovered I recognized way more of what he said than I expected I would. I can still pretty much only ask where the bathroom is and count my steps to get there, but I understood more than I knew I would!


2. Speaking of Spanish, did you know you can translate Word documents to other languages?

The aforementioned Spanish-speaking pastor also attended the leadership conference where Ryan and I spoke. When I found out he was coming, I looked for software to translate documents so I could make him a copy of our talk in his own language. (I wasn't sure how easily his interpreter could translate for him in a setting like that.) That's when I learned you can translate right in Word. Who knew? Not me!


3. The Waffle House Index is a real thing.

You probably heard about it too (if you didn't already know) in the Hurricane Florence news. I had never heard of it before. So if you don't know either, here you go! (You can read an article about it here if you want more than this short summary.) If there's a natural disaster, FEMA and other disaster management services look to see how the local Waffle House is doing to gauge the health of the general neighborhood. If the Waffle House is open and serving a full menu, things must be going fairly well. If they're open with a limited menu, it means things are limping along. If they're closed...oh boy. Fascinating.


4. Deodorant does not belong in the freezer.

I bought some deodorant one day and the next day, I could not find it. Anywhere. We bought it on a grocery shopping trip, so I began looking through cupboards, just in case I filed it away with canned goods or spices or something. Turns out I'd put it in the freezer with a pie. Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, Bekah.


5. I like homemade bagels...of the clean eating variety.

Earlier this month, I decided to try the Dashing Dish bagel recipe. I admit I was skeptical when I first tried them, but I loved them. A keeper, for sure. Who knew oat flour could be such a winner? Also, in this same category, I learned you can purchase the bagel topping at the store! (I didn't own everything that goes in the "everything" bagel topping, so it was more cost effective to jut buy the mix.


6. There's a lever on the bottom of the Ninja to release the suction cups.

We have owned our Ninja for over a year now, and every time I use it, I scoot it to the front of the counter. Well, the other day, we had a spill around it, so Ryan moved it and washed the counter really well, and he immediately put the Ninja back before the counter had dried. When I tried to scoot it the next day, the suction cups were firmly stuck to the counter. For a week, I used it at the back of the counter, and one day Ryan saw me wrestling with it. He said, "You do know there's a lever under there that releases the suction don't you?"


7. There is a website where people give baby naming advice.

One of the people I follow on Instagram (she used to have a great blog but either made it private or took it down after having kids, so now I follow her on Instagram) just had a baby last week. She did a post about how they picked the baby's name and said she had written in to the Swistle blog to get help with the name because they struggled with it. I had never heard of said blog, so I looked it up. WOW! That is a lot of intense picking baby names! I found it rather interesting because I've always loved name lists. When I was a kid, I had a whole notebook of names for my "someday kids." When I worked in the Financial Aid office, a lot of names were ruined for me, so I figured if I ever did have kids, I'd have to name them really weird things to avoid flashbacks. Even though we don't have kids, I still love names, and this site is like name overload! If you love names, go check it out!

Learning Generosity

The Bible study I attend has a challenge for us each week. (You might remember the first one, because it excited me so. The one where I got to sleep in until my little eyes just popped open?)

This past week's challenge focused on generosity. Gulp.

I struggle with that sometimes. Okay. A lot of times. Ryan is one of the most generous people I've ever met, but I'm a bit more on the cautious side. When it comes to being generous with money, I think my hesitation stems from the years I lived from paycheck to paycheck. Who am I kidding? It was more like penny to penny.

Those were the years when I'd read advice about saving pocket change, and I wanted to shout, "What if you use your pocket change to pay bills?" Those were the years when my gas budget was so tight, I got to choose ONE out of town trip a month. (Out of town, by the way, was limited to about 50 miles, round-trip.) Those were the years when I never would have made it, had it not been for a roommate helping to shoulder the load. It wasn't that I didn't care about others. It was just that I had to be crazy frugal to keep my bills paid.

So it's good for me to be married to a guy with a giving heart, because he helps me see that I'm living in the now, not the used-to-be. While we're far from independently wealthy, he's helped me see that we can share what we do have.

But the place God really tugged on my heart this week was all about my time. Ryan and I make no secret of the fact that we try hard to protect our time together. Sure, we're still in honeymoon phase (yes, almost six years later) but it's more than that. We genuinely desire to make each other a priority so we can continue to foster a healthy relationship.

But in the generosity challenge, I found myself convicted to be generous with my own time this week. To put aside some of the things I really wanted to do (maybe even needed to do) to make time for others. And I also needed to be generous with Ryan's time. To allow him the freedom to do the things he felt called to do, even if those things didn't involve spending some of our normal together-time...together.

So I'm learning, slowly, about the generosity of time. It's a balance, I'm sure, to find the time we need together as a couple and the time we need to share with others. Because after all, our time together is still important. This relationship we have needs cultivated, protected, and prioritized. But sometimes others need us. And when those sometimes roll around, we have to be willing to look outward and be generous with our time.

The generosity lesson. Maybe it's time, maybe it's money, maybe it's something else entirely for you. Maybe it comes easily. Maybe it's the hardest thing. But we've been given much - of something - haven't we? And of that, much is required.

So I'll be over here, just learning more about how to be generous with what I have. With what we have. It's a good challenge, even if it's not as easy as sleeping in. ;)

Ten Things to Tell You...The Second

Last week I told you about this "ten things to tell you" thing I'd read on Instagram. I did the first one last week and am circling around now for number two.

This one initially terrified me, because it's one of those questions that (in answering) has the potential to leave out way too many people.

The prompt is this: Someone who has influenced me...

Gulp.

I mean, really! I have been influenced in so many ways by so many people over the last forty years. Teachers, mentors, friends, pastors, family members, co-workers...you name it. This post could go on for a hundred years, and still I wouldn't be able to name everyone.

But I remembered something I said at the Leadership Encounter last week, and I thought it might be a good (and true) (and much safer) answer to this question.

As you know, if you've been reading here for any length of time at all, I spent many years aching to be married. And I didn't just whine my way through those years. (Make no mistake: I did do my fair share of whining. But I also did MORE than whine.)

I was a serious student of marriage in those years. I believed it would happen for me one day, and while I waited, I wanted to learn. So I bought books about marriage and read them cover to cover. I listened to sermons about marriage and took pages of notes. I attended marriage conference at my church. I invested in learning everything I could, believing one day I would need that information.

But as I told the ladies at the Leadership Encounter, do you know who taught me the most about marriage?

Married women.

They didn't mentor me. We didn't have specific relationships in which I asked questions and they gave answers. I wasn't in a classroom. I just watched from my little perch in the distance. I watched how they treated their husbands. I listened to how they spoke to them. Even more importantly, I listened to how they spoke about them when they weren't together. I observed body language and reactions. I wanted to learn when no one was aware they were teaching, because that's when everything was the most genuine.

I learned so much.

I learned what to do and I learned what not to do. I learned that great marriages really can happen. I learned that great marriages take intentionality, but they don't have to be exhausting. I learned that great marriages are made of teammates who cheer each other on and are present in each others' lives. I learned that great marriages happen when both parties are willing to sacrifice for the other and not view it as a great sacrifice, because it's something they want to do out of sheer love. I learned that great marriages are made when two people are focused on serving God first and each other second (and with equal abandon.)

So who has influenced me? The wives. The wives who were married and real in front of me. The wives who gave me hope that this marriage thing could be a beautiful adventure. The wives who dared to be crazy in love and have a ton of fun with their husbands. The wives who showed me that tough times will come, but that just offers a chance to team up and tackle the toughness together. Thank you...all of you...who kept me hanging onto hope in all the years of waiting.

And I submit to you (married or not) that you are influencing someone around you right now. You may not know it, but somewhere, someone is observing. They're watching how you live, and you have the chance to give them so much hope.

Let's be hope-givers!

Dedication!

It's podcast Tuesday, and we have stories! (And what IS the proper etiquette for sharing tv episode spoilers on social media? We don't do it. We just wonder about the rules.)

 Listen here!

It was quite the celebratory weekend for Ryan's family. Yesterday I told you about his cousin's bridal shower, which was Saturday. Sunday, we went to church with all of his family so we could witness his nephew's baby dedication.


I found a nice little perch in the sound booth to get some pictures. :)

He was pretty alert! He likes to make sure he knows what's going on most of the time.

(Waiting for a fist bump, maybe?)

Ryan's mom sang to him:

After the dedication, the pastor preached a powerful, passionate sermon that will stick with me for a long time - maybe for always. I am grateful I was there to hear it!

And after church, they had a special dinner (which was full of goooooooooooooooood food) and some photo opps in front of a backdrop.

And then we came home to Miss Phoebe...who was mostly mad that she couldn't come with us in the first place. :)

Bridal Shower Buffet!

Ryan has a bunch of cousins, and one of them is getting married soon! (He has actually been in North Carolina working on rescue efforts for the last few days. He recently shared this link to an article, which is about a group his group worked with!)

But his fiancée has been a fun addition to the family, and she was honored at a bridal shower this past weekend. I wanted to tell you about the gift we gave her, because it was a little different!

Because marriage means so much to Ryan and me, and because we ache to see other couples dive in and make their relationship great and meaningful, we like to give gifts that foster that if we can! So for this shower, I gave the bride-to-be her own version of one of our favorite marriage traditions: an annual time capsule!

I used some of the posts I found on the Dating Divas website for a few of the printables, and I filled in the rest using the things Ryan and I have done with this tradition.

I put everything inside a little trunk (Hobby Lobby), which doubled nicely as gift wrap! (Please don't judge me for the lack of staging here...I really can do better!)

Here's a peek at the inside!

The capsule included glass bottles to hold letters from one anniversary to the next, envelopes for the next 25 years to keep the letters for posterity, and little question cards to spark ideas for conversation!

She loved it! (YAY!!!)

And I loved the bridal shower. It was a breakfast buffet, and it was so delicious. Ryan's family knows how to cook and throw a party!

A fun shower, a fun, theme, and a fun bride-to-be!

The Shafferland Shuffle

Hello, and happy Sunday! Hope you've had a good week! Ours has been quite the mix of highs and lows, as you will soon see. 

* Last Sunday was a really spectacular day at church...one of those days I won't forget for a long, long time. Still gives me goose bumps! (And then of course, last Sunday was also the day I found I'd put my deodorant in the freezer, so I was obviously not thinking clearly for every single moment of the day.) Ryan and I were both exhausted from our weekend of speaking, so we took lots of naps! 

* Monday morning I went to the hospital to sit with a friend before her surgery, and then Ryan and I went to a funeral that afternoon. Ryan's sister lost her mother-in-law in a really tragic accident, so we went to her service. 

* Because I'd been gone so much on Monday, I was really behind on office work, so I spent Tuesday trying to catch up! I did take a break to see Ryan to play cornhole at lunch (tournament at work) and then back to the office I went! That night we picked up dinner for my friend who had surgery and took it to her. We may or may not have stopped for a treat of our own on the way home. :) 

* I made salad on Wednesday and got to try my new Thieves veggie cleaner. Do any of you use this stuff? It's pretty great! We settled in that night to watch the AGT finale. It made me so nervous, I had to "watch" the end with my hands over my eyes. Too much pressure!

* I went to Bible study on Thursday...I'm learning so much from this group. I appreciate them! Ryan brought me a latte that night after his workout. Isn't he the nicest! All of us were tired that night...including Miss Braeya Jo Jo. (She had no workout to blame it on. She's just all cat.)

* Friday morning, before he left for work, Ryan said, "Hey, I can talk to you now!" I couldn't figure out what he meant...and then I saw the mug. Ha! It rained for a little that morning, and Ryan sent me this rainbow picture. I always miss rainbows. But he caught a good one! It cleared up pretty quickly, and that afternoon, Pheebs came to stay! She hasn't been over for a while!

* Yesterday was a busy day! Ryan worked and I went to his cousin's bridal shower. It was a nice shower, complete with a delicious breakfast bar! I got to see our little nephew, too, which was fun. Later in the day, we went to the viewing for our friend Mike, who passed away earlier this week. We took Pheebs for an evening walk, and then I made a big batch of chocolate chip cookies! 

So there you go! A quick peek at our Shafferland week!

The Saturday Six

One.

Of course I sold all my stamps a few years ago, but if I still had them, I have a feeling I'd be doing this project. SO. ADORABLE. (Plus I'm just a sucker for decorating with books.)

Two.

These people bought an old schoolhouse (turned into a house) and renovated it to take it closer to its original roots while still keeping it modern. My favorite part? They're the Shaffers. It was like reading about ourselves! :)

Three.

This is an important post about the dangers of getting our Bible-reading fill from Instagram. (Or any social media, really.) I encourage you to read through the comments, too, to get some additional insight from the author of the post (Jen Wilkin). She's not bashing the opportunity we have to share encouragement from Scripture, but she is warning us that those places offer limited opportunity to explore the whole scope of those Scripture passages. It's good to be reminded to actually get into the Word to study and not just snack on social media.

Four.

A few weeks ago, I shared with you about a special friend of ours that left quite an impact on my life. He passed away this week, and in his honor, I wanted to share that post again. If you missed it the first time or just need a refresher, take a read! (P.S. - He read that post after I shared it the first time, and the next time we went to visit, he told me I shouldn't be such a liar. I'm not a liar. Every word was true, and he continued to live it.)

Five.

Have scrap wood and some chalkboard paint? Check out this fun, free toy idea. This. Is. Genius.

Six.

Source

Guess who had time to read a book this week? THIS GIRL!!!! I saw this one on the soon-to-be-released list a few weeks ago and knew right away I wanted to read it. It won't be hard for you to figure out why.

* It's called A Christmas by the Sea. I mean that right there should tell you why I found it to be a winner, right?

* I'm craving (CRAVINNNNNNNNG) the start of Christmas movie season on Hallmark. So the chance to read a book that's basically the printed version of the aforementioned movies? Obviously.

* It's a busy week, but with less than 200 pages in this novel, I gobbled it up in just a few hours!

* I'd read Melody Carlson before: this is actually the third year I've read one of her Christmas books. She's consistent in her feel-good fiction.

A Christmas by the Sea held true to what I've come to expect from (and love about) Melody Carlson. Her books are always really fun, easy reads that take me to the happiest of all the places. If you're looking for breathtaking suspense or a twisty plot, this isn't the book for you. But if you just need to escape to a warm and friendly place with lovable characters, Melody's your author!

In this book, Wendy Harper and her 12 year old son, Jackson, are headed from their home in Ohio to Seaside, Maine, to take a look at the cottage Wendy inherited from her late grandfather. Though she used to spend summers at the cottage with her grandparents when she was a little girl, she's not been there in many years and has no idea what to expect from the little cottage. Jackson is convinced this trip will be permanent and they'll never leave the coast. Wendy forces herself to be a responsible adult, aware that they must sell the cottage to pay for the unending medical costs left from her late husband's illness.

Wendy and Jackson arrive just before Thanksgiving to find that the cottage isn't quite as dilapidated as Wendy feared, and Seaside has come a long way from the dying town she remembers.

As Wendy dives in to try to update the cottage with the intent to sell it for the highest price, Jackson dives in to life in Seaside.

I quickly fell in love with the town of Seaside, the beach cottage (of course), and the residents of the little town. I loved Wendy and her son (whose personality reminded me of all the stories I've heard about Ryan as a kid). And after reading, I'm ready for Christmas!

** Revell provided a complimentary copy of this book to me. All opinions are my own!  **

Little Bit of Bragging.

Yesterday was fun! I enjoyed reading your thoughts on those! :) Glad to know I have some kindred spirits out there.

I fully intended to have something of profound value for you today, but alas, I got sucked into scrapbooking yesterday, so I realized about 9:30 that I hadn't even started thinking about a post for today. WHOOPSIE!!!!

I'm working on our vacation album and am thoroughly enjoying reliving those very fun days. Ryan's a fun travel companion - you know that? He makes every single day of a trip so much fun.

And as I thought about that, I realized that's what I want to talk about here today. Just a little bit of bragging on my love.

Yesterday, Ryan's mom had lunch with us at our house. It may not have been my finest hostessing moment. I had been at a Bible study that ended up getting out late, and as I scurried home to try to throw together the rest of our lunch, Ryan texted to say she'd be joining us. We had plenty of food and I was happy to have her, but I hadn't wrangled together a dessert yet, and the delay in getting home meant dessert would just have to be (as Ryan always says) "a sugar packet or two."

I rushed around to boil water for pasta (for Ryan) and pierced a spaghetti squash to cook it (for me). The water on the stove boiled over - twice - and I burned my fingers on the squash. I was a sweaty, rushing mess by the time the two of them walked in the door, but let the record show, the food was tasty.

Anyway.

As I rushed around putting things on the table, Ryan said to me, "You look nice today." Well, that is a true statement, compared to the bed-head mess I was when he left for work! :) But that aside, I loved it that he threw a compliment my way right in front of his mom. Made me feel very loved. And he's good at doing that all the time, whether or not anyone else is listening or watching.

He went to the gym last night, and took time to text me to congratulate me on my run, even while he was focusing on his own workout.

Before he came home, he stopped at Starbucks to pick up half price lattes for us, because he knows my love language is coffee. (And donuts. And sleeping. And dates....but I digress.)

(Do I even need to say he was in park in a parking lot for this picture? Probably.)

He cleaned up the kitchen after dinner...something he does almost every single night. He says I do all the meal planning and prep, so he should have to clean up. (In truth? He just knows dishes aren't my favorite and he loves me by doing them for me.)

While he worked on cleanup, I worked on our scrapbook some more, and I realized how many times on our trip he grabbed his phone (or the big camera) to capture moments of me enjoying something so I can be part of the pictures on the pages too. Every now and then I'll specifically ask him to take a picture, but most of the time (vacation or no vacation) he doesn't wait to be asked. He just notices that a photo-worthy moment is taking place, and he makes sure it's captured.

I am so very grateful for his heart for me, for others, and for the Lord. (And not in that order.) I appreciate all the things he thinks to do and say, and if I could put together a class for him to teach these sorts of things to others, you can absolutely know I would. He leads well, and I don't take him for granted.

Thank you, Ryan, for being YOU! I love you!