What I Learned in September

Allow me to begin by saying I'm highly disappointed in myself, because I learned way more than this month than this post shows, but I forgot to write down my findings and then I forgot them! So I guess that means I didn't truly LEARN them, right?

Oh well.

Here's what I did retain - in addition to water. ;)

1. This is a strange little fruit.

One of our tenants brought in a tub of this fruit one day and asked if any of us had ever heard of it. We had not...have you? It's called Rambutan, and it's a tropical fruit. The outside spiny skin peels off and the inside looks like a grape with its skin peeled off. Inside THAT is a fairly large pit. I found it to be a lot of work to eat for not a ton of flavor, but I did think it was good. (It kind of tasted like a grape, actually. Those are just much faster to eat!

2. The feasts in the Bible.

We just completed a four week class on the feasts of the Bible, and I learned so much! I've told you about some of the classes, and I'll probably blog about the rest of them, too. I appreciated all the hard work that went into not just the classroom part, but the meal preparation, too!

3. Waxing and waning crescent moons.

When Ryan and I were driving home from one of the photo shoots I did this month, I happened to glance at the moon and took a guess that it was a waxing crescent moon. I actually never remember learning about moon phases at all in school, so I figured I would be COMPLETELY wrong on my guess. And I was! But it was a waning crescent, which was at least similar in verbiage! So then I looked up a little about the waxing and waning. Did any of the rest of you learn about moon phases in school? (And that picture is not of the moon that night. It's just a moon picture I have.)

4.  I need to write more things down when I learn them. 

I know. It's old news now. I said it at the beginning. But I'm bummed because I really did learn some cool things and now I can't tell you!

5. I love our new kayak!

I've told you about Fletcher, our new kayak. We've taken him on some spins and hope we can get in one more before it gets too cold out. But we are so happy to have him and so happy to leave near enough to water to make such adventures a reality! This is all very new to us! (We are also thankful for kayak options that made this even a possibility for us.)

6. Father of the Bride 3

Did you guys see that there was a mini Father of the Bride 3 movie? Ryan and I watched it over the weekend, and it was kind of cute. If you didn't see it, it was a nod to quarantine life, with the Banks family meeting up on Zoom to hear about Matty's intent to marry his girlfriend. It was fun to see all the main characters!  (The movie, by the way, was less than 30 minutes long and is on YouTube.)

Now...for what I did and did not accomplish in October!

1. Do a little fall decorating around the building. 

Done!! I was able to decorate our apartment and some of the common areas with the fall decor I've accumulated over the years. On our days off this week, Ryan and I were able to get some pumpkins and mums, and we're going to be putting those outside at the front today!

2. Schedule fall pictures.

Still workin' on it. I did make some contacts, but nothing panned out so far. I have a couple of ideas left before I just have to tripod it. :)

3. Enjoy some days off and outings with Ryan.

Success! We went for some walks, kayaked a few times, checked out a sunflower farm, did a little shopping, rested, and had other adventures too! September was a good month in the self-care department, and I am grateful for it!

4. Do some reading.

Wellll, we only got through one book, and it was a short one, but we did get through one! We ended up having a lot of other training on our calendar this month that we didn't know about heading into the month, so that took up some of our reading time. There's always October!

5. Do some personal hosting.

Unfortunately this one had to be postponed. They tightened the building restrictions (health reasons) and we aren't able to have visitors in the building. So I'll have to save my cooking for another day! But this is still a high priority goal for me!

6. Keep learning our job.

We're working on it! We did more training this month, hosted some community nights, had great conversations, and are learning the good and hard aspects of the job. So we're on track. This one will never be done, and I know it, but we're farther ahead than we were a month ago!

Dreams and Goals for October 2020

Let me tell you what: fall just up and exploded in our town. Has that happened where you live? Trees aren't slowly turning up here. They are just green one day and completely yellow or red the next day. It's crazy!! I would love it if that meant they would just hang on in all their brilliant color for a long fall, but I fear they'll have a quick finale and be on the ground way too soon!

So since fall hurried, I better hurry to make my dreams and goals for October! Here they are, in no particular order.

1. Finish prepping for a real live speaking engagement!

I haven't spoken to a group in person since February! Ryan and I shared a Valentine's Day talk at a church, and about a month later, quarantine hit, and I haven't been back to an event since. (I did speak via Zoom for a Mother's Day breakfast at another church.) Do I even remember how to speak?? I hope so! I am scheduled to speak at a one-day event over in Ohio this fall, and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm excited about the topic and looking forward to meeting new people and hopefully even seeing a friend from many years ago!

2. Fall pictures!!

At the rate the trees are turning, we may not have any pretty leaves in them, but I'm still excited for fall pictures - which means I really need to figure out what we're wearing this year. Ahhhh the annual conundrum, right?

3. Check out a corn maze and pumpkin patch.

This was on my bucket list for fall, but it's gotta happen in October. Ryan and I actually went to a pumpkin patch yesterday, but it was raining and I don't think the people were really crazy about being open in the rain, so we just shopped out of their pre-picked bins. Their corn maze wasn't open, which was fine, because of the aforementioned rain, but I still hope we can enjoy a trip through one before the month ends.

4. One more kayak trip.

In addition to the leaves turning, the temperature has turned a bit too, but I'm hoping we can squeeze in one more kayak trip to enjoy the pretty leaves along the water - before it gets too cold to be out on the water!

5. Finish our vacation book.

I started our scrapbook of our birthday trip from back in May. It wasn't the most picture-heavy trip we've ever taken, so I hope it's a feasible goal to finish this book sometime this month. I like to be caught up on one trip's memories before we take another one, which reminds me...

6. Figure out FOR SURE where we want to go for our anniversary.

We're just a couple of months out from our anniversary trip! We've tossed around a handful of ideas of places we'd like to visit. This trip has been complicated by the pandemic, of course. Where can we go in the winter that doesn't lean upon events or indoor places being open - in case they're not? (Plus we don't have a terribly long time that we can be gone, so we can't travel to warmer climates.)

So those are some goals for Shafferland...how about for you?

Weekend Rest

I think my mom tells me in nearly every conversation - "I don't think I'll ever get the hang of your new job."

It's fair. It's taken a while for us to get the hang of it too (in some ways) and if you're not living in the details every day, it would be really hard to keep up with it all!

In this new job of ours, we don't have traditional weekends. We don't work Monday through Friday and get Saturday and Sunday off. We don't even necessarily work five days and get two off. We get nine days off each month that serve as our weekends. The couple that works alongside us also gets nine days off a month that serve as their weekends. We sit down every month or two to plan out the month (or two or three) ahead of us so we can determine when our days fall. Choosing weekends is kind of like playing Tetris.

At least one couple has to be on duty every day, so that means in the course of a year, we'll both have to work real-world weekends - and holidays too. (Not all of them, obviously, but sometimes.)

I've had several people ask me if we mind it - working so many Saturdays and Sundays when our friends might be off work. It doesn't really bother us, although we know there's a possibility that along the way, we'll have to miss something for a friend or family member because we didn't know in enough time to schedule that day off.

I've also had people ask if we have a hard time keeping track of the days - and the answer to that is YES!! When we first came, I had the hardest time knowing what actual day it was, so I started trying to make a point of hand writing the day of the week on a message board when I get up every morning. That has really helped!

Regardless of how long our work stretches go in between days off, and regardless of what days actually comprise our weekend, we are really enjoying the actual rest that comes with those days. If take two days in a row, we try to use one for errands (if needed) and visiting with friends or family (if possible) and reserve the other one for a fun day for the two of us. That might mean resting in our apartment if we're particularly exhausted, or it might mean going out on an adventure.

We don't have to use our "weekends" for home improvement projects or even mowing the lawn, so the weekends can be true time off, and we love that!

Today is part of a weekend for us, and we are looking forward to the rest and joy of some time off together.

For the rest of you in the normal world who just had a weekend...did you do anything fun??

The Shafferland Shuffle

Good morning - and happy end of September to you! My goodness. This month has FLOWN!!! What in the world!!! Here's a little glimpse of our week for you!

* Last Sunday morning, one of our tenants was baptized, and we had the honor of being among her guests to witness that. We were off duty that day, but we had lunch with the rest of the WillowBridge building to celebrate after the baptism. I made broccoli cheese soup to take to the lunch, and it was pretty delicious! We had a low-key day that included a fresh batch of no bakes, courtesy of Ryan! They were fabulous!

* I was so excited that the scrapbook I ordered arrived early, and I may have squealed and jumped around like a kid on Christmas when I opened that box!!! Quarantine memories for the win. Ryan finished work just in time to watch Monday night football, which made his day, and I finished up my in-depth study on Psalms that I started at the beginning of the year!! I'm excited to have completed that goal.

* Tuesday was all about meetings all day long! When we were done with them, Ryan and I walked to the post office to get the mail and we saw the first trees turning for fall!! YAY!!! That night we went to the third meal class at church - the Sukkot meal. Way more food than I could eat in one sitting, but I loved it and learned much!

* Wednesday brought more meetings - and I have to say that I'm glad Zoom hasn't gone away. Saves so much time! I had ice cream at lunch and someone was interested in having a sampling. (She didn't get one. I don't share ice cream.) And that night was a community night for WillowBridge. Our tenants planned the whole evening for us, cooked food, and even put together a slide show of some of our fun events. AND the staff received awards from the tenants! So creative and so much fun!

* I did some work-writing on Thursday and enjoyed setting up camp at our new desk in our home office! It's a great writing spot! It was a gorgeous day and Ryan took advantage of the opportunity to mow and trim the yard. He loves doing that! By evening, it was chilly and fall-like, so I made some tomato basil soup for dinner - and grilled cheese quesadillas. They hit the spot!

* Friday brought about a creative office project for me - and it required the use of my Flair pens. Just looking at them makes me so happy!! Ryan worked hard all day long on a ton of projects, and by evening, he was ready for pizza! We tried a new-to-us spot and loved it! It was also our evening to pick up leftovers from Panera for Gateway Woods - a festival of carbs. Does the mere act of looking at bagels add pounds?

* One of our tenants surprised me with a latte and cake pop yesterday morning - wasn't that so sweet?? After a busy work day, Ryan and I took a walk in the afternoon and watched Big Hero 6 with one of our tenants. I had never seen that movie before and it was sure cute! (I may also have spent part of the movie trying to figure out WHAT TO DO WITH MY HAIR!!!!!!!)

The Saturday Six

One.

I've been intrigued by all the fan noise piped into the football games (because that's all I hear while I scrapbook and Ryan watches the games) so I had to look up how they do it. Mostly I wanted to know who gets to choose when people get booed. While that answer wasn't quite as complete as I wanted, I did find this interesting!

Two.

In other news of things I found interesting this week...this post, which talks about the mental sluggishness we may be feeling as a result of pandemic life. Whether or not this has hit you hard specifically, I think the premise is interesting to learn about, because it might be impacting those around you!

Three.

A few weeks ago, I told you about my friend Brent, who has recorded some piano music for a YouTube channel. The channel is found here, and they now have all kinds of options! You can pick what you love to hear - and listen for hours!

Four.

We do love shopping at Aldi, though we aren't ever able to totally knock out our list from there. I ran across this list of things this blogger says you should always buy at Aldi, and found that we do buy 18 of her 25 recommendations there! Sweet! (A few of the other items on her list are ones we used to buy there, but we now buy in bulk at Sam's.) Any of you like to shop at Aldi? You have a must-buy item there?

Five.

I saw this idea actually for a teacher gift (and it would be great for that!) but I think this would also be superb for a little friend/neighbor gift. It's a bag of homemade croutons with a sprig of rosemary and a printable tag. With Thanksgiving coming up, this could be a great way to thank people for being part of your life! (Wheels spinning for how I can use this...)

Six.

Tired of cheese board pictures? How about this instead?

Another Meal...

A few days ago, I told you about a class we signed up for at a nearby church - to learn some about meals and feasts in Scripture. I wanted to tell you about the second class we took, which taught about Shavuot - or the Feast of Weeks. 

We learned about its connection to the wheat harvest and commemorating God giving the law to the Israelites.

I was intrigued to learn that this particular feast leans toward dairy foods! I'm all for a feast of dairy foods! Our teacher talked to us about how the Torah is likened to nourishing milk.

She also explained that some communities read the book of Ruth publicly during this feast, and while we didn't read the whole book aloud during our class, she did go over the main points of the book, including how Ruth gleaned in the wheat fields after the harvest. 

Our delightfully dairy-laden meal for the week included: Caprese Salad on a Rosemary Skewer, Leek and Goat Cheese Quiche, and Melopita (Honey and Cheese Pie). We were also supposed to have Crispy Cheese Stuffed Risotto Balls, but there were some complications with their preparation, so those were delayed a week.

Everything was absolutely DELICIOUS.

The gentleman who makes the food each week puts SO MUCH TIME into creating these meals for us. I appreciate him!! 

Fall Entertainment and Bucket List!

Fall showed up right on calendar schedule around here. Trees are tipping toward red and yellow, and the weather has cooled to that perfect temperature between hot and cold.

And despite pandemics and everything being off kilter and schedule, I'm making a mental checklist of things I'd love to do this fall! How about you?

I checked off one already - because I found a coffee shop near us that has almost an exact replica of my beloved apple pie chai from McConn Coffee Shop. It was delicious! I may or may not have to go back for more.

But in the meantime, here are a few of my other fall wish list dreams:

* Go to a pumpkin patch/corn maze.

* Paint or carve pumpkins. (Our building wants to do this together as an activity, actually.)

* Take pictures of pretty trees.

* Do our annual fall photos.

* Bonfire with s'mores!

* Make pumpkin bread or cookies. (And eat them!)

* Kayak down the river after the leaves turn.

* Go for a bike ride on a crisp morning or evening.

* Have a Reese's pumpkin.

It's not a huge list - but I feel like it's attainable with our schedule and with the current state of affairs.

How about you? Any fall bucket list dreams??

What if Memories Were Money?

I saw that question last night, and it stopped me in my tracks.

What if memories were money? Would you be rich?

A couple of days ago, my latest scrapbook arrived in the mail. It covered April-June of 2020, which should have meant that it was a pitifully skinny little book. Quarantine meant no county tours. No evenings out with friends. No events.

Even so, that book was one of the thickest quarter scrapbooks I've ever made, because even though our outside world was shut down, our life was full and memorable.

I flipped through the pages and saw pictures of Ryan busy with his proning team, all our projects at home, and the many things we did to fill those at-home hours. We camped on the sun porch. We went for walks around the neighborhood. We cooked. We attended Zoom meetings and jammie church.

If memories were money, quarantine made us oh so very rich.

This week I started working on the scrapbook of our long-weekend birthday trip right when things started to open back up. Everything about that weekend went differently than planned. We went to the Hocking Hills in Ohio and the state park was closed entirely. But even though our whole trip's plan was thwarted, we still had a great weekend. We found other trails. We took a million naps. We enjoyed the hot tub at our cabin. We grilled and drank coffee. We had a great weekend, even though it was absolutely Plan B.

Our move and new job have given me a beautiful new perspective on money, possessions, and yes, even memories. We sold a fair amount of superfluous things before our move, and I told Ryan that we could just as easily have a sale now to downsize even more. There is a freedom in having less that I never fully understood until it applied to us.

And yet we're loving all the memories we get to make in the gift of working together. Walks through town, coffee dates, kayaking down the river...these are things we've not had the privilege of soaking up to the degree we do now. We are grateful for those memories and the richness they add to life.

We probably all dream (at least a little bit) about what we would do if we had money to spare. Dreaming is fun, isn't it? But most of us probably won't ever experience an unlimited flow of funds. All of us, though, have a chance to enjoy an unlimited flow of memories.

I hope you're rich in them too. And I hope you're remembering them somehow...words, pictures, a combination of both.

Let's be rich in memories!

You Matter!

One of the community activities we do here at WillowBridge is accountability in daily devotions. Even though I write devotions upon occasion (and have some out for publication this month, in fact) I struggle so hard with how many of them are presented. More and more, I see devotional readings that are all about the writer's thoughts and barely nod to Scripture at all. 

Our staff here at WillowBridge really wants to see the tenants get into the Word itself, so we're trying to present a few devos that push them to open a physical Bible or look up verses online and see what the Bible has to say directly! 

The staff is doing the same devo line and talking about it together, and yesterday's reading took us to Luke 12:6-7. If you're very familiar with Scripture at all, you probably know these verses, even if you don't know they're located here:

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

One of the things I encouraged the tenants to do is to read the verses around the actual assigned passage, because it's always important to see things in their intended context. These verses are part of some teaching Jesus shared with the disciples - and I actually love the way He went about that. 

Luke 12:1 says, "Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to His disciples..."

It's been a while since we've seen a crowd of many thousands trampling on one another, right? Ryan is watching football while I'm writing this, and now and then I glance up and see many thousands...of empty seats. Seats that would normally be filled with people somewhat trampling each other to get in...get out...get the best view. It's a strange sight to see the emptiness when we're used to such fullness.

But Jesus didn't let the fullness of trampling crowds clamoring for His attention deter Him from first turning to the disciples - this crew of twelve that He so specifically and intentionally invested in. He taught them first, and in that teaching, He made a point of reminding them how much they matter. And they weren't just words. They were words backed up by Jesus' actions, as He turned to these men first. 

His first instruction was to warn them about hypocrisy and how it can so easily and quickly spread. He talked about how hidden gossip and words will be brought to light and nothing will remain a secret. 

And then He encouraged them not to fear people, even though they can be awfully hurtful here on this earth. He reminded them that the One who matters is God Himself, because He holds eternity in His hands. 

Then He reminded the disciples that they matter. They matter more than the tiniest bird that is so insignificant in the world that they barely have monetary value. He told them that they matter so much that all the hairs on their head are numbered by God. 

We know these things in our head, I would venture to guess, but do we hold them to be true in the center of our hearts? When people say hurtful and unkind things to or about us...things that spread like yeast throughout bread dough...are we able to look past the understandable sting (or gaping wound) that comes into our soul and trust that we matter to God even if we don't matter to the people with the loud mouths? 

These verses ended up in our study on fear because in verse seven, Jesus said, Don't be afraid; you are worth more...

We want to matter. We want to have worth and value. 

And we do.

Jesus said it. 

Don't be afraid of what people say about you or to you. I'm not dismissing that the words hurt. I have been (and still am) the recipient of hurtful words. The sting is real. But don't let the fear stirred up by their gossip and slander override the truth that you are worth more. You matter. 

I don't know how many of you need to hear that today, but I'm guessing at least one of you does. So I echo what Jesus said: Don't be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows. 

Family Fun!

This past Friday was the first day of our long weekend, and we spent a couple of hours seeing my sister, who was in town for half a minute. (Possible slight exaggeration on that half a minute thing.) 

Lori and Jeff were in town for just a couple of days for a family wedding on Jeff's side, so we drove to meet them closer to where they were staying and had a great time catching up, even if the time was brief!

We had a gorgeous day to drive, and our route was pretty similar to my old commute from my radio days. I do not miss driving that every single day! I always appreciate working from home whenever I am reminded of that long drive. 

We met up with them at The Branch, which is a little coffee shop in the tiny town of Fairmount. Ryan and I had been there once before, but it's been a couple of years! And we hadn't ever been there for breakfast. (If you're local, you should go. It's delicious.) 

The perk of outings like this on a weekday is having the place mostly to ourselves! We sat for a long time, telling stories and eating! 

After that, I took a few pictures for Lori and Jeff because....today is their anniversary!!!! Happy anniversary, you two! :) Jeff grew up in Fairmount, so we did a tour of the downtown area, grabbing pictures in front of places that had history for him! (And also - fun walls that Ryan found in alleys.)

And then we did a little shopping around the SUPER CUTE little shops. I absolutely fell in love with the actual building one of the stores was in. Character for days!

And then it was time to say goodbye, which was so sad. :( 

I told Ryan I'm going to start making him take the pictures so he can be the giant head in the middle!  Ha!

It may have been a brief outing, but we had fun! Happy anniversary, Lori and Jeff! If my hair would still stay in a French braid, I would wear one today in honor of my look on your wedding day!!

The Shafferland Shuffle

A happy fall Sunday to all of you! It's felt pretty crisp around here the last few days, and I haven't hated trying out the comfy sweatshirts again! :) Here's a little look at our adventures this week.

* The week began with us in the middle of an eight-day working stretch, but we did get to enjoy church! A brand new series began at that church that day, and we really appreciated what we learned. Tim and Justine were also on duty with us that day, so our afternoon was a mix of work and a football game that mysteriously appeared on the screen in the Community Room. ;) The evening was so pretty that we went out for a walk around sunset - which comes much earlier these days, I must say.

* We spent a good chunk of Monday in a training session to learn more about drug and alcohol addiction and abuse - trying to understand signs and symptoms to look for and how to help when someone is struggling in this area. That evening we took one of our tenants to a Bible study, and on our way home, we stopped by the store for some groceries. Ryan is loving his new mask - ha! When we got home, he worked hard on some exercises for a class he was going to teach over on the main campus.

* We've hardly had to mow the yard since we got here, because it only rained a couple of times in August, so the grass never grew. We finally got some rain, so Ryan mowed the yard on Tuesday. He also taught the workout class that day and LOVED IT. It fed his soul to be able to share that kind of teaching! And that night we had another class at the church about meals of the Bible. This time it was the Shavuot, and the food was excellent.

* Wednesday was a hard day for me. Nothing earth shattering went wrong, but I think I was just tired as we neared the end of our work stretch - and it was one of those days when life just weighed heavy. I had a great makeup day and cried it all off about five minutes later. Ahhhh. Some days are like that! Ryan and went to a self-care training session that day, so after it was over, we decided to put into practice what we just learned and went on a little coffee date. And then we came back and worked more with our tenants!

* I'm not sure what Braeya was doing Thursday morning, but I guess she thought the couch needed a hug! I did a ton of writing that day; I'm working on developing a different sort of Bible study program for our tenants. Ryan went to do plasma donation again that afternoon - and my goodness. The lines there these days are so long! That night I got in an extra dose of baby snuggles and that ended the day beautifully!

* Friday was the beginning of a long weekend for us! My sister from Kansas was briefly in the state for a wedding, so we drove to Fairmount (near where we used to live in Marion) to meet her and Jeff for breakfast at a coffee shop! We haven't seen them in person for over a year, so it was fun to catch up with them. I took some pictures for them (I think a combo of Christmas card photos and anniversary pictures) and then we shopped at some of the little local shops there in Fairmount. After that, we picked up the desk we ordered for our home office. Fun fact: we ordered this in June, about a month before we moved. It just now arrived!

* We slept in late and made breakfast at almost lunchtime yesterday. It was GLORIOUS!!! Ryan put together our new desk, and it fits perfectly in our little office. (That's amazing, considering we had no idea of any measurements on our apartment when we bought it.) We rounded out the day taking pictures for our friends Adam and Michele and their family - and then we had dinner with them! Ryan was super excited about his fish and chips!