Anniversary Celebrations Part 3

Last Sunday was our last day of our little anniversary getaway, and we had so much fun!

We decided to make it a leisurely morning and just stay at the hotel until the last possible moment. It was so nice to NOT rush around. That is what vacation is all about, right??

Our first order of business was to visit a coffee shop, because this outing actually doubled as our Allen County tour, but I'm going to do a separate post on that, so I'll wait to show you that part later.

Our NEXT order of business was to visit a Christmas tree farm to get this year's tree! I found one on the North side of Fort Wayne called St. Joe Christmas Tree Farm, and it was charming!

It was busier than any tree farm we'd been to yet, but maybe that's because we have always gone on a weekday before. Anyway, they were so nice, and this sign just cracked me up!

I did think it was really great that you could bring your pets! {We didn't have Braeya with us. Rudolph probably would reject her anyway.}

We went in search of the perfect tree...I thought maybe this one?

Ryan thought maybe this one:

So we went with his choice!

We thought it was safer if he did the cutting and I did the photography.

And then he had to just go and show off.

Shout out to my five pound free weights!!!

{Yes, he really carried it like that all the way from the lot up to the front.}

We got him all tied up and ready to go...and we named him Firby!

We love our Firby!!

Before we came home, we took another gift card and went out for lunch:

There was a Colts game underway at that time, so lunch looked a lot like this:

That just cracks me right up.

It was delicious, that lunch! Even if I was a TV widow. {I LOVE YOU, RYAN!!!!!}

And it was a perfect end to the time away. We so enjoyed our getaway, but I promise I have more stories to come!! :) Come back!!!!

The Saturday Six

One.

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Well here's something you don't often see on the old blogaroo: sports news! But of course now that I'm married into being an official Colts fan, I have to pay attention to these heart-tugging stories. If you watched last Sunday's game, then you know that T.Y. Hilton and his wife had a baby just hours before the game - and he scored a touchdown during the game, making it a pretty wonderful day for him. I watched his post-game interview, which he cried through {as did I} -- and then I cried some more reading this. My favorite part though? Coach Pagano's stance on whether or not Hilton made it to the game. Classy. Well done.

Two.

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I'm the weirdo that doesn't use Pinterest for social media. I use it as a place to pin things I want to find later. But I have to admit, when Liz Curtis Higgs was on our show this week and talked about her Pinterest boards for the Women of Christmas, I had to check them out. She wrote a book about the women of Christmas...Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna...and she's made a board for each one with fun things their life might look like if they lived right now. She also picked a color for each of them, and the pins correspond with the color. TOO CUTE!!! I love this baby pram for Elizabeth's baby John the Baptist!!

Three.

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I don't know that I would go so far as to say Apple doesn't want you to know this stuff, but it is true that I didn't know several of these little tips and tricks for the iPhone. Maybe you didn't know all of them either?  

Four.

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The selfie stick? Oh sweet goodness. We need this. It seems more practical than praying to grow longer arms to capture our memories.  

Five.

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Coolest. Love. Story. Ever. Who says God has to follow a formula in introducing people???


 Six.

Last night, Ryan and I decorated the tree while listening to David Phelps' Christmas DVD - O Holy Night. Yes, Ryan gets husband of the year for letting me choose the music! My own personal favorite fan-dom aside, this is spectacular. So if you don't have it yet, you should get it. Today. 

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday we took in the third day of our anniversary getaway...by attending the Colts game in Indianapolis! They played Tennessee, and while it wasn't the best game ever played in the history of football, it was fun to go...and fun to WIN!!!

* Monday was our first anniversary! Like the official, actual anniversary! We celebrated with a trip to the Christmas tree farm, where we picked out a new tree! That evening, we came home, watched our whole wedding video {do you know it's almost an hour long?} and ate cupcakes...and drank coffee, of course!!!

* Tuesday my eating and sleeping schedule was completely messed up from the long weekend...so by the time I came home from work, I felt pretty lousy. Ryan ran to the store for us so I could get a tiny bit of rest, but we are used to shopping together, so we {are you ready for this?} did our grocery shopping via FaceTime, with me at home and Ryan at the store. Apparently he got some really weird looks.

* Wednesday night, after we got home from the gym, we watched Christmas Vacation together. Or at least we started to. One of us fell asleep halfway through!! It was our only night we had at home to rest this week, so we made the most of it!

* Thursday was a LONG work day for me - but a fun one! The station hosted a BeadforLife party {more on this later} - from 11-7, so I spent the day with all my co-workers, meeting the people who came to shop! And it's possible I took a few ton of pictures! I didn't get home from work until 8:45 that night, but I had to start watching The Sound of Music Live right then!

* Friday night - yes a full WEEK into December, Ryan and I finally got to start decorating!! We dragged all the tubs out of the attic and spent the evening decorating just the first tree - the live one we bought on Monday, which is "our" tree. It was a fun night! We played Christmas music and enjoyed reminiscing about the ornaments we've collected since getting married. Fun!!

* Saturday, Ryan had to work, so my friend Amber came over to spend the day with me, and we worked hard on more trees! By the end of the day, with Amber's help and Ryan's help when he came home, we had seven trees up and all the Christmas tubs put away. Love it!! Want a sneak peek?

First Anniversary Getaway: Colts Game!

It just so happened that the Colts had a home game the same weekend as our anniversary!! Who KNEW?!? So since Ryan was kind enough to attend the Gaither concert with me...I went to a Colts game with him! {I actually don't hate football, you know.}

 The day before the game, Ryan treated me to an NFL-approved bag. They have to be clear and about the size of a postage stamp. I am not even kidding - my MAKEUP bag that I carry TO WORK every day is bigger than this bag. Eyeroll. But thank you, Baby, for getting this so I didn't have to carry a ziploc bag to the game.

We got there JUST in the nick of time to get our faces painted prior to the game. We were the last two they let into line before they shut it down!

 We made our way in to the stadium and found our seats...

I made sure to find Andrew Luck right away, since last year I never even saw him.

 He's number 12 there in the middle with his hands on his hips. {Just in case you're football challenged like me.}

The game itself, in the land of football games, wasn't a nail biter. In fact, the Colts didn't even score a touchdown until THE LAST TWO MINUTES OF THE GAME. But we won, and that's what's important, right?

Here were some of the non-football interesting points of the day:

Ryan and I shared a hot dog and bag of popcorn...so this was our his n hers hot dog. LOL!! Ketchup is my half. Mustard is his half. A marriage made in hot dog heaven.

 Interestingly enough, Sandi Patty sang the National Anthem. Yes indeed. Day three of seeing Sandi!

 I LOVE love love the big flag.

 During one of the commercial breaks, we enjoyed watching a surprise proposal. She said yes! And about half a second later, they were booted off the field so the game could continue. :)

 Our lone touchdown.

 And less than two minutes later....

Anniversary game complete!!!

 We had a great afternoon - so thankful he was able to get tickets from one of his co-workers! This completed our weekend!!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, Ryan and I hunkered down for the Colts playoff game. {Playoffs are such new things to me...} And as those of you who follow the world of football know...it was the day we folded up these shirts for good for this year.

So we got some pizza and breadsticks and worked on straightening up the office a bit more. {We are desperate to get this house in shape!!}

* Monday, before Ryan left, he told me he'd packed my lunch for me. When I opened my leftover pizza, I found this inside:

 Sigh. He makes me smile an awful lot. :) The weekend of work got the best of me, and by Monday night, I was just pooped. So we took it easy...watched TV and played on our computers.

* Tuesday I was just hopping around Twitter when I ran across this tweet from my friend, Brent Vernon: 

 It's still so strange to me to see my new name in print...and it was so exciting that he remembered the interview and wanted to revisit it!

* Wednesday night we came home to find this in our mailbox:

Our first together-scrapbook. Ryan and Bekah: the dating season. :) I still need to do the books on our engagement season...our honeymoon...our wedding...EEEEEEEEK! Much scrapping to be done. This was so much fun to read through - to relive all the joy of those early days together!

* Thursday I FINALLY had success at the Social Security office in changing my last name! I'm a real Shaffer now - and that only took four tries and what will be fabulous blog fodder...I'm just sure of it! In other news...I also am a real Shaffer now on the station photo wall!

* Friday was a long day to end a very long week. Ryan and I celebrated by having a Chinese dinner date! He brought home our dinner...and we just enjoyed the evening at home. I particularly love it that we can enjoy a great date...and have it at home.

* Yesterday was CRAZY busy - had breakfast with my friend Kari, and it was so good to catch up with her after way too long. Then last night, we had our first official Shafferland guests! We hosted the next round of game night, with my high school buddies! Ryan fit right in and we had so much fun. Food was good too - TACO BAR!!

It's the Weekly Recap!!

Last Sunday, Ryan took me to my first ever Colts game! He LOVES football and I'd never been to a pro game before. So he found us some tickets and off we went! I still understand (ahem) NOTHING about this game, but I made a fun day of it anyway and just adored being part of something he loves so much. Even better...the Colts WON! 

* Monday night I got to meet more of Ryan's extended family and that was one loving bunch. They welcomed me to the family with many hugs (and pizza) and I loved it! I did not take pictures so they wouldn't sit around 40 years from now and talk about that day the crazy Bekahrazzi girl showed up with the camera. :)

* Tuesday night I had dinner with Jenny - for the first time in a LONG time. I'd missed her! She brought a little gift for Ryan and me - our very first "Mr. and Mrs." gift! LOVE IT!!!

Then I went home and Ryan came over to help me work on the office. It was a MESS. (Seriously. Hoarders should have showed up.) We worked for a couple of hours and got it whipped right into shape. So thankful for a fiance who isn't afraid to jump in and help (and in truth, does a way better job of it than I do).

* Wednesday night: night #2 of premarital counseling. We learned how to argue. Yes. I actually needed lessons in that! And after that...we had a little coffee/dirt pudding date. MAN it was good. (Random trivia fact: dirt pudding was the very first thing Ryan ever made for me. Good choice. Way to my heart = through a dirt pudding filled tummy!)

* Thursday was the only day we didn't see each other this week - sob. I hate those days! But I got a lot done, including stopping by Rachel's to get my wedding jewelry.

I did a little wedding shopping for odds and ends and then many chores at home. It was a good night to get stuff done but I much prefer nights that include Ryan.


* Friday night I lost several years of my life in line at Meijer. It seriously looked like Christmas Eve in there. Good GRIEF!!! I put on Facebook that if I didn't make it out...people could send my Christmas cards to Meijer, attention aisle seven.

Then Ryan and I road tripped to Indianapolis to pick up my best friend, Lynnette, who came in for the weekend to be part of my wedding shower and bachelorette party! SO glad to see her!

* Yesterday (and I'll post much more about this in the coming days) I had my first ever bridal shower and bachelorette party! Such a WONDERFUL day to be able to spend with my friends. They loved me so well! Here's a sneak peek:

Pinterest Inspiration: I found this one this week when I hunted around for Thanksgiving ideas:

Source: thedatingdivas.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

You write a message on a piece of paper and bake it into a crescent roll. I just bought a tube of dough - this girl doesn't make rolls from scratch. (That's my Mom's gig, not mine.) And I printed the little free printable for Ryan - because I appreciate him so much! OH! And I rolled the dough in cinnamon and sugar before I baked it - just to give it a sweet edge.