In Which Ryan Races the GPS

We had to come home from Kansas eventually, didn't we?

Know my favorite thing to hear when we get in the car to come home? This:

Baby, see that time on the GPS? I'm gonna beat that.

And with that, all my hopes and dreams for a leisurely potty-break filled trip evaporated entirely. HA!

In honor of that, I will spend today sharing our trip home and a few other random moments from our trip!

All of us who stayed in the hotel found little gift bags awaiting us when we checked in. Water, snacks, and these darling little door hangers. Loved them!

My dad l.o.v.e.s. Murphy. They were pretty much best pals the whole weekend.

Our hotel had GREAT breakfast every day. Ryan was especially excited about the waffles.

I adored the windows in the church.

My mom's name is Marilyn and her joke is always {when introducing herself} to say, "My name is Marilyn...as in Monroe." So when we toured Greensburg and went by the little theater, we had her pose, though I'm sorry to say I was unable to get her to do THE Marilyn Monroe pose. After a little editing...

Hee hee hee.

We took Murph on a couple of walks...

They don't make them like they used to.

Last morning in Greensburg:

And this was when Ryan declared he would beat the GPS.

We did pause long enough to grab this in a drive-thru:

Played some games....

Drank some coffee...

Crossed the ole Mississippi. I remember the time YEARS ago when Mom and I went to Kansas, and this was flooded clear up to the bottom of the bridge. EEEK!

Never gets old!!

It was so good to be home!! Even if an accident backup in St. Louis prevented Ryan from beating the GPS.

Touring Greensburg

Podcast Tuesday!!! You'll enjoy this story...Bekah and the car dealership. Ohhhhhhhhhhh what a day that was.

Click here to listen.

Thanks so much for praying for Ryan's grandpa yesterday. The surgery did go well and it appears he is on the road to a good recovery. They'll keep a pretty close eye on him in the days to come to make sure he doesn't develop infections and complications, but for the moment, all appears to be going well! Ryan and I spent the day at the hospital and got to see him both before and after surgery; I'm glad we were able to go!

Today I wanted to show you some of the pictures from our day of touring Greensburg! Ryan and I decided to stay in Kansas one extra day beyond all the wedding festivities, and we were the only ones who stayed that long, so it was a tour for four around the big city. 

We visited all the cute little shops around town, but I'll pick up the photo tour at the Big Well. In case you're unfamiliar with the Big Well, I'll fill you in. It's the world's largest hand dug well, constructed in the late 1800's. It's 109 feet deep, and it turns out that if you have a fear of heights, this also translates to a fear of depths. I was pretty anxious for the whole climb, so Ryan took over the picture taking so I could concentrate on...you know...breathing.

Here's the Big Well Building from the outside:

We added a pin to Kokomo!!

Before the tornado, the well was mostly a visual experience. You could look through a cover down into it, but you couldn't go down the stairs into the well anymore. {I heard they were old and scary, so it was kind of okay that they closed it.} After the tornado, they built new stairs and opened it for business again. 

There's a whole museum, too, which includes the complete history of the well, dating back to the 1800's, and it also includes a bunch of tornado memorabilia and even video clips from the news stations the night of the tornado.

We went down inside...I freaked out.

Photo from the bottom. 

{No, they didn't have to hoist me out with the cable.}

You can also climb up into an observation area to look out over the town...and look way down into the very very bottom....

 Every window tells you what you're looking at...

And after all that climbing and descending, we felt it was only appropriate to visit the old fashioned soda fountain. {PLEASE NOTE: RYAN AND I SHARED THE HUGE SUNDAE.}

We spent the rest of the day with Lori and Jeff, watching the Olympics, and then it was time to say our goodbyes...to them and to Murph. :(

It was a great extra day to stay...thanks for hosting us, Lori and Jeff!

The {Worn Out} Shafferland Shuffle

This week has utterly exhausted me. I finally reached the point where my body said "Hey Bekah!! REST!!!!!!!!" So I am trying, but here's a peek at what brought me/us to that point!

* Last Sunday, we were still out in Kansas, just one day removed from the big wedding! We went to church with my family, had brunch with them and then helped tear down the reception hall. Everyone congregated at my sister's house for the rest of the day, where we ate wedding leftovers, watched Olympic coverage, and Ryan and I took the dog for a walk.

* By Monday, we were the only wedding guests still in town, so we had fun being tourists with Lori and Jeff! Ryan had never been out to visit prior to this trip, so we did all the stuff...toured the Big Well, went to the soda fountain...well, that's really about it. We spent the rest of the day hanging out with Lori and Jeff, eating wedding leftovers and watching Olympic coverage. And saying goodbye. Goodbyes stink.

* Tuesday was our travel marathon, where we left Kansas and drove home with only about two potty breaks in 13.5 hours. We literally could not feel anything below the waist when we got home. Feet and legs were 100% numb. And Braeya was 100% mad. LOL! We actually stayed up late that night to completely unpack because we were so desperate to move around for a while.

* Wednesday, one of my friends was in town from Colorado and came over to see our new house. It was fun to see her for a while, and then I had to travel over to church to begin my end-of-week volunteering duties. Our church hosted a simulcast of the Global Leadership Summit, and my job was to head up the resource center {aka onsite bookstore} for the event. I had to go do inventory and setup and be all ready for the two day event...and I got a free t-shirt, which Braeya promptly made into her bed. Of course.

* Thursday was day one of the Leadership Summit, and my friend Nancy and I spent from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. running the resource center. We had a great time getting to know each other better and serving those in attendance. Ryan was NOT used to me being gone like that, and when I got home about 7:00 that night, he was on the couch missing me. Ahhhh, absence really DOES make the heart grow fonder!!

* Friday was day two of the Summit, and one of my mom's friends had dropped off DELICIOUS homemade cinnamon rolls for all the volunteers. It seemed rude not to have one... :) We worked hard all day, Nancy and I, and I also got to see my friend Stephanie, who I never get to see now that I've moved. Ryan and his mom came over after he got off work and helped us tear down at the end and they took me out for dinner. Good thing, cause I was too pooped to cook.

* Speaking of too pooped, yesterday I felt so sick all day. It was just too much of a week, so I crashed on the couch the ENTIRE DAY {Ryan worked} until evening, when I met up with some of my friends for game night. Our 20th high school reunion is this year, but none of my game night friends are going, so we made our own mini-reunion together. No way was I missing that, even if I was pooped!

Wedding Bells!!

You've been so patient and kind to read our wedding adventures this week, so I thought I should actually give you...a wedding!

I had seen Cassie in her dress {via pictures} when she tried it on at the shop, but I had never seen her in it for real until she came to the church on her wedding day. Stun.ning.

This dress. Oh you guys!!!

 And look at the back! {Ignore us. NO idea what my expression means.}

I still can't get over this dress. It was amazing. You'll see more of it in pictures below.

But before that...my handsome, handsome date and yours truly, all dressed up! {Another borrowed dress and more borrowed jewelry. Thanks, Amanda and Marie!}

My parents...

The bride and her beautiful entourage:

The beauty of a small family is that you get good seats!! I sneaked a few pictures during the wedding. {Don't worry, photographers everywhere. I used Ryan's phone and kept it in my lap. No flash, no sound, and no one even knew, including my mother!}

Murphy was fairly bored.

And just like that...she was all married!

Ryan and I were recruited to be the official bubble-hander-outters after the service, and we did a mighty fine job, I believe.  A few photos from that:

Next week, I will show you some of our reception fun!