The Shafferland Shuffle

Happy last day of April!! It's been a cold and rainy weekend here, so I'm looking forward to these April showers bringing along some May flowers!!

* Last Sunday, we went to lunch with the Shaffer side of the family to celebrate the April birthdays: Ryan and his brother, Nick. We ate at Chili's and it was most delicious!

* Monday was Ryan's actual birthday (I'll finish telling you about our celebration tomorrow) and he had parties all day long! His work people brought treats for him and we had a date that evening. It was a fun day!

* Tuesday was hair day for this girl. Long overdue upgrade to the old color, and I'm pretty sure I pulled in radio waves with all this foil! After we both got home that evening, we had salad for dinner, but it was one of those nights when a salad didn't cut it. Dessert needed. We tried to get a Frosty, but the line was insane, so we splurged on Blizzards!!!! YUM!!!

* Wednesday evening was a kiddo-watching night for me, which was fun, and then Ryan and I hurried to the end of a viewing for the grandmother of some of our friends. On the way home, it got super crazy stormy in a hurry, and here are my thoughts on being out in that! We were fortunate - no hail damage. Some people got extensive damage! WE were also fortunate to get this gorgeous rainbow!!

 * Thursday was a busy work day, and when I went to get the mail, I found this blanket featuring Ryan's face. LOL!!! (It was something a friend of ours ordered - a photo collage - and she wanted a picture of us included. It's odd to see yourself on a blanket!) We had NO food in the house, so Subway made our dinner, and then it was an office-working night. All my favorite things in one space: Ryan and books!

* Friday I narrowly escaped setting off our fire alarm while cooking chicken at lunch. The whole house was thick with haze, but the alarm never went off. WHEW! In the land of new things we have tried this month, we went on a double-date mani-pedi with our friends on Friday night. Yes. You read that right. Oh my. Ryan's first pedi. He wasn't sure what to think of it, but he was a great sport! I got pretty coral fingernails, and we had fun with our friends.

* And then there was yesterday. OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH yesterday. Ryan was gone from early, early morning until evening at an all day continuing education course with one of his co-workers. In his absence, I began a 3 day detox cleanse that very well may kill me. No meat. No dessert. No coffee. Pray for us both.

The Shafferland Shuffle

Last week of March!! Is it spring break week where you live? If so, I hope you're getting to enjoy warmth! :)

* Last Sunday was the height of rest around here - for everyone! Naps, reading, scrapbooking, just enjoying the day. The only thing that would have made it better was a nice, long walk!

* Monday we woke up to crazy rain/storms, which is, I suppose, appropriate for the first official day of spring. Also exciting markers of the first official day of spring? Buds on trees (I'd so feared our pretty white flowering tree started too early and would die off when the freeze returned) and free ice cream cones from Dairy Queen! We got the new guy when we went, which I knew would either result in extra small cones or extra big ones. We lucked out! :)

* Tuesday was another therapy day for Mom, and she's doing really well! I attended, like always and helped by drinking coffee and watching. (Don't you wish I could assist in all your endeavors?) I go because I have SUCH A CRUSH on the guy who does her therapy. I did some child-care that night, and then enjoyed the most amazing sunset. I was so happy to see it! I miss pretty sunsets.

* Wednesday was a long, hard day here in Shafferland. Hard conversations and lots of prayer. I should clarify that we had hard days independently, which is awkward, because then we were both too tired to really pick each other up very well! That evening, Ryan went to the garage to keep working on the cabinets and pray and I spent some time reading Scripture and praying. (And crying in the bathroom. Full disclosure. LOL.) We weren't so sorry to see Wednesday go.

* Thursday morning I had to get our tires rotated, and I totally forgot to take my book to read while I waited! So I had a stare-down with the tires. They won. I got a beautiful surprise in the mail when a friend sent me a subscription to the Magnolia Journal! :) That was such fun. And at the end of the day? Got to hang out with the kiddos I've been watching some. It was fun!

* Friday I spent most of the day in the kitchen, baking meals for our friends and family who had surgery lately. It was so much fun to put together a little blessing basket for them, and then when Ryan got off work, we went on a delivery tour! We ate our own dinner so early and so fast that we were kind of hungry, so Ryan made a bowl of popcorn. It turned out to be a REALLY BIG BOWL. we ate every last bit. Don't tell.

* When we woke up yesterday morning, neither of us felt really great. Not full-on sick, but just worn out. So Ryan went to work, and I got busy around the house, and then GUESS WHO CAME TO HANG OUT FOR THE WHOLE DAY???? If you guessed our Phoebe-girl, you'd be right! I felt more justified resting on the couch with her in my lap! :) Always a treat to have her!

The Shafferland Shuffle

I feel like this last week has been busy, but not necessarily news-worthy. So it may not be the most interesting shuffle in the history of shuffles, but I shall soldier on and document!

* Last Sunday, Mom told us NOT to come out to visit. (She worries we spend too much time on her.) Her exact quote was, "I don't want to see you today." So naturally, we sent a selfie so she had to see us. Hee hee hee. Ryan was doing a big paperwork sorting project, but he paused for a nap, so Braeya "helped" by sitting on top of all the stacks while they were unoccupied. Me? Well, I just read blogs.

* On Monday, I did a full day road trip over to our old stomping grounds of Marion to deliver books to folks who wanted to use them for a Lenten study. It was like the days of yore, packing up my car for a day of commuting! While I was in town, I felt it only right to go to Poppy's Xtreme Donuts to get Ryan a treat! And after stopping to visit Mom, I discovered I had a treat of my own waiting when I got home...NEW SCRAPBOOKS ARRIVED!!!! Woot woot!

* Tuesday was crazy busy with all kinds of chores and errands, so I took just a quick second to sit and rest in the afternoon before hopping up to cook, because we had friends over for Tuesdays at the Table! This time we had friends from our old church in Marion. They hadn't seen our house yet, and we had a great time hosting them! :)

* Well Indiana proved the old adage true: March came in like a big old mad lion. Woke up at some ridiculous hour with weather radios going off and hail hitting the windows and the power going out. Whew! It finally calmed down, though. My sister came up to be with Mom that day, so I had the WHOLE DAY to work in the office. Braeya was so happy, she snuggled right up with me while I wrote! And it was the first day of the great spring capsule wardrobe project. More on that later!

* Thursday was our 51st monthiversary, and it was nothing but pure chaos and not much time together. Ryan didn't even get to come home for lunch that day, so I took lunch to him and we ate in his cloffice. By the time we got around to taking our official photo that night, we were both exhausted, I'd had a massive meltdown, and it took THIRTY TRIES to get one good photo. (And I don't even really like IT. I was just tired of redoing it!)

* By Friday, we were just pooped. I tried to cram in steps during the day, and Braeya kept high-fiving me whenever I walked by the bathroom. Ryan and I had plans for a double date that night, but we had to reschedule it, so we just stayed home and watched a movie. It was much-needed down time! And at the end of the night, Braeya played hide-and-seek with us. Do you see her?

* Ryan had to work yesterday, so I stayed home and did work there. We'd awakened to snow, but it melted off when the sun came up, and it was just a nice blanket/work/coffee/sunshine kind of day. We had to run some errands, so we went for coffee, and found out it was a BOGO day for macchiatos. SWEET! We went to visit Mom, and check out the amazing sunset we got to see! And with that...our crazy week was complete!

The Christmas Shuffle!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! We know many of you are extra busy today with Christmas festivities and church, too, so you might not even be here to read this ON Christmas day, but whenever you arrive at this post, we wish you a very merry Christmas!!

We've had a full week, and our best gift is that we are FINALLY FEELING BETTER!!!!!

* Because a second round of ice was expected to fall overnight Saturday into Sunday, many churches canceled their Sunday morning services, including ours. AND, Ryan's mom postponed their family Christmas, which was supposed to be that day as well. So Ryan and I had a whole day at home! Ryan made breakfast, we watched church on TV, and we took a whole day of rest, enjoying movies, football, scrapbooking, naps, and the Christmas lights!

* Even though it was so bitterly cold that all the schools around here operated on a delay, last Monday morning was so pretty. Sunrise on snow is beautiful! AND I found a cardinal in the tree, so that made me happy, too! Ryan and I had a few errands to run after work, and we stopped by to visit a friend who is home-bound now. He was happy to see us and asked his caregiver to make us espresso, which I promptly ruined by adding creamer. LOL! But it was good to see him and try to bring some Christmas cheer!

* Tuesday was the last day of school before Christmas break, so I did my last carpool run before coming home to work on my 2017 planner. {Happiness in a day!} I also had a little more wrapping to do - including Ryan's stocking stuffers, so I got that done. Our only free night this week was Tuesday, so we finished binge-watching a DVR'd show, and Ryan was exceedingly sad to realize he was going to have to wait quite a while for the next episode!

* Wednesday was my parents' neighborhood Christmas party and we went as photographers for the photo booth, which was much fun! Dinner was delicious, the company was fun, and we had a great time!

* Thursday, I met up with one of my friends for coffee and some shopping in the afternoon, which was a fun treat! That night, Ryan and I joined his family to celebrate his mom's birthday, and we ended up having a good time together - even if we traumatized our poor waitress!

* Friday felt like Saturday ALL DAY. Not sure why! I met with my friend Faith and her daughters for our annual Christmas celebration, and we had a great time. That night, Ryan and I had date night, which included a trip through the We Care Park to see the lights. We drove it since it was rainy, but it was still a lot of fun!

* Ryan had to work yesterday morning, and while he was gone, I had a massive cookie baking extravaganza for all the Christmas celebrations. It was FUN! And last night was our first Christmas of 2016, with Ryan's dad's side of the family. His grandma always makes an amazing dinner {ham, noodles, the whole nine yards} and we got to exchange gifts with that side. Great night!

So...merry Christmas from us!! Can't wait to catch up with you this week and tell you all about Christmas! :)

Rest...Heard of It?

Yesterday was supposed to be our family Christmas with Ryan's mom's side of the family. Christmas in the log cabin is always picturesque. It's the kind of Christmas that when I married into the family, I thought fully encapsulated what Christmas was supposed to look like. Lots of family, lots of kids, lots of excitement, lots of food, and, well, of course - the log cabin in the woods.

{I'm not kidding. Photo credit to Nita for this, but see what I mean??}

But when ice covered central Indiana overnight from Friday into Saturday, and when the forecast called for more of the same, plus sub-zero temperatures for Sunday, the decision was made to err on the side of safety and delay Christmas until a warmer (?), safer day.

Our church bent toward safety, too, canceling services yesterday, so Ryan and I were presented with one of our favorite things: a snow day!

Ryan got up before I did {because left to my own devices, I will not exit a bed until the last possible minute} and had the kitchen buzzing with biscuits, gravy, eggs, and coffee by the time I finally peeked out with bedhead and a purple bathrobe wrapped all around me.

A lazy morning of breakfast, coffee, and church on TV followed by naps, football, scrapbooking, more naps, more coffee, more football, and twinkly lights shining from Grizzy in the corner made for pretty much the perfect day.

It's not Christmas in a log cabin, to be sure. We had to concoct an alternative dinner plan that wasn't quite as delicious as Allen's pancakes with homemade maple syrup, but even with those adjustments, it was a good day.

Christmas in the Midwest falls to the mercy of the weather more than any of us want to admit. Flights are canceled and people who planned to come home...can't. Parties have to be postponed. Christmas programs get moved. It's disappointing to young and old alike, for sure, when the calendar, already stuffed full of activities, has to be altered.

But sometimes we need rest more than we need the happenings. That whole silent night and heavenly peace thing isn't just for the songs. It's for us, too. It's for those of us who are worn out from making lots of memories. It's for those of us who have overextended in every way to make things perfect for the kids. It's for those of us who are juggling extra jobs on top of extra get-togethers. It's for those of us who are fighting to get well (or stay well) amid a sea of germs.

We don't do it well - the choosing rest. Sometimes we have to bend to the mercy of the weather, swallow the disappointment, and learn to be okay with a plan B sort of celebration. And in the middle of it all, it might just be good for us to think about this thing called rest that has just been offered to us.

It Was a Quiet Rainy Afternoon...

And your girl Bekah was in the kitchen, happily baking cookies. Chocolate chip, in fact. {Don't believe me?}

 A gentle rain fell, and I unloaded the dishwasher while I waited for the first batch of cookies to bake. I thought {a mistake I will not be making again} how lovely it was to be safe in my home during a gentle rain and how grateful I was to have the time to make cookies for my husband and just enjoy being a homemaker.

My phone rang...and rang...and rang...an oddity I'd never seen before. No break. Just ringing. As I walked to it, the weather radio went off. What?!?! They both blared tornado warnings. TORNADO WARNINGS?!?!!? What about my nice gentle rain and baking cookies? My happy homemaking?

I had no idea storms were on the radar {ha! See what I did there?} for the day, and after talking to several of Ryan's co-workers later, I learned I was not alone in my ignorance. I called Ryan, freaking out, because that's what I do in storms, and he told me to calm down because it was just a little rain. Never one to be quickly calmed, I continued my freaking-outting until finally he asked if I wanted him to come home and get me, so I could be at the hospital with him.

I said no, because I wanted to be with the house, I said. "What are you going to do for it, exactly?" he asked. Well, I'd thought about throwing myself over it to protect it, but I could see how that didn't make a lot of sense. So I finally agreed he should retrieve me. He scooted home, picked me up, and I rushed into his interior office to hang out with Brutus.

Sorry for the blur. I was shaking like you would not believe. Also. Don't expect to see smiles in this post. Not the time.

Not long after that photo was taken, they started closing blinds at the hospital and moving patients to the interior. Time for the water works.

It got so much uglier than that picture, people. I was sobbing and shaking and not breathing AT ALL. Ryan was trying to coach me through breathing {though he does not remotely understand my fear of storms} but I couldn't get it together. I tried to Lamaze, but it wasn't helping much. I fell apart the most when the rain and wind I could hear above just stopped and it was crazy quiet. I thought we were done.

The hospital was fine, but as you may have seen on the news {if you're from around here}, the town did take a hit, including one of our Starbucks stores! {These pictures below were from the Kokomo Herald Facebook page, so all photo credit to them.}

{I don't know how many people were inside, but there were people inside and from what I heard, they were all safe in the bathrooms. If you're not from here and don't know, the bathrooms in this Starbucks are on the right side of the building right above the red shopping cart in the bottom photo. Pretty much the only area still standing.}

It's a lot to take for a coffee loving, tornado hating girl, you know. Coming out of a tornado shelter to find out Starbucks fell over.

I had to sit for a while at the hospital because I was ridiculously lightheaded from all my hyperventilating. I do think that was my worst case of hyperventilation to date. I was a mess. When I got ready to go home...look!

Why yes! Sunshine and blue skies!

Good grief, Indiana.

Ryan got home a little late because they were waiting to hear if people from other facilities were going to be transferred to theirs, since it was still functional. Shortly after he got home, a second round showed up. I packed up all my journals in suitcases and prepared for us to hide in the bathroom.

Except when I turned around, he was gone.

I ran all over the house looking for him and then outside. I hollered his name and this whole group of gawkers down the road turned and looked at me, and I kept running and hollering.

Then I found him.

WITH THE GAWKERS.

See that guy in a white shirt and black pants in the trees? Yeah that's him. I kept yelling and yelling his name until he turned around and I said "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" {What a lovely first impression I made on some of these folks.}

He looked at me quite calmly and said, "Watching the tornado."

I looked over at that lady in the black shirt and said, "What did he say?"

She said, "Watching a tornado."

I said, "FOR REALSIES??????"

She nodded.

I fled.

And by the time I got back to my "safe" spot, he had texted me.

I know you can't see the bottom because of the corn, but I saw another angle online and this was definitely a tornado.

Did I mention he really doesn't understand my fear of storms?

Because after that, I went here:

And he went here:

We went through three rounds in our part of town, and it seemed like every time we calmed down, the weather radio went off again.

I saw chopper coverage on TV and my goodness, what a MESS just not too far from us. Praying fervently for those folks and the cleanup and rebuilding ahead.

Meanwhile, if you need me, I'll be nose-in-Stress-Away-oil.

I think I need to focus on the SECOND part of this verse. Got the first part down.

The Shafferland Shuffle

Before I launch into the adventures of the week, I want to pause to wish my parents a belated happy 62nd wedding anniversary! It was yesterday, and I shouted out on Facebook and Instagram, but I kind of feel like my wishes aren't complete until I congratulate them here too. I also updated the family wedding picture timeline:

(Click to enlarge)

* Well, our week started out most unexpectedly when we got the phone call last Sunday that they were taking Ryan's grandpa to the hospital. We went to Indianapolis and found out he would be having surgery on his brain. That wasn't the Sunday we expected to have, but then again, neither did he!

* Monday morning, I started my new "job" - I'm helping a friend by taking her son to school every day. I'm in a mom carpool line now!! Who would have thought! We went back in Indianapolis for Grandpa's actual surgery, and it went really well. We made it home JUST before this big old line of severe storms crossed the state, so we watched a split screen of the Olympics and the storms - which actually went right by my parents' house. This is way too much eventfulness for a MONDAY!

 * Tuesday was sort of a hurry-up-and-catch up sort of day after the two days of driving back and forth. That, of course, required Starbucks. We went for a walk that night and saw a beautiful sunset, which was really great after tornadoes the night before! And oh - doesn't everyone carry old blinds down the road on the way to dispose of them??

* Wednesday, poor Ryan came home from work and crashed into a long nap. He was exhausted! And I didn't blame him. It had been a long week! I found a whole bunch of new blooms on our rose bush, which made me so happy. I love that thing, and it's still going strong! We went for Frosty treats that night, and when we got inside, Ryan saw a sign that said some were 50 cents for a limited time. He said to the guy, "How much are these 50 cent Frostys?" {He meant to ask what size...whoopsie!}

* Thursday, I had an eye doctor appointment, where I found out I have 20/15 vision, and I'm pretty happy about that! We received a thank you gift in the mail from my sister - for helping out with wedding stuff. COOKIES! One for each of us, and they were delicious! And before the day was over, I decided Ryan deserved a proper dessert after his tough week, so I baked him an applesauce spice cake with caramel frosting!

* Friday we had a super-fast date night to our little coffee shop. Delicious coffee, by the way. Ryan's grandpa was released from the hospital that day and brought to the rehab hospital for the next part of his recovery! We spent the entire rest of the evening there and finally got home to have dinner about 11 p.m. WHEW!

* Yesterday, Ryan got up early and went to the hospital to spend time with his grandpa before he went to work. He's a good grandson! I went a bit later to watch the beginning of the therapy adventures, and took some pizza and cake to share with the family there at lunch time. Ryan and I were exhausted and both took LONG naps yesterday afternoon. It was that kind of day - thunderstorms and made for sleeping!