Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, as you now know, was the day Ryan headed out for his whitewater rafting trip with the guys. I tried SO HARD to be brave, but that pretty much failed by 8:30 in the morning. We enjoyed a coffee date in the cafe area before church, and then we sat together in church before I drove Ryan to Kokomo to drop him off for his trip. He and his friend Shawn {and six other guys} headed to West Virginia and were kind to send me pictures along the way, which so greatly helped. I headed to the home of one of my blognonymous friends who was sweet enough to occupy me for the day. May I add that sand is GREATLY therapeutic??

* Monday was our first full day of our married life to not see each other. And surprisingly, I handled it better than I thought I might. Ryan was a sweetheart and got up SUPER early to call me before I got ready for work, and he sent me tons of pictures and videos throughout the day. The only anxious time was waiting for him to be done with the actual rafting trip. When I got the thumbs up picture, I had a HUGE smile on my face. He had a blast, and after rafting, they went for a hike through some gorgeous country!! I kept busy at work and had dinner with one of my friends that night!

* Tuesday was t.h.e.  l.o.n.g.e.s.t.   d.a.y.   e.v.e.r. Seriously EVER. Ryan wasn't done adventuring yet. Tuesday was ziplining day! Treetops, cable bridges, cold sweats for this wife. :) He had a blast and then got in the car for the 8 hour drive back to me! I had dinner with my friend Lynn that evening, and as soon as I left her house, I sped {possibly literally} to Kokomo for the sweetest reunion!

* Ryan and I both took Wednesday off work - and it rained LIKE CRAZY the entire day, so it was pretty much the perfect day to be home! We got to sleep in and watch a LOT of TV and movies and just rest. We did venture out a couple of times for quick errands. The rain was CRAZY! {When you're under two awnings and it's still pouring on you, it's really raining.} After being angry with me for Ryan's absence, Braeya finally forgave me and sat on my lap for a while. RARE!

* Thursday morning it was back to work for us...sadly in the dark. Our cheery summer mornings have waned. :( After work, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for an early date night dinner, and then we came home to watch The Biggest Loser. I realize those last two things don't really match, but we did them anyway.

* This coming week, I'll be doing my very first solo-hosting of Mid-Morning {more about that tomorrow} and it was so strange to see my name entered in online for that first show!! That afternoon, some of us from the station went to set up for the Beth Moore Living Proof Life simulcast! We've been looking forward to this event all year and I was so excited that it was time to set up our booth!!

* Saturday morning I had to get up even earlier than normal to drive to Fort Wayne for the simulcast! It was so amazing to see that arena filled with so many women praising God and soaking up what He had for them to learn! It was a long, long day, but so wonderful in absolutely every way. I am still soaking up what I learned. Ryan spent the day working hard at home while I was gone; man I am thankful for all he does to help when I have a long work-week!

A Few More Adventures

Naturally, Ryan and his group didn't just go whitewater rafting on their trip. They had a few other adventures along the way! Want a peek? The same day they they went rafting, they also did a bit of hiking. Ryan said this was the one part of the trip I really would have enjoyed. And based on the pictures {minus the one of the spider he thought it was important to immortalize???} I agree!

Gorgeous scenery out there!

...in the back, too!!

Wherrrrrrrrrre's Ryan?

Group picture! {Doesn't it kind of look like they're starting a band?}

If the rafting rapids had been more THIS speed, I could have handled it...

Taking a picture of Shawn...

...taking a picture of him...

And there was climbing. MUCH climbing.

He said it was a really fun afternoon! :)

The next morning, before they came home...

Why, yes! That IS ziplining stuff!!

It's true!! 10 lines and 5 bridges...makes my experience from our first birthday trip look pretty pathetic!!! OH! And they had to repel 35 feet back down to the ground after the last line. Oh. Sweet. Goodness.

And about the BRIDGES.....yeah.

As for the ziplining...the ones I did with him were accomplished by sort of running down a hill until you ran out of ground. These were TREETOP ziplines. I would have died.

 This one? Not so much. He thrived a bit.

 Shawn and Ryan...ziplining buddies.

 He said it was a blast...and I'm so glad he had fun!!

And one more look at those bridges...shiver.

After ziplining, they packed into the car and headed back home. I could tell they had a wonderful time, and I was so thankful. I was also so thankful he came home to me in one piece!!!

Ryan's Whitewater Rafting Trip

So this is weird. I have never before blogged about a trip I didn't take. But this is as close to whitewater rafting as THIS girl is ever gonna get, so I thought I'd let you take a peek at where my man has been for the first part of this week!

It was a pretty great vacation for Ryan, because he didn't have to do any of the planning! His friend Anthony organized the trip and had all the details {food, lodging, transportation, reservations, etc.} all worked out before they left! If you're a read-all-the-details kind of person, here's the site for the place they went.

And for the record, a million points to Ryan for doing such a great job documenting his trip. Shawn pitched in and took pictures too, and between the two of them...they did a GREAT job of bringing home scrapbookable material to me. Sigh. Of. Happiness. 

His home for three days and two nights:

His home with seven other guys. It did have electricity. It also had ONE outlet, no air conditioning, no indoor plumbing, and no coffee pot. He's my hero.

I did find it surprisingly nice on the inside, even if it was primitive. Ryan's bunk - neatly made. I love it that he's a neat freak even on a camping trip. :)

What the place lacked in indoor amenities, it made up for in view:

There's a few different rafting options where they were...but they did the Upper Gauley, which is 13 miles long and has five class-5 rapids. Ryan took with him the waterproof camera we got for our Holiday World trip. It had a few pictures left on it that we didn't use up, so he took it with him. So the pictures to come are a mix of the ones they bought from the trip and the ones from his camera. Hope you enjoy!!

This is Ryan's good friend, Shawn. We all went to high school together, and these two have remained good friends in the years since. When Ryan got his gift of the trip, he invited Shawn to take another of the slots, and I'm so glad he did. By the way, they were the only two in the raft wearing blue helmets that day, so you can find them easily!

 The full group, ready to raft.

The water was 54 degrees that day. Brrrrrrrrrr!! Their guide's name was Jillian, and they were her very first group to guide solo. They said she was really good!

 Ummmmmm yes. Ryan is in the front seat.  True story. Would you expect otherwise?

 Nope! No one from this boat was lost overboard at any time. Good work!!!

 Some of the pictures Ryan took in between the busy parts....

 I was praying SO HARD during this time...I was so nervous for him!! I knew he'd done it before and I probably shouldn't worry, but I tend to default to worry. :)

He hadn't taken his phone on the rafting excursion at all, so I had to wait until he got back to the cabin to take pictures. When he texted this one to me, I had some SERIOUS tears of relief.

He loved it. Shawn loved it. I think all the guys loved it. So glad they had a great time. So glad they were all SAFE and that their guide took good care of them, even if it was her first day! :)