The Makings of a Reception

Believe it or not, I actually have very few pictures of our reception...

...on my camera.

Oh please. Like I would have gone without pictures. HELLO people.

I actually had 3 people taking pictures at our reception...and at the moment, I don't have the photos from any of them. But soon. Very soon. Meanwhile, I thought I'd show you what it took to put the thing together!

Ryan and I both had Friday off work, and we started our day with a breakfast date at Cracker Barrel. {Sometimes we're 80.}

Our reception was held in the banquet rooms at Indiana Wesleyan, where I used to work. We chose it because it is close to where we live...and because I was familiar with how things work/where they are, since I spent so many years of my life there.

Besides the two of us, Ryan's mom and Allen came to help us decorate, and my mom came for a while, too. We were SO grateful for their help, but trying to decorate a massive banquet room with five people was...a big task. So here's a little photo essay of our crazy day of decorating. I appreciate Nita's help grabbing pictures...so I at least have a bit of documentation of it.

I present to you...the makings of a reception:

We had 3 sections of banquet hall to decorate. Isn't it a beautiful room? :) This is when we first arrived and we only had linens on one row of tables. Eight rows to go!! :)

We had QUITE the mess of stuff in our dining room prior to the reception. Four vehicles and several carts later, it was unloaded into the banquet rooms...Embarrassing, really....

Ryan, Nita, and Allen working on an assembly line of filling mason jars with sand and pictures...and adding twine around the top. I seriously could not have pulled this reception off without their help. They are all willing and wonderful workers who gave the decorations a polished look.

I was the direction giver extraordinaire. Ryan was so good...he understood I had a vision in my head and did a great job of letting my try to explain it out...

The guys also did a great job helping me put on the rest of the linens. Actually I think I was helping them. They were in charge.

My mom joined us and the organization/assembly line festival continued:

 

My friend Angi made THE CUTEST little stand up labels for us to use so people knew what was what on the dessert line. I went around writing on the labels...

 

And then there was the cutting of the burlap...

 

My husband found my camera:

 And um....he found it again:

Ryan helped me with the guest book table (we had people sign stones like they did at the wedding) - because I already had my nails done and we didn't want them all scratched up. So he dug all the rocks out of the bucket and put them on the table for me.

Then our mamas came back to our house and helped us dip FIFTEEN GALLONS of ice cream for our reception.

Can't tell you how much we appreciated the help of our mothers and Allen. We were EX-hausted by the end of Friday, but so thankful everything seemed to be put together for our day of celebration with our friends and family.

Hope to have actual event pictures to share with you soon! :)

The Shafferland Shuffle

Today begins DST.

We won't talk about it.
 
* Last Sunday, Ryan and I had dinner at his Mom's house...where she broke out this gorgeous China...I felt like important company! :)

We had a great day visiting with them...and then {this'll shock you}...we worked on reception stuff!!! Ryan chopped up ice cream toppings and I sorted stones for our guest book!! And we ended the day cuddled up on the couch watching Double Jeopardy...one of the few action movies I actually will watch over and over and over....

* Monday evening, Ryan and I did the old divide-and-conquer on our chores. He spent the evening at his house, painting, and I spent the evening running reception errands. I know this is gross and sappy but I hate being apart - even for an evening like that. I know, I know. We're such newlyweds. When he came home, I took a deep breath and announced it was time to don the wedding dress again to see if ANY weight loss progress had been made. Y'ALL!!! IT FIT!!!!!!

* Tuesday I went to work with much fear and trembling, as we were expected to get some nasty weather that day. Of course, how many times have I heard THAT this winter - to very little avail? Of course this time it actually happened, and I drove home VERY carefully that evening, taking almost 2 hours for my drive, passing 2 accidents and a number of fishtailing folks. The bright spot in the day? This darling flower puppy delivered to the station!

* Wednesday morning I woke up to a real mess. Marion had snow AND ice, so we were a slippery, drifty, snowed-under mess. I worked from home and enjoyed this view.

After work, while Ryan was over working on his house again, I spent the evening trying to clean up our house and make it look decent again. It's been a hot mess, what with all the reception stuff in the dining room!

* Thursday night I had a fun treat and got my nails done! It is something I've given in up in favor of buying gas, but I thought I'd let myself enjoy a little special nail session for the reception. It was a relaxing evening after a crazy week!

 

* Friday, both Ryan and I had the day off work, and he was such an amazing help in getting ready for the reception. We spent the day at IWU, decorating the banquet room, along with the help of our mothers, and then we came home and pre-dipped fifteen gallons of ice cream. Yeah. You read that right. GALLONS.

 * And then yesterday - YESTERDAY was our beautiful reception. This is the only picture I have to offer until my three (yes three) photographers get me the ones they took:

 

I can't wait to tell you all about it in great detail - but let me just say how much we loved celebrating with everyone! God was so good to us!

Today....

...I get to revisit this day:

I get to wear my fancy dress and have my hair and makeup done by those with far more talent than I possess.

I get to watch our video again...and remember how much I loved every moment of that day:


Rebekah + Ryan from Visual Effects by Seth on Vimeo.

I get to have another snack of Sarah's delicious mocha cake:

 And I get to celebrate with friends and family who are coming to share in our joy - and to eat lots of this:

 That would be ice cream. Lots and lots of ice cream.

If you think of it...pray for us? There have been a lot of bumps in the reception road, and we want so much to be able to enjoy the day and our friends...and not worry about everything that seems to go wrong at the last minute.

Can't wait to share the details of the day with you!

The Things We Remember

Yesterday on BLT, we talked about the year in school that was toughest on us. I picked my freshman year of high school. With poofy bangs, enough fat to house a second person, and a face suitable for a game of connect the dots, I was just a mess.

I wondered if I would ever be normal. Ever fit in.  

Ever.

The one place I felt I mattered most was at church. I loved the kids...so much. I worked in the nursery every chance I found...and I loved teaching the kids during the midweek service, too. The church didn't have much money and I hated to ask for fresh curriculum for just a small handful of kids, so I scrounged through the church library and found old teacher guides.

With a little piecing here...a little tweaking there...I turned the old lessons into something new and presented them {along with a small snacklet} to the kids every week.

They were typical kids...and I wondered from one week to the next if what I was teaching made any sense or settled in their minds in any way.

And then one night, after she picked up her two boys, one of the moms said to me, "Rebekah, I just want to tell you what a gift you have."

I stared at her until the heat on my face jolted me back to reality and I busied myself with cleaning up the room. Compliments made me extremely uncomfortable. But she continued....

"I couldn't do what you're doing. I couldn't just pick up old books and make something new out of them. I couldn't put together something the kids would like. But they love it. Every week they tell us what they've learned. You should just know that you have a gift and I appreciate the time you put in each week."

Funny that today...the kids are the ones that intimidate me the most. The last time I was asked to teach a kids' class, I panicked and asked for a helper. The last time I was asked to write curriculum for kids, I paid one of my friends to write it for me.

But those days instilled in me a deep love for teaching and writing Bible studies, even if my target audience has changed.

And the one thing I've never forgotten was a mom who took two seconds after a midweek service to let a poofy haired, overweight, insecure teenage teacher know she was appreciated. Two seconds. Two seconds that gave me an ounce of confidence in a time when I felt none.

What if I slowed down and did the same?


{I linked up to Kristen's Out of the Blue Thursdays!}

Snow Day, Baby!

The great travesty of being an adult is the lack of snow days. Unless, of course, you're a teacher. I'm not.

Here in the big, bad midwest, we'd been waiting on the latest snowstorm, which they now apparently NAME, like hurricanes. What was this one? Saturn? Isn't that a planet? Or a car?

Anyway, I think my Facebook friend, Stephanie, said it best: Winter storm warning...7am-7am, wait no, 1pm-7am, wait no 3pm-7am....4-6 inches of snow, wait no 8-10 inches of snow, wait no... How about not reporting on a storm that is in North Dakota...wait until its in Illinois??

Took me 2 hours to get home, Tuesday night...and by Wednesday morning, I decided it was best to work from home. We had snow, we had ice, we had {no} plows, and it just seemed safer for all concerned if I stayed home and worked from the couch.

And so I did.

But not before venturing outside to take pictures of the beauty:

 Yep....this is our grill!! Doesn't it make you want an ice cream cone in the worst way?

 Bird bath makes me want a cake. {Essentially the fit-back-into-the-wedding-dress salad diet makes me crave all manner of desserts.}

 Oh so pretty. One of my favorite winter views - pine trees covered in snow.

 I hunkered down on the couch to work while Little Miss {or The Hairy One, as Ryan calls her} blew kisses...

 It was a good day...got lots done at work...all the while guzzling a pot of coffee. Ahh, how I love my coffee.

 Once work was over, I ventured outside to shovel...and I wore Ryan's heavy boots to do it. Those things are like fire gear! SO HEAVY!!! But much warmer than my rain boots...

 Next time it snows, I want to make a snowman. I don't know that I've ever made one. Perhaps when I was a little kid, but I sure don't remember it. And every good snow day should contain making a snowman.

Even so, I'm so grateful I was able to work from home - and Ryan was able to use the good-on-snow car to make it safely to his job! 

Coffee Chats

I admitted yesterday that my posts were likely to be fluffy this week, due to my reception brain...but this one might be a little less floofy than the rest. My heart is so heavy to talk about this, so we're just gonna talk about it right now.

Lately, I've been getting some emails from Bekah's Bits lurkers who have poured out their own stories of desire for marriage and for morning to come...and my heart is just breaking knowing that there are so many of you out there who hurt like that. The hurt I remember SO MUCH. So today I want to talk to you. And because I love coffee, I'm just going to call this a coffee chat. Feel free to pour a cup for yourself while you read. Chances are good that wherever I am while you're reading - I've got my own cup.

Let me say this to you. This picture, taken of my sister, Julie, and me was taken in May 2010. I had just turned 33 and I was just over a month into my desert season after Isaac walked away {initially} from our relationship.

I was smiling but my eyes were dead that night because my HEART was dead that night. I was brokenhearted, swimming in rejection, and wondering when God was going to heal Isaac's heart. I had to talk my way through every activity every day - from getting out of bed to getting ready to going to work to paying bills {you get the idea}. And honestly, if I'd known this night that Isaac wouldn't ever come back, I would not have had the will to go on.

Our ignorance is God's gift.

In that season, He carried me, He taught me to push on with grit and He showered me with His grace. And in that season, He prepared me to be Ryan's wife, though I had NO idea that would be His answer down the road.

Ryan and I are amazed that there are so many of you out there who have stories like mine. We're amazed at how many of you email and say our story gave you hope. We love that part of it.

So today, if you're hurting about love - for whatever reason, wrap your hands around your coffee cup and let me say this to you.

* God wastes nothing. Even if your season right now is dark and feels hopeless from all directions, HE IS STILL WORKING. You might not see or feel it now - but one day - at some Divinely appointed time down the road - you'll see how He was working. And such gratitude will pour over you on that day...it will be such a gift. In the meantime, this season you're living is not wasted. He'll find a way to use it.

* Sunrise can come so quickly. Ever notice {especially in the winter} how long it's dark? From 5 in the evening until 8 in the morning, it's dark out. But when the sun comes up - it goes from the horizon to the sky so quickly. And your morning might come on that quickly too. I had no idea last summer that I'd be married by Christmas. NO IDEA. But when God began to move in our love story, He moved at a very fast pace.

* Push. Like I said earlier, there were some days that the only reason I got out of bed was because I had to go to work. The only reason I did anything fun in that season was because my friends came over and dragged me out of the house. But though I felt like hiding under the covers, pushing myself to go to work or go out with the aforementioned friends was so good for me. So if you don't feel like doing it - try anyway. It'll be good for you.

* Pray. Hours and hours and hours of driving...pacing...walking outside...and curling up in the fat chair in the living room were coupled with deep groans poured out to the Lord. I was just honest in that season. Whether I was grieving, angry, confused, or something else, I told Him. No hiding it. He heard every ugly emotion and He proved faithful.

* Trust Him. There was a time in that desert when I said to God, "I'm not sure I trust You anymore. You didn't keep your promise." Not the nicest thing to say to God, but He helped me see that HE was trustworthy - even when people are not. So if you're in a place where you feel like you just can't....let me tell you He IS trustworthy. He is. Always.

If you'd like to come out of the lurking shadows to share your heart with me {and Ryan} - but you don't want to leave a comment for everyone to see - you're welcome to email at readingrebekah at yahoo.

Know that you are SO LOVED by our Abba!!

Just Some Dreamin'

I should probably have admitted yesterday that the eternal significance of my blog this week is likely to be lacking. I'm in the throes of the reception details and it's far more consuming than the wedding ever was. So until that's over, I'm not sure how deep my thoughts will be. HENCE yesterday's post on Easter dresses...and today's post on the perfect master bedroom.

Y'all know I'm a Pinterest addict and what happens when a Pinterest addict has the hope of a someday new home? Non.Stop.Dreaming.

So today I'm letting you crawl inside my head for a minute to see what our dream master would look like(ish). And no...these are not all my own ideas. We've talked about this and this is our together dream.

Our bedroom right now is 3 shades of purple, and Ryan's willingness to sleep in there every night is sheer proof of the power of love. I love our room but I'm eager for our new home together so our master can be OURS - starting with the color. We've decided on sort of a beachy/cottagey theme, so here's my color palette:

Source: design-seeds.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

Not purple!! I love the blues...and the brightness. {Shades may not be the final ones - but you get the idea.} I think with a neutral carpet or a hardwood - it would make me feel very much like I'm just steps from the water. {Unfortunately said water will just be in a bathtub! HA!}

Ryan has an amazing bed frame that is white with sort of a wide beadboard look - PERFECT for a cottage bedroom. And we've picked out some bedding that we LOVE...

And I don't think it's all bad to have a big ole sink-your-toes-into-it white fuzzy rug...just sayin'.

We want to use a lot of our wedding memorabilia in here, and add to it with other beaches we visit. :)

Here are some of my ideas:

Source: twogirlzstuff.blogspot.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

I don't like the frame...I would want a different style, but I LOVE the idea of using our AND sign...with either our actual names or with the words You/Me. So adorable. And I do love it inside the chunky frame.

Source: Uploaded by user via Rebekah on Pinterest

Not sure where we'll end up or if this would look good in the real life space, but I do love the beadboard look on the wall - just to mix up the textures.

Source: bellemaison23.com via

I love this beachy look...and I'm recently addicted to the idea of cloche jars...so I'm thinking rope in one of those.....

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Rebekah on Pinterest

And depending on what our room looks like in layout...I also really like this idea of curtains on either side of the bed even if windows aren't present there. We also like the idea of a bench at the end of the bed. If we did that now, we would officially have no walking room and would have to crawl OVER the bed to get to the other side.

So those are my dreams for someday. Thanks for eavesdropping in my Pinteresty mind.

It's That Time of Year Again....

And thankfully I no longer have to attach "FAFSA time" to that phrase. Oh I do not miss those days!!

Y'all, Easter is THIS MONTH. THIS MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And though I was so fortunate to find my wedding dress in the second dress I tried on - and had purchased it inside of 45 minutes  - I have a feeling I will NOT be so fortunate when it comes to Easter dress shopping. The annual hair-pulling event is about to resurface.....

So you wanna help? I haven't tried anything on yet, but I found a few online that seem like contenders, so I thought I'd get your input...

All these came from Penneys...I found a few online at Old Navy that looked interesting, but alas, they wouldn't save for me, so I can't ask you about those.

Okay, so here's Contender #1.

A few years ago I would have poo-poohed this print, declaring it not even remotely Eastery enough, but I've relaxed my standards. {Read: been forced into fashion submission by sheer lack of approved prints.} I do like it that this one is blue - because my wedding jewelry would fit nicely with it, thus saving me more money. I also like it that it's not overly hoochy, making it church appropriate. I would also like her waistline. {Hey. A girl can dream.}

 Contender #2:

I like the color, which is appropriately Eastery...and the belt is nice and tiny, which I also like. {Curvy girls struggle with the wide belts. Wide on wide = potential disaster.} It's also just fun and flowy.

 Contender #3:

I do not own a green dress, so this would be a fun change. I like it that it's simple without being boring.

 Contender #4:

Love the color, and love the side drape. Learned on my wedding dress that the side drape is my friend. The illusion does wonders. I'm typically not a ruffle and bow girl, but this isn't overdone, in my opinion.

Since someone always asks - yes, I know they're all sleeveless and yes I know it could be cold on Easter. But I'm the queen of the hot flash, so sleeveless is my friend.

Thoughts? Suggestions you've found that you think I should know about? Tell me, tell me!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Well, you already read the details about it, but last Sunday, I had that beautiful encounter with God during worship team practice...

...and then Ryan surprised me with a song during the morning service. It was a great start to the day! We enjoyed the rest of our day together...always trying to squeeze in as much rest as we can before the week starts again!

* Monday I made the horrifying discovery, when I got to work, that my phone charger was at home. This has never happened to me! I had visions of driving around town during lunch just to charge the phone, when Lynne swooped in to save the day with her handy dandy Halo charger! Have you ever seen these? They are chargers that don't need an outlet. Oh yes. I'm getting one of THOSE.

* Tuesday was an eventful day! We had a bit of an ice storm in Fort Wayne and the station tower signal stopped working during Mid-Morning! Nothing like dead air while you're running the board! They eventually got it up and running again! And that evening, as you saw, I rushed around to make dinner for Ryan and may or may not have preheated an oven that was serving as a cabinet at the time. Oh the funny things you don't think about when you mesh lives!

* Wednesday we were rumored to get more snow, so I drove Ryan's car to work again...and wouldn't you know it...it didn't do anything bad! But there was a really cool pattern on the sunroof after the rain!

We spent the evening doing an inventory of all the reception stuff - gathering everything into one room - trying to get all our ducks in a row. You have no idea how many ducks it takes to make a reception!!!

* Thursday evening I spent three hours in the salon chair getting a hair overhaul. Unfortunately I looked so wilty after it was over that I'm not even going to bother showing you the after picture. :) But when I say overhaul...I mean OVERHAUL. Cut, color, thinning, layers, the works! When I got home, I was excited to find our new stone had arrived...for our reception...

* Friday was a long day...with some really hard moments that I don't want to think about, so I won't talk about them. :) Ryan and I spent the evening IN the kitchen...cooking ahead for coming events. I love cooking with him!! And while this may LOOK like a pile of potatoes...it's actually a pile of stones, for our guest book...for the reception. We have to wash them, yet, but we have 'em!!

* And yesterday was our 3 month anniversary!! We celebrated by spending the entire day painting at Ryan's house and shopping for reception food. BUT we did manage to squeeze in a treat of a dinner together at Olive Garden. We tried one of their froofy coffees for our dessert:

Even though we mostly did chores, I loved our anniversary. :) He makes every day special just by being part of it.

Timing is Everything.

Today is our three month anniversary.

Three months of a lifetime of dreams coming true. Three months of wonderful. Three months of learning. Three months of discovery. Three months of adjusting. Three months of love.

And as I mentioned yesterday, life is pretty busy right now with all the other tasks we're tackling.

This would be why I said, Really, God!!!! when a writing idea poured into my head. And by poured, I mean it smacked me in the head one Sunday morning as I sat in my standard perch during worship practice. I grabbed my journal and started writing...just ideas scribbled in not-my-best penmanship, but scribbled nonetheless so they'll be there when I have time to sit and constructively create.

And it seems that at each turn, the ideas grow and develop...and I'm eager...so eager to write.

But when? And why now? Why in the busiest season? Why as I'm trying to learn how to be a wife? Why as I'm struggling to work in normal stuff like workouts and devo time? Why not later, when we've moved and settled and rediscover what it's like to lounge in a lawn chair and wrap our hands around a coffee cup?

Yesterday I read this blog post by Holley Gerth...about her new book. Her book that she introduced as an 8 ounce, 216 page baby girl. Her book that she's as proud of...from conception to birth...as any Mama would be of a pudgy cheeked cutie.

And I thought about that for a while. I get what it's like to "parent" my writing. I feel the same passion about writing that I hear my parent-friends speaking about when they share Mom-talk. I'm always pouring in and feel that feisty defense rising up in me whenever someone challenges it. {Not to say I'm always right...but you know that mama-bear syndrome...I feel it toward my words.}

As I walked through the station, God reminded me of another baby. One born just under 35 years ago....at a most inopportune time. One whose presence made the parents say Really, God? Now????

That was me.

Several years ago, God impressed on my heart this phrase about my life: More Than an Interruption: God's Intention. That's me. I may have been an interruption, but I was also a very distinct, purposeful intention at the hand of God.


And so it is with these ideas rolling around in my head.

 The timing may feel less than ideal to this newlywed...this birthing of a project...but it's more than an interruption. It's God's intention.

And I trust that.

SSMT: Verse 5

I'm worn out. Absolutely, certifiably, worn out. Earlier this week I had to cry just to let the stress escape from somewhere. It seemed best to let it leak out through my eyes before my head exploded into a million, tiny, irretrievable pieces.

Life isn't bad, you know. In fact, it's very good. I'm thankful beyond measure for my job, my husband, my health, our home {you get the idea}.

But that doesn't mean life's a coffee-sipping party.

* There's the issue of my dress being tight just before our reception.

* There's the fact that our house is overrun with reception supplies we've gathered from the far reaches of the earth and I'm trying to keep it straight in inventory and make sure we have everything we need.

* There's the fact that about 80% of the reception details have not gone as originally planned, forcing the OCD queen to make 2nd, 3rd, and 50th alternate plans.

* There's the unknown of Ryan's job...trying to decide what is best about where to look and when.

* There's the scurrying to finish what we've started at his old house so we can prepare to sell it.

* There's trying to squeeze in just plain old LIFE around all that, when most days I can't even decide what time of day I want to do my quiet time or my workout.

* And on top of ALL that, guess when a writing inspiration hit me? Now.

So many things. So many good things. And yet the idea of a nap is just so inspiring.

Most days as I drive to work, I cry out to the Lord, Help me. Help me be the wife You made me to be. Help me to be the support Ryan needs. Help me to find the strength to get through this day and do all things well. Help me to stand up when people try to push me down. Help me to think through all the details of the reception and not miss anything. Help me to be able to help Ryan at the house...and when I'm there...to be all there and not be 100 other places in my head. Help me not to worry about the details of the job and the house but just to trust that You'll work it out.

And that's when He reminds me of the writing project and what I'm already learning in it. And how this is how He's choosing to teach me. How He's making it a visual for me.

So this is my verse for this round....one I need to hold close to my heart.

The Lord is my strength and my shield,

in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped;

my heart exults, and with my song

I give thanks to Him.

~ Psalm 28:7 ~

 My strength comes not from my time management or because I'm amazing in any way but from HIM. My trust rests not in logic or grasping hope, but in HIM. And my job is just to ask, receive, praise and thank.