The Saturday Six

One.

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As you might imagine, Ryan and I don't have a ton of time to watch TV, but now and then we find a show we really love watching together. Our newest is America's Got Talent. Any of y'all watching that this season?


Two.

Lynne has a straw hat she wears out in the sun. I felt that to be grown up and "just like her," I needed one too. Therefore...I present, my straw hat.



Three.

You know that whole thing about how only her hairdresser knows for sure? Well apparently you are now all my hairdressers. I'm so gray that I need color about every three weeks. I cannot afford this in $$ OR time, so I have started using these root touch up kits. LOVE THEM. They cost about $8 and can last a couple of weeks on my head. Saves me a lot of cash at the salon!

Four.

A few weeks ago, Lynne talked about a chocolate chip cookie recipe she'd read that cuts some butter by adding avocado. After some serious challenging by yours-truly, she made a batch and brought them to work to share. I confess I adored them. They didn't really taste like a regular chocolate chip cookie, but they tasted SO GOOD and were very filling. I think they look like too much work to make, but I loved eating them!! 

Five.

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Who knew I'd be posting about sports again SO SOON? :) Read this article this week...about some twins from Greentown {my hometown} who have overcome a lot in their own lives to become fantastic athletes, students, and young women. Though I don't know them personally, this is the sort of thing that I'm proud to see come out of my hometown. 

Six.

Ryan and I have a closet door that doesn't latch, and the door is always popping open, leaving a cat to explore the contents and two OCD people very betrothed {our word for annoyed, if you're new here} at the look of the thing. We had a vase up against it, with some river rocks inside, but the vase broke, so I found this fishbowl at the Goodwill {on 50% off day} for less than $2.00 and it works GREAT! The flat side of the bowl fits nicely up against the door and the glass is heavy enough to support the rocks.  

A Little Friday Fun...

I found this list on Pinterest yesterday...a journaling prompt of sorts. Thought it might be fun to blog!

CURRENTLY I'M.....

Reading...the book Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist. This is her third book, I think, but the first I've read and I'm IN LOVE with it. I love reading how she weaves food, recipes, memories, and life lessons.

Playing...catch-up!! At least at work. Lynne is off all next week, and I've been preparing encore shows to air, which has put me dreadfully behind on paperwork. I'm sure somewhere under all of it is a desk surface.

Watching...America's Got Talent. Ryan and I are so excited that we've found another show we both love to watch, and we're recording it so we don't miss anything!

Trying...to work out three days a week. Finding a workout routine/time to do it that actually FITS my new, married life is so hard. But I'm working hard to defeat the temptation to give it up completely.

Cooking...exclusively from the Dashing Dish website. I love making new recipes, cooking with real, normal food, and finding treasure after treasure on Katie's site!

Eating...a lot of Kind bars. One every single day for my snack. Oh Lynne Ford. Why did you get me so hooked on those???

Drinking...a lot of iced tea. Thank you for arriving, summer!! I love the excuse to "need a tea."

Calling...Ryan. Even though we're married, we still talk to each other for our entire commutes. Unapologetically sappy, we are.

Texting...Ryan. That's shocking to you, isn't it? I love the messages that flood my phone every chance he gets. Just little words of love to let me know I'm not forgotten.

Pinning...everything under the sun! Finding new ideas for across the board is one of my favorite things in every single day. I. Heart. Pinterest.

Tweeting...much better for work than I am for personal use. I'm a Facebooker much more than a Tweeter, I'm afraid.

Crafting...well, I'm a bit behind on this one too, but I do have a couple of Pinterest-inspired projects waiting in the wings.

Scrapping...a cool scrapbook sort of inspired by Shauna Niequist's book I'm reading. I'll have to tell you more about it sometime.

Doing...a lot of driving. And these days...in construction. Ahhh how I love construction zones. And I've finally started to remember about the cop that hides under the overpass at the one end....

Loving...my new haircut. SO GLAD I gave up the need to try to look 20 and got it all chopped off.

Hating...my recently acquired farmer's tan. I try SO HARD to get tan lines that look okay with all outfits. Shot that one on the first burn of the season!!

Discovering...that vegetables aren't so bad. Don't you DARE tell anyone I said so.

Enjoying...our pirogi and the chance to sit out there often with Ryan. LOVE eating outside.

Thinking...about how to celebrate our first anniversary. Yes. It is just under six months away.

Feeling...grateful it's THIS year at this time and not LAST year at this time. God has done so much in one year!

Hoping...to complete all our renovation/update projects soon so we can sit back and ENJOY!

Listening to...the radio! What else!! :)

Celebrating...life. There were too many years when I merely tolerated it. I'm celebrating it now.

Smelling...coffee. Story of my life. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thanking...God for protection in the crazy storms that hit our area this week.

Considering...retirement. Okay not really. But doesn't it SOUND fun???

Finishing...the encore shows we'll air during Lynne's vacation next week.

Starting...a writing idea in my head. Hope it transitions to paper soon.

So, bloggy friends...you up to any of these things above? I'd love to hear!!!!

Sticker Stops

I posted on my Facebook page this week that Lynne and I worked a Sticker Stop in the Hobby Lobby parking lot, and I think I thoroughly confused some people! The event and the location have nothing to do with one another. Sticker stops are fun events the station does throughout the summer, where we travel to various locations in our listening area and meet listeners while we put window stickers on their cars. They're so much fun!

This was the first time I got to work one of these with Lynne, and it became like a little Mid-Morning palooza! We had SO MUCH FUN meeting people. I thought you might like to peek into our afternoon!

Here we are...the sun-hat sporting duo, ready to head out to our afternoon of fun! Really, one's job SHOULD NOT be this much fun, but I am thankful to the Lord DAILY that He's given me such a great co-worker/friend/supervisor/counselor/you-name-it with whom to spend my work days.

We were sent to the parking lot of the Hobby Lobby on the north side of Fort Wayne. Oh the level of trust they place in us! Y'all, your Bits Girl was sitting in a parking lot with a Hobby Lobby on one side, a Cato on another side, and a DeBrand Chocolate store on a third side - and I was a good girl and did not spend one single dime. Miracles abound.

We took with us our intern, the lovely Annie, and the three of us set up camp in that Hobby Lobby parking lot and set out meeting all sorts of new friends, and come to find out, so many of them are YOU!!! I cannot tell you how many of you paused to take a minute to thank me for the blog - and it was a joy to put faces with the sea of mystery readers I have. THANK YOU for taking time to encourage me!

The very first visitor we had was Shari. She was there right when we opened up shop and she hopped out of her car and asked for me and said she's my biggest fan!! I didn't even know I had fans, so that was pretty cool. :) Shari, you are a JOY. You just are. Thank you for finding life in Shafferland riveting enough that it merits a visit before coffee every morning. Wowsa. That's about the biggest honor I can think of. Not much trumps coffee. I get that. Thank you, thank you, thank you for loving Ryan and me and considering us friends - family, even? - and blessing us the way you did. And thanks for letting me share our pic on the old blogaroo here. You're so fun!

This is our intern, Annie, dutifully applying a window sticker. It was her first sticker stop ever and she rocked it. I really, really enjoy having her at the station.

Lynne chatting it up with a friend who came to see us. In the background - the mother ship. Ahhh sweet Hobby Lobby. How I love you.

Lynne and Annie during the one break they had to sit. Seriously - we were so busy the whole afternoon. It was so great!

Lynne - back to work, chatting with another friend. I said it's a wonder she and I successfully convey ANYTHING over radio waves, the way we have to use our hands to talk. Good grief.

Sunscreen on my feet. The rest of me earned a complete farmer's burn, and I am NOT HAPPY about that detail.

WINDEX FIGHT!!!

This is our new friend, Denise. She has a southern accent TO DIE FOR. {Secret wish of mine has always been to have a cool southern accent.}

I also had a visit from my friend Nikki - who is my rival for David Phelps'  #1 fan. Turns out she just went to a concert of his in Kentucky {and we will NOT discuss the points this earned her in moving up a slot in the #1 fan contest} and while in a meet n greet line, she recorded him giving Ryan and me a happy wedding greeting. SHUT UP!!! Are you serious?? Thank you, Nikki! YOU ROCK!!!!!!

Our friend Daniel, who is a good friend to Mid-Morning came to visit - and picked up a bottle of Windex and even helped us out! Thanks, Daniel!

And I cannot close out this post without giving a big shout out to my new friend Polly, who always leaves such fun, encouraging comments to me and drove out just to meet Lynne n me. Polly, you are a gem, and such an encourager to me. I appreciate you and am excited to have met you in person!

And that was our fun afternoon! I came home pretty sweaty, awfully red, and quite full of joy for our listeners, our friends, and a great, great day!

Worth it Wednesday #9

I have a handful of friends who are going through some confusing/frustrating/painful love life seasons right now. Their emails to me and our conversations back and forth have caused me to think back to my own single season, which was not all that long ago, and it's helped me to see a valuable lesson I learned during that time.

And I didn't even realize it until I got all the way through to the other side and looked back.

When I was single, I ached to be married. And not just because I wanted a new last name or someone to help with yard work or a buddy at family gatherings. A big part of the reason I wanted to get married was to feel that I was worth choosing.

Before you jump all over me in the comments and tell me that my worth is found in the Lord and I don't need a man to be worth something, let me add, I know that. But it's kind of a twist on that whole "It doesn't count if Mom tells me I'm pretty. She has to think that. She's my mom" mentality. I KNOW my worth is in the Lord. And trust me...the only reason I made it through 34 1/2 years of singleness was because I DID understand {to varying levels at varying times} my worth in the Lord.

That. Did. Not. Mean....that I didn't also ache for a person to find me worth marrying. And I will be completely honest here and tell you that more often than not, I felt my single status was because I wasn't worth picking. I was too much work. Too much drama. Not worth the fight. And if you were to read my journals, you'd find those very words - possibly smeared by puddles of dried tears.

True or not, healthy or not, it's the way too many girls feel. {And probably guys too - but I can only speak for the gender I know best.}

And I see my friends wading through the thick of it right now. Feeling unworthy when love passes by without a glance, or worse, after a glance.

And in that season of longing to be found worthy in the eyes of a man, I did all sorts of things to prove my worth. I bought new clothes, I grew my hair, cut my hair, changed its color, went to events, avoided events...you name it, I did it. Anything I thought would make me good enough, I maneuvered {read: CONTROLLED} in an attempt to be found worthy.

In the end, the one who chose me was not the recipient of any of my carefully manipulated efforts. He wasn't someone I chased. He wasn't someone I did anything for. He was my friend and nothing more.

BUT.

While I was just busy living, doing my thing, not trying to impress him, he observed my character. He saw the worth. He wasn't looking for love, and at that time, those things didn't draw me to him in a romantic way. But when God's time was right, he knew he wanted a chance with me because he remembered the character he'd seen in me along the way.

And he found that worthy.

So I say....

If that's you today...if you feel like you don't have worth because you're not chosen, despite all the effort you're expending...I say hold tight. Hold tight and dive farther and farther into the love God has for you {though it might feel like the last thing you want to push your energy toward} and just live. Just live your life. Whatever it looks like. Live it. Heartily. Love Jesus, go to work, take care of your body, pursue your passions, get some rest, schedule some fun, and love Jesus some more.

Obviously I have no idea how {or if} God plans to bring love your way. His details are different for each person - so completely and beautifully tailored. But be you. You never know when someone - perhaps a person you never expect - might be seeing you just living and being you. And one day, that might be the very thing that displays your worth the most fully.

A Bigger Bit of Flowery Goodness

Last week I showed you some of the attempts at flower-growing I've done this year. Today I shall show you the gorgeous flowers Ryan and I love to enjoy as often as we can.

Indiana Wesleyan has beautiful landscaping, and now and then, we're able to take an evening stroll through campus, enjoying the beauty that someone else has worked hard to design and maintain. I really appreciate their grounds crew, because I know they work hard and have never ending tasks of watering, weeding, and feeding! Check out some of the gorgeous sights:

 Love this little tiered planter. I'll have to come back later in the summer and see if the flowers have spilled over more! I'm pretty sure they eventually cover the pots entirely.

 Of course...I had to take pictures of the purple flowers!!

 I'm such a sucker for roses.

 Lining the streets....

 More purple...

 What are these flowers? {The ones above.} Anybody know?

 I'm sure I didn't take more pictures of purple flowers.

 It's not a flower, but I do love enjoying the fountain any time we walk through the center of campus.

 Tried out the sports setting on my camera - and now I have about 12 pictures of the fountain!! :) Love the way they turned out.

Also not a flower...but this is Ryan's favorite building on campus. It's the Administration building - the oldest building left...and full of character.

Isn't it all so beautiful? No wonder we love taking walks!

Finding Rest

We've been a l'il busy.

Just in case you've missed it.

You know...what with the kitchen overhaul...and a few other projects we have up our sleeves around the house...and work...and...and...and...

Ryan is the most motivated individual I've ever met in my life. He will get up early, work hard all day, and stay up late to get a project done - day after day if he needs to. It's inspiring. But I'm a writer. My hardest work is typically done while curled up on a couch, sipping coffee.

We're a good balance. He encourages me to persevere, and I encourage him to rest. And that, my friends, is team work.

So it completely warmed my heart when, this past week, he suggested an impromptu rest night. We'd worked hard most of the week, had a not-so-good run that evening, and while I cooked dinner, he suggested we spend the rest of the evening in the pirogi, just soaking up the goodness of life.

People...if you're not doing this sort of thing {in whatever version of detail best suits your personality} two or three times a month, you. are. missing. out.

 He built us a fire in our fire pit...on the most perfectly suited weather evening for such a thing. No wind. Not too hot. Not too cool. Just right. And while the flames licked the wood, we sat at our patio table and ate Skillet Pepperoni Chicken.

And once dinner was over, we poured the coffee and brought out the s'mores supplies. Ryan had gone to the gas station to get some chocolate for us, and found these Reese cups and Nestle crunch bars on sale, so that's what we used. We like to live on the edge.

Ryan was the official marshmallow roaster for the evening....

And we enjoyed them! I think the Reese cup one was my favorite. The Nestle Crunch bar was great, but we had a king size bar, so it was thicker and the chocolate didn't melt very well.

After dinner, we sat out there and worked on our computers. I wrote my blog and Ryan proofed it for me. I love it that he always pre-reads for me and gives me his opinion. :)

I can't tell you how much I appreciate it that Ryan sees my need for evenings of rest and makes sure we take time out just to enjoy our home, our time together...and rest.

Seriously. If you've not had a night like this one - even on the fly - lately, make the time. So worth it.

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Well I sort of already recapped last Sunday for you - but as you might remember, it was our six month anniversary and we celebrated with a four hour nap and dessert and coffee at Bob Evans. {Yes, we're the 30 somethings who LOVE Bob Evans coffee and pie!!}

* Monday evening, we ran to Hobby Lobby for the finishing touches for our kitchen - which included this cute quirky monogram for our kitchen. I was going to get the goldish, fancy typeface looking S, but this one caught our eye and we decided to go for it instead! I also had a great time catching up with my friends Bev and Carol, who came over to pilfer through all the stamps I'm selling. We had fun!!

* Tuesday evening, Ryan gave me one of the best gifts he could give....a night of just heart to heart talking. We've spent a lot of time together over the past couple of weeks, while working on the kitchen, and that has been good, fun, and productive, but we were always so busy working that we hadn't really connected in our hearts. So we ate dinner outside, rested in our hammock and took a long walk where we dreamed about our future. Perfection.

* Wednesday night, Faith came over for a little bit and we sat out in the pirogi catching up and eating dinner {and reminiscing about the vacation we were on together 3 years ago at this time} and then Ryan and I did another quick landscaping project. he liked the little paver pillars he made for our backyard so much that he made a couple more for in front of the garage. I already had flowers in pots out there, so this just added to it!

 

* Thursday evening, after we got all our chores done, Ryan decided to build a fire in the fire pit and we had our first s'more fun of the summer! We ate dinner at our patio table and then had coffee and s'mores and stayed out by the fire working on our computers until it was time for bed. A perfect night.

 * Friday evening, our moms met us at the apartment Ryan owns {old tenant just moved out} and we cleaned it. Then his mom joined us for dinner {Chinese!!} and when we came home, my parents stopped by to see our new kitchen renovation. They were pleasantly surprised at how it turned out! And please enjoy this picture. I tried to be responsible and pulled off the road to take it rather than photographing while driving, as I normally do, and a car JUST about took me out when it refused to move over at all while going by me while I was stopped. The sunset that just about wiped me off the planet:

 * Yesterday Ryan wanted to work on the yard...and he adores doing that. Me...not so much. So I camped out in a lawn chair and caught up on the scrapbooking while he did his yard work. {And I was the designated Lowe's-runner every time he needed something!} And I took a break to attend Savannah's birthday party...a tea party! We ended the day with a date...a perfect night.

The Saturday Six

One.

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For those of you who have an obsession with paint color like I do...this site gives you tons of palettes...and the pictures that inspired them! Sometimes that part is as much fun as the paint colors themselves.

Two.

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It's very true, you know. Whether or not you have the sign.  But this Etsy shop DOES have the sign and a bunch of other equally cute ones. Sigh. Now I sorta wanna shop....

Three.

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ATTENTION ALL WORD NERDS!!! This will seriously fascinate you. That's all I'm gonna say. Click. Read. Lose 1/2 hour of your life. Be fascinated.

Four.

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I don't really get into conflict very often because frankly, it gives me hives. But some of you {especially from around here} might have seen this story on the news. Peter is a friend of mine, a very good friend of Ryan's, and related to a whole bunch of my longtime friends and I think it's ridiculous how his words and more importantly, the spirit of his message have been distorted by the media. I really appreciated this article Peter released in response to the media coverage. Well stated, Peter.

Five.

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Ryan and I didn't have a cake topper. I mean...we did...but it WAS our cake. {The beauty of a small wedding.} So we aren't doing the traditional "eat the cake topper" thing on our first anniversary. But I loved this blog post by Caroline Rothschild. This is love.

Six.

The floor in Ryan's rental apartment...made out of old bleachers. Isn't it cool?

Little Bit of Flowery Goodness

My gift is not really in the plant nurturing realm.

I love plants. I appreciate plants. If I visit a city that has a botanical garden, I wanna go! But I'm not so great at understanding and, well, keeping the things alive.

Nevertheless, each year, I like to try my hand at a few little flower pot pieces of goodness just to brighten up the place.

So, Natasha, this one's for you! Not nearly up to your good level, but a little bit-o-pretty here in Shafferland!!

We put these on our back porch. Just three simple little terra cotta pots left over from years gone by, stocked with fresh potting soil and sporting a rebellious touch of lavender. This girl may be married to the manliest of men, but she's still gotta have a touch of purple show up somewhere. Thankfully he's patient.

And then around the bird bath, some geraniums, alternating in red and white...and this year, for the first time ever, blanketed with fresh mulch. I feel like such a grown up playing with mulch.

Unfortunately I can tell that the neighborhood raccoon, who relishes in trespassing on Shafferland grounds, also enjoys playing with mulch. Shaking head.

Remember my little {huge} coffee mug planter? I filled it with these plain dusty green bits of cuteness and it graces our pirogi table when we eat dinner outside. Seems fitting.

Little pops of color in front of the garage...

I had these white planters {from several years ago} just sitting on the ground in front of the garage, but Ryan said...let's try this:

You know...to match the ones he built in back for the ferns!

And interestingly enough, the best part of all is the part I do NOTHING to...ever:

So for now...that's it! The extent of plant life in our world. But I love every single piece of it. Every one.