Cross America

There's a new ministry here in town that Ryan and I went to for the first time last month (on my birthday, actually). I wanted to tell you more about it, and so today's the day!

It's called Cross America, and if you want to read more at length about it, you may do so here. The short version of the story is that this ministry has a mission to send a small pocket cross and the plan of salvation to every home in America. This is being accomplished via volunteer efforts and it's housed in an amazing facility that offers many services to the community. 

Many years ago, this building was a lumber yard, and then it was a skating rink, and you won't believe the transformation it's undergone to become the building it is today!

Let's talk about the coffee shop first, because, well, of course. The coffee shop is called Doubting Thomas Coffee, and it not only has amazing coffee, but spectacular food, too. Ryan and I went on my birthday to try the Bekah Bagel (not named after me, but we felt it was an appropriate dish for my birthday). It was so good.

The coffee shop area is really cute:

Two days ago, I had a meeting there with one of our pastors, and I tried a latte.

Judge if you must, but it's possible when we went back again last night to meet with our small group, I got another one!

In addition to the coffee shop, they have a big auditorium that can be used in a variety of ways and seats about 400.

By the way, that stone on the tomb to the left rolls open and closed. And the screen in the upper right corner can roll up to reveal a baptistry.

They have a really cool area for kids to play:

They have several conference rooms that can be reserved for meetings, small group studies, group meals, etc.

They even have an apartment on hand to be used as needed!

It's not open yet, but there will be a coffee roaster on site:

(Yeah that's a step up from what I bought Ryan for his birthday, isn't it? LOL! Anyone else think it looks similar to the machine Belle's dad invented in Beauty and the Beast?)

The coffee roasting area adjoins to a big event center/reception room:

There's a catering kitchen just off of that:

But the main hub of the place serves the main purpose of the place, which is preparing the crosses for mailing. 

The crosses are loaded into a storage room and fill these four chutes. They spill out into the area below, where volunteers can pick them up to attach them to the mailing:

Volunteers come, sometimes in groups (like we did with our small group this week) and sometimes alone and work to assemble the mailers.

They bundle them up, mail them out, and when a zip code is completely reached, they mark it in red on a huge map on the wall. (These two pictures were taken exactly one month apart: May 14 and June 14. You can see they made a lot of progress in a month!)

Volunteers can sit in the big gathering room:

Or in a conference room, like we did:

We are just amazed at all the details that went into this building, the things they offer, and the ministry they have. We love it and are excited to keep visiting, volunteering, and consuming coffee! 

Adventures in Coffee Roasting

For Ryan's birthday (which was back in April) I gave him a coffee roaster of his very own, and a bag of beans to roast. I got the idea from an episode of Counting On where Jinger and Jeremy Vuolo got a coffee roaster and had fun figuring out their very own coffee blend. It absolutely sounded like something Ryan would have fun doing!

Well, unfortunately, he was a bit busy planning all my birthday festivities and didn't get around to using it until now! But this past Sunday he had a bit of free time (hello, rain) and thought it would be a good time to inaugurate the roaster!

He started by skipping the directions. LOL. (For the safety conscious, that's not entirely true. He read enough to know what he needed to do. We were just making a funny picture.)

I know from the Jinger/Jeremy episode that there are a variety of raw beans you can purchase, but I just got the one bag and will let him do his own researching/deciding from there. This was the trial bag. He measured them all out...

Ready to go!

Don't they look like peanuts in there?

Phoebe and I found the whole thing fascinating.

I captioned this one - a watched bean never roasts.

But they do!

It was fun to watch them transform from dull and tan into shiny and dark brown! We were a bit worried that we'd permanently stunk up the house. Kind of smelled burned. I remembered a friend of mine who refused to let her husband roast beans in the house because of the foul smell. But when Phoebe's people came to get her, they said the house smelled good like a coffee shop! YAY!!! We had to let the beans sit for a few hours before we could grind them.

I remembered Jeremy and Jinger hated their first batch of beans. It didn't taste good at all. And if I'm recalling correctly, I thought part of it was the kind of bean itself. They had several varieties to try, but I'd only purchased one for Ryan, so I was a little nervous.

I thought the brewed coffee tasted amazing. He thought it was a little weak, but I thought it was really wonderful.

He said it was really fun to roast his own beans, and I'm sure after he gets a bit of research under his belt of things to try, it'll be even more fun! :)

Howsabout You Teach Me?

I'm not sure I should be so bold as to presume I come to you with mounds of wisdom on a regular basis, although I do hope I get to share a bit of that with you now and then. But it does seem I'm always telling you things, and now I'm ready to learn from you!

Because no one likes dramatic buildup, I'll tell you from the beginning that this is leading to questions about your experiences with Airbnb.

Now the dramatic buildup. :)

Ryan and I like to travel when we can, but of course we are pretty much a one-income household (since my income isn't consistent) and we dearly love to be frugal. (Alternative way of saying we're cheap.)

Ryan is fantastic at sniffing out a deal on pretty much anything in life, so I usually leave the lodging hunting to him when we're planning a vacation. Usually I come up with the itinerary and entertainment, and he finds our rooms. He does a great, great job at finding bargains that allow us to travel comfortably without spending a fortune.

But never have we ever stayed in an Airbnb. I have just enough Facebook friends who use nothing but Airbnb to become fascinated by the topic, and I've been researching the idea for our next vacation. (I'm always planning the next vacation.)

I have done some heavy searching on Pinterest to learn as much as I can about what the process is like, red flags to watch for, tips and tricks, etc. But I wanted to post about it today because I figure a few of you out there in our blog-friend-land have surely used it before and can perhaps enlighten me!

Here are some basic questions I'd love to know your experience with - and if you have any other thoughts along the way, please do throw them in!

1. The private entrance conundrum. In my initial searches, I refused to consider anything that was not a whole-house scenario or at the very least, didn't have its own private entrance. All my hours of watching Dateline are haunting me. I don't want to be on the show as the victim. (Or at all, really.) In many of the places I'm hunting, I find a decent amount of whole-house options, but I also know some are less expensive if you're open to just considering a room within a house.

It feels very weird to me to consider staying IN THE HOME of a complete stranger. I may never be able to get over that, but have any of you rented just a room, rather than a house? Thoughts?

2. Neighborhood safety. In some cases, the places we're looking are smaller towns, but in some cases, I'm considering larger cities, and I don't know them at all. If I can't tell from context clues of the pictures (are there bars on the windows?) or reviews others have left about the neighborhood atmosphere, are there good ways to find out about the safety of the area? It's not just my own noggin I'm worried about, but things like the safety of our car while parked outside.

3. Guest reviews. I noticed in some of the articles I read through Pinterest that hosts can review guests? I wasn't able to see that part easily as I hunted for homes, so how does that work? I like to think we're clean and easy guests (Ryan actually makes hotel beds and has been known to take out our trash before we leave ANY hotel) but I just want to know how that part works!

4. Secret tips. Are you supposed to take a hostess gift? Are you supposed to tip? Are there little things like that I wouldn't know about that would lead me to getting a bad review?

5. Do you like them at all? That's the bottom line. If you've stayed in them before, would you do it again?

So tell me! What do I need to know about Airbnb?

Outings with Phoebe

It may not have been an earth-shattering week, but it wasn't short on stories! Enjoy your podcast Tuesday!

Listen here

We had Miss Phoebe for part of the weekend, and that was so much fun!

She went with us on a photo shoot Saturday evening (as in I was taking pictures for other people) but we didn't get any pictures of her in that adventure. So just imagine it. 

Then we went out to my parents' house so Ryan could work on Mom's new phone. It was warm, so she dove under the table in hopes of cool air and residual scraps. I don't know that she found either. 

 So she tried sitting by my feet. Shout out to leftover mud on my shoes from our hike!

My mom is not overly fond of puppies, but my dad is a big fan. (Excuse my face in the first picture. It hadn't yet registered that I was in the photo.) 

It was pretty late by the time we were done with all that, so Ryan and I went to dinner at this cute little burger/ice cream place that my parents LOVE. So they went with us! They have a patio with picnic tables, so Phoebe got to go too!

Somebody was pretty tired after that day and evening. Make that two somebodies.

The two of them slept well all night. LOL. I was up trying to run interference on pet encounters. We had church Sunday morning, and when we got home, Phoebe was SO excited to see us. (She hates storms and it stormed here quite a bit of Sunday, so I think she was doubly glad we came back.)

She stayed with us most of Sunday, but because of the storms, our activities were mostly eating and napping. LOL! We loved having her!

Date Night (Old School)

We had a good old-fashioned date night this weekend, and I wanted to mention it because for all the times we promote doing something beyond the ordinary for date night, there's still something wonderful about having a regular date! After all, it's not so much about what you do as it is about spending quality time together!

Our date night started with dinner out. Ryan's choice = Buffalo Wild Wings, and surprisingly it was pretty empty on a Friday night, so we got our food quickly and had a nice peaceful dinner! OH! And a gift card made it even better.

We were in the middle of a Star Dash at Starbucks, and it was the last night for it, so we stopped by there for coffee after dinner. YAY for completing the challenge! (There's a picture of me too, but Ryan had the "live" photo feature turned on his phone and it won't post for me because blogger thinks its a movie. Sigh.)

We went grocery shopping after that, which may not be considered a date to most people, but it is to us! :) So funny - when we went to Sam's Club, we stocked up on toilet paper and paper towel. (MONTHS of supply here...) As we waited in line to leave the store, the guy in front of us said, "WHOA! You guys must have a bunch of kids. Or a restaurant."

(If I'd thought of it in time, I would have responded with, "Nah, we just really like Mexican food.")

The beauty of summer is that you can do ALLLLL those things after work and still have enough daylight left to squeeze in a walk, so we went for one - just around the neighborhood. It was the perfect temperature, there was a slight breeze, we didn't get eaten up...loved it.

And then we watched a movie! Pulled out Mo, curled up, and stayed up extra late. It was so much fun!

I know. Dinner. Coffee. Walk. Movie. Not earth-shattering. But we were able to be together and talk and laugh, and that's what really matters!

The Shafferland Shuffle

Happy Sunday, my friends! We are in the middle of a Phoebe fest and having a great time! :)

* Last Sunday afternoon marked the end of our graduation weekend festivities. Whew! We had two open houses to attend, and one was for our niece! Her mom put together a really lovely party for her, and they'd just gotten a new puppy that I sort of fell in love with. Isn't she ADORABLE?

* Monday I dove headfirst into a much needed cleaning and organizing project in our office! I mean it was pretty bad. I made labels and organized and spruced up and had the best time! That night, Ryan helped our friends on their house again and I knocked out a 5K on the treadmill. (This was after I push mowed the yard. And then the next day I'd gained weight. So much for a workout!)

* Look at Tuesday's accomplishment! I believe they call that a surface. Isn't it great!? We have a desk again! That afternoon we went on a little trip down to Indianapolis to get new phones, and Mom went along with us. She'd never had Starbucks before, so we introduced her to it and then we got all set up on our new phone plan!

* Wednesday I got my first 2019 speaking engagement booked, so I had to print out new calendar sheets! (It pretty much made my day.) We got to see Miss Pheebs that night - and it was actually the first time we had seen her in a while, so the excitement was mutual. We went with her (and her people!) on a walk through the park and Ryan captured the gorgeous sunset.

* I started off Thursday morning with breakfast and some writing and then I started organizing the file cabinet. Another huge project crossed off the list! We had the whole evening at home, which was super wonderful, and Ryan continued working on getting our phones set up properly.

* Friday night we had a fun date night that I'll have to tell you more about later! It was really nice to have a leisurely evening out together with no big plans. And we stayed up late watching a movie. We haven't done that for a long time!

* Ryan worked yesterday, and in the afternoon, Miss Pheebs came to stay with us! I already had a photo shoot on the calendar for the evening, so we all went together to do that (so much fun!) and then we went to my parents' favorite spot for dinner. Didn't have to twist their arms too hard to come along! It was the perfect night for eating outside!

The Saturday Six

One.

This article says we've all been pronouncing IKEA wrong. Ryan wants to know why they don't say it this way on the commercials. I'm not sure I've ever even paid attention to know how they say it on the commercials!

Two.

Isn't this a great shirt???


Three.

Alli over at The Scattered Squirrel has released her 2019 planner printables (monthly pages for you to write on). I know, I know! It's only June! But this week I received my first speaking engagement for 2019, so I needed a calendar to start keeping track! I love Alli's work and have used her pages for years. (BONUS: FREE!!)

Four.

You know we are SUCH HUGE FANS of date nights, and we're also huge fans for finding fun new ideas for them! Need one? Check out this sweet flow chart for helping you pick the perfect date night for your mood!

Five.

A cupcake is a cupcake and there are no substitutes for the real thing. But if you need a fun-looking snack without all the cupcake calories, this watermelon version is cute! (Don't look, Ryan. It's watermelon.)

Six.

Source

It's been a while since I told you about a book! About a month, actually! I'm not sure what happened to me in the month of May. I think all the surprise partying and turning fortying and vacationing and transitioning into summer got the best of me. I was working my way through a book that whole time but just could not push myself to finish it. That makes me nervous to tell you about it!

Let me begin by saying my inability to finish the book in a timely manner should not be a reflection on the book itself. I was excited about it when I picked it up, I think it was well-done, and it has a good message. But I just don't know that it was the right fit of a book for me for this month of my life. If it had been a book I picked up on my own, I would have happily set it aside and waited for God's nudge to pick it back up when it fit me better. Alas, it's a book I promised to review, and I know it recently released to the world, so I need to uphold my end of the bargain.

When God Says Go by Elizabeth Laing Thompson caught my eye because I turned 40. (Seriously.) I told you a few weeks ago that I wanted to be as purposeful with this new decade as I was with my 30s, and I wanted to be sure I was right in the middle of wherever God wanted me to be. I wanted to offer my heart fresh perspectives on listening to His voice and perhaps understanding better if I needed to ramp up things I'm doing now or even try something entirely new. This book seemed to be a good companion to that heart-request, so I picked it up.

Elizabeth is a good writer and actually, her style reminds me of my own writing style in many ways. (I'm not saying that to pat myself on the back at all, but just to affirm why I thought I might really connect with her!) Each chapter of this book begins with a fictionalized Bible story and then moves into modern day application. (By fictionalized Bible story, I mean that she chose accounts in Scripture and wrote them out as though we stood beside the people from those moments, hearing conversations and feeling the full moments with them.) I've written similar things myself, so they don't offend me, but for some reason I had a hard time flipping back and forth in my head between Bible fiction and modern day application. I wanted to stay in one mode or the other, and I wrestled with flipping back and forth.

Having said that, Elizabeth did a great job of showing how we can learn from each of those people we read about in the Bible and how we can apply the principles to our everyday lives. One thing I really appreciated about the book was the way she didn't shy away from hard topics, like understanding the difference between actually hearing the call of God on your life and getting lost in feelings and peer pressure that can feel like the call of God on your life. That's not an easy thing to tackle, and I thought she did it very, very well.

Throughout the book, she explained how God's call on us to go and do something could be scary, could be against everything you planned for your life, could be very mundane, or could actually be a call to stay when you want to go. She included so much encouragement for people who are scared, unsure, bound by their past, or confused.

Despite my struggle to get through the book in a timely fashion, I underlined so many things and took a good amount of wisdom with me. I'd love to come back to this book in another season when it perhaps is more applicable to me than it seems right now. It's worth keeping and rereading, because it's quality work!

** Shiloh Run Press sent me a complimentary copy of this book, and the (too-delayed) opinions are all my own. **

A Little of This or That!

We made it to FRIDAY!!! (That declaration would probably be a lot more believable if I worked a stressful outside-the-home job wouldn't it?) But no matter where you work or IF you work, Fridays are usually cause for celebration. So let's celebrate!

Thought I'd do a fun little quiz today, based on some this-or-that scenarios. Play along if you'd like! I would love to hear what you think!

1. Chick-fil-A or In-N-Out?

Well, if I ever want to eat again in my lifetime, I better go with Chick-fil-A, because that's all we have in our fine state (in this scenario, anyway). Looks like the closest In-N-Out is just over in Oklahoma. However, I do dearly love a burger and have heard rave reviews about theirs, so I really would like to try one sometime. (Any of you ever eaten there?)

As for Chick-fil-A, Ryan and I love them. The closest one to us is about 40 minutes away, which is still very sad, but it's close enough that we can get there now and then. We try to eat at one every time we have an opportunity, because we love the food and we love the company itself! (I love it that you can get grilled nuggets there! And I love their iced tea. And I love the ketchup packets.)

2. Tent or hotel?

Well that's easy! HOTEL! I've actually never camped outside in a tent. When I was a kid, I had a tent, and my parents set it up in our basement as kind of a summer playhouse in the one cool room we had. (Temperature cool, I mean.) But I don't really live for bugs and heat and rain, so it's best if I keep my travel to hotel life. Running water, TV, WiFi...that's my kinda camping!

3. Summer or winter?

It's a catch-22 on this one, because Christmas is my favorite, and I love all things cozy, so you'd think winter. But I will not lie at all: I need my freedom. And I rarely have freedom in the winter because of the snow. I love not putting on a whole extra set of clothes just to walk out the front door. I love running to the mailbox in my socks. I love sunshine. I love long walks in the evening. I love flowers. I love leaves. I love summer.

4. Romantic movies or comedies?

I can't pick! AHHHHHH!! I really really really love romantic movies and watch them as often as possible. (Hallmark Channel has a pretty high rating in my soul.) But there are some days I just so very desperately need a laugh, and that's when I need a good comedy! I guess if I have to choose, I'll go with romantic for the movies, because if I need a laugh, I'm more likely to watch a sitcom than a funny movie. So there. I'm choosing based on a technicality.

5. Plan it or wing it?

PLAN! PLAN PLAN PLAN PLAN PLAN!!! We were so busy last weekend that I typed out a two page, color-coded itinerary of every place we were supposed to go, everything we needed to take with us, and every address, too. I had departure and arrival times marked, lengths of stays...it was impressive. And that was just for a weekend! I plan every vacation like that, every speaking engagement, every week's meal list...everything has a plan!

6. Dogs or cats?

We have a cat (and we love her!) because she's a great fit for our lifestyle. If we need to be gone for a few hours or even overnight, she can be okay. She gets mad at us, but she's okay. And we do love her. We love her more when it's not 4:00 a.m. playtime. :) But we also do love dogs! I mean...our Pheebs has our heart! So I guess we love cats for the owning and dogs for the sitting?

7. Introvert or Extrovert?

I think we know what Ryan is, right? Extrovert to the max! I'm much more extroverted than I used to be, and if I'm in a setting where I'm comfortable, I have no problem having a great time! But if I'm uncomfortable, I clam up in a turtle shell pretty quickly! Self-preservation. Anyone else a bit of both, depending on the setting?

How about you?? This or that?