Thanksgiving 2024: The Start of a Grand Adventure

 

Good morning, friends! Ryan and I have enjoyed a beautiful (albeit frigid) anniversary celebration, so I thought I’d take you on a virtual vacation! Are you ready? No packing required!

            We based our destination this year solely on our desire to fill in more states on our travel map! We managed to visit THREE states while we were gone, which brings our total of new-to-us states this year to four. Unfortunately we did not choose southern states, so we spent our days layering an adding all manner of hats, coats, and gloves.

            Our trip began on Thanksgiving Day. We had planned to have lunch with Mom and Dad before heading out on the open road, but Mom was under the weather, so we opted for an earlier-than-planned start. We still donned our Thanksgiving shirts and began our trip by stopping at one of our favorite coffee shops, the Shaka Shack, for some vacation coffee. (Yes, they were open on Thanksgiving and even invited anyone in need of a place to go to join them for the lunchtime meal. Isn’t that amazing?)

            We made it to the Columbus area before pausing for our own Thanksgiving lunch: turkey and ham wraps in the parking lot of a random hotel off the interstate.

            The day started beautifully, as far as weather went – even some blue skies and sunshine in the mix! But it clouded over quite a bit the farther east we drove.

            A little before dinnertime, we happened upon a Bob Evans that did not have a full parking lot, so we decided to chance it and possibly get a real meal on Thanksgiving. Some of you might remember that a couple of years ago, in Destin, we tried this at Cracker Barrel and found out you have to order hours in advance – AND they only serve a traditional Thanksgiving meal menu that day. Bob Evans offered four regular versions of a Thanksgiving meal and four breakfast options. My heart was so happy! We both ended up getting breakfast, actually, and it was delicious. (Ryan ate all of his and half of mine – ha!)

            It was dark, but not terribly late by the time we reached our hotel for the night. By this time we had scurried through a brief section of West Virginia and had made our way into Pennsylvania. 

            I was delighted to find out there was a combined Dunkin and Goodwill across the road from our room. Alas, no time to stop and enjoy that combo, but it’s a good one!

            We did hit the hotel gym that night. Running and biking for the win!

            When we returned to our room, we watched Christmas Vacation!

            It was a fine start to the trip, and I was both amazed and grateful that we did not have a single travel issue on Thanksgiving Day. Not one detour, encounter with road construction, delays from any kind of accident, or anything else. Other than some random rain, it was a perfect day to be out on the open road! (We did learn, at the end of the day, that double yellow lines on hilly, curvy roads, are apparently merely a suggestion. We were passed SO MANY TIMES on a double yellow, in the dark, in fog, on hilly, winding roads. That was terrifying.)

            Come back tomorrow to read about our first frozen adventure!

Dreams and Goals for December 2024

 

Good morning! Well, we’re three days into this month, and this is the first chance I’ve had to share with you the dreams and goals I’ve made to close out this year!

ONE. Mail our Christmas cards and letters. Normally this is already done by now, but we’re running a little behind (with a reason!) this year, so I need to finish that project ASAP. I’m so looking forward to Christmas card season in general – sending and receiving. It’s one of my very favorite things.

TWO. Enjoy some fun Christmas activities! Our county is having a Christkindlmarkt this year that I want to attend, we’re going to a play, Swiss Village has a Christmas Tree event, and of course, there are lights to drive by and church services to attend. I’m looking forward to celebrating in and out of our home.

THREE. Settle my heart for Advent. I’m reading a small handful of Advent studies/guides/devotional books this year and am excited to have those stolen-away moments with the Lord. No matter how well you know the accounts in the Bible, there is always something new to see or learn as you study, and I am looking forward to that being true for me this year.

FOUR. Look ahead to 2025. I’m a dreamer and planner and want to spend some good time this month reflecting on the unexpected that has filled this year and look ahead some goals for the year to come. This is always one of my favorite parts of any year.

FIVE. Work on our anniversary photo album. I always like to start on photo albums as quickly as I can after an event happens – so I remember details while they are fresh in my mind. I want to put some creative time into working on our album from this 12^th anniversary!

            The holidays are, of course, busy, so I don’t want to overload with dreams and goals. We’ll stop the list here and while I’m sure more will actually take place, this will be a good ending point to the purposeful plans.

            How about you? What are YOU looking forward to this month?

One Dozen Years of Love!

 

            The morning of our wedding, twelve years ago now, Ryan and I sat on the beach in Siesta Key and wrote each other a love letter. 

            We rolled them up, tucked them into glass jars, and one year later, on our first anniversary, we pulled out the letters, read them, wrote new letters, and rolled them up to hide away in the glass jars. We have repeated this on each anniversary, and for the last several years, I’m pretty sure each letter begins with “What an unexpected year!”

            And this year will be no different.

            I shared with you a few days ago (in the Thanksgiving post) about what a beautiful and yet difficult year it has been. I said then – and say again today – that I could not and would not have wanted to do this year with anyone other than Ryan. He really is the BEST life-adventure-partner. If you’re having a great day, you want Ryan by your side, because he will celebrate it to the max and somehow figure out a way to make it even better than it already is. And if you’re having the worst day ever, you want Ryan by your side, because he will bring you a Blizzard, listen to your venting, and figure out a way to make you laugh without making you angry that he made you laugh. (That’s an actual skill – and very few people have it.)

            To celebrate our twelfth anniversary today, I want to honor some of my favorite things about the last dozen years with Ryan. Does it surprise anyone that I’m using the word twelve to offer this tribute?

TRADITIONS

            One of my favorite things about being married to Ryan is that he doesn’t merely put up with my love of tradition, but he embraces and celebrates it right alongside me. I love the traditions we have made over the last dozen years: decorating our Shaffer Story Trees and reliving each memory as we hang the ornaments, sleeping beside the tree on Christmas Eve, toasting to a new year with sparkling grape juice, celebrating every monthiversary (144 of those celebrations and counting, now!), observing birthday and anniversary celebrations ON THE DAYS, making sure we take time away for a birthday and anniversary trip at the very least each year – and sometimes another little getaway here or there, buying ornaments to commemorate special events, and taking pictures of EVERYTHING.

WORK

            It has been a wild privilege to work alongside Ryan in both specific and general ways. We loved the chance to officially be coworkers when we were at WillowBridge, but even though that only spanned two of our dozen years together, we have purposed to work together no matter what our vocations might be. I have been his unofficial coworker in nearly every single job he’s had since we’ve been married, and he’s done the same for me. We’ve worked together in ministry in the church and we’ve worked together to make our houses into homes. He’s always been my favorite coworker, regardless of the capacity.

EVERYDAY

For as much as I love the big, grand adventures, I also love the everyday life we’ve lived. We’ve made bread, gone for walks, trained for races, raised a puppy, studied the Bible, prayed together, cuddled up to watch TV shows, tended a garden, made houses into homes, cooked together, cheered each other on, cheered each other up, grocery shopped, eaten every possible meal together, done laundry together, and so much more. Life is more about the every day than the grandness, and Ryan makes every day fun to live. We have a rhythm and routine after twelve years, and he’s my safe place, my comfort, and my home. Life wasn’t bad when I was single, but he just makes it so much better.

LOVE AND LIKE

            Mark Lowry said in a comedy sketch that there’s a difference between loving and liking someone. You might cry at someone’s funeral, but you don’t want to go on vacation with them. (Ha! Truth!) I am incredibly grateful to both love and like Ryan and the chance to spend every day with him. I love him with my whole heart. Everything about who he is as a person is easy to love, and I do. But I also really, really like him. I genuinely enjoy being around him – whether we are doing something or just sitting together in the quiet in the same room. People told me marriage was hard work and honestly not that much fun, but Ryan has proved that to be completely wrong. He makes it easy and fun to both love and like him and our days together!

VACATIONS

            I love it that we have come to desire making memories over buying stuff, and I love the trips we’ve been able to take in twelve years together. When we put up our Story Tree last month and read the recaps of all our trips, we kept stopping to say, “We really have had so much fun, haven’t we?” We’ve visited many Indiana counties, a whole bunch of states, and we’ve had some really fun(ny) adventures along the way. You remember the ziplining. And the waterfalls. And the whitewater rafting. Never, in my single years, would I have guessed that I’d have had the adventures we have packed into a dozen years. I might have dreamed it, but I truly never thought I’d see such dreams come true.

ENCOURAGEMENT

            The Bible admonishes husbands to love their wives as Christ loves the church, and in my mind, part of that includes encouragement. Ryan has been one of my greatest encouragers over the last twelve years, and I am so thankful for it. He has encouraged me to pursue every single dream of my heart and to follow the Lord into every calling He has placed on my life. He’s encouraged me when life circumstances have threatened to swallow me whole. He’s encouraged me to eat healthier, get stronger, do things that feel scary, and not give up when I want to quit. He has encouraged in words, actions, prayers, and even the look in his eyes. (He sits where I can see him every single time I speak so I can glance his way whenever I start to feel weary or discouraged. His eyes speak volumes when I need a pick-me-up!)

Sunday Sentiments: Something Creative

 

Each month I share with you goals that I make for that month. Sometimes, in addition to those, I also make quiet little goals for my day planner. They’re almost always little daily hopes that aren’t wildly significant in the grand scheme, but I enjoy marking them off each day.

            In November, I made a goal to do something creative every day. There were no parameters on the goal. It could be simple or complex.

            Scrapbooking. Trying a new recipe. Switching up a decoration in the house. Trying something new with my hair. Writing something different. Working on a vacation plan. Taking pictures.

            What I learned from this experiment was that each day’s endeavor brought an extra measure of joy to that day. It’s not that the days were bad without the creativity. It’s just that they were that much nicer with it included.

            I love that the Ultimate Creator gave us a bit of that desire for our own lives. I love how creating fosters life.

            I also know that not everyone thrives on creativity the same way I do, and that is okay. But as we break open this brand new month – this final month of the year – I encourage you to dare to imagine how a little daily creativity could change your days in the most beautiful of ways.

            You don’t have to take up a whole new hobby or buy something expensive. Creativity can be simple and free – and bring simplicity and freedom right along with it.

            Think about it! Could be a great Christmas present to YOU!