The Shafferland Shuffle

* Had a fun treat last Sunday afternoon! My college roommate, Jenny, happened to be in town with her husband and kiddos, and we met up for lunch! I haven't seen her in three years...she'd never met Ryan, and I hadn't met her littlest son, so it was a great opportunity to catch up! After lunch, Ryan and I did a little shopping, which resulted in my fun new coffee shirt - YAY! And that night, we cuddled up on the couch to watch TV and eat snacks. Shout out to Ryan for cutting up all the fruit so we could have a HEALTHY snack!

* Monday I finished a writing assignment for church, and I was excited with the way it turned out. {Hope they agree!} I celebrated by making my first ever batch of homemade donuts...pumpkin treats that Ryan loved! We had to go to Wal-Mart that night {you know what that does to my nerves} - and the employees had to help us shop, because huge chunks of it were roped off for new flooring. I thought it kind of looked like a skating rink! Something for the kids to do while parents shop, perhaps?

* Tuesday morning, I met my friend Trudy for breakfast at IHOP, and we caught up over a short stack of pancakes. Ryan and I went for a run that night - and I actually had one of my best runs in this round of training! {Easier to do that when I'm only going 2 miles, right?} And we kept our end of town classy with our bedding giraffe in the backyard...ohhhh Shaffers. Actually I thought this was a pretty clever clothesline Ryan made!

* Wednesday's run was a bit tougher, but I appreciated the stunning flowers along the path! If you have to pant your way through a run, might as well have pretty things to look at! We watched America's Got Talent {anyone else watching this?} and Ryan was relieved that the Professional Regurgitator made it through. I wish I could say I'm kidding about his obsession with that guy's talent. He freaks me out!!! And because he doesn't love to sit and rest after a long day at work, Ryan threw a paint-patching and couch scotch-guarding party that night! So motivated, this handsome husband of mine!

* Thursday was a hard day for me - so many things marinating in my head, which resulted in a few good meltdowns into my journal, but I'm so thankful to have the time and freedom to process days like that on the spot! AND - my friend Faith invited me to lunch at the last minute, which was a welcomed blessing. I think it was good for me to get out of the house and away from my own thoughts for a while. You know what else made the day all better? We got to visit our friends Nate and Jenna, who just had a darling baby girl! We took dinner, we loved on the baby, we chatted with our friends, we gave them gifts...it was so comforting!! Thankful for that evening.

* Friday I had a marathon reading session and finished two books while Ryan was at work. I didn't even know I could do that! It didn't impress Braeya, who slept through the whole thing. I did some writing, too, and right when Ryan got home, we had the fun surprise of seeing our friends Matt and Angela! They recently moved out of town but were unexpectedly visiting and stopped by to see us for a while! We had great laughs and it was so good to see them...and then they left. :( We spent the rest of the night curled up on Mo watching old episodes of Criminal Minds until we fell asleep {to interesting dreams}!!

* Yesterday Ryan worked a very long day, and while he was gone, I had a surprise visit from one of my old co-workers and his wife! We had fun catching up - and I had fun watching movies and writing for the rest of the day. Ryan and I went for a run in this CRAZY humidity, which made my KNEES sweat! We felt the only proper recovery was to get frappes. Fruit ones - serving of fruit, right???