The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, we woke up in our hotel room in Fort Wayne, looking ahead to the last day of our anniversary getaway. We had a leisurely day that included a visit to a coffee shop, and a trip to the Christmas tree farm to pick out our tree, which we named Firby. It was a great, fun day! {And when we came home, we not only had luggage and a naked Christmas tree, but we started ripping apart our house to rearrange some rooms. Because why not?}

* I devoted all of Monday to unpacking from our trip, doing massive amounts of laundry, and arranging the living room so at least one room was complete and put together. And while I edited pictures, someone decided out of the blue that my lap is her new favorite place to be. No idea why she suddenly loves me, but I'll take it!

* Tuesday was December 1, so we pulled out my Advent book and started reading it again; I love that tradition I get to share with Ryan! Speaking of Ryan, though he was officially sicker than a dog {how sick is that, anyway?} with a cold, he volunteered to ring Salvation Arm bells with his boss. Isn't he the cutest bell ringer? And that night, you know, just for funsies, we moved a couch up the stairs. That was interesting!! {Don't miss Ryan at the top of the picture, right under the 12!

* Wednesday was our anniversary {YAY!!!} and Ryan took the day off work to spend it with me! We got to rest and do a little shopping, and we had our pictures taken before going out to dinner. We watched our wedding video while we ate cupcakes and just had such a lovely day remembering THE lovely day of our wedding!

* Thursday morning I got to do my devos by the light of the Christmas tree, which was lovely in every way. Ryan and I had put the lights and ornaments on it the day before, but it still needed some finishing up, so I worked hard on that - and on decorating the rest of the house that day. I'll give you a better view of all that later, but here's a sneak peek. I went low-key this year, but I like how it turned out!

* Friday I decorated the outside of our house {also low-key this year} and we hung up our mistletoe {YAY!}. That night, after Ryan got home from work, we went to his mom's house to pick up a dining room table he'd had in storage for something like a decade or more. Much more on this to come, but basically our table was just too small, so now we have one {for free!} that was certainly MUCH larger.

 * Yesterday Ryan worked, so I sent a little tree with him for his office. No ornaments, just a tree with lights. {Didn't want him to lose his man card ENTIRELY by having a fully decorated tree.} And last night, we went to our brother-in-law's 40th {surprise} birthday party, which was really a lot of fun! I took pictures all night and am always happiest when I have a job and a purpose, so it was a great time. Ryan's sister rocked it with the preparation!