The Shafferland Shuffle

Well guess what this week has NOT been? Boring! What an adventure-filled week! Here's a look at some of what we did...

* We visited another church last Sunday morning and really enjoyed the service. We had a chance to meet a couple of the pastors, and they were quite welcoming. When we got home, Ryan made one of his famous breakfasts, and it was delicious! I'm glad he hasn't lost his breakfast-making touch. We took a little down-time that afternoon to rest, since we were in the middle of a solo work stretch, and then spent some time that evening with our tenants! One of them wanted to go on a walk with us - and we got to enjoy a beautiful sunset while we walked!

* Monday was full of meetings - one right after the other. We hadn't had that many meetings in a row since our training, I don't think. We finally decided to call it quits for the day, and right about then...the tornado sirens went off! We had to gather all our residents and a few visitors we had in the building - and take them to the shelter. I was so proud of how well they did! And also - it is the first time since 1996 that I've had a tornado shelter, and I am thrilled to have one. (I wasn't expecting to need to use it so soon after arrival, though.) Braeya, like many animals, isn't wild about storms, but she did really well. I was proud of her, too! All in all, the day lasted mannnnnnnnnnny hours, but I was thankful for safety for our people and our property in the storm!

* Tuesday was a MUCH nicer day outside! We had turkey burgers for lunch, and Ryan even sliced our first big tomato from our beloved plants. We successfully raised a tomato! That afternoon, WillowBridge received an amazing donation of school supplies, and Ryan caught me taking pictures of them. (I love school supplies - what can I say?! They're photo-worthy!) We ended the day running some errands - and that involved a quick dinner out. Out, of course, still means picking it up in the drive thru and bringing it home.

* Ryan spent part of Wednesday putting together our bookshelves so I could begin unloading the office boxes. I was so happy to have those shelves back! I worked on putting together a gift basket for one of our tenants who was leaving for college, and this included getting to sharpen a bunch of pencils! We tried to run a few more errands that day and learned that up here, Starbucks closes EARLY! We stopped at one location about 1:32 and a barista told us the car in front of us was the last car they were serving that day. She told us about a different location that she thought was open until 3. We squeaked in before they closed!

* Thursday was our last work day before our weekend, and we spent the afternoon celebrating one of our tenants' recent life accomplishments! The said celebration included Ryan jumping on the trampoline, and serving ice cream with the most delicious chocolate sauce I've ever eaten. We also had the chance to interact with some of our fellow Gateway Woods co-workers, and we really enjoyed that! Met some new friends!

* I spent all day Friday working on unloading our office boxes - and I got the bookshelves loaded. Felt so good to have all my book-friends back in their proper homes!! We're so ready to be able to consider ourselves completely unpacked and fully settled. We went on a sunset walk that night and OH my goodness - the sunset! It was so very, very beautiful! What a perfect end to the day.

* We had the day off together yesterday, and we took a little bit of time to hike in a park. It was a hot day, but it was a beautiful park - not that far from home! We had a great time exploring - and it was fun to have a date day after so many weeks of prepping, moving, and unpacking. :) And while it wasn't the most vibrant one I've ever seen, we got to see a rainbow in the evening, which was the perfect way to end the week!

So that was our busy and wildly unpredictable week!