Fun with the Shaffers

WOW, you guys! Thank you so much for all the sweet comments yesterday. I'm so glad so many of you hang out here each day, even though you never know what you might find when you arrive! Before I move on to today's post, I do need to print a slight retraction to yesterday's 5000 posts...post. It has come to my attention that Ryan actually wrote a handful of those posts. Oral surgery, gallbladder surgery, some birthdays...he wrote the posts. So I should have said that the 5000 post mark was a collective endeavor. My apologies to Ryan for taking credit for some of his posts. And my thanks to my friend who asked if the 5000 mark included his writing.

With that retraction printed, I thought we might have some fun today!

I found a fun list of questions, and I thought Ryan and I should answer them for you! Hope you enjoy!

1. If you could spend one day in someone else's shoes, who would it be and why?

Ryan: He wants to make it clear this is something he would only want to do for one day, not for a full time job. He thinks it would be cool to spend one day in the shoes of the President - just to see all the daily ins and outs of the job that the average person never knows about. We hear versions of all the big stuff through the media, but to see the little things would fascinate him.

Bekah: Mine would be not so much a specific person by name, but a person according to occupation. I'm sure it would be way harder and stranger than I could ever imagine, but I would love to spend the day in the life of a cookie and coffee shop owner. We've long dreamed of owning a coffee shop, and if I could throw a cookie baking venture on the side, I think that would be so fun. I'd love to see what it's really like. (Which would probably cure me of ever wanting to actually do it, of course.)

2. If you were going to bury a time capsule, what would you put in it?

Ryan: He would put in a current cell phone (since those change so rapidly), a coffee mug (to let people know how important coffee is, regardless of the era), newspaper, and a notepad with pen that included a letter explaining the times in which we live, some good quotes, and advice for a life well lived. 

Bekah: We actually did this when we lived in our Marion house! We pulled up the carpet in our hallway and before we put down new carpet, we hid a time capsule inside the stairs for someone to find however many years down the road. I have a blog post in the archives that details everything we put in it, but I remember putting in a printed copy of a blog post, pictures of the cars we drove at the time, a K-Cup, pictures of my grandparents who used to own the house, and a handful of other things. We wanted to preserve things that represented the house, the time in history, and the people who lived there! We also included a letter, I believe, that explained who we were and why we were burying the time capsule. I've often wondered if the guy who bought the house from us has pulled up the carpet yet and if so...if he found it!

3. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Ryan: It's easier for him to say what he DIDN'T want to be! He grew up on a farm and did not want to be a livestock farmer. He definitely did not want to be a roofer (after serving on more roofing crews than he could count). He also didn't want any job where he had to work out in the fields all day, because he did a lifetime of it in his childhood. Outside of that, he was open to anything. (And also for the record, he now has a much different perspective on farming. As an adult, he has an appreciation for it that he couldn't quite find as a child stuck in chore time!)

Bekah: Teacher! That was my dream all the way up through high school. I elected not to follow through with that dream after watching how the school system changed for my parents during those years. (Dad was a teacher and mom was an instructional assistant in a classroom.) I feared I would grow to hate teaching if I didn't have the freedom to teach the way I felt I should, so I decided I would just find something else to do with my life. I've often wondered how different my life would look if I had chased that dream, and I still ADORE teaching in the avenues I'm given. 

4. Do you have any strange or unique phobias?

Ryan: He doesn't think so...and I agree. He's very normal. He feels like after working years on a farm and years in health care, there's nothing to be afraid of. But stay tuned, because....

Bekah: I have a lengthy list! Of course there are the obvious things like spiders and snakes and frogs (any creepy crawly thing, actually). But also...heights, amusement park rides, driving on interstates, gum chewing, being in the center of a row or pew...and more, but I have some dignity.

5. If you could bring back one toy from your childhood, what would it be, and why?

Ryan: His dirt bike. He loved that thing. Had a lot of great times riding it. He thinks he ended up giving it away to someone, but he doesn't remember who it was. 

Bekah: Wow. I had a lot of toys that I really loved. How to pick!! I keep coming back to my Barbies, though. I loved the elaborate stories I would concoct for them to live out. My favorite was during summer break when I would spend a lot of play time in the basement of our house, because it was the coolest room (in temperature, I mean). My parents had an old leather couch that had this long matching bench style ottoman. I would regularly transform it into a two story condo for my Barbies and spend HOURS down there living life with them. I also owned the Heart family. (Does anyone remember that?) They were like Barbies, but a different brand. I owned the mom and dad and the little boy and girl twins with outfits that matched the mom and dad. Oh the stories I wrote for the Heart family!

6. If you could relive one day of your life, what would it be and why?

Ryan: The biggest regret of our marriage was the day he did not say yes to the photographer at the waterfalls. So if he could relive one day, he would go back and say yes to the camera. I'm not sure I can handle redoing those falls, so I'm not sure I'm on board with this do-over - ha!

Bekah: Will it shock ANYONE to know I'm picking our wedding day! I so very dearly loved that entire day. I wasn't stressed at all, everything was perfect, and it was so wonderful that I'd happily relive it! Also. It's snowing in Indiana right now, so you wouldn't have to twist my arm too hard to get me to return to 82 degrees on a beach!

Happy Wednesday, my friends! :)