The Date Inspired by the Letter I

We are home safe and sound from our annual birthday getaway, and I can't wait to tell you all about it! But meanwhile, we have another date to report in on...remember our alphabetical dates? We're up the letter I!

I'm not sure what possessed me to think last week was a good week to sneak in an alphabetical date, with everything else we had going on, but it actually did work out really nicely!

So, here was our date inspired by the letter I!

This is what happens when you're trying to get 100 things in the picture, and it's windy, and you're on a major highway. Possibly my worst picture of all time, but oh well. Here you go!

We started our date at Indiana Wesleyan, since that's where we were for my speaking engagement last week. Convenient that it starts with an I, right?

It was so windy that day, but it was lovely and warm, and we took a stroll down memory lane by walking through campus, like we used to when we lived over there!

We paused in the rotunda where all the busts for the Society of World Changers are housed, and Ryan did a photo opp with Bill and Gloria.

(I won't lie. The busts still creep me out.)

He decided to imagine what it would be like to be the next inductee.

We couldn't leave campus without visiting our beloved chapel.

We went inside and sat for a bit, remembering all the days of yore when we spent much prayer time there!

Then...we went on our annual pilgrimage to...

IVANHOE'S!!!

 Oh yes. It's that time of year again.

Strawberry shortcake covered in ice cream!

So huge. So not good for you. But so delicious, and at once a year? I'll eat the whole thing, thankyouverymuch.

That was our I date! Much fun!!

The Date Inspired by the Letter H

I promised to tell you the end of Ryan's birthday celebration, and happily I can report that this date doubled as the date inspired by the letter H!

After he got off work, and after he opened his gift, we went out for hamburgers for dinner! Originally I thought maybe on this date, we would go to some drive-in hamburger/hot dog place, but since it was his birthday, I decided to go a different route. We headed out to Five Guys, which we've only been to once before and loved.

Ryan loves the peanuts you can snack on while you wait for your food! (And I didn't love the bad lighting AGAIN.)

I do love that you can choose your burger as a smaller size or a bigger size, so there was something for both of us. And they don't charge extra for ANY topping, so we loaded up with all the toppings!

(We got the Cajun fries and shared them. Oh my goodness. Good stuff!)

After dinner, we went to Starbucks so Ryan could get his free birthday treat.

And then we went to Highland Park. (If you're not local, that's just the city park in this fine town. It's a nice park! Had some of my senior pictures taken there, actually.)

It was a perfect night, weather-wise. We just strolled through the park, enjoying the sights. (And sounds of ball games.)

Funny story. Our selfie stick died a few weeks ago, so part of Ryan's birthday gift was a new one. We hadn't used it yet, but we brought it with us for when we took our chalkboard picture for this date. We could NOT get it to stay connected to his phone, and this beauty was captured while we messed with it. It's probably one of the more accurate pictures of the night.

(Great. We're turning into 85 year olds before our time.)

Finally got it!

Then we walked to another part of the park, and I had no idea Ryan was taking more pictures while we went.

He cracks me up!

We visited Old Ben, a stuffed steer.

We wanted to sit on some swings, but the ones we found on the non-occupied playground were also swings for toddlers - so we couldn't fit in them. I found a most lovely bench by the water, and we sat down, only to realize that thingiemadoo in front of us was for wastewater. Eyeroll.

Seriously! Who puts a scenic sitting area by that kind of an aroma????

So we gave up and moved. Found a little area that was unoccupied and just sat for a while to finish our coffee and talk.

Turned out to be a pretty fun date night, and our most favorite part was just being TOGETHER. We had spent so many of the previous nights apart while Ryan helped people with projects, we were just glad to be alone together!

You can see all the alphabetical dates (so far) here!

Alphabetical Dates: Inspired by the Letter F

I know! We are so out of order on our alphabetical dates! We did E before D and G before F. Like I said before, it's good we're not trying to teach the alphabet through this project!

I think perhaps the best words to describe the date weekend inspired by the letter F include: fluid, fluctuating, frustrating, and fickle.

Pretty much the whole date went nothing as I planned it, and while it was still overall good and definitely memorable, it was also flabbergasting.

The original plan for this date was a fondue night at home. But when I realized how much all the cheese and dipping items were going to cost, I decided we would make our date fit into some of the plans we already had for the weekend. Cheaper!! (Or should I say frugal?)


So our date started Friday night with our Friday night fellowship fete to mark the end of our Bible study we've been doing with Ryan's co-workers! We had a pitch-in dinner with burgers and brats and all sorts of snacks. Ryan built a deviled egg burger he was pretty proud of.

I didn't get many pictures that night (fail!!!) and one of the other girls said she'd send me hers, but I don't have them yet. Even so, it was a really fun evening. I love a good party.

We continued the date on Saturday, and that was the day that ended up making us crazy! I shared this picture on my Facebook page and said something about dates not going as planned, because I don't want everyone to think that everything is always perfect here in Shafferland. We have a good life and a great marriage and we really do have a lot of fun together, but don't have some sort of Midas touch that makes everything void of imperfections. I want to be honest about that, because I don't ever want to give off false impressions that we have everything automatically easy!

We've got some GREAT stories about this day that I'll save for the podcast tomorrow because they are even better told than written, I think.

We started the day with an appointment for our car (recreating our first date, apparently), and after that, we were kind of hungry, but not very, so we found this little donut shop and got a donut. We had to eat in our car because there were way too many people for the table space in that little shop!

We went shopping for fun finds at some of our favorite stores while we were out of town. Found some good deals for our new patio space!

I had a pretty raging headache by this point, so I asked if we could go through Starbucks for some iced fresh brew to try to temper the thing, and while we sat in the line, a lady from the car behind us came up to our car, told us she'd paid for our order, and handed us a little card to explain her random act of kindness. WHAT?!?!?!?!?! A freebie? This has never happened to us! We've heard of such things, but they've never happened to us!

The card tells about little baby Josie, who lived just 18 days, and her family started this initiative called Josie's Impact, to spread the word about her life and encourage people to do random acts of kindness in her honor and memory. (And yes, we will be paying this forward!) If you want to see some of the things people have done, just search #josiesimpact.

We tried to shop at the Goodwill, but it was the first Saturday of the month and everything was 50% off, so the place was a madhouse. I found an amazing reference book I wanted, but I couldn't justify standing in line for over an hour for one book. We came back at the end of the day, and it was gone. Great sadness. (And par for the day.)

We went to Red Robin for lunch, and Ryan scored his free food, because it's his birthday month, so he earned a free meal! YAY!!!

Then we went to see a flick: Beauty and the Beast! I'd been itching to see it, but I wanted to wait until the crowds died down, and it paid off! Our theater was pretty empty!

I thought it was incredible in music and cinematography! They did add a few songs that were not in the original movie, and they changed a handful of lyrics to existing songs, but they left in enough of the amazing stuff that it was okay. I thought I would cry multiple times, but I only cried once! (And that was when she walked into the library. Not even kidding. All those books just made me straight up cry!)

Also - I would like to have these seats. They rocked! Literally!

We had a couple more stores to hit, and LOOK WHAT WE SAW ON THE WAY?????

Oh, be still my heart!

So see? Despite the many frustrations of the day, it was still a good 2-day date, and we piled up a good number of blessings!!!

Now! Back on track! Letter H is next!

The Shafferland Shuffle

We're celebrating 52 months of marriage today! So while we enjoy that, hope you enjoy a peek at last week!

* Last Sunday was a super rainy day in central Indiana. Good day to be home! And rain is one of Ryan's favorite things, so we curled up on Mo, watched some movies, and let the rain fall! Before the end of the day though, he sneaked out to the garage to put the last of the poly on the cabinet doors. And with one final stroke of the brush, that project was DONE!

* Monday evening, Ryan put the cabinets back up so we could declare the kitchen FINISHED! We were both so happy to have everything back in order! I got to hang out with my favorite baby for a little bit, and the buds on our flowering tree got a little bit bigger. Lots of good things happening in one day!

* Ryan was so busy Tuesday, he couldn't take much time for lunch, so I surprised him with Subway at work! We hid in his cloffice and ate together. Romantic! :) That night he helped me write my blog post about the kitchen cabinet makeover, which is how we ended up having a can of poly and a dessert plate sitting together on the table. Only in a blogger's life, right? Tuesday night was also the Fixer Upper finale: anyone else watch?

* Wednesday was a day of many treats! We were gifted some of the most amazing lemon cake I've ever had, and I met up with my best friend's mom for yogurt in the afternoon. I promise I got a super tiny yogurt! I got behind on my work, so I had to finish up in the evening, but it was nice to be able to see Ryan while I worked!

* On Thursday, my mom "graduated" from physical therapy! She's doing really well - just over a month post-surgery, now! On his way home from work, Ryan found this spectacular rainbow, and he knows how much I love them, so he came home to get me and took me back - and it was still there! I was so surprised! It was one of the most stunning complete rainbows I've ever see! And isn't this picture of Braeya too cute? I decided she must surely be praying over me. (HA!)

* Friday was "change-the-calendar-to-a-new-month" day, which is always one of my favorite days! That night, we had a big party with our Bible study crew, which was not only a lot of fun, but it also had some pretty spectacular food! They even surprised us with a gift for leading the study, which was so sweet! :)

* Yesterday was another alphabetical date! We went back to the letter F, since we'd skipped it earlier. More about this later, but a couple of highlights were getting a free drink at Starbucks, thanks to a pay-it-forward lady behind us, and watching Beauty and the Beast! AND we got our first glimpse of the new IKEA down by Indy! It's really happening!

The Date Inspired by the Letter G

Yes, we're out of order again. :) And yes, we did TWO of these dates in one weekend! But this was totally worth being out of order.

The whole alphabetical date thing was my idea (okay, really it was Pinterest's idea, but I'm the one who has been doing all the planning), but shortly after we started doing them, Ryan told me he had a date idea up his sleeve. All I knew was it could fit into two or three different letter possibilities, and he would let me know when we needed to do it. I love surprise dates, so I didn't ask any questions or try to figure it out at all.

He said we would need to do it this past Saturday, as part of our St. Joseph County date. He told me the place he was taking me didn't open until 5 in the evening, so I could plan whatever for the day, but he'd need the evening for his surprise. No problem!

On the way up to South Bend, he told me he was a little disappointed because there had been a change in something regarding the date, and while he still thought I'd have a great time, I wouldn't have as great of a time as I would have before the change. I was utterly baffled. Could not figure out what it might be.

So while we were eating our meal at the cafe, he gave me a clue. He said something about someone who had been part of the date event wasn't going to be there, and it immediately clicked for me. I knew this was the "G" date, and I said to him, "Did you get tickets to see the Vocal Band?"

HE DID!!!!

This is the first concert we've been to since I left radio (when I went for free because I was working them), and this is also a HUGE thing because Ryan isn't a diehard Gaither fan. Not that he doesn't like them, but he doesn't get all giddy like I do.

I'd read a couple of weeks ago that David Phelps resigned (again) from the Vocal Band, and that's what Ryan meant about it not being as exciting anymore. He bought the tickets before the resignation news came, and he was sad I wouldn't get to see David, because he knows he's my most favorite! I was sad too, but I didn't care, because HELLO!!!!! GVB tickets!

That officially makes the G date a GIDDY Bekah attending a GAITHER Vocal Band concert!

Of course, after a day of hairnets, rain, winter hats, and running around northern Indiana in the cold, I sure didn't look my best. I was in jeans and walking shoes, with major frizz head, but sometimes you just gotta swallow your pride, you know?

The concert was held at the historic Morris Performing Arts Center, which is almost 100 years old! GORGEOUS old architecture.

I WAS SO EXCITED!!!

Even saw Nikki, a fellow David Phelps fan I first met back when I worked at the station. She told me David WOULD be there that night. WHAT?!?! Say it isn't so!!!

BUT IT WAS! He really was there! I texted my Mom to tell her he was there, and she responded "as is your husband." LOL!!!!! Yes, yes he is! But this was his idea, after all!

We sat about halfway back on the main floor and I was impressed with how well my camera did for pictures. (I did have to dodge a high-haired person a couple of rows up.) I was so glad I'd brought my zoomy zoom lens, even though I didn't know I'd need it!

 Charlotte Ritchie looked stunning in that black dress!

 They opened with Alpha and Omega, and I cried all the way through it. I always do.

YEP! There he is!!!

 This was only the second time I'd seen Todd sing with them. He's really good!

 And funny!

 Adam Crabb - also very good!

 Boom. The note.

 My most favorite band combo in recent years.

 This guy could plaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

 Ahhhh, Wes. He took over for David when he left the first time, and I wasn't sure I could handle a replacement, but he's so good. I really like him.

 I figured I should make sure I had a picture of Bill! After all, it is his band. :)

Last song, big notes.

It was a great night, which Ryan made even better by surprising me again with David's new CD.

Thanks, Ryan, for making it such a great date. You rock at alphabetical date planning!! And I feel very, very loved. :)