Wedding #2!

You guys!!!

Thank you so much for all the birthday love yesterday! It was such a lovely day, and I can't wait to tell you about it!

But before I tell you about my birthday, I have to tell you about our Saturday! Ryan worked, and I spent the whole day cleaning and cooking and preparing for Mommapalooza 4.0. (Don't take that in a complaining tone; I loved doing it!)

But that afternoon, we got all gussied up (as they say) and went to our second wedding in as many weeks! I told you last month about my friend Brittany (whose family has taken me in as an additional family member) and her bridal shower, where I served as speaker and photographer. Well, the wedding was Saturday! And it was lovely.

The wedding was at a country club, so that meant we had to pull out better than our Sunday best!

We had a gorgeous day for a drive, which was good, since we had a little over an hour on the road!

I ran into one of my former students at the wedding (from my Financial Aid days) as soon as I arrived. We stared at each other for a minute, trying to figure out who we were. We finally got it! I don't often see people from those days, so that was fun!

Because I've forgotten how to look at a camera:

Brittany was a beautiful bride, and I sneaked a few pictures, while trying not to be "that" guest.

Really enjoyed the ceremony, and then the reception was fun, too!

Brittany shared that they chose to get married in May because her parents had gotten married in May, and so had her aunt and uncle, and so had her grandparents! They honored her grandparents by sharing a special dance with them. (Also, I first typed "daince," which may pay tribute to the fact that an Andy Griffith marathon played in our house all day today.)

And speaking of her grandparents, I stole these two pictures from them. Seems I got asked to dance (or daince) too!

Thanks, Sandee! :)

When we left the reception, we headed in search of some coffee and then went to pick up our Phoebe girl, who spent the night with us. When we made that stop, I GOT FLOWERS!! These were part of my birthday gift from Ryan!

Fun evening!! And we got home before the shoes started killing my feet! BONUS!!!!

The Shafferland Shuffle

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY (to you)!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY (to me)!! I fully anticipate today to be crazy busy here in Shafferland, but it'll be great to fill you in later!

Meanwhile, here's a peek at our last week.

* Last Sunday was Ryan's sister's bridal shower, and I took pictures at that while Ryan stayed home and enjoyed a MUCH deserved nap! Bre's shower was so nice, and she got tons of nice gifts. I think she was a little overwhelmed by it all, actually! But it was a good day.

* I actually had Monday off from my carpool duties, but I ended up helping another of our friends get his kiddo home from school, so it ended up balancing out. At least it was a pretty-ish day and I could enjoy my time in line! I spent the whole afternoon making props for one of my talks next week, and then I did my first "dress rehearsal" for it. Ryan felt it necessary to take my picture. I told him it looks like I'm directing a choir. LOL!

* Ryan had a carry-in at work on Tuesday, and I made these uh-mazing Samoa brownies to take to it. I was hoping everyone would hate them and I could bring them all home, but it didn't work out that way. That night, Mom and Dad took us out to eat for our birthdays, and we got free dessert! Made up for the Samoa brownies that didn't come home. HA!

* I spent Wednesday creating my 10 page color-coded itinerary to get us through the upcoming schedule madness, and that made me so tired by the end of the day, I just wanted to sit down and put my feet up! So I did! I did watch my friend's kiddos that evening for a little bit. This one cracks me up. Wants to play with the ball that's the same size she is!

* By Thursday, we were pooped, and Ryan took a nap at the end of lunch to get enough energy to get through the afternoon. I've been there!! We went out to buy all the rest of our flowers for this year so we could get those planted. It wasn't a super warm and sunny evening, but at least the rain held off!

* Friday, to celebrate the end of National Hospital Week, a food truck came to Ryan's work, and he was SO excited, because it was BBQ, and he loves BBQ! Friday was the nicest day of the whole week, and we were able to mow the yard and plant all our flowers. Looks like summer, now!

* Yesterday, Ryan had to work, and while he was gone, I got the garage set up to host Mommapalooza 4.0 and worked to prepare all the food I could ahead of time! When Ryan got home from work, we got all dressed up and went to wedding #2 for the month! Had a lovely time! Ryan makes one handsome date, doesn't he???

Friday Randomness

I guess turning eleven must be boring, because Braeya was not so much of a celebration girl. We tried to hype up the day for her. (Lame, yes. I know.) She was much more interested in napping. And given the insane amounts of rain around here, I would have to say I didn't blame her. Days like yesterday were made for napping. Definitely.

Nevertheless, a birthday must be properly celebrated, so here are some of our attempts at recognizing the day for our girl:

In yesterday's blog, I mentioned that it was also the 10 year anniversary of the tornado that hit the town where my sister lives. My brother-in-law was actually interviewed in conjunction with that anniversary, partly about the day and partly about his book. Thank goodness for social media that lets us see these things from so many miles away! You can watch it here.

In other news, tomorrow I have my first speaking engagement for the month of May. I'm really looking forward to it! I will be in Huntington at a church's ladies' brunch, and I think it will be a wonderful time! Looking forward to seeing some friends I know and meeting new ones! :)

I get to revisit my Be Still topic for this event, and I love it. I have such a deep passion for those sessions, and I've been praying that the ladies who are there that morning will find a new measure of stillness in the CRAZY BUSYNESS of life!

So that's my randomness for today! :)

The Shafferland Shuffle

Happy last day of April!! It's been a cold and rainy weekend here, so I'm looking forward to these April showers bringing along some May flowers!!

* Last Sunday, we went to lunch with the Shaffer side of the family to celebrate the April birthdays: Ryan and his brother, Nick. We ate at Chili's and it was most delicious!

* Monday was Ryan's actual birthday (I'll finish telling you about our celebration tomorrow) and he had parties all day long! His work people brought treats for him and we had a date that evening. It was a fun day!

* Tuesday was hair day for this girl. Long overdue upgrade to the old color, and I'm pretty sure I pulled in radio waves with all this foil! After we both got home that evening, we had salad for dinner, but it was one of those nights when a salad didn't cut it. Dessert needed. We tried to get a Frosty, but the line was insane, so we splurged on Blizzards!!!! YUM!!!

* Wednesday evening was a kiddo-watching night for me, which was fun, and then Ryan and I hurried to the end of a viewing for the grandmother of some of our friends. On the way home, it got super crazy stormy in a hurry, and here are my thoughts on being out in that! We were fortunate - no hail damage. Some people got extensive damage! WE were also fortunate to get this gorgeous rainbow!!

 * Thursday was a busy work day, and when I went to get the mail, I found this blanket featuring Ryan's face. LOL!!! (It was something a friend of ours ordered - a photo collage - and she wanted a picture of us included. It's odd to see yourself on a blanket!) We had NO food in the house, so Subway made our dinner, and then it was an office-working night. All my favorite things in one space: Ryan and books!

* Friday I narrowly escaped setting off our fire alarm while cooking chicken at lunch. The whole house was thick with haze, but the alarm never went off. WHEW! In the land of new things we have tried this month, we went on a double-date mani-pedi with our friends on Friday night. Yes. You read that right. Oh my. Ryan's first pedi. He wasn't sure what to think of it, but he was a great sport! I got pretty coral fingernails, and we had fun with our friends.

* And then there was yesterday. OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH yesterday. Ryan was gone from early, early morning until evening at an all day continuing education course with one of his co-workers. In his absence, I began a 3 day detox cleanse that very well may kill me. No meat. No dessert. No coffee. Pray for us both.

More Birthday Fun

Thought I would give you a peek at more of Ryan's birthday fun!

Sunday, Ryan's dad and step-mom took the whole Shaffer side of the family out to lunch to celebrate Ryan's birthday and also his brother Nick's birthday. (They are 10 years and 2 days apart.) I apologize that some of these pictures are a little wonky. Doggone the bright windows, right?

We went to Chili's, because Ryan has been unable to stop thinking about the loaded wings he saw one of his sister's bridesmaids get the day we all went wedding dress shopping. So this was Ryan's turn!

 Free desserts for the birthday boys!

A million husbandly points to Ryan for sharing a few bites of THAT deliciousness with me!

The morning of Ryan's birthday, he asked me why he hadn't taken the day off work.

I. Have. No. Idea.

NO ONE should have to work a birthday. I firmly believe this. So why he went, I'm sure I'll never know.

I didn't make breakfast for him because his co-workers brought treats to work! I went with him to document (and eat).

 Breakfast casserole and his FAVORITE breakfast pizza. (Notice how I'm not letting go of the coffee.)

He was too busy to get a lunch, so I went back to work at lunch time to eat with him in his cloffice.

 Lemon cake, courtesy of a co-worker. I literally did NOTHING for this birthday.

Nothing says happy birthday like hospital coffee in a closet, right?

After work, we had a fun date, which I'll tell you more about in another post, but meanwhile, I'll leave you with his birthday gift photos!

 Fun fact: he forgot this bow was on his head and nearly left home in it. And I would have let him! LOL!

 Fake surprised face. Why, you ask? Because he picked out his own gift. Yeah, I didn't even pick out the gift. Fail, fail, fail.

 New shoes. He really wanted and needed them, so they were his gift!

One more little piece of his birthday to come, but this is the bulk of the party!! Happy birthday, Ryan!

The Beginnings of a Birthday

If you heard yesterday's podcast, you know that Ryan sort of had a weekend-long birthday celebration! (And isn't that how every birthday SHOULD be???)

Saturday, we helped a friend move to a new house, which is pretty much Ryan's happy place. (Helping, I mean.) He organized the whole moving party, because that is also his happy place, and he chose SEVEN IN THE MORNING for a move time. So here are the movers, trying to be awake.

I'm pretty sure we all just rolled out of bed and went. And please note that I am NOT letting go of that coffee. Not for a minute.

My participation in this move lasted about an hour, but Ryan stayed with it until about 1:30 in the afternoon. (He was helping hook up appliances and all manner of things I'm not equipped to do.)

And THEN we started the actual celebration part of the birthday. We picked up our friends Mike and Angie, so we could head out for a little shopping and Ryan's birthday dinner.

Mike makes AMAZING lattes, so he had these waiting for us when we arrived:

Funny story: Mike puts people in his phone with descriptions so he can remember who they are (like if he's just met them). When he first met Ryan (who worked with Mike's now-wife) he put Ryan in his phone as "ripped Ryan." LOL!!!! Isn't that great? I'm not sure if "Be-Kaww" is what he thinks of me or if he was just being creative with my cup.

We drove down toward Indy and did a little shopping, and then we met up at Ryan's restaurant happy place: Tucano's.

This is, I think, the third year in a row we've gone to Tucano's for Ryan's birthday. He loves it because he gets a free meal for his birthday (with the purchase of another meal, so that's how I get to go! HA!).

If you heard the podcast, you know the place was kind of on the struggle bus that night. Slow service, overcooked meat, and the guys especially had a rough time. But we made it! (I had a rough time too - right after we took this picture, I started feeling really sick and it took me OVER an hour to recover enough to eat anything!)

Ryan - ready for the meats!

And here is some of our evening fun:

 My tongs were mangled.

We have this same picture of Ryan last year, so we had to recreate it. Post-dinner coma.

Group photo opp!

Angie wanted some makeup from Ulta, so this was how Ryan stayed occupied during that shopping experience:

Mike and Angie needed to get home to relieve their babysitters, so we stayed for a bit to talk and drink more coffee with them!

A fun start to the birthday weekend! I'm glad the service finally came around at the restaurant and Ryan was able to enjoy lots of way-too-red-for-my-tastes meat!