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???

Wedding Fun!

It's taken me this whole week to tell you about our weekend! After Ryan and I got home from my speaking engagement Saturday morning, we had about an hour of rest time before we hopped back in the car and headed to Indianapolis to attend our friend's wedding! She's one of my friends from high school, and we really enjoyed the ceremony and reception! Here are a few pictures from it:

Pre-wedding selfie. :) 

 Our row! If you heard the podcast yesterday, you heard us talking about our 8th grade science teacher who still water skis at age 74. She's the one sitting two down from me. Looks exactly the same as when we had her in the early 90's.

 The happy couple!

 Awwww, they were nice to each other.

 Photo opp with the bride!

So that was Saturday.

Then there was Sunday. After church, Ryan came home and napped, and I went to his sister's bridal shower. My job was to take pictures, which I did at an alarming rate. But I was so nervous, because Ryan's mom is a photographer extraordinaire, and I am sort of a capture on the fly girl, and I freaked out that my pictures wouldn't be good enough! Alas, I cannot redo any of them now, so here's a peek at the shower.

Ryan's family does parties up right. Lots of hard work goes into every shower and party they throw! This was no exception!

The gift table. There were eventually a lot more gifts, but there were also a lot more people and I couldn't get a clear shot by that time. HA!

 Denim-inspired placemats and cups with daisies and baby's breath - and party favors of wooden spoons! (TOTALLY FORGOT TO GET ONE!)

 Our sister-in-law Megan makes phenomenal cakes, and there were two tasty examples at the shower. Guess who didn't get any of that either? WHAT?!?!!? I know!

 Ryan's cousin won the game. She declared she never wins ANYTHING, so this was a photo worthy moment!

 The happy bride-to-be!

 So I stood on this step stool for an hour and a half, taking pictures, and the ONE TIME I paused to text Ryan, I missed that she was waiting for a photo with this monogram. They had to shout my name to get my attention. WHOOPSIE! Photographer fail!

 Also. It is good that was an H and not an S, or I might have tucked that in my belongings on the way out the door!!

This is classic Bre right here!! :)

 Our nephew helped with the end of the gift opening. He was very eager for her to see this cookie sheet!

 Lots of group pictures at the end! Here is Bre with her dad, her sister, and her grandma.

 Bre with her mom (also Ryan's mom) and Aunt Debbie. Nita and Aunt Debbie were the hostesses of the party and did all the hard work to prepare it!

 This is what happens when the niece sneaks into the picture with the mother and mother-in-law! She jumped up right into my frame!

 But she's also a good little photographer and took this one of Bre and me!

 And this one.

So that was our Sunday! The year of weddings is officially underway!

Bridal Shower Fun

It's fixed! If you were here very early this morning, you know there was no podcast up for you because the hosting site had all sorts of problems yesterday and I couldn't upload it! But it is now fixed, so...

 Listen (at long last) right here!

 We have so many great stories of Ryan's first visit to a bridal store! Yes. You read correctly. And tomorrow, I'll have pictures!

ANYWAY! Lots of adventures to share with you from this weekend, and the first is about a bridal shower!

Several months ago, actually, my friends (aka second family) asked I would be willing to speak at a bridal shower! This was new for me. Never spoken at a shower of any kind before, and at least around here, I don't think most people have a speaker for showers. (When I was little, every bridal and baby shower I attended had a speaker, but I haven't noticed the trend continuing in my adult years.) But I was really excited about it and started praying about what to share.

They also asked if I could be their photographer, and of course you don't have to ask me twice about that. I love to snap photos any old chance I get! So on Saturday, I packed up the car and drove over to the shower location for my day of fun!

Because I know decorations are fun to look at, I'll share a few of theirs. The bride is as much of a book nerd as I am, so the whole shower was themed around her love of the written word.

And the food...ohhhhhhhhhhhhh the food. It was delish. I tried to sample the tiniest helping of everything. I wanted BIG helpings, but I resisted! :)

My theme for speaking was "I Choose You," and I created an acrostic so each letter of that phrase stood for something that I hoped would be helpful and practical advice for Brittany and Kole in their marriage!

At the end, I gave her this gift, which tied in to my talk. (Artwork by Lindsay Letters. You know how I love her art!)

And here are a few other fun pictures from games and gifts and such:

And a few posed shots. Here I am with my friend Kari (Brittany's aunt) who is basically an extra sister for me. I just love her!

And with the bride-to-be:

And these are the girls of the family. (I actually did a photo shoot for them a couple of years ago. That was fun too!)

It was a fun day, and I am thankful I had the chance to speak in a new setting. I enjoyed it. If bridal-shower-speaker comes back as a popular thing, sign me up! I loved doing it!

The Shafferland Shuffle

You guys, last Sunday seems like 20 million years ago! Seriously! (Ryan said Tuesday seems like 20 million years ago.) Guess it was a long week! Here's a peek at it:

* Last Sunday was our monthiversary! 52 months, baby! We celebrated with a little shopping, lunch out at McAlister's (pause to appreciate their amazing iced tea...), a nice walk in the sunshine, and some lounging on the patio. It was a gorgeous day, and we appreciated it!

* I mentioned this earlier this week, but Ryan's sister just got engaged not long ago, and Monday was a big girls-of-the-family planning meeting during lunch. His whole family is full of fantastic event planners, so I am confident they did not need me at all, but I went with my nerdy color-coded pens and listened to the beginning of the planning-palooza! We had gotten a gift card to Texas Roadhouse, so Ryan suggested we go there for dinner. I think he just wanted to fill up on peanuts. :)

* Tuesday was super busy, including a podcast interview for me and Tuesdays at the Table for both of us! We had Ryan's mom and Aunt Ruthie over for dinner, and after the meal was done, some of the wedding planning palooza continued at our house.

* I was so happy to see our oils order arrive on Wednesday, because Ryan was mid-cold and I needed to have him start feeling better! That night we went to hear our friend Brent Vernon, who was in concert right here in town! We hardly ever get to see him, so anytime he's within driving distance, we go! He did a great job, and it was fun to see him (and Sam the dummy)!

* Thursday was a writing day for this girl. I hunkered down and worked for hours!! That was also the day my brother-in-law's book showed up in the mail, and I was so happy to finally own my very own copy! :) Ryan was pooped when he came home from work (thankyouverymuch, cold) so he and Braeya rested on the couch for most of the evening. They're so cute!

* Friday was still a little chilly here in Central Indiana, but the sun came out and it made me SO EAGER for warm spring. I put my laptop right by the little patch of sun and sat in the warmth while I worked! And I noticed the pretty pink tree in the yard is starting to come to life! We stayed home all evening just to rest after a busy week. Tried to watch Dateline (don't be jealous of how cool we are) but we fell asleep in the middle of it. That might explain our poor, tired faces in this picture. HA!

* Yesterday I wore two hats at once. (Not literally, of course.) I was the speaker and photographer at a bridal shower, and it was just a blast! Good food, fun fellowship, and I enjoyed the day immensely! (More on this later.) While I was busy working, Ryan was busy working too - on the yard! He rolled and mowed it for the first time this season. Bring on the warmth!