What I Learned in December

Tomorrow is the last day of 2016 {WHAT?!?!?!!?} and I'll be Saturday Sixing, so I thought I'd tell you today all the things I learned this fine month! So, without further ado, I present to you...

1. Christmas trees {at least around here} are much more affordable from a grocery store lot than a tree lot.

This is the first year of our marriage that Ryan and I did not go to a Christmas tree lot to cut down our own live tree. We had planned to, but weather changed our plans and we had to come up with an alternative at that point, because of time constraints. We went to the grocery store, where all the trees in the lot were the same price and ended up getting the biggest, nicest tree we've ever had...for the least amount of money we've ever spent!

2. You can buy cream cheese in big box bricks - like Velveeta cheese!

Did you know that?? Ryan and I were meandering through the Sam's Club samples earlier this month, and one of the ladies was in the middle of assembling this croissant/prosciutto/cream cheese thing, and I have no idea what sales pitch she gave, because all I could see was this GIANT brick of cream cheese. I spent the next five minutes hunting the refrigerated section for it. If you're making a bunch of frosted cookies, it is way more cost-effective than buying a bunch of little boxes at the regular store.  

3. I. Am. So. Over. The. Endless. Colds.

I got sick in September. Then, over six weeks later, I got well. Then I got sick again on Thanksgiving. Then I got well. Then Ryan got it. Then he gave it back to me. We're tired of being sick. {And yes, we're eating well, drinking lots of water, washing our hands, getting rest, taking vitamins, swimming in oils, and doing all the stuff. It's just a rough germ year.} I do think we are officially on the mend now. And fortunately, I don't think we managed to RE-get it at any of the Christmases where others had it!

4. Ryan wishes the yule log channel played year round.

Do you guys watch this channel at Christmas? The yule log and the music? Ryan LOVES it and if it played all year - even if it played CHRISTMAS music all year, I think - he would watch it! I fear for the day it goes away and he has to resume watching regular programming!

5. I am terrified of sledding.

Even if sledding is done on ice down a short driveway. This photo proves why. I'm sorry, Ryan, that the toboggan run is never happening.

6. The cookie scoop has revolutionized my baking experience.

I've developed a fond affinity for cookie baking, and I mentioned in passing that I would really love to have a cookie scoop to make it go faster. My award winning husband showed up later that same day with said scoop and gifted it to me. First of all: swoon. Second of all: cookie scoop FOR THE WIN!!!!! {He also got me that spatula that removes cookies from the pan four at a time. BONUS!}

7. When at a loss for a gift idea for your husband, check Twitter.

 I needed one good gift to kick Ryan's stocking gifts out of lame and into cool, and I was STUMPED. To take a break, I scrolled through Twitter and found that Beth Moore was having a similar issue finding a gift for her husband. She asked Twitter what she should get, so I popped right in and read every answer. And that's where I found the idea for a drone. I have seriously never seen Ryan so excited about a gift in his whole life. Thanks, Twitterverse!

8. Creatures with eyes should not be on buffets.

 No. Just no. 

9. I should just accept help on building websites.

Last month I reported that website building was not for the faint of heart or the technology challenged, and I'm both. Well, one of my friends happens to have gifts and skills in that area, and after she learned I was struggling, she reached out and offered to help me. I drove a couple of hours to her house and spent the entire day with her, accepting her help and trying to learn a bit of the trade. Made. All. The. Difference. In. The. World. Julie, you are a rock star!!!

That's it! I'm as smart as I"m going to get for 2016! We'll see what kinds of things I can learn next year! :) 

Hometown Date: Christmas at the Seiberling!

One thing I've really enjoyed about our move to Kokomo has been the chance to go on fun hometown dates to places I'd never been before. We did several during the summer, but we had a chance to do a couple more last week, and I wanted to show you one today!

There is a mansion here in town called the Seiberling, which you can read about here if you're a big history buff. It was built back in the 1800's as a private residence, and has been owned by a handful of {equally wealthy} people over the years {And, I learned, for a short while, it served as the campus of IU Kokomo. Can you imagine? A whole college in one house?} It's now a museum that houses historical things about Kokomo.

I confess that being the non-history-loving girl, I would be unlikely to visit a museum, but at Christmas they deck the halls, the windows, the stairways, and everything else, so it suddenly held massive appeal for me.

You do have to pay to go on the Christmas tour, but they had a few nights when businesses covered the cost and it was free to the public, so we went on one of those nights. THANK YOU, First Farmer's Bank and Trust, for giving us a date night! :)

{I had wanted to go, but since Ryan was feeling so lousy, I didn't think we'd be able to. At the last minute, he said he was up for it, and some of my friends happened to be going that same night, so it turned into this big group outing!}

LOOK AT THIS HOUSE!!!

Yes. It has three floors. Isn't it so pretty!?!?!!?

I call this piece "Shaffer Selfie in the Foyer."

We don't rock mirror selfies.

Anyway. Here are some of the sights of the house. {There was also live music on two of the floors, and a voting contest to vote for your favorite room.}

This is what happens when the Shaffers visit a fancy establishment but cannot manage to take the Shaffer out of the visit:

And yes. That is a chamber pot. {The ladies working that room got a big giggle out of this moment.}

Back to the loveliness:

Look at that VILLAGE and the TRAIN! And if you look just ahead of the train, you'll see a police car that has pulled over a Krispy Kreme truck. LOL!!

Group selfie on the third floor!

Porch picture:

And at the house next door {which is also part of the museum complex}, they had snacks and SANTA!!!!!

It turned out to be a really fun night, and I was so thankful Ryan powered through the miseries of his cold to give me a beautiful memory! :)

 Linking up with Tamar!

Decking Griswold

Podcast Tuesday! Lots of fun Christmas and date stories for you this week...enjoy! Hope we can help keep you company while you do last minute Christmas prep!

Click here to listen. 

So I mentioned last week that we had to forego our tradition of visiting an actual tree farm this year, because weather kept us from stopping at a tree farm on our way home from our anniversary trip.

Kroger's "tree farm" {aka pre-cut trees leaning up against the side of the store} became our 2016 scrapbookable memory, and we made it fun.

Here's the thing: we really had no idea what that tree looked like at all, other than its height, when we bought it. It was all secured in netting up against the building. We could tell it was tall, but Ryan was so excited about our vaulted ceilings in our new living room that he was all for getting the tallest possible tree.

So we welcomed the tree into our home and took some time getting him all settled in his pot of water.

 That part was harder than you might think, because he was SO BIG, he kept wanting to topple, no matter how you arranged him in the base. Ryan Googled the issue and the common fix was to secure a hook in the wall behind the tree and then tie rope or twine around the trunk and attach it to the hook to hold the tree up. So yes. We have a tree held up by twine in the living room of our house. {Insert laughing/crying emoji here.}

We started to unpack the guy, and I have to say, for being purchased sight unseen, he is one full and good-looking tree:

 {Just so you can appreciate the height.}

And yes, that is Ryan wearing a stocking on his head, because we don't own Santa hats.

Like I said before, sure we had to forfeit the memory of finding and choosing the perfect tree and cutting it down, but we have never had a tree this huge, and we certainly have never gotten as good a price as we did on this one.

We felt Griswold was a perfect name for this monstrosity of a tree, and sometimes we call him Grizzy for short.

When I realized HOW big he was, my main thought was...we do not have enough lights or ornaments to cover this thing. Not by a long shot.

FORTUNATELY, my parents upgraded to a pre-lit tree this year, which is a first for them, and Mom, who knows my affinity for over-tree-ing our house, came over with a big shopping bag full of sets of Christmas lights. And those definitely came in handy. We combined what we had from years past with what they donated and had enough to light the tree. {This is the only tree in our house that has colored lights.}

Since Ryan had a vacation day Monday, we worked together to decorate the tree!

I'm not sure if you know or remember our tradition with the ornaments, so let me tell you! Since we got married at Christmas time, we received a number of "first Christmas" type ornaments as wedding gifts. We had also purchased an ornament on our honeymoon that we felt symbolized our trip. Those two things began the tradition of collecting ornaments to represent our story. We get one on {sometimes more than one} on every vacation, we get one to commemorate every big life event, and we also get one that we feel best summarizes our year.

I take pictures of every ornament and print the photos. I write the story of that ornament and the year we got it on the back of the photo, and then when we decorate the tree, we read the stories of the ornaments and remember the adventures behind them. I. Love. This. Tradition.

{This was the one we bought on our honeymoon.}

I also took some pictures of ornaments that reminded us of friends and texted them TO my friends to thank them for being part of our memories. That was just an impromptu idea I had, and I enjoyed doing it.

Ryan put the "star" on top, which is really an S Pinterest project I made a few years ago. He had some trouble with it initially:

He kept saying, "Something doesn't look right." LOL!!!! Got it fixed.

I filled in with green and gold ball ornaments, a little bit of gold ribbon. It's still not as over-the-top decorated as I would prefer, but given that it's an 8.5 foot tree that is quite portly, I feel we did well.

It's especially pretty at night, with the glow filling the living room. This past Saturday night, we had a slumber party on Mo and I loved waking up throughout the night and seeing the pretty lights.

Griswold may be huge, but he's a success!!!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, our traveling vacation ended, and we had to pack up the car and come home from French Lick. Ryan did an amazing job keeping us safe in the wintry mix that dominated our trip home, and we went out in the snow to the "Kroger Tree Farm" to get our live tree for this year. Old Grizzy was much skinnier in a net than he was all settled into our living room!

* Ryan had Monday off work as well, which was a huge treat, and we enjoyed the whole day together. {I dearly love days when I do not have to share him. I'm greedy that way.} We decorated Grizzy, took naps, and watched football! Perfection. {OH! And he ran his first carpool trip with me. That was fun!}

* Tuesday, neither Braeya nor I wanted Ryan to go back to work, but he had to. And what a poor choice that was. He came home SICK. He ended up with the same stupid cold I've had off and on since the end of September - and it literally just smacks you in the face with no warning. You can imagine how amused the two of us were! So when he came home, he settled in for a nap, and I thought maybe some chocolate chip cookies would fix the issue, so I made a batch. He's still sick, but those were GOOD cookies. I will not lie.

* I spent all of Wednesday wrapping gifts {with the help of my "assistant," and loved the way they turned out! :) My mom stopped by and brought our annual gift of a box of her Christmas candy, which is ridiculously good, and I'm making Ryan eat most of it, because left to my own devices, I could eat the entire box in one sitting. That night, even though Ryan was sick and I told him he should stay home and rest, he wanted to go help his mom haul some Christmas tubs out of a barn loft. So we did that, and in the process, found Ryan's first Christmas ornament! :)

* I'll tell you more about this part this week, but Thursday night, we toured the Seiberling mansion, which is this huge historic house in Kokomo, and for the Christmas season, it's all decked out with trees and lights and much festivity! It was kind of an impromptu date and then it turned even bigger and more fun when we met up with friends and had this big group fun night!

* Friday, Ryan's work provided a Christmas lunch - complete with a quartet singing Christmas songs! How cool is that!?!? We planned to get groceries that night, ahead of the panicked-store-emptying-extravaganza we imagined would happen on Saturday, since snow is predicted, and it turned into a whole date night! We got coffee and drove through the lights in the park - so much fun! {Ryan really is a trooper when he's sick. I am proud of him for how he pushes through when he feels TERRIBLE.}

* Yesterday, Ryan had to work all day, but while he was gone, look who came to visit me! PHOEBE!!!! We cuddled and snuggled and took walks and had the best time! I have been planning and planning a special date for Ryan for the last several weeks, and it was last night! Of course he was still sick, but he said he had fun, even though he didn't feel well. I can't wait to tell you more about it!!

"Tree Farms" and Other Adventures

Sunday morning, we had to check out of our hotel and come home from our fun anniversary getaway. Sadness.

Our plan for the day was to leave French Lick, drive up to the south side of Indianapolis, visit a Christmas tree farm I'd scoped out online, get our tree for the year, swing by my sister's house to say hi to her, and then come home.

The best laid plans, though, right?

We left French Lick and headed north, past this one quick detour:

Details. :)

And shortly after we left Sonic, it began to rain. We'd read that there was, you know, a 100% chance of rain, but reports can be wrong, right?

Wrong.

It wasn't raining very hard, and there was ANOTHER tree farm on the north side of Indianapolis {that we went to on our first anniversary, actually} so I thought maybe after we stopped and talked to my sister for a while, it would all have evaporated, and we could go to that farm on the way home.

Well, it only started raining harder, so we went for plan B:

And then the day {weather-wise} just went downhill from there, all the way home:

Apparently the weather report actually was wrong, but not in the way I hoped. Rather than being wrong in rain = no rain, it was wrong in that rain = SNOW.

So we came home, unloaded the car, unpacked, and tried to formulate a plan for what we should do about our tree.

Interesting tree farm fact: most are only open on the weekends. I didn't want to wait a whole extra week for a tree. Interesting central Indiana tree farm fact: There aren't many. In our county and several surrounding counties there are absolutely no tree farms. {Guess we should start one!!} So the closest farm open during the week was 45 minutes away. Ryan did have Monday off work, so we considered going that afternoon when it opened, but I told Ryan I couldn't justify driving 45 minutes each way and spending the extra time on the farm to pay more than we could afford for a tree. {I remembered that particular farm was pretty pricey. We got our first live tree there right after our wedding.}

Soooooooooooooooooo...

...NEW TRADITION!!!!

Why, yes! That is a supermarket behind us!

We decided to head to a grocery store and scope out their live trees, lined up against the building, under the protection of an awning.

Now if you even THINK for one minute that sacrificing a trip to a real tree farm for our tree meant we were going to sacrifice a photo shoot, you have another thing coming. I don't care if I am at the grocery store. We are making memories here, people, and I am taking pictures.

Apparently some shoppers gave me some strange looks. Guess who does not even care? ME!

 Some trees were out where you could see them and some were bound up in netting. And another fun fact about buying trees at this store was that all trees were the same price, regardless of size. So as I'm sure you can imagine, Ryan decided if we had the pick of the litter, we were getting the biggest tree there. {We have vaulted ceilings in our living area, so we could handle a much bigger tree than we've ever been able to before.}

His choice.

I guarded it while he went inside to pay:

 NO ONE was getting that tree on my watch. Not happening.

And then it was time to load 'er up!

Next week I'll show you the decorating festivities.

But in the meantime, this tree, y'all. It is HUGE. It looks like a nice skinny tree in that netting, but when we unloaded it, that thing is crazy huge. 8 1/2 feet tall, full and wide, and we named it Griswold, for obvious reasons.

Ole' Grizzy is a good fit in our new living room. In our old house, he would have taken up the WHOLE house! Ha!

But what we learned is that while going to a tree farm is fun and exciting, grocery stores are more our budget, and clearly I can make the adventure just as much fun! I think that was the lesson I loved the most out of the whole thing. Traditions are traditions because they are yours, not because they match Pinterest suggestions. We like choosing a live tree and decorating it together. We did that. So we didn't drive a long way and pay twice the price this year. We still made memories and had fun! Win!!!!!