The Saturday Six (No Foolin'!)

One.

 Working on the kitchen cabinets (and of course, by that I mean RYAN working on the kitchen cabinets) has me all in the mood to rethink my decorations in most of the house. Not that I want to go buy a bunch of stuff, but just that I want to shop the house and remix and rethink. Love the style of the Collingsworth girls, so this post has me ready to get moving!

Two.

I'm getting ready to interview a fiction writer for the Conversation Cafe (my first time to talk fiction with someone on that podcast!) and I thought this written conversation with novelist Deborah Raney was very interesting! I always find it fascinating to learn more about the reading and writing habits of authors! (P.S. - enjoy, Lori!)

Three.

 Did you know I was a piano lesson failure? I took them for 11 years but didn't apply myself and can barely play anything. Womp, womp. But even though I'm terrible, I have a huge appreciation for piano talent and found this short video fascinating. A professional pianist wore eye tracking glasses while he played, and you can see what he's looking at while he plays. He even narrates it to explain what he's doing. Really cool!

Four.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh big hair. I've had it. Have you had it? My biggest goal in the mid 90's was to have the perfect "wings" on my hair. Sadly, my hair is so thick, as soon as I'd spray the wings out to the side (held in place by a giant plastic pick), the hair would collapse and I'd just have a sticky, covered-up mess. But this post has some truly impressive big hair. TRULY.

Five.

Capsule or no capsule, if you're in the mood for some cute clothes, Simply Bliss Boutique has some ADORABLE new stuff rolling through the boutique. Of course you should check out every category, but here are the new arrivals! 

 
Six.

Source

I was back in the land of fiction this week, where books are concerned, reading a new-to-me author by the name of Ginny L. Yttrup. I'd heard of her before, from my radio days, but I hadn't read anything she'd written until now.


A few days ago, I read a post written by a book-reviewer who said she struggles with Christian fiction, because it doesn't get messy enough for her. She wants real-life scenarios, nothing sugar-coated, and she feels Christian fiction is too polished. Writers are afraid to get into sticky topics, she said. I wrestled with that for a while, because I don't feel the same way about Christian fiction. I read it to enjoy a happy place when days are hard, and I don't want to have to worry about finding bad language and sinful behavior filling the pages.

But as a happy compromise for readers like that reviewer and me, Home, by Ginny L. Yttrup, offers an honest look at hard situations without being filled with anything offensive or contradictory to Scripture.

The book is written through the continuously alternated viewpoints of three characters. (At first I feared this might distract me, but it didn't at all.) Melanie is a mildly successful novelist, her husband Craig is a well-respected architect, and their twenty-plus year marriage has hit a rocky place. A depressed economy means it doesn't matter how great of a home-builder Craig is, because no one can afford to buy. A distracted and restless heart means Melanie is in danger of not meeting her next book deadline. And both these things mean not enough money sits in the bank account for Melanie and Craig to continue their current lifestyle. And as everyone knows, money troubles are tough on any marriage. Avoiding each other and burying under work seems the preferred M.O. for both of them.

Meanwhile, their neighbor and good friend Jill is facing a few battles of her own. Not within her marriage or their finances, but within her mind. Nightmares and  obsessive-compulsive behavior have increased so dramatically that her husband and even their sweet little children are noticing that something isn't right. Admitting a problem exists isn't what Jill wants to do, but she realizes she may not have a choice.

Mental illness, marriage woes, and wandering eyes are among the hard topics Ginny addresses in these pages, and she does so in a beautiful balance that doesn't condemn, but also doesn't gloss over the severity of the situations and the need for repentance, accountability, truth, and professional help. The book wasn't sugary, it wasn't filled with shiny packages tied with neat bows, and yet it did offer the escape to another place that I always long for when I read. (BONUS: there was a cottage with a water view involved. I love cottages and water!)

I grew to love these characters and appreciated the insights into their minds, their fears, their struggles, and their faith. I would definitely read more from Ginny!

* I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

The Saturday Six

One.

I'm sure you saw the video that circulated of the guy doing the BBC interview when his kids busted in the room where he was Skyping. HILARIOUS! (If you haven't seen it, you need to!) Found this article this week that gave a bit of the back-story on his wife and kids. That part where the wife comes flying in with the look of utter mortification is my favorite. That would so be me!!

Two.

This is kind of fun to read! The worst decorating trend from the year you were born. It starts in 1950 and goes clear up to this year! I don't hate every trend listed here, but there were some definite blasts from the past to be found!

Three.

If you're feeling rather overwhelmed by life, this post is a great read on the reasons we need rest and how God designed us to not always live "a pressure cooker life."

Four.

This item falls under the category of things I don't need but want to tell you about in case you have the need! It's pretty nifty for parents! One of my friends posted about it on Facebook this week. They have a a full fireplace/hearth in their home and bought one of these HearthSoft covers to put over the cement hearth. Their one year old took a spill this week and because he hit the cover, he was fine. Might have been a different story with the bare cement hearth! My friend declared in her post that it was super comfy to sit on and lean against, great quality, and easy to order. So if you have a hearth and kiddos, it might be worth the investment!

Five.

I know Bible journaling/bullet journaling/drawing in Bibles is a BIG trendy thing right now, and honestly it's not a bandwagon I've jumped on. I've told you I've been writing out some Scriptures each day (podcast to come on this - it's a good one!), and that has helped me learn parts I'd missed before. But I found this post this week on Bible journaling, and I thought she had some good ideas hidden in there. I still wouldn't be able to do the drawing, but I like some of her other ideas! They are within the scope of my abilities. :) 
 

Six.

Last week, I finally read The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines. I know. All of you probably read it months ago, when it came out! What took me so long?? {My sister received it as a Christmas gift and kindly shared it with me so I could read it, too!}


In case you haven't read the book yet, here are my thoughts. I had heard great things about it, and of course I'm quite a fan of Fixer Upper, so I figured I would love the book. But even so, I was a little nervous. If there's one thing I learned in radio, it's that not all people are good authors. Being a good speaker doesn't mean you're a good writer (and vice versa!). Having a big life event befall you doesn't mean you're a good writer. Of course there are writers who come alongside to help with some of those things, and Chip and Joanna had a good one: Mark Dagostino.

If you watch Fixer Upper, I'm happy to tell you that one thing you'll notice if you read this book is the distinct voices of both Chip and Joanna shining through. Most of the book is written from Joanna's perspective, but several chunks are written from Chip's and just as you see on TV, some parts are written almost conversationally, with the two of them bantering back and forth with their thoughts. To help you keep track of who is speaking, each has a different font. (I didn't find this distracting at all. I actually mentally read each part in their respective voices.)

Another thing that makes me nervous when I pick up stories written by well-known people is the predictable back-story. They all go back and relive their childhood, and in some books, that part gets tedious. I almost thought that would be missing altogether from this book, but it did eventually surface, although much later than I'm used to. But in this book, it didn't bother me. It was interesting to see how their upbringing and their parents' stories impacted the people they became.

I also found it very interesting to read stories of their dating years, early marriage, and how they found this beautiful rhythm of working well together that we've come to love from watching them on TV. (And they tell how they "got discovered," part of which I hadn't heard before.)

There are several hilarious stories in there (which, as you might guess, mostly revolve around Chip's antics and misadventures). I stopped several times to read large sections out loud to Ryan and he loved them. There are also a lot of faith lessons sprinkled throughout and a clear explanation of how they've seen God at work in their marriage and business life.

Just as I hoped, I found it an endearing, enjoyable, and easy read. (OOH! And there are pictures in the middle. I love books with pictures in the middle!) I'm glad they shared the back story. Fun to know!

The Saturday Six

One.

I dearly love Holley Gerth. Such an encourager. {I have a flip calendar by my bed with her writing in it, and I love flipping a new page each morning to read what she has to say!} This post is just beautiful, and if you're struggling with the question of why you're here on this earth, read her thoughts. I particularly love this quote: "Whatever 2017 may bring, there is One who has brought me into this world for Himself. There is no greater calling. There is no more glamorous career. There is no higher glory."

Two.

 This week, I decorated our home for Valentine's Day. I don't have a ton of decorations for this holiday, but I'm always looking for new pieces to add. Maybe you're that way too? I don't have any of these (yet) but Ever Thine Home has some great, timeless, faith-based decorations for Valentine's Day. This is the same company that created the Adorenaments we love so much and had in our home at Christmas. So I can definitely vouch for the company providing quality products, even though I haven't seen these in person!

Three.

Anyone else crazy excited about Beauty and the Beast coming out? I am not AT ALL a big movie buff. I enjoy watching them (at home) but never count down to any or want to see them immediately. It's just not my thing. But this one? Oh yes. Belle is my FAVORITE princess. The trailers are amazing, and I think Ryan fears I'll be singing all the songs at the top of my lungs in the middle of the theater. (It's a legitimate fear.)

Four.

 I know I've posted a similar link to this in years past, but I think it's important to share again! Katie at Dashing Dish has a new lineup of skinny Super Bowl snacks to make. If you're hosting a party this weekend and need some healthy and flavorful options, check these out!

Five.

You know how I love finding new date ideas! Found this one this week..filing it away for later, after we're done with alphabetical dates. But in case you need an idea before then, check it out!! Looks like fun! 


Six.

Source

This week, I read a new-to-me author: Patricia Bradley. Her latest novel, Justice Delayed, interested me because you know I love a good crime/suspense novel!! It had been a little while since I read one, so I thought it was about time to feed that side of my reading love again.


Andi Hollister, a TV crime reporter, is doing her best to work her way up the network ladder, and her family is doing their best to make their final peace with her older sister's murder, which took place eighteen years earlier. The man convicted of killing her - Jimmy -  will be executed in three days, and they can finally relax, knowing justice has been served.

But with just hours until execution, Jimmy receives a handwritten letter from someone who says she knows he didn't kill Stephanie, and she can prove it. But before she does, she winds up dead as well, and everything the Hollister family thought they knew about this case is flooded with doubt and question.

Andi and her cop-brother Brad, and his investigator-friend Will suddenly have a lot of work to do in a short amount of time to make sure Jimmy isn't wrongfully executed, and if he's not the killer, to find out who should be sitting behind bars in his place.

I was really excited to read this book and even told Ryan I bet I would knock it out in a day, staying up until all hours of the night to finish it, with heart racing clear to the last page. And while I didn't dislike the book or the story line, it didn't grip me quite as much as I thought it would. I was fairly near the end before that I-must-keep-reading-even-though-I'm-so-tired feeling hit me.

Part of the problem for me were all the characters in the novel. They were plentiful and at times, it was hard to keep them all straight. Andi, Treece (her best friend and fellow reporter), Brad, and Will were easy to keep straight, but there were a whole crew of other names, several beginning with J or L that I kept getting confused. I had to slow down my reading to keep track of them.

And part of my problem was my confusion of details I was certain would become major parts of the story that didn't, and other details that I didn't think should matter, but they did. I had to keep slowing down to reprioritize as I read.

For me, the story was good, but the suspense wasn't as gripping as I'd hoped. I would absolutely read this author again, but I would probably pick a different series next time.

* I received a copy of this book from Revell at no charge, and all opinions are my own! * 

Spring Decorating? Anyone? Anyone?

Sometimes Ryan and I learn a lot about each other while podcasting. I fear this week, Ryan learned more about me than he planned to! {Side note: rendering your husband speechless while recording an audio adventure is not a great idea. Ha!} Hope you enjoy...we sure had fun laughing!

Listen here.

Okay, I don't know what it was like in your neighborhood this weekend, but spring descended upon Indiana with much gusto, which quite frankly, just makes it that much harder to admit we're still in January, and we'll still see more snow before winter waves goodbye.

I mean, it was absolutely STUNNING here. Sunshine, blue skies, perfectly fluffy clouds, warmth, perfect weather for walking a visiting Phoebe - it was just perfection all the way around. I wanted to put away my coats and boots, uncover the grill, and head to Lowe's to buy all the flowers.

And that, my friends, is what sent me straight to Pinterest to begin plotting what I should do with our patio spaces in 2017. (What...is this not a common hobby among people???)

Here's the thing.

Last year, when we moved in, we spent alllllllllllll our time and energy on pretty much every nook and cranny of our house. INSIDE, I mean. You read the posts. We painted and redid flooring and knocked out that one wall and did the stone feature and finished off the garage. The patio spaces? Well, we stuck the furniture we already owned out there and called it a year.

It was fine. It worked.

But I know deep in my soul that our two patio spaces are something special and we did not even begin to do them justice with the attention we gave them last year.

With the inside of the house done, I have the time to pay attention to the outside. What I lack are finances. We really don't have much {read: any} money to invest in big, fun things for our outside spaces. This doesn't scare me, though, because we regularly make a little creativity go a long way. We're not afraid to DIY, but I don't know what to DIY.

Any of you out there particularly visionary in the land of patios and porches?

Here's what I have to work with. Tell me what you think!

Our front porch is a lovely little nook that last year we filled with our square wrought iron table and two wrought iron chairs. As temperatures permitted, we would sit out there to eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner and watch the happenings of the neighborhood. I like our patio because the railing offers a decent amount of privacy, but it doesn't block the view. It's handy to have the little table out there, because it's easily accessible to our kitchen, making it a logical place to eat.

Having said that, I'm not sure I want to put the table back out there this year. I kind of dream of a little seating area where I could hang out to read or we could just lounge in the evening with a cup of coffee. I dream of cuteness, complete with rugs and maybe even an outdoor-appropriate lamp.

The space is 12 feet long and 6 1/2 feet wide, and has one open side, one wall, one railing that comes up 3 1/2 feet, and one wall of windows that I do not want to block in any way. I cherish my natural light!

Ideas? Something fun and cozy and pretty all at once? AND practical? AND cost-effective?

Our back porch is equally lovely and somewhat of a blank slate in my mind. It's a long rectangle, 30 feet long and 12 feet wide in all, but it's divided into two parts. There's a cement slab that we covered with rubber tile last summer and that part is also surrounded by a lovely privacy fence. (The previous owners had a large table for eating right in this part.)  The other section is a wooden deck surrounded by a wooden fence that is high enough for child/animal safety but see-through enough to not feel closed in. Part of this section also has a pergola (ahhhh our pirogi!) over it.

Last summer we did pretty much NOTHING with this porch. We put our beloved hammock for two under the pergola, stuck a little round table next to it, and called that end done. We put Ryan's grill on the cement slab end, put our old white wooden door (which I painted in part with chalkboard paint) next to it, and that was the extent of our decorating!

So we have the 18x12 deck and the 12x12 slab, and other than knowing I want to keep the hammock and grill back there somewhere, I don't know what to do! Do I make a dining area? An outdoor kitchen that we build around the grill? A living space? AAAHHH!!!

(Side note that may be important: we do have a fire pit, but it's in the backyard, just behind this patio. It needs to stay back there.)

So tell me, Pinterest-lovers, spring-dreamers, decorators-extraordinaire! What should we do? What should we make? WHEN CAN WE START?????

The Saturday Six

** Quick housekeeping item: KAREN BLINN!! You are the winner of Designed to Pray, the book I featured on the Saturday 6 last week. I'll email you and make arrangements to get your copy to you! Hope you enjoy it! **

One.

I don't think I need to explain to you why I think this photo organization method is so amazing, do I? I happened upon this whole post via Pinterest, and while this girl-after-my-own-heart has a ton of amazing organization ideas, the photo one made my heart sing the most.

Two.

Whether or not you liked the change of presidential power yesterday, I'm pretty sure you can appreciate this article about the nuts and bolts of how they move one President out and a new one in to the White House in one afternoon flat. Given that we took something like a month to move from one house to another, this whole process absolutely fascinated me. I think if we ever move again (which is unlikely), I'd like this staff to be in charge.  

Three.

Maybe Ryan and I are the last people on earth to learn about the RTIC Tumblers, but just in case you're with us, let me fill you in! Ryan's brother and his family gave both of us an RTIC tumbler for Christmas, and we used them this week while home on Ryan's gallternity leave. Mind-blowing and beverage-changing! They're marketed to keep hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold for a ridiculous amount of time and they actually do. Ryan had coffee in his and hours later, he said it was still piping hot. I had iced tea in mine and still had most of the ice in it the next day. We are sold! Love them!! Worth the investment if you're looking for new drinkware!

Four.

I've talked often on here about Katie Farrell and the Dashing Dish website. Love Katie's ministry and her recipes! She recently announced that she's expecting her first child, and on  her blog this week, she posted a wonderful article about things she learned in the waiting. Whether you're waiting on a baby or something else entirely, I think you'll find some helpful words in here! 

Five.

Valentine's Day is less than a month away now, you know. Found this post with a multitude of decor ideas, but my favorite is the one for decorating an old window frame for Valentine's Day. Since we have three old windows decorating our home, I love this idea for sprucing them up! 



Six.

Source

As you know, our January has leaned more toward the heavy side, not because of all the food we ate during December, but because of all the health debacles. I decided life was heavy enough. No need for the book of the week to add to it! So I shopped on my shelves and found one I'd never had time to read, but knew I'd laugh all the way through: The Antelope in the Living Room by Melanie Shankle.

Melanie has published three books, and if I'm not mistaken, I think her fourth one is coming soon, but I had only read two of the three she'd published so far. I started with her first book, Sparkly Green Earrings, which is a hilarious memoir on motherhood, and then shortly before I left WBCL, I read her third book Nobody's Cuter than You, an equally hilarious memoir on friendship. (I also interviewed her about that book back when I was still in radio.)

But the middle book, The Antelope in the Living Room, her memoir on marriage, sat on my shelf, raising its invisible book-hand, begging to be read, but I just hadn't gotten to it! And my goodness, was it ever the perfect book for a heavy month!

If you've read either of Melanie's other two books, I'm happy to report that her conversational, blogger, story-telling tone carries through this one exactly like it did the other two. I am pretty sure I even read it in a southern accent, because she has one, and it's delightful, and I wanted to feel like she was reading the book to me.

This book is a collection of stories from her marriage to Perry, who is her opposite in many ways, and yet her best friend and support. I laughed so hard and made Ryan mute the TV no less than 37 times so I could read him "just one more thing" from the pages, because sometimes Perry and Melanie were so Ryan and Bekah.

I confess perhaps I should not have read the chapter on Perry's surgeries prior to Ryan's gallbladder extraction, because Melanie freaks out about the same sorts of medical mishaps I do, and it reminded me I worry for a reason. But even though it didn't calm my fears, it let me know I wasn't alone in them, and for that, I was grateful.

I appreciate how most of the chapters end with a tie in to a spiritual lesson, but I just dearly love the stories themselves. They are totally worth the read. It's good to laugh. It's good to know you're not alone in your own personal irrational thoughts. It's good to read real life stories. And did I mention it's good to laugh?

This book isn't a new one. It was published in 2014, so I'm clearly behind the times on this one. But it was a lighthearted read sorely needed in this month of heavy thinking. If you're having a heavy January, I recommend this one. (And Melanie? I cried forever too over Princess Diana's death. I can't believe neither of our husbands took it as personally as we did.)

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!!