A Little Friday Night Fun

I worked on our scrapbook yesterday, trying to catch up the month of June. Not only has this month been packed full of scrapbookable events, but this entire QUARTER has been packed full. I am a healthy combination of grateful and exhausted!

We had a fun little weekend, and I wanted to tell you about one of our dates!

The summer after we got married, Ryan planned a surprise date for us {still one of my most favorite dates he has ever planned} that took us to our first movie together...at the drive-in!

It was such a fun night. The weather was perfect, he had packed a dinner for us to eat there, and we cuddled up in the back of the car and watched Monsters University. And if I hadn't been smack in the middle of a gallbladder attack that night, it might well have been the perfect evening!

We rarely go to movies at the theater because we are too cheap, so we can still probably count on one hand the number of times we've gone, but this weekend, we went again...and once again, we went to the drive-in!

This time we went to see Finding Dory {no, we don't always watch kids' movies!} and it was again, a delightful evening. Ryan's mom was staying with us this particular day, and we didn't want to be lousy hosts who didn't provide dinner, so we ate together with her at home before we left, and when we arrived, the place was packed. But we found a couple of spots left in the front row, and we actually prefer that at the drive-in, so we rolled right in and fluffed up our car pallet!

I posted about our date on Instagram and it was in the Shuffle yesterday, and I had a few questions about where this particular screen is and how long it's been there! Here's the link to the story {it's been around since 1951} and also some info about prices and season passes for any of you who are local and interested.

We both had long weeks and didn't spend a lot of time on our appearance that day, so I apologize for our slightly bedraggled look.

Finding Dory was a cute little movie, and we had a blast watching it and spending time together!

Now that we've moved, this theater is just under an hour away from home, and since it didn't get dark until almost ten, it made for one late night, but it was such fun! Ryan's mom was asleep when we returned home, so we sneaked in and tried to be quiet, which as you might imagine, SO DID NOT WORK, but we did try!

Fun date - and if you're local, may I absolutely recommend this theater! {Bathrooms were even clean. I was impressed!!!}

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Was it really just last Sunday that was Father's Day? What in the world!? It seems like forever ago! We spent part of the day with my mom and dad, celebrating Father's Day with them, and it was a great day!

* Monday began a week of intense writing for me, so I holed up in in my office and typed away! Ryan's mom was admitted to the hospital that day, and we went to visit her after work. Isn't Ryan so cute carrying her pink blanket down the hallway? We continued the great garage makeover of 2016 that night, and I have to tell you, this was an evening YOU. WILL. NOT. BELIEVE. It is probably both a podcast segment AND a blog post in the making. I cannot even believe it myself.

* Tuesday, Ryan got off work early, and we had a little Lowe's date after he got home, looking at carpet and, of course, drinking coffee. After that? More garage painting fun. It never ends, people. I mean it literally, truly, never ends. 

* Guess what we did on Wednesday? More painting. Touch-ups in the garage and then we moved on to the painting project I loathed the most. It turns out when we painted our master bathroom {back when we were moving}, we accidentally used flat paint. It had terrible streaking issues, so we repainted the whole room in the same color, but using semi-gloss paint. I know it was good and necessary, but there's something maddening about redoing that kind of work.

* Thursday I served as the photographer for a going away party! That was something new and different for me. One of my friends recommended me to her mom, who needed the photographer for her place of work. I spent three hours capturing smiles and laughs and hugs and had a great time doing it. Know what Ryan had a great time doing? Playing with the power washer he borrowed from his step-dad.

* Friday, Ryan's mom was here with us {she stayed for a few days after she got out of the hospital} and we had a great time hanging out together while he worked. I baked cookies and we watched TV {I did squeeze in a workout} - and it was fun! That night, Ryan and I went on a date to the drive in to watch Finding Dory. Fun night!

 * Yesterday morning we went out to breakfast with one of our friends and then did some shopping at a market and garage sales. A fun start to the day! Ryan worked SO HARD on the house yesterday and last night, we went to see some fireworks here in town. Perfect way to wrap up the week!

A Pinteresting July

Onesie Frappes

I made these super cute oneseie frappes for Olivia's baby shower...they're made up of a onesie wrapped around a cloth diaper and two washcloths with a little sock on top for the cherry! SO CUTE!! Here was my pin inspiration. {I used scrapbook paper and a a scrapbooking flower to make the little coffee cozie around the outside, but someone at the shower asked if it was a headband. I liked that idea even better - next time I'm using a headband!}

Diaper Devos

I made THESE diaper devos for Olivia's other baby shower. Just bought a package of diapers and printed off a verse and devo thought borrowed from the Mom's Devotional Bible and put one devo/verse combo inside each diaper. She loved it! Here was my pin inspiration.

Cake Mix Cookie Bars

I didn't take a picture....WHAT???

I made a plate of these to take to a party right at the beginning of the month. Since it's not Christmas, I obviously didn't use the red and green theme...but I used regular M and Ms. I'd like to try this one again sometime using a different flavor of cake mix - just to see. Here was my pin inspiration.

Drive in Movie Nest

Ryan does not have a Pinterest account, nor does he check mine - but he completely nailed this pin inspiration for a drive in movie date nest. Pillows, blankets, pizza, popcorn, cookies, coke - even bug spray. It. Was. Perfect. You can read more about the date here if you want full inspiration/recap.

Red, White and You Printable

I used this pin inspiration to print off a little message for Ryan on the 4th of July. I put it on the hammock in our pirogi for him to find during our picnic! He loved it.

July Printable

And I used this pin inspiration to find a good solid July printable for my living room frame - which I also used as a decoration for our picnic!!. I love the burlap look!

Cheeseburger Kabob

This pin was my inspiration, but I ended up going a bit of a different route with it...used meatballs instead of lunch meat - and added cheese and bun pieces to each end - to make a cheeseburger kabob for our 4th of July picnic!

Pasta Salad

This pin was what inspired me to make pasta salad for our 4th of July picnic, and when I thought we were taking our picnic on the road, I planned to serve it in little jars like the pin shows. But we stayed home, so I used a regular old bowl and served it normally. :) I also made this healthier version from the Dashing Dish website.

Berry Dessert

I made this pin inspired dessert for our 4th of July picnic - except I used blackberries instead of blueberries. We like them better. I did serve them in small bowls {glass ones} until I ran out of them and then I put the rest in a loaf pan. SO YUMMY.

Sandy Shadow Box

I used this pin inspiration to make a picture frame featuring sand from the beach where we got married. I brought a bag of it back with me - and used one of our "beach weeds" pictures from our honeymoon to complete the project. If I had it to do over, I'd have made the picture the full size of the frame, but I still thought it turned out well!

Red Robin Petite Burgers

This pin I read told me about smaller burger options at Red Robin. Ryan and I both ordered a "petite" burger last time - which is really the same size as a regular burger anywhere else!

Our First Movie

Last Saturday, I posted to Facebook that Ryan wins the prize for most creative dates...and that I've met my match on this sort of thing! And I LOVE it. Someone commented back that he needed to know what Ryan did, because he needed ideas! LOL!!

Well, the short of it is - Ryan does all the little things, and for this girl, it's the little things that mean the most. I know not everyone would feel the same, but what you're about to read means ten million times more to me than a piece of jewelry. And it's all because he went to the trouble to make something special in every little way - to make a memory for forever. So guys, listen up!

I did not know what this date consisted of until the day arrived...and he only told me then because bad weather was predicted and he wanted my input on if we should go forward with it or postpone it. Otherwise it would have been a complete surprise!

And the date was....a trip to the drive-in movie theater!!!! And a side note - in not quite a year together, we've never ONCE been to a movie. We've watched many at home, but we've never gone. 

I had that baby shower to go to, and at 8:00, he knocked on the door of the house where the shower was and picked me up. It was like we were dating again!! {Point scored!}

And when we got out to the car parked on the street, he opened the back door to reveal:

Our movie nest! He made it himself. {Point scored!} Pillows, blankets, pizza, cookies, popcorn, and coke. {Six points scored!} And he remembered bug spray. {That's a triple point right there, as mosquitoes adore me.}

We drove to Wabash, which is about a half hour away, and we saw Monsters University! {Point scored...that was on my wish list!}

We pulled up in the front row so nothing blocked our view, and had a picnic in the car!! {Point scored!}

And after dinner, we just kicked back and talked, since we had been apart the whole day. {booooooo for time apart, but POINT SCORED for talking time!!}

And when it was almost movie time, we broke out the popcorn and settled in!

 

I may have dozed just a couple of times, which is in NO way a reflection on the movie...it was GREAT!!! {Though I do miss Boo...she was so darling in the first movie.} But it's just that it was so late and I'd had a long, full day!! :) But it was fun to lay in the car all snuggled up watching a movie on a PERFECT weather night! {Point scored for snuggling!!!}

And when it was over...we said goodbye to our little theater!

 Thanks, Baby, for working so hard to make our evening so memorable. I love you!!!!