The Saturday Six

One.

 Loved this article, which features the lovely Emily Fussner, a young lady I had the privilege of knowing for several years. She grew up in the church I attended a few years go. Emily is every bit as sweet and kind as these words would lead you to believe, and as the writer says, she carries herself in such a way that you really do forget she has physical limitations! I really enjoyed learning more about the specifics of her art. I see many pictures of it online, but it was fun to learn more about what is behind the scenes!

Two.

Trust me. Just trust me. You need to watch this. Especially if you love the song No Longer Slaves.  

Three.

 I will probably do a post on this sometime next month, but I must say I am loving the day planner I made for myself this year. Finally hit the jackpot on what works best for me! I use a lot of printables from the Scattered Squirrel website. She makes quality stuff, and it's FREE! WOO HOOOO!! She just released some calendars for 2018, which I'm excited about since I'm already beginning to have things ON the calendar for next year. So if you're dreaming up a planner for yourself for next year, check it out!

Four.

I kind of forgot this was Memorial Day weekend, because Ryan is working the whole thing, so it's just another weekend for us. BUT! If you are having a cookout on Memorial Day, this is a very cute ice cream sundae bar with printables and the whole bit!

Five.

STOP IT. JUST STOP IT. (I'm back in day planner mode.) This lady uses color coordinated Washi Tape to further organize her planner. I must do this next year. Can you even IMAGINE how pretty????

Six.

Source 

A few weeks ago, I saw this book, Never Give Up, by John Mason, was available for review. It looked interesting, and I hadn't read in the inspirational genre for a while, so I requested it. And now that I've finished reading it, I have a handful of bullet point thoughts to send your way!

* Though I have apparently been living under a rock and had not heard of John before, he is a bestselling author who began as a self-published author. Impressive! Even more impressive, he shared a story in this book about how he chose to continue running with his first books on his own, even though publishers tried to pick them up after they proved successful with sales. I like that philosophy!

* If you're looking for deep an philosophical, look elsewhere. This is not a dive-in-deep sort of book. But please don't think that I find it to be a waste of time, just because it's not deep. This felt more like a conversation-starter/journal-entry-starter book to me, and I'll elaborate more on that in a moment. I just wanted to clarify that if you're looking for something deep and academic, this isn't the choice for you.

* The chapters are short - 2 to 3 pages each - and and there are 52 chapters total. Do you see what I see? A one year study! Actually I think I would have preferred to read it that way, because each chapter really does stand alone. It's not really meant to be read all at once, though I did it that way.

* You know what I think this book would be PERFECT for? High school or college graduation gift. Seriously! Great zingers in each chapter, really wonderful life advice from his own experiences and backed up by appropriately used Scripture passages. A few funny stories and illustrations round out a book of good life advice for those starting out in a new season of life.

* You know another setting I think would be perfect for this? Mentoring. If I had a mentee right now, I would absolutely spend the next year going over the topics of each chapter, a week at a time, fostering discussion and application from them.

* While we're at it, I think it would be great for a small business team too. If you have weekly staff meetings and employees you want to motivate and mentor, this would be a great outline.

I'm keeping the book, and I hope I have the opportunity to use it in some setting in the near future. And since graduation season is upon us....gift idea!


** Revell sent me a copy of this book at no charge. All opinions are my own! **
 

The Saturday Six

One.

 I told you last week about Erica Wiggenhorn's new Bible study that comes out next month. I'm even MORE eager to dive into it now that I have my new Bible to go with it! ANYWAY! The release of the book is close enough now that the book is up for pre-order, and if you order here, you can get a free art print to go with it! Win-win!! This one will be great for small-group study, I can promise you. (Individual study, too! That's how I did the first book she wrote on Acts, and it worked GREAT as a solo study.)

Two.

Loved this article by Jamie Hilty, because it's a beautiful blend of the creativity of reusing items (you know how I love a good repurpose!) and the reuse of places, when one family has packed up its memories and another brings theirs.

Three.

 Did you know you can freeze avocados? I sure didn't know it. This is good to keep in mind since they are usually SO expensive and if I could find a sale...

Four.

Looking for some fun outdoor ideas for this summer? I think some of these work just as well for adults as they do for kids! So if you're planning parties, check them out!

Five.

 This post and its ideas are geared towards families/kids, but I think the daily themes could be EASILY converted to anyone of any age! Take a week this summer and theme it up!! I think it sounds really fun!

Six.

Source

Clearly I did NOT have time to read a book this week, even though I had one waiting in the wings to be read, but I do have a book to offer to you!


One of my friends invited me to her online Usborne book party, and even though I've heard of this company, I've never purchased any of their books (largely because, you know, no children)! But I wanted to help her out, and I had actually run across a recommendation of an Usborne book that's not new, but it's still available for purchase. So I chose that one in an attempt to continue to grow the kiddo library for our visiting kids.

That's how I ended up with the Big Book of Things to Spot. (It's written by Ruth Brocklehurst, Gillian Doherty and Anna Milbourne, Illustrated by Teri Gower, and designed by Susannah Owen.) I'd read about this book, which is actually part of a homeschool curriculum, so I figured it had the blend of both fun value and educational value. (Even though we don't have kids, I am a stickler about the things I add to our stash. I don't want them to be mindless, fluffy toys and activities. I want them to be things that are valuable in learning, while still being fun.)

The book came earlier this week, and I'm not gonna lie: I had fun looking through it myself! It's kind of "Where's Waldo" in style, in that the pages are full color illustrations, but you're supposed to look for certain things on each page. But it's much less crammed than the Waldo books, so it doesn't give you a headache.

The book is divided into four sections, and each section gives you 1001 things to spot in its pages. Section 1 is 1001 Animals to Spot, Section 2 is 1001 Things to Spot on the Farm, Section 3 is 1001 Things to Spot in the Town, and Section 4 is 1001 Things to Spot Long Ago. Each scene is a two page spread, and along the sides of the pages you'll find the instructions of what you're looking for and the number of them you should find.

For example, the first spread is called "On the Farm," so the scene includes a barn, some pasture, a pond, and a field. Somewhere across those two pages, you'll find 3 puppies, 5 ducks, 9 ducklings...etc. Along with the instructions of what to find, there's a sample photo of each thing, so you'll know exactly what to look for. It's great for working on counting, colors, identifying items, etc.

The final section, which talks about things from long ago, features different parts of the world and different years, like Pharaoh's Court in Egypt, 3500 years ago, Going Hunting in India 350 years ago and the Drive-In-Movies in North America, 45 years ago.

Lots of fun pictures, lots of color, lots of learning, and it doesn't make a single noise on its own. (I am not a fan of noise-making books.)

I am glad I picked this one and call it a good addition to our little library for visitors! Oh! And bonus: you can get this in either a paperback or hardback version, so you can choose the affordability and/or durability you need!

The Saturday Six

One.

No. Just no. I would not drive on any of these roads. Call me a chicken if you want to, but my answer remains NO. (If the view is so beautiful, just take pictures when YOU go and I'll look at your pictures.)

 Yes, I know I just did a detox. Finding ice cream links is a bad idea. And maybe you've seen this before, but I sure hadn't. Ice cream nachos with waffle cone pieces as the chips? GENIUS.

Three.

 The information in this post by Megan Emily blew my mind. I didn't know any of this info about bottled water (other than being wary of the packaging) and the recycling dilemma. Fascinating and troubling all at once.

Four.

 How stinking cute is this tiny shop? It's like a tiny house, but it's a shop! (Hence the name...tiny shop.)

Five.

 Some helpful - and surprisingly non-cheesy - Mother's Day gift ideas! Check them out! YOU HAVE ONE WEEK LEFT!!!!!


Six.

Back in February, I reviewed a children's book called The Beautiful Garden of Eden, written by Gary Bower. I chose it because I was trying to grow my children's book collection for when kiddos come to visit, and I absolutely loved that book. So when I saw that two more books from this same series were up for review, I had to get them.


These books are part of a series called "A Faith that God Built." They are all written in the same rhyme pattern as the familiar poem "The House that Jack Built." But these books are all based on Bible stories. The two I read this week were The Frightening Philippi Jail  and The Hurry-Up Exit from Egypt.

All the same things I loved about the first one I read were still present in these books, beginning with Barbara Chotiner's whimsical artwork on each page. As I stated before, I think the artwork is as important as the wording in a children's book, and she does a great job.

In The Hurry-Up Exit from Egypt, I loved Gary's word choices (fun words for kids!!), including scampering lickety-split, and hobbly, wobbly, wiggly wheels. There are more, but those were a couple of my favorite phrases. Made it fun to read this book out loud!

A HUGE plus for this book was Gary's careful choice to attribute the dividing of the Red Sea to God's power and not Moses' rod. I think when talking to kids, it's easy to focus on the method and not the power behind the method, so I really appreciated his approach in that part of the story.

Also, with a story like this, there's the question of how to explain the Egyptians' fate when they pursued the Israelites: how do you make it truthful without scaring little kiddos? I thought he did that very well, and the last page of the book pointed to the Scripture reference where families can go together to read the full story and talk about it more in depth.

In The Frightening Philippi Jail, there were more fun phrases, like the bugs and the rats and the slugs that crawled on the crooks and the thieves and the thugs, and the shackles that fell to the floor when a chain-breaking quaking flung open the door.

This is another story that is interesting to tell to kids, because there are certainly parts that are scary (being in jail and the jailer wanting to kill himself), but Gary kept the focus on the fact that Paul and Silas didn't even deserve to be in there, but they chose to pray and praise out loud anyway.

The book ends like the others, by pointing back to Scripture and offering a key verse from the Scripture passage, in case you want to work on memorization.

I'd dearly love to have this whole set of books; I think they are well done, theologically sound, and fun to read! (In fact, I offered to read them to Ryan for our family devotions. LOL!)

* Tyndale provided a copy of each book to me, but all opinions are my own. *

The Saturday Six

One.

Listen here.

This week marked a debut book release for my new friend, Christy Cabe. My review of the book is below, but here is a link to our conversation about Brownie Crumbs and Other Life Morsels. (How can you NOT love a book with that title?) Christy's book is a memoir, but it also offers wonderful, non-preachy life advice, and to talk with her further about her experiences of losing her mother when she was young and walking through three years of cancer treatments with her toddler son was a privilege. Christy is a great story-teller; take a listen!

Two.

 I've shared with you before (on the blog and on a podcast) about the RAD-JOY Surrender Crosses and why I love them so much. Ryan and I have one of these crosses hanging in our home, and I love nailing my burdens to it! The creators of these crosses just released a new item in their shop: a set of prayer cards with 31 little cards on a ring to give you one prayer focus per day. I always love passing along new finds that might help you increase your prayer life, so I wanted to share these with you! 

Three.

 The season of outdoor entertaining has returned, and KariAnne has some great tips for how to do it well. Her ideas remind me very much of my cousin's graduation party last summer, which was much fun. (I especially loved the dish towel tip. Genius!)

Four.

Oh my. A wood wick candle with Be Still on the jar? All my happy places colliding. Great job, Dayspring!

Five.

This blogger writes for one of the same websites I do, and she recently had quite a scary health situation. She writes about it here, and her perspective on illness and the Lord is so beautiful. 


Six.

A few weeks ago, a whole big group of my friends started chatting on social media about a soon-to-be released book written by their friend. Obviously I was interested immediately, and a couple of them connected me with the author, Christy Cabe, who sent me an advance copy of the book, so I could read it, too!


After I read the book, one of my friends, who has known Christy for years, asked if I laughed and cried like she did when she read it. Here's the great news: I did! I just met Christy, so all her stories were new to me. I wasn't there walking alongside her through the real-time ups and downs of her life, but her manner of story-telling was so inviting that I crawled right into the stories with her, and I did laugh and cry. And immediately, I felt like Christy was my new friend.

Brownie Crumbs and Other Life Morsels tells snippets of stories from Christy's life - going all the way back to her younger days, when (at age eleven) she had to say goodbye to her mother, who passed away unexpectedly in her 30's. Already wise and rooted in the Lord (much more so than most her age), Christy recognized the deep gift she had been given in even those few short years with her mom, and she opened her heart to love a second mother, who married her dad just a few months later.

After Christy grew up and got married, she faced another life-altering storm when her two-year-old son, Karson, was diagnosed with leukemia. Christy and her husband spent the next three years fighting alongside Karson, and learning a whole new language of medical jargon as they waited to see if the years of treatments would bring health and healing to their son. (He is now a thriving young man, praise the Lord!)

Maybe you didn't lose your mom when you were a kid, and maybe you've never heard a cancer diagnosis for your child. But I'm certain you've faced trials of some kind, and that is enough to allow you to relate to Christy's journey and to learn from the morsels of wisdom she offers throughout the pages of her book. Christy doesn't water down the hard parts of her story, but the book isn't heavy all the way through. She intersperses humor with the hard, giving healthy glimpses into both sides of life.

Unlike many similar books, Christy's pages are filled with pictures, so you can get to know her and the family members she loves. There's a discussion guide at the end, making it perfect for book clubs and small groups.

Bake a pan of brownies before you start reading; you'll want a snack to munch on while you read and make a new friend in Christy Cabe.

* Christy provided a digital advance copy of this book to me, but all opinions are my own! *

What I Learned in April

WOW. So April ends on Sunday. WHAT? I realized about two days ago that a new month is looming RIGHT NOW and I need to hurry to make sure I have my goals made, my birthday cards ordered, and my schedule set, because May is fixin' to be one cuh-ra-zay busy month in Shafferland. So while I anticipate that what I'll learn next month is to hang onto my hat, here's a peek at what I learned in April!

1. I am so glad we did a tiny destination wedding.

Ryan's sister is getting married this year and is in the throes of heavy wedding planning. This month, I was invited to a few of the meetings with a bunch of the family girls, and while it was fun (because hello! Wedding!), I realized I'm so glad we had a tiny little wedding that was far, far away. I know we hurt and disappointed a lot of people who wanted to attend our wedding and couldn't, because it was too far, but for my anxious personality, that itty bitty wedding was so perfect, and I'm glad we did it that way. I don't think I realized just how much until I was reminded of the enormity of traditional wedding planning!

2. Cozy mysteries are an actual genre.

I probably shouldn't be admitting out loud that I did not know that, because it probably reveals a giant flaw in my literature-loving understanding. But when I interviewed Ann Gabhart earlier this month about her Hidden Springs Mystery series, we talked about how they had such a lightheartedness about them, compared to the dark, heavy suspense of other crime novels I've read. And that's where I learned about cozy mysteries. In these books, the violence is written in a much more toned-down manner to allow the reader a more comfortable experience, while still getting to participate in a mystery.

3. You can purchase riced cauliflower.

Am I the only one who didn't know about this? I found a recipe to try this month that made "breadsticks" out of cauliflower. The instructions said to grind up the cauliflower in a blender until it was the size of pieces of rice. Someone had commented and asked if she could just use frozen riced cauliflower. What? You can buy it already processed? For a girl who has the worst blender ever made, this was very exciting news! Save time and headache? OKAY!!!!!

4. I drink water better if it's cold.

I'm not a bad water-drinker. I'm thankful for that because I hated water when I was a kid and pretty much refused to drink it. But as an adult, I started enjoying it and it's all we have here at home, really. We don't keep pop in the house and I don't even make tea all that often. But I had noticed that even though I'm pretty good at drinking water, I wasn't getting in as much as I wanted. And that's when I discovered that I drink it much better if it's cold. How did I not know this about myself until just now? 

5.  Lawn rollers can be filled with water.

When I was a kid, I remember every spring, my dad would hire a guy from town to come out to their property with his big heavy roller. I'd be instructed to stay far away while the man drove his tractor slowly through the massive yard, leveling the ground so Dad could proceed with the first mowing of the season. This year, Ryan borrowed a roller from a friend of his, with the intent of rolling our yard and one of his co-worker's yards. When I asked how he planned to heft that thing into his truck and drive it to her house, he just stared at me funny and said, "Just empty it?" Empty it? That's when I found out that these modern, newfangled rollers are plastic and hollow, and you just fill them up with water to create the weight. When you're done, you empty it out and you could lift the whole thing one-handed. Who knew? 

6. My husband can rock a flamingo suit like you wouldn't believe.

 This absolutely falls under "sentences I never expected to type" and also is entirely self-explanatory.

7. Traction isn't as scary as I thought.

I tried it for the first time this month. I have a lot of tightness and discomfort (we'll stop short of calling it pain, because it's really not pain) in my neck, which I'm sure comes from a combination of carrying all my stress there and sitting in front of a computer for pretty much every waking hour of my life. I always thought traction was like some horrible immobilizing thing you were stuck in for life if you broke your back or something. But I found this very relaxing and helpful in stretching out my poor strained neck!

So that's what I learned. What about you? Any April revelations?

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!