The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday we worked in the cafe at church, but we needed to make sure we'd heard the sermon so we could take notes to lead our small group this week, so we stayed for the latest service to catch the sermon. I learned that being in church when I'm used to eating lunch means I have to eat a snack during church. Oopsie!! We had a lovely, relaxing Sunday that ended with breakfast for dinner - a decision made when we had Starbucks in hand and needed a meal to accompany that treat!

* Monday brought some snow and slickery roads right at the morning commute time - I was reminded again of how thankful I am to not be making such a long drive in those sorts of conditions! It was a busy day, though, including the start of the second round of our clean eating adventure {even though we didn't really take much of a break over Christmas after the first round}. Still, Monday's workout about killed both of us.

* So our dishwasher broke on Tuesday. It was fifteen years old and had lived a good long life and washed a LOT of dishes for us, so I suppose it had every right to call it quits. But dishes are my LEAST favorite household chore. {I'll do toilets any day over dishes.} So Ryan and I had a date night at the store to pick out a new dishwasher and then Ryan became my hero by installing the thing. {I think he had so much fun wearing his new head lamp that a little thing like dishwasher installation was actually a treat!}

* I started to worry about myself on Wednesday when I voluntarily watched not one, but TWO webinars. I HATED webinars in all my previous jobs. They were long and tedious and pulled me away from important work and always made me sleepy. But something about making the watching of them my ONLY work and being able to get up and move around during them made them quite bearable and informative! That evening, we hosted our first small group - our first time to do such a thing together as a couple. We have much to improve in the way of doing it gracefully, but we so appreciated the opportunity to lead together!

* Thursday, I met up for lunch with a friend and just for funsies, went with her to look at a house for sale. I always enjoy seeing houses - and this one was so charming. I was glad to get to peek inside with her! And then I came home to something NOT so charming: our mess of an office that has been utterly buried for over a month. Ryan and I moved our Starbucks date FROM Starbucks to home so we could organize while we sipped on lattes. A long night, to be sure, but we got it done!

* Friday...ohhhhhhhh Friday. Ryan had to be gone overnight for a planning meeting for an event he's helping with, and this was only our second time to be separated since we got married. I abhor separation and spent my day writing him cards and notes to hide in his luggage. We took a selfie together before he left/before my meltdown began. I organized an entire evening of scrapbooking and watching all the sappy TV shows Ryan doesn't like to watch. I made it through the long night of no sleep, but I still am NOT a fan of being apart.

* Yesterday Ryan came home!!! I spent the morning cranking out more scrapbook pages, and by the time I got that and several chores done, he was home! I was so excited to see him!! Although the sun made a brief appearance that morning, it really was a rainy, yucky day for the most part, so we got coffee and went shopping for fun {window shopping is one of our favorite things} and then grocery shopping with all the beat-the-snow-storm shoppers. So happy to have Ryan back!!!

You Asked!!

Okay....so you said I never told you the toilet story.

Here you go!!!

Back in the summer, my parents asked Ryan if he could do a project at their house. They have a half bath {a tiny half bath} off one of the bedrooms, and Mom wanted to put in new flooring and a new toilet. So Ryan decided to do the project while my parents were on vacation - to cause minimum inconvenience. {Because, you know, having an entire bathroom torn up messes with the whole house.}

He started one Monday evening and the next day, work was so slow that he was forced to take a vacation day. He chose to take his unexpected day off to knock out the project. This was right after I left work at the station, and I was trying to get into a routine at home. We decided it would be most advantageous for me to stay home and work while Ryan went to my parents' house and worked.

In the early afternoon, he called and said that he had shut off the water entirely, but about a half hour after he did that, a geyser of water started shooting up from the exposed toilet pipe. The only thing that would keep it under control was if he sat with his thumb over the hole. Could I run to Lowe's and buy {insert plumbing part name here that I don't remember}?

So I ran to Lowe's and found what I thought he wanted, took pictures and texted it to him...but no, that wasn't it. {Any day when you find a woman taking pictures of plumbing parts in Lowe's...be afraid. Be very afraid.}

So I gave up and drove to my parents' house. And I found Ryan:

Plugging up the geyser.

So we switched places. I plugged the hole so he could go to the store and look for parts. He set me up in the hot little bathroom with a fan to keep me cool and a book to keep me entertained. Because there's not a lot to do in an empty bathroom.

I took some selfies:

And about an hour later, he came back with a cap to cap it off. I was relieved of my duties and permitted to go home.

The setback meant he had to spend another day there, so the next night, he stopped on his way home from work, and I decided I'd had enough time apart. I showed up with treats:

And Ryan finished his work.

He's nothing if not entertaining.

Don't you guys wish you got to live with us all the time???

PS - Here is the before and after of all his hard work.

Linking up!

The Shafferland Shuffle

If I was glad to see last week go because of vehicle drama, I confess I'm glad to see this week go because of house upheaval! Here's to next week??? Maybe????

* Last Sunday, we started a new series at church, and it focuses on the lessons learned from the Remnant in the Old Testament. They had an incredible new set built at the front of the church to accompany it, and the first sermon was really thought-provoking! After church, we went to a get-together with our Sunday School class. Tacos and fellowship: never a bad way to spend a Sunday lunch!

* Monday, I worked on some writing while Braeya slept, and then I whipped up a batch of chocolate peanut butter cookies for Ryan and me. {This is one of my favorite parts about the new season: being able to make cookies for Ryan to have all ready when he gets home!} We went for a run that night, and the weather was beautiful. That sky!!! Thankful for some not-so-blistering-hot days to run!

* Tuesday, I hunkered down to finish my Bible study homework, and I learned so much. This is what I love about having homework for a Bible study...it helps me focus and learn more than I would on my own. We went for a run that night too, and for the first time in two weeks, I had a really good run. It surprised me, since I felt like I was coming down with something. Annnnnnd that run was the end of the good things, because by the time I went to bed that night, I was aching and feverish and chilling and feeling miserable. I put oil in the diffuser and prayed to feel better!!

* And I did NOT feel better by Wednesday morning. Ryan left for work after tucking me under a blanket on the couch, feeling even more miserable than the night before. Braeya was no help - she just started sunbathing while I moaned and whined. I didn't get to be miserable for long, though, because the crew coming to install the new heating and air system in our house started working that day. {It's kind of embarrassing to show up at the front door looking like death, let them in, and say "I'll be conked out on the couch if you need me."}

* By Thursday I felt MUCH better, and I was grateful. We finally got word that Ryan's truck was done - after a week in the shop - so I went to pay for that, and when I got in the car, I found this crazy little finger puppet on the dash. I gave it to Ryan as a joke when we first started dating {I don't even remember where I got it} and he STILL carries it around. That made my heart smile! When I got home, the work crew told me they  had uncovered some wiring they thought I needed to have checked out, which completely freaked me out. WIRING is no joke. So I did the only logical thing I could: stress eating Cheerios! By the time Ryan got home that night, Braeya was in a snit from having her home turned upside down for two days, and I was freaking out over all the drama. I bet he's glad he came home.

* Friday would have been my little nephew's 27th birthday, if he had lived, and I spent the day reflecting on his life, looking through my scrapbook of the day he was born, and just missing him. The work crew finished up their project, the electrician that paid a visit gave us some info about the wiring, and I felt human enough to go to lunch with my friend Jenny. It was a busy day! Ryan surprised me that night with a new white noise machine for when I sleep. I love that man! He spoils me!

 * Ryan had to work yesterday, and while he was gone, I got busy cleaning up the dirt left behind from this project. I expected dust, but I was unprepared for the actual layer of black FILTH covering several rooms in our home. I dusted and swept and scrubbed on my hands and knees and threw away entire towels not worth saving and did scads of laundry loads - and when Ryan came home, he got busy working to reinforce the ceiling in one of our rooms that had been weakened by the work done this week. Thankful that the Lord planted this idea in his heart and that he had the ability to carry it out. What a mess!! While he did that, I did my own {much more minor} project of distressing an old door!

Linking up!

Sewers and Such

I feel like it's been too long since you had a good Bekah story, so....today is your day!!!!!

We have a gorgeous tree in our backyard...a giant piece of history raising branches into the sky and tossing leaves and shade over us...and we love that tree. It's part of our family roots...planted within the time that my grandparents lived on this property, and my aunt can still remember when the tree was transplanted int our ground.


For those reasons, we love our big tree.

But did I mention the roots???

No one told me, when I moved in here, that tree roots...the little seaweed looking tendrils at the very end, can stubbornly push their way into sewer lines and clog them. No one told me. And why would I know that? I mean high school was filled with drills on when Indiana became a state, how to do all kinds of things with parallelograms, dissecting pigs and diagramming sentences. NONE of these things have circled back to benefit me in my adult life {spoiler alert for students!!} but the helpful things - like learning what tree roots do to sewer lines - were never mentioned once.

So when you don't know, you learn the hard way.

The hard way for me came back some 15 years ago when I'd just moved in and one day my roommate noticed toilet paper and tampons laying in the yard outside a mysterious hole in the ground. Oh yes. You read that right. OUR TOILET PAPER AND TAMPONS were laying in the yard for all to see. In the dead of winter, I might add. Merry Christmas. We keep our extra TP and tampons outside. Help yourself!

We called a sewer service and the gentleman drove his giant white van {with large letters proclaiming his business smacked on the side} into our driveway and hauled out all manner of coils and tools I'd never seen. While I stood in the bathroom and kept the flush on repeat, he dug through and arrived at the back door in his snow and ice covered galoshes with the news that our lines had been full of tree roots, but never to fear, he'd cleaned it out. He handed me a bill, thanked me for my business, and left.

And so began my occasional meeting with the sewer man, who really is very good and prompt. He'd been here this past winter, when I thought the lines fought the roots again, but it turned out we just had a frozen pipe. But he warned me we should have him back come spring, because those lines were about to need some treatment.

Ryan and I noticed the familiar gurgle not long ago, so on Tuesday, I called the good man and asked if he could stop by. He asked if it was time for my annual.

You could say that. But I'd rather not word it just that way to the sewer man.

An hour later, he brought the big white van with the sewer service billboard on the side and parked in our driveway. The guys tumbled out with the coils and tools and got busy rooting away in the cleanouts. They shouted stories of the sewers of Marion over the loud motors, and I texted Ryan at work to see if he could, by chance, hear the stories from where he was.

I busied myself with emptying the dishwasher and wondered if our neighbors could hear...hoped maybe they were still asleep. Or gone.

A moment later, as if on cue, the neighbors knocked on the door and waved...they'd stopped by to drop food off in the freezer we share. We stood on the back porch and talked while the sewer service guys weaved in and out of our conversation and I hastily explained why they were there.

Right about then, one of the guys yelled "FLUSH THE STOOL!!!"

Oh yes. Bekah Shaffer: Keeping Marion classy for 15 years now.

They completed their work, delivered the bill, and congratulated me on calling just in time. Not much longer and it would have been a real mess, they said.

Ahhhh yes. The toilet paper yard ornaments. The only thing that could make it classier. 

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, Ryan and I went to church, which was really good...and after the service, we came home, ate some breakfast, and were asleep in about 20 minutes. Slept until noon! What has come over us!??! We enjoyed a low key afternoon at home...Ryan watched the playoffs and I finished my novel. {Reading, not writing.} That afternoon, the first of the nasty weather set in, making the roads all slickery, but Ryan ventured forth that night to get us a treat of Frostys! {Because who doesn't want a Frosty when it's icy out??!?!}

* Monday was c.o.l.d. Reminded me of last winter, and I know we haven't gotten anywhere near those temps! {And it's okay with me if we don't!!} My car was a creaking mess for the first part of the commute, and I can't blame it. I would be creaky too, trying to run in those temps!! We hunkered down at home for the evening - and Ryan was SO excited, because his late Christmas present arrived! All he really wanted was this coffee pot he found online, so he saved his Christmas money to get it. It's possible that I am now too dumb to make coffee at our house. That is one involved coffee pot!!

* Two hours and twenty minutes would be the amount of time it took me to get to work on Tuesday. We got some snow overnight, though not NEARLY what they predicted, and it was just a mess all the way to work. I had to drive 30 most of the way. My dental bracelet was repurposed as a winter driving bracelet! The snow sure was pretty, though. after I was out of the car. It was another night at home for us...because...FIXER UPPER STARTED!!!!!!!!!!!

* Winter continued on Wednesday. Right after I got to work, it turned into a white-out in Fort Wayne...and then in the early afternoon, the sun came out...and then it was a white-out for my entire drive home. This state cannot make up its mind on the weather!! Thankful for another day of safe commutes! And thankful the UPS truck came that night with two new scrapbooks for me!! We've now officially documented our trip to Holiday World and the family vacation from my parents' anniversary!

* Thursday was SO COLD, but I braved it at lunch time to meet up with my friend Elisa for lunch at our little cafe. {We figure by eating there twice, it becomes ours.} Fabulous sloppy joes. YUM. Who can't love a sloppy joe on a cold day? Came home to find our pipes to our kitchen had frozen. I was of the {clearly incorrect} belief that the fancy pants new plumbing we got couldn't freeze. I found out it actually can, but they just shouldn't burst. We tried to find the source of the freezing and warm it up, but it didn't get solved that night. Right after we discovered that, we found evidence that our sewer was backed up. This happens periodically because of tree roots. Time for a clean-out. So....we drowned our sorrows in Dashing Dish burrito bowls and I made plans to work from home on Friday so I could be there when the sewer guys came.

* Imagine my surprise on Friday when the sewer guys came and declared in five minutes that the issue was NOT tree roots this time! They were here for about an hour, trying to locate the source of the problem to fix it. After much searching, it turned out to be a freezing issue too! Winter. Why do you hate us? I worked from home all day - and then that evening, our friend Kole came over to pick up our couch and loveseat that he bought. Ryan helped him bundle them all up and move them out. One step closer to our IKEA couch!

* Ryan worked yesterday, so I stayed home and knocked out some serious scrapbooking while he was gone. When he came home, we went for a quick Starbucks date. They were offering samples of fresh brew, and we thought the little cups would make perfect mouthwash cups for the bathroom! :) We also went to Lowe's...and I may have gotten the itch to do some painting while I was there. I think it's time to redo the bedroom!!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday...we started celebrating Ryan's birthday! Yeah it's not until April, but this year is the big 3-5, so I decided to start celebrating WAY early. He found his first treat...a card from me...waiting for him on the bed while he was getting ready for church! It's going to be such a fun few weeks leading up to his big day! We had the WHOLE DAY at home together - during which we may or may not have made TWO pots of coffee and watched a lot of TV. It was so perfect.

* Monday was St. Patrick's Day - which oddly enough, is one holiday I don't really celebrate. I normally celebrate everything that gives me a good reason to have a party. Not sure why I skip over this one!  Ryan and I got to be home together the whole evening, so I decorated the house for Easter and we filled out our March Madness brackets!

* Tuesday. Ohhhhhhh, Tuesday. We really probably shouldn't even talk about it. It was a long, hard day, and I had every hope, as I drove home, that the evening would be lovely, just like Monday. It was warm enough to run the cool air in the car {yay!!!} and then I came home to...the moat around the house. And the news that we wouldn't have water all night. And the mess. And the frustration. And the mounting bill. A few tears and dinner at Culver's did make the night some better. That Ryan. He's a saint to put up with me.

 * Wednesday, the plumbers came back and TURNED ON THE WATER!!! I was a happy girl. The yard is a mess and we'll spend a good number of months cleaning that up, I'm sure, but we are functional again. And I was OVERJOYED to find the first concrete signs of spring on the property: buds on the trees and tiny shoots of flowers pushing through the earth. Thank. You. Jesus! Ryan and I worked hard that night getting things done at home - so thankful for Ryan's help - especially when he goes to the store to buy hair color for me. Husband of the year!

* Thursday was a LONG day. Not in a bad way. Just a LONG day. Got up at my normal pre-dawn hour and packed up for the day because...I worked the Winter Jam concert in Fort Wayne. It was a really wonderful concert...but sad. because Ryan couldn't go with me. He left me the sweetest love note and a Cadbury egg in my lunchbox...which made me feel better.

* Friday evening was SO fun. We went to a Sunday School class party...our first "extracurricular" event at our new church. {We've been there almost a year.} We have started making new friends there and this gave us a chance to spend time with them outside of church. The food was so good, and it was just such a joy to be able to have a night out with a big group of friends. Much needed.

* Yesterday morning, we were both EXHAUSTED, but had to get up early so Ryan could work and so I could get ready to spend some time with my friend Amber. She and I had a Starbucks date followed by an extended visit to the Hobby Lobby. And then last night, Ryan and I went to our friends' house for dinner and a March Madness party.We learned a new card game AND I got a great new Pinterest dinner idea. Happiness abounded.

From Bekah's Noggin

Last night I worked the Winter Jam concert in Fort Wayne.

That means I was out WAY past my bedtime on a school night. As a result, you get randomness from my noggin today.  I would apologize, but the truth is, it's better than me trying to be all deep after a late night concert. :)

* Strawberry shortcake season has RETURNED to Ivanhoe's. We learned that it had been scheduled to be back when we were there last Saturday, but ALAS, there was a delay in the shortcake bakery, so...no strawberry shortcake for us. Sadness abounded, but they say good things come to those who wait, so I'm planning to not wait long until this good thing comes to me:

* Having a husband who will go to the store and buy hair color for you is one of those rare gifts they don't prepare you for in the marriage books. Having a husband who has no hair himself who will go to the store and by hair color for you is just funny.

* Does anyone else fill out March Madness brackets based on things like the sound of the school's name and their team colors? Oh. Is it just me?

* Random embarrassing moment from this week: I came home from work on Tuesday to find a guy named Doug digging in the trench in my front yard. I got out of my car, walked up to the trench, started taking pictures for the scrapbook, and struck up a conversation with Doug about the work he'd been doing {very well} all day. About halfway through the conversation he said, "Do you live here?" Apparently I'd failed to introduce myself and I looked like a neighborhood wackadoodle who just goes up to random houses and starts taking pictures.

* Ryan brought me a Cadbury egg the other night because he knew I'd had a tough day and things like Cadbury egg treats would make me so happy. There is no picture of said egg, because, as previously mentioned, it had been a tough day and it didn't really last long enough for a photo shoot.

* I love the realtor.com app, and very little in life makes me forget my worries like looking at houses and imagining furniture placement. It's fun and not as labor intensive as actually moving the furniture.

* Next week I'll let you take a peek at Winter Jam. :)

Housekeeping...Oh So Literally

So I think I've confused a few people...and I do so hate confusion...so I'm going to try to clear all that up today!

It's about the house. Is it a rental? Is it for sale? Is it the one we're living in? Are we moving? What IS going on with those crazy Shaffers and their housing?

When Ryan and I got married, we each owned a house. In fact, we'd each lived in our houses for almost exactly the same amount of time and had invested a lot of time, blood, sweat, tears, and personality in them.

My house is more centrally located to our two jobs, so we decided to make mine our official residence. So after we got married, Ryan moved all his stuff over my way, and we merged our two households.

We put his house on the market (ourselves...not through a realtor) and prayed for a speedy sale so we didn't have to continue to be a two-household...household. A family came along right away and fell in love with the place. They loved everything about it and wanted it to be their home. They weren't in a position to purchase right away but wanted to buy it.

Because they loved the house so much and wanted to move toward buying, we allowed them to move in and rent for a few months while they saved up to buy. And then we went home and prayed hard for God to work out all the financial details for the sale to move quickly so we could move on with our lives.

In a very abbreviated version of the story...a year later...the sale didn't work out. They were disappointed...we were disappointed...and here we sit, one year later, with the house still on our hands. We've been working very hard {as you might have noticed in the Sunday posts} to clean up the house, repair the things that were broken, and be ready to put it on the market right away and again...to begin praying that it will sell quickly.

It's been quite a faith-journey for us. As is always the case when you pray fervently for something and it doesn't take place, we've done our fair share of question-asking, crying {okay that part was more me than Ryan}, struggling through anger, and more.

To be truthful with you, I have no idea what God is trying to teach us on this journey...I just sure hope I don't miss the lesson in the end. I reminded Ryan that when I began working at the station, I put my house on the market and it sat there for a year and a half...and I prayed...begged...for God to sell it. I asked you to pray - and many of you prayed along with me for the sale of that house. And in the end, if it had sold in my timing, I doubt Ryan and I ever would have started dating. So I believe God's no led to His yes in our relationship.

So perhaps this delay in sale, while wildly frustrating for us, is part of something else...something bigger...something purposeful...that God is doing that we can't even see.

But if you're a praying soul, we'd welcome your prayers as we meet with the realtor this week and place the house on the market...that God would hold us steady beside Him as we wait for it to sell...that we wouldn't miss lessons He has to teach...that the right buyer, who will love and cherish that house as Ryan did for so many years, will come along and make it his or her home...and that {this is our selfish side talking} it would sell quickly so we could move on as a ONE HOME family.

Meanwhile: a few pictures from our journey of keeping this house....

From  dating to fixing to cleaning...we've had a journey with this little house. Anxious to see where God leads us in this part of our life!