The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday was the end of the Shafferland Staycation...so sad!! We checked out of our room at the Hilton where the marriage retreat was held...and made our way to breakfast. I ordered a piece of toast that seemed to be um...on a diet? We made our way home and rested/unpacked/geared up for a new week AND...guess what?? MORE SNOW!!!!! {Bet you can't guess which picture offers my thoughts on that.}

* We went to work on Monday...and I was so excited to find a gift waiting for me when I arrived!! A mug from Lindsay Sherbondy's shop...love it! I made it through a whopping HALF day before coming home to beat the snow/ice storm predicted to come. I settled in on the couch to work for the afternoon, and Ryan drove home in the {granted, very pretty from the inside} whiteout of an afternoon storm. Thankful we could stay home all evening!

 * Tuesday morning, I left for work at 6:00 a.m. AGAIN. Not gonna lie - kind of tired of prepping for 2 hour commutes. Hurry, spring!! After work, we met with the plumbers, who came to map out their plan for the plumbing overhaul we have to have done. And in totally unrelated news...I made my first ever guacamole that night! It was really good! Ryan and I had to push one of our cars out of the driveway {stupid ruts...}and got a little chilly in the process, but we got it out!!

* Wednesday....ohhhhh Wednesday!!! I actually got to leave at a respectable time and have a drive on clear roads driving...are you ready for this??? THE SPEED LIMIT! It was amazing. My friend Amy invited me to join her for an impromptu lunch outing at McDonald's, so it was an iced tea day!! I got tons of work done at my desk, and then came home to a hard workout in our new routine! Even Braeya got into the action with us. {No doubt so she could get wound up to keep us up at night.}

* Remember how I had to work part of Monday from home because of snow? Well Thursday was our day of heavy fog, crazy rain, and then storms with 75 mile an hour winds. Ohhhh Indiana. Thursday was also the day we had to empty the contents of several rooms into one so the plumbers could come and begin the great redo of 2014. Ryan did the lion's share of that work while I made a Texas sheet cake for his work...and burned my fingers in the process. How does a little burn hurt SO MUCH!?!?

 * Ryan and I spent much of Friday checking in with my mom, who was "supervising" the plumbers as they began the overhaul at our house. The poor plumbers ran into a few obstacles immediately, but we already have a nice hole in the ceiling to show for the work! Ryan and I were emotionally pooped from the week, so we hunkered down at home with pizza and old episodes of Mad About You and then watched our last round of Olympics...sniff of sadness.

* Saturday was a work day for Ryan, so I enjoyed a day of leisure. I scrapbooked, caught up on Downton Abbey {well, almost....} and made a quick outing to Cato with my friend Kari to do some shopping. It's been a while since I shopped with a girlfriend - fun! And also for fun - our thoughts on the week.

Valentine's Day

We had such a fun Valentine's Day...always easier to celebrate a holiday when you have the day off, right?

Ryan started the day out right by treating me to breakfast! He made our favorite pancakes and some turkey bacon - and of course, coffee!!

And he treated me to a Valentine's Day gift: roses, Reese's peanut butter hearts, and a black and burlap "S" to put in our dining room. He knows me!!!!

You might remember that Ryan's wedding gift from me was a series of letters I wrote to him for years leading up to our marriage. {Before I even knew who he was!} He's still reading them and had noticed that the next one in line was one I'd written on a Valentine's Day back in 2007. So while we ate, he read that letter...my heart was filled with such hope on that day in 2007. I was so sure that marriage was just around the corner! This is the beauty of God not giving all the details up front!! Thankful for His faithfulness in that long season of waiting.

We exchanged our cards...{please excuse our bedhead. HA!! We were on vacation.}

And then I gave Ryan his gift. I'd been SO EXCITED about this present!!! I had a list of verses I used to pray over my future marriage...26 verses...one for every letter of the alphabet. So I made a scrapbook that featured every single verse I prayed, and a picture taken sometime since the start of our relationship that showed in some way how God had answered the prayer of that verse. He loved it.

It was a beautiful start to the morning!! After breakfast, we packed up the car and headed to Fort Wayne for our Valentine's Day outing: a dessert and coffee date at DeBrand Fine Chocolates. If you're not from around here...well, you're missing out. Fabulous chocolate. And such a fun atmosphere!! They were a bit packed that day {learned that lots of people wait UNTIL Valentine's Day to buy the goodies} but they were well-staffed and ridiculously efficient, and we didn't have to wait long!

We ordered the Ultimate Float and some coffee. Oh my word. People. PEOPLE!!!!!!!

 I cannot even put into words the goodness of this float.

We had the best time just savoring our dessert...enjoying each other's company. So good.

We drove around Fort Wayne a bit and then...checked into our hotel for the beginning of the marriage retreat!

{Yes, I brought my roses with me.}

It was a great day!! Thanks, Ryan, for treating me to such fun!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, Ryan and took breakfast to Sunday School for our class...and they loved it so much we hardly had leftovers! {boo!!!} After church, we made our way to Indianapolis to make good on Ryan's Christmas present...tickets to the Pentatonix concert! After standing in the almost zero temperatures for an hour and a half, we got into the standing-room-only concert hall and watched a great show! And on the way home...an IHOP date!

* Monday was...the first official day of our staycation!! That's right, baby! The Shaffers took a staycation this week!! We slept in...and began our day of a Back to the Future movie marathon! If you can believe it...I'd never seen any of the movies and they're among Ryan's favorites, so we watched them all...in one day! We did a little bit of work at home, too, and watched the Olympics while we ate some oatmeal chocolate chip bars! And then Monday night, we had a slumber party in the living room right by the fire!

* Tuesday we picked up where we left off with the movies on Monday - and watched one of my favorites that Ryan had never seen: Flightplan! When we finally got up and moving, we spent a few hours cleaning out the attic...purging, reorganizing, and taking some walks down memory lane. Ryan found some clothes from when he was a baby, and I found all sorts of letters and cards I'd saved from years ago. {AND we found the boxes of sheets, Valentine's Day decor and wreaths we have been missing for MONTHS.} And then a rare treat...Braeya sat on my lap for a while! She DOES still love me!

* Wednesday was cold, but GORGEOUS outside, so we took advantage of the pretty day and headed out for our second county tour. Adams County was our destination...and we saw the sights of a covered bridge, a replica clock tower, and our favorite part of the day: COFFEE SHOP LOVE!!! We tried out the Shaka Shack in Monroe and man was that some good coffee!! A leisurely, successful day to visit the sights of Indiana!

* Thursday was...not as much fun as Wednesday. We had a plumber come to visit that morning to investigate some issues we've had with frozen pipes and leaks this winter. The verdict? Total plumbing replacement. YIPPEEE!!!!!!! We tried to be thankful for the fact that we have plumbing...but you know how easy that can be when problems abound. We took some time that afternoon to go visit Ryan's grandma, who is recovering from surgery...wanted to take her a little gift to brighten her day. LOVED the blue sky sunset, despite the gray day...and that night...we hunkered down to watch Indiana boy Nick Goepper compete in the Olympics!

 * Friday was Valentine's Day, and I can't wait to tell you all about that in more detail. We started out with a homemade breakfast and gift exchange at home...followed by the most YUMMY dessert stop at DeBrand Fine Chocolates in Fort Wayne...and the first day of our marriage retreat weekend! That was fun, because we got to meet up with some of our friends we've not seen in a long while!

* Yesterday we wrapped up our marriage retreat with such a fun day! The speaker this year was John Townsend, and we really enjoyed listening to him! We got to have a late lunch/early dinner with our friends, which was great! We had fun at the evening entertainment...and then a little bit of Wii bowling to top off the night. Great way to end the retreat!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, we wrapped up our time at the marriage conference, with an amazing worship service. I still can't get over how much I loved that! We came home and settled into real life again, which included a trip to the grocery store. We actually love grocery shopping together so much that we both hate going alone. It's more fun together! When we came home, we hung up our latest Pinterest inspired thing...a wire wall basket to hold fruit!

* Monday morning, both of us noticed as we drove to work that seemingly all of the sudden - it's light out when we leave for work! That must have happened underneath all the overcast yuck of last week. OH how I love leaving for work in something other than pitch black. Isn't this GORGEOUS???

That night we took our little road trip in Old Trusty to pick up our new-to-us elliptical from our friends Jon and Julie!

* And Tuesday I got to USE our new-to-us elliptical for the first time. It runs like a dream and is such a sweet machine in comparison to the one I used to have {that died an ugly death ever so randomly one day}. Love the opportunity to work out at home doing something OTHER than a DVD.

* Wednesday night I tried on my wedding dress just to make sure we were okay before the reception. MAMA!!! That sucker was WAY tighter than it was on our wedding day. Want to know how amused I was? You can guess. So I'm on a strict salad diet until the reception...but I so loved seeing the dress again - and my VEIL!!!

* Thursday morning I drove straight to the BP for my salad. I know - weird, right? They make THE BEST salads there. For just over $5.00, I got a salad that I will get 3 meals out of...and it has broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, radishes, onion, celery, tomatoes, carrots, cheese, and meat. That is not a bad gig!!! At least it makes the thing flavorful.

* Friday morning, my one-hour commute turned into a two-hour commute, thankyouverymuchwintrymix!!! I was thankful I left home 2 hours early so I wasn't late...but getting up at 4:30 for work STINKS!! Friday night, Ryan and I went to Chili's for dinner, along with a couple of his friends that I'd never really gotten to know before. We had a great time - and I was a good, good girl and ate from the good-for-you menu!

* Saturday, Ryan had to work most of the day, so I stayed home {and in bed a good chunk of the morning, but don't tell} and scrapbooked...and worked on reception stuff...and watched almost all of season 2 of Downton Abbey. GASP!

Then, once Ryan got home, we scrapped our initial plans of cleaning and instead went to IHOP for dinner {where I ate from the good menu AGAIN!} and on our grocery shopping date and then we came home and just relaxed on the couch to watch a movie and eat popcorn. We sorely needed a "nothing" night and I'm so glad we took one!

Marriage Retreat: Not the Movie {Take 2}

Saturday morning, while we were at the marriage retreat, Ryan got his first taste of ugly, decaffeinated morning Bekah. We didn't have coffee at the hotel and our search for a McDonald's in walking distance of the hotel began as a Siri-induced failure in some biting wind and cold. It wasn't pretty and I felt horrible. And so began the challenging portion of the weekend.

We sat in more sessions with Gary Oliver and continued to learn good things about emotions and how they factor into marriage. We also reported in on our little game from the night before. {Nothing provides a get to know ya time like standing in front of 200 strangers and reporting your findings on a lovers game.}

 

Seriously. Bangs, Bekah.

The main portion of the retreat was over at lunch time, so we went back to our room for a much-needed nap. {Because you know, the girl with the bad hair needed a do-over on the day.}

That afternoon, we met up with our friends to go out to eat with an early dinner reservation. We stood by the door to the parking garage to wait for them...all the while being passed by a flood of heavily made-up tiny cheerleaders and their parents. Whew! That was a lot of someday-estrogen passing us by. We were scared! {As is evident in this photo.}

We had dinner at Biaggi's, which is a fabulous restaurant in Fort Wayne. It was essentially the only real meal we had the whole day, so we made the most of it!

 

And after that...of course, we needed a Starbucks date! Here I am with the other girls in the group! On the left is Lorissa, who was a new friend I met at the retreat. Then there's Lori, from my church, and Sara, also from church {and you may recognize her from our wedding, too}!

 After our date, we went back to the retreat to watch Jim Barron's illusion show. He did a great job - always enjoy watching his shows!

Sunday morning, Ryan was so kind {or maybe so scared he'd see a reprise of Saturday morning} to walk down to Subway to get us some breakfast and coffee. {Mouth full of food - sorry.}

And then we went to the closing part of the retreat...a worship service. It lasted 2 hours and moved me to tears. Definitely the most meaningful part of the weekend. On our way home....little date through the car wash....

Though the weekend brought out a lot of wounded and challenged pieces of my heart...I'm so glad we went and I'm excited to move forward in becoming a better wife...becoming the support and encouragement he needs!

Marriage Retreat - Not the Movie

This past weekend, Ryan and I went on a marriage retreat. Not the movie. :)

I know, I know. We've not even been married 3 months yet. Why could we possibly need a marriage retreat? Well, we thought it might be a good tradition to start, and some of our friends were going, so we went too! It was in Fort Wayne, so Ryan caught a ride with some of our friends, and I drove over after work to meet him at the hotel.

I made him meet me outside because the parking was in a parking garage and those things and I do not have a great history. I figured it wouldn't do well to start the weekend by having a head on collision in the garage because of my inability to read arrows. {Stop rolling your eyes. It can happen.}

The retreat is sponsored by the Wabash Friends Church/Counseling Center, and they'd come through all our rooms before we arrived to leave some sparkling grape juice and chocolates...and to sprinkle a few rose petals....

We were on our own for dinner, so while I was still at work, I got some ideas of where to go. Given that Ryan and I are a couple of classy hot dog fans, we checked out the famous Coney Island hot dog stop. {Or if you're texting it - it comes out Comet Island. FYI.}

We went with our friends, Brad and Lori, and the valuable tip we learned while visiting was that the mustard in the little bottle is NOT thick. Brad shook it and ended up wearing mustard...on his shirt...in his beard...in his EAR. I was sorry I missed THAT photo opp before he got it cleaned up. We really enjoyed dinner, though. One good hot dog!

I'm getting worse at self photography. My neck looks like Gaston's from Beauty and the Beast!! And just so you know - YES I'm aware that I'm in a really, REALLY unfortunate hair phase right now. I'm trying so hard to not touch it until after the reception {except for coloring} but I need bangs in the worst way. I'm sorry for the view until that day comes.

Anyway. Friday evening we spent time at the retreat...they had some time of worship...door prizes...funny videos...and our speaker was Dr. Gary Oliver. He had a great sense of humor and was one of those guys that was obviously incredibly knowledgeable in his field...but yet not incapable of relating to the common folk. :) We really enjoyed him!!

They passed out some "couples games" at the end of the night and we received one because we were {almost} the most newly married duo there. It was a dice sort of game....and we were required to report back on that the next day, so off to do our homework!!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday morning, we were sitting in Sunday School when the door opened and some of the kiddos walked in pushing a cart full of slices of coffee cake! What a fun surprise! They served us all just as a little Valentine's Day gift...loved it!

Enjoyed a day of rest at home and then Ryan and I went over to his mom's house that evening so I could attend a jewelry party his sister was having! A great day all around!

* Monday evening, Ryan did laundry and asked me HOW it was possible that between the two of us, we have SO MANY PAIRS of black socks? I'm sure I don't know! Maybe because black is our power color??

I'm sorry to say the rest of our night was consumed with our addiction of Love It or List It. Pathetic, really, how much we love that show.

* Tuesday I had a fun first {for me}...sent in an RSVP for the first time ever....for two. I realize it seems like a silly thing but it seriously was so significant to me that I had to take a picture!!

I spent the rest of the night glued to my 2012 scrapbook, which arrived in the mail that day. 150 pages of great memories from last year!

* Wednesday was the start of Lent, so I began reading through the negativity fast study that I'm doing this year. I have to say when Lent begins in February, I have trouble jumping in. It just seems too early!!

* Thursday was, of course, Valentine's Day, and you already saw the recap of that...but I so so SO loved getting flowers delivered to work. Made my entire YEAR!!!

Loved having the chance to spoil and be spoiled this year!

* Friday night Ryan and I went to the first night of our first ever marriage retreat. I had been SO looking forward to it all week! More to come on that later, but check out what we found in our hotel room when we checked in!

*And Saturday we spent the whole day at the marriage retreat...including some great time out with friends of ours. We went to dinner and then out for a coffee date at Starbucks!

 After the coffee date, we came back to the retreat to enjoy Jim Barron's illusion show. {Jim is on the morning team at WBCL....always fun to see his shows!}