On the Road Again!

No, not a vacation...but a little road trip, nonetheless!

Had you ever told my 16 year old shaking self that I would not only survive high school speech class, but someday, people would actually invite me to speak to their groups, I guarantee you I wouldn't have laughed. I would have probably launched into a full-blown panic attack and run away from home.

The beauty of ignorance. :)

As it turned out, I finished speech class in high school, finished another one in college, and before I even started working at WBCL, I had to learn to speak to groups of graduating seniors...which petrified me to no end. But I learned to relax, little by little, and the last four years have brought some opportunities to speak in front of different church groups, and I really do love it.

So this past Saturday, while Ryan worked, I hopped in my car and drove to Antwerp, Ohio, to speak at a ladies' luncheon at Antwerp Community Church. I'd never been to Antwerp before, but it seemed like a lovely little town:

 The drive was an easy one - despite construction {seriously - is every road in the country undergoing renovation right now} and the church was right off the main highway, not too far over the line into Ohio.

The ladies of the church told me how they'd decided that particular plot of ground was perfect for a church, since it was right by the highway and easy to find...and how the community and church members came together to build the structure.

I knew no one there...but I loved sitting back and watching as the ladies hugged each other, shared stories, and had a great time. In an attempt to avoid scary junior high flashbacks, I asked three ladies at a table if I could join them, and they graciously said yes. They were fun! A mother and her two daughters...and they told me about the ladies of the church so I didn't feel like such a stranger.

They offered a lunch that was spectacular...some of my very favorite things, like chicken salad croissants and seven layer salad...and a buffet of pies. And someone clued me in that the giant bowl of coffee punch was something not to miss...and oh my goodness. HOW TRUE. It was coffee goodness in a bowl...almost like a melted coffee shake. Give me a straw and get out of my way.

While we ate, a gentleman played the guitar and sang some worship songs, and then a woman sang and played for us. They were both very good!

And then it was my turn. You should know that as the lady sang before I spoke...I noticed a storm moving in. And by the time I got up to talk, the deluge had begun, the skies, were dark, and I had a front row seat to it...because the huge glass doors to the church were directly ahead of me as I stood behind the podium. I gripped the sides of it and confessed straight up to a whole room full of strangers that I'm afraid of storms and if it got really bad, I might hit the floor and they should just ignore me.

It ended up storming the entire time I spoke, which was, I'm sure, God's creative way of keeping me fully dependent on Him as I stood before the ladies.

Again, I cannot talk without my hands. And no, my shirt's not messed up. I had to hike it up to clip the lapel mic on my pants.

I was thankful that God held off the extreme wind as I spoke. Right before I got up to speak, I got a weather alert from back home that damaging winds were coming through, and indeed, when I got home, I found the winds had been so bad that trees in our area came down. I'm glad I wasn't home for that and I'm glad it wasn't so bad where I was.

Thanks, ladies of Antwerp Community Church, for making me feel at home! I appreciate you! It was lovely to meet all of you - and your coffee punch! 

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, we started a new sermon series at church...on faith. Why do I have a feeling this is coming at the most opportune time, given our life station? That afternoon, Ryan and I picked out our flowers for this year...I always love flower shopping! And I got on a bit of a cooking kick and even made homemade strawberry shortcake!!

* Monday was Memorial Day, and Ryan had to go to work, but I got to stay home. I still worked {producers' jobs are never done}...writing interview questions for my show on Tuesday. Braeya took a nap on the dining room table, which made me feel very good about the germ quality of the table! {Good thing we never use it to eat!} And that night, she was so tired from her "busy" day, she took another nap with Ryan!

* Tuesday, I hosted my final full-length show, interviewing Melanie Shankle about her latest book. I prayed that I would just really enjoy that last interview, and I did, so I'm grateful! After work, Ryan and I actually planted the flowers we got earlier. {I completely forgot about them. How bad would it have been if they'd all died!?!!?!?} I loved the outcome...now to keep them alive!

* Wednesday was an encore show at work, so I had a whole day all to myself in my office! I am such a nerd that I printed out a bunch of planner pages and began writing a training schedule for my job. N.E.R.D. The weather was CRAZY that day. Check this out from my drive home. Left picture: out my driver's side of my car. Right picture: Out the passenger side. Seconds apart.

* Thursday I co-hosted BLT with Jim Barron for the last time...he filled in for Lynne while she was on vacation. While I was doing that, Ryan and his co-worker Chanteal were busy winning the little tournament started a few weeks ago. I didn't know he got PRIZES for winning! GOOD JOB, BABY!!! That evening we FINALLY got to lay in the hammock for a while. How sad is it that it's the end of May and that's the first time we got to do that???

* I ended up taking Friday off work because I could, so I spent the day doing errands and chores - and the last of the prep for my speaking engagement on Saturday! One of my chores was laundry - don't you HATE it when one sock escapes getting INSIDE the washer and you don't realize it until you go to switch the laundry to the dryer!?!?? I also surprised Ryan by getting our caricature picture framed! We already had the frame...I just got a new mat to fit it. Love it!

* Yesterday, I drove to Antwerp, Ohio, to speak at a ladies' luncheon at a church. I had a great time with them...they were warm and inviting, and I really appreciated the chance to share with them. A huge storm blew through right when I got up to speak...one more creative way God keeps me dependent! :) Ryan worked, so he couldn't go with me this time. But we got to spend the evening together...little date night out on the town!

Going for Mo

You might remember that back in December, when we took our anniversary trip up toward Chicago, we went to IKEA for the very first time in our lives. We had a great day there...a great day made better when we encountered what we believe to be the perfect couch for Shafferland.

We loved that thing so much, we canceled buying Christmas presents for one another and came home to list our own living room furniture {the part Ryan had before we got married} online to sell it. We pooled Christmas money, saved money, and sold furniture money so we could return to IKEA and bring home Mo. Yes. We named him. The couch model is called the Moheda, so we shortened it to Mo..and Mo he is!

We discovered the IKEA in Cincinnati is actually closer to us than the one in Schaumburg, where we went originally, so Friday night, we both got off work an hour early and scurried home to get on the road. Well. I TRIED to scurry. Right before I got on the interstate, I found out it was closed halfway home because of a car fire. So I had to take the back way, which takes longer. So guess who held up the departure? THE GIRL WHO SAID, "I DON'T CARE IF ANYONE ELSE MAKES US LATE, BUT I GUARANTEE YOU I WILL NOT BE LATE." Famous last words.

Ryan's mom had never been to IKEA and wanted to check it out, so she came over and brought Allen's big pickup truck, which is bigger and sturdier than ours, and the three of us packed ourselves in that little cab and set out on a three hour tour.

It was get-to-know-ya time in that truck! I rode in the middle, which meant I could not move my feet AT ALL. Nita and I had our suitcase purses on the floor on her side, and there was some sort of gear thing on the floor between my feet and Ryan's, plus if I bumped my knee up, I could knock us into reverse!

So there I sat!!! Allllll the way to Ohio.

This IKEA was a little older and not quite as big as the one in Schaumburg. But we didn't care. Cause you know why? MO WAS INSIDE!!

So happy to be out of the truck with my legs moving!

And Ryan was so happy for his mom to meet IKEA!

We scurried upstairs and ran to the living room section. Some other people were {mistakenly, I'm sure} sitting on Mo when we arrived, but they left, and oh, baby! Reunited and it feels so GOOD!

We were pretty hungry, because it was almost 8:00 by this time, so we found our way to the little restaurant and got some dinner!

And then...time to buy Mo!! We made our way to checkout with our trusty little paper, so we could make him officially OURS.

*Ahem* might have also purchased some coffee beans.

After we paid for him, Ryan had to take a slip to furniture pickup so they could go get the monstrosity that was Mo and bring him to us.

We sat in the waiting room while they went to fetch him:

And then...he was there!

OUR BOY!!!!! Our little Mo. He's really not very little, is he?

Then to get it in the truck...oh sweet goodness.

They were supposed to have helper guys outside but they were nowhere to be found, so Ryan tried to wrestle it into the truck while I sat in the cab {making sure the doors didn't lock us out in the cold and also getting the GPS set up to get us back home} and Nita bought cinnamon rolls inside.

Thankfully a really nice couple happened to exit with their own purchases and kindly stopped to lend a hand. BLESS YOU, sweet strangers!!

Before we headed home...it's possible we were just MOMENTS from a Sonic.

Be still my beating heart.

Ryan and Nita had their first cream slushes. All is right with the world.

And then it was back to Indiana. This picture looks a little like we felt by the time we got there:

We arrived home about 12:30 in the morning and had to bust through the plastic wrap holding the four boxes of Mo together. Ryan and I hauled it in one box at a time, and Nita held the door for us. She went home and we collapsed into sleep!!! What a great date night!

Waynestock

Ryan and I had a little work adventure this past Saturday! We trekked over to St. Marys, Ohio to work Waynestock...which is a Christian music festival.

Wanna hear my embarrassing moment of the day?

We had our tent all set up, and people were making their way through, talking to us, and this one sweet woman walked in clutching a styrofoam cup. I'd never seen this woman before in my life, but that didn't stop me from marching up to her and saying, "IS THAT A SONIC CUP?" She laughed and said it was, and I stepped even closer and said, "SHUT UP! WHERE IS THERE A SONIC AROUND HERE?"

They don't put me on the welcoming committee for nothing.

Turns out we'd driven right past the good ole Sonic and I missed the whole thing. I was beside myself. Next time. NEXT TIME.

We were not too far from the stage and the crowd was fantastic. It wasn't a hot, sunny day, but it was actually pretty pleasant out there!

Ryan went with me and we worked alongside Lynne and Ken Church. Those two are a blast to work with; we had a fun evening!

The station had a contest for this concert - and the winners got front row seats. Lynne and I introduced them from the stage:

I enjoy working events, because I enjoy meeting you. It was fun to hear from so many of you that you stop by here and read...and it was fun to get to introduce you to Ryan. I love it that so many of you knew who he was even before I told you! Thanks for coming over to talk with us!

And it was fun to be with Lynne...we are two peas in a pod!

The music was great - and it was good to see people with hands raised, enjoying an evening of worship!

Ryan and I love the group Love and the Outcome. We love their music, their story, and their incredible TALENT!

Here's a few pictures of their part of the night.

 Another favorite of mine: Josh Wilson. I might have to write later this week about how his music has spoken to me.

There were some other artists there as well, but these were my two faves. We had a great night, even if it was a late one!

Thanks, Waynestock, for putting on a great night of music!