Engagementversary Part 1

Saturday was our 2 year engagementversary, and in a rare twist of wonderful, both of us had the entire day off work. So I declared it a day of celebration, and what fun we had! SO much fun, actually, that it might take 2 days to tell you! {Translation: it will.}

We found out a few days before the big day that our realtor wanted to have an open house at the home we live in, so we didn't really get to sleep in. We got up early, finished up the cleaning that needed to be done, and prepared to be kicked out of the house by 10 a.m.

But Ryan was a sweetheart and decided we needed a breakfast treat. One of our favorites is to get breakfast at Subway. It's seriously one of the most filling and simultaneously cost effective breakfasts we've ever found. So while I finished up at home, he went out for breakfast, and we ate together in our dining room!

We got the realtor all set up in our house, and then we headed out for stop #1 of the day: IWU Homecoming.

This wasn't a big number year for me at homecoming, and Ryan didn't go to IWU, so we had to make our own homecoming experience. But fortunately, we're good at that sort of thing. :) Last year they started having a parade. It's not very big {yet} but it's kind of a cool thing. I find parades fun, anyway.

So we made our way toward the parade route and waited for them! A really nice man took our picture with the IWU sign. {Thanks, Random Stranger!!}

PS. Homecoming weekend is almost always ridiculous where weather is concerned. It's always either cold or raining or snowing or all of that together. This particular morning was gorgeous, but our first day of fuh-reeeeeeezing. I had on 2 shirts and 2 jackets. And a hat. And gloves. And I'm hot blooded!

Homecoming King and Queen. {We watched their coronation from a distance last week when we were out for a walk around campus!} 

 This was Ryan's favorite float. It really was cool. {Though I did wonder about the young man in shorts. You know. Since I was in four layers.}

 And this was my favorite float. HA HA HA HA HA!

 The two in the back seat of this car are friends of mine from back in the days when I attended Chapel Pike. Mike and Cindy Helvie are their names...they're missionaries, and I really appreciate their commitment to their marriage. {They renew their vows every five years, I think it is. I got to attend one of those ceremonies and found it extremely moving and encouraging.}

 I want this to drive to work.

After the parade ended, we headed to the brand new science and nursing building that just opened. We've watched {from a distance} as they built it over the last couple of years. What an undertaking! Ryan felt that since he'd been supervisor #1 on the building {??} it seemed only right that he go inside and check out the finished product. You know. To make sure they did it right.

We went through the nursing side first. I didn't take any pictures, but it was really cool. I've always known IWU has a great nursing program, but seeing all their new labs and simulation dummies and state of the art hospital/doctor office equipment was really cool. {The dummies could breathe and bleed and cry and talk and foam at the mouth and one can even deliver a baby. That's not too shabby.}

After that tour, I took Ryan to see a newly renovated classroom. I took Earth Science in that room way back in the day - when it looked way more 70's and not nearly so modern. It's pretty cool now. Of course, all of this was lost to Mr. Hey-Aren't-These-Anatomy-Diagrams-On-The-Board Cool?

We wanted to take a tour of the new science part of the building, but we had to wait for a while for a guide to be ready:

This part of the building is five stories tall, and the tour started out on the very top floor. It was very science-y {go figure. IT'S A SCIENCE BUILDING} so I found myself a bit more captivated by the views out the windows. :)

The top of the Christian Ministries Building...

 Library, dorms, and fountain...

 And my favorite, which will probably end up framed and hanging in our home. The prayer chapel where I prayed so long for Ryan.

After we finished the tour, we headed to Mi Pueblo for lunch, where we met up with our friends Bill and Kristin, who were in town for Homecoming. Problem: Ryan and I had a huge breakfast so we weren't super hungry. We decided to share a lunch, and it cracked me up when they brought me an extra plate. I put it in front of me and said "Welp, guess I'm on a diet!" HA!

Great time catching up with Bill and Kristin. They're foster parents and I think they said that was their first kid-free weekend in 16 months. Much deserved break for them, and I was glad for them! We had fun talking and then we set out on part two of our adventures for the day. I'll save them for tomorrow!

Hello, Celina Parade!

How many WBCL employees, spouses, interns, kids, and bikes can fit in the station van?

Three employees, one husband, one intern, two children, two bikes, and a partridge in a pear tree.

At least that's how many we squeezed in last Saturday when we traveled to Celina, Ohio for their parade! Ryan and I left the lake mid-afternoon and drove to Fort Wayne to catch up with the rest of the crew and then off to Celina we went!

Ryan and I sat in the farthest back seat, behind the two kiddos and the intern. The kids were so funny! One wanted to know why I had so many colors on my eyes {eyeshadow...her mom must not load up as much as I do} and both of them tried their best to get Ryan and I to kiss over and over and over so they could yell EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

 Though the weather at the lake was questionable at best, Celina was AMAZING. Look at those skies!!!  We were #31 in the parade, right behind the world's biggest fish! Ryan caught it.

 Because we are nothing more than overgrown children, in our pre-parade spare time, Ryan and I pedaled around on the little bikes.

 Funny story: We found a couple of portapotties {do NOT get me started on portapotties} and were going to take turns using them - so we could keep an eye on the bikes too. On my bike watching duty, I heard a voice say, "BEKAH!!!! Welcome to Celina!" I looked up and this guy was standing there and I said, "Um....do you really know who we are or are you just saying hi because my name is on my shirt?" LOL!!!

Not my classiest intro ever but I've learned that when you wear the name shirt, people will just start talking to you by name, and you wonder how you're supposed to know them...and then you realize you DON'T know them. They're just messin' with you!

Turns out this guy is a listener and knew who we were and he was even so sweet as to congratulate me on my recent marriage. I appreciated that warm welcome to Celina!

The parade started about 6:30, and Ryan rode in the van with Marion (our IT guy), Marion's kids, and Stephen, our intern. Jim and I rode the bikes...and we sure hoped Marion had a good foot on the brakes!! And we hoped the fish wouldn't have any accidents. HA!

 Jim, if you don't know, is on our morning team, and in recent weeks, I've been spending time with them fro 9-10, right before Mid-Morning. He likes to pick on me just a bit. {Just a wee bit.} He's fun though, and we enjoyed being bike buddies during the parade.

 Hellooooooo, Celina!!!!

 This was a HUGE parade. It went on and on forever and I think the entire state of Ohio was in attendance. They were so friendly. Really enjoyed spending time there!

And that was our parade!! We headed back to Fort Wayne {via McDonald's for some Monopoly fun} - and then Ryan and I went back to the lake!

My last parade for this year...and it was fun!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, we enjoyed a great church service. Exceptional sermon, we felt. And we got to sit in the service with our neighbors...kind of a new thing for us to have people we know in the church we've been attending such a short time. And then in the afternoon, we alternated between resting and adding some new touches to the bathroom - like this medicine cabinet. {The old one still said "Sears and Roebuck" inside if that tells you how old it was.}

* Monday evening we continued the bathroom renovation palooza with the addition of this very cool cabinet. Storage is really at a premium in that room and it occurred to me that we could spring for cute and functional over just cute. So we found this cabinet which we THOUGHT would show up assembled. Whoopsie! So Ryan spent the evening assembling and I spent the evening painting, and the marriage of the paint and the cabinet proved a most pleasant combo. {Decorating not final.}

* Tuesday evening we did the same thing as Monday evening, so that's boring to re-read. Instead I'll tell you that we also celebrated national ice cream month with a treat. I tell you this because this right here was my act of love for the day. Ryan's favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip. Mint of most kinds gives me a headache. So when I came home with mint chocolate chip ice cream AND ate some with him...he knew he was so loved.

* Wednesday night we took a night off from home improvement and headed to Wabash for dinner with my/our friends, John and Christi. Christi was one of my college roommates, and now she lives way too far away for my liking. She and her husband are visiting the area for a bit and I wanted to be sure to see her before she went back home! So we met up for dinner and had a great time chatting. {They'd met Ryan at our wedding but hadn't really gotten to know him.} Loved the memories we made!

* Thursday night we worked some more at home, but it was such a perfectly gorgeous night out that we had to take a walk at the end of the evening. Perfect end to a good day. And I was excited to see that my flowers are still going strong! {This is big for me. I usually kill plants.}

* I had to work this weekend, but we did manage to make a quick trip up to the lake Friday night to spend some time with Ryan's family. Such fun! We got to have dinner with them and enjoyed a night time lake ride with everyone.

* We spent the night at the lake, and before I had to go to work yesterday, Ryan got a chance to barefoot on the lake. He LOVES that. It as my first time to see him do it - and all I have to say is he has way more talent than I do!!! After that...we were off to the next parade!

3 Rivers Festival Parade

This past weekend, I worked the 3 Rivers Festival Parade...which was the first event I ever worked when I came to WBCL! I worked it last year too...but this year was the most fun yet, because Ryan got to come with me!

We started out by driving up to Fort Wayne Friday night to spend the night at Doug and Lynne's house, so we could sleep in a bit longer on Saturday morning! They treated us to a very yummy pizza dinner and we took our own Keurig so we could enjoy our evening coffee!

 After dinner and coffee, we just settled in on the couch and watched movies...a completely relaxing Friday night. We even went to bed early and slept in later than normal. I'm not sure either of us had seen eight full hours of sleep in...ever?

Saturday morning, we headed downtown to meet up with the parade route!

 I was pony-tailing it because it was going to be a long, warm day outside for this girl!!!

In the parade skies....

 Hanging out with Ryan!!!

The whole parade gang - as you can can see, most are self-explanatory on identity.

 Lynne was busy reading books for Mid-Morning while she waited for the parade to begin. I could never read as fast as she does!

 No, I'm not texting. HELLO! Ryan was with me! No need to text! I was posting pictures to the station Facebook page.

 It started to get really hot before the parade began, so Ryan made sure I sat in the shade as long as I could!

 And we're off!!!

 Lynne and I led the pack and the rest followed behind!!

 Banner carriers extraordinaire!

 Ron and Ross on the trikes. Next time I'm in a parade, I'm a trike rider. I will soon be beginning my remedial classes in trike riding.

 Jill drove the van, and Ryan rode with her. It was so great to have him along because he could hop out and bring us drinks of water now and then. The parade route got very very hot, so I was thankful for the water!

 After walking for about 20 minutes, we got to the start line. LOL!!

 SO many people at this parade. It really was the perfect day for it - and the festival is the second largest in Indiana {behind the state fair} - so it's always really cool to be involved in something like this!

The great part was we were #83 in the parade - way, way, way farther up than the last two years, so we were done sooner and out of the hot sun!!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, I wasn't feeling very well {thankyouverymuch super busy life!} so I took it easy most of the day, including a splendiferous nap in the afternoon, a brisk walk rather than a run, and an evening on the couch catching up on computer stuff, while Ryan did the bulk of the other chores around the house. Being single for 34 years makes you really appreciate having someone else there to pitch in when you feel lousy. I did not take that one for granted!! And when I say he pitched in, I mean he did a more thorough job than I would have!

* Monday evening, we made a super quick trip over to the Mississinewa Reservoir to visit our friend Shawn, who was out camping with his family. Ryan and I aren't sure if we'll make it to the actual lake this year, because of all our projects at home, so it was fun to get to see Shawn and take a quick boat ride. And Ryan got to wakeboard and ski!

* Tuesday evening, I had the chance to meet up with one of my old work buds, Judy, and we had dinner together. We hadn't talked in ages, and I LOVED catching up with her. And then that evening, we ripped up some more carpet in the house, and unearthed some ancient treasures - including this newspaper clipping from 1949!!!

* Wednesday evening, we went to the Howard County Fair...our first time to attend the fair together! We enjoyed walking around, eating fun fair food and um....y'all? Your Bits Girl rode a Ferris Wheel. For real. My first ride since I was a kid. I have much more to tell you all about that...very soon!

 * Thursday we ripped up the last of the carpet in our main living area so we can get everything all ready for the new carpet installation coming up soon. Our life, I think, may always be a home improvement project. :) But Ryan does a great job with it!

 * Friday evening, we packed up the car and headed to Fort Wayne to spend the night at Casa de Ford! We ate some scrumptious pizza, got hooked on the sea salt and caramel gelato, and watched Mrs. Doubtfire. Oh. And drank coffee from the Keurig that we may or may not have taken with us. Yes. We are that pathetic.

* And yesterday. Ohhhhhh yesterday. Perhaps it might be faster to tell you what we did NOT do yesterday! In the span of a day...we participated in the 3 Rivers Festival Parade, photographed a golf scramble, and went to the fair. Again. That's a lot to put in one day, people!!!