What I Learned in May

PODCAST TUESDAY!!!

I know this is the most random conglomeration of stories ever, but I promise it's worth it!!

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 Yes, I know it is not the last day of the month, but two things caused me to post my "What I learned" a day early. First, I don't plan on learning anything today, so I should be safe. (TOTALLY KIDDING!) Secondly, yesterday was a super busy day, and I didn't get a chance to write  a post just for this day. So without further ado, here are the things I learned in May!

1. My body rebels against a detox/cleanse.

And don't we all, I'm sure, in some way? Isn't that kind of the point of a cleanse or detox? To shock your system back to health and life? But seriously, I learned that my body freaks out in unhealthy ways. Not sleeping at all and feeling like I'm hallucinating? Not worth it to me. I think I'll just be more conscious in my eating choices. It works better for me.

2. Ryan and I still hate being apart.

We were told the longer we were married, the more we would "get over" the need to be together all the time. Hasn't. Happened. Yet. Ryan was gone all day for the Saturday and Sunday of one weekend, and the following weekend, we were apart all evening Friday and most of Sunday afternoon. We decided that's too much. We love being together, and we don't apologize for it!

3. In busy seasons, we rely on color-coded itineraries.

We had a couple of stretches this month that were too busy. TOO busy. The kind of busy where you have to schedule in bathroom breaks if you really want them. So I resorted to creating color coded documents that outlined our every waking hour and told us what we needed to accomplish and who was in charge of it. We couldn't live like that every day, but when we have to, we must have organization.  

4. I love, love, love, having our garage finished for entertaining.

Truly one of the best decisions we made (even though it nearly cost us our sanity when it was in process) was to finish off the garage so it could be used as an additional living space. Hosting Mommapalooza 4.0 out there was so freeing!  Everyone felt a lot more comfortable with the extra space!

5. The Ninja has revolutionized our coffee grinding experience.

Ryan gave me a Ninja system for my birthday, which was THE most perfect gift. I haven't had a lot of time to play with it yet (hello, busy May!) but we used it to grind our coffee right after we opened the box, and my GOODNESS. What used to take 15 minutes to complete took about a minute and a half. No. Way.

6. Ryan and I make a great team at events.

I love being in a partnership with Ryan, and I love having him accompany me to events. It makes me so happy! But my visit to IWU was the first time he stood up front and helped me with a presentation. It went seamlessly. We had rehearsed several times, but I was so excited to see how well it went in real time. I am thankful beyond words for a husband who doesn't just support the work I'm called to do, but he crawls into it with me and takes an active role.

7. I love writing curriculum.

Back in the day, I wanted to be a teacher, but I elected not to pursue it once I saw how the education field was changing (even 20 years ago). This month I wrote some curriculum for a workshop I'm leading this summer, and I adored every moment of that work. Ryan would come home to find me in the same spot I'd been in when he left for work, and I was a TERRIBLE wife on those days, but it fed my soul in amazing ways to write for teaching purposes!

And that's been May in a nutshell! Here's to learning even more in June! 

The Start of our Annual Birthday Trip, Destination: Saugatuck, Michigan!

Hey, it's podcast Tuesday! We've got all kinds of stories from our week of speaking and our vacation...and below you'll find some pictures from our vacation, too! :) ENJOY!

 Listen here!

In case you're new to the old blogaroo, allow me to catch you up on our birthday trips! Ryan and I have birthdays that are just about three weeks apart, so when we first got married, we elected to begin a tradition of taking a trip near our birthdays as sort of a gift to each other. (We still give gifts to each other, of course, but this is a fun thing we've enjoyed doing. You can see all our trip recap here, if you're looking for vacation ideas!)

So three years ago, we headed to Holland, Michigan, for the tulip festival, and there were SO MANY THINGS about that trip that were hilarious disasters. Heading the list was the lack of tulips, which didn't bloom because of the Polar Vortex that winter. We said we didn't want to go back to Michigan for a birthday trip again, because it was too risky if we wanted warm weather. Wellllllllllll, then we decided to try it again this year, and wouldn't you know it. Freezing cold and rainy the entire weekend. Isn't it so funny?

So here is a peek at the start of our trip. Annual photo:

Also. Can we pause to ask how we are into FIFTH annual anything? Sorry we both look a little blah in this picture. It was early, we were tired, and clearly under-caffeinated.

It was cold and rainy the morning we left, we couldn't get our GPS to take our destination address, and we were laughing already about the mess this was turning out to be. So it came as no surprise that a semi blocked my view of the Welcome to Michigan sign and now our scrapbook memory of entering Michigan looks like this:

Sigh.

We had to switch up some plans immediately because of the weather, so our first stop was in the lovely town of South Haven, Michigan. Neither of us had ever been there before, but I really wanted to see the lighthouse I'm always seeing in pictures!

So we went right out there on that beach, where the temp was in the 30's, it was starting to rain, and we were layered up in hats, coats, and we would have added gloves if we'd brought them!

First glimpse!! See it out there at the end of the pier? (Ryan wanted to climb on the rocks.)

 So. Cold.

 I have to confess it was much smaller in real life than it always looks in the pictures I see online. But it's still a lighthouse, and I love them!

 How glad was I that I was NOT on that sailboat out there?

Found a coffee shop on the beach. Closed. Because of course.

We decided to go ahead and have lunch there in South Haven, so Ryan read some reviews quickly and decided on a little restaurant called Clementine's. Our food was really good! (Ryan got some sandwich that had seafood on it and I had a salad with really flavorful chicken!)

After lunch, we decided to walk around for a while, check out some of the shops, and maybe hit up the local coffee shop. You know. Maybe.

 We found this cute little coffee shop called The Living Room, and it really felt like one! (So much so that someone took a nap during his coffee. Yes, you read that right. DURING!) Good coffee, great atmosphere, and a nice warm-up break on a chilly day!

(Sorry about the lighting. I'd call it my halo, but we both know better.)

 One of our favorite stores on our little tour around town was this shop that had a HUGE third floor that used to be a ballroom. Original wood floors, exposed brick walls, huge wall of windows: our Fixer Upper minds were spinning!

So that was our visit to South Haven! We left there about mid-afternoon and drove to our home base for the weekend. A bed and breakfast, or more specifically, boat and breakfast, that I can't wait to show you tomorrow!

Birthday Fun!

It's podcast Tuesday, and here is our offering to you. (Please excuse our occasional mental blocks. I think our brains had started to shut down!) But we did have some fun stories from the wedding (yesterday's blog) and my birthday and Mommapalooza! :)

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For the second year in a row, my birthday fell on a weekend, so Ryan and I got to spend the day together, which was basically the perfect way to spend a birthday! :)

Ryan and I are in love with the breakfast pizzas you can get at Casey's. (That's a gas station if you're not from around here or don't purchase your food from gas stations. LOL!) These pizzas are so stinking good, but they're not really good FOR you, so we only get them on very special occasions. Like turning 39.

I also opened all my cards and gifts that had come in the mail and my gift from Ryan! (Had some help from the Pheebster.)

(Excuse my bedhead. And jammies. And everything else.)

 Phoebe reading cards.

 Shari! I LOVED THE MUG! And nope, I sure didn't have one! Thank you!!!!!

 My gift from Ryan, which as I said on the podcast, is basically the size of our house. Poor guy had to have it delivered to work and wrapped it at work. He has a hard time getting stuff like that done at home since I never leave!

 IT'S A NINJA!!!!!

 Ryan suggested maybe it was a recycled box. Phoebe did not approve of the joke.

 No but for real! It is a Ninja! With all the bells and whistles! Single serving cups, the big blender, the food processor. Sweet goodness. Watch out! The Shaffers are in business!!!

The next phase of celebration came in conjunction with Mommapalooza, so I'll save the actual mother-related parts for tomorrow, but it's fun to have a birthday that falls on a holiday when people can actually show up and celebrate with you! We had 13 people over for lunch, and I hope they had fun; I did!

My birthday flowers from Ryan. They wouldn't all fit in one vase. Terrible problem to have, isn't it? :)

Ice cream cake - from my mother!

Gifts with the fam:

 My sister, Julie! All beach themed gifts from her! YAY!

Terrible photo of me, but cracks me up because the first thing I do when I get a book is smell it. I LOVE the smell of new books! This is my new Bible!! :) Thanks, Mom and Dad!

 The gift from the Mini-Shaffers required assistance in opening. :) They got me one of those super cool travel mugs that looks like a camera lens. I have always wanted one! (Well, since I knew they existed, of course.)

 Birthday photo with the Pheebster.

 They sang to me! (I secretly love blowing out candles more than I should.)

After everyone left Mommapalooza and we got things cleaned up, we just enjoyed a nice evening at home together. Went for a walk...drank some coffee...watched a little TV...caught up on my Facebook well-wishes. It was a good day!

Thanks Ryan (and everyone!) for making it such a lovely day!

Huntington Baptist Church

It is, of course, podcast Tuesday, so I begin by bringing you this week's episode of Spill the Beans, with stories from the detox fail and our weekend! ENJOY!

Listen right here!

Yesterday I told you about my trek to Fort Wayne for photography fun at Daddy Daughter Date Night. Our weekend of busyness continued into Saturday, because I had my first speaking engagement of May on Saturday!

Ryan and I traveled to Huntington Baptist Church to speak to their ladies group during their spring luncheon. (And we narrowly escaped a speeding ticket on the way there. EEK!)

It was supposed to be a cold and rainy Saturday, but it was sunny the whole day. What a blessing!

I'd been invited to speak at this church because my friend Debbie attends there and called a few weeks ago to ask me if I would join them. I first met Debbie over 10 years ago when she attended a different church, and I visited their women's Bible group for a Beth Moore study. Debbie took me under her wing and was so kind to me, even though I didn't regularly attend there. I've never forgotten that!

Debbie is a sweetheart and is completely devoted the Lord. Always an encouragement!

I was so glad to have Ryan with me that day. As I tell him every single time he comes with me, things just go better when he's there. He has a very calming way about him!

We arrived early so I could get set up. Ryan was in charge of the camera, so he did test pictures while I set up the podium area. LOL!

He also helped me set up my book table, and then took pictures of me and my coffee with my table. #priorities

 The ladies carried in breakfast/brunch foods, and it was all so delicious. The great part of speaking at churches for meals is that church folk are the best cooks ever. The worst part of speaking at churches for meals is that I don't want to overeat before I get up and speak. Except I really want to overeat!

There was such an amazing atmosphere in the room that day. You could tell it had been well-prayed-over and the Holy Spirit was present in a big way! I thoroughly enjoyed my time of sharing and felt so relaxed!

After I spoke, I got to stay and meet with some of the women. PeggySue (who took my job at WBCL) was there, and it was good to see her!

And I got to meet in real life my Facebook friend, Sarah!

All in all, a wonderful morning with the ladies! Thankful for new friends and Ryan's support!