The Saturday Six

One.

Source

I don't know how many of you are immersed in the adult coloring world {ahem, Shari}, but if you are, here are a couple of pages you can print for Thanksgiving. I know every family does Thanksgiving differently, but if your gathering is the hang-out-all-day-together kind, this might be a fun thing to have on hand for people to do while they wait...for the meal to digest so they can snack again. :)


Two.

I probably should have said this FIRST, but I didn't. I feel it is part of my Shafferland blog duty to remind you that tomorrow is time change day. I still hate everything about changing clocks as a general principle, but at least this is the half of the change when I get more sleep and magically transform into a nicer person!! Three cheers for extra sleep!!!


Three.

Our anniversary is coming up in less than a month, and while I think I know what I'm getting Ryan, I confess that this anniversary has stumped me. I have always gotten a gift that matches the traditional/modern gifts for anniversaries. {First anniversary is paper, and I got a piece of subway art that recounted our first year's adventures. Second anniversary is cotton, and I made a canvas print using a photo from one of our trips and a quote Ryan loves. Third anniversary is leather, and I got him a leather desk caddy which turned into our remote boat. LOL!} The fourth anniversary gift is fruit or flowers, and that is proving quite challenging for a December anniversary. But meanwhile, I stumbled upon this article, which offers some really great suggestions for anniversary ideas in general!

Four.

Source

Hey book lovers!! If you haven't already seen this...check it out!!! A Christian Fiction blog scavenger hunt! It runs through Sunday, so you still have one more day to participate. You start at the first stop {HERE!} and follow the posts...each one will give you the link for the next one. At the end, you enter the message you pick up along the way and you'll have a chance to win great books. And many of the stops along the way have their own extra giveaways. You'll have a chance to meet authors you've maybe never heard of, and learn new fun things about authors you know and love!  

Five.

Isn't this a cute DIY project? The fabric part would be beyond the scope of my skills, but maybe you're smarter than I am!! :)  

Six.

Source

Earlier this year, I read the first book in a new series called Prince Edward Island Dreams. I know. It's obviously a winner already, says this Anne of Green Gables junkie. The book, The Red Door Inn, combined the swoon-worthy island with another swoon-worthy element: a bed and breakfast. I loved the book and literally chomped at the bit for book two to release...which it just did. 

Where Two Hearts Meet picks up shortly after book one ended, and I have a confession to make. I actually fell in love with the cinnamon rolls in the first book. {This is new. I have never before fallen in love with fictional food. When you can make your non-existent FOOD memorable, you're a good author.} And much to my utter delight, they were the first thing featured in book two, chapter one. My mouth is actually watering right now as I write about them.

They were featured because Caden Holt, cinnamon-roll-baker-extraordinaire from book one is the leading lady of book two. Caden had helped her father run his bakery on Prince Edward Island, but now she's the executive chef of the Red Door Inn, treating guests to cinnamon rolls and other culinary delights...though she has no formal culinary training.

The Inn, still new and finding its place in a tourist-laden island, is in financial trouble. It needs a new roof, and of course the recurring bills keep doing what they do best: recurring. The owners, Seth and Marie, are desperate to keep the Inn afloat, and when they get word that a travel writer will be visiting and might feature the Inn in a magazine, they hope against hope that this will fix everything.

Adam Jacobs checks into the Inn for a couple of months and mentions in passing that he's a writer, so Marie and Caden are certain he is the writer. Marie assigns Caden the task of making Adam fall in love with the Inn and the island, but before she can get busy on that, Caden finds herself unexpectedly falling into some feelings of love herself: for Adam.

But no one ever loves Caden. With the big 3-0 looming not too far away, she's aware that she's the awkward and invisible misfit. She hides in the kitchen and impresses with her baking, but no one ever sees her. And someone like Adam would certainly never go for a girl like her. Even if he's forced to spend large quantities of time with her.

But Adam has a few secrets of his own - ones he'd rather not confront, but something about the Island and the girl named Caden makes him begin to do just that.

SO many other things I could tell you about this book and its captivating story, but I won't because then you wouldn't need to read the book. And you do need to read the book.

Maybe it's because I saw so much of myself in Caden...maybe it's because I love bed and breakfasts...maybe it's because I really love cinnamon rolls...maybe it's the lure of the Island...I don't know, but I do know book two was as captivating as book one, and hold me back come summer of 2017: book three is on its way!

* Revell sent me a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own! *

Surprise Date!

If you heard the podcast yesterday, you've already heard a little bit about my surprise date this past weekend, but I know some of you have asked to see pictures, so here you go!!: )

First, let me say to any guys who are out there reading: TAKE YOUR GIRLS ON SURPRISE DATES!!! It really is one of the sweetest things Ryan does, and he has always been very good at it. {He planned our entire first date all by himself, and I had no idea what we were doing until each stage of the day came along.}

All I knew, when I got up last Saturday, was that we were going on a date somewhere in or near Indianapolis, we needed the weather to be nice, and I should wear comfortable shoes, because we would be doing a lot of walking.

Ryan fixed our breakfast and made our coffee and off we went!!

On the way, he finally revealed the date. We would be doing a scavenger hunt of downtown Indianapolis!

We made our way to Monument Circle...ahhh the memories of our first anniversary trip! We came down this very road that afternoon, and I have a picture much like this one from that day!

Ryan found this idea on Groupon, purchasing one from Big City Hunt. I'd never heard of this site before, but basically it is a site where you can do a hunt in a number of big cities {see what they did with the name, there?}, and Indianapolis is one of them. The entire hunt is done through your phone. You don't go to any physical shop in the cities to check in. It's all mobile.

So we headed to the check-in point, which was a church on the Circle:

The hunt works this way: you receive a question/clue on your phone, along with multiple choice answers. When you have the answer, you enter it and move on to the next clue. With each clue, you move around the city, learn fun bits of trivia, and improve your teamwork!

I don't want to give away all the answers, but I'll show you some of the fun pictures we took that day. {Note: it's not a photo scavenger hunt. You don't have to take any pictures at all. But I don't even understand a day without pictures.} Some of these, we just took for fun. Not all are in relation to a clue.

{The grouchy faces were moments of clue struggle. LOL.}

We just so happened to end by a Starbucks. So it only seemed appropriate to celebrate.

After we finished our date, we headed to Costco. {I knew about this part of the date before we went.} We'd never been there before, but we had a gift card and wanted to check it out!

We had been told their food court had delicious food, so that's where we ate a mid-afternoon lunch. Ryan's sandwich was MASSIVE!! Mine was good - although I skipped the bread. {Didn't want to. Needed to save calories.}

On the way home, we needed more coffee, so back to Starbucks we went...and we got our coffee for FREE! They said we waited in line too long. We didn't think so, but we also didn't argue!

And because we raved forever on the podcast about the size of the mums we got at Costco, I thought you should see what I mean!

Thanks, Ryan, for planning such a fun date for us. I had a great day! It was such a treat to have you all to myself for a whole Saturday, and I loved what you planned!

Scavenger Hunt Date in the Park

I've been so busy telling you about our house and how it came to be ours...that I've completely neglected the happenings of Shafferland! So howsabout I catch you up?

A couple of weekends ago, we were promised a gorgeous Friday, so I planned a fun little date for that night! At work, I'd come across a pin for a park scavenger hunt, so I printed that out...and we set out for the park we love so much!

While I was still at work, I sent this photo to Ryan:

We started out at the B&K hot dog stand...where we loaded up on dogs, fries, and root beer...so we could start our date with a picnic!

{Side note: there was a father/daughter dance happening in the little community center at the park, so we were surrounded by dads in suits trying to remember to document well on phones...and little girls with curly hair and poofy dresses running and screaming in delight. We were woefully under-dressed for the occasion.}

After we ate...we set out in search of all the things required by the hunt! Of course, we took pictures of them all, and I realize it would be 82 kinds of boring to show you every single picture, so I'll just show you some of the funnier ones.

 We had to find the letter S, so Ryan leaned in to point to it. That's when he discovered the mulch was quite fresh. Whoopsie!!

 We were supposed to find something that smelled good. Sadly, nothing was in bloom, so we just took a photo in honor of what would EVENTUALLY smell good.

 For the item of being "in" something, Ryan climbed up INTO the playground equipment. Of course, doing that meant he had to get down somehow.

 Something with feathers. Trying not to disturb the little duckie.

 This was our something yellow. Ryan was trying to do a discreet questionable look, since it was a hydrant. I thought he was pondering what he was going to do, so I was waiting to take the picture. We took so long that a really nice guy walking by asked if we wanted our picture taken together. We wondered if he thought we were wackadoodle...if we wanted our picture taken WITH a hydrant?!?!

 Something you use to play sports. Not sure disc golf counts as a sport, but it did for us!!

 Something filled with air...we borrowed the balloons for the daddy/daughter dance. :)

It was a perfect night, capped off with a trip to {shockingly} Starbucks!!

Our First Christmas!

I had SO been looking forward to my first Christmas as a wife...and last year at Christmas I had NO IDEA it would happen this year! I wondered what it would be like...and it was absolutely everything I could have dreamed about and filled with even more surprises!!

As has been my tradition for many years, Ryan and I spent Christmas Eve sleeping on the living room floor with the Christmas tree lights on all night. (And the fireplace running.) I appreciated him being a good sport about that! I just love waking up to the tree and all the beauty on Christmas morning!

Here was how it looked before we invaded it:

Isn't it lovely?

We took an official "first Christmas" picture with our trusty chalkboards:

We started the morning with breakfast. I'd made quick cinnamon rolls the night before, so we ate those with (of course) coffee to start our day. (We were trying not to eat TOO much because we knew we'd be eating for the rest of the day!) 

 Then (and I LOVED this so much) Ryan read the last chapter of my Advent book before we started to open our presents. I can't describe to you the feeling of hearing my own husband read words I wrote before we were together...as he led us in devotions. It was unbelievable and so very redemptive.

Then it was time to dig into the presents! This was my first time ever to fill a stocking and it was such fun. I loved watching him open it and love what he found inside.

 (He found it comical that the mini Reese's cups came in a king size package.)

 I gave him some themed gifts...and in there was a coffee set: two mugs and this wooden tray. Coffee in bed, baby!!!

 We had to take a break to give Braeya her stocking. She was most interested in the treats. And since she let us sleep all night for a change, I was willing to give her one.

 My turn!! My first time to have a stocking not filled by my parents!!

 Another break...to give this one her toy....

 Among the treasures...a very cool travel mug. :) We love our travel mugs.

 Another of Ryan's themed gifts - five boxes of Zingers. (He's not a pig. I just had to get them before they stopped manufacturing them!)

Ummmmm did I not just give her treats??? Yes, I thought so.

Ryan's last gift - a big clock for our living room. He's been wanting one for months and I stressed over which one to give him. He really liked this one, so apparently I made a good choice!!

My turn for presents! A book I saw at work that I wanted...Praying the Promises of God. My devo book for 2013!!

 LOVE this sign he found for me. Quotes Genesis - "May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent from the other." I loved that so much...we HATE being apart, even for our commutes and both of us always worry about the safety of the other one on the road. This is perfect!!

 WORKOUT CLOTHES!!!! I so appreciate the way he pushes me to do what I really don't want to do - and he does everything he can to make me feel cute while I do it!

 My last gift turned into a scavenger hunt!! I was so excited! I love scavenger hunts! :) A clue right by...my Christmas flowers!!

 Aren't they gorgeous? My GOODNESS I love flowers.

Another clue in the bathroom. (I had the wrong bathroom at first, so this one took me a while.)

 The last part of my gift - a necklace hanging on Chuck!!!

It was such a lovely Christmas morning. Loved it SO much. Thank you, my Love, for making it such a memorable and beautiful day. I loved sharing it with you!