The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday was our first Christmas celebration - dinner and a gift exchange with Ryan's mom and Allen and all Ryan's siblings. We had a great night together, feasting on breakfast food and watching kids run around and have fun ripping into their gifts! Last year we had a couple of people missing because of illness, so it was good to have everyone back together this year!

* Monday was a rainy, gloomy day, but I had a surprise that brightened it all up! My RA from my freshman year of college, Karen, was in town to visit her family for Christmas, so she stopped by to see me! She ended up staying to have dinner with us and we talked for about four hours - it just flew by! She brought me a gorgeous flower that so brightened my day. :)

* Tuesday was Nita's birthday, so we all went out to eat at Cracker Barrel to celebrate her. {"We all" means fifteen of us converged upon that dining room at one very long table! She had a wonderful time and the cheesecake we had for her treat was out of this world!!

* Wednesday morning, I had Christmas with one of my blognonymous friends, and Ryan had his carry-in Christmas celebration at work. He got his friend Matt this shirt - which reportedly, Matt loved so much, he may never take it off. LOL. {Sorry, Amanda!!} While all that fun was happening, I was home having a meltdown over my dead computer, but that night, Ryan became the hero of the world when he somehow brought it back to life!!

* Thursday was Christmas Eve, and it was a busy day for us. Ryan had to work, and I did a volunteer project at the church before working on our food contributions for Christmas day. That night, we had Christmas with Ryan's dad's side of the family. We don't get to see them very often, so it was a good and fun evening of storytelling and delicious food {Ryan's grandma cooks the whole shebang and does a great job!} and gift exchanged. Before we came home, we went to a Christmas Eve service at the church where the rest of Ryan's family attends.

* Friday was, of course, Christmas, and we celebrated three times! We had our own Christmas at home together with Braeya JoJo, and then we drove to my parents' house for Christmas with my family. After lunch and gift exchanges and photo booth fun, we packed up and went to Allen's parents' house for our Christmas with that side of the family. Whew! Busy day!

 * Yesterday I had all kinds of grand plans, but I knew we were supposed to get rain, so I wanted to take down our porch decorations. Before I knew what was happening, I took down ALL the decorations. I hadn't planned to do that at all, but it's done now!! It actually feels kind of good to have things back in some semblance of order. Lat night, Ryan and I had a date night at home - our first pizza in a month. It was heavenly!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday night, Hallmark aired the movie based on the Karen Kingsbury book, The Bridge, and my friend Sandee had invited me to watch it with her and some of her friends and family. Ryan assured me he could represent us in watching the Colts game and told me to go watch and have a good time. So I did! I enjoyed the movie {though not waiting a year to see the end of it} - and it was extra fun to see my book on the coffee table in the host's home!!

* Monday morning was fine - and then I looked up while I worked on our podcast and noticed it had suddenly gotten foggy. That's odd! It's odd for fog to settle as far in town as where we live, so I can only imagine what it was like out in the country! I spent the day polishing our "new" dining room table and chairs - and I thought they turned out quite shiny and lovely!

* Tuesday's task was addressing Christmas cards - a huge job, but definitely easier when I had an entire day to do it! Ryan and I got a new gift from his mom - a coffee Christmas rug. How perfect is this!?!?!? Not perfect was the help we received while working out. Bench press that, Braeya!! LOL!

* Wednesday I mailed my cards, and I ended up sitting in the Walgreen's parking lot with a washcloth, sealing them all in the front seat of the car. I'm so classy!! Ryan asked if I would buy him some gum - and I had to make a big deal out of it because as you may or may not know, I hate EVERYTHING about gum. {I'm so weird.} That night Ryan FINALLY got the alternator off his truck. He's been working on it for about a month but kept running into issues. He was pretty happy it was done.

* Thursday I had a HUGE treat: I got to watch our friends Nate and Jenna's kiddos for a little bit. They are adorable and we had a good little time. Apparently our house was the coolest because we had all the cartoon channels. :)

* I started wrapping gifts on Friday - and it was fun to do with Christmas movies playing in the background! It was SO WARM on Friday that we walked the light display in the park without even wearing hats or gloves - or very warm coats! It was the most fun date. I'm so glad we had a good night to go. {The first two years we went, it was snowing when we arrived, and we had to drive it!}

* Yesterday we got to SLEEP IN and eat breakfast at home - which was so lovely! We went to a birthday party for a friend's kiddo who turned one, and then we set out to finish as much of our Christmas shopping as we could! It was a good all-day date day! And can I tell you how much fun that is to do when it's almost seventy degrees IN DECEMBER?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, we woke up in our hotel room in Fort Wayne, looking ahead to the last day of our anniversary getaway. We had a leisurely day that included a visit to a coffee shop, and a trip to the Christmas tree farm to pick out our tree, which we named Firby. It was a great, fun day! {And when we came home, we not only had luggage and a naked Christmas tree, but we started ripping apart our house to rearrange some rooms. Because why not?}

* I devoted all of Monday to unpacking from our trip, doing massive amounts of laundry, and arranging the living room so at least one room was complete and put together. And while I edited pictures, someone decided out of the blue that my lap is her new favorite place to be. No idea why she suddenly loves me, but I'll take it!

* Tuesday was December 1, so we pulled out my Advent book and started reading it again; I love that tradition I get to share with Ryan! Speaking of Ryan, though he was officially sicker than a dog {how sick is that, anyway?} with a cold, he volunteered to ring Salvation Arm bells with his boss. Isn't he the cutest bell ringer? And that night, you know, just for funsies, we moved a couch up the stairs. That was interesting!! {Don't miss Ryan at the top of the picture, right under the 12!

* Wednesday was our anniversary {YAY!!!} and Ryan took the day off work to spend it with me! We got to rest and do a little shopping, and we had our pictures taken before going out to dinner. We watched our wedding video while we ate cupcakes and just had such a lovely day remembering THE lovely day of our wedding!

* Thursday morning I got to do my devos by the light of the Christmas tree, which was lovely in every way. Ryan and I had put the lights and ornaments on it the day before, but it still needed some finishing up, so I worked hard on that - and on decorating the rest of the house that day. I'll give you a better view of all that later, but here's a sneak peek. I went low-key this year, but I like how it turned out!

* Friday I decorated the outside of our house {also low-key this year} and we hung up our mistletoe {YAY!}. That night, after Ryan got home from work, we went to his mom's house to pick up a dining room table he'd had in storage for something like a decade or more. Much more on this to come, but basically our table was just too small, so now we have one {for free!} that was certainly MUCH larger.

 * Yesterday Ryan worked, so I sent a little tree with him for his office. No ornaments, just a tree with lights. {Didn't want him to lose his man card ENTIRELY by having a fully decorated tree.} And last night, we went to our brother-in-law's 40th {surprise} birthday party, which was really a lot of fun! I took pictures all night and am always happiest when I have a job and a purpose, so it was a great time. Ryan's sister rocked it with the preparation!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday morning, we wrapped up a sermon series we've been doing for the majority of the fall, and we ended by taking communion together. Ryan and I came home to rest for the afternoon, and we thought it would be a good idea to grill chicken for lunch. It was so cold outside {and we ran out of gas partway through without knowing it} and it ended up taking two hours to grill that chicken! LOL! It was worth it, though. Very yummy! There's not much I love more than low key Sundays at home together!

* Monday I went over to my parents' house to document my mom's candy making process. It's quite an art form, and she's very good at it. {And I ate some of the mess-ups, which is never a bad way to start a Monday!} And to counter-act that, we went to the gym that night, where I braved the big-boy weight room and the kettle-bells!

* Tuesday was a big day for us, because our first podcast went live! It was so much fun to share that with all of you; thanks for being so very kind to us! Ryan's work had a Thanksgiving carry-in lunch that day, and I made a pumpkin cake for it. I was really glad there were leftovers for us to have at home the rest of the week! YAY! And that night we had a special treat: my friend Jessica was in town and came over to have dinner with us and just hang out for a bit!

* Wednesday, Ryan hung up the rhino head gift and officially instituted it as a coat hook. Cracks me up. LOL! I spent the day at home doing various chores and trying to keep Braeya out of my special treat pop that I sprung for just because I could. It wasn't enough, though. By the afternoon, I had to brew more coffee. It was just a sleepy sort of day around here! Before we went to bed, we put Swedish meatballs in the slow cooker to marinate overnight...YUM!!!

* Thursday was Thanksgiving, and we had a great day with Ryan's side of the family. I saw the official family photo after I blogged about the day and we had 37 there for the main part of the day {more might have come in after we left!} - and it was such fun. I had the chance to meet and talk with some of Ryan's cousins that I'd not really seen before, and I enjoyed it! And there was so. much. food. And there was ham. I was excited about that, since I don't like turkey.

* No Black Friday shopping for us. Ryan had to go back to work on Friday, and I stayed WELL clear of the stores until very late at night, because I can't handle the madness. When Ryan got home from work, though, we went to dinner at Red Robin {truly YUM!!!!} and later, he decided he needed some ice cream, so we split a Blizzard. It was a fun night out!!

* Yesterday we knocked out as much of our Christmas shopping as we could. {We even got to do some shopping for ourselves to save our family some time. That was good!} We went to Fort Wayne for our shopping, and of course a trip to Fort Wayne deserves a stop at DeBrand chocolates for dessert. Heavenly. Heavenly. A fun and lovely day together!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* We were in charge of breakfast for Sunday School last week, so I did a Pinterest experiment of a coffee and donut trifle. I will not lie. It was quite delectable. I will make it again. Just for myself. {Kidding.} {Kind of.} Anyway, we watched some football that afternoon, attempted a family photo {which did not go well} and enjoyed another stunning day outside; we are so spoiled by this warm late fall weather!

* Monday morning, I hunkered down to write again; I needed to add a chapter to the manuscript I just finished. I worked hard until I got it done - in draft form, anyway, and then I moved to being a wife and working some around the house. I tried to fluff the ferns we brought in from the yard...trying to keep them ALIVE through the winter. The mums? They aren't faring quite as well. The frosts have been unkind to them.

 * Tuesday was a busy day! Ryan had a dentist appointment that morning and sent me this cute picture - and a glowing report. {Sigh. Happy for and jealous of him.} I spent the day learning audio software...it was like being back in school! That evening, we had the opportunity to go watch our niece in her dance class. We have never seen her dance before, so this was a special treat! She did a great job, and all the little dancers were so cute in their line!!

 * Wednesday was gray and rainy - the kind that chills you to the bone. I went to lunch with my friend Jenny and came home with teeth chattering! But when sunset time came, there was a hint of sun that reflected off the trees in the most beautiful way!! We went to the gym that night, and I tried out the new exercise bikes. Pretty fancy! We decided to use our wedding mugs for our evening coffee, but Ryan poured creamer in the wrong one and had to drink out of my mug all night. LOL!

* Thursday I went to visit my friend Julie, and when I arrived, her son had arranged a massive game of Memory for us to play. {Two boxes mixed together.} This is so beyond my short term comprehension level, but we had a blast playing - and catching up all day. Ryan, meanwhile, was at work, being silly to make his patients laugh. He really is the best. If I had to have therapy, I'd pick him. That night - I spent some time filling up pages in my journal. It had been too long and my brain was FULL.

 * Friday morning, Ryan sent me this picture of the sunrise...gorgeous!!! I went to Kokomo that afternoon to meet up with him for our date night, and while I was at his office, I gave him one of his anniversary presents early. He said it was the best gift he'd ever gotten. And yes. That is a rhino head. Obviously there will be more on this story later. We went window shopping around town and ate giant salads at Ruby Tuesday. They have such good salads!

* Yesterday I got to see a couple of my WBCL friends! I had lunch with Amy and Cindy - and while we ate, the first snowfall of the season hit - like CRAZY. We were just supposed to get flurries and ended up with somewhere between 3-4 inches. We had slushy driving ,but man was it ever beautiful!! I had a great time taking pictures, and when Ryan got home from work, we just enjoyed watching the snow fall. {This stuff is so much easier to like when I'm not commuting!}

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday was blissfully lazy. We woke up to our first frost, and it was SO pretty. {Prettier because we didn't have to scrape any vehicles!} We enjoyed church, which included time to cuddle with one of our favorite littles, and these CUPCAKES!!! Caramel cappuccino cupcakes. I could have eaten ten. We spent the rest of the day on Mo, napping, watching TV, reading, and writing.

* Monday morning, I went with Mom and a friend of hers up to Fort Wayne to shop for Christmas candy making supplies. We had fun {how can you NOT in a room full of candy??} and went out for lunch after our shopping extravaganza. Meanwhile, Ryan had to report to the courthouse because his name came up FOR JURY DUTY. Despite my prayers to the contrary, he ended up getting selected, and below you can see our respective thoughts on that. I began preparing myself for a week of jury widowhood.

* Tuesday Ryan headed back to the courthouse for more jury duty. While I was still nervous about this hiccup to our schedule, I did enjoy having him home longer in the morning, home for lunch, and home sooner in the evening! YAY! Braeya and I read blogs and worked on writing throughout the day, which was fun. Know what wasn't fun? Trying to hunt down a book that apparently does not exist in our county. When the bookstore and the library are dead ends = FRUSTRATING!!!

* Since Wednesday was Veteran's Day, the Courthouse was closed, and Ryan went to work at his regular job. He sent me this STUNNING sunrise photo, which I loved so much. I spent the day trying to be a good housewife, since I've spent so many days being a writer. I even cooked a real dinner for him - marinated baked chicken, homemade macaroni and cheese, green beans, and snickerdoodle brownies for dessert. He deserves about 800 more meals like that to be caught up from my nights of tacos and such. LOL!! We just rested that night, and we curled up for popcorn and a movie. The Notebook. Sobbed with the same intensity as when I first saw it years ago! Such a sap.

* I don't know what it's like where you live, but it was ridiculously windy here on Thursday. I saw that our ferns did a face plant in the back yard and hoped that was the worst of it, but it wasn't. A massive branch pierced the top of our pirogi and ripped it! We were so sad! {Especially since we had planned to take it down in just two days!} Ryan was gone all day at jury duty again, so I spent the day baking quick bread for the freezer {that was a big mess in our little kitchen} and then that night we had a quick Starbucks date that I enjoyed so much. I have MISSED him this week.

* Friday. OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Friday. Ryan went to jury duty that morning and we met for lunch at Wendy's. Good thing we did because that was the last I saw of him for almost TWELVE HOURS. I spent the afternoon writing, raking leaves {again}, doing my nails, watching Hallmark movies, and wondering if I would ever see him again in my natural lifetime. Finally at 10:30 that night, I decided he wasn't coming home for dinner {I'm nothing if not hopeful} and I drove to Burger King for dinner. He finally got home at 11:30 and our jury duty life ended. Praise. The. Lord.

 * We slept in a bit yesterday morning, a treat Ryan richly deserved after his week. We did some dreaming shopping in the afternoon and then went to the funeral for Ryan's great aunt. We went to the family dinner after, where the kiddos kept us busy! I was so very glad to have Ryan back...sigh...so glad jury duty is over!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, we served in the cafe at church...we are loving this new chance to do something together, and loving it more because it involves coffee, of course. That afternoon I tried a new recipe {which I loved so much, I made another batch later in the week} - apple crisp! It was delicious. And Sunday began our string of unseasonably warm temps and lookie here...unseasonably gorgeous sunsets!! Swoon.

* Monday was our 35th monthiversary - NEXT MONTH is three years. WHAT?! Ryan had to work, of course, but when he got home, we tried out a new-to-us restaurant in our county. We had heard incredible things about their food and they did not disappoint! We both got burgers, and they were HUGE. Mine lasted two meals, actually and probably should have been more like three. It was such a fun night!

* Tuesday was Ryan's first day of a new adventure that I'm not sure if I ever told you he was doing! He's trying out the world of Home Health Care as a side job, and Tuesday was his first night of work. That morning before he went to his regular job, he did his last practice run on me - nothing like a BP check at 6 in the morning! While he was busy working, I spent the day in the classroom again! I spoke in three college classes taught by my friend Amy. Oh how I do not miss college and homework and quizzes!! We went to the gym that night, and it was SO WARM, we walked around campus in shorts before we came home. IN NOVEMBER. Crazy. And crazy wonderful views of the chapel, too.

* Though I haven't said so thus far, my other HUGE job this week was writing. I wrote pretty much nonstop every moment that I was home. And on Wednesday, it was so pretty outside that I got to take my writing out to the pirogi and sit in a t-shirt, writing. That evening, kind of last minute, I was invited to help a photographer friend of ours take his family pictures. I was SO NERVOUS because he's really good, and that was a lot of pressure. But I had a blast hanging out with the family, cuddling with their kids when it wasn't their turn to be in the pictures, and I was relieved when the pictures turned out well!

* Thursday was my writing marathon. I wrote ten thousand words in one day, which is a LOT. Braeya must have decided I was going to be a terrible mom all day and decided to eat the sticky notes I used to organize my journaling thoughts. I didn't even care, because I was just so happy the writing was flowing well! I read all 10,000 words to Ryan that night and he fell asleep when I was done. HA!! {Not because of my writing, but it's still funny to make it look that way.}

* When Ryan got ready to leave for work on Friday, Braeya said NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! She didn't want another day like Thursday. He went, though, and she gave up and curled up beside the computer to sleep. I was THRILLED when I decided the first draft of my project could be declared DONE that day. Still much to be tweaked and edited on it, but the main part is finished and I'm grateful. We had to go to the funeral home after work, and then we tried to order a pizza online and their site was down for routine maintenance! Note from a patron: perhaps a Friday night is not the best time for "routine maintenance" for any pizza establishment??

* Ryan was on the road before six yesterday morning to go to a continuing education class with his work buddies. I was excited he found a free class, but I was sad he couldn't go with me to the Feed My Starving Children mobile pack that we'd planned to attend together for the second year in a row. Instead, I went by myself, which made me incredibly nervous. I don't do things alone very well. {Funny for a girl who was single so long, right?} Last night we went to our little nephew's birthday party - a tractor themed celebration!

The Shafferland Shuffle

Happy November! Happy end of DST! It's a good, good day, isn't it??

* Last Sunday was a BEAUTIFUL fall day here in the Midwest, and I think our trees are extra pretty this year. I am enjoying the views around town! Ryan gave blood at the visiting blood bank after church - and that afternoon, we went to a viewing for my friend Carol, who died very unexpectedly last week. So very sad to say goodbye to someone so young! That evening, I started on our vacation scrapbook. MANY pages ahead of me.

* Monday morning, I took a friend to a doctor's appointment and then I came home and worked on a surprise for Ryan: I raked our entire backyard. Nine bags of leaves. {And you can't even tell any are missing off the tree yet. WAAAAHHH!!!} He had planned to work on it when he came home, but I wanted him to enjoy a night off, so I did it while he worked. And then for our reward, we went to IWU to get our annual fall treat: apple pie chai!

* Tuesday was a cold day here...a good day for staying inside, reading, and working on projects, which I did. Braeya helped me catch up on Bible study homework. :) That evening, Ryan and I went to the Goodwill to buy pieces for his Halloween costume, and then we hit the gym for the first real workout since the race. {Although we walked more miles on vacation than we did IN the race!}

* Wednesday was another cold, rainy, chill-you-to-the-bone kind of fall day, and after a while, I was feeling like I might be fighting something. No time for that! It's early, yet! I curled up on the couch to finish the novel I was reading, and turned on the fireplace and the diffuser. Felt MUCH better by the time Ryan got home. He had a good day too; they finished painting his new "office," and now I get to decorate it! :) YAY! We had soup for dinner that night, but we still haven't replaced our good six quart crock pot, so I had to cook it in the two smaller crock pots to make it all fit. Keep it classy, Bekah.

* Thursday, I hunkered down to work on a writing assignment I have for church. I was so thankful when I knocked out the entire draft before lunch! That was definitely God-led. There is still much tweaking to be done, but I'm thankful the base part is written! The whole thing bored Braeya Jo Jo, who just wanted to sleep. Ha! We braved the blustery day {again!} to go out to the gym after work, and I ran one of my best mile times in a long time. And then I killed my arms in the weight room. They still hate me.

* Friday seemed to become our Halloween! Ryan dressed up for work...bet you can't guess who he is! And after work, I surprised him with a jack-o-lantern pizza for our at-home date, and we carved pumpkins together! We had so much fun, and it was nice to be able to stay home for the evening after a cold and busy week!

* Ryan worked yesterday, so I spent the entire day writing. I really appreciated a day to more of that spelled out on screen! He came home mid-afternoon with Chinese takeout, and we ate at the senior citizen hour. LOL!! Since we don't really have trick-or-treaters around here, we headed out for moo-lattes at Dairy Queen and some shopping. It was a fun night! {And not snow covered like last Halloween!}