The Christmas Shuffle!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! We know many of you are extra busy today with Christmas festivities and church, too, so you might not even be here to read this ON Christmas day, but whenever you arrive at this post, we wish you a very merry Christmas!!

We've had a full week, and our best gift is that we are FINALLY FEELING BETTER!!!!!

* Because a second round of ice was expected to fall overnight Saturday into Sunday, many churches canceled their Sunday morning services, including ours. AND, Ryan's mom postponed their family Christmas, which was supposed to be that day as well. So Ryan and I had a whole day at home! Ryan made breakfast, we watched church on TV, and we took a whole day of rest, enjoying movies, football, scrapbooking, naps, and the Christmas lights!

* Even though it was so bitterly cold that all the schools around here operated on a delay, last Monday morning was so pretty. Sunrise on snow is beautiful! AND I found a cardinal in the tree, so that made me happy, too! Ryan and I had a few errands to run after work, and we stopped by to visit a friend who is home-bound now. He was happy to see us and asked his caregiver to make us espresso, which I promptly ruined by adding creamer. LOL! But it was good to see him and try to bring some Christmas cheer!

* Tuesday was the last day of school before Christmas break, so I did my last carpool run before coming home to work on my 2017 planner. {Happiness in a day!} I also had a little more wrapping to do - including Ryan's stocking stuffers, so I got that done. Our only free night this week was Tuesday, so we finished binge-watching a DVR'd show, and Ryan was exceedingly sad to realize he was going to have to wait quite a while for the next episode!

* Wednesday was my parents' neighborhood Christmas party and we went as photographers for the photo booth, which was much fun! Dinner was delicious, the company was fun, and we had a great time!

* Thursday, I met up with one of my friends for coffee and some shopping in the afternoon, which was a fun treat! That night, Ryan and I joined his family to celebrate his mom's birthday, and we ended up having a good time together - even if we traumatized our poor waitress!

* Friday felt like Saturday ALL DAY. Not sure why! I met with my friend Faith and her daughters for our annual Christmas celebration, and we had a great time. That night, Ryan and I had date night, which included a trip through the We Care Park to see the lights. We drove it since it was rainy, but it was still a lot of fun!

* Ryan had to work yesterday morning, and while he was gone, I had a massive cookie baking extravaganza for all the Christmas celebrations. It was FUN! And last night was our first Christmas of 2016, with Ryan's dad's side of the family. His grandma always makes an amazing dinner {ham, noodles, the whole nine yards} and we got to exchange gifts with that side. Great night!

So...merry Christmas from us!! Can't wait to catch up with you this week and tell you all about Christmas! :)

The Shafferland Shuffle

BE SAFE, my friends! I know there's a lot of bad weather filtering about this morning. Please, oh please, be safe out there!!

* Last Sunday was a sick day at the Shaffer household. Ryan was just certain if he could have one whole day at home to rest, he could kick the cold and get well again. While it didn't totally cure him, it did go a long way in helping. It snowed, so it was pretty to watch that from the comfort of the INSIDE. Even though we were sad to miss church, it was glorious to have a whole day at home! A true Sabbath!

* Monday's mail truck brought me a PRESENT! I may be 38, but I'm not too old to freak out in joy over a present in the mail! :) I worked from home, in the presence of our pretty Griswold tree, and knocked out a ton of chores. And when Ryan came home, Braeya curled right up in his lap and slept the night away. It's her happiest moment.

* Tuesday morning, AFTER I got home from my carpool run, it started snowing, and it was so pretty. Like a snow globe. I loved it! And Tuesday night, we hosted Tuesdays at the Table! We invited over a couple we'd never hung out with before, and we laughed so hard. It was the best time! Perfect night for soup and pie and laughter! :)

 * Ryan was excited on Wednesday, because there was a giant crane doing work at his work. I'm pretty sure he secretly wanted to go drive it! :) In other secret wishes, Braeya secretly wished she could have a piece of Ryan's pie. She was funny - she just sat next to him, very quietly, looking the other direction, like "if I am just good enough, he will notice me and share." Didn't happen. So she paid him back later by drinking his water. And this is why we have to have sippy cups.

* Thursday. Oh, you guys. THURSDAY. That cold of Ryan's came right back to me, and I was utterly flattened. I never left the couch. I tried to read and watch TV, but the truth was, I slept the entire afternoon away. Ryan said he had never seen me as sick as I was that day, and that's probably about the truth. He prayed for me, which I really appreciated, and I also appreciated being able to be home and have pretty lights to look at between naps. But other than that, I would just prefer to forget Thursday.

* By Friday, Ryan and I were ready to declare WAR on the germs in our house. We washed and disinfected EVERYTHING. And while I did feel much better than I did on Thursday, I was still not great, so that night, we curled up and watched Christmas Vacation and drank the delicious lattes that our friends Mike and Angie brought to us as a gift to cheer us up!

* So if you're not from around central Indiana, you might have missed out on the ice that blanketed us overnight Friday into Saturday. Woke up to an actual skating rink outside. It was insane! We slept in, took it easy, and then Ryan went out to salt the driveway, and one of our friends in the neighborhood had a sled out and was sledding down the ice in the driveway. Of course Ryan wanted to try, and I have {are you ready for this?} never gone sledding before. So we both went. We were just out for a few minutes, but it was fun in the most terrifying way! We did manage to get out a bit later for errands, and then we hunkered down before the next round hit!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, our traveling vacation ended, and we had to pack up the car and come home from French Lick. Ryan did an amazing job keeping us safe in the wintry mix that dominated our trip home, and we went out in the snow to the "Kroger Tree Farm" to get our live tree for this year. Old Grizzy was much skinnier in a net than he was all settled into our living room!

* Ryan had Monday off work as well, which was a huge treat, and we enjoyed the whole day together. {I dearly love days when I do not have to share him. I'm greedy that way.} We decorated Grizzy, took naps, and watched football! Perfection. {OH! And he ran his first carpool trip with me. That was fun!}

* Tuesday, neither Braeya nor I wanted Ryan to go back to work, but he had to. And what a poor choice that was. He came home SICK. He ended up with the same stupid cold I've had off and on since the end of September - and it literally just smacks you in the face with no warning. You can imagine how amused the two of us were! So when he came home, he settled in for a nap, and I thought maybe some chocolate chip cookies would fix the issue, so I made a batch. He's still sick, but those were GOOD cookies. I will not lie.

* I spent all of Wednesday wrapping gifts {with the help of my "assistant," and loved the way they turned out! :) My mom stopped by and brought our annual gift of a box of her Christmas candy, which is ridiculously good, and I'm making Ryan eat most of it, because left to my own devices, I could eat the entire box in one sitting. That night, even though Ryan was sick and I told him he should stay home and rest, he wanted to go help his mom haul some Christmas tubs out of a barn loft. So we did that, and in the process, found Ryan's first Christmas ornament! :)

* I'll tell you more about this part this week, but Thursday night, we toured the Seiberling mansion, which is this huge historic house in Kokomo, and for the Christmas season, it's all decked out with trees and lights and much festivity! It was kind of an impromptu date and then it turned even bigger and more fun when we met up with friends and had this big group fun night!

* Friday, Ryan's work provided a Christmas lunch - complete with a quartet singing Christmas songs! How cool is that!?!? We planned to get groceries that night, ahead of the panicked-store-emptying-extravaganza we imagined would happen on Saturday, since snow is predicted, and it turned into a whole date night! We got coffee and drove through the lights in the park - so much fun! {Ryan really is a trooper when he's sick. I am proud of him for how he pushes through when he feels TERRIBLE.}

* Yesterday, Ryan had to work all day, but while he was gone, look who came to visit me! PHOEBE!!!! We cuddled and snuggled and took walks and had the best time! I have been planning and planning a special date for Ryan for the last several weeks, and it was last night! Of course he was still sick, but he said he had fun, even though he didn't feel well. I can't wait to tell you more about it!!

The Shafferland Shuffle

What a LOVELY week it has been! Thank you so much, to all of you who sent us well-wishes for our anniversary! It was a beautiful day, and I'm so excited to tell you about all our adventures. Meanwhile...here is a peek at our week!

* Because I had been sick the day after Thanksgiving, I didn't QUITE finish all the decorating of the house by Saturday night. So after church on Sunday, Ryan and I finished up the few decorations that hadn't been assembled. I was SO HAPPY when night came and the house was all twinkly with pretty lights. It was a lovely way to end a weekend/begin a week!

* On Monday, I had to stop by Ryan's work to drop off a wreath his work girls had made at our craft night. {They had left it at our house because it was raining so hard that night.} Until they needed the wreath, I hung it on Brutus, Ryan's rhino coat hook. Hilarious! Speaking of rain, Monday was a dreary, rainy day - perfect for staying inside and working, which is exactly what I did. And that night, I organized all the journals I told you about in the blog post earlier this week, and Ryan wanted a picture of me with all the journals in which I prayed over my someday-husband!

* Tuesday was the premiere of Fixer Upper, so of course I had to show my support with my #shiplap shirt! :) After it was over, I realized I didn't have all 10,000 steps in for the day, so I finished by walking the house, and Braeya did her favorite thing, which is to high-five me as I walk past the chair. It's hysterical. She does this ALL THE TIME when I finish my steps by walking the house. Must have worn her out, though, because she went to rest under the Christmas tree when that was over.

* Wednesday, I had a major Christmas-card-addressing party, which was much fun. Got them all done, and Ryan did my least favorite part which was sealing them all. {HUSBAND AWARD!!!} And even though it was early, we exchanged our anniversary gifts that day. The reasons behind that are much too long for a recap post, but I'll tell you more about it later. So here's Ryan with his anniversary pie, and here I am with my anniversary planter! :)

* Ryan worked all day Thursday, and while he did so, I packed our suitcases and the car so we could leave right away for our anniversary getaway! I can't wait to tell you all about our trip, because we had SO MUCH FUN, but here are a few highlights to get you started. Our destination was French Lick, which is a town about 3 hours south of where we live. Our trip was pretty uneventful...dinner...Starbucks...narrowly missing hitting a deer...and finally getting settled in our hotel room late that evening. {There actually were a handful of funny stories from this day, but I'll save them.}

* Friday was our actual anniversary, and we had such a fun day together. The Lord blessed us with a sunny day {although nowhere near the 82 degrees of our ACTUAL wedding day} and we had such fun touring the fancy hotels in French Lick, walking around town, doing our anniversary photo shoot, watching our wedding video, taking a carriage ride, enjoying food and coffee together, and creating some wonderful memories to last forever! Loved our day!

* Yesterday was THE most wonderful, low-key, restful day. We loved it. Sleeping in, BBQ, walks through Christmas finery, exploring town squares, coffee and checkers, movies, good talks, and just...lovely. {By the way. Bet you can't guess who lost at checkers.}

The Shafferland Shuffle

* After our busy weekend last weekend {hosting a craft night on Friday and all day shopping extravaganza on Saturday}, we literally had the restiest of all the resty Sundays. Church, leftovers, naps, football, scrapbooking, and of course, Ryan's traditional Sunday evening fare of chips and salsa/queso. Boring blog fodder but one sweet day.

* Monday, I decided to bake some cookies for Ryan, and they turned out to be pretty delicious, I must say! Maple cookies with frosting. Know what was NOT delicious? Tripping over my computer cord and whamming my foot into the ottoman. Ryan and his co-workers diagnosed me with at least one broken toe, and he taped me right up. I hobbled around for the rest of the night before giving up and reading. That seemed safe.

* Tuesday, I did my first podcast interview! {If you missed it, Ryan and I are continuing Spill the Beans every week, but I'm adding an occasional interview podcast to it, and I recorded the first one that day!} That night, we hosted Tuesdays at the Table with some of the very first friends we ever made as a couple! It was a fun night!

* Wednesday was a cold, rainy, miserable day on the outside, but I had a warm and cozy day on the inside while I traveled all around our old hometown of Marion, seeing friends and delivering copies of the Be Still book to people who were doing a little Christmas shopping! It was so much fun to see them. I came home to find the Christmas ornaments I ordered to commemorate our house sale/purchase had arrived, AND Ryan was kind to let the TV stay on Hallmark movies all evening - even if he did mock them. ;) That's just a banner day all the way around.

* Thursday, of course, was Thanksgiving, and this year we spent the holiday with my family. It was a comical day, for sure, as family gatherings always tend to be! When we were done celebrating with them, we went to Ryan's family party for a bit, but it was mostly done by the time we arrived. We had a couple little snacks and came on home to fall into our food comas!

* And when I woke up from my food coma on Friday, hoping to spend the day decking the new halls, I woke up with a crazy sore throat and aching all over. WHAT!?!? Where did THAT come from!? I was MOST unamused. So instead of decorating, I was stuck on the couch, sad that I was too sick to care about anything. By evening, I did feel well enough to at least take down all the fall decor, and Ryan and I spent a quiet evening at home.

* Fortunately, I felt much better yesterday, so while Ryan worked, I began putting up the Christmas trees, and I made a surprising amount of progress, considering I'd lost a whole day of work! When Ryan got home from work, he helped take down the outside fall decorations, and then we went to dinner with some friends - and laughed so hard my face hurt! Definitely a much better day!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* I think we tried ALL the seasons this week, starting with our first real, beautiful frost last Sunday morning. Ryan took pictures of it all on his own! {A thousand husbandly points!} We got our first red cups of the season, and I replaced all the pictures in our living room wall collage, using the new ones we had taken this fall. Add about 29 pages of scrapping to that and it was a full Sunday!

* Monday was the same busy day Monday always is, but I had the added bonus of a whole new crop of Hallmark Christmas movies to watch, because I remembered there are TWO Hallmark channels! WOO HOO!!!!! In the afternoon, I had a fun treat: my friend Elisa came all the way from Fort Wayne to visit me and see our new house! Loved that! :) And that night, we saw the first of this week's spectacular moon viewing!

* Just as I was about to fix lunch on Tuesday, Ryan texted and asked if I was up for a lunch out at Wendy's. Don't have to twist my arm! I'll take a surprise, impromptu lunch date! :) We had Bible study that night and ran some errands while we were out, which included a trip to Lowe's...should we get this TWELVE HUNDRED DOLLAR lawn ornament?? And that night we contacted Fitbit about replacing mine...because I didn't think the taped together version would hold much longer. They were so great about replacing it!

* You already read about  my "interesting" Wednesday, when Starbucks was out of all the drinks I wanted, I almost put diesel in the car, and all kinds of crazy things happened. BUT! It was also the day all our Christmas cards arrived in the mail! YAY!! I am excited: ready to start addressing! Ryan found the latest update on Sonic when he was out and about, and he even pitched in to help work on the office wreath by being the official spray-painter! What a good work sport he is!

* After 2 days of working on website creation, I needed movies and naps! My brain was so tired by the end of Thursday, I couldn't think at all. Ryan came home from work and did what we hope is the final mowing for this year, and I went for a run/walk to clear my head. Gorgeous sunset and PERFECT running weather!

* Friday night, we had a first here in Shafferland: craft night hosted in the garage! It was sort of a random last-minute idea, but I invited a handful of girls over (most were Ryan's co-workers) to just have fun. Bring a snack, bring a craft, and come hang out for the evening! LITERALLY in the hour they arrived, the weather switched to winter, and we had a sudden temperature drop and horrible thunderstorms with tons of wind and rain, but we were cozy and warm little crafters in the garage!

* And yesterday, Ryan and I spent the entire day together - Christmas shopping! Yes, it's true! He had a day off work, so we headed to Indianapolis to shop and enjoy a whole day of fun {in the wind, rain and snow} together! We also had dinner at his cousins' house, which was a fun way to end the day! The only one unhappy was Braeya, who did not approve of our absence!

The Shafferland Shuffle

(Before we start peeking at the week, I wanted to let you know that the Ann Voskamp giveaway pack goes toooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo: ASHLEY FEEMSTER!!!! I will email you, Ashley! Congratulations!)

* You would think that last Sunday would have been the happiest day of the year for me, what with the time change and all...but man, was I ever in a weird funk all day. I was not a fan!!! The day started well, though, with a leisurely breakfast together and church. We went to lunch with some people from the church we've been attending {which I think we can safely officially call "our new church} and that was fun! I love making new friends! It was such a pretty day that we took a walk that afternoon and wrapped up the night with podcasting!

* Monday was an equally lovely day. I am still reveling in all the beautiful, natural light we get in our house! :) Ryan had to run some errands after work, so I asked him to stop and get TP for us...and apparently he is expecting a digestive catastrophe to hit our house! :) He had to go back to work late at night to finish his notes, so I went with him and walked on the treadmill and watched Hallmark movies while he worked.

* Tuesday was election day, and since we'd already voted, it was just a Tuesday for us. We chose to spend our evening together with friends, hosting a Tuesdays at the Table taco night, and it was such fun. I'm thankful for chances to welcome people into our home. It is my happy place. After they left, we had to run to the store for butter so I could make a dessert for a carry-in at Ryan's work the next day, and I learned that apples sure look different from what they used to! LOL!

* Wednesday was writing day, and I had no intentions of leaving my jammies OR my laptop all day. And it worked that way until late afternoon when I found out we needed to go to a viewing that night. Whoopsie. I threw on blingy jewelry, tried to rock the pony, and hoped it would pass the test. And I was so emotionally spent from writing that when we got home, Ryan took over assembling our dinner, and I do believe it tasted even better because he did it.

* Thursday I baked pumpkin snickerdoodles for my friend Sheryl's birthday, and then that night, Ryan and I had a midweek date at a fancy dinner. I'll tell you more about it next week, but I borrowed a dress and Ryan pulled the full suit and tie out of the garment bag, and we had a great time at our dinner!

* Friday, Ryan was so busy at work that he didn't have time to come home for lunch, so I took lunch to him! We ordered a pizza that night, waited the appropriate time, went to get it, and found out the place was so behind, the pizza had just gone into the oven. So we came home, waited some more and went back. Ask me how excited I was to (literally) hang out in a dark alley while Ryan went in to wait for the pizza!! EEK!! Must have been a good pizza. He and Braeya both conked right out after dinner!

* Yesterday was CRAZY!! Started out early with  a trip to Sam's Club for a Christmas present. We had no idea it was like their Black Friday, and when we arrived 15 minutes before they opened, the line was already down to the end of the building. WHAT?!?!?? Ryan worked most of the day and then we had lots of errands to run, including a trip to see our dear Phoebe AND a birthday party for one of our friends. WHEW!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday was such a lazy Sunday. After church, we enjoyed a leisurely day of naps, football, and snacks. It was so good that I don't even have any more to report on it! :)

* Monday was as busy as Sunday was lazy. {Of course. Isn't that how it always works!} Many house chores, much writing work, two yards to mow {for Ryan} and a quick trip out for a little pampering for yours truly! On the way home, I was treated to a gorgeous sunset, and that made suffering through a workout a little easier. :)

* Tuesday was kinda cold and rainy, so it seemed like a good day to make a pot of soup! I worked at home all day, and we had our Bible study that night. Our group was full of great discussion, and I enjoyed learning from them! And check out these amazing leaves one of the ladies preserved. So cool!

* Wednesday, Ryan's grandpa had another surgery on his brain, but we didn't get to go this time. We prayed for him from home, and I was so thankful it all went well! Ryan had an extra busy week at work, so he was swamped there, and I was rushing to meet a writing deadline, so we were pretty exhausted by the end of the day. We had plans for the evening, but they fell through, so we we conked out on the couch watching TV. Braeya took over the remote. LOL!!!

* Thursday night, we had the privilege of helping one of our friends move. She helped us when we moved, and it was a gift to us to be able to pay her back! It was a cold night, so we started out with coffee/hot chocolate, and then got busy moving! {Side note: I had injured my hamstring in that workout Monday, so it was fun to watch me hobble with boxes.}

* Friday was another busy day for Ryan at work, and he couldn't make it home for lunch, so I wen to visit him while he ate. It was SO BEAUTIFUL outside that we went for a walk after work, and then we went grocery shopping. GUESS WHAT WE FOUND WHILE WE WERE OUT???? They broke ground for our new Sonic!!! {Insert every happy emoji in the whole galaxy right here.}

* Yesterday we had our annual pictures taken, and while we were at it, we did a county date! Delaware County! The day was way prettier than I ever imagined it wold be, so it was a fun day to be outside, eat lunch outside, have coffee outside...you get the picture.