Alphabetical Dates: Inspired by the Letter F

I know! We are so out of order on our alphabetical dates! We did E before D and G before F. Like I said before, it's good we're not trying to teach the alphabet through this project!

I think perhaps the best words to describe the date weekend inspired by the letter F include: fluid, fluctuating, frustrating, and fickle.

Pretty much the whole date went nothing as I planned it, and while it was still overall good and definitely memorable, it was also flabbergasting.

The original plan for this date was a fondue night at home. But when I realized how much all the cheese and dipping items were going to cost, I decided we would make our date fit into some of the plans we already had for the weekend. Cheaper!! (Or should I say frugal?)


So our date started Friday night with our Friday night fellowship fete to mark the end of our Bible study we've been doing with Ryan's co-workers! We had a pitch-in dinner with burgers and brats and all sorts of snacks. Ryan built a deviled egg burger he was pretty proud of.

I didn't get many pictures that night (fail!!!) and one of the other girls said she'd send me hers, but I don't have them yet. Even so, it was a really fun evening. I love a good party.

We continued the date on Saturday, and that was the day that ended up making us crazy! I shared this picture on my Facebook page and said something about dates not going as planned, because I don't want everyone to think that everything is always perfect here in Shafferland. We have a good life and a great marriage and we really do have a lot of fun together, but don't have some sort of Midas touch that makes everything void of imperfections. I want to be honest about that, because I don't ever want to give off false impressions that we have everything automatically easy!

We've got some GREAT stories about this day that I'll save for the podcast tomorrow because they are even better told than written, I think.

We started the day with an appointment for our car (recreating our first date, apparently), and after that, we were kind of hungry, but not very, so we found this little donut shop and got a donut. We had to eat in our car because there were way too many people for the table space in that little shop!

We went shopping for fun finds at some of our favorite stores while we were out of town. Found some good deals for our new patio space!

I had a pretty raging headache by this point, so I asked if we could go through Starbucks for some iced fresh brew to try to temper the thing, and while we sat in the line, a lady from the car behind us came up to our car, told us she'd paid for our order, and handed us a little card to explain her random act of kindness. WHAT?!?!?!?!?! A freebie? This has never happened to us! We've heard of such things, but they've never happened to us!

The card tells about little baby Josie, who lived just 18 days, and her family started this initiative called Josie's Impact, to spread the word about her life and encourage people to do random acts of kindness in her honor and memory. (And yes, we will be paying this forward!) If you want to see some of the things people have done, just search #josiesimpact.

We tried to shop at the Goodwill, but it was the first Saturday of the month and everything was 50% off, so the place was a madhouse. I found an amazing reference book I wanted, but I couldn't justify standing in line for over an hour for one book. We came back at the end of the day, and it was gone. Great sadness. (And par for the day.)

We went to Red Robin for lunch, and Ryan scored his free food, because it's his birthday month, so he earned a free meal! YAY!!!

Then we went to see a flick: Beauty and the Beast! I'd been itching to see it, but I wanted to wait until the crowds died down, and it paid off! Our theater was pretty empty!

I thought it was incredible in music and cinematography! They did add a few songs that were not in the original movie, and they changed a handful of lyrics to existing songs, but they left in enough of the amazing stuff that it was okay. I thought I would cry multiple times, but I only cried once! (And that was when she walked into the library. Not even kidding. All those books just made me straight up cry!)

Also - I would like to have these seats. They rocked! Literally!

We had a couple more stores to hit, and LOOK WHAT WE SAW ON THE WAY?????

Oh, be still my heart!

So see? Despite the many frustrations of the day, it was still a good 2-day date, and we piled up a good number of blessings!!!

Now! Back on track! Letter H is next!

The Shafferland Shuffle

We're celebrating 52 months of marriage today! So while we enjoy that, hope you enjoy a peek at last week!

* Last Sunday was a super rainy day in central Indiana. Good day to be home! And rain is one of Ryan's favorite things, so we curled up on Mo, watched some movies, and let the rain fall! Before the end of the day though, he sneaked out to the garage to put the last of the poly on the cabinet doors. And with one final stroke of the brush, that project was DONE!

* Monday evening, Ryan put the cabinets back up so we could declare the kitchen FINISHED! We were both so happy to have everything back in order! I got to hang out with my favorite baby for a little bit, and the buds on our flowering tree got a little bit bigger. Lots of good things happening in one day!

* Ryan was so busy Tuesday, he couldn't take much time for lunch, so I surprised him with Subway at work! We hid in his cloffice and ate together. Romantic! :) That night he helped me write my blog post about the kitchen cabinet makeover, which is how we ended up having a can of poly and a dessert plate sitting together on the table. Only in a blogger's life, right? Tuesday night was also the Fixer Upper finale: anyone else watch?

* Wednesday was a day of many treats! We were gifted some of the most amazing lemon cake I've ever had, and I met up with my best friend's mom for yogurt in the afternoon. I promise I got a super tiny yogurt! I got behind on my work, so I had to finish up in the evening, but it was nice to be able to see Ryan while I worked!

* On Thursday, my mom "graduated" from physical therapy! She's doing really well - just over a month post-surgery, now! On his way home from work, Ryan found this spectacular rainbow, and he knows how much I love them, so he came home to get me and took me back - and it was still there! I was so surprised! It was one of the most stunning complete rainbows I've ever see! And isn't this picture of Braeya too cute? I decided she must surely be praying over me. (HA!)

* Friday was "change-the-calendar-to-a-new-month" day, which is always one of my favorite days! That night, we had a big party with our Bible study crew, which was not only a lot of fun, but it also had some pretty spectacular food! They even surprised us with a gift for leading the study, which was so sweet! :)

* Yesterday was another alphabetical date! We went back to the letter F, since we'd skipped it earlier. More about this later, but a couple of highlights were getting a free drink at Starbucks, thanks to a pay-it-forward lady behind us, and watching Beauty and the Beast! AND we got our first glimpse of the new IKEA down by Indy! It's really happening!

The Shafferland Shuffle

First of all, it's stinkin' DST day. If you forgot, HURRY!!!!! You're late!!!!! Or just go back to bed and reclaim the hour you lost.

Not that I'm bitter about it. :)

Meanwhile, a peek into our week!

* Lately we've been enjoying brunch on Sundays, and this past week, Ryan made the whole thing. Food tastes better when someone else does all the work! :) Speaking of "all the work," have I mentioned how much work Braeya creates each day by unmaking the bed we meticulously make each morning? That child. One super fun thing from Sunday? New patio furniture!! I had been busy on Pinterest figuring out how to make patio furniture out of pallets, and here Ryan was planning to surprise me with furniture the whole time! Excited to have it; now if it could WARM UP so we can use it!!

* Monday began my week of hard core writing, where I was determined to knock out a BUNCH of projects and not be sidetracked with a bunch of errands. So I hunkered down at the computer for most of the day. I did watch my friend's 5 kiddos for a little bit in the evening, and they decided to have an Easter egg hunt using my home decor. One of them used ME for a hiding place. No, I don't lay eggs! LOL! Ryan got busy diagramming the kitchen cabinets so he could begin the refinishing project this week!

* Tuesday, I went to a Bible study that uses the inductive study method. I've not done that before, but was so excited to get to use colored pencils in my study! It was a GORGEOUS day out that day. Blue skies, clouds, and the hope that spring will one day come! (Since it showed up for January and February and now we're waiting for it to return.) That night, we had our final Bible study with our small group, and when we got home, Ryan started the cleaning process for the cabinet adventure!

* On Wednesday, Ryan's boss made lunch for everyone, and I even got invited to enjoy some of it. He's a GOOD cook. I came home to resume my writing projects, and had an assistant sleeping in my lap for the majority of the time. And here's a peek at all our kitchen drawers in their new, temporary location on top of the table. Sigh.

* Thursday was a "must drink lots of coffee" kind of day. I was so tired! I love weeks that require much creativity, but they do make me tired! Got some baby snuggles in that evening, and then we had one more Bible study. (How many studies can I participate in at one time???)

* Friday night, I went to a celebration party to catch up with the ladies from one of the retreats I spoke at last fall. So good to see them and hear the stories of God at work in them! Ryan stayed home and started painting the cabinets! Can't wait to tell you more about all those things.

* Yesterday was our "E" date - and if you're keeping track, you are correct in remembering that we have not yet had the "D" date. WHOA. The Shaffers go out of order? It's true! But it was a fun date, and then we came home so Ryan could dive back into cabinet painting - and I helped! This is a lot of hard work, but it's going to be so worth it! :)

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday actually was Valentine's Day, and even though we had officially celebrated the day before, I refused to let the ACTUAL day go by unnoticed. So we did more pictures and enjoyed a leisurely day at home. I tried to make a festive dinner by doing the heart-shaped bacon idea I found on Pinterest {fail!!!} and heart shaped toast.

* Monday was a packing party here at our house, and I got so caught up in it that I had to hurry at the last minute to cook our dinner. I ended up having a total Lucille Ball moment and had messes EVERYWHERE. Counter, stove, cabinets {inside and out} and all over me. Good grief!!! Must keep better track of the clock next time! By the way, Braeya watched TV while I packed. She's spoiled.

* Tuesday, the packing continued, and while she has NO interest in the cat carrier yet, Braeya has much interest in reading the papers I use and climbing on the boxes. That child. Pretty exciting that evening...for our workout, I tried a pair of shorts I haven't really fit in since before our wedding!

* Wednesday I got to have lunch with some friends from my IWU days, and it was a GORGEOUS day to be out and about! I ran some errands while I was out and then came home to prepare for our final small group meeting. This adventure has been a blessing; I'm so glad we did it! We capped off our night with a pretty brutal workout and conked out!

* Thursday was {surprisingly} more packing, and I found all my old journals. What a fun thing to pack!! Braeya wasn't a huge help that day; she mostly just tried to help me eat my snack! {You can guess who won that battle. Meanwhile, Ryan spent the afternoon at the minute clinic, because he started coming down with something and there was just NO TIME. He was diagnosed with a sinus infection and came home and slept the entire evening! Bless his heart!

* Friday was STUNNING!!! It was warm and sunny, and Braeya stayed occupied for HOURS looking out the front door while I packed! Ryan and I went out to run errands that night and went to Starbucks for the first time in THREE WEEKS. I'd had such withdrawal!!!!

* Ryan was gone yesterday, but when he got home, he took me on a date! It was in the high 60's/low 70's here yesterday and we LOVED being out on the town without our coats! We went to dinner at Red Robin {where I learned I could love turkey burgers on lettuce wraps and bottomless broccoli} and had coffee at a bakery when we were done. It was a fun little night!

What I Learned in January

Emily Freeman does a series of blog posts about what she has learned each month. I completely forgot to write my post about that last Friday, so even though today actually kicks off a whole new month, I still wanted to share what I learned in January! {Meanwhile, HAPPY FEBRUARY!!!}

1. Winter is so much prettier when you're not a commuter. I think this may actually fall under something I affirmed in my mind this month, rather than something I learned. While we didn't have an overly snowy month, there were so many nights when I slept beautifully because I knew I did not have to drive to Fort Wayne the next morning. I have had such a fondness for this winter, and that is a wondrous thing I've not enjoyed for years. Thank you, Ryan, for making this season possible for me!

2. Working out three times a day = no. During the last week of my second round of the 21 Day Fix, I worked out three times each day. That crossed the line. It was physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting and for me, anyway, seemed to yield no impressive additional results. I told Ryan to remind me of that if I ever happened to threaten this sort of behavior again.

3. Shepherding is hard work. Not like actual sheep shepherding. But our sermon series at church this month has been about learning to shepherd those around you. I went into this series with much enthusiasm, and while I am still excited to see what God has for me/us in the realm of shepherding others, I have learned it is not for the faint of heart. I've appreciated our pastor's teaching on this topic {which you can watch here if you want} and feel I've learned so much in just a month.

4. There are women in this world who have to hide during their periods because they have no sanitary supplies. My day observing/documenting/helping with The Dignity Project was so eye opening to the plight of women living in our very modern age who still do not have access to pads or tampons to carry them through their periods. Every month, they have to stay home and hide, because they have no other choice. The day I spent with the women who created reusable pads and pouches for these ladies half a world away was convicting, awe-inspiring, and extremely educational.

5. Webinars are more fun when you choose them yourself. Upon occasion, I had to watch webinars when I worked at IWU and at WBCL. I hated webinar days. I got sleepy just thinking about them. Sitting in a warm conference room and being quiet for an hour or two was just too hard for me. In January alone, I chose to watch three webinars from my own home, and I thoroughly enjoyed each one. I was able to walk around when I wanted, get snacks and drinks, and choose my own topics. Made all the difference, and I'm grateful for the people who made them possible!

6. Styrofoam snowballs look like eggs. On two separate occasions this month, I sent people pictures of my dining room table {photo above is one example} and both times, the recipients asked me why I had eggs in with junk food. The Styrofoam balls that are supposed to look like snowballs, apparently photograph as eggs.

7. I'm kind of a grammar failure. I finished my book manuscript last November, and this month a proofreader edited it for me. She sent it back with a humiliating amount of things marked. She actually told me it was a pretty clean manuscript, which made me wonder exactly what kinds of manuscripts other writers turn in, but it was humbling to see how much I thought I knew, but actually I don't! I told her I write by ear like some musicians play by ear. Except I hope they get more of their notes right than I did!

8. Slow cooker meals are torture when you work from home. The last week of January, I participated in a slow cooker challenge, where I made each day's meal that way. It was amazing to find new recipes I loved, but that whole gratification thing of walking into a delicious smelling house goes much easier when you are not in said house all day long. Smelling the delight while trying to focus on work is, well, hard.

So there's a sampling of what I learned in January. Possibly nothing earth-shattering there, but hopefully something entertaining in some manner!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday afternoon, we popped in and out of a birthday party for Ryan's Aunt Debbie.  It was her big 6-0 and we couldn't miss that! When we got home, Ryan had a couple of friends over to watch football. It was so much fun to host them; he's never had guys over for a football party before! Worst part of the whole thing? Sitting next to pizza and nachos and cookies and not being able to have any!

* Monday was the first day of my week off between rounds of the 21 Day Fix, and it was also the first day of a 5 Day Crock Pot challenge, so I got up early and got our dinner ready to cook! Kind of nice to have that out of the way early! I guess Braeya was excited about dinner, because when we sat down to eat, she stood right beside Ryan and begged from him!! He spent his evening working hard on his speech he has to give in a few weeks - he's so cute when he's writing! {But I have missed him - being a writing widow is weird!}

* Tuesday was chore day at home, which included portioning out all the pork from that giant pork loin Ryan brought home last week. Is it bad that organizing food makes me happy? I participated in a webinar that afternoon and apparently Braeya did not want me to take notes, because she plopped right down on my papers and gave me the stink eye. That night, we ended up spending some time in the ER with some friends. It was PACKED in there. Was it a full moon? {Everyone is fine, and we are thankful.}

* I knocked out reading an entire novel on Wednesday. I love reading days. :) It's work, but it's fun! I got the house all ready for small group - and I had a fun surprise when a friend dropped off a belated Christmas gift! Never too late for fun presents, is it? Braeya agrees. She claimed it. {Have you noticed a trend in how she dominates this house?}

* While this is not a new thing, I finally decided to document it. THIS SCREEN is so maddening. Last week it happened seconds after I saved the podcast. Ahhhh, first world problems. I moved on to non-computer activities, like making granola! :) And then we sat down to watch a little TV, but Ryan got kind of sleepy! No worries. I still got to hold his hand!

* Friday, one of my friends stopped by to visit and we had the best time drinking coffee and enjoying each other's company. That night, Ryan and I went out for a date - my first burger and fries in a month. So worth waiting for! Ryan, bless his precious heart, is completely exhausted, and he actually fell asleep at the table after dinner. I love him so much for being up for date night when he was so exhausted.

 * Did a little shopping at Hobby Lobby yesterday. Can I just tell you how much I loved seeing SPRING product on the shelves? YAY!!!!! I took down our January decorations to make way for the Valentine's Day stuff, and I think SOMEONE was not quite ready to let go of the snowman! But we were! It was 55 degrees, and we went for an outdoor run! Our first 5K of 2016!