The Shafferland Shuffle

* Happy Sunday to you!!! We are so looking forward to a day of rest today. Much needed after a busy week. Hope you can catch some rest today, too! :)

* Last Sunday was Easter, so we weren't home resting that day! Church, exchanging baskets, lunch with my family, stopping in to catch the end of Ryan's family's celebration...a busy day indeed! But we were thankful for a pretty day, which was more than the forecast promised for Easter!

* Monday I went for a run, and I was pretty nervous about it after the first run of the season (on Saturday) went so ridiculously awful! But even though it was warm and sunny, attempt #2 was much better! Ryan spent the evening working at a friend's house, installing some lights for her, so while he was gone, I started planting the first of our flowers for this year!

* Tuesday was the day of all the crazy stories I didn't feel I could tell on the blog. Here's my pretending-to-be-nicer-than-I-feel-inside face that stayed plastered on much of the morning. And of course, a view from my book that I read at the doctor's office to try to stay calm while awaiting my appointment. Ryan had more work to do that evening at our friend's house, but he did come home in time to take a sunset walk with me. Beautiful view and enjoyable company!

* Wednesday I officially christened my new "open and closed" signs for my office. I like them!! :) This was also the day my brain had reached its fullness point, so I spent some time on the porch just being still (and perhaps napping for a brief time). At the end of the day, I watched our friends' five kiddos, but before I did, I tried out traction for the first time! Hoping it would help some of my sore neck issues. (Hello, computer for 18 hours a day!) Oh! And Ryan did work at other people's houses that night. You know. Something new and different. :)

* Ryan was so busy all week that he didn't have time to mow our yard, and the forecast called for rain, so Thursday morning, I put aside work for a bit to push-mow the yard. What a job! (Our mower is not self-propelled and the "tiny" hill in our yard becomes a mountain when push-mowing! GOt it done just before the rain POURED! That night, Ryan went to work at our friend's house again, and we'd been apart so much of the week that he missed me! So he called and asked if I'd come keep him company, which I was quite happy to do. (And I helped work, too.) When he got home, he found a razzleberry pie waiting for him. I thought he'd earned it after all his hard work!

* Friday night we had some friends over for dinner. They were new friends we made not long before we moved to Kokomo, and we hated leaving them! Because everyone has such a busy schedule, they hadn't been to our house since we moved, so we were glad to finally find a date that worked to have them over. We had a make-your-own-pizza bar and played Jenga together. (Ryan won.) It was just so nice to have them over and catch up with them!

* Saturday morning, at SEVEN IN THE MORNING, we went to help our friend move. (The one whose house Ryan worked at all week.) It was cold and cloudy, but no rain! We'll take it! (By the way, the seven a.m. time was chosen by Ryan.) It really was a pretty quick move. Last night we went out for the first of Ryan's birthday celebrations! Our annual pilgrimage to Tucano's for the bottomless meat festival, and this time we went with our friends Mike and Angie!

Beautiful Despite the Limitations

We've pulled together a whole host of fun stories for you this week on Spill the Beans! An Easter recap complete with my "dress up day." (Ryan's favorite.)

Take a listen here!

I've been so excited about the arrival of spring, because all my favorite trees have been flowering in their respective white and pink blossoms, and of course, the air is getting warmer, which is amazing beyond words.

Over the weekend, Ryan and I went to the store to get flowers for our landscaping, but we were a tad on the early side. The greenhouse was still filled with tulips and hyacinths. We'll have to go back later to get the complete landscaping gear, but last night I went out into the yard with my little trowel and bucket of dirt to plant the few things we had gotten.

A smattering of plants for the window box (which to be fair, is really a railing box, but since that's not a real term, we'll go with window box) and some petunias for the front of the little red wagon I converted into a planter last year.

I'm not a plant guru. In fact, when Ryan and I collapsed on the porch after our run last night, I looked in horror at the little yellow pansy plant our friend Ronda brought to us last week. I've been watering it (regularly, I thought), but it was all limp in its pot with the petals face-down on the table. I sprang out of my chair (as fast as my post-run jello-legs would spring) and watered it. For the rest of the evening, I kept one eye on that plant and watched with intense relief as the little stems slowly lifted to attention once again.

Yes, plants are not my thing. I love them, but I have to keep on a strict maintenance schedule to make sure I don't kill them.

But despite my limitations in knowing what looks good where, I love our little limited landscaping. I love the little red wagon, the various planter pots, and the giant ferns that remind me of palm trees. I love the small handful of statues and stones we've been gifted, because they represent stories of our life together and the people who have invested in us. This is what I love about our little spot of landscaping.

My sisters are great with flowers (like they're great with laundry and many other things that are not my strength). But I'm not going to let my limitations keep me from loving my pretty little plants. I'm going to keep going back to the store until I find enough things to fill the naked dirt of the planters, and I'm going to do my best to get regular drinks of water to each of them before they follow the pansy's lead and go petal-down in the dirt.

Maybe plants are not your thing either...or maybe you're afraid to try. Give it a shot! You just never know. You might not be hired as chief landscaper of a major corporation, but you can sit back and enjoy the beauty in front of you. I know I sure plan to!

The Shafferland Easter Shuffle

Happy Easter! Hope you all have a wonderful day, even if the weather isn't very sunny! (At least that's what we're expecting here!)

* Last Sunday seems so long ago now, but that was the day we went to Indianapolis with Ryan's sister's entourage for wedding dress shopping. A successful day for her, for which we were thankful, and quite entertaining to watch Ryan take in the whole Say Yes to the Dress experience!

* I spent Monday busily working in the office, wrapping up all the paperwork from speaking over the weekend. Fun fact: at lunch, Ryan made me laugh so hard I cried off all the makeup one eye. I forgot to fix that before I went out in public. Whoopsie. That night, Ryan went to help a friend of ours who just bought a house and needed some work done on a light fixture. Not sure how the hammer was going to fix it, but who am I to question? While he did that, I made our dinner: skinny mini lasagnas from Dashing Dish. Fabulous!

* Tuesday night, we hosted another Tuesdays at the Table with my good friend Ronda. We miss living close to her! I tried my hand at making "breadsticks" with cauliflower crust, and even though Ryan didn't care for it, I thought it was fabulous!

* Wednesday was a day of much prayer, Bible study, and journaling, and even though my heart wrestled through many things, it was so nice to see the two plants we own (so far) blooming beautifully! And that night, we had an unexpected dinner invitation to a friend's house! (Ryan was doing some work there too...he's been quite the handyman this week!)

* Thursday I got together with my mother-in-law for coffee, and at the end of the day, I just did not have it in me to make dinner. It had been a d.a.y. for both Ryan and me, so we went to Culver's for a treat. (And I did the whole treat thing, too! Burger AND fries!) And when Ryan went shopping at Lowe's, I thoroughly enjoyed their Easter lily display. So pretty!

* I had Friday off from carpool duties, so I stayed in my jammies and read blogs and drank coffee extra long that morning! After work, we helped one of our friends by hauling a truckload of mulch to her house. (That load tested our truck tire limits.  EEK!) And Ryan felt he had earned a Meat Mountain sandwich at Arby's, so we stopped for him to try one. Sorry there are no photos of my salad. LOL!

* Yesterday was GORGEOUS here in Indiana, and of course Ryan had to work, so I scrapbooked. We went for a run and I happened to notice that the strong winds had done a bit of a number on the portapotties around the area. (Lots of construction = portapotties.) Hope no one was inside! We took a few minutes to rest on our porch and drink coffee after dinner, and then Ryan wanted to look for an Easter outfit. This wasn't QUITE what I envisioned...

The Shafferland Shuffle

You guys, last Sunday seems like 20 million years ago! Seriously! (Ryan said Tuesday seems like 20 million years ago.) Guess it was a long week! Here's a peek at it:

* Last Sunday was our monthiversary! 52 months, baby! We celebrated with a little shopping, lunch out at McAlister's (pause to appreciate their amazing iced tea...), a nice walk in the sunshine, and some lounging on the patio. It was a gorgeous day, and we appreciated it!

* I mentioned this earlier this week, but Ryan's sister just got engaged not long ago, and Monday was a big girls-of-the-family planning meeting during lunch. His whole family is full of fantastic event planners, so I am confident they did not need me at all, but I went with my nerdy color-coded pens and listened to the beginning of the planning-palooza! We had gotten a gift card to Texas Roadhouse, so Ryan suggested we go there for dinner. I think he just wanted to fill up on peanuts. :)

* Tuesday was super busy, including a podcast interview for me and Tuesdays at the Table for both of us! We had Ryan's mom and Aunt Ruthie over for dinner, and after the meal was done, some of the wedding planning palooza continued at our house.

* I was so happy to see our oils order arrive on Wednesday, because Ryan was mid-cold and I needed to have him start feeling better! That night we went to hear our friend Brent Vernon, who was in concert right here in town! We hardly ever get to see him, so anytime he's within driving distance, we go! He did a great job, and it was fun to see him (and Sam the dummy)!

* Thursday was a writing day for this girl. I hunkered down and worked for hours!! That was also the day my brother-in-law's book showed up in the mail, and I was so happy to finally own my very own copy! :) Ryan was pooped when he came home from work (thankyouverymuch, cold) so he and Braeya rested on the couch for most of the evening. They're so cute!

* Friday was still a little chilly here in Central Indiana, but the sun came out and it made me SO EAGER for warm spring. I put my laptop right by the little patch of sun and sat in the warmth while I worked! And I noticed the pretty pink tree in the yard is starting to come to life! We stayed home all evening just to rest after a busy week. Tried to watch Dateline (don't be jealous of how cool we are) but we fell asleep in the middle of it. That might explain our poor, tired faces in this picture. HA!

* Yesterday I wore two hats at once. (Not literally, of course.) I was the speaker and photographer at a bridal shower, and it was just a blast! Good food, fun fellowship, and I enjoyed the day immensely! (More on this later.) While I was busy working, Ryan was busy working too - on the yard! He rolled and mowed it for the first time this season. Bring on the warmth!

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 Spring Capsule at the Halfway Point

A couple of weeks ago, I told you about my spring capsule (you can read all about it here, if you missed it) and even recapped my first two weeks of wearing ensembles from this particular capsule. I'm now halfway through the eight weeks of outfits and wanted to check back in to tell you what I'm loving and what I'm not loving!

Here are weeks three and four, recapped in a little less detail than I did the first time around.

Week Three:

(You can click on that to make it bigger if you want.)

Day One: I think this was my least favorite outfit so far. I just didn't love that shirt and skirt together. I felt like an overgrown junior high student.

Day Two: I had a speaking engagement on this day, so it was nice that it landed on a dress day!

Day Three: This was St. Patrick's day, and the ombre in the skirt wasn't quite green enough, so I added a scarf I already owned. That helped.

Day Four: FREEZING! Come on, spring! Catch up!!!

Day Five: I confess I needed a jeans day by this point!

Week Four:

Day One: I needed some sunshine in my life and the shirt delivered!

Day Two: I discovered there is one lavender stripe in that dress, so my new lavender leggings fit with it! YAY!

Day Three: This was supposed to be a shorts day, but it was too cold. I'd already worn this shirt with the other pair of jeans, so to try to mix it up, I wore different shoes and rolled up the pant legs.

Day Four: I really am loving the white pants.

Day Five: Had to wear a jacket because it was too cold for sleeveless. Again. Still.

So just for fun, here are all four weeks together:

No repeats yet! Not exactly. Some are close!

I'm learning that I really do love some of these pieces a lot and others are not my favorite. Maybe they will become my favorite, and maybe they won't! I'm not sure! I'm continuing to learn more about what I feel good in, what I need to have as part of my capsule, and what things maybe aren't the best fit. Here are a few specifics.

* I LOVE that striped dress. I love how it fits. The chevron one is okay, but it doesn't feel as good on as the striped one. (Probably because it's really a juniors dress and is an extra large and still feels too short.)

* I don't love button down shirts on me. At all. Even though the three in my capsule fit me well, I'm learning that style is just not great for me. My body wasn't made for it. Too bad, since they're so versatile.

* I don't love my denim skirt. I think I've always known that about this skirt, but it's what was in stock years ago the day I needed a denim skirt on the double. It needs to be just a hair longer and more tapered. It's like a big box on me and I hate that. I'll be on the lookout for a new one.

* I love the ombre skirt more than I thought I would, and I am not sure I love the maxi skirt even though I love the fit of it. The ombre skirt is just unique, and I think that's why I like it. I have a hard time finding maxi skirts that fit me right, and this one does, which is why I was so excited to get it. But I'm not sure I love the pattern.

* The floral tank is turning out awkwardly because of its smell! It was practically brand new in look and feel when I found it at the Goodwill. I thought it had maybe never even been worn. And honestly that might be true. But whoever had it before me liked her some STRONG perfume and no matter how many times I wash it, I cannot get the smell out. One day I had to switch the outfit to another one because I had a headache from it. If I can't get the smell out, I"ll have to get rid of it. Not worth it. Sigh.

* I'm missing my other clothes. In a regular world, I wouldn't maybe be such a stickler about following this every single day, but I'm doing an experiment here, so I need to stick to it. But I miss my other clothes - like my shiplap shirt! I enjoy wearing those things on the weekends. Learning that maybe I don't want four distinct seasonal wardrobes, but maybe find a way to dovetail all four seasons so they're a little unique and yet very interchangeable? Still working that one out in my head.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings! :) 

The Shafferland Shuffle

Last week of March!! Is it spring break week where you live? If so, I hope you're getting to enjoy warmth! :)

* Last Sunday was the height of rest around here - for everyone! Naps, reading, scrapbooking, just enjoying the day. The only thing that would have made it better was a nice, long walk!

* Monday we woke up to crazy rain/storms, which is, I suppose, appropriate for the first official day of spring. Also exciting markers of the first official day of spring? Buds on trees (I'd so feared our pretty white flowering tree started too early and would die off when the freeze returned) and free ice cream cones from Dairy Queen! We got the new guy when we went, which I knew would either result in extra small cones or extra big ones. We lucked out! :)

* Tuesday was another therapy day for Mom, and she's doing really well! I attended, like always and helped by drinking coffee and watching. (Don't you wish I could assist in all your endeavors?) I go because I have SUCH A CRUSH on the guy who does her therapy. I did some child-care that night, and then enjoyed the most amazing sunset. I was so happy to see it! I miss pretty sunsets.

* Wednesday was a long, hard day here in Shafferland. Hard conversations and lots of prayer. I should clarify that we had hard days independently, which is awkward, because then we were both too tired to really pick each other up very well! That evening, Ryan went to the garage to keep working on the cabinets and pray and I spent some time reading Scripture and praying. (And crying in the bathroom. Full disclosure. LOL.) We weren't so sorry to see Wednesday go.

* Thursday morning I had to get our tires rotated, and I totally forgot to take my book to read while I waited! So I had a stare-down with the tires. They won. I got a beautiful surprise in the mail when a friend sent me a subscription to the Magnolia Journal! :) That was such fun. And at the end of the day? Got to hang out with the kiddos I've been watching some. It was fun!

* Friday I spent most of the day in the kitchen, baking meals for our friends and family who had surgery lately. It was so much fun to put together a little blessing basket for them, and then when Ryan got off work, we went on a delivery tour! We ate our own dinner so early and so fast that we were kind of hungry, so Ryan made a bowl of popcorn. It turned out to be a REALLY BIG BOWL. we ate every last bit. Don't tell.

* When we woke up yesterday morning, neither of us felt really great. Not full-on sick, but just worn out. So Ryan went to work, and I got busy around the house, and then GUESS WHO CAME TO HANG OUT FOR THE WHOLE DAY???? If you guessed our Phoebe-girl, you'd be right! I felt more justified resting on the couch with her in my lap! :) Always a treat to have her!

Spring Capsule Ensembles, Weeks 1 and 2

Yesterday I told you about my desire to build seasonal capsules, which will hopefully incorporate a little variety and color in my wardrobe year! My goal was to find clothes that worked well for my work-from-home life, where I don't have to dress up or be fancy, but would also work well for my speaking life, where I do need to look professional and put together.

Here are the first two weeks of my ensembles, based on the outfits from the inspiration capsule. Also...some thoughts on the adventure! {Click on the collage if you need to see it bigger.}

Week One:

* May Day One outfit was made up of a gray and white tank top, a chambray shirt, and jeans. I added my cute new gray lace-up shoes and brought in spring-like color with my jewelry: big pink hoop earrings, a multi-colored necklace, and a multi-colored bracelet. I spent the day working at home (plus running a few errands) and it was a cold, windy, rainy day, so this super casual look worked well and felt good.

* Day Two, I wore a coral button down shirt with 3/4 length sleeves. I put a white lace cami underneath since you can see right through the eyelets on the shirt. I wore white jeans and dark gold ballet flats. I contrasted turquoise jewelry with a necklace, hoop earrings, and a bracelet. Though I mostly worked from home this day, it was our monthiversary and we went to a Bible study, so it was nice to look a little more dressed up for the occasion. Plus, it was just a COLD day, so this offered the hope of spring.


*Day Three, I wore a plain navy v-neck shirt with a dark cami unerneath, since you can sort of see through it. I added a knee length denim skirt and a gray sweater. Because it was FREEZING, I added black leggings, and my new gray ballet flats. I accented with big pink hoop earrings, a pink necklace ,and a pink bracelet. I ran several errands throughout the day, and it was good to have a bit of a dressier look for some of them, but it was casual enough that I didn't feel overdressed for things like dog-sitting duty!

* Day Four, I wore this new dress! Because it was freezing again, I added white leggings and the gray ballet flats come back for a second day. I wore a necklace and bracelet that had a good mix of blues and greens and sparkly blue earrings. This dress feels like jammies, so this was PERFECT for a day of writing at home. I was probably overdressed, but I felt cute, and that was important because it was cold and nasty outside.


*Day Five, I wore a gray striped t-shirt. The inspiration capsule called for shorts, but NO WAY was it shorts weather, so I rotated in a second pair of jeans and the cute gray lace up shoes again. All silver jewelry this day - necklace, earrings, and bracelet. I went to a Bible study, so I felt cute there, and then it worked well for being home and writing the rest of the day!

Week Two:

 * Day One, I wore my gray patterned T-shirt coupled with the multi-colored shorter skirt. Again: freezing! Added white leggings and gold ballet flats. It was a badddddd hair day, so into a pony it went, and I wore glass teal earrings and matching necklace, along with a coordinating bracelet to pull out the color in the skirt. I wrote at home all day and only got out to visit Ryan at work, so this worked!

* Day Two, I wore jeans with my white button-down shirt. I put a white cami underneath for layering and so you couldn't see through, and also wore my gray ballet flats. Pink necklace, earrings, and bracelets brought in some spring and color. Though I was home all day, we had our Bible study that night, so I liked being casual yet dressy for the day.

* Day Three, I wore the second new dress and layered my green sweater on top. More leggings and gold flats. Sage green jewelry completed it! I went to a party that evening and wanted to look a little bit dressy but still be comfortable (two hours in the car), so this worked! (Note: I actually should have worn the chambray shirt so I didn't have the green sweater twice in one week, but I got it mixed up!)

* Day Four I started repeating! The coral shirt (with white cami underneath) came back, as did the denim skirt. I added white leggings, gold flats, and a chunky white necklace and coral earrings. I had a BUNCH of errands this day, including Mom's first physical therapy session, so dressy was good!

* Day Five, I wore the flowered tank top, covered by the green sweater and white jeans. Multi-shades of green jewelry rounded it out - and gray flats, too! I had Bible study on this day, and the room gets a little warm, so I liked having lighter layers.

 Ten of the thirty outfits I'll have from this capsule...featured right here! :)