Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday morning, we had a magnificent church service. About halfway through, I realized I should have been taking notes while soaking in the sermon. Whoopsie. Ryan and I enjoyed a day at home, relaxing, watching the Colts, scrapbooking {you can guess who did what}, and Ryan experimented with grilling our leftover mac n cheese. MAN was it good! And that night: another sign of fall. FLEECE SHEETS!!!!!

* Monday was kind of a hard day in my heart, so I was grateful for my journal close at hand an the promises God sent throughout the day that I was able to chronicle. That night I drove home in the WEIRDEST rain ever. It rained so hard that I couldn't hear my mom through my Bluetooth, so she finally just had to hang up - and the only reason I knew the smacking against my car was rain and not hail was the lack of bouncing ahead of me. And speaking of ahead of me: blue skies. Crazy!!!! Ryan and I went to the gym that night, where I ended up running out in tears after a trainer got to me, so I came home and ate peanut butter cookies!!

* Tuesday morning NO one wanted to get out of the cozy bed - including Braeya. But we did. The Dove awards were Tuesday, so while I worked, I streamed the daytime awards online. I am a sucker for award shows of any kind! That night, while driving home - again with the weird weather! Storm tot he north. Blue skies to the south. SO stinking weird. Our night was low key and we even went to bed early! Even Braeya!

  * Wednesday morning we awakened to the Blood Moon/Lunar Eclipse. I will be the first to admit that I am not one to get into the whole moon thing, but I figured I better document it, though this may be one of my worst, grainy phone pics EVER. But still. It happened. Wednesday was a HARD day. Meltdown at work, in front of the morning guys, no less, rough Mid-Morning show...I was just ready for the day to be OVER! The evening, though, was lovely. I went shopping at Cato and got a couple new shirts and enjoyed Ryan's hard work on the yard while I watered our (very gorgeous, these days) mums. The little things brighten the day!

 * Thursday was CONSIDERABLY better than Wednesday. We could really feel the prayers offered on our behalf and began to feel some peace and joy in our hearts! After so much rain this week, it was so nice to drive into a gorgeous sunrise that morning, and then that evening, we enjoyed a quiet night at home; Ryan grilled chicken and veggies, and we ate some of the fabulous lemon cake I made this week. And of course, we watched the Colts!

* Friday night was a first in Bekahland...my first ever high school football game! My friend Kari has a son who plays in the marching band and is a senior, so it was his night to be recognized at halftime. She asked if we could come to the game and take pictures for her...so date night moved to the football field! I had to wear three layers and felt like a puffalump, but it really wasn't a bad night for a game, considering the rainy mess of cold we've had lately. I had fun taking pictures and marking football game off my list of things to do someday!

* Ryan worked yesterday, so while he was gone, I did some writing and cooking and chores around the house. When he came home, we got all dressed up and headed to the wedding of one of Ryan's co-workers! It was a small wedding - about the size of ours. His co-workers are all so much fun and we had a great time together. Loved the post-wedding sparklers! On our way home we stopped to visit my parents, since it was my dad's birthday!

The Saturday Six

One.

Have you seen this collection of photos? Four sisters had their picture taken together in 1975...and have had their picture taken together every year since. Fascinating photography and so interesting to watch the progress of time. 

Two.

One of my favorite things about cold weather: fleece sheets. Flannel sheets are good. Fleece sheets are a whole piece of heaven in and of themselves. Warning: You'll never ever want to get out of bed. Like worse than normal.

Three.

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Want to plan a wedding but don't have a wedding to plan? Pretty cool idea from fiction writer Beth Vogt. Readers get to plan a wedding {via a Pinterest board} for one of her novel characters! Pretty sweet!! Details here.

Four.

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This week on Mid-Morning, I had the chance to interview Dan Vollmer, whose family business is called Barnwood Trays. COOLEST THING. They tear down barns that are in a state of disrepair and then reclaim the wood to make trays that you can use for...well...just about anything! My favorite part of what they do is the story behind the wood. They learn as much as they can about the history of the barns and include with each tray the story and a picture of the barn while it was still standing. I LOVE the idea of preserving the history and having a one-of-a-kind piece of art that is functional as a tray! Check them out!

Five.

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The news is just HARD these days. So I love finding a feel-good story, and I love it twice as much when said story happens in my town! Watch this news story about a little something that happened at IWU this week. Completely inspiring. Proud to say this is my school!

Six.

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FABULOUS article for anyone in a season of waiting. Fabulous.  

White Chicken Chili

You remember the Polar Vortex last winter, don't you? Days and days on end of sub-sub-sub-zero temperatures? When heat wasn't enough and we began to look for ways to get warm from the inside-out?

Enter the rapid consumption of soup in the Shaffer household. Our one hour commutes turned into two hour commutes {each way} on those harrowing roads, and the last thing either of us felt like doing upon arriving at home was cooking. So we looked for things that could be thrown together quickly and provide much {warm} comfort in a short amount of time.

Enter white chicken chili.

Several years ago, I ate white chicken chili as part of a work carry-in, and I liked it, but there were far too many beans for my liking. Because as you know, I have a firm aversion to beans. Or vegetables in general. So I took a recipe I found on Pinterest and tweaked it pretty heavily to make it Bekah-friendly - and to make it healthier.

We love our white chicken chili because it does come together in a snap, it's ever so tasty, and it warms over nicely. That works out well for us since we carry our lunches.

And with fall upon us, I thought I'd share this with you in case you're looking for a new soup recipe! YUMMY YUMMY!

White Chicken Chili

* 1 to 1 1/2 pounds of cooked and shredded chicken
* 1 chopped onion {choose size depending on how much you like onion!}
* 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1 15-ounce can of Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
* 1 14-ounce can of chicken broth {low sodium}
* 1 7-ounce can of chopped green chilis
* 1 teaspoon of seasoned salt
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1 cup Greek yogurt
* 1/2 cup milk

Cook and shred chicken. Cook onion and garlic powder in the vegetable oil in a large pot until onion is tender. Add chicken and all other ingredients. Cook on low for 30 minutes and serve warm.

A Few Tips:

* I buy frozen chicken in bulk when it is on sale and cook it by putting frozen chicken in water and bringing it to a boil until cooked all the way through. Then I transfer the chicken to my stand mixer and use the paddle attachment to shred it. I also add some seasoned salt to the chicken as it shreds, just to mix in some good seasoned flavor.

* We are meatatarians more than vegetarians, so I actually cut down the amount of beans from the original recipe from 2 cans to 1, and I increased the amount of chicken. If you aren't as crazy about meat, but you love beans, you could always switch those amounts around.

* If you want to add more of a kick, you could always get hot chilis, but I prefer the mild ones. The whole soup is very mild, but it has fantastic flavor.

* The original recipe called for heavy cream and sour cream, but I have replaced those with low-fat or fat-free milk and Greek yogurt, and we think it tastes delicious.

* You could cook this in a crock pot instead of stove top - as long as you have your chicken done ahead of time. I would just let it sit on low for a few hours to keep it warm and let the flavors marry.

* We like to eat ours with garlic bread, but you could pair it with anything you like with soup.

* ENJOY!!

Just Some Thoughts

My brain is full. So. So. Full.

So full that I fear I cannot put together a coherent blog for you today. My apologies in advance if that turns out to be truth.

Ever have days when thoughts just tumble over and over in your mind and you can't reach out and grab them to put them in order? Such has been my week.

And from what I'm reading, such has been many of your weeks as well. Kind of wish I could have you all over and we could sit and eat some of this {won't lie...FABULOUS} lemon cake I made last night. We could drink coffee and encourage each other, possibly cry a little bit, and hopefully end up laughing together.

I've learned that when times are good, my journal is filled with the chattering of my brain. Thoughts, hopes, dreams, chronicles of the goodness. And when times are difficult, my brain fills, and I can't grab the words to capture them. So on those days, I rely on the words of Scripture and quotes I find here and there. I write them down, scarcely letting my journal leave my side.

Since it seems many of you are struggling this week with full minds and hurting hearts, may I share some of what I've found with you?

***

My presence will go with you and I'll see the journey to the end. - Exodus 33:14

We can trust our God. He knows what He's doing. Though it might hurt now, we won't be ruined. - Love and the Outcome

Cease striving, and know that I am God. - Psalm 46:10

Our feelings never affect God's facts. - Amy Carmichael

God is our refuge and strength; a helper who is always found in times of trouble. - Psalm 46:1

When you're hopeful, rejoice. When you're suffering, be patient. When you're praying, persevere. - Romans 12:12

God never withholds good except when He has something better to give.- Joanna Weaver

The hardest things you face usually turn out to be the best things. So don't give up or give in! God may be creating a diamond. - Jennifer Rothschild

***

I so love spending time with you each day! Thanks for reading along with our adventures here in Shafferland and understanding days like today, when my brain is full. Hope you found some encouragement here today! 

And I'll eat that piece of lemon cake in your honor. :)

Missing Rainbows

It happened again this week.

Per the credible news sources that we lovingly call Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, there were rainbows everywhere. Not surprising, since I feel like it has rained incessantly for days.

Know how many of those rainbows I saw in person?

One. If you count the tiny quarter of one I saw in my rearview mirror as I left work one day. And it is possible, though it's 3700 kinds of embarrassing to admit this, that I may have nearly wrecked my car twisting around in my seat to try to catch a glimpse of it.

Seriously. ONE RAINBOW! Out of the kajillions reported {and captured in photos, so they must be true}, I saw one quarter of one out the very side of my rearview mirror, as I rounded a curve, no less. By the time I turned onto a side road, where I could have seen it, it was gone.

The thing that baffles me most is I have no idea how I keep missing them. A couple of days ago I walked inside the front door of the station, after carefully scanning the sky and deeply absorbing its beauty...and all over Facebook were photos of rainbows. Did I see any of these? Nope! And I was just there!

It seems to be my lot this year. I'm so close...and yet I miss them every time.

I love them so, because I'm a tangible reminder girl and these rainbows are the tangible reminder of God's promise to never again flood the entire earth.

My own personal earth {Bekahland...Shafferland} feels a bit {translated: entirely} flooded right now. I keep telling myself that if I could see a rainbow...if God would set one in my own personal sky...I would be comforted to remember that He's got me.

And yet it seems like everyone around me sees the promise and I don't.

The literal collides with the symbolic in my brain. I don't get real rainbows or heart rainbows. And all those around me seem to get both.

And the one time I catch a glimpse of one, I nearly wreck myself trying to get a full view.

Anyone with me? Anyone else feel that way sometimes?

It is in this moment that I force myself to remember a lesson I learned in the desert a few years back. I didn't have a hope of a rainbow then either. My goodness, the sky hadn't nearly cleared enough. It was monsoon season in my world {and pouring from my eyes as well}. And in those days when I felt like all God's promises had come for everyone but me, I clutched my Bible tightly against me and through gritted teeth said, This I will call to mind and therefore I will have hope: because of God's great love we are not consumed. His mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness.

Just because I don't get to see the rainbow in the sky doesn't mean it's not there. Just because I don't feel His promises doesn't mean they're not there.

I'm choosing to believe. Choosing to call to mind the hope of His faithfulness in this season of waiting. In this season of confusion. In this season of need.

And I'm also choosing to believe that one day {soon} I will see that rainbow in all its literal and symbolic glory and you can KNOW I will be taking a picture. Cementing that faith-made-sight moment forever.

Engagementversary Part 2

Sorry our day was so long that it requires this much time to tell you about it!

One of Ryan's patients told him about an apple orchard up near Peru, Indiana, that had really good apple dumplings. Don't need to tell us twice!!  So we drove to Peru, got lost thanks to Chloe {Ryan's GPS.} She had us lost to the tune of ELEVEN MILES. Good grief, Chloe.

Finally arrived!

By this time in the afternoon it was still crazy cold, and raining as well, so we hoped they would be open. They were definitely open...and PACKED! So many people everywhere!!

Thought we might get new living room furniture: 

 Apples, apples everywhere!

They had a barn with a little petting zoo, so we checked that out before going to look for dumplings.

 {The horse was camera shy. Looked right at us until I took the picture. Every. Single. Time.}

We went into the little restaurant for the dumplings and that was the first time our day hit a snag. When we walked inside, there was a gift shop and a wine tasting counter, so we walked past all that and stood by the "Wait here to be seated" sign at the front of the dining room. There were several empty tables, but when the hostess met us, she asked if we'd put our name in at the front door.

We hadn't, because first of all, we never saw a sign saying we needed to do that, and secondly, the front door had been crowded by people checking out at the gift shop, so we just squeezed past them. She took our name and phone number and told us it would be about 20 minutes.

How is this possible? There were about five empty tables! She said they had to call other people who had put in their names, and they could be anywhere on the property. If any of them failed to respond to the call, our names would move up.

So we sat in the {crazy hot} winery, watching the tasting.

I won't lie; I was pretty sad that we had to wait so long for dumplings and coffee, and while people from the wine tasting counter asked everyone around us if they needed anything, no one ever stopped to ask us! {Apparently it was really evident we weren't buying wine.}

About a half hour into our 20 minute wait, Ryan went to check on the progress and they said it would be about five more minutes. When we finally got called in, the room looked pretty much like it had 40 minutes earlier. We ordered a dumpling to share and some coffee.

Our dumplings and coffee ended up costing more than our lunch. Whoopsie! It was a good dessert date, and we did have fun experiencing the place. But I was really sad that it was such a hot, long wait for reasons that really didn't seem to make sense. :(

On our way home from the orchard, we stopped by the cemetery where my little nephew is buried. I hadn't been there in a couple of years:

Between the early morning, the busy day, and the cold and rain outside, we were pooped, so we came home and took a nap, and then I had one more request.

Oh yes.

Apple. Pie. Chai.

Oh baby.

McConn's fall menu is BACK! We went back to IWU and waded through the college students to get our first fall drinks of the season. Be still, my beating heart!

What a great end to the day! We topped it off with shopping for our Greentown-house-buyers and for our groceries.




Loved spending this day together!!!

Engagementversary Part 1

Saturday was our 2 year engagementversary, and in a rare twist of wonderful, both of us had the entire day off work. So I declared it a day of celebration, and what fun we had! SO much fun, actually, that it might take 2 days to tell you! {Translation: it will.}

We found out a few days before the big day that our realtor wanted to have an open house at the home we live in, so we didn't really get to sleep in. We got up early, finished up the cleaning that needed to be done, and prepared to be kicked out of the house by 10 a.m.

But Ryan was a sweetheart and decided we needed a breakfast treat. One of our favorites is to get breakfast at Subway. It's seriously one of the most filling and simultaneously cost effective breakfasts we've ever found. So while I finished up at home, he went out for breakfast, and we ate together in our dining room!

We got the realtor all set up in our house, and then we headed out for stop #1 of the day: IWU Homecoming.

This wasn't a big number year for me at homecoming, and Ryan didn't go to IWU, so we had to make our own homecoming experience. But fortunately, we're good at that sort of thing. :) Last year they started having a parade. It's not very big {yet} but it's kind of a cool thing. I find parades fun, anyway.

So we made our way toward the parade route and waited for them! A really nice man took our picture with the IWU sign. {Thanks, Random Stranger!!}

PS. Homecoming weekend is almost always ridiculous where weather is concerned. It's always either cold or raining or snowing or all of that together. This particular morning was gorgeous, but our first day of fuh-reeeeeeezing. I had on 2 shirts and 2 jackets. And a hat. And gloves. And I'm hot blooded!

Homecoming King and Queen. {We watched their coronation from a distance last week when we were out for a walk around campus!} 

 This was Ryan's favorite float. It really was cool. {Though I did wonder about the young man in shorts. You know. Since I was in four layers.}

 And this was my favorite float. HA HA HA HA HA!

 The two in the back seat of this car are friends of mine from back in the days when I attended Chapel Pike. Mike and Cindy Helvie are their names...they're missionaries, and I really appreciate their commitment to their marriage. {They renew their vows every five years, I think it is. I got to attend one of those ceremonies and found it extremely moving and encouraging.}

 I want this to drive to work.

After the parade ended, we headed to the brand new science and nursing building that just opened. We've watched {from a distance} as they built it over the last couple of years. What an undertaking! Ryan felt that since he'd been supervisor #1 on the building {??} it seemed only right that he go inside and check out the finished product. You know. To make sure they did it right.

We went through the nursing side first. I didn't take any pictures, but it was really cool. I've always known IWU has a great nursing program, but seeing all their new labs and simulation dummies and state of the art hospital/doctor office equipment was really cool. {The dummies could breathe and bleed and cry and talk and foam at the mouth and one can even deliver a baby. That's not too shabby.}

After that tour, I took Ryan to see a newly renovated classroom. I took Earth Science in that room way back in the day - when it looked way more 70's and not nearly so modern. It's pretty cool now. Of course, all of this was lost to Mr. Hey-Aren't-These-Anatomy-Diagrams-On-The-Board Cool?

We wanted to take a tour of the new science part of the building, but we had to wait for a while for a guide to be ready:

This part of the building is five stories tall, and the tour started out on the very top floor. It was very science-y {go figure. IT'S A SCIENCE BUILDING} so I found myself a bit more captivated by the views out the windows. :)

The top of the Christian Ministries Building...

 Library, dorms, and fountain...

 And my favorite, which will probably end up framed and hanging in our home. The prayer chapel where I prayed so long for Ryan.

After we finished the tour, we headed to Mi Pueblo for lunch, where we met up with our friends Bill and Kristin, who were in town for Homecoming. Problem: Ryan and I had a huge breakfast so we weren't super hungry. We decided to share a lunch, and it cracked me up when they brought me an extra plate. I put it in front of me and said "Welp, guess I'm on a diet!" HA!

Great time catching up with Bill and Kristin. They're foster parents and I think they said that was their first kid-free weekend in 16 months. Much deserved break for them, and I was glad for them! We had fun talking and then we set out on part two of our adventures for the day. I'll save them for tomorrow!

Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, we were POOPED when the alarm went off! Our long day and late night Saturday caught up with us! We actually overslept an hour and still managed to get lunch in the crock pot and get to church on time. We crashed big time that afternoon. Ryan even slept through the first half of the Colts game, if that tells you anything. Gorgeous evening, so we took a nice long walk and enjoyed the stunning sunset.

* Monday morning was my last interview while Lynne was gone, and I talked with Lisa Velthouse about her book, Craving Grace. She did a wonderful job. So proud of her! After work, Ryan and I went for a run {it was not a bad run for me time-wise, but it was MISERABLE for reasons I do not know} and then we ordered pizza. HA! We wanted to cash in on the 50% off pizza from the Colts' win. We found out our house was being shown Tuesday, so we spent the rest of the evening cleaning - and having a quick celebration of National Coffee Day! {Isn't EVERY day that day?}

* Tuesday was a cold and gloomy day all day - at least at work! Imagine my surprise when I got home to find out that just an hour south of work, it had been sunny with blue skies all day! Crazy! It had been my last day to work without Lynne, and I left a "Welcome Home" sign on her computer to make her return as sweet as returning to work can be. I was still feeling run down from working over the weekend and my last big interview on Monday, so we took it easy that night. {I did, however, dye my hair. And not orange. SCORE!}

* Wednesday I was back in my regular engineering seat for the first time in over two weeks Felt so good! Had a nice lonnnnnnnnnnnnng working lunch with Lynne and got her all caught up on everything she'd missed and handed over the massive list of work notes I had created. That night, Ryan and I went to church and then we went for a LONG walk and talk, which included a stop in the prayer chapel and a pause by the homecoming coronation taking place on campus! Great talk. Thankful he likes the long hash-out-life conversations!

* Thursday was our 22 month anniversary, and it wasn't NEARLY so lovely a day as the previous Thursday had been when we went on our county date! That evening, we went to the gym {though I immediately came home because all I had in me to do was walk on the track and the zumba crew was about to enter and zumba, and I couldn't handle them}. When Ryan came home, we had our modified cookout {cook-in}, ate cupcakes and watched TV. 

 * Friday sure felt like fall! It was cold and rainy all day, and when I got home, I found the first signs of truly fallen leaves littering the yard. Not enough to rake yet, but enough to tell us raking is on its way. BOO. Ryan had some chores to do around the house, so I took a quick trip over to my friend Lynn's house to celebrate her birthday! AMAZING cupcakes and fun girl time! And then I came home and conked out as soon as we started a movie, because I'm 90 that way. {Eyeroll.}

* Yesterday was our 2 year engagementversary, and to celebrate, we had one of the busiest {yet most fun} days ever! We went to the IWU Homecoming parade and toured their new science building, we met up with friends of mine for lunch, we went to an apple orchard for fun and for apple dumplings and coffee, and then we went to IWU again for the return of the fall coffee menu!! Topped off the night with a little shopping and called it a great day!

The Saturday Six

One.

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Last Monday, when I told you about our Wells County tour, I mentioned the books I found in the coffee shop - and about Zach Bertsch and his passion to spread the love of Christ, even while he was battling cancer. I was surprised and thankful to find a comment on that post from Zach's wife, and she told me she'd just posted an update to their blog about the work that continues in Zach's name - in Haiti. They are trying to place orphans in loving homes. You can read about the project here, and then check out the blog to see the updates of the work done there. Thanks, Jenny, for helping me find the update and for continuing work in Zach's name!

Two.

As you know, I completed my five interviews while Lynne was on vacation! THANK YOU to all of you who prayed, emailed, left kind remarks here and on Facebook and Instagram. I felt very supported and loved! Some of you have asked how to hear them if you missed them. So please do not think I'm doing this with any kind of boasting or self-promotion in mind, but I had great guests, and I'd love you to hear them! Click on any title to hear the show:  Annie Downs/Let's All Be Brave - - - BLT with Jim Barron - - - Josh and Shelly Buck - - - BLT with Ryan and Jim - - - Lisa Velthouse/Craving Grace. Thanks to ALL my guests and co-hosts and to Jim for engineering all five programs for me!

Three.

Angie Smith's new children's book came out this week. Not gonna lie. Wish I would have thought to write this one. I think this is a good one for gift ideas. I do love her style.

Four.

Whilst browsing through the grocery store with Ryan this week {waiting for him to nail down his final peanut butter selection}, I saw these new Jif Whips. I was curious, of course, because who can't adore the marriage of chocolate and peanut butter? Imagine my joy WHEN, the very next day, my co-worker Amy had one of these at lunch? She was kind enough to allow me to sample {aka have what would no doubt be considered eight servings} and I LOVED IT. All I had to dip in it were Wheat Thins, but I'm not gonna lie: it was a GREAT combo. Little salty, little sweet, lotta yum!

Five.

Nester's 31 Days of blogging has begun. I love finding new blogs to read through these posts! Check it out!

Six.

And finally. Your laugh for today. Mailed a birthday card to a friend of mine this week. I had a whole assembly line of cards going . I wrote nice little messages in them and then handed them to Ryan to sign and then I added my name, sealed and addressed them. Except I forgot to sign hers. So yeah. She got a birthday card with a whole message about how thankful she was part of my life and how much I appreciated her....Love, Ryan. Proud moment. Proud moment, INDEED.