World's Largest Starbucks Date

Remember how Ryan and I missed our planned Valentine's Day date last weekend? We had purchased tickets to a comedy show and then he was too sick to go, so I went with my friend Amber. :)

I think we officially made up for it this weekend!

When I got home from work on Friday night, Ryan had flowers waiting for me! This is one of my favorite things ever in life. I adore flowers. Adore. {Does anyone else find it hilarious that the one thing I love almost the most is the one thing that did NOT make an appearance in our wedding?}

Anyway. Gorgeous red roses from my handsome husband:

And then...someone else interfered.

We started off our evening with some takeout Chinese and a movie...and then we remembered we already saw that movie. LOL!!!

I had read online that Friday, from 2 p.m. to close...there was a chance to participate in the World's Largest Starbucks Date. They had three special deals on coffee and a food treat - each for $5.00. That alone made it worth the trip. They also said there would be photo props and other fun, but we went for the coffee deal.

Oh. My. Word.

What a ridiculously fun night!!! According to the barista, some of the things at our Starbucks were the standard across the board, and some things were the creativity of the store manager. To both, I say BRAVO. This was a fabulous night with treats above and beyond. Check it out!

The entire store was decorated with hearts and flower petals. Flower petals scattered across the counters and tables, vases with flowers on the tables, and hearts hung around the room. It was such fun!

They had a table set up out in the middle, with free samples of white chocolate raspberry mochas, little samples of chocolate scones and salted caramel brownies, photo booth props, and even a bowl full of hearts with questions on them. A barista was right there to hostess for the evening and let us draw hearts from the bowl and answer questions for tickets in a drawing. We both got entered and while we were there...she drew a ticket and I bet you can't guess who won!

HINT!

His prize? Coffee mugs. {Could there be a more perfect gift????}

We had some fun with the photo booth props.

Is it bad when your own nose looks like the fake nose on those glasses/mustache thingies?

And we loved our coffee. Ryan got the French Press Coffee and brownie deal:

And I did the white chocolate mocha and chocolate chip cookie {they had run out of sugar cookies}:

We sat and talked and enjoyed...it was the most lovely evening. A lot of college students came in and out while we were there, and some other couples and families were there playing games, drinking coffee, and taking pictures. It was just such a fun night!

We went for a coffee deal and ended up having such a great night. Great, fun thing Starbucks did, and I'm so impressed that our store participated to the max. That was SWEET!

Thanks, Starbucks!!!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday was our day to be greeters at church, but I didn't figure anyone wanted the gift of Ryan's illness, so I went to greet alone and then came home to tend my sick boy. I ran a couple quick errands to get us some food for the week, and then we hunkered down to rest. Ryan was MISERABLE with a headache on top of all his other symptoms, and I felt horrible for him! But it was so stinkin' cute at the end of the day when Braeya curled up with him and held his hand with her paw.

* Monday was the day I found out the surgery on Tuesday was really a consultation. That took some adjustment, mentally speaking. I was thankful for the boost of a gift of seaglass jewelry at work that day, from my friend PeggySue...and when I came home, Ryan and I watched The Notebook and I had a really good cry. Then I fought with Braeya over my yogurt. She only wants to hang out with me when I have food.

* Tuesday was surgery consultation day, rather than surgery day as we had planned. Both of us had the day off work, so we went to our appointment and then out for a lunch date and home to rest. I'm telling you. This whole mental see-saw of prepping and unprepping and reprepping has exhausted me. Ryan was obviously feeling better by evening, as he was ready to deep clean the house. :) This included running the self-cleaning oven, which made our house a sauna and caused our eyes to burn. Fun times at the Shaffers!

* Wednesday, Ryan got one of THE coolest gifts from one of his patients. She hand stitched a quilt for us! I have intense amounts of appreciation for people who have that much patience and skill! After work, Ryan and I hunkered down for leftovers, rounded off with some ice cream {and salted caramel pretzels on top} and TV. Braeya...well...she conked out. 

* Thursday morning, I found a Reese's heart on top of my travel mug. What a good husband to give me chocolate first thing in the morning!! We were supposed to get snowing and blowing all day, but I actually drove home in gorgeous sun {though my car heavily protested the cold temps}. And for dessert that night? Coffee cake from my mom. GOOD STUFF. She was experimenting with a recipe and we deemed it a keeper.  

* Friday afternoon, Ryan surprised me with roses! I absolutely ADORE flowers, so this pretty much made my week. Braeya's too. :) We got takeout Chinese for dinner and started a movie - only to realize we'd already seen it before. LOL!!! Whoopsie!! Then we went to Starbucks to participate in the World's Largest Date, which I will tell you more about next week, but the short version is - OH MY WORD THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!! 

 * Ryan worked yesterday, so while he was gone, I did an impromptu show-some-love project and drove all over the county delivering roses to some of my single friends. Of course there was an unforecasted white-out that blew up while I was out. THAT was fun!! More on this adventure later. When Ryan got home, we had our own little party at home. Fondue and DeBrand chocolate. It was a beautiful end to the day!!

The Saturday Six

One.
I didn't enter the world of DVR until I got married, but we do love to DVR all our favorite shows! But...uh...it's possible we are terrible about deleting. ANYONE with us on that??? If you are, how about joining us in a clean-out-the-DVR fest this week? Just make sure you don't delete last week's episode of your fave show if you haven't seen it. I'm not responsible for irresponsible deleting!

{ALSO! A special shout-out to Ryan for enduring the cleaning of the oven in response to last week's challenge. He's never had a self-cleaning oven before and wasn't prepared for the heat, the smell, and the burning eyes. Thanks, Baby!!!!}

Two.

Source

This story is hard to read, but it's a beautiful reminder of hope in humanity. If you're from Indiana, you might know about Josh Speidel, who is a high school basketball player injured in a car accident on Super Bowl Sunday. He's got family in Greentown, where Ryan and I are from, so we have been keeping up with the story. This article, about how his future college coach has responded, is just amazing. 

Three.

Source

It's no secret that I love Beth Moore...and this post of hers this week, commemorating 20 years of publishing Bible studies with Lifeway, was beautiful to read. I know my faith has been changed and challenged because of her words, so I'm pretty grateful they have invested in her like they have.

Four.

Source

This crazy journey we're on right now with the Great Gallbladder Eviction of 2015 has been surprising and plot-twisty to us, but it's no surprise to God. This post by Andrea Lucado was a comforting reminder of what I already knew...but had lost sight of just a bit.

Five.

Photo by my super-talented mother-in-law, Nita Echelbarger

I don't know whether or not you have a Valentine of your own this year, but my Mom sent me this idea that encourages you to speak life and love into those around you. Whether or not you have a significant other, you have time for at least one of these. CHALLENGE!!! Offer a hand of love - write a real life letter of appreciation to someone. Offer the voice of love - call three people {yes, on the phone with your voice} telling them what they mean to you. Offer a deed of love - a small gift to someone you wouldn't usually take a gift to. Offer a heart of love - pray for friends and family who need the Lord.

Six.

I don't know if you even like pretzels or not {I only like the soft bready ones you can dip in cheese or sugar. HA!!!} But even if you HATE pretzels, you must try these by Snyders. I could have eaten the whole bag. Seriously. Sweet. Salty. Sugary. GOODNESS. Don't walk. RUN to the store and buy a bag or six.

To My Love...

This has been a wild month. And of course, by wild, I mean we spend most of every night curled up on Mo taking serious naps because life has exhausted us so. But I wanted to take this day...this eve of Valentine's Day...to profusely thank you for all the wonderful things you do every single day of our lives. For breathing fresh life and joy into my world just by being in it.

Yesterday I had the opportunity, not just once, but TWICE, to honor your on the air for being my Valentine, and both times, I felt my tribute fell dramatically short of what you deserved. So today..I honor you in this space.

Thank you for all your hard work around our house every single day. You are a million times better at housekeeping than I am...a fact both awe-inspiring and embarrassing. Thank you for shoveling our walks, keeping the cars full of gas and in working order, hand washing the dishes that gross me out, and keeping everything so organized all the time. Thanks for being willing to pitch in on anything at anytime, from cooking to laundry to grocery shopping. You are a rare find, and I appreciate you.

Thank you for understanding and supporting my desire to document our lives in writing, on the blog and in scrapbooks. Thank you for giving me the time, guilt-free, to do those things and for always wanting to read them first when they are done. Thank you for seeing value, not only in what I love, but in the very fact that our story is preserved. You speak love to me in this.

Thank you for sacrificing so many nights and weekends to go to work with me when I work events. I love it that you have as much passion for my job as you do for your own and that you not only come along for the ride...but you dig in. You love our listeners as much as I do. You serve them as much as I do. You love my co-workers and invest in their lives, and they all love you {possibly more than they love me...and that's GREAT!}.

Thank you for so many hours of cuddles. Thank you for wanting to be close to me, for holding my hand during prayer and just always, for millions of kisses, and for always being quick to claim me publicly when you know that was part of my life that had previously been missing.

Thank you for being SO MUCH FUN - always. You always make me laugh, even when I'm having a hard day. You are goofy, unabashed, and confident. I love dates with you; I love every DAY with you because you make every one of them fun.

Thank you for loving my family. We are ALL better people because you are in our mix. You make us laugh, you are our handyman, you are our encourager, and I know every single person in my own family has breathed a sigh of relief that I chose you, because you are a perfect match for me and a perfect fit for all of us. Watching you love them and them love you back is one of my greatest joys.

Thank you for going along with all the little trips I plan and for all the time you put into the ones you plan. Thank you for seeing value in weekends and trips and for wanting to pour time into making memories together. Thank you for going to the beach when it's freezing, for hiking trails, for paddle-boating through lakes, for doing all the driving, for scouting out deals, and for being the best travel partner. Period.

Thank you for all the million little things you do to show me love. From surprise Starbucks treats with notes, to writing on our message board, to little notes in my lunchbox, to driving me to Fort Wayne before driving back to Kokomo for a full work day of your own, thank you.

Thank you for seeing me. In every moment when I've felt invisible. In every moment when it would be easy to look past, you see me. You see me and you capture me in ways that let me know you see what I do and love who I am. I love you for it.

Thanks for your willingness to participate in monthiversary celebrations and all the county tours. Some of my schemes are wild, and I do know that, but the fact that you come on board so willingly is so loving and you are SO FUN to do all those things with. I look forward to those days, because they are ours.

Thank you for our weekly dates, our heavily protected Sundays, and for always always taking me on a boat ride for two whenever we get to go to the lake. Those times are such fun. {Moment of silence while we miss the lake...}

Thank you for leading us spiritually. For praying for and with me. For sending me Scripture on hard days. For seeing church as much of a priority as I do. You are all I ever prayed for in a leader.

Thanks for loving our girl. Even though I may be a wee bit jealous that she likes you better than she likes me, I also can't really blame her. Thanks for adopting her as your own. :) She's a Daddy's girl through and through. Mom??? Who?????

And most recently, thank you for all your love and support in the great health debacles. From the dental palooza last year to the gallbladder palooza this year, you've never complained about what I'm costing us financially {I'm probably complaining enough for both of us}, and you've never made me feel guilty for the hard-earned days off I've cost you. You just willingly take them to be with me and to make sure I'm okay. You keep your vows well - even in the hard times.

I love you, Ryan Shaffer. I love everything you do and everything you are. You were well worth waiting for, and I hope, hope, hope, I show you how loved you are. Words seem inadequate, but they're all I have. I love you.

Thanks for being my Valentine every day.

The Five Year Plan

It was five years ago on Valentine's Day that I gave one of my best efforts to celebrating a holiday that I typically approached with head-to-toe black garb and the bitter consumption of a Blizzard. I was working at IWU as a Financial Aid counselor, and since Valentine's Day fell on a Sunday that year, I invited some student friends of mine over for a home cooked meal - complete with iced sugar cookies and chocolate treats.

We had the best time together, and yet when everyone left and I worked to clean up the kitchen, the familiar questions set in: Would I ever have a Valentine on this day? Would I always spend this holiday somewhere between mourning and welcoming friends into my home?

How I wish I could have curled up across from my own self that day and said "Bekah...let me tell you how unrecognizable your life is going to become in the next five years."


It was that day...that very day...that the first stumbling steps of a relationship began. For me! Valentine's Day! How perfectly romantic is that? In mere weeks, I was glowing in love. I was planning a forever.

AND...a lifetime dream came true. Saw the ocean for the first time.

And then...the deepest heartbreak I've ever known before or since...when love walked away. The season I didn't think I would survive - and several others weren't sure either. But I did. I made it through with a stronger, deeper faith than I even knew was possible. And accompanying the heartbreak? A built in diet.

 AND...another lifetime dream come true: a published book!

And as I began to slowly put life back together after heartbreak...the biggest surprise of all: a new job, away from the world of math for the first time in my life!

The job brought with it all kinds of fun stuff - and some more chances to prove to myself that I was capable of more than I even knew, starting with the fact that I became a commuter...a pretty big feat for a girl who once refused to drive on an interstate.

I trained for and ran a 10K - pretty amazing for a girl who never ran...ever.

And right in the middle of all that? A first date...and then a second...and then a third...

And then, a surprise proposal:

Two months of whirlwind wedding planning, dress shopping, reservation making and picture taking culminated with a beach wedding:

 And the two years that have passed since have been full of crazy things I never thought I could or would do:

 And now here we are...five years later. Five incredible years later. Heartbreak I couldn't have imagined. Joy I couldn't have imagined. Excitement. Nerves. Elation. Devastation. Dreams fulfilled. Dreams dashed. And God has made it clear that five years is nothing to Him. Five years ago, while hosting those students, I couldn't imagine that things would take even one turn in the foreseeable future. But the truth was, He changed everything. He redeemed everything broken. He made the good things great.

I have as many questions about our next five years as I had on this day five years ago. And if the next five go anything like the last five, I better buckle my seat belt!

I say all these things not to boast...but to encourage you. If you are stuck in a spot today that leaves you wondering if life will ever change, just know that God can make anything happen. Crazier things thank you could ever conceive are completely within the scope of His limitless possibilities. His five year plan = amazing!

Has it Really Come to This?

Have I really become the 36 year old who blogs about her health? Have I become the 80 year old trapped in a much younger body? SO SORRY!!!!

I promise to talk about something other than aches and pains. PROMISE.

Yesterday, as you know, was supposed to be the old gallbladder surgery...or at least we thought so. Then we found out it was just the consultation, which was really hard on my mind, which had finally started to gear up for the big event. It was also really hard on both of our jobs, as we had gone to great lengths to arrange and rearrange things to be gone. All of that part was just maddening.

Since it turned out to be the consultation instead, we packed up in the car and headed out to see another doctor.

Of course, when we got to the doctor, there was a new clipboard of paperwork to be filled out. More little boxes to check and family illnesses to recall. {I wasn't really as mad as I look in this picture. I was in the sun.}

We waited...and waited...and waited.

We waited while all the people who arrived after we did got to go back before us. {Of course.}

And finally, it was our turn. We went back and got to meet the surgeon who will do my surgery.

We also got to see the ultrasound, and I saw all the stones in there. What a mess. I really am a gravel pit in there!

The doctor agreed that it needs to come out immediately...and immediately is going to be in about 2 weeks. {Not kidding!!}

And so...that's that! We have a new date, and my biggest prayer is that all the complications she mentioned don't actually occur. Because of the mess it is, it will take a while to even get it out, and hopefully that will be the extent of it. But if, for some reason, a stone gets into the bile duct, then there will be a scope thingiemadoo {that's my word, not the doctor's} that will have to be done a few days later. That doesn't sound like ANY FUN AT ALL, does it?

So here's my brave face:

And Ryan is still cramming in case he's called upon to assist!

Kind of cracked me up that when we were asked if we had any questions, my first question was how long I had to be off work, and Ryan's first question was if we could keep the gallstones. LOL!!!!

So that was our day. Not what we planned. I had hoped to be writing you today from the other side of the knife, but I'm still waiting. Thanks so much for all the prayers you have already offered on my behalf. I do believe God will hang onto those and use them on the appointed day. You are all such an encouragement! We appreciate you!!

Much love. :)

PLOT TWIST!!!!!!

You've seen this, right?

 Source

So....guess what!?!?

PLOT TWIST!!!

Yesterday morning, before Mid-Morning, I tried to call the surgeon's office, because I had a few questions about today. And by "few," of course, I mean an entire page.

The number went straight to an unidentified voicemail, so I decided to try again after the show. I called back immediately after we went off the air and got the same message. It seemed odd to me that they wouldn't be open by 11:00 in the morning, so I checked the number online. Off by a digit. No wonder!

I called the correct number and when the lady answered, I said, "Hi, my name is Rebekah Shaffer, and I have a gallbladder surgery tomorrow. I have some questions and wondered if there might be someone I could talk to."

She said, "You don't have surgery. You have a consultation."

I'm sorry. WHAT!?!!?!!!?!!?!?!?!!?!

"You don't have surgery tomorrow. You have a consultation with the surgeon."

You know those movie scenes where the room starts spinning and you sort of drop the phone? 

That.

Clearly, arguing with her wasn't getting me anywhere, so I hung up. {She didn't ooze with compassion, either, so I was not eager to continue.} I tried to call Ryan's phone, but it went straight to voicemail {his building has HORRIBLE reception}, so I did something I've never done in the history of our marriage. I called the actual hospital and did the whole "I'm Ryan Shaffer's wife and I need to talk to him right now." The poor sweet phone ladies at his hospital have to think I'm a nut. {I was crying, so I had to repeat myself a lot in this request.}

When Ryan got on the phone, I spilled the story and he said WHAT?!?!?!!?!?

Seems to be a common reaction.

I was so glad Ryan had been with me at my appointment last week, because if I'd been alone, I would have been beyond humiliated and feeling SO STUPID right in that moment. I would have been questioning my hearing and sanity and all of it. But he had been right beside me. He heard what I heard. 

He said, "But they didn't say consultation! It's surgery day!" 

I know. I know. 

So...long story short, the office apparently led us astray when they made the appointment and did not make clear that this was a consultation and not surgery itself. {Side note - I even CALLED the surgeon as soon as we left the doctor to ask about an earlier date and they STILL didn't clear it up.}

I realize some of you out there who are experienced in this sort of thing are probably shaking your head and saying "I wondered why you didn't have a consultation!!" Other than dental procedures, I've never had surgery before. Ever. I have no idea what the standard policy is. I just keep following the directions I'm given. Ryan hasn't had surgery either, so he was in the same boat with me. Both of us thought the doctor's appointment we had last week WAS a consultation. Lesson learned.

I did feel better, later, when Ryan's entire office seemed just as baffled at the turn of events. All of them thought the meeting we had, especially with the doctor's sense of urgency that it needed to come out now, was the only step in between me and the end of this thing. Guess not.

So to recap, I'm not having surgery today. At least at the time of this posting this morning. I do have an appointment with the surgeon today, and we'll see what she says about when it will be scheduled. 

We're frustrated, obviously, at the communication. We're frustrated that we both have worked so hard the last few days to prepare at both our jobs to be gone for this surgery. {I spent all last week getting Lynne set for two weeks out to be ready for Mid-Morning, and Ryan had to juggle and reschedule all his patients.} I'm frustrated that I've been working so hard to mentally prepare...and now...to wait.

So that's the scoop. Speaking of scoop, I came home last night and had ice cream, followed by a big ugly cry over The Notebook. I made Ryan promise to read me our story if I ever get dementia. He said he would. And I guess this part will be a plot twist in the excitement of season 3!