Habitat for Humanity: The House is Done!

Last Friday, I tried to wet my feet in the world of work again...by attending the dedication ceremony for the Habitat for Humanity House the station helped to build! I'd worked on site a couple of times. The first time, I helped wrap it with Tyvek, which proved to be NOT my main gift in life. The second time I went, the weather was too bad to work on the house we were raising money to build, so I helped with other houses in the same community.

But the WBCL House is finally done, and we participated in the ceremony to dedicate the house and celebrate the new homeowners! The day was gorgeous - and FREEZING. I had a few layers on, but none were quite enough, I'm afraid.

The house is beautiful, and I failed to get a good picture of it! I borrowed this one from the station Facebook page, which gives you a general idea of what it looks like. I love the yellow siding. So inviting.

There was a welcome banner that the staff and guests to the dedication all signed:

It was such fun to see all my co-workers again after two weeks away. Only a couple of them knew I planned to come, so most were surprised to see me.

Dana answers our phones during Mid-Morning, and she came back to work after her maternity leave right when I left for my gallternity leave. So we were happy to be reunited!

And some of my best work buds: Cindy, Amy, and Lynne!

We got to tour through the house, which is just beautiful. I especially loved the kitchen! So pretty. When it was time for the dedication ceremony, we went outside, and I tried in vain to hide from the wind. Even so, it was really a beautiful time.

The gentleman with the microphone is Justin, who heads up the Habitat for Humanity chapter in Fort Wayne. He and Ross {our station director, in the red coat} headed up the ceremony. In the middle is our Habitat family! That's Lisa and her two sons, and this is their first home!

Several people made presentations throughout the event, and partway through, they surprised Lisa and her sons by opening the garage door to show her some gifts different listeners had donated. That was fun!

Jeri presented a gift all the WBCL ladies went together to purchase for Lisa. I loved it so much. It's  wall art that said "The Day Had Come to Open the Door to Her Dreams." It was so perfect to represent the day {And I'm just a huge fan of Red Letter Words art!}

Lynne presented the family with a new Bible for their new journey...and then Lisa prayed a blessing over her own home. It was a really lovely moment...I think I'll remember that one for a long time!

My friend Elisa works with Habitat and it was a joy for me to get to watch her shine in her work; it's obvious she is well loved in that organization. Elisa - so proud of you for all you do for these families!! :)

And then...it was time to hand over the keys and cut the ribbon!!

After the ceremony, we all got to enjoy Starbucks Hot Chocolate and some delicious cookies from Cookie Cottage. {YUM YUM!!!!!!}

Despite being a chilly {okay, freezing} day, I was so glad I went. It was so nice to see Lisa's dreams come true! Congratulations, Lisa! 

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday was our snow day! First day of March rolled in with 10 inches of SNOW. Good night, nurse. We elected to spend the day at home, resting and napping - and eating good comfort food. :) Ryan did venture out that afternoon to shovel out a path so he could get to work the next day, and I did some scrapbooking in the afternoon.

* Monday was our 27th monthiversary, and I stayed home for the start of week 2 of my gallternity leave. {Man, we sure do make up a lot of our own words, don't we?} I made a coconut cream pie for Ryan - from scratch, crust and all - and made spaghetti for our dinner. That pretty much took up my whole day, but it was a good attempt at returning to normal life!

* Tuesday, we got some serious ice. Not enough to shut down work for Ryan, but enough to make the drive treacherous and certainly enough to make me grateful I didn't have to go anywhere! It tapered off during the day, and I was glad, because I ended up having some visitors! My friend Kari stopped by and so did some of my old IWU buddies - Bev and Teresa. Such fun to see all of them! Ryan and I enjoyed a yummy pot roast dinner sent by my Mama, and then we hunkered down for Tuesday night TV. Some of my friends and I watch and chat about it on Facebook and we even had a Fixer Upper Bingo game for this week's show. It was fun!

* My goal on Wednesday was to make it a whole day with no naps...and I almost made it. I did make it until after dinner! I spent most of the day writing, taking a break only to work on forming our BLT show for Thursday. {While I watched Little House.} I also did some chores around the house...some laundry and dishes and cooking. I don't want to be completely unproductive while Ryan's away at work! And that night, while he napped, I did some reading. I dearly love having time for that!

* Thursday I did BLT from home again - and Braeya Jo Jo was merciful and stayed quiet throughout the whole thing. After lunch, I ventured forth to Starbucks to meet one of my old work pals, Judy, for some coffee. Hadn't had a chat with her in over a year, so that was a good meeting! That afternoon I had a fun treat when my friend Trudy came over with her kiddos {haven't seen them in WAY too long} and brought us dinner. The kids are growing up so much and it was great to see them. And dinner was fabulous because, well, Trudy's a fabulous cook! :)

* Friday afternoon, I packed up Mo and transformed him back into a real couch...and headed to Fort Wayne to attend the dedication for the Habitat for Humanity House the station helped build. Since I was on sick leave, I wasn't required to attend, but I didn't want to be the only staff member who didn't go, so I headed that way! It was good to see everyone again - and the dedication was BITTERLY COLD {it took place outside} but it was still fun! 

* Yesterday, Ryan worked, so I had breakfast with my friend Lynn and then stopped by Cato to do some shopping. Note to self: two weeks post abdominal surgery and 30 minutes post breakfast is not a great time to shop for clothes.Last night, we went to Indianapolis to help celebrate the birthday of one of our friends, Angie. We met up with her, her husband and some of their other friends at a restaurant called Barcelona. The food was good and we had a lot of fun celebrating her!

The Saturday Six

One.
One day this week, I was digging through a drawer of chargers looking for the charger to my tablet. I finally found it - along with a bunch of chargers for phones and other electronics I'm pretty sure we no longer use. So my simplify and organize challenge is twofold this week: one...filter through your cords and chargers and only keep the current ones, and two...try to get them all in one or two centralized locations! You'll be glad you did!

Two.

Source

I have ZERO skills when it comes to power tools, but I love it when I see things people have created with their own two hands. I love Ana White's site - because she makes me believe in my head that I could actually do this stuff too. {Still safer if I don't try.} Anyway. THIS was a really cool indoor playground she built for her daughter. If you dream of using power tools, her post has all the directions! :)

Three.

Source

I think it's always good to gain some perspective on life - especially when it seems to press in on you. I really appreciated the points in this article. Affirming in many ways...and a great reminder that even when things seem tough, they really and truly could be so. much. worse.   Feeling extra grateful after these words.

Four.

Source

You can take the girl out of Southern Gospel, but you CANNOT get the Southern Gospel out of the girl. Just watched this preview for the new Gaither Vocal Band DVD's, and it's possible that Ryan may soon experience his first real dose of Bekah NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDS her some Gaither music. The harmony...the anthem-y songs...I just need this stuff in my life. And I have to say it again: no one can sing like David Phelps.

Five.

It pains me to even MENTION this in the Saturday Six, but I feel a sense of obligation to inform you. Tomorrow is the start of Evil Daylight Savings Time. You lose an hour of sleep tonight and your morning commutes become darker. I know, I know, it's nice to have more light in the evening. But did you hear the part about losing sleep?  Signed, Bitter, Party of One.


Six.

Source

Probably because I'm not a craft-to-sell kind of girl, I've never run a space in some sort of craft retail shop - but I found this article by the blogger at Down to Earth Style - who does - very interesting! I do love to stroll through these kinds of places!

A Fond Farewell to Gallternity Leave

This is it. My last day of gallternity leave. Two weeks off work is...I think just about a first for me in my lifetime!! {Is that sad?? I feel like that's sad.}

So in honor of this apparently auspicious occasion, I thought I would recap some of my favorite things from these last two weeks. Things I will miss and things I treasured.

* Sleeping. Alllllllllllllll the sleeping. Sleeping in. Taking naps. Dozing. Taking more naps. Going to bed early. There was a lot of sleeping in this girl's life in the last two weeks. And I don't really apologize for that, because I've been sleep deprived for about the last five years, so I figure I earned these two weeks. {And truthfully, I'm seriously concerned about staying awake all day AND stomaching the return to evil DST all in the same day.}

* Donated meals and treats. This is the first time in my life that I have been the recipient of so many donated meals and treats all in one span of time. It's a humbling thing to receive - and by humbling, of course, I also mean delicious. Thank you Bre, Ronda, Marie, Mom {twice}, Sandee, Trudy, Aunt B, Lisa, Kari, Tim and Rachel, Cindy and Amy and Laurie! I hardly know how to menu plan anymore!!

* Visitors!!! Oh my word. How loved I've felt every time I've heard the doorbell ring! From the people listed above to Lynn, Lara, Teresa, Bev, Savannah, Liam, and James...what great talks and {careful} hugs and even presents...it was just such fun! People were patient while I hobbled to the door in the early days, and it was just wonderful to see them all!

* Writing. It is a rare treat to have time to write. Other than blogging, I haven't had the time to write in ages. And this week in particular, I was a writing machine. I curled up on the couch with the electric blanket and a cup of coffee and just cranked out some serious writing. OH how I've missed it. And OH how I'll miss it again!

* Reading. From magazines to books - I did some catching up this week! It was nice to sit and just read away without any worry of what wasn't getting done somewhere else. I will miss reading.

* Prayer and Bible study - without a time limit. I could just take as much time as I needed every single day. No hurrying to get on the road. No hurrying to finish up so I could make sure I got my responsible adult chores done. Just lingering time.

* Chores!! Who EVER would have thought I would be grateful for that?? Ryan is such a sweetheart and helps {all the time, not just because I was sick} with the chores around the house. Dishes and laundry and cleaning up - he does a good share of all those things regularly. It was a joy for me this week to be able to take care of those things in little spurts throughout the day. It was good for me to get up and moving and back into a routine, and that freed up time in Ryan's mornings and evenings to do other things, because I could get the chores done while he was gone!

* Elastic. Back to real clothes next week - hope my swollen tummy can handle the jeans again. Oh my dear sweet workout clothes - how I will miss you. 

* Braeya Jo. She may be a Daddy's girl through and through, but I have enjoyed spending time with my girl this week. And she enjoyed all the extra snacks. :)

So that's what I'll miss about gallternity leave. It's been a beautiful two weeks. The second week was certainly easier than the first. I had more energy and was far more mobile. But I'm really glad I had both weeks to rest and recuperate!

Thanks for keeping me company the last two weeks. You guys are the best!

Things They Didn't Tell Me Before Surgery

I'm about to wrap up my two week gallternity leave, and while I admittedly balked at the doctor's recommendation of two weeks off work, I now see the wisdom in it and am glad I took it. This week has been much better from a discomfort perspective, but it's been {just as the doctor promised} a fight against fatigue and apparently - loss of brain cells.

They didn't mention that part before surgery. The part about losing my ever loving mind. The part that left me wondering just what all they took out while I was under. Did part of my brain go the way of all the earth alongside my gravel pit of a gallbladder?

Here's what happened.

I was given clearance to drive beginning 24 hours after surgery, but I knew myself well enough to know that probably wasn't a good idea. After my two dental surgeries, I was pretty groggy long past the prescribed time, and I had some major depth perception issues that made me steer clear {ha!} of the wheel for a while.

So after this surgery, my first time to hit the road solo was five days post-op. I drove about fifteen minutes away from home to meet some of my co-workers for lunch. I didn't drive again until this past Monday. It was our monthiversary and I so wanted to make that coconut cream pie for Ryan.

Alas, I didn't have all the ingredients I needed, and while Ryan offered to do any shopping for me that I needed, I didn't want him to know what I was making for his surprise, so I said I would do it myself.

In the early part of the afternoon, I prepared to go. I grabbed my purse and thought I better check to make sure my wallet is in there. Allow me to interrupt myself to say...where else would it be?? I'm not the kind of person who loses things, and even if Ryan had taken it out to get something from it, he would have put it right back. It was a ludicrous thing to check, but for some reason, the worst possible thing I could think of right then was to be at the store without my wallet. I found it safely in its spot and then messed around rearranging things and finding lip gloss - and all the important things any girl does before she shops.

At last, I climbed in the car and drove to Meijer. I sat in the parking lot and thought about the store - which, while not the biggest Meijer on the planet, is also not overly small. I was tired and still feeling so groggy, which frustrated me. As dumb as it sounds, I was just not in the mood for a big store and a long wait in line - which is almost always the case there. So I turned around and drove clear to the other end of town to a grocery store.

Since I wasn't familiar with their layout, it took me a little bit to find everything, but I did. I got in line and waited behind the nice lady buying her groceries. Another lady got in line behind me as I laid my purchases on the belt. I pushed my purse open to grab my wallet.

And it wasn't there.

Because when I went through the crazy rigamarole at home to make sure my wallet was there, you see, I had actually removed it from my purse and left it on the couch.

Oh good grief.

When the cashier reached for my items, I turned red and said, "Yeah...about those. I left my money at home. I'll be back."

And y'all, I fled that store as fast as my sore little body would let me go, went home, got that stinkin' wallet, and went right back to Meijer. No WAY was I going back to the first store! I was too embarrassed!! I found my stuff, got in the super long line and got out as quickly as I could.

I blame it on the gallbladder.

Who am I kidding? I blame everything on that surgery. Can't wake up? Probably because of the gallbladder. Hungry? Side effect of surgery. Tired? Need to nap after surgery!! No brains? They obviously took them out when they took out the gallbladder!

Please love me...your slightly less intelligent than she used to be friend.

{PS - but the pie was fabulous!!}

Small World, Big Impact: June

If you grew up in church, like I did, you probably have a host of memories of people who helped lay the foundation of who you are today. I know I do. And today I'd like you to meet one of them: June.

June and my mom have been friends forever...since long before my time. The history of friendship between our families is long and rich. But I was still a pretty young girl when June chose to pursue a friendship with me, and it impacted me more than I knew in that moment.

I sat at the end of the pew and watched as people walked forward into the choir loft, reaching for hymnals and scooting down to let more people in. Someday, I thought, I want to be old enough to be in the choir. I didn't even remember how old I was that day, but probably upper elementary school. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked up to see June standing there. "Come on," she said. "You're going to sing with me."

I didn't even look around to see if that was okay with Mom or Dad or anyone else sitting nearby. I just took her hand and went. I don't even remember what we sang. I just remember sitting in the choir loft thinking that the greatest thing ever had just happened to me. Someone thought I was old enough to be part of the choir.

It was just an impromptu volunteer choir during a week of revival services, but it was the beginning of something big in my mind.

I sang in the choir on a regular basis in junior high and high school. {That was before I realized I wasn't particularly great at it.} I enjoyed it...it gave me a place to belong during that season of my life.

But for me, that night wasn't as much about the choir as it was about the faith June had in me. She treated me like an adult...or at least a more mature person than I really was.

And that was just June. She had always believed in me. She had been my Sunday School teacher in the second grade, and she had a contest for all the kids in our class. We received points for attendance, bringing our Bibles, bringing an offering, bringing friends, and memorizing verses. The prize was dinner for the winner's family at her house. I worked hard, and I won. And she fixed a great dinner for the whole family!

I've always appreciated June's giving spirit, and the faith she had in me, even when I was young and incredibly awkward. During my first years of adulthood, she worked where I did my banking, and I enjoyed seeing her every week when I went in. I'd pop into her office and catch up on life with her. And every week, she would trust me with prayer requests. That meant as much to me as her trust in me the night she took my hand and led me to the choir loft.

One of my great delights of attending the church we do is that June and her husband attend there as well. We go to the same service, and every week, when she arrives, she comes  to visit us at our pew and catch up on the week.

June, thanks for your faith in me...from the time I was an awkward kid...to a brand new adult...and even now. I hope that I can plant the same seeds of faith and confidence in the lives around me as you did in me. I appreciate you!!

{I realize this photo doesn't show you her face, but it's a candid captured at our reception, when I had the joy of introducing her to Ryan!!}

Monthiversary 27

Yesterday we celebrated another monthiversary! 27 of them under the old belt now!

I was out of it yesterday morning when Ryan got up and ready for work. My cold meds had settled in and I could not wake up!! He left me our journal that we share back and forth, so when I finally woke up about 2 hours after he left, I found some coffee and breakfast and curled up to read his words. I love our shared journal!

I wanted to try to get a lot of rest, but at the same time, I wanted to do something special for the day, so I decided to bake a coconut cream pie. {He loves them.}

My mom is a legendary pie baker. My grandma ran a bakery. I have never been trained in the art of pie making. But I do have a decent amount of determination.

So I made a pie!

From scratch.

Made the crust. Made the filling. Even made my own whipped cream and toasted coconut for the top. I sneaked tastes along the way and knew that it at least tasted good, even if it didn't LOOK like something my mom would crank out or my grandma would have sold.

We did sample it last night and declared it tasty!! :) And I had a lot of fun making it.

I also did my first cooking in over a week - nothing fancy, but at least I served Ryan a meal I cooked. We hunkered down for spaghetti and garlic toast while we watched TV. Pretty tasty!!

And we took our picture - out in the snow! {Sorry I'm in my big ole jam jams. I still can't wear real clothes.}

Happy 27 months, my Love! While our wedding day was decidedly warmer, I loved celebrating with you!!

Snow Day...From the Inside

Last year, right at the start of the year, we had Snowmageddon, and Ryan and I had two glorious days at home, snowed in. It started on a Sunday and ran into Monday...and we were home both days having all kinds of fun. {If you've forgotten, you can read about it here.} We made snow ice cream and a snowman and snow angels...and we had a grand time.

When I heard that we were supposed to get snow Saturday night into Sunday...to be honest, I sort of ignored it. They've missed just about every storm we've had this winter, and it was going to be the first day of March, for goodness' sake! That's practically spring! But when we finally responded to the alarm 45 minutes after it went off Sunday morning, we determined that they'd missed it again...in the other direction. Our 4-6 inches of snow was already at 8 and still falling.

I felt a bit on the miserable side. I caught Ryan's cold this past week, and my head was all full and foggy. We decided to call it a Shafferland snow day, minus the chance to go out and play and have fun.

We curled up on the couch and dove into the Rise n Roll donut holes my co-workers brought us on Saturday...which was pretty much the perfect breakfast for a snowy Sunday morning.

We watched part of a church service on TV and commenced with the naps...which took up the majority of the day. And while we slept...the snow continued to fall.

Neither one of us did our hair or got out of our jammies...which is the mark of the perfect snow day.

Again, our apologies to Mo. We haven't left him in a week now {with the exception of one night, when we DID sleep in our bed}. He has to feel completely smothered. As you can see most of our bedding itself has made it to Mo. I guess that means we're not leaving!!

We ate some yummy lunch that Ryan fixed in the crock pot...and took some more naps. {And I did a little scrapbooking.} After that, Ryan ventured forth to shovel. I would guess we had close to ten inches by this time.

I am so thankful for Ryan! I am perfectly capable of shoveling {under normal circumstances}, but if I would have been on my own when this surgery rolled around, I'd just be stuck on a day like today. Thankful for his hard work and initiative to take care of us!

So that's how we spent our snow day THIS year. Not quite as much fun as last year as far as activities go, but it was a blessing to have it roll through on a Sunday when we were free to stay home, rest, and be safe.

And before I let you go...just a quick update on the Great Gallbladder Eviction of 2015. :) I am now one week out from surgery, and I'm thankful it's THIS week and not LAST week. I am feeling SO much better even than I was on Friday. I'm moving better, the discomfort has diminished significantly, and I'm feeling stronger. I'm still more bloated than I hoped to be, and the tenderness is still great enough that I can't wear real clothes. Still running around in my workout clothes and big t shirts. And the fatigue is still no joke. I thought the doctor was kidding when she said I would be fighting that, but she apparently was not.

So my goal for this week is to try to get back on a regular schedule, try to get stronger, try to get back in normal clothes. I have one more week off work, and while I may try to do some part time work toward the end of the week, I do want to make sure I take advantage of getting as strong as I can while I have the time to do it. And hopefully the snow has blown through for a while and I can enjoy a pretty week!!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday was a nerve-filled day for me. We were home all day and I know the rest was good for me, but the mind would not shut off. I thought way too much about the surgery, but Ryan was so good and comforting. We sprawled out on Mo the whole afternoon with all our snacks and took naps. And then I requested pizza for my last supper. :) I was thankful for some extra time to read the Bible and journal. That helped.

* Monday, was, of course, gallbladder eviction day. You already read all about it. but it went so well. We were at the surgery center by 7:30 and they took me back a little before 9.  Surgery took just over an hour and I was home by early afternoon. Ryan took such good care of me all day, and my parents came by to see me and to bring flowers after I was home and settle. Ryan's sister Bre, brought us dinner, and my friend Marie popped by to check on me too. This girl felt so loved!!

* Tuesday, Ryan got to be home with me, which was such a blessing. It was such a pretty day outside, and I enjoyed sitting on Mo, just resting and taking little naplets. I made myself get up every half hour to take laps around the house, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the flower deliveries throughout the day! Ryan had to take a class that night, so I stayed home with Braeya Jo Jo, learning to fend for myself.

* Wednesday, Ryan had to go back to work, so my mom came over to spend most of the day with me. We didn't do much but it was helpful to have her here to go get lunch and answer the doorbell when it rang and stuff like that. When Ryan came home, we had dinner, courtesy of my friend Marie, and then we crashed out on the couch for the rest of the night. I'm quickly learning that staying home with the inability to really DO anything makes for lousy blog content, and for that, I apologize.

 *Thursday, I did BLT from home! I curled up on Mo {well, I straightened out on Mo. Not much curling this week} and dialed in to co-host from home! Braeya was blessedly silent the whole time, which I really appreciated. At lunchtime, my friend and mentor Lara stopped by to talk with me for a while. It was so good to see her!And most of all, it was so good to have freshly washed hair and some makeup to make me feel more like a HUMAN!!!

* By Friday, I felt much better from surgery, but I had developed some congestion, so I was a snotty, nose-blowing mess! I rested all morning, and then my friend Sandee came by with lunch and stayed to talk with me for a while. After she left, my Aunt B stopped by with a DELICIOUS Starbucks treat, and then my friend Lisa stopped in to check on me! It was so fun! When Ryan got home from work, we ventured forth {my first time out since surgery} to some friends' house for dinner. They just had another baby, and it was so fun to meet her!

* Yesterday I had a special treat...two of my co-workers drove all thew ay down here to have lunch with me! Cindy and Amy met me at this little cafe...and since Ryan had to work unexpectedly, it was my first time to drive since surgery. That was interesting! Lunch was DELICIOUS, and they even brought me a treat of some Rise n Roll donut holes. I slept most of the afternoon and then went out with Ryan for a little bit to do some grocery shopping. That wiped me out. {Of course the store the night before a storm can do that on a good day!} Thankful to be feeling better each day, but still ridiculously tired. I am not a fan of that!