Who Says Vacations Have to be Expensive?

Ryan and I love to travel, visit new places, revisit old places, and make memories...but traveling can get ridiculously expensive. While we don't have kids {and therefore realize we save some travel expenses}, we are down to one income, and therefore we have to be frugal about things like vacations.

We commented to each other that our last vacation was so much fun, and yet we spent very little on it! I thought I would throw out some of the things we did to make it affordable, and maybe an idea or two will help you see that vacations don't have to be expensive to be fun...and maybe you can afford more fun than you think!

1. Creative Financing

This time around, our vacation was financed by the Great Yard Sale of 2015. We saved the money we earned at the sale and put all of it toward various expenses of our vacation. I loved it, because it didn't dig into our savings, AND because the yard sale prep had been my "job" in my early days of not working full time, so it felt like I contributed to this adventure. I know some people finance vacations by making them a gift. So maybe instead of getting each other birthday or anniversary gifts - or even Christmas gifts for a whole family - they go somewhere instead. Some people use money earned from a side/hobby job to pay for vacations. Some people use loans. This I know from my loan office job. Don't do that, please oh please, okay?


2. Creative Housing

This time around, we had the privilege of having friends in the area of the first half of our vacation, and they graciously allowed us to sleep at their home for four nights. Saving four nights of hotel bills was a HUGE help on our vacation budget, so if you're able to swing something like that, go for it! But most of the time, we are not that fortunate. Ryan is the designated hotel-finder in our family. He will do hours of research, looking for the best places to stay, reading reviews, hunting for deals, etc. We've saved money by vacationing during the week instead of the weekend, staying three nights at one hotel {which sometimes gets us a huge discount} and avoiding off-peak seasons for destinations. Ryan will often call and ask about additional discounts and sometimes he can get them and sometimes he can't. We also try to stay at a hotel that offers a free continental breakfast so we can get a great meal to start our day...for no extra money. {And while they're fun to have, skipping the need for an impressive view can save you some cash. After all...you SLEEP at a hotel, not stay up all night looking out the window.}


3. Creative Eating

Part of the fun of going on vacation is finding local places to eat and trying something you couldn't get at home. We did that {more than once} on our trip, and we found some great spots. But eating out at local, sit-down restaurants for every meal can get expensive after while. We saved money by {when possible} taking leftovers back to our hotel {we always try to get rooms with a fridge and microwave} and eating them at another meal. We also did settle for dollar menus sometimes - and we packed all our own snacks before we left home, to save us the expense of gas station and vending machine purchases.


4. Creative Entertainment

Thinking back over our vacation...I think the only things we paid to do were go up in the Cape Henry Lighthouse {$8 per person} and go up in the observation deck at Niagara Falls {$1 per person}. That is not bad for an eight day vacation, is it? We spent a day at the beach in Virginia Beach, and although it wasn't warm enough to swim, it was warm enough to walk the beach, walk the boardwalk, enjoy the views, and if we'd wanted, we could have played games on the beach or sat for a while. All that is free. When we went to Williamsburg, there were opportunities to buy tickets to go into buildings and museums, but we were satisfied with seeing everything from the outside and didn't feel we'd missed out by not going in. Walking the streets was completely free. While we anticipated paying a fee to enter Letchworth State Park, we didn't have to. I'm not sure why they weren't charging that day, but they weren't, so we got in free. {Even if we would have had to pay, a cost of five to ten dollars for our car would have been WELL worth the views.} All the trails were free to hike. And then at Niagara, though we had planned to ride the Maid of the Mist boat {$17 per person}, we elected not to and felt that we had a GREAT time at the Falls walking the areas that were free {or $1.00}. And some of those places still allowed us to get SO CLOSE to the water!


5. Creative Souvenirs

Ahhhh the eternal question: what to bring home from vacation? There's no right or wrong answer of course, but we really like the souvenir tradition we started. We get a Christmas ornament from each place we visit, and then every Christmas, we have one tree that's devoted to our memories as a couple. It makes it nice when we're traveling, because we don't have to figure out what to look for; we just hunt for ornaments. And while ornaments can get very expensive, we've learned you can usually find a nice one for well under $10.00. I think we purchased six ornaments on this vacation, so the cost was minimal, and we'll have those in all the years of our marriage to come....to hang on our trees!


6. Creative Memory-Capturing

Our favorite part about vacation is the chance to make memories we can look back on for the rest of our lives. Thankfully the digital age of pictures has arrived, and I could snap away to my heart's content without worrying about the cost of film/developing. {How EVER would I have survived as a photo-loving adult in those days??} Our biggest investment in this vacation, other than time spent together and resting, was investing in good photos of scenery and in fun photos of our time together. And now that I'm home, I'm working hard on a scrapbook to capture every story, every photo {yes, all 1000 of them}, and then we'll have that for always. The only cost for me will be to print the book when it's done, and I'll wait for a good sale on that, so it won't be horrible.


That's how we do vacations as cost-effectively as possible in Shafferland. It's not an exhaustive list, but hopefully it helps!

Adventures with the Tripod

Today's blog post is inspired by a question I got last week from Sandi, who wanted to know how we get such good pictures with our tripod. I loved that question!

Back when I was single, I was adamant that being alone could not mean a lack of photos. This was before the days of smart phones with reverse picture options that could let you see yourself as you took photos. I got to be quite expert at holding my little point-and-shoot camera backwards and taking selfies that did not include half my arm over on the side.

It's all so much easier now, with timers and tripods and such. And Ryan is such a good sport. He is great about setting up the tripod and setting the timer and being willing to stick with the attempts until we have great pictures!

On our honeymoon, we purchased a little compact/travel tripod similar to this one - which we have used for every photo shoot, every vacation, every county tour, everything in the last three years. It was so tiny that it folded up nicely in my purse or our backpacks, but alas, on our most recent vacation, it broke, thankfully NOT while propping up our fancy pants camera.

Fortunately, Ryan's mom had just given us an amazing, grown-up, fancy pants tripod that raises higher and is MUCH more durable than our old one. We had it with us too, so even though we can't shove it in a purse, it saved the rest of our vacation.

With all of that fascinating info out of the way, here are some things about our tripod pictures.

1. Our camera has the capability to take either one or ten pictures on a timer. I almost always go for ten. I do that partly because Ryan is a blinker {sorry, Baby!! But it's true!!} and partly because we're goofballs and usually cram serious AND silly pictures into one round of shooting. Taking ten is also very helpful when taking a big group photo because it increases your chances of having at least one good photo of everyone. If I get two good pictures out of ten...yay!

2. I try to pull the lens back so it captures a bigger space, and then as I edit, I crop and zoom in various ways to get some close-ups and some farther away, without ever actually zooming in and out with my lens.

3. When we set the timer, one of us is always IN the picture already and the other one runs in after we press the shutter. By having one person already in, we can give the camera something to focus on that won't change with the last minute run-in person. This helps us eliminate so many blurry pictures.

4. Sometimes we just have to do it over. Sometimes, no kidding, we'll take thirty pictures to get one good one. We always check after our first round of ten, and if there's something we really didn't like, we'll adjust it and try again with a second ten. And sometimes - we have to do a third try. Some days are just like that.

5 We've learned things about ourselves that help make the photo shoots go faster now. Like we've learned how NOT to stand with our hands so that it doesn't look like I'm pregnant or that our crazy noses aren't sticking out like beaks. All trial and error.

6. Have fun with the mess-ups. Sometimes pictures are a FLOP. And sometimes the flops are the funniest.

Here are some examples of our tripod adventures, for better and worse:

When Ryan underestimates the time needed to run around a bed ON plastic before the pictures start...

The beginning of a shoot...

Caught changing positions...but it was still funny...

What starts well...

Can end in the MOST interesting way:

I think for us...our best pictures are the ones where we're actually not TRYING to do anything organized and nice. The ones where we can just be goofy. Maybe that's the key. Be yourselves instead of being perfect.

Hope that helps! Happy tripod-ing! :)

35 Months...Almost to 3 Years!

I cannot believe that we are almost to the three year mark of marriage. I told Ryan the other day that sometimes, it feels like we've been married forever. That this rhythm of life we've established has always been ours...and then other times, I think back to things like the morning of our wedding...getting my hair done, getting our pictures taken, and it seems so close to us. How could it have possibly been as far away as three years? HOW?

A week ago today, we celebrated our 35th monthiversary, and it was a fun day!

Well, Ryan had to work, but once he got HOME, it was a fun day.

First, some photos. And someone instigated a little bit of fun with that!

Never a dull moment with that one, is there?? :)

For dinner, we picked out a place practically in our backyard that we'd never been to before. It's called Grains and Grill, and if you're in the area, you should go. We gave it two thumbs up. {Technically four, since we each have two.}

It's locally owned and was just charming in atmosphere.

We ordered, and while we waited, Ryan wanted to play with this new heart rate app he found on his phone. After his first attempt, he decided they either REALLY caffeinate their sweet tea, or something was wrong with the app:

We later determined he had his finger on the wrong spot on the phone, and it was actually recording the "heartbeat" of the table! I'm not even sure what to think about that.

Our dinner was delicious - and HUGE. We each got a burger, but we ordered different ones. They were massive. Mine actually made two meals.

Is it bad that I was giddy to find my bun ACTUALLY branded with the G&G like the ones in the website photos? Accurate advertising makes me so very happy.

It was a fun date - delicious food - and a wonderful milestone for us. Here's to our upcoming three year mark. Grateful!!! {Maybe the G&G means "grateful and giddy" for me!}

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, we served in the cafe at church...we are loving this new chance to do something together, and loving it more because it involves coffee, of course. That afternoon I tried a new recipe {which I loved so much, I made another batch later in the week} - apple crisp! It was delicious. And Sunday began our string of unseasonably warm temps and lookie here...unseasonably gorgeous sunsets!! Swoon.

* Monday was our 35th monthiversary - NEXT MONTH is three years. WHAT?! Ryan had to work, of course, but when he got home, we tried out a new-to-us restaurant in our county. We had heard incredible things about their food and they did not disappoint! We both got burgers, and they were HUGE. Mine lasted two meals, actually and probably should have been more like three. It was such a fun night!

* Tuesday was Ryan's first day of a new adventure that I'm not sure if I ever told you he was doing! He's trying out the world of Home Health Care as a side job, and Tuesday was his first night of work. That morning before he went to his regular job, he did his last practice run on me - nothing like a BP check at 6 in the morning! While he was busy working, I spent the day in the classroom again! I spoke in three college classes taught by my friend Amy. Oh how I do not miss college and homework and quizzes!! We went to the gym that night, and it was SO WARM, we walked around campus in shorts before we came home. IN NOVEMBER. Crazy. And crazy wonderful views of the chapel, too.

* Though I haven't said so thus far, my other HUGE job this week was writing. I wrote pretty much nonstop every moment that I was home. And on Wednesday, it was so pretty outside that I got to take my writing out to the pirogi and sit in a t-shirt, writing. That evening, kind of last minute, I was invited to help a photographer friend of ours take his family pictures. I was SO NERVOUS because he's really good, and that was a lot of pressure. But I had a blast hanging out with the family, cuddling with their kids when it wasn't their turn to be in the pictures, and I was relieved when the pictures turned out well!

* Thursday was my writing marathon. I wrote ten thousand words in one day, which is a LOT. Braeya must have decided I was going to be a terrible mom all day and decided to eat the sticky notes I used to organize my journaling thoughts. I didn't even care, because I was just so happy the writing was flowing well! I read all 10,000 words to Ryan that night and he fell asleep when I was done. HA!! {Not because of my writing, but it's still funny to make it look that way.}

* When Ryan got ready to leave for work on Friday, Braeya said NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! She didn't want another day like Thursday. He went, though, and she gave up and curled up beside the computer to sleep. I was THRILLED when I decided the first draft of my project could be declared DONE that day. Still much to be tweaked and edited on it, but the main part is finished and I'm grateful. We had to go to the funeral home after work, and then we tried to order a pizza online and their site was down for routine maintenance! Note from a patron: perhaps a Friday night is not the best time for "routine maintenance" for any pizza establishment??

* Ryan was on the road before six yesterday morning to go to a continuing education class with his work buddies. I was excited he found a free class, but I was sad he couldn't go with me to the Feed My Starving Children mobile pack that we'd planned to attend together for the second year in a row. Instead, I went by myself, which made me incredibly nervous. I don't do things alone very well. {Funny for a girl who was single so long, right?} Last night we went to our little nephew's birthday party - a tractor themed celebration!

The Saturday Six

One.

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ONE MONTH...actually a little less!!...before we get to see the beginning of the new season of Fixer Upper! It's going to be a great week for the Shaffers. We'll celebrate our third anniversary AND get to see Chip and Jo Jo {on TV} all in the same week. In the meantime...check out this cool post about ways to integrate Joanna's decorating style in your own home.

Two.

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I came across this story this week and had to share it because {first} it's a really good story and {secondly}, Jenn is an outstanding and inspiring woman. We were in college at the same time, but I've gotten to know her better through the beauty that is Facebook. She's the kind of person whose posts always make me think, and this article shows why she's used so greatly, and in such a myriad of ways! Proud of her!

Three.

GOOD GRIEF. Yes, I cried over it. And I'm not even a parent!! This one has been circulating Facebook, so maybe you have seen it. If not, watch it.  

Four.

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Yes, Ryan, I had a crush on Damon Bailey. Of course I did! I was a teenager in the 90's! If you're not from Indiana {or didn't follow IU Basketball in the early 90's} you might not know who he is, but if you are from around here or you love sports, you've heard his name. It's been 25 years now since he graduated from high school, and this article is a great tribute to his career!

Five.

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This week, Natasha did a post about some things she's passionate about, which for her, includes printing pictures, and she mentioned in passing her desire to one day print out her blog in book format. It's not an uncommon thing; I've read about bloggers who printed out their blog each year as a scrapbook of sorts. It's actually a pretty smart thing, if you ask me. If the great wide web crashes, you know, where are your blog posts unless you've printed them out? I did some Pinterest research and found this post by a blogger who had printed hers and shows a bit how the process works. {Also - Blurb is a company I've looked at many times and it does seem they are a good mix of affordable and quality!}
 

Six.

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After the last novel I read...the one that took me a hundred pages to really get into...Vendetta by Lisa Harris was a fabulous about-face in reading and enjoyment. This book is the first in a new series called The Nikki Boyd Files, and I confess I'm hooked and ready for book #2.


We love watching TV crime dramas, and if you love those as well, I'm confident you'll love this book. It's like an episode of {insert your favorite crime drama here} written out in a book - and a bonus? It has a faith story laced through it as well.

Nikki Boyd is a former schoolteacher turned special agent on the Tennessee Missing Persons Task Force. The career change came about a decade earlier when her teenage sister went missing...and she's never been found. Nikki's devotion to solving Sarah's case is what drove her to make a career out of hunting missing persons and bringing their abductors to justice. What starts out as an ordinary day off work rock climbing with a friend quickly turns into an urgent search for a teen gone missing during a birthday celebration weekend.

The story is set in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park area near Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and since we just vacationed there this spring, I could so easily envision the places they talked about in the book - but even if you haven't been there, this book will draw you in with the suspense, the relationships, the twists...all of it.

I read this book in one night flat, and honestly, I knew during the first chapter that I would have to finish it yet that night. No sleep for me until it was done. Lisa's story-telling is captivating, and it's no surprise to me to learn she's won awards for her writing. Her characters are relevant and real...struggling through their own personal heartaches while plowing ahead with what life demands. I also appreciated her ability to accomplish all the truth and suspense of a missing person's case, without any bad language, any overly graphic scenes, and without sexual innuendos. Those things that seem to always make their way into TV are missing from the book, and yet the story misses nothing by their absence. It's still rich and full.

I'm excited to see what Nikki takes on next...I'm excited to see book #2 in this series! * Thanks, Revell, for sending a copy my way in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own! *

Happy Halloween...You Know...A Week Late

I know, I know. Halloween is a holiday for kids. But it's also a holiday for CANDY, which means I want to be a kid again!! :)

I also know Halloween was a WEEK ago now...but I was so busy virtually vacationing with you that I didn't get to tell you about our adventures!

First of all, here in the Midwest, we just completed a week of t-shirt and shorts temps. We actually walked through campus the other night in t-shirts and shorts, IN NOVEMBER. Last year on Halloween? Snow. Measurable, cold SNOW. In fact, when I blogged about it, I called it Snow-loween.

But back to this year...Ryan and I don't really do much for Halloween because we don't get trick-or-treaters in our area. And since we don't have kids, that pretty much knocks out the holiday for us.

UNTIL THIS YEAR.

Ryan mentioned in passing that he could dress up for work, and in 4.5 seconds, I was on Pinterest searching for a costume for him.

The idea was obvious.

MR. CLEAN!!!!!!!

We had such fun putting together the outfit. We went to the Goodwill one night and he found a pair of white scrub pants and a plain white t-shirt, and I ran next door to Cato to buy gold hoop clip on earrings. When I checked out, the cashier said, "You do know these are clips, right?" I said "Oh yes, they're for my husband!" I enjoyed watching her reaction to THAT! {And then I explained.} We found a clown makeup kit for just a couple bucks, which provided us with the white face paint we needed, and to the tune of about $11.00 for all the stuff, we had a costume!

 Halloween morning, we gathered in for makeup time.

And not for me.

I thought it turned out pretty well...don't you?

 Funny side story...a few days after Halloween, we stopped by Lowe's to get some paint, and we always go through the same lady's line if she's working. We LOVE her. She's like a second mom. I showed her the picture above {Just Ryan's half} and she said "How did he get his muscles to look so big?"

I said, "Oh he didn't have to try. They just ARE. I'm a lucky, lucky lady."

She had to come right around the register and see for herself. LOVED IT!!!!

So he had a great time at work with the crew, dressed up for Halloween:

And for Halloween night, I planned a fun at-home date just for the two of us!

I picked up a Halloween-ish dinner....

...complete with dessert...

And our evening of fun? WE CARVED PUMPKINS!!!!

He was done before I got very much even started. Next year I'm picking an easier one!!!!

But I think they turned out well:

YAY!!!!!!

The only sad part of the day? We did not have one single candy bar. Sigh. 

Linking Up

The Mayberry Cafe

Because it took me so long to recap our vacation, I'm behind on telling  you about all our other adventures as well!

We arrived home from vacation about 10:30 on a Friday night, which is really funny, because our trip to Virginia Beach from our home was significantly longer and we arrived significantly earlier! We blamed our long drive home on a late start time, rush hour, construction delays, and being Shaffers.

And the next morning, we got up early and got BACK in the car for another two-hour {one way!} drive. This time, our destination was the Mayberry Cafe in Danville, Indiana, which is just south of Indianapolis. Our outing was to celebrate my sister's birthday, and we asked my parents if they wanted to ride along with us. No need to take two cars to the same place, right?

This is just trouble in a car, right here.

I was excited about going to this cafe, because I'd heard good things about it, but I'd never been there. I actually would love to someday visit Mount Airy, North Carolina, which is the "real" Mayberry, but since it's a bit of a distance from our home, the cafe works well enough!

The cafe is a two story restaurant across from the courthouse in Danville, and they even have a real Andy Taylor sheriff's car parked out front!


Inside, it feels like home with big kitchen tables that you can gather around, and they bring you good home-cooked food, just like Aunt Bee would have made.

While we waited on our food, Julie unwrapped her birthday gifts:

Food was SO delicious. Ryan and I each got tenderloins. So good.

We even got dessert! Blackberry cobbler and coffee. {If anyone is keeping track, I brought about half of everything home.}

The food was so good...it was fun to have episodes playing on TVs in the background...and it was so worth the 2 hour drive!

Happy birthday, Julie!