The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, we woke up in our hotel room in Fort Wayne, looking ahead to the last day of our anniversary getaway. We had a leisurely day that included a visit to a coffee shop, and a trip to the Christmas tree farm to pick out our tree, which we named Firby. It was a great, fun day! {And when we came home, we not only had luggage and a naked Christmas tree, but we started ripping apart our house to rearrange some rooms. Because why not?}

* I devoted all of Monday to unpacking from our trip, doing massive amounts of laundry, and arranging the living room so at least one room was complete and put together. And while I edited pictures, someone decided out of the blue that my lap is her new favorite place to be. No idea why she suddenly loves me, but I'll take it!

* Tuesday was December 1, so we pulled out my Advent book and started reading it again; I love that tradition I get to share with Ryan! Speaking of Ryan, though he was officially sicker than a dog {how sick is that, anyway?} with a cold, he volunteered to ring Salvation Arm bells with his boss. Isn't he the cutest bell ringer? And that night, you know, just for funsies, we moved a couch up the stairs. That was interesting!! {Don't miss Ryan at the top of the picture, right under the 12!

* Wednesday was our anniversary {YAY!!!} and Ryan took the day off work to spend it with me! We got to rest and do a little shopping, and we had our pictures taken before going out to dinner. We watched our wedding video while we ate cupcakes and just had such a lovely day remembering THE lovely day of our wedding!

* Thursday morning I got to do my devos by the light of the Christmas tree, which was lovely in every way. Ryan and I had put the lights and ornaments on it the day before, but it still needed some finishing up, so I worked hard on that - and on decorating the rest of the house that day. I'll give you a better view of all that later, but here's a sneak peek. I went low-key this year, but I like how it turned out!

* Friday I decorated the outside of our house {also low-key this year} and we hung up our mistletoe {YAY!}. That night, after Ryan got home from work, we went to his mom's house to pick up a dining room table he'd had in storage for something like a decade or more. Much more on this to come, but basically our table was just too small, so now we have one {for free!} that was certainly MUCH larger.

 * Yesterday Ryan worked, so I sent a little tree with him for his office. No ornaments, just a tree with lights. {Didn't want him to lose his man card ENTIRELY by having a fully decorated tree.} And last night, we went to our brother-in-law's 40th {surprise} birthday party, which was really a lot of fun! I took pictures all night and am always happiest when I have a job and a purpose, so it was a great time. Ryan's sister rocked it with the preparation!

The Saturday Six

One.

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If this season is a hard one for you - because of a fresh hurt in your soul or an old scar that still flares up pain, read this bit of comfort from the wise Susie Davis.

Two.

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We all know I am scared to death of heights and can't handle rides, but I have to tell you, this post on the world's tallest roller coaster {post by my blog friend Tamar} has me highly intrigued. If I ever get to Vegas... 

Three.

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I am such a sucker for Christmas decor, and I especially love a good Christmas  porch. This one from Between Naps on the Porch....oh be still my heart.  

Four.

I have no idea where this originated, but a friend of mine sent it to me this week and said she could have seen me doing something like this before the days of Ryan. I am so bummed I did not know about it then, or you can sure bet I would have! I LOVE THIS!!! 

Five.

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I love this real life story by fiction author Jody Hedlund. Great, great faith booster here. If you need a pick-me-up, read this!  Proof of Divine appointments always helps focus on the ways God does the same sort of thing in my life! 

Six.

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For a girl who grew up reading strictly Christian romance, I'm thoroughly enjoying the genre of Christian suspense. Nancy Mehl's new book, Rising Darkness caught my eye, so even though I'd not read the first two books in the trilogy, I wanted to try this one. I'm new to Nancy's writing, and I found my introduction to her work thoroughly enjoyable. 

The book tells the story of Sophie Wittenbauer, or Sophie Bauer as she is known in the journalism world. She came from a small, conservative Mennonite community but has spent the past several years putting her growing-up life behind her and establishing herself as the woman she wants to be. From losing weight to finding her fashion style to pursuing a degree, she's done all she can to become someone, but she feels she will finally fully arrive if she has a chance to break a big story.

That is what leads Sophie to a little town called Sanctuary - a place delightfully intimate and not as legalistic as her home community. She arrives under a false name and story to investigate a criminal tied to a murder years earlier, but quickly learns that she can't hide as much as she thought from the good people of the town. With her life in danger and the story on the line, Sophie pushes ahead, determined to uncover the truth.

As seems to be my pattern lately, I loved the small town setting of this book. I loved the people, and I loved the message of grace that was taught through the stories of their lives. I enjoyed the way Nancy made the story suspenseful without making me so edgy that I jumped every time I heard a noise while reading. I did not figure out the mystery before the end, which made me very happy {I like to be surprised}, and I loved the weaving of a romantic storyline in with the suspense.

The book was easy to read and made me go back to look up the other two books to see whose story I could learn more about by reading those books as well. It was tasteful in presentation {if you like mystery that's not so scary, this is a great choice} and the faith component wast strong without being overbearing.

I would absolutely look up more of Nancy's books and am glad Bethany House sent a copy of this one my way in exchange for an honest review. 

Anniversary Celebrations Part 3

Last Sunday was our last day of our little anniversary getaway, and we had so much fun!

We decided to make it a leisurely morning and just stay at the hotel until the last possible moment. It was so nice to NOT rush around. That is what vacation is all about, right??

Our first order of business was to visit a coffee shop, because this outing actually doubled as our Allen County tour, but I'm going to do a separate post on that, so I'll wait to show you that part later.

Our NEXT order of business was to visit a Christmas tree farm to get this year's tree! I found one on the North side of Fort Wayne called St. Joe Christmas Tree Farm, and it was charming!

It was busier than any tree farm we'd been to yet, but maybe that's because we have always gone on a weekday before. Anyway, they were so nice, and this sign just cracked me up!

I did think it was really great that you could bring your pets! {We didn't have Braeya with us. Rudolph probably would reject her anyway.}

We went in search of the perfect tree...I thought maybe this one?

Ryan thought maybe this one:

So we went with his choice!

We thought it was safer if he did the cutting and I did the photography.

And then he had to just go and show off.

Shout out to my five pound free weights!!!

{Yes, he really carried it like that all the way from the lot up to the front.}

We got him all tied up and ready to go...and we named him Firby!

We love our Firby!!

Before we came home, we took another gift card and went out for lunch:

There was a Colts game underway at that time, so lunch looked a lot like this:

That just cracks me right up.

It was delicious, that lunch! Even if I was a TV widow. {I LOVE YOU, RYAN!!!!!}

And it was a perfect end to the time away. We so enjoyed our getaway, but I promise I have more stories to come!! :) Come back!!!!

Anniversary Celebrations Part 2

Okay, now we can get back to our anniversary trip!

Like I told you Monday, Ryan and I went up to Fort Wayne this past weekend to celebrate our anniversary, but we didn't get to leave until after he got home from work Friday night. So Saturday morning we got up and had our free hotel breakfast {we love Hampton breakfasts} before our shopping extravaganza.

Yes. We did our Christmas shopping on our anniversary trip and actually had fun doing it!! Of course, what's a little shopping without a little goofing off?

{I thought this would make a good purse.}

We stopped for lunch at Panda Express. Ever been there? We hadn't, but we really liked it. We read our fortunes in our cookies at the end, and I cracked up when Ryan showed me the pictures he took of me. Doesn't it look like the lady behind me is just praying I get the best fortune ever?

After doing a little more shopping, we stopped for a mid-afternoon snack at DeBrand's. If you're not from here, you're missing out. It's just that simple. AMAZING chocolate, and we just happened to have a gift card, so we felt it only responsible to make good use of it.

Yeah. It was as good as it looked. And maybe even better. {If you're wondering, it was mocha gelato in a milk chocolate dish, with caramel and chocolate syrup and pecans.}

A couple of cups of coffee later, we were back to the shopping!

We were going to go out for a nice sit-down dinner, but we were tired, so we switched gears and decided to drive through the Festival of Lights at Franke park before getting a pizza and going back to the hotel to eat dinner.

The lights were SUCH FUN!! Very different from the lights here at home. We really enjoyed driving through.

{The WBCL light display.}

After our highly nutritious pizza dinner, we visited the pool and hot tub, but eventually it was overrun with kids and we decided the easiest way to dodge cannonballs was to just go back to our room. LOL!!!

Three Years

Dear Ryan:

Three years ago today, we stood in warm sand and said our forever promises in front of a handful of our friends and family and a handful of complete strangers who lurked. {Shout out to the anonymous, shirtless interloper in the video.}

I loved that day. I loved absorbing every moment of my lifelong dreams come true. It was more than I ever could have asked or imagined.

And then we came home from the fairy-tale of warm sand and sunny days and we started real life. Sometimes real life has had its fairy-tale-ish moments and sometimes...well...not so much.

But here's what I have loved about the last three years:

I've loved knowing you're always in my corner, always praying for me, always championing me, always believing in me. I've loved being your person in your corner, praying for you, championing you, and believing in you.

I've loved our many adventures. I've loved traveling with you, doing radio with you, now podcasting with you, making a home with you, and daily life-living with you. Every day is an adventure with you - in the best possible way.

And in these last few weeks, as I have revisited the longing and the prayers of my single days while I wrote about that season of life, I am reminded again what a beautiful answer to prayer you are. How completely God fulfilled everything that remained incomplete and unfulfilled in my life. How you have made it possible for marriage to be everything I ever dreamed it could be - even when those around me told me I was completely unrealistic.

I love where we are at this stage in our marriage. I know we have so much growing and learning and groove-finding to do yet, but for three years out from our lovely wedding day, I'm thrilled with where we are. I'm thrilled with the traditions we've formed and memories we've created. I'm thrilled with the choices we've made, the hard things we've made it through, and the fun we've had along the way.

And most of all, I love you. You are selfless, you are encouraging, you are a leader, you are fun, you are compassionate, you are passionate about the Lord, you are hard-working, and I am so glad you are mine. You teach me with your actions and push me to be better while loving me in my right now.

Happy third anniversary, my love. You have made the last three years the best of my life. I'm grateful beyond what I can pour into words for your presence in my life.

Thanks for choosing me every day. Thanks for making me smile. Thanks for choosing to write these chapters of your life alongside me. You are my joy.

~ AS

Podcasts and Such

I interrupt my own anniversary vacation coverage to bring you today's post. :)

* First of all, happy December! We have not fully {read: remotely} decorated, but hopefully within the next day or two, we will remedy that! I've been completely enjoying everyone's coverage of their own decorations as posted on all forms of social media. Very inspirational!

* We are also excited to start reading His Advent: Still His Greatest Gift today. While on one hand, it still feels very strange to me to read my own writing, I really enjoy this tradition with Ryan! Whether or not you have a copy of the book, I hope you'll do some sort of reading for the Advent season, so I wanted to remind you that today is December 1!

* THANK YOU for all the really kind words regarding last week's podcast. {If you missed it, you can catch it here.} It was a scary thing to hit publish on that and then sit back to see what you all thought about it! But you have been kind, and we are grateful. Our work has been well-received, and that relieves us. We are committed to making it better and better every week, so we hope you'll feel we succeeded with that this week! {Please overlook a couple of audio hiccups. Apparently I'm new at running a board.}

* Which brings me to my next point...without further ado, here is our second round at podcasting:

Click here to listen.

* In one of the stories we tell, there is an opportunity to vote to name Ryan's metal wall-mounted rhino head. {If that doesn't complete your day, I just don't know what will.} I promised in the podcast to post a picture of said rhino head in action as a coat rack, in case this influences your decision in any way. {Name options are found in the podcast.} Here is the rhino head and feel free to vote in the comments if you like.

* I don't intend for every Tuesday's blog post to be devoted to the podcast, but who knows. Maybe it will be. I'm new at this. {Also. I just typed "I'm knew at this." I think that means I need more coffee.}

* I shall now get more coffee.