92 County Tour: Delaware County

Our quest to tour all 92 counties in Indiana continues! Guess what!?!?! Only 78 to go! It may not be the quickest project we've ever done, but we are having a blast doing it!! {To see the rest of our tours, scroll to the bottom of this page.}

I'm admittedly not great with geography. I knew Ryan and I had an appointment in Muncie, Indiana last Saturday, but I was just certain we had already toured the county where Muncie sits. I would have bet more money than I have that it was in the same county with Anderson and Alexandria, and I knew we'd gone there last summer. It turns out {PSA here} that just because towns are on the same interstate sign does not necessarily mean they are in the same county. Take a moment to let that sink in!

I finally realized my mistake about 10:00 last Friday night and flew through the pages of the internet to assemble what I hoped would be a proper tour of Delaware County, the actual home of Muncie, Indiana.

Delaware County was named for a Native American group that used to live in the area where the county is located. The county had a huge economic boom after the Civil War, because natural gas was discovered on the land. The county is also well known for its glass industry, and it was the home of the Ball brothers...of Ball jars. This may have also had something to do with the naming of a little university known as...Ball State.

We went to this county because we had a photo shoot scheduled there. Annual photo time!!! {We told that whole story in yesterday's podcast, so I won't rehash it here.} The photographer suggested doing our photos at Minnetrista, so that's where we began our day! The word "Minnetrista" means "a gathering place by the water," and the land originally held the home of the aforementioned Ball brothers. There are beautiful grounds that are free to explore, and there are also indoor activities, many educational, that we did not explore the day we were there. {Workshops, classes, farmer's markets, and much more.}

Our pictures are currently in editing, so I can't sneak peek any of those to you, but the photographer certainly picked an enchanting location to serve as a backdrop! When we were done with the shoot, we went back through the grounds and snapped some pictures just to have, reminding us of the natural beauty and the architectural beauty of this area:

By the time we had explored this area {twice, really}, we had worked up an appetite, so we made our way over to Cammack Station, just west of Muncie, near the little burg of Yorktown, to eat lunch. The photographer had actually told us about this place; she takes pictures there sometimes, and it was definitely a cool place. The restaurant is housed in an old fueling station, and it's completely loaded with character. The decor is themed around old station memorabilia, and they play oldies music, which makes it so fun. The food is classic diner food - burgers and ice cream sundaes and shakes.

It was actually SO NICE the day we visited, we were able to eat outside. They pipe the music outside, too, so it was just a fun day to soak up some sunshine, eat a delicious {clean-eating-contraband} burger, and listen told old tunes. For the record, I did not eat ALL of mine. HUGE!!!!

After that, we definitely needed to walk around for a bit, so we went to Ed's Glass and More Factory Outlet. I'd been there several years ago with my mom, and I remembered it was just a fun, quirky place to find a deal if you wanted one. We ended up not buying anything, but it was fun to poke around and look at all the glassware and candles and see what they had!

I had seen online that one of the Muncie McDonald's locations had a vintage sign, so even though we didn't stop to get anything, we had to swing by and see it! Apparently this sign was put up when the location was built back in the 50's. Did you know there was a different McDonald's mascot before Ronald? His name was Speedee, and he's on the sign!

I had also been told, over the years, that if I ever went to Muncie, I shouldn't leave without stopping by Concannon's bakery. They have a couple different locations, but we went to the pastry shop, which the nice lady inside told us was the older of the two locations. Oh. My. Word. Bakery overload in the best possible way! Cookies, pies, cakes, donuts, the whole bit. Oh! And candy! It was hard to choose just one snack for later, but we powered through.

Concannon's is a family-run business, and that was one reason I wanted to stop by. I love seeing establishments that have a long history in any given town and still have family ties keeping them strong.

We each got a donut and ate them later. They were delicious. Ryan said his was so huge, he should have divided it and eaten it in two sittings. I had no problem with mine! HA!!!

Of course, we can't leave a county without trying out a coffee shop. I figured Muncie would be overrun with coffee shop options, given that it's a college town. But when I hunted online, the list wasn't incredibly long. Once I weeded out the chains and the gas stations {are those REALLY coffee shops???} I settled on a shop right near campus called "The Cup." 

It was quite a different atmosphere from the coffee shops we normally visit, and I was really thankful it was a nice day outside, or our experience might not have been so great. It was a super tiny shop, and navigating our way in and through the line was interesting. Not great for claustrophobics.

It was very simple inside - black chalkboard walls with the menus written on them, and the counters for the baristas to work. That was about it!

Ryan got fresh brew and a muffin, and I got a frozen cappuccino, and we took them out to the courtyard, and that was lovely. It sat right by a sidewalk, and we watched college students and parents strolling around, people walking their dogs, and we were under a collection of mature trees that dropped leaves...so pretty. Plenty of space out there, and we felt a bit like we were on a movie set, drinking our coffee and watching the crowds walk by. We were also painfully aware that we are not really close to college age anymore. {Though closer than the old guy in a complete sleeping coma behind us, mouth gaping open!!}

After our coffee, we made one last "stop"...through the Ball State Campus to view Shafer Tower. It just seemed appropriate. :)

The tower is 150 feet tall and has a chiming clock. Though it normally chimes through remotely programmed computers, there is a way for a person to climb into a control room at the top and play something live. I saw how tiny the stairway must be inside the tower. No thanks! BUT...good to know we have our own tower. :)

And that concluded our visit to Delaware County! A fun day...and I can't wait to see the official photos when our shoot is edited! :)

Advent Calendars

This world is kind of a heavy place right now, isn't it? Sometimes you just need a good belly laugh. And I have a little feeling you might get just that with this week's Spill the Beans. Enjoy!!

 Click here to listen.

And now...

I know, I know. Thanksgiving isn't here yet, and some of you don't want to talk about Christmas.

But some Christmas stuff requires preparation, so if you're going to prepare, now is the time!

Ryan mentioned in passing (a couple of years ago) that he really likes Advent calendars. I'm not sure if he likes the actual calendar and the countdown to celebrating the birth of Jesus, or if he just likes a free piece of candy every day. It probably could go either way.

But I made note of it and determined that one day...one day!!!...we would have an Advent calendar. But those who fail to plan, plan to fail, you know, and so far, I've been a wild success of an Advent-calendar-making failure.

I determined that this would be my year, and about a month ago, I went to a craft night to celebrate my friend Amber's birthday. I wasn't sure what craft to make, because anymore, I'm solely a scrapbooker and I do those online, but then I remembered my vow to make my husband an Advent calendar.

I wanted something that was meaningful in multiple ways, affordable, and perhaps, in some way, reusable. And I will tell you about ours in a moment, but meanwhile, I've compiled a few other ideas for you in case you're interested in other versions.

Pinterest is a great go-to for such ideas, and I've made a little board that offers some random ideas both of how to construct such a calendar and also what to put on/in it. Not an exhaustive list by any means, but a great start! And as I continue to find ideas, I'll add them!

Your calendar, should you choose to make/buy one, can take on a variety of purposes. In its simplest form, it can be a true countdown to Christmas. A way to answer the endless question from your kids: "HOW MANY MORE SLEEPS???" Go count the paper chain, Baby.

It's also a great way to unwrap a Scripture reading for each day, a treat for each day, or even an activity/act of service to put some purpose and meaning in a chaotic month. You can do any one or all of those things as you choose.

I will tell you straight up that ours is a bit over the top in size. I always get carried away by these things. It's a problem I should probably work on, but I haven't yet.

I wanted something coffee-ish, and if I even have to explain that to you, then I have failed as Shafferland's chief blogger. So after some Pinterest-stalking, I came up with this. Yes. This.

 Why, yes! That IS an entire counter covered in coffee cups. Twenty-four of them to be exact. Isn't it lovely?

For the record, I do not plan to put them there for the Christmas season. I plan to put them up above the cabinets in the back, there. Visible, yet out-of-the-way.

Inside each cup, I plan to put a treat for Ryan {because I love him!!!}, but I also plan to put in a little slip of paper with something else. I haven't decided yet what the something else will be, but my hope is that it pushes us to daily prepare our hearts for remembering the birth of Jesus!

I did find this idea on Pinterest, but the original blog didn't have a lot of detail and it was also written in a language I do not speak. So I was kind of on my own for creating the thing. Just in case there are any other coffee fanatics out there that would like a massive Advent calendar to match ours, I'll tell you how I made it.

{ALSO...there is a way to do this calendar without having 24 separate cups. I'll tell you that part too. Too bad I didn't figure that part out before making the whole set of them, huh?}

FIRST, I purchased the coffee cups. I tried to get them at just the regular store, but all the cups they had were printed with some random decoration, and I wanted plain cups. So I had to go to the party supply store and buy a big bag of white cups and white lids. This was the most expensive part of the project, but as a bonus, we now have some extra disposable coffee cups in case anyone drops by and needs a to-go cup. The party supply store also sold the cups in a variety of colors {all the lids were white}, so if you wanted a particular color of cup, you could switch it up that way.

NEXT STOP was Hobby Lobby for some decorative touches. I purchased six 12x12 scrapbook papers that all had a different Christmas/winter theme on them. I tried to get colors and designs that somewhat coordinated, since they would all be sitting together, and I could have gotten all matching ones, even, but I wanted a little variety. I looked at all kinds of decorative pieces to glue on the front, and finally decided on these little Christmas ornaments from the miniature tree aisle. They came in packs of six, so I got two packs of silver and two packs of gold. Some look more like stars and some look more like snowflakes, so I liked the combo of similarity without matchiness. {I hot glued the embellishment on the front once the paper was secured.} All these supplies were on sale, too, so YAY!!!!

I CUT EACH SCRAPBOOK PAPER into four equal pieces to make a "wrap" for the cups. Because the cups angle, I had to angle the paper in the back, but that was okay. I chose to use leftover silver tape from our moving extravaganza to secure the paper in the back. You could easily use clear tape or even glue to hold them together. This was just my choice. {And I already owned it, so it was FREE!!!!}

I WANTED TO MAKE THE NUMBER COUNTDOWN a little unique. I found this site, which is also a pin on the above Pinterest board, that allows you to print out an Advent countdown in a non-matching set. Different tag shapes, fonts, and numerals vs. words make for an interesting display. I printed the set out on a parchment looking paper, but you could use any design of paper - or cardstock to make it sturdier.

I decided to make the numbers like the little stoppers that coffee shops put in the coffee lids to trap the heat. Popsicle sticks seemed like the perfect method, but alas, they are smaller than the hole in the lid, so they fell right through. I decided to wrap the top 1/3 of the stick in twine to make it bigger than the hole in the lid. I hot glued the twine onto the stick, hot glued the number onto the twine, and put the stick down inside the hole.

NOTE!!!!! Make sure if you're hot gluing as much as I did in this project, that your gun is a COOL glue gun. I got a LOT of glue on my fingers, and if I had been using a full fledged hot gun, I would have had blisters everywhere. {I used to own one of those and definitely received some rough burns over the years. The cool gun is still hot, but tolerable if it gets on your skin. And with all the paper and twine, you'll definitely get some on your skin.}

BECAUSE OF THE EMBELLISHMENTS, these cups don't stack up neatly for storage, but Ryan got all 24 cups, lids and sticks in a copy paper box without smashing anything, so the storage isn't too terrible.

I am really excited to get these filled and start a new tradition with Ryan! I'm excited about EVERYTHING for our Christmas this year - first Christmas in a new house! But this will be a fun addition.

And as promised - if you don't have room to display 24 coffee cups, you could easily make one or two and just swap out the numbers every day after you "do" your Advent time. Refill the cup with the next day's contents, change the number, and have one cup on the counter!!

Happy Advent calendar creating. It doesn't have to be over the top {says the creator of over-the-top}, but I think it will add some memory-making and meaning to your Christmas season! :)

What I Learned in October

WHAT!!?!?!?! October is over??? But I haven't started scrapbooking it yet! Guess I better hurry! October is done, which means a happy birthday {yesterday} to my sister, a Happy Halloween to all of you today {don't eat too much candy}, and it's time for another round of wisdom/useless information gathered throughout the past 31 days!

1. We don't like vanilla flavored Greek yogurt.

Anymore, I use Greek yogurt in many ways: to make salad dressing, as a mayo and sour cream replacement, as the main course for breakfast, etc. Because I sometimes need it sweet and sometimes need it savory, I always buy plain yogurt and just sweeten it with honey as needed. Early this month, our grocery store was out of plain yogurt, but they had vanilla, which promised no artificial flavoring, so we bought that instead. Hated it. I ended up using it in the protein shakes I make, because the other flavors in the shake compensated for the aftertaste, but we decided this is not the yogurt for us. Back to honey.

2. Fall in our new home is lovely.

I lived in the same house for 16 years, so I am thoroughly enjoying the change of scenery at the change of this season! This is our first fall in our new home, and I'm quickly learning where all the prettiest trees are in the neighborhood, and I'm soaking in every bit of this transition to beautiful leaves! 

3. Finding your stride in a new church home is an undertaking.

At first I started to say it was "hard," but I'm not sure that's the right word. Ryan and I started looking for a new church home at the start of this month, and we actually really liked the first church we tried. So for that reason, I don't think we can say it's been a hard season, but it's truly an interesting position being the new people in the family. We have to find new friends and ways to serve and how to be comfortable among a group that has already found a comfort zone. So it's an undertaking. One that has been way more positive than negative, but still an adjustment, for sure!

4. I love having Ryan by my side when I speak at retreats.

This month, I got to take him with me to the retreat I spoke at, and it made all the difference in my soul. To have him right there to pray over me and support me was beyond what I could have even imagined. We knew we were better as a team, but I don't think we knew until that moment that we were SO invested as each others' best teammates! 

5. I love planning days, even if I am mocked for them.

I set aside a day this month, packed a bag, and went to a coffee shop to do some planning for the next calendar year. Ryan's co-workers did NOT understand the importance {and sheer joy} of being in the presence of coffee, multi-colored pens, and papers to do my planning, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. To be fair, all the brainstorming 100% wore me out, and I had to go to bed early that night, but it was still FUN!!!! I'm excited to see what God does with 2017.

6. I have not outgrown craft dates with friends.

Before I was married, I frequently got together with friends to do some version of crafting. {Usually scrapbooking.} A variety of factors ended that habit for the most part, but early this month, one of my friends wanted to celebrate her birthday by hosting a bring-your-own-craft-and-a-snack-to-share night. We got together at her grandma's house, in an old workshop area, and had the best time crafting. I felt bad leaving Ryan at home while I hung out with my glue gun and a plate of snickerdoodles, but it was SO MUCH FUN. Hmmmm...we do have that nicely finished garage. Perhaps I should host craft dates of my own!!!  

 7. I enjoy helping people tell their stories.

This month brought a new adventure for me: freelance writing! I was hired by an organization to help edit a book that tells the stories of their years of service. Along the way, in addition to editing, they asked if I could just straight up write some of the stories for them. So I spent several hours at my desk, listening to recorded interviews and crafting stories from what I heard. I'd never done this before, but I learned I really loved it. I have no idea if this kind of work is a one-time thing for me, or if it's a door opening for work God has ahead, but I thoroughly enjoyed helping tell a story! 

That's what I learned this month! I don't think Emily Freeman does her linkup of these anymore {at least she hasn't for the past few months} which is EXCEEDINGLY sad, because it was so much fun to read what people had learned, but it's still a fun post for me each month. Good to know I haven't given up learning!  

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday was such a lazy Sunday. After church, we enjoyed a leisurely day of naps, football, and snacks. It was so good that I don't even have any more to report on it! :)

* Monday was as busy as Sunday was lazy. {Of course. Isn't that how it always works!} Many house chores, much writing work, two yards to mow {for Ryan} and a quick trip out for a little pampering for yours truly! On the way home, I was treated to a gorgeous sunset, and that made suffering through a workout a little easier. :)

* Tuesday was kinda cold and rainy, so it seemed like a good day to make a pot of soup! I worked at home all day, and we had our Bible study that night. Our group was full of great discussion, and I enjoyed learning from them! And check out these amazing leaves one of the ladies preserved. So cool!

* Wednesday, Ryan's grandpa had another surgery on his brain, but we didn't get to go this time. We prayed for him from home, and I was so thankful it all went well! Ryan had an extra busy week at work, so he was swamped there, and I was rushing to meet a writing deadline, so we were pretty exhausted by the end of the day. We had plans for the evening, but they fell through, so we we conked out on the couch watching TV. Braeya took over the remote. LOL!!!

* Thursday night, we had the privilege of helping one of our friends move. She helped us when we moved, and it was a gift to us to be able to pay her back! It was a cold night, so we started out with coffee/hot chocolate, and then got busy moving! {Side note: I had injured my hamstring in that workout Monday, so it was fun to watch me hobble with boxes.}

* Friday was another busy day for Ryan at work, and he couldn't make it home for lunch, so I wen to visit him while he ate. It was SO BEAUTIFUL outside that we went for a walk after work, and then we went grocery shopping. GUESS WHAT WE FOUND WHILE WE WERE OUT???? They broke ground for our new Sonic!!! {Insert every happy emoji in the whole galaxy right here.}

* Yesterday we had our annual pictures taken, and while we were at it, we did a county date! Delaware County! The day was way prettier than I ever imagined it wold be, so it was a fun day to be outside, eat lunch outside, have coffee outside...you get the picture.

The Saturday Six

One.

Christmas is coming you know. {We're under two months now - EEK!!!} And in case you're a lover of small-shop support and even more specifically, Etsy support, this 31-Days blogger covered a whole list of Etsy shops, so I wanted to direct you to her list. Quite a range of ideas and prices are covered here. Happy Etsy shopping!!

Two.

Source

A couple of weeks ago, one of my friends texted to ask my opinion on day planners, because she said when she thought of people who were passionate/obsessed with such things, I came to mind first. {Not EVEN embarrassed about that! WOOT WOOT!!!} I am actually making my own 2017 planner, but I found this post by Brittany at Where My Soul Belongs, and she compared a couple of planners that were new to me, so I feel it's my duty as a passionate, obsessive planner lover to pass the news on to you in case you're on the hunt!

Three.

Source

As I've mentioned many times this year, I've been doing Beachbody workouts and eating plans, but our one-income budget does not allow me to keep up with daily Shakeology treats. It is crazy expensive to buy a bag of that every month, so we've had to resort to making our own versions of healthy shakes at home. Dashing Dish is my favorite go-to site for clean eating {I've told you about it multiple times before} but this week I tried out the Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie. Oh. My. Word. It was a thousand times better than I even expected. {I used plain Greek yourt in place of cottage cheese for the thickener, and I did not add the cream cheese because I didn't want to open a whole package for a little tiny smidgen. But it was so creamy and tasty.} NEW FAVORITE!!!

Four.

Source

 Back to Christmas for just a moment...I wanted to tell you that Dayspring is having a big sale that ends in a couple of days. {I'm not a Dayspring affiliate, so this isn't a push for personal gain; I just love their stuff!!!} Some of my family members might recognize the chalkboards from this page as one of the gifts I gave last year. This set of stuff makes a great gift because you can add to them to complete the gift! {Make a cake FOR the cake plate, add coffee to the creamer/sugar set, etc.}

Five.

Source

NEXT WEEK is time change weekend!!! As always, I have some pretty strong opinions on time change, but at least this is the change that affords me more sleep, so my complaining is not quite as harsh this time around. But in light of this event, I found an article that suggests some household tasks that need done with about as much frequency as the time change, so tying them to the time change is a good way to remember to do them! Here you go!  

Six.

Source

This week, I read the conclusion of the Emancipation Warriors trilogy written by my real-life friend, Marissa Shrock. I've reviewed books one and two on the blog before, so you can check those out if you missed them before. The First Principle was the first book, and The Liberation released just earlier this year. The final book in this series is called The Pursuit, and just like the first two books in the series, The Pursuit is suspenseful from start to finish!

Marissa is a middle school teacher, and she writes for a young adult audience. But as I said in my first two reviews, I enjoyed reading them and think they appeal just as fully to an adult audience. These books are set in an undisclosed future year, when the United States is no more, and the world at large looks very different from the world we know.

The main character of the series, Vivica Wilkins, is almost eighteen years old, and finds herself a bit stuck in life. She wants to attend college, but her mother, who is the President of the United Regions of North America, hasn't been able to find a school that can assure her Vivica will be safe from the attack of political enemies. So Vivica feels trapped, living day after day in the presidential compound, unsure of how to move forward when she can't move beyond the gates of the property.

The world had seemed unstable before, but grows more so each day. Biochips implanted in citizens keep the government informed on everything from their whereabouts to their health status. Mysterious illnesses that seem to attack certain regions come from "nowhere," destroy lives at alarming rates. And most people have no idea just how deep the government's power runs, including recent technology that experiments with weather control.

When the President dies under suspicious circumstances, and Vivica's friend, Drake Freeman, invites her to join the Emancipation Warriors in their pursuit of complete freedom, she cannot resist. The wars of disease, deception, and determination in the world are large, but even bigger battles rage inside Vivica. A born-again Christian {in a world that does not tolerate its beliefs}, she feels the weight of sharing her faith and seeing those around her, even the enemies, as people created by God. She feels the weight of fighting for anything that will make the world a safer place for her son, even though she gave him up for adoption. And she feels the weight of submitting to God's plan for her life, even if it looks different from what she "feels" it should be.

As was true of the first two books, The Pursuit offers a difficult look into parts of our future that may not be so far away or far-fetched. In those respects, for a scaredy-cat like me, some of the concepts were difficult to face. But the writing itself is excellent, suspenseful, and carries the Gospel message clearly. My own faith was strengthened by the needed reminders that God is bigger than any government entity and always faithful to care for His children, regardless of how hopeless the circumstance.

You'll find love, intrigue, danger, faith, and so much more in this book, and I am so proud of Marissa for completing her trilogy and bringing a faith-based option of dystopian literature to young adults. I'm excited to see what she ventures into next in the world of writing!

 * Marissa sent me a complimentary digital copy of The Pursuit to read. All opinions are my own! * 

Flashback Friday

Earlier this week, as I surfed the world wide web {probably via Pinterest...I know this shocks you}, I happened upon a post that included a link back to the bloggers posts from the same day on previous years. I hadn't seen anyone do that before, and it intrigued me.

So just for funsies, in this my tenth year of blogging, I thought I'd go back and see what was on my mind on this day, October 28th, in years gone by.

2006: Did not blog that day. Slacker.

2007: Ahhhh the "Bits" posts. You may or may not have known that before I wrote this blog, I wrote a weekly email column called "Bits from Bekah's Life." I sent it out every Sunday night, and when I started blogging, the "Bits" columns were also copied and pasted into blog posts each week. This post explored my newly implemented habits of trying to exercise regularly, make healthier food choices, not drink pop {!?!?!}, floss regularly, and learn to see my physical worth in the eyes of God. Hmmmm....some things are a lifelong struggle, aren't they?

2008: I had begun to introduce recipes to my posts, and on this day, I shared my egg and sausage loaf {breakfast casserole} recipe. This was one of my very first Bekah-staple recipes. Also. Let's not discuss my photography of eight years ago.

2009: I had just started doing Angela Thomas's Bible study, called Do You Think I'm Beautiful?, and I found myself stumped by one of the questions in the workbook. Many thanks to my faithful early-year blog readers who popped in to encourage me. Also: that Bible study was a really thought-provoking one. If you're looking for a good study, I recommend it. I spend much time in reflection over Angela's words!

2010: I had just returned home from my first post-desert vacation and was in the middle of recapping the fun I'd had visiting friends in Illinois and Wisconsin. This post chronicled my trip between the two locations, including the moment my car overheated in a traffic jam. Talk about panic! {There are also a few funny parts to this day's travel story. Ohhhhhh, Bekah.}

2011: I was four months in to my new job at WBCL, and Lynne had just begun to have me join her {on select occasions} on the air. One of our first projects was a monthly "Kitchen Caboodle" show. {Anyone remember that?} We had gotten together at her house to make pumpkin snickerdoodles and a chili recipe, both from Sandi Patty's cookbook. I managed to break a glass, and Lynne managed to dump a pan of cookies in the bottom of the oven. But we had fun anyway! And you can read all about it in my recap post!

2012:WOW! How life had changed in one year. By October 28th of this year, I was engaged and just over a month away from GETTING MARRIED. What!?!?! This particular year, October 28th fell on a Sunday, and I shared the "weekly recap" post, which was the precursor to the Shafferland Shuffle. {Because Shafferland hadn't been created yet, obviously.} It had been a busy week {some things never change}, but I think my personal highlight was celebrating Ryan's 33.5 birthday. {We don't really celebrate half birthdays, but we hadn't been a couple ON his birthday, so I wanted to show up for the half birthday.}

2013: Almost a year married by this time, October 28th found me recapping my first ever 5K. Ryan and I ran a 10K when we were dating, but I hadn't done a 5K before. Ryan and I were invited by my friend Julie to run a 5K at a farm/corn maze, but Ryan had to work, so he couldn't go. Julie and I ran it, and it lives as my worst ever race {in terms of time} but quite a fun race in terms of scenery! {Happy race-aversary, Julie!} Also: we will not discuss my attire. AT ALL.

2014: I guess our fall of two years ago was kind of like our fall this year: with moments of unseasonable warmth. On this day, I paid tribute to the glorious Saturday Ryan and I spent at home together, packing up the remnants of summer and making way for fall and winter. Taking down our beloved pirogi, raking leaves, switching clothes in the cloests, and enjoying each others' company...what a beautiful day!!

2015: Ahhhhh, last year! We had just returned home from the Great Getaway of 2015, a monstrous road trip that resulted in 8 days gone, 7 states visited, and 2 countries accounted for! We had so much fun on that trip, and I was smack in the middle of reliving it with you! This particular day, I took you on a virtual tour of Williamsburg, Virginia. Mark and Lynnette, we miss you!!!

And now we're here! 2016...ten years after my silent start to blogging on October 28th, and I feel this day has represented the full spectrum of life in my/our world. Travels, parties, regular fun, hard questions, and things that would only happen to me.

It makes me smile. :)