The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday morning, I tried to use my new curling wand without watching a tutorial video. That went about as well as you might expect. :) So straight hair it was!! The day was pretty, but there were threats of rain, so after we took a nap, we tried to squeeze in a long walk. Got to the farthest point on our path and it started to rain. Of course! Never fear, though! Ryan thought the rain could be fixed with an inaugural trip to our new Sonic! YES!! It CAN!!!

* Monday was Memorial Day, and you already saw our family picnic recap! My sister Lori and her husband Jeff were in town for just a couple of days, and they came to stay with us that night. We grilled out and ate together (Mom and Dad came too) and went for a lovely NON-rainy walk!

* Tuesday morning I got to interview Jeff for the Conversation Cafe (as you saw yesterday) and then he and Lori left to stay with my parents, but we all met up again for dinner at one of my favorite places on earth! The Gaither store!! Chocolate peanut butter cake for the win!!

* Wednesday I spent the day being a TOTAL NERD, writing an honest-to-goodness syllabus for a workshop I'm teaching and creating calendars for lesson plans. My inner teacher was in the happiest sort of place. Went for a good run that evening and even enjoyed some completely delicious strawberries one of Ryan's patients shared with him. God bless people with garden excess!

* Thursday I popped by Ryan's work to tell him something and found him playing with a label maker. One of a thousand reasons why I love him! He couldn't join us for our last family lunch because he had a patient, but I met up with Mom and Dad, Lori and Jeff for the last meal before everyone went back home. And that night, Ryan and I had a WHOLE NIGHT at home with no commitments. It was a little bit like Heaven.

* Friday morning, I drove around to some garage sales and I'll have to tell you more about that next week. But it was also our monthiversary! 54 months of wedded bliss! We celebrated with an evening at the Strawberry Festival, followed by our J date! Fun evening!

* Ryan worked yesterday, but when he got home, we celebrated the first true hot sunny Saturday of the year with a frappe run! And then we went to some pre-wedding festivities for Ryan's sister, who gets married soon. Bachelorette party for me and bachelor party for Ryan!!

The Saturday Six

One.

Listen here!

A few weeks ago, I told you about my brother-in-law's new book, Light at the End of the Funnel. I was so excited to sit down with him (IN PERSON!) this week and record a podcast about the book, the tornado, and the many lessons God taught him through that experience and the decade of healing and growth that followed. So proud of him and so happy to present our conversation to you! Enjoy!


Two.

 Found this article about the return of Trading Spaces on TLC. Did you watch that show when it ran a decade ago? I did! I loved it so much. Paige, Vern, and Laurie were my favorites. You have any faves?

Three.

And speaking of shows that take up all my time, another one is back for the summer! AGT returned, and if you missed the very last audition of week one, you should watch it here. I sobbed. SOBBED. (Which, to be fair, is not unusual for me where this show is concerned.) 

Four.

I don't know how many of you who read here are also writers, but there might be a few of you lurking in the shadows! Found this article with advice on what to do after attending a writer's conference. I am attending one later this year myself, so I partly wanted to put this here so I could find it later, but I also wanted to offer it to any of you who might be in a similar boat! (I would imagine the advice can be easily tweaked to match other types of conferences and conventions!) 

Five.

 I know I'm always telling you to check out the recipes on the Dashing Dish website, but did you know she has a number of workouts on there too? I did one this week (just to mix it up a bit) and I am STILL feeling it! Lots of ideas! Check them out!

Six.

Source

Even though this week wasn't even close to being as crazy as the last few weeks, it was still busy. I didn't have time to dive deep into a thought-provoking book and marinate on wonders and truths, but I still needed my reading escape. So I was naturally giddy when Melody Carlson's latest, Under a Summer Sky showed up in my mailbox! (It actually releases this coming Tuesday, June 6!)

This book is the third and final book in a series called "Follow Your Heart," and I read the first one a couple of years ago when I was on vacation.  I knew from that book that this would be an easy, feel-good read, and that was a perfect fit for this week.

Because it's an easy, feel-good read, it was a quick one for me. The book tells the story of Nicole Anderson, an almost-thirty high school art teacher who is stuck in a bit of a rut. She's been teaching since college and has lost a bit of her sparkle and passion for it, a relationship that wasn't all that great anyway had recently ended, and while life wasn't bad, it definitely lacked pizzazz. But right as the school year wraps up, Nicole's mom has a conversation with her best friend from forever ago and finds out she's about to take a summer-long cruise with her husband and is in need of someone to run her art gallery while she's gone. Nicole's mom immediately volunteers Nicole to take a summer sabbatical from the Pacific Northwest and enjoy a few weeks of fun in picturesque Savannah, hoping it will rekindle some of the sparkle in her life.

There were a number of things in the book that were too good to be true (which I remembered being the case in the first book, too, so I was prepared). Nicole is able to fly cross country one day after her school year ends, take a job sight-unseen, live in the wealthy art gallery owners' mansion and drive their car while they're gone...and on it goes.

Because I anticipated the picturesque plot line, it didn't bother me. In fact, I appreciated the escape. It was fun to see the sights of Savannah through the pages of the book and to meet new characters. There were two things that bothered me as I read. First was the presence of alcohol in a social setting several times throughout the book (it's a personal preference of mine to just not have that), and at one point, there was some underage drunkenness. It was dealt with and not dismissed, but I just didn't find it necessary. Secondly, there was virtually no faith story in this book. A little prayer, but that's it. While I don't expect snippets of sermons in books, I do expect to see faith woven in, and it was just absent here.

The book wrapped up too quickly for me; there were loose ends that didn't resolve. So for those reasons, the book wasn't the most well-crafted I'd ever read. But it was a fun vacation-ish read.

* Revell provided a copy of this book to me at no charge. All opinions are my own. *

It's Frrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriday!!!

Housekeeping items up first today!

A couple of anonymouses left comments yesterday asking for the recipe to the strawberry crumble. I had fully intended to link to that in that post but forgot. Womp womp. I've fixed it so the link is now in the post, but here it is as well, so you don't have to go back and hunt.

Secondly, today is our 54th monthiversary, so I wanted to give a special shout-out to Ryan! The last month was so crazy, and he was so wonderful to help in every possible way. I appreciate him! Love you, Ryan!

I gave you a peek into our Memorial Day yesterday; thought I would tell you more about the fun I got to have with my sister while she was here!

One exciting thing that happened while they were here (and I have no pictures of it, sadly) was that my brother-in-law, Jeff, recorded a podcast with me! That'll be up for your hearing pleasure tomorrow. You might remember he wrote a book recently, and I'd invited him to be on the podcast about that. He thought it would be more fun to record in person than over the phone, and I agree, so we did that while he was here. My first live, in-studio guest!

The fam went out for dinner in Alexandria at the Gaither's Cafe. Oh my goodness, I love that place. I had not been there in wayyyyyyyyyyyyy too long. (Like almost two years.)

 I was so hungry, but they just had one cook that evening, so we waited a while for food. No problem for this girl! Gave me more time to SHOP! I just wandered around the store while we waited for the food to arrive.

Oh. And we took pictures. Imagine it. 

I think between my sunglasses and the waiter taking orders at the table behind us, it looks like I have a lid on my head. And you know, Ryan kind of does too, because of that light. Why do we always have weird things growing out of our heads??

I took pictures of everyone present, because it is my job as chief family documenter.

This is what happens when you don't have everyone on the same picture page. 

 Selfie! Or rather: groupsie!

Ryan cracked up because I was easily the hungriest person at the table - or at least the hangriest. And my food came last. (Not by much, but still technically last, and he thought it was so funny!

Then I ran into my conundrum.

Gaither's have the best frappes on the planet, and I fully intended to have one. Ummmmm and then I saw the chocolate/peanut butter cake. I will not lie: I considered having both. But you know. Clean eating and all.

How do you choose between the best frappes on the planet and a chocolate peanut butter cake? I mean seriously HOW?

I got the cake, and I wasn't sorry. I mean I was sorry. I was sorry I didn't get the frappe too. But I wasn't sorry about the cake. It was delish.

Ryan had lemon cake. He was so eager for it, he forgot to wait for the photo shoot. This is his forkful of cake hovering above the slice for the photo:

I got to see Lori and Jeff for one more meal, but Ryan had to work, so this was the end of the big family party.

Hurry back! We miss you!!!

Memorial Day!

Yeah, I'm running a couple of days behind here: whoopsie!

Last year on Memorial Day, Ryan and I had a little cookout for two in our backyard around our fire pit. It was the inauguration of said fire pit. Annnnnnnnd it's still the only time we've used it since we've been here. FAIL!!

This year he had to work on Memorial Day (which he does every year, actually), but we did have a fun family get-together that night! Before I tell you all about that, I have to say that I think I spent more time this year than any other, thinking about the true meaning of the day. Remembering people who gave their lives not only to years of service, but in total sacrifice, so I can live in peace. I know there's a lot less peace all around us than there used to be, but there's a lot more peace than many people enjoy on a daily basis. So for that, I am grateful.

In addition to it being a working holiday, my sister and brother-in-law came for a quick visit! They stayed at our house Monday night, so I planned a little cookout and invited my parents to join us too!

Ryan came home from work just in time to start the grill!

 Turkey burgers and hot dogs!

Meanwhile, I hung out with Lori and Jeff!

Mom said I made enough food to feed us all two or three times. True! But have you heard the saying, "Cook once, eat all week?" That was my goal. LOL!!

After I finished this, I realized "Happy Memorial Day" is not really a thing. "We Remember" would have been better. But I hadn't erased the board from Mother's Day yet, so I just erased "Mother's" and added "Memorial." I'll do better next year.

And a closer peek at all the food!

A little something for the healthy food and comfort food lovers alike!

Pausing again to say how WONDERFUL it was to have our garage finished off. We were a small enough group that we could have eaten in our kitchen, but it would have been crowded. While the weather was nice, it was a bit windy to eat outside (unless you secretly enjoy the sport of chasing napkins and cups across the yard), so eating in the garage with the door open for a nice breeze was pretty perfect!

(This is what happens when you take a picture without announcing it.)

Dessert was my strawberry crumble, which is actually fairly healthy, and frozen yogurt for the top!

We sat around and talked for a while, and I made sure we got a proper "groupsie" (as opposed to selfie) before Mom and Dad went home.

We had just enough time to squeeze in a walk before dark, so Lori and Jeff could see the neighborhood we always talk about.

And check out the SUNSET!

(There were actually a lot of pinks and purples that didn't even show up accurately in this!)

So it was a pretty wonderful day. Grateful for sunshine and perfect temps, fun and family! And extra grateful for the hundreds of thousands who came before me who made that possible and all those who continue to make it possible every day.

We Made It!

As we greet this final day of May, I have one thing to say:

WHEW.

We knew when we said hello to May 1st that this month was going to be crazy in ways we couldn't imagine. Mommapalooza, my birthday, five speaking engagements, a vacation, a bridal shower, and a few other things thrown in for good measure made for a wild ride. A good ride, but a wild ride.

BUT WE DID IT!!

This past Sunday, our pastor preached on where do we go from here? Great question! This month marked a chapter change for us. I have some time to work on writing projects, to reflect on the almost first half (can you believe that?) of this year, and to dream about and pray over the possibilities in the future.

It's exciting, really. I told Ryan the other day that this time in life feels like a time of many possibilities, and that is a great place to be! If we findourselves in a place of waiting for direction, at least it's also a place of hope that whatever is out there ahead of us is good and chosen.

Maybe your May was exhausting, and maybe it wasn't. Maybe you're in a waiting period, and maybe you're not. But I wanted to share this with you today to give you some hope. Where do you go from here? Maybe you know and maybe you're waiting to find out. Either way, I hope you see the brightness of possibilities awaiting.

Most of all, I hope you dream. I've always lived in a head full of dreams, and I still do. Those dreams inspire me. Some of mine have ended up reality and some have not. But even those that never burst into being were still beautiful.

Still dreaming, still praying, still waiting to see what God has ahead. (And now that the calendar isn't so full, I have more time for all of it!)

Dream big in June, my friends! 

What I Learned in May

PODCAST TUESDAY!!!

I know this is the most random conglomeration of stories ever, but I promise it's worth it!!

Listen here

 Yes, I know it is not the last day of the month, but two things caused me to post my "What I learned" a day early. First, I don't plan on learning anything today, so I should be safe. (TOTALLY KIDDING!) Secondly, yesterday was a super busy day, and I didn't get a chance to write  a post just for this day. So without further ado, here are the things I learned in May!

1. My body rebels against a detox/cleanse.

And don't we all, I'm sure, in some way? Isn't that kind of the point of a cleanse or detox? To shock your system back to health and life? But seriously, I learned that my body freaks out in unhealthy ways. Not sleeping at all and feeling like I'm hallucinating? Not worth it to me. I think I'll just be more conscious in my eating choices. It works better for me.

2. Ryan and I still hate being apart.

We were told the longer we were married, the more we would "get over" the need to be together all the time. Hasn't. Happened. Yet. Ryan was gone all day for the Saturday and Sunday of one weekend, and the following weekend, we were apart all evening Friday and most of Sunday afternoon. We decided that's too much. We love being together, and we don't apologize for it!

3. In busy seasons, we rely on color-coded itineraries.

We had a couple of stretches this month that were too busy. TOO busy. The kind of busy where you have to schedule in bathroom breaks if you really want them. So I resorted to creating color coded documents that outlined our every waking hour and told us what we needed to accomplish and who was in charge of it. We couldn't live like that every day, but when we have to, we must have organization.  

4. I love, love, love, having our garage finished for entertaining.

Truly one of the best decisions we made (even though it nearly cost us our sanity when it was in process) was to finish off the garage so it could be used as an additional living space. Hosting Mommapalooza 4.0 out there was so freeing!  Everyone felt a lot more comfortable with the extra space!

5. The Ninja has revolutionized our coffee grinding experience.

Ryan gave me a Ninja system for my birthday, which was THE most perfect gift. I haven't had a lot of time to play with it yet (hello, busy May!) but we used it to grind our coffee right after we opened the box, and my GOODNESS. What used to take 15 minutes to complete took about a minute and a half. No. Way.

6. Ryan and I make a great team at events.

I love being in a partnership with Ryan, and I love having him accompany me to events. It makes me so happy! But my visit to IWU was the first time he stood up front and helped me with a presentation. It went seamlessly. We had rehearsed several times, but I was so excited to see how well it went in real time. I am thankful beyond words for a husband who doesn't just support the work I'm called to do, but he crawls into it with me and takes an active role.

7. I love writing curriculum.

Back in the day, I wanted to be a teacher, but I elected not to pursue it once I saw how the education field was changing (even 20 years ago). This month I wrote some curriculum for a workshop I'm leading this summer, and I adored every moment of that work. Ryan would come home to find me in the same spot I'd been in when he left for work, and I was a TERRIBLE wife on those days, but it fed my soul in amazing ways to write for teaching purposes!

And that's been May in a nutshell! Here's to learning even more in June! 

School's Out for the Summer!

Last August, I told you about my new little side job of helping a friend getting her kiddo to school every morning. She and I set up that whole adventure on our own, and I'd never even met her son before my first day on the job. It felt a little creepy to drive up to their front door and pick him up when he had no idea who I was or anything about me.

And as I told you back in August, I had no idea what to talk about when he was in the car. At the start of the year, he was pretty into Pokemon (along with the rest of the adult and child universe) but that fizzled out fairly quickly. And so we returned to driving in silence, because he's not a morning person and I'm not nine.

Over the last week, I've been watching a lot of my friends post first-day-of-school and last-day-of-school comparison pictures of their kids, and it's been fun to see how much they've grown in a year's time. And though I have no comparison pictures to show you, I can see how we both grew as this year went by. Not in stature, but in learning to relate.

I stopped stressing out about finding topics and just waited for topics to show up on their own. Sometimes we really did drive in silence. But as the year went on, we tentatively talked about things, and the conversation on his end began to be longer than one word answers!

Our city is apparently playing a game of "how many streets can we simultaneously close" right now, so nearly every day, we had to take a detour of some sort. It became a game for the two of us: how far into our drive can we get before we have to find a new route?

We also watched some building projects and demolition projects (both great sources of conversation for boys), and learned a few lessons along the way (don't drive through flooded streets, the meaning of a BLT sandwich, and more).

By the end of our final day, talk was more than a good morning and goodbye. We talked about the future, as near as summer plans and as far as college plans. We wished for two hour delays (which we almost never got) and counted down to the end of the school. Cracked me up that when he got in the car each morning, he had already crossed that day off the countdown, even though he hadn't even arrived at school.

I learned about fidget spinners, dojos, Fun Fridays, the ridiculousness of long spelling words, and the unfairness of being grounded from an iPad.

But the best moment came on the last day. He crawled in the car, and while I fully expected him to shout about the last day, he was mostly just upset about his new haircut. It looked fine to me, so I waited while he explained why it was so awful. When he finished his story, I said, "Well, that does stink, but the good news is, hair grows. Unless you're Ryan. And then you're in trouble." He laughed right out loud over that line, and that was my end of the year school award. I made him laugh!

Transporting anyone to school was never on my list of things I thought I would do, and there were some days it was hard to juggle it into the busyness of the day. There were winter days when I panicked to Ryan about getting there and back safely. But I have to say, I think it was a good growing experience, and I'm glad I did it.

But for now, can I just celebrate? Because SCHOOL'S OUT FOR THE SUMMER, BABY!!!

Linking up with Tamar!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, we were waking up for our last morning in Michigan. Sigh of sadness for the end of vacations! We enjoyed a beautiful and peaceful hike through a state park and onto the shore of Lake Michigan before driving back home. (In the warm sun, of course, which showed up for the first time in days.) Still had a great vacation and it was good to be home!

* Monday was get-back-to-normal day. Ryan returned to work, I did a bunch of laundry and unpacked, Braeya wavered between being glad to see us and punishing us with much crying, and the best part of all? OUR ROSES BLOOMED!!!! They are so pretty!

* Tuesday morning I met Ryan's brother and his wife and kids out at the park to do a photo shoot for one of the kiddos. It was a really fun morning, and the colors in the pictures really popped because it was just a little bit overcast! Because I'd been busy all day with pictures and writing, Ryan suggested we use a gift card and go out to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. No problem! :) On the way home, we saw more good news: Starbucks is being rebuilt! YESSSSSSSSS!

* Wednesday was blah and yucky, but it cracked me up that I had to wait for ducks to cross the road while I was out running errands. (They were NOT in a hurry.) I picked up a fresh stock of kiddo supplies since I had the fab five for a little while that evening. Coloring books, crayons, games, puzzles - and this one kind of disturbing box that encourages "learning with Pooh." I try to stay poo-free in my learning, thankyouverymuch.

* Ryan had a carry-in at his work on Thursday, so I made cheesy potatoes and this photo is the last I saw of them. That dish was nearly licked CLEAN! I spent the entire day writing, and it was amazing. I was in the same spot when Ryan came home from work that I'd been in when he left for work! AND I got a new toy! Stand to hold my notes while I rehearse my talks. No more using the back of the recliner!

* Friday was the last day of school! I'm not sure who was more excited: my kiddo that I take or me! I decided it was a good stop-for-a-latte-reward day, so I did! (Took one to Ryan too since he filled in for me once when I was sick.) Speaking of Ryan: I LOVE IT when I see him reading a book. Makes me so happy! He started reading my brother-in-law's book this week, and I just had to get a picture. :) And Friday night we actually got a whole night at home together, just the two of us, with nothing to do.

* Ryan had to work a long day yesterday, so I did more writing and Pinteresting while he was gone. I had to record a promo video for a workshop this summer, so that was a fun little adventure. He took me out to eat AGAIN (thank you, gift cards!!) which was a real treat. Although I have to say, the restaurant and I have different takes on medium well. Yikes! And after that? A quick stop at Lowe's for Ryan's favorite thing: holiday price checks for appliances!