The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday was our monthiversary, and we enjoyed having the whole day together! Church, naps, cooking, long walks...it was perfect.

* Monday, I devoted my entire day to working on material for the workshop I'm wrapping up, and I was so excited to get so much done! We went for our second workout at the gym, and I did better! Sweat like a fool, but I did better! And when the day was done, we were all worn out. Couches and naps all around.

* Tuesday was the 4th of July, so I had a baking palooza at home! Ryan had to work, and I wanted to surprise him and his co-workers with treats! We went out for dinner and then watched fireworks over the lake. I so love fireworks!!!

* We were all tired on Wednesday after a late night and a hard workout. But you know who took the most naps? Braeya! All day, every room, every piece of furniture. Being a cat is hard work.

* Thursday I went to visit Ryan at work and there were about 14 million oscillating fans in the gym. Guess the air went out. Bad time of year for that to happen!! It may have been a hot day, but it was a pleasant, cool evening, and we took advantage of the opportunity to hang out in the hammock for a while!

* Friday afternoon, we got a package delivery, which is my favorite thing in the world. I went to pick up the box marked heavy, and boy was it EVER! I texted Ryan to see what he ordered, and he said, "38 pounds of cat litter." Well that makes a lot of sense!! Whew! It poured so hard that afternoon - flooding out some roads and canceling our date for the evening, but later on, it sure did get pretty!

* Yesterday was our first Saturday at home together THIS YEAR. How nuts is that!?!? We had Miss Pheebs all day, and she was such a joy. We went for walks and scrapbooked and helped Ryan change the oil in the car. We wrapped up the day with our "M" date: we're officially halfway through our alphabetical dates now!

The Saturday Six

One.

Listen here

One of my favorite authors came back to the Conversation Cafe this week! That's right! I had a repeat guest! :) Erica Wiggenhorn is a name you've heard often around here because I happen to love her Bible studies! Her brand new book on the second half of Acts, The Unexplainable Church released from Moody last month and is the topic of this week's conversation. Erica is fun and passionate for the Lord. Take a listen!

Two.

Did you see this article about the couple who met in preschool and ended up getting married? SO SWEET! (Obviously the marriage was several years after preschool.) But they knew even all the way back then. Swoon.

Three.

A few weeks ago, I linked to a video done by Voices of Lee, and they've done another one that I think is really powerful. (I actually like it better than the original version.) I think I forgot to breathe while I watched this.

Four.

I'm sharing this post by Jody Hedlund (fiction writer whose latest novel I reviewed last week on the Saturday Six) because she makes a really wonderful connection between literal and figurative floods. But ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh my soul...the loss of her books. It's nearly more than I can bear to read.

Five.

Just a PSA for all my fellow Hallmark Christmas movie lovers: July 14-23 is Christmas Keepsake week! Here's the schedule: LOTS OF MOVIES!

Six.

Source

Apparently this week wasn't just new for me in terms of workout regimes. It was also new for me in fiction material! The book I read this week was called A Matter of Trust, the third of four books in the Montana Rescue series by Susan May Warren. As far as I know, this was my introduction to this author, but she's written many bestselling books in the past.

The short version of my reaction to this book was that I really didn't care for it, but I would absolutely try this author again through another series. Let me explain:

This is not the first time I've jumped into a series partway through, and usually I can find my footing with a story even if I've missed previous books. This time, with this book, I couldn't do it. After I had finished reading and peeked at other reviews online, I noticed readers gushing about characters and their previous storylines, and I realized that for me, part of the disconnect with this book was that I'd missed (literally) the first half of the story. And this time it mattered.

There were a lot of characters in this book. This series is centered around a rescue team in Glacier National Park, and there were a lot of rescuers with a lot of backstories, nicknames, and multiple names. That's where missing the first half of the story messed me up. I didn't fall into understanding who they all were and how they'd come to work together, because I missed books one and two. I finally settled into focusing on the main characters in this book and skimmed over the rest of the team that kept confusing me.

Also, even though I wanted to try a plot outside my natural realm, I think I overshot it. This story was all about skiing and snowboarding and other than watching those sports (with one eye still on my computer) during the Olympics every four years, I really don't know anything about them. There was so much description and terminology about them, that it slowed me down from jumping into the story itself.

The main part of this story focused on Gage Watson,, a former champion snowboarder who lost his sponsorships, career, and passion when one of his fans died trying to be like Gage. Gage has become part of this Glacier National Park Rescue team, and meets up with a person from his past (Ella Blair) when she shows up trying to stop her younger brother from making stupid mistakes in trying to be like Gage, too. When Ella's brother goes missing on a dangerous peak, Gage is called in to help search for him.

That was the part of the story I kept up with, and I enjoyed that part.

Perhaps if I'd started with book one or chosen a series that had lest to do with sports, I would have been more captivated. Having said that, I really enjoyed her writing style, and that's why I'd absolutely try again with this author!

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

We Made it Through the First Week

Monday I told you about our first trip to the gym to take a modified Crossfit class. (There were more stories on the podcast, if you want the full version.)

I'm happy to report we've made it through the first week and we're still standing! (Granted, we're standing a bit like the old man from Up, but we're standing!)

The whole process reminds me a little bit of my first days of the 21 Day Fix a year and a half ago. Those feelings of I'll never be able to take another step and soreness in places you didn't even know you could feel soreness are familiar to me. I know it will be okay and I'll eventually get stronger. But my goodness! The beginning is no joke.

I knew before I went in that I can't do pushups (even modified ones) correctly, and now I'm learning I can't do Burpees correctly either. And being corrected in front of a group of people is not my favorite thing. In fact, it got to me so much once this week that I cried right in the middle of the workout. Newsflash! You can't work out hard and melt down at the same time. I heard the instructor ask Ryan if I was having an asthma attack. Nope! Just a meltdown. Those happen.

My one saving grace in all of this is that it's hard for Ryan too. As fit as he is, it's not an easy workout for him either.

We take many extra naps, we hobble a bit, and there's the unmistakable scent of BioFreeze wafting through the house. But we made it through week one!

Here's the thing: I don't love it, and I probably never will. I'm not one of those people who thrives on a hard workout and buckets of sweat. I don't love sitting on a towel all the way home to keep the car seat stink free. Some people find their passion in this sort of thing, but I'm not some people.

I'll still be the girl who thrives on pounding out thousands of words every day rather than pounding out thousands of steps on the pavement. But it's a good discipline for me, and I know it's good for me even when it doesn't feel good.

Meanwhile, if you need me, you'll find me guzzling water over here:

The 4th of July! (On the 6th)

I told Ryan that I've long held the opinion that the fifth of July should actually be the day people get to stay home from work. Festivities on the 4th often start after work anyway, and everyone is so tired from staying up late to watch fireworks that they need the 5th. Alas, that pretty much only happens when the 4th falls on a Sunday. And that wasn't this year, was it?

Guess it doesn't really matter anyway, since Ryan works no matter if it's that day or the day after! I felt so bad for him and his work buddies that I baked cookies and delivered them warm from the oven.

He did get home a little early, which was nice, so we packed up the car and headed out for a dinner date! He'd had his heart set on BBQ, but we had a gift card to Red Robin and they had some promotion going for free milkshakes with a $10 purchase. So Red Robin won!

 He ended up getting the best of both worlds, because they had a burger called the BBQ Boss Hog burger, and he devoured every bite. (And asked for another one yesterday. Sadly I'd not put one in my pocket.)

I did the turkey burger on a lettuce wrap with bottomless broccoli. I live on the edge. :)

And let's not forget the free shake. We shared it. :)

We have concluded that the 4th of July and Halloween are the two best nights of the year to go to a sit-down restaurant. They're open and empty. Best service!

Next up? The opposite of that. ALL the coffee shops close early on the 4th. Last year we managed to catch Starbucks before it closed, but we missed it this year. EVERY single coffee shop was closed, and it was so sad.

In the little town where we watch fireworks, the ONLY restaurant open was McDonald's, and they were slammed. I've never seen a line that long in a McDonald's before. We waited forever for sub-par coffee, and mine was so bad I didn't even drink most of it.

We made our way over to the area where people gather for the fireworks. Got there just in time to see the airplanes fly over.

We see them every year, but this year they seemed to hang around longer and do more tricks. Fun to watch!

We read for a little bit and then talked until the sun went down.

We didn't have the best seat, so we missed a lot of the lower fireworks, but the high ones were just fine, and it was breathtaking, as always. I do love me some fireworks!!

Even though our seats weren't the best ones ever, and even though the coffee was a sad letdown, the night was fun, and we had a great time together! (AND a bonus in this summer: no rain!)

55th Monthiversary!

How in the world are we only five months away from our fifth anniversary? I'm giddy and in awe all at once!!

Ryan apologized for our 55th monthiversary being so boring, but I actually thought it was pretty perfect. Our first Sunday home in forever, a whole day together, and a nap! How could I not love that?

We started the day with church!

(Like our attempts at being patriotic?)

The afternoon was a glorious conglomeration of leftovers, naps, scrapbooking, TV shows, and beautiful, beautiful rest.

Someone thought it would be fun to catch me asleep.

We made dinner together, which was a lot of fun. We enjoy that, but we don't get to do it very often.

And we ended the day with a really lovely walk. (Still sore from the workout class, but starting to feel better!)

We'd just gotten home when Ryan's mom and Allen texted to say they were in the neighborhood and wanted to know if they could stop by and see us. That was a fun surprise! So we talked with them for a while, and fortunately I had baked cookies, so we had treats to share!

Low-key, high-rest, pretty much perfection!

The Date Inspired by the Letter "L"

First up: the promised stories from the gym (and more)! Spoiler alert: we have gone to the gym a second time, and so far we've survived. So far.

Listen here.

Last Friday night, we went on our "L" date! No, it did not include lattes or the lake. (I actually contemplated driving to the lake to enjoy looking at it, but it was pouring the night of our date, so that wouldn't have been much fun. And we were exhausted from our week/workouts, as you'll hear in the podcast, so the closer to home we stayed, the better it was for both of us.)

I decided we would enjoy dinner at Red Lobster. We have only eaten there one other time in our entire marriage, and it was right after our wedding! It's not that we don't like it, but we rarely have gift cards to Red Lobster and we're too dollar-menu focused to go there on our own dime too often. (HA!) So this date was a little bit of a splurge for us, even though it was close to home.

Part of the goal of these dates is to try something new and different that we wouldn't do every other time we go out. So I searched the menu for affordable L-inspired dishes that we'd never had before.

Okay, so this wasn't a new one for us, but we normally just get water when we go out for dinner, so ordering lemonade was fun!

I found a dish on the appetizer menu called the Lobster and Langostino Pizza. It was a thin crust pizza with lobster meat, tomatoes, and mozzarella, and it was quite tasty! Perfect size for two people to share.

We also got stuffed mushrooms, which had nothing to do with our theme, but they sounded good, and Ryan wanted one more little treat.

For dessert, we got a chocolate chip lava cookie with ice cream on top. 

Because it was so nasty out, and because we went to eat pretty early, the place was mostly empty, and we enjoyed a nice quiet date.

I joked that we should come home and apply linament to our aching joints, but we didn't. I settled in to binge watch old episodes of Long Lost Family, and Ryan went to La La Land.
 
Oh. And that was at 8 p.m. on a Friday.

We're the coolest. 

Bekah Goes to the Gym

You'll get to hear more of these stories tomorrow on the podcast, but here's a little sneak peek for you.

Ryan wanted to try out a new gym, just to switch up our workouts a bit. One of the classes he wanted to try, just to see what it was like, met at 5:30 in the morning.

I'll just allow you to pause and let that sink in for a moment.

For our trial visit to this class, you should know that I got ready for the class the night before. I'm not even close to kidding. I got fully dressed for that class, got into bed, and when the alarm went off, I rolled out of bed and crawled into the car.

(That photo, by the way, is from the night before. This is what I looked like in the morning.)

I wasn't dreading the class. I was dreading the time of day, but not the class. I was actually looking forward to trying something new. I know we both need something new and different to shake up our metabolism a little bit.

One of my biggest concerns was figuring out how to balance consuming enough coffee to be functional, but not so much coffee that I felt sick during a hard workout. Clearly I didn't find the balance on day one.

The class lasted an hour, and it was no joke. I was even allowed to do a modified version, and I still couldn't fully complete all the exercises. (I thought the list on the board was the full workout, but it was just the warmup. The workout was on a second board.)

The hardest part for me was having people in my space telling me how to do the moves correctly. I have a significant level of embarrassment about working out in front of others because I know there are some things I can't do correctly, and I don't like having someone point out that I'm doing it wrong. I usually already know that, and it just makes me feel worse about myself to be corrected, especially publicly.

(Anyone else struggle with pushups? I can't even modify them correctly.)

Ahhhh the character flaws I'll have a chance to overcome, right?

Day one at the gym resulted in two subsequent days of being unable to move normally, but I have hope it will get better. I keep reminding myself that I'm 39 now and I'd really like to look cuter at 40 than I did at 30.

Maybe the key to achieving that is to not take a photo at five in the morning when I turn 40!

The Shafferland Shuffle

Today marks 55 months of marriage in Shafferland! Yesterday, Ryan loved me very well through the well-timed delivery of a caramel macchiato when I was having a "bit" of a meltdown. I appreciate him, not just because he brings coffee (although there is that) but because he is always gracious even when I'm a mess. Love you, Ryan!!!!

* Last Sunday was our first Sunday "off" in weeks, and we enjoyed it to the hilt. Naps, movies, long walks, scrapbooking, new house numbers (that's Ryan's version of a scrapbooking project), and just all around delight wrapped up in a day.

* Monday, I had the opportunity to spend a little time with our niece, helping her learn a bit about how to run a camera, take better pictures, etc. She's working on a mini 4-H project, and her mom just wanted to know if I could give her some pointers. I was happy to help (and by help, of course, I mean create a personalized booklet and photographer-in-training badge). It was fun! And I have to say, for her age, she's not a bad little photographer. She's got a pretty good eye! That night, we went to a class at church. It was interesting! (Which, I think, means we're old.)

* Tuesday I got caught up in writing for a workshop I've been teaching, and before I knew it, the whole morning was gone and I hadn't even done my hair. WHOOPSIE!!! That night, we had to deliver some appliances we'd sold to friends and family, so we went on a delivery trip. Ryan got to ride a tricycle at one stop, which totally made his day, and then the day quickly took a nosedive when he found out the ice cream store was out of mint chocolate chip.

* So by the time he got home on Wednesday, you can better bet I'd been to the store and had a half gallon of mint chocolate chip ice cream waiting in the freezer! He was excited! We went shopping that night, because we heard Victoria's Secret had sports bras on sale (YAY!) and while we were out, we stopped at Starbucks. I tried the coffee frappuccino and learned I liked it, but apparently you have to ask for the whip. Ruined the whole thing. That's the best part of any frappe!

* Thursday night we stopped to see our Phoebe girl, because her people were gone for a few hours and she needed company. We took her to Lowe's with us, and right after I took this lovely photo of the three of us, she threw up all of her dinner. WHILE SITTING IN MY LAP! Fortunately I had a rare moment of brilliance, figured out what was up, and moved her head out of my lap. Bless her little heart! She seemed fine after that. (And she loved Lowe's.)

* Friday we went to a modified crossfit class, which I'll have to tell you more about next week. (Of course there's a story there!) And then we went on a date! The "L" date! More on this to come, but let's just say it involved lobster and lemonade! :)

* And then there was yesterday. The day neither one of us could move, thanks to the aforementioned class. It took me forever to get out of bed, and then when I finally could get moving, I figured I owed Ryan a batch of chocolate chip cookies. So I could taste them. LOL! And we got a fun new thing yesterday: a screen door for between our garage and house! We figured since it's an extended living space sometimes, we should offer our company something easier to maneuver than a baby gate!

The Saturday Six

One.

I found this gem on Pinterest this week. I haven't fully explored the site yet, but can you just even get over this vintage office? ALSO - Lori, I really think you would like this house!

Two.

 Normally I refrain from talking about the underwears on the blog, but this week, one of our friends told me about the sports bras from Victoria's Secret. Our store, at least, had a clearance sale, and it included them, so I was able to get a couple for $20 each. That's not a bad price for a sports bra in general, but these are in a league all their own. If you have trouble finding a quality one, you might check them out. Definitely extra supportive!

 Three.

One of my articles appeared on the Annesley site this week. A little peek into my wedding gift to Ryan...

Four.

 This is a short and simple post, but it's quite profound. (Take a lesson, Bekah!) Suzanne Woods Fisher, who writes Amish fiction, offers a good point about the benefits of a missing mirror.

Five.

The 4th of July is in just a couple of days, you know. (Three, to be exact.) Here's a cute little game you can make using items from your house! I know it's a game for kids, but I know a couple of adults (ahem) in this house who would find it fun! 

Six.

Source

After having a rough book review last week, I am thrilled to say my book reading experience this week was quite a joy. And I figured it would be. Jody Hedlund is the author. She never disappoints.

(I've said this before on the blog, but I don't expect you to remember every detail of my life, so I'll say it again. Jody and her husband, Jeff, were newlyweds when I met them. They were college students and came to be youth pastors at our little church. I was in the throes of teenage angst, and Jody was a blessing in my life! It is my utter delight to get to stay in contact with her all these many years later and to get to read her well-crafted novels!)

With You Always is the first book in the Orphan Train series, and my favorite thing about "first book in..." is that I'll get the chance to read more! Set in the 1850's, this book introduces us to Elise Neumann, a young lady thrust into the responsibility of caring for her two younger sisters and two even younger orphans. The five of them are destitute, living in a fledgling mission house in New York City, with no money to their name and very little hope in their still-grieving hearts. We also meet Thornton Quincy, one of New York's wealthiest young men, afforded all the finest privileges, and in suddenly in an unusual competition with his twin brother for control of the family enterprise.

Elise and Thornton have nothing in common, no reason to cross paths, and yet those paths cross and cross again! When Elise ends up finding work in Thornton's newly constructed Midwestern town, she finds herself in an unlikely friendship, and Thornton finds an unlikely well of wisdom!

So that's the story element of this book (minus all the spoilers, of course), but I will add that I was captivated the entire way through. Jody has a really wonderful ability to write well-rounded characters that her readers connect with fully. (They may not always like them fully, but they connect with them!) And the story itself in this book is (as always) well-woven.

But I'd like to point out that one of things Jody does exceptionally well is pay attention to historical detail. I interviewed a contemporary fiction author last week who said she loves to read historical novels, but she doesn't want to write them, because there's too much pressure to accurately research all the details of the time period. I totally agree with that author. A daunting task, for sure. But my goodness, Jody does it so well. She's written in all kinds of time periods, and I've come to trust that she's done her research and it's accurate.

I grew up reading historical novels, and I learned more about history from those novels than from any textbook in school. I believe books like this one are a great resource for learning history. She subtly weaves in real-life details without pushing the teaching in your face. I love that in historical novels, and Jody does this exceptionally well.

I'm excited to read the next book, but I'm guessing I'll have to wait a while. Sigh. :) Jody, I'm so proud of you for another book well-written. I loved it!

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