The Saturday Six

One.

In this season of vacations, I wrote about some of my vacation memories! Annesley published my piece this week, so I'm sharing it here with you!

Two.

Who doesn't love a good before-and-after? Check out this classroom renovation done almost entirely with leftover paint from a decorator's personal stash! (Also: personally loving the additional way to serve on a mission trip: decorating!!)

Three.

Maybe you've seen this one circulating the social media world, but if not, it's pretty stinking fantastic. If I would have thought of this, I absolutely would have done this to hand in my notice!

Four.

I don't know that I've ever before seen a post on how to decorate and style a nightstand so that it's not only functional, but pretty! But this week I read one!

Five.

A couple of my friends shared this video, and I thought it was worth passing on to you! It's a valedictorian speech from a young man who has WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY more poise at 18 than I may still have on this very day. Not only did he present well, but his message is important. It's about an 8 minute video, but I think you'll find it worth your time.

Six.

I found this list rather interesting. 50 books kids should read before they're twelve years old. I had read some of them before twelve. I've read some of them since turning twelve. Most I've never read - and some of them I don't ever plan to read. I'm not sure I'd love all these recommendations for my own kids if I had them, but I found the compilation interesting, anyway. How many have you read from this list? (I'm a little sketchy on some that I may have read as a very small child and don't remember, but as far as I can tell, I've only read twelve of them. Whoopsie!)

That Might Have Been a Nearly Perfect Fourth!

It didn't start out that way. Perfect, I mean. I woke up a bit on the grumpy side, which really doesn't happen very often anymore. But I did. And then someone was mowing at 7:30 in the morning - on a holiday! - and then I had to do my run outside rather than inside, and it was hot out there. But the day improved once Ryan got home from work!

A quick pause to back up...some of you saw this on Facebook, but for those of you who didn't...I did a little Pinteresty baking project for Ryan's work carry-in, which was Wednesday. It fits in with the 4th, so I thought you might like to see it!

Back to yesterday...

...Ryan got off work early and we were able to rest during the afternoon. I took a nap, even, and I was somewhere in the middle of a Caribbean cruise when my phone buzzed with a text and woke me up. WHEW!!! (Ryan took a picture of me sleeping, but I'll spare you.)

We headed out for dinner at Red Robin. Ryan tried a new fajita burger (which he said was good, but he wasn't sure he'd get it again) and I got a burger in a lettuce wrap with bottomless salad.

Then we headed to the lake to scope out our spot and watch the fireworks. After seven years, we think we've finally found the right parking place, watching place, and exit path. WHEW!

It was hot when we arrived, and our watching spot had zero shade. Ryan thought we should get some ice cream to help us stay cool. Twist my arm!!

We had to wait in our spot about three hours before the fireworks actually started, so we spent our time people watching (OHHHHHHHHHHH what an event that was!) and playing some patriotic mad libs and scavenger hunt games.

It eventually started to cool down as the sun began to set...

Once the show started, it went almost a full half hour, and it was (in our opinion) their best show yet! I took a few pictures, but not a ton. I wanted to enjoy seeing them from our perfect perch, and I knew I didn't need 400 fireworks pictures. Just a handful.

It turned out to be nearly the most perfect weather night. After the sun went down, the temperature was absolutely perfect. There was just enough of a breeze that the bugs mostly stayed away. No rain. Oh yes. Perfect.

Happy seventh Fourth from us! :)

Celebrating the 4th!

It's a holiday here in America, which is (I think) where most of you hanging out here read from. (Worst grammatical construction of a sentence, but you get the point.)

I'm guessing some of you really love the 4th of July and others of you are indifferent, so your celebrations probably vary pretty widely. I happen to love it, though I rarely fully celebrate it the same way twice.

Just for fun, I took look back in old blog posts to see how I celebrated in my pre-Ryan days. Because fireworks happen to be one of my favorite parts of the 4th, the single years made this holiday difficult for me. Most of my friends didn't go to fireworks because they all had little kids who either needed to go to bed or were scared of the noise...and my friends who did go see them tended to go with family. Second to Valentine's Day, I think I was more aware of my single status on the 4th than any other day of the year.

* 2007 was one of those years when I didn't have a date, so I didn't go see any fireworks, but I did get to hear them long into the night, because I lived in that neighborhood. (To be clear, I don't mind fireworks long into the night on the 4th at all, but at that time, gunshots were also a distinct possibility where I lived, so it was a little unnerving to hear them and not know what I was hearing.) So I stayed up and read part of a novel!

* In 2008, my parents came over to help me with some projects around the house that I did not possess the skill to do on my own. Dad cleaned the gutters and helped me shop for a new mower, and apparently Mom and I washed windows. Chore day sounds like a TERRIBLE way to spend a holiday, in my opinion. For all of us. Sorry, Mom and Dad!! 2019 Bekah feels bad for your 2008.

* Look like I actually had some fun in 2009! My friend Faith invited me to tag along with her and her two little kiddos to a parade! I helped her keep an eye on them (so they didn't run into oncoming parade traffic) and picked up a handful of candy here and there. I do love a good parade. That is still true.

* I don't even have to look UP the post for 2010 to know it was not the best 4th in the history of 4ths. That was the year I was mid-breakup from Isaac, and I spent that day deeply mourning the loss of our relationship. That day was almost a faith-breaker for me, but I'm so thankful to stand on the other side of it now and praise the Lord for hanging tightly onto me and strengthening my faith on a very dark day.

* So much can happen in one year, and the span between July 4th, 2010 and July 4th, 2011 proves that. Because after the devastation of 2010, I spent the following 4th of July in Fort Wayne with my friend Jamie, who invited me to go watch fireworks with her and her roommate. I spent the night at their house and the next morning, I drove to my brand spankin' new job at WBCL. Oh yes. that was a good year.

* 2012 was my last single 4th of July, and I didn't even know it. Apparently it was ridiculously hot, so I stayed home and watched Olympic trials on TV...but I did look patriotic!

* I remember being SO EXCITED for my first 4th of July as a married woman - which happened in 2013! I went all out. Ryan worked that morning, and I stayed home cooking tons of food for picnic-for-two. Pasta salad, cheeseburger kabobs, patriotic no-bake cheesecakes, and we ate outside and took a two hour nap in the hammock. And then we went to Red Robin for dinner and watched fireworks over a lake, which we declared the best ever thing in the world. And I had the frizziest hair that year. My goodness.

* In 2014, Ryan's work day went too long to have lunch and dinner together, but at the end of the day, we got BBQ and ate it in the park and then went back to see the fireworks over the lake. And I apparently tamed my hair but wore the same shirt.

* In 2015, the 4th of July fell right after I quit my job at the station, so it was a true holiday for me...and Ryan worked. We went to a different BBQ place that night...and I still remember it! It was delicious! Back to the lake we went to enjoy the fireworks...and some light reading while we waited. Yes! Even Ryan! And I got a new shirt.

* In 2016, we had just moved into our new house and were in the middle of all kinds of projects, so the 4th was sort of a welcomed break! I made patriotic yogurt parfaits for breakfast before he went to work, and that night we headed back to Red Robin, which we decided is the most perfect place to go because it was practically empty! And then back to our little perch for fireworks we went! And I finally wore blue.

* In 2017, I felt so bad for Ryan and his work buddies - about working - that I baked chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with red, white, and blue candy in it and delivered them warm from the oven! After he got off work, we went (I bet you won't believe this!) to Red Robin and to fireworks over the lake! I also got a different shirt. And became a blonde.

* And then there was last year. 2018. The year the 4th fell apart on us. Ryan's work day was longer than a regular work day, and we were so exhausted, we decided to just stay in town. We had dinner at Chili's, and it was not the low-key, quiet experience that Red Robin always is for us. We went to fireworks in the town where we grew up, and it wasn't a great experience either. It turned out to be a holiday for the scrapbooks, full of good stories, but here's hoping this year is a back to normal! (Dare I even say that?)

I'm looking forward to celebrating our SEVENTH 4th of July together! And regardless of how you like to celebrate, I hope you enjoy the day, too!

79 Months!

The day may not have looked like we originally planned, but yesterday was a good day of celebration of 79 months of marriage!

I had been feeling a little guilty (totally self-imposed) about being summer-lazy with my appearance lately. Lots of beach-wavy hair days, workout shorts, tank tops, and no makeup. Ryan absolutely doesn't care, but I know I should care more about what I look like for him than for anyone else, so today I did the whole hair/makeup/real clothes routine. 

We did our official monthiversary photo:

Ryan remembered that there's a carry-in at his work today, so I spent the afternoon baking cookies!

We both worked out, and right about the time I was ready to fix dinner, I discovered I didn't have one of the main ingredients I needed. (This is possibly due to our inability to get to the grocery store over the weekend.) So we did an emergency dinner of hamburger patties on the indoor grill and tater tots in the air fryer. 

We had originally set aside the entire evening to spend together, but alas, a training meeting came up that we needed to attend, so we went to that instead!

BUT!!

Ryan took me to the custard stand after the meeting was over:

Salty caramel sundae for me:

A cream slush for Ryan:

And it actually wasn't crazy buggy out, so we were able to sit at the tables and eat!

When we came home, I frosted the cookies:

And then we tried to watch America's Got Talent, but it was a best-of show. Womp womp.

But we were home together, and that was fun! Grateful for these 79 months and this life! 

Life is Hard, but God is Good

We may not have been long on stories this week, but we feel the ones we do have packed a pretty funny punch. Enjoy podcast Tuesday!

Listen here

Back in my college days, I was a bit of a music groupie. One of my roommates was in Chorale, and I would go listen to them sing anytime they did a concert within a decent distance. There were also smaller music groups that traveled for the school, and I often tried to catch their concerts too. (Nerd!) 

One of the groups sang a song called Life is Hard, But God is Good. It was a hit back in the 90s, and if you check out this music video, you'll also get to appreciate the aura of the 90s! The girl in the group who carried the solo on this song went on to marry one of the guys in the group and they have four kids now. Several years ago, their oldest was involved in an accident with a lawn mower and had his leg amputated. As I read the (horrific) story of the events of that night, the first thing that came to mind was that song. Life is Hard, but God is Good. It didn't feel ironic to me that this boy's mom and dad memorized those words and sang them over and over again as they traveled in ministry.

When I emailed them to let them know I was praying, I mentioned the song, and they thanked me for reminding them of it. The lyrics were important in that season, and they needed the reminder.

The song popped into my mind again this week as Ryan and I talked about our year so far. He said, "This has been, by far, our hardest year." I told him that I distinctly remember when I made the recap scrapbook of our first five years of marriage, that year two was the hardest. The double commuting, the exhaustion, difficult relationships (not ours...but with others) - all of it made that year the hardest one. And now in the second five years, it's year seven that is hard. Must be an every-five-years-thing, right?

Losing Ryan's mom was hard, yes, but it's been all the unpredictability, the on-the-go, and the general chaos that has made this year perpetually tough. Every time we make plans, they change. Something of an emergency comes up, and we have to be flexible. 

Today marks our 79th monthiversary, and so far, I think every monthiversary this year (except one) has been chaotic in the same way that today is chaotic. 

But I find that a beautiful picture of this story we share.

This has been the hardest year, but even in the chaos, we get to live it together, and that is a gift. Every monthiversary has been interrupted - much like this entire year has been. Yet even in the interruptions, we are adamant about finding something to represent a celebration of our life together. It may be a cup of coffee on the run, but we make sure it happens. 

It's a lesson I didn't learn well back in my single days. Hard days made me pine for marriage and declare that everything would be so much better and so much easier if I just had someone by my side. And while I have found that to be accurate now that it's my reality, I will say that if I had looked a little deeper, I think I could have found something to be thankful for in those pre-marriage hard days. The Lord was good to surround me with supportive friends, family, co-workers, and other blessings that reminded me of His goodness when life was hard. I didn't always open my eyes to see it, but He still did it! 

I'm thankful for these 79 months. I'm thankful that even in this hard year, we've had a lot of joy. A lot of laughter. A lot of memories to cling to. Life is hard - but God is good. And that's true no matter your marital status! 

Sounds of Freedom

Happy July!!!!

How is it already July?? How do summers fly so fast, when I'm (a) not a teacher and (b) not a mom, and therefore summers should be like every other day for me? Baffling.

We are hopeful for a bit of a change of pace around our home here during the moth of July. I say that with heavy respect to the understanding that God tends to giggle at our plans on a regular basis, so perhaps this month will be every bit as exhausting as the last few, but here's hoping it will include a measure of rest and normalcy!

Meanwhile, I wanted to show you some pictures from our weekend!

Over the past several years, our church has done a huge musical production for the 4th of July, and they also do one at Christmas. These are big events! The choir sings and several soloists have parts; they bring in brass and woodwinds and even a drumline from a local high school. Sometimes they have other people contributing in other ways as well, and sometimes it focuses in tightly on the music.

Last summer, Ryan sang with the choir and I was a narrator, along with some other people. This year, he was unable to be part of the choir because he was busy helping his dad with his house and couldn't get to all the practices. (The choir practices for about two months - multiple times a week - for these productions.) But the choir director, who does a fantastic job putting these together, asked us if we could help by serving as narrators together this year. We were thrilled to be asked to participate at all - and then to get to work together was icing on the cake.

So here are some of the pictures we took this weekend!

This was right before we went onstage the first night. (Lighting backstage has never been accused of being well-done, has it?)

This is our friend, Joyce, who is part of our small group and one of our big encouragers:

I had grand plans of getting pictures with so many more people from within the choir, but it didn't happen in reality like it did in my head.

That flag backdrop was stunning!

(That's actually Joyce singing a solo there!) One of the women from our church, Karen, did a patriotic painting during some of the music, and then they gave away the paintings at the end of each night.

Each night, the choir sang the branches of the military song, and then we invited all veterans and active duty members to come on the stage for recognition. Powerful and moving to see so many men and women come forward each night!

Mom has come to these productions for years - over a decade, I think! I used to come with her, before I was married, and I remember sitting in the audience and even remember some specific people from the choir! Never dreamed I'd be IN any of the programs one day! Mom still comes to all of them - and she brought my aunt and cousin this time!

Pastor Liz has one of those personalities that is just perfect for what she does. She's organized and careful about making sure everything goes well, but she's also great about stepping back and trusting that the Lord will do His thing. She doesn't get in His way. She met with the choir each night before the program and encouraged them with Scripture. I love hearing her teach! She's not a preaching pastor at our church, but she is definitely in tune with the Lord and I have learned so much from her!

Night number two! Backstage again - and dear Ryan was trying to make my head look smaller than his in the picture.

One of our friends happened to come to see the program that night, and she was kind enough to take a few pictures of us during our narration time!

The last night! We got a picture with Craig, who, in a fun random Shafferland fact, was our DARE officer when we were fifth graders. (Did you all have DARE in your school systems? If not, it was a drug prevention course taught by police officers, and he was ours!)

Our view from backstage. Oh my...these people sang so well all weekend. I could listen to them for hours on end.

Some of our small group friends were in the audience last night and captured this:

We couldn't go out and watch this from the back, because it was too close to one of our narrations, but they did have TV screens backstage that showed the view from the sanctuary, so I was able to see the drumline and color guard:

And on the last night, Ryan's grandma (and Bob...but he escaped the picture) and dad and step-mom also came to see it!

So that was our weekend! We were grateful to be part of it!