And Just a Little Bit More...

Can you handle just a few more pictures from our time away with my parents?

I forgot to show you what we got them! We all went together to get them some gift cards to their favorite restaurants. :)

(Dad was allowed to have them too, but alas, he was on the other side of the table.)

Found a new hair pretty!

And a lighthouse!

Found a pretzel place!

We had another family dinner, and this time it was at the Blue Gate. We ate from the buffet there, and my seat was directly across from the soft serve machine. My. Happy. Place.

Mom and Dad got a free dessert...and an extra person in their picture.

And the highest meringue I've ever seen in my life...

Who thinks swimsuits after buffets are a good idea?

And one more picture of the lovebirds....HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

More Family Fun!

If I can say one thing for this trip...we ate well. :)

It started with our dinner last Thursday evening, when the whole crowd came together at the Essenhaus in Middlebury. If you've never been there, then my advice is to imagine the biggest restaurant you've ever seen and multiply that by...a lot.

We ate from the buffet that night, and you may remember (if you heard the podcast) that Ryan really got his money's worth.

If you heard the podcast, you may also remember that I had an awkward photo with my mom and one of my sisters...where it looks like I'm just squishing in between two random people. Here are the pictures from that photo opp...

Anyway! The buffet was really good! Here are the lovebirds:

After dinner, we did a little browsing around the nearby shops, but it was so late that they weren't open too long.

And check out this SUNSET!!!!

Me, when everyone else was watching Dr. Pimple Popper:

We did a little shopping, and Ryan thought he would test out the slides...

And we tried a little swing/hammock thing:

I think I'll save the rest for tomorrow. I don't want this post to be too buffet-heavy! :)

Lovin' the Lake

We're reminiscing on some of our favorite moments from our weekend family trip...enjoy!

Listen here

And now on to some photo sharing from our weekend. For those of you who may not have seen, last week was my parents' 65th wedding anniversary. What they wanted most for their anniversary was to have the family all together, which is something that pretty much never happens, given our geographical distance. My niece wasn't able to come, but all the kids were there.

We started the trip with a boat ride. One of my sisters has a pontoon and she and her husband towed it up to Lake Wawasee, and they gave us a cruise around the lake.

(That lake, though not the one we usually go to, is very dear to me. Years and years ago, in my early blogging days, I went to a couple of women's retreats at the resort on that lake. God and I had some really pivotal moments on the pier outside the resort, and it was good to be back in that same spot so many years later.)

 (When Ryan got ski goggles earlier this year, I sent a picture to my family of him trying them on in our kitchen. My sister joked that he must have gotten them for the lake, so I made sure we packed them and used them during the cruise!)

 Here we are! :)

If you heard the podcast, you know that this was the first time Ryan had ever seen me IN the lake.

(I loved the swimming hole at this lake. There was a sand bar, so you could touch the bottom way out in the middle of the lake. The swimming hole at the lake we normally go to requires more skill. Ha!)

It was the perfect day for being on the lake. It was sunny and warm, but not unbearably hot. There was a good breeze, and the water was actually really pleasant!

My Little House On The Prairie

You. Guys.

I have to tell you about this house. I just do. I know I just got back from a family trip, and I should be telling you all about that - and I will! - but I teased you with this house on the Saturday Six, and I just have to tell you about it.

As you know, I'm a perpetual dreamer, which probably gets me in more trouble than actually serving me in productive ways, but I figure now and then a dream is bound to come true, so dream the things!

As you also know, one of my dreams that may or may not ever come to pass is traveling the country in an RV. I have researched hundreds (possibly thousands) of RV styles, layouts, options, and even actual travel routes. I've also dreamed of downsizing and living tiny.

But Ryan and I have begun to notice that living tiny in square footage land doesn't always mean living tiny in bank account land. Some tiny homes cost more than the house we live in. The full size house. Sure, all the cute little amenities are fascinating, but we can't justify selling a perfectly good, full-size house, to squeeze into something 1/10th the size for the same price. That just doesn't make any sense.

But this weekend, whilst we were on the family trip to celebrate my parents' 65th anniversary, I stumbled upon the most adorable little cabin that IS little, but it's not tiny. It's kind of like the just-right porridge for Miss Goldilocks. (The price tag was much more palatable than some of the palatial tiny homes.)

One of the stores in Shipshewana, where we spent the weekend, has a back lot filled with model cabins of all shapes and sizes. We went in them all and narrowed down our choices to two, and this one won.

First of all...the outside. Isn't it just cute as a little button?

I think Ryan fell in love with the metal roof as I was falling in love with that darling porch. (We saw a similar cabin there that had half the porch screened in! That was also intriguing to me.)

This one had an upstairs, which made it feel a little bit bigger on the inside, and in the end, that probably won our vote over the other one we really liked. :)

This is the living room, which isn't really our style in terms of décor, but if you take out all the furniture and wall hangings, I love every little bit of it. (Not a single bit of judgment for any of you who love lodge furnishings and bears...it's just not our favorite.)

I sat in this room for a long time - and may  have gone back the next day to sit in it again. It was super cozy and felt just like home.

This is the front door from the living room couch - and it shows the dining area into the little kitchen.

That table/island was also cute as a button! Ryan and I sat across from each other there on our second visit, and if we'd only had some coffee along for the ride, it would have been perfect

The kitchen wasn't our style cabinet-wise (again with the lodge look) but we did love the size of it. Big enough to store things, but not too huge. (Also...maybe not those exact appliances?)

The light coming through the doorway to the right of that picture was a blank room in this cabin, but it was marked on the info sheet as being a utility room for laundry/storage/etc. I thought it was a pretty decent size, actually, for a house of this size.

To the right of the utility room was the only bathroom in the house. I'd rather have a cabinet sink than a pedestal one, and somehow I'd have to add a bit more storage in there, but again, I thought the size of the bathroom was amazing for a smaller house! (The bathroom had a barn door, but somehow that doesn't show in any of the pictures. Sadness.)

And to the right of the bathroom was some great storage under the stairway. (Three cheers for an actual stairway and not ladders!)

And speaking of the staircase...can you not just see this wrapped in Christmas garland? (Only seasonally, of course...from October to February.)

By the way, that little door under this side of the stairs goes through to the storage area under the tall side. I do love a maximized space.

Upstairs was loft-like in that there were no walls and doors, so it was open-air to the downstairs, but it did have two distinct sides with a catwalk between. The cabin information indicated that the standard floor plan of this model is actually floor planks shorter than this one, but they raised the height (and the cost) to make it taller and easier to walk through. I'd say that was well worth the investment.

This is the catwalk and the side of the upstairs over the living room. I think it's pretty spacious!

And this is the side over the kitchen and utility area. (I didn't really notify anyone that a photo opp was in progress. However, the presence of people in this picture shows you how much headroom the loft had. My brother-in-law in the background there is pretty tall.)

Some views from above...

This was from the catwalk. I don't know that the skull over the door is our style either, but I mean I suppose it could be an accessory. :) But let's do talk about that screen door...

From the other side of the catwalk, looking down over the stairs:

I just loved every inch of this little place. The perfect size and layout, I thought! My very own little house on the prairie.

I'm sure cabins aren't everyone's style, so maybe you don't love it, or maybe even something this small/big isn't the right size for you. But I adored it. And I may never stop adoring it.

The Shafferland Shuffle

We arrived back home late last night...right about the time the big Colts news hit the airwaves. That was unexpected! My mind is racing with all the fullness of this week (not related to the Colts) so I'll give you a quick recap now while I think about it all!

*I've already written about last Sunday in all of its mind/heart tug-of-war difficulty. It was a day filled with a lot of tears, a lot of prayer, and a lot of gratitude for blessings like Ryan's lattes and beautiful rainbows after big literal storms. It gives hope for the blessings of promise after heart-storms, right?

* I spent many hours in the salon chair on Monday. Color. More color. Still more color. So much foil. Cutting. And then I felt much better! (And I felt really bad for my hair stylists. She must take naps before I come in. It's such a marathon.) I met up with a church friend to try out the new healthy shake place in town. I got the Snickers shake - and it was delicious. I had a meeting at church, and Ryan sent pictures of our patio, which received a sealing coat that day!

* Tuesday was a stormy day again here at our house, and I won't lie: for a while in the afternoon, it started to feel eerily similar to the day 3 years ago this week when we had a tornado! Ryan took me to Wendy's for dinner (YAY!!!) and then he worked on power washing our deck. We spent all that time staining it throughout the summer, and then it took a hit with all the concrete work. We aren't sure if it will ever look quite as vibrant, but it did look better!

* I did a long workout Wednesday night and then came home to make dinner, which included our first corn on the cob this season! We were prepping to head out for a long weekend, so I also scurried to redo all the manicures and pedicures before we left home!

* My parents wanted to have a family vacation to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary, so we put it on the books all the way back in January, and this was the weekend! Both my sisters came from their homes (in near and far distant lands) and we all headed up to northern Indiana for an anniversary celebration. Thursday's activities included a boat ride on a lake, dinner out together with everyone, and a BEAUTIFUL sunset.

* Friday was our only full today together, and we packed a lot into it! We went shopping and I found the cutest little house that I mentioned yesterday. Lots of talking and catching up, and then Friday evening we did family pictures! (Trying to coordinate that with the sun going behind the clouds was an adventure!) and then we had dinner together again. It was a really good day.

* The family party broke up yesterday, with everyone heading back home after spending more time together (lots of eating involved in that too)! On our way home, we were able to have dinner with  some good friends of ours that we never get to see, because we live so far apart. That was good for the soul. :) We got home late and...here we are!

The Saturday Six

One.

I confess I haven't really checked out the Dollar Tree's stash of pumpkins this year, but this hack from last year could make for some adorable made-over pumpkins for home!

Two.

When we moved three years ago, I loved the way we organized the entire thing - until the actual move itself. As you may remember, it ended up happening about a month before we planned for it to, and although we were extremely excited to be settled sooner rather than later, it made it impossible to have an official, single moving day like we had planned. Instead, we moved in four or five smaller increments. But up to that point, the organization went well, and if we ever move again, I would do it the same way. This week I found this post by a blogger who has moved multiple time and shared some of her best tips. If you have a move in your future, check it out!

Three.

This is a unique birthday tradition! Sounds great to me at 41. Not sure it will still sound as appealing when I hit the upper numbers!

Four.

This week I tried out a healthy shake/smoothie place, and I have to say I was super impressed with the owners. The place is new, the owners were present, they met me at the door, shook my hand, welcomed me, answered all my questions, told me how the process worked, and I really enjoyed my shake. It was delicious. But I won't lie: the price tag was high. It's the sort of place that will have to be a rare treat for me, because I can't afford to pay that much for a drink on a regular basis. (Double it if I go on a date with Ryan!) So if you're in that boat with me, or if you don't have a place like that where you live, and you wish you could enjoy healthy protein shakes, I will tell you that all the shake recipes on Dashing Dish are free. (Some of her recipes are for paying members only, but all the shake recipes are free.) And they are every bit as good. This I know: I've made most of them.

Five.

Once again, I bring you a list of recipes I haven't personally tried, but I know many of you may be overrun with zucchini right now, whether from your own garden or the offerings of good friends who share! If so, this post has a list of all kinds of zucchini ideas, from savory to sweet!

Six.

I'll have to tell you more about this next week, but I found the most adorable little house (if we only had a prairie). A teaser until then...

Matrimonial Mishaps

Last night we caught a show on TLC called Brides, Grooms, and Emergency Rooms. Oh my. If you can imagine it...it happened on that show!

Watching that made me incredibly grateful we had a relatively drama-free wedding day. Believe me: I had fears. An outdoor wedding in a place where you don't have a clue of a backup location? What if it rains? People traveling from hundreds of miles away to be part of the day? What if flights are delayed or traffic jams pop up? Recorded music? What if it fails? Carting the entire wedding from 1100 miles away? What if I left something key (like the ring) on the dining room table?

We were grateful that no bad weather fell on us - not only on the wedding day itself, but for the entire week of a honeymoon that we stayed there in Florida.

And I'm pretty sure the only significant travel delays happened to us. You remember the three hour traffic jam when we were just ten minutes from our destination, right?

That recorded music? It absolutely failed, but it turns out you can get married without your scheduled music.

And I don't recall that we forgot a single important thing we needed for the wedding itself, so that worked out!

But I gotta know - did you have a disaster at your wedding? Or at a wedding you were part of?

I think other than my zipper breaking for one wedding where I was a bridesmaid, and elbow length gloves cutting off my arm circulation for another wedding where I was a bridesmaid, most of my weddings were mostly drama-free. There was the wedding I coordinated where I fell through a hole in the floor at the end, while blowing out candles, but the church had mostly emptied out, so that wasn't so awful. (And I suffered no broken bones, so that was an extra plus.)

Hopefully your wedding disasters didn't result in the need for an emergency rooms, but if you have any good stories, hit me with them! I love a good story!