Ski Slopes 2020

Well, it's that time of year again! Ski trip time for Ryan! Back in 2018, Ryan and his friend Shawn set aside a Saturday and headed to Perfect North slopes in southern Indiana. They had so much fun that they went again last year, even in the middle of all the chaos of our lives. So naturally, they made plans for a third trip this year!

Each time they've gone, I've tagged along to watch their luggage while they're on the slopes and spend time with them on their breaks. And this year was no exception! We got up super early and hopped in the car to head to Lawrenceburg. I think we were on the road by 6:15, and that's in the morning. I slept most of the way there, and in true Shaffer fashion, Ryan took a most unflattering photo of me. It'll make it into the scrapbook, but I'll spare myself the humiliation on the blog. :)

Before they ski, we always go to Dunkin' Donuts in Lawrenceburg and have a little treat!

(Can you tell who wasn't awake yet? Well, we all look pretty rough, really.)

Off to the slopes! The guys were kind enough to carry in the snack bag, all cute as a button with its pineapple theme. I was kind enough to document that.

The last two years, I've been surrounded by massive groups, and the first year I got ridiculously sick after our trip. Last year I was an oiling, sanitizing fool, and I stayed well. I was determined to try to repeat that this year. We actually found a different room where I could be a little bit more protected from crowds, and it really helped!

I went armed with books, notebooks, laptops, and plenty of projects to occupy me. (And plenty of projects that did not require the internet, since for most of the day it's inaccessible.) While they rented their skis and helmets, I set up camp.

Ready to go! (Both versions.)

Unfortunately, from my new perch, I really didn't get to see them ski much. I was directly in front of Center Stage, which is the biggest slope. They didn't end up trying it that day because weather conditions weren't great and people were getting injured left and right on that one. (It was kind of warm on Saturday, so they were unable to manufacture new snow, and Ryan said what was on the ground was pretty slushy. I watched six people leave the slopes via medics on sleds, so I was okay with the two of them skipping that one.) I did get to see them in line for the lifts a few times, and on the lifts, but otherwise, I had to rely on Ryan to document their adventures.

Saw these guys more than I wanted to:

This was the photo of the day:

See the kid at the very bottom of the picture? The one walking? If you zoom in, you'll see his skis and poles near the top. I don't know what happened, but he called it a day and walked home.

Ryan and Shawn came in periodically to give me bathroom and snack breaks, and we all ate lunch together, too!

And even though it was overcast most of the day, we had a couple quick glimpses of the sun:

At 6:23 p.m. I finally reached my saturation point with the groups around me. (Things had started to get a little rough in the language department...the groups, not me.) And exactly five minutes later, the guys came in so we could head home. Perfect timing.

The guys had such a fun day, and I have to say that I love watching their friendship. They're both super busy and only see one another a handful of times each year. But you'd never know it. They pick right up where they left off, tell stories, share things, and have a great time together. (And they don't make me feel like a third wheel, which I totally appreciate.)

They're already planning next year's trip. I'd say Ski Day 2020 was a success!

The Copycat Date

Our at-home date series continued last week with another unique little evening. :)

Of course you know that we have a million and four places on our bucket list that we hope to visit someday. On that list is New York City - but it's probably going to be a while before we get there. So...while we wait, we had a literal taste of the city.

I'm not huge into making copycat recipes from restaurants, but I have heard that New York City has some real gems when it comes to over-the-top desserts. I found this list of the 54 Best Desserts in the city, and though I will be quick to say some of these would not be on my own best-of list, it did serve as a guide for me in figuring out what I was going to attempt to replicate!

Initially I thought about trying the Frozen Hot Chocolate from Serendipity (on my own actual foodie bucket list) or the crazy, huge, how-do-they-even-get-them-to-stay-assembled milkshakes at Black Tap, but in the end, I decided to stick to something a bit more achievable. Or at least that was my goal.

I found (from the aforementioned list) something called a Toasted Coconut Sundae from Uncle Boon's, and it intrigued me. Ryan and I both love coconut, and you don't often see recipes that feature it!

I'd never heard of Uncle Boon's, so I looked it up and discovered it's a Thai restaurant. While we don't dislike Thai food, it probably wouldn't be our first pick if we were visiting NYC for a few days. I looked over the main dish menu and didn't find much on it that appealed to our taste buds, but I still couldn't get past that delicious looking sundae!

I found a copycat recipe here and set out to gather and assemble all my ingredients!

First order of business? Find some coconut ice cream. I hunted around for a while and finally found a pint of it in the out-of-our-price-range section of the grocery store. It was about twice as much as we normally pay for a half gallon of ice cream, but for a special occasion, it worked!

(It was tasty, too!)

I toasted my own coconut according to the copycat recipe instructions, and we had plenty leftover to doctor up some additional regular sundaes after our special date sundaes were consumed. The house also smelled most heavenly while I toasted!

The candied peanuts were almost my ruin. I tried to make them according to the directions in the copycat recipe, and I ended up with a skillet full of dried, smoldering sugar, so I dumped that out and found this recipe for candied peanuts. I intended to only make half the recipe, but I accidentally dumped in the full amount of water, so I had to do the whole recipe. Though not healthy in ANY way, these do make a delicious snack or additional ice cream topping, so Ryan will be enjoying the leftovers for a while.

I got the coconut and peanuts ready the day before the date, and then on dessert night, I whipped up (ha! see what I did there?) the homemade whipped cream with brown sugar. I followed the directions in the copycat recipe. It was so good!! (Also made plenty of extra to be used in other things.)

The only thing I couldn't find at our series of stores was the garnish cookie. (And then a week later I found something at Aldi that would have worked!)

I didn't cram as many peanuts and toasted coconut on my sundae as the picture I saw on the restaurant website, but it was plenty rich and filling the way it was!

We had no complaints!

If you're not a big fan of coconut - or dessert - you could always copycat something else from a restaurant you love or dream of one day visiting! We had so much fun with this, and it made a perfect little at-home date.

86 Months and a Very Full Day

Yesterday was a full day - and a day of much celebration!

First, of course, it was palindrome day: 02022020. Forward and backward, it could be written the same. I am pretty sure I don't have to tell you how much I loved that.

It was also Groundhog Day, and I only participate in that when it brings good news. Of course I know it means nothing because spring is incapable of arriving early in Indiana. I'm convinced about that. But we'll take the promise of hope! (Shadow or no shadow - I was just excited we got to break out our sunglasses!)

It was also election Sunday at our church; they have elections every year to fill the church board and missions committee and some other leadership positions. This year there was an extremely handsome man on the ballot for church board!

Ryan was approached a few weeks ago about being a board candidate, and he agreed to having his name added to the ballot. We are still relatively new (in the grand scheme) to the church, and he's still young (in the grand scheme), so we had no idea what to expect. Yesterday afternoon he got the news that he had been elected to the board! It's a huge responsibility that he takes seriously, and I know he will do a great job in this role! I'm so proud of him!

It was also communion Sunday, and we helped serve.

It was also the first day in a new sermon series, and our pastor offered another powerful message to us. At the end, I loved his prayer for couples and for those who may be praying for a spouse or grieving the loss of one.

It also ended up being the day my three scrapbooks arrived. I wasn't expecting them until later in the week, but I checked the tracking and discovered THEY WERE ON OUR PORCH!!

I just sat and held them for the longest time. Ryan found that very amusing. And photo-worthy.

But in addition to all those wonderful things, it was also our 86th monthiversary!! I loved it that our monthiversary fell on a Sunday this time so we could be together all day. I loved it that we had a chance to serve together at church. I loved it that we had a chance to take a nap! (Oh how I love naps!) I loved it that we had a chance to rest and enjoy mental and physical down time. (Pretty sure we both needed that.)

How is it possible to simultaneously feel that it's impossible for 86 months to have passed since our wedding day (because it was just yesterday!!) and yet feel like we have always been us? I love who we have become together over these last 86 months, and I love dreaming about who we can become in the next 86 and beyond.

There was also a big old football game, and Ryan had been looking forward to making a special game-day dinner for us. Wings and tots! (Ryan even made honey bbq wings for me and buffalo for himself - and both were stellar!) We weren't overly emotionally invested in this game, but I was 100% rooting for the Chiefs. I am not a fan of Richard Sherman's temper, so I couldn't be a San Francisco fan.

I got nervous at the end and couldn't watch for a little minute! Fortunately it all worked out!

So that's how 86 months came to be a very full and wonderful day! I am grateful!

The Shafferland Shuffle

Happy Sunday, happy game day, and happy EIGHTY-SIX MONTHS to Ryan! It was so nice of a major food event day to fall on this auspicious commemorative occasion of love! :) Meanwhile, wanna see what we've been up to this week?

* Had a great service at church last Sunday, and in our Sunday School class, we had the annual showdown between the men and the women for a Bible trivia contest. The ladies lost, but not by much! Ryan and I enjoyed a day of rest and he even grilled our dinner for us while I proofed the last of the scrapbooks so I could order on the big sale. He's a kind and giving husband, and I appreciate him!

* I took new flowers to my desk at work on Monday; the old ones had seen their best days. We haven't had much sun here as of late, so the flowers really brighten my office! And then I had to show you this picture because it cracked me up. Ryan had stirred our dinner in the slow cooker, and I found the spoon on a napkin...next to the spoon rest we just bought. Neither of us can quite remember yet that we own a real spoon rest! I made a new batch of granola and our house smelled AMAZING!

* Tuesday was the day-o-meetings at work. I think I amuse all my co-workers by how much stuff I bring to meetings. If I'm going to be there for two or more hours, I don't want to risk hunger or dehydration! We had our first official small group STUDY that night, so we were cramming for last minute details before they came. Great night of discussion, though!

* Wednesday morning our pastor's wife brought coffee for all of us. The two pastors whose offices are closest to mine ordered the same thing I did, and then one of them left his coffee on my desk as he passed through the office. I didn't notice it and suddenly realized I was drinking his coffee. I was mortified. That didn't make for an awkward moment at all! :) I also found out the office has a tool box, and I think the student pastor was slightly terrified to see me hauling it toward my desk. "Whatcha doin' there?" he asked. Just fixing my drawer, thank you. :) That night was my final 5K of January. I actually had to finish it on the elliptical. Ryan and I were running side by side and watching TV, and when Ryan kicked up his speed, we blew the breaker. .So I finished it out on the elliptical. Still counted it, though!

* Just as I got ready to warm up my lunch on Thursday, I got a text from Ryan. "Don't warm up your lunch just yet!" WHAT!!?! And then in a little minute he was at the door with a hot lunch for us to share! I love surprise dates! And I had a surprise date for him that night: our third at-home date of the year. I'll tell you more about it next week, but the theme was to make a copycat recipe of a dessert from New York City. It was SO good.

* We went grocery shopping Friday night, and I found Ryan "tearing up" in the card aisle. ;) I had just a few minutes when I got home that I could sit with coffee to rest, and then it was time to do my nails, wash my hair, pack my bags, and get ready for our big day on Saturday! (It was one of those nights where I tried to mostly get ready the night before so I could sleep longer in the morning.)

* And that brings us to yesterday! Ryan's annual ski trip with his friend Shawn. My annual date with youth groups galore in a ski lodge. The day was pretty overcast and relatively warm for this time of year, but they were still able to ski and have a great time. And I knocked out a ton of writing in the lodge! It was a long, long day, but so very good!

The Saturday Six

One.

Oh man. This huge DIY upholstered bulletin board??? I love it!!! Can you even imagine all the things I could store on this?

Two.

Food delivery subscriptions are popular, but this was one I hadn't heard of before this week. Imperfect foods delivery. Have you heard of it? They're trying to eliminate food waste by distributing food that grocery stores would reject based on appearance (oddly shaped vegetables, off-sized eggs, etc.). I enjoyed reading about it!

Three.

If you have kids (or kids in your life who like to draw pictures for you), check out this really great idea for preserving the art without keeping every single scrap of paper. I LOVE IT!

Four.

I love it when Tamar does posts of funny things said in her classroom. She had a new collection of funnies this week!

Five.

If you're making your way through the Gospels this year, here is the February reading plan! (I did this plan in a non-leap year, so I didn't have a reading for the 29th, but there is one day with a double reading, so you could undo that doubling and space it evenly for the month if you want!)

Six.

I told you yesterday that I used the 1 Second Everyday app in January to make a little video clip collage of our month. Here is our final video for January!

What I Learned in January 2020...

1. I love my Aqua Notes.

Some of my best ideas come to me while I'm in the shower, which is unfortunate, since I have the memory power of a flea (at best). I've forgotten many a gem by the time I got out of the shower and over to some paper. Now and then, I've put a pad of paper on the shelf outside the shower - just in case - but nobody likes soggy paper. So when I opened my stocking at Christmas, I found that Ryan had discovered this brilliant product called Aqua Notes. Have you heard of it? It's a notepad of waterproof paper that hangs on the shower wall with suction cups. There's also a pencil that slides into a suction cup holder. Now when I get ideas in the shower...I can scribble them immediately and not have soggy paper!

2. Tom Hanks was a class act at the Golden Globes.
In my single days, I watched all the awards shows all the time. ALL. But I learned that Ryan isn't really a huge fan of awards shows (or beauty pageants) so I don't think I've watched a single one since we got married. I haven't really missed them, and in fact, I so rarely watch movies (on time, anyway) that I don't even know anything about what or who might be up for an award! But this month we watched the Golden Globes (where I was quite confused by the number of women who wore blazers without shirts) and as I suspected, I don't know anyone or anything anymore. But in the middle of all the confusion, I did watch Tom Hanks receive the Lifetime Achievement award, and I do know who he is, and I did appreciate his speech. He kept the main thing the main thing, showed that he cares about his craft, and honored his family. I really appreciated that. (And also...You've Got Mail? Still one of my favorites of all time.)

3. I am having fun with the One Second Everyday app.

Last year I noticed that every month, a friend of mine posted to Facebook a short video that included one second of video footage from every day of her month. It was fun to see her life scroll by in that quick, thirty(ish) second video. I decided I wanted to try it this year, so once the month is fully complete, I'll post it for you. But it was fun to see our memories scroll by a second at a time! (I will admit that some days it's challenging to find something enthralling to document!)

4. Everything at work.

I could write fourteen dozen posts and still not cover everything I have learned every single day at my temporary job. The one whose place I'm holding until she comes back from maternity leave seriously knows a hundred billion things and does them all with great poise and grace. I'll save us all some time and say I've learned so much this month - and yet there is so much more to learn. At this point I'm pretty sure I won't learn it all even by the time she comes back.

5. We are glad we left up a couple of lighted trees.

For the first time ever (in Shafferland) we left up a couple of our smaller Christmas trees for winter décor. We removed all the ornaments, but we left the lights. This has been an extraordinarily gray and gloomy month, and we have loved the extra warm and cozy lights!

6. Kobe Bryant and I were the same age.

When news broke about the helicopter crash that took Kobe Bryant's life, I learned that he and I were the same age. Everything about every death is sobering, but I don't know that I've seen my birth year displayed on a memoriam slide as often as I did in the days after his death. Everything about the entire sad situation created pause in my heart!


***

Update on my January Goals:

* Finding fresh consistency in working out: Boom! I did it! It was, at times, painful and not pretty at all, but I ran my cutely-named 5K runs every Wednesday, I did my progressively increasing exercises six days a week, and I did my Sunday stretching (which felt so so good). I did miss two workout days - the two days I had women's ministry meetings after a full day of work and was just gone too long to work out. I was sore much of the month, and some of the runs made me feel sick, but I got them done! And while I'm choosing not to focus on pounds or inches this year, I feel better in my body than I did on January 1. That's a win in my book.

* Study in Psalms each day: Yes! I am learning things I never anticipated learning! The commentary I'm using to supplement my study is great about teaching me the backstory to some of the Psalms, and to be able to reaad them in context of what was happening to the writer at the time makes them even richer! I'm taking it nice and slow. It's not a race through the book. I read a few verses each day and really drink them in.

* Enjoy three at-home dates. On our monthiversary, we did the indoor picnic date, in the middle of the month, we had our root beer taste test/root beer float fun, and though my recap of it is forthcoming, last night we had a copycat New York City dessert date night!

* Get a fresh haircut. I counted down to this day. I told Ryan he may have to hide the scissors. I wasn't sure I'd make it. BUT I DID! I spent three and a half hours in her chair, but I walked out with all new hair! (Okay, newly overhauled hair. It was the same hair.)

* Finish the Atlanta scrapbook. This one didn't happen - womp, womp. The only reason it didn't was because I found out partway through the month that Picaboo had an unlimited pages sale going on, so I stopped work on that book to finish the last two books of 2019 so I could order those. (They're huge books, so I wanted to get them ordered for sure.) So even though this goal was kind of a fail...I did scrapbook my little heart out! And please let the record show that because of the sale, I was able to order three books and save $350. Oh my, yes. That's worth missing a goal for!

* Archive two months of blog posts. Yes! I completed archiving January/February 2012!

* Work on Scripture memory. I wrote about the really helpful lesson my friend Judy sent to me regarding Scripture memory, and I am pleased with how I did. A lot of the verses on the memorization list for January were ones I already knew (at least somewhat) from earlier portions of life, but I was still excited to review and learn.

* Organize entry closet and foyer table. Squeaked this goal in just this week! We were able to put aside some coats, hats, and gloves we don't wear anymore (having a garage sale sometime this year) and organize what we do wear so we can access it all easily!

* Read a book. I finished up Grace Hitchcock's book  The Gray Chamber in the first half of the month and thoroughly enjoyed it. I wanted to try to read a second book but it simply didn't happen. See all of the above.

I'm pleased with everything I was able to accomplish while still acclimating to full time work, restarting small group, and more! I'm calling January productive!

Dreams and Goals for February 2020

Tomorrow I'm going to tell you how I did with my January goals, as well as a handful of things I learned this month. But in the meantime, I'm working ahead toward some February goals! This year I'm choosing to take things one month at a time, rather than looking at the whole year at once! It feels much more manageable to approach it this way.

* Finish the details for my/our upcoming speaking engagements. Ryan and I are speaking in February at a Valentine's banquet, and I'm also speaking at a women's retreat in March. I want to finish ironing out all the details for those two engagements so I can be well-prepared when they arrive!

* Archive two more months of old blog posts. This was the same goal I had in January, and (spoiler alert) I did accomplish it! I had hoped to do even more than my goal, but that didn't happen. So I'll restate the goal for February, and maybe this month I can overachieve!

* Work on our closet! Oh my. It's such a disaster right now! We have some major reorganizing to do in there. (My HGTV-inspired closet remodel visions are grand, but I'm squelching them for the moment in favor of simple, old-fashioned organization.) We've been treating it like a catch-all room lately, and it's time to weed out what we don't want, organize what we want to keep, and make it pretty again! And maybe I can continue my quest for all-matching hangers.

* Finish the Atlanta scrapbook. Does that sound familiar? I guess that's a spoiler for you, too. I didn't get that one done in January, though tomorrow you'll see why, and I'm sure that will completely justify it. I also want to keep up with my current first-quarter-of-2020 album. If I can have one good afternoon, I can catch that one up to current!

* Enjoy two more at-home dates. I want to make sure I put in some good planning effort on these! I really enjoyed the first two we did, I'm looking forward to one more this week, and I don't want to lose momentum in creating purposeful time for us at home! This has been a fun start to a project for us.

* Work on vacation planning. We have some dreams and ideas for places we'd like to visit this year, and I want to begin moving those from dreams into reality! We like having a vacation to look forward to, so I want to cement some dates and begin making plans!

Those are the February dreams and goals! How about you? Anything on your wish list for February? You have a whole extra day to accomplish it this year, you know!

Food for Thought

For many years now, I've copied quotes into my journal when they hit me in particularly memorable ways. I don't want to forget the snippets of wisdom God has put in my path to help me understand a mystery or redirect my haywire thoughts.

I've been mulling over some of these words as January comes to a close, so I thought I'd share them with you. Maybe you need a bit of encouragement too!

Words from a gentleman named Allen Arnold: "You can't fully enter into a time of change if you're determined to stay the same." (Lois, are you cheering that my first one has to do with change?) Our life surely is about change right now. Much of it is unknown to us as of this day. But we do know these words to be true, so we stand with open hearts and arms, ready and waiting to receive what God has.

I don't know how many of you are familiar with Tony Evans, but his wife, Lois, passed away earlier this month. (They are Priscilla Shirer's parents, if her name rings a bell with you.) Anyway, at the funeral, their son Jonathan gave a very moving eulogy, and I transcribed these words from the video I watched. These were meaningful to me as I reflected on Nita's passing (which happened almost a year ago now). Jonathan said this, born out of a prayer time he had:

"You don't understand the nature of My victory. Just because I didn't answer your prayer your way doesn't mean I haven't already answered your prayer anyway. Victory was already given to your mom. There were always only two answers. Either she was going to be healed or she was going to be healed. Either she was going to live or she was going to live. Either she was going to be with family or she was going to be with family. Either she was going to be well taken care of or she was going to be well taken are of. Victory belongs to Me."

These words from Sarah Geringer: "It's not the power of positive thinking that helps us overcome toxic thoughts. It's the power of God, revealed in His Word." It's not so much about focusing on the positive vs. the negative. It's about focusing on TRUTH.

I won't even lie. These words STILL step on my toes even today: "Don't be impatient; everything will happen in God's timing." (Susan Waters) Anyone else try to "help" God know what to do and when to do it?

And this one! "God does some of His best work when our hearts are broken." (Abbey Garl). It's definitely been true for me. That's when I tend to be quiet, listen, and remain pliable!

I hope you found a nugget for your day somewhere in that list! (And if you've found a good bit of wisdom - feel free to share it with me! I love adding to my list!)