The Saturday Six

 

One.

Last Christmas was our first Christmas without Ryan's mom. One of the gifts her husband gave all the grandkids was a pillow made from one of her flannel nightgowns. While we were at the cabin on Christmas, all the kids picked out a piece of her clothing to have similar pillows made, and Ryan picked her coffee shirt, because it was most definitely appropriate. I've seen those keepsakes, but I also found this idea on Etsy that is the same...but much smaller. It's a little pillow ornament made from a piece of clothing from a loved one. It's a great idea if you want an ornament for your tree to remember someone you love! (Side note: someone from Nita's church did make us an ornament that contains rose petals from her funeral bouquets.) 

Two.

This is a great idea for a baby shower gift OR a Christmas DIY, if you're still looking for a gift idea for (ahem) next week. It's a little restaurant kit for parents of littles. From bibs to kids' silverware to wet wipes to activities to keep them occupied at the table, the parents can just keep this in the car and have it at a moment's notice when they're eating out. (Even if they're eating in the car or in the park right now, this can help! It's also great if they go to a friend's house and forget to take some of these essentials. Not all people have kid friendly dinner items in the house.) 

Three.

Christmas is less than a week away and New Year's is right behind it. (I probably don't need to explain to you how that works, huh?) Anyway, I really enjoyed this post by Arabah Joy, showing the fun activities she and her family do each year on New Year's Eve. (I noticed she wrote the post in 2019. Wondering if she's rethinking playing the game "Pandemic" this year?) I love their purpose AND their fun as they ring in the new year!

Four.

Whether you call it puppy chow or muddy buddies...it's good stuff. Knowing my undying love of s'mores the way you do, I'm sure you can understand why I did a double take at this s'mores version of puppy chow...

Five.

This post is about light shows in Knoxville so that part might not apply to any of you, but the scavenger hunt list is good!! Ryan and I are hoping to go see lights this weekend and I'm thinking about taking along a scavenger hunt list just for funsies!! Have you ever done one of these?

Six.

If you're home and missing concerts this year - you can check out this live (free!) Christmas concert the Collingsworth Family did last weekend. I have been watching it today and loving the music! I haven't heard NEARLY enough Christmas music to suit my tastes this year, so this has been good. (Bonus: cute kiddos show up to sing, too!)

Christmas Card Delivery!!!

 

It's Christmas card day here on the blog! I grew up in a home that sent Christmas cards every year, and I think I was still in high school when I started sending my own cards. When I was first out on my own, I decided I wanted to be a card-sender, even if I didn't have a husband or kids to share on my card. I'm so glad I did that, and I'm so glad Ryan and I have carried on that tradition in our marriage. (Fun fact: I designed our first card sitting beside the pool on our honeymoon!) 

I always like to share our card and letter here every year...we hope you enjoy this year's take on it!

Plans, Plot Twists, and Purpose

            None of us have lived the kind of year we thought we would in 2020. Proverbs 19:21 says “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” This year proved that proverb true beyond any doubt. But just because it was a plot-twist laden year that challenged us all doesn’t mean it was a bad year! Here are some of our favorite foiled plans, plot-twists, and renewed purposes from our eighth season of marriage together !

·         Last December, we served as narrators in our church’s huge Sights and Sounds of Christmas program. We had no idea it would be the last time we would participate in such a program – because we would move, our worship pastor would retire, and large social gatherings would be extinct for a while.

·         At the end of 2019, we became official members at our church and had no idea that within a year, we would be searching for a new church home in a new town – which, by the way, is a daunting task made all the more daunting by a pandemic.

·         Right at the end of December, Bekah took a temporary job at church, filling in for her friend Abagail’s maternity leave. We had no idea that would transition into a permanent full time job in the spring and then immediately transition into a work-from-home job.

·         In January and February, we tried out a “fun new idea” of planning at-home dates, and we had no clue that by March, that would be the only option. (Still…an indoor picnic, root beer taste test, copycat desserts, and a salsa night are all fun dates!)

·         Ryan was elected to the church board in February – totally unaware that he would have to resign for our move before he ever attended an in-person meeting.

·         We spoke together at a Valentine’s banquet and didn’t have any idea that would be our last time to speak to an in-person gathering until October!

·         Ryan planned an amazing surprise Valentine’s Day getaway weekend for us. We stayed in an Airbnb overlooking the canal and Indianapolis skyline. We spent the weekend conducting our official Marion County tour – and of course Bekah came down with a rotten cold the day we left. We still had a great time, and it’s a good thing, because travel was about to become nearly illegal.

·         We remodeled our entire guest bathroom (gutted it and started over), added board and batten to our entry, repainted the entry, living room, and kitchen, redid the guest room, and put down a mulch border around all our landscaping…and had no idea that by summer, we would put our house up for sale. But it was okay, because all those projects were so much fun to tackle together while home for weeks on end during quarantine.

·         When the pandemic and quarantine arrived, we began documenting all the strange things we did, hoping one day we could look back and say remember when…you couldn’t find toilet paper at the store? Watched church on livestream while you wore your jammies? Hoarded disinfectant cleaner? Could only send one person to the store? Attended every meeting on Zoom? Only had to look professional from the waist up? Went to drive-by birthday parties? Cleaned your groceries before you brought them in the house? Got your first mask?

·         Ryan was asked to record a really powerful monologue for our church’s Easter program, and he and the videographer spent four hours recording it. And in a 2020-style plot twist, we found out the next day his mic died halfway through, so he spent four more hours watching his monologue and sentence-by-sentence voicing it to be dubbed and played on Easter Sunday morning. (No one ever knew, by the way, that it was not a real-time voice.)

·         Because of the pandemic, Ryan’s rehab department scaled back, and he was reassigned to a temporary job at the main hospital – working on a proning team. Definitely never expected to see that on his resume!

·         After eight years of waiting to go to Hocking Hills, Ohio, to hike the park, we planned our annual birthday trip to that area. We rented a genuine tiny cabin and arrived at the end of May…to find the park still closed because of the pandemic. Though highly disappointed to miss out on the park we have waited so long to explore, we found smaller parks that were open and hiked everything we could find for the weekend – and had a great time away. Did we mention there was a hot tub?

·         After eight years of praying for a chance to work together in ministry, God opened a door for us to do just that. In May, we applied for a job as a Community Advocate Couple at Gateway Woods, a ministry northeast of Fort Wayne, in the tiny burg of Grabill. We were surprised to be invited for an interview, and two days later, we were offered the job. In another 2020-style plot twist, the day after we accepted, we found out Ryan’s rehab hospital was shutting down entirely, putting him and 120 others out of work. God knew all along and was ready with a new plan.

·         Less than a week after that, our house in Kokomo went under contract: sold (without an official listing) to one of the pastors at our church who had been searching for a home for months!

·         In June, we said goodbye to our beloved small group; we had no idea the spring 2020 semester with them would be our last. It started in person and ended on Zoom!

·         In mid-July, we packed our car and moved into temporary housing in the WillowBridge apartment building, living for a couple of weeks directly above the apartment that would become our official new home. At the end of July, we went back to Kokomo, loaded our moving truck, and made our permanent move to the farthest we have ever lived from our original homes. This is also the first time we have ever lived in an apartment or worked in social work!

·         In August, we started our new job in earnest. Our days begin early and end late, and in the middle, we do just about everything: listen to stories, help set goals, provide accountability, maintain the building, do administrative work, write devos, drive tenants to work, plan community nights, and the many “other duties as assigned,” which have included everything from repairing an overflowing washer to removing a wasp’s nest from the shed to moving everyone into a tornado shelter on a hot summer night. We just never know what a day will bring!

·         This fall we had some multi-year dreams come true: we purchased a tandem kayak and took some trips on the river down the road, and we purchased our first RV! We’ve been researching them for the past four years, and now we have one of our very own. Her name is Abby, and we are in the middle of renovating her and planning our first trips for next spring and summer! We are excited to spend our days off with her – exploring all kinds of new places.

And so we end this strange pandemic year with nearly everything looking different than it did at the start – but fully aware that God saturated the year with HIS purposes prevailing over our plans. We would love for you to come visit us if you’re in the area (or want a day trip). Grabill is a cute little town, and Fort Wayne is right next door, if bigger cities are your thing. We’d love to show you our apartment, share our ministry with you, and show you our favorite Allen County finds. And by the way…we’re still blogging, we still have our Braeya-girl (she’s 14 now!), and we still love coffee. Some things never change – even in a pandemic year.

Merry Christmas to your house from ours!

Anniversary Trip Miscellany

It's the last day I'll mention the trip...I promise! I just thought I would throw in some of the random things that didn't fit on any other day! And also - though it doesn't seem like a destination you would find on a travel site, if you have a chance to get away to Richmond, I'd say go for it! A little history...a little chocolate...a little amazing Airbnb. :)

Anyway...here are a few peeks at the random! These are in no particular order.

I mentioned that Wayne County is the land of murals. There are 80 some of them in the county, we read. We didn't see them all, of course. But here are a few. 

Murals fascinate me so much. SO much detail goes into them and I can't even imagine trying to paint one.

I almost forgot to tell you this one, but my dad is originally from this area, so one of the things I really wanted to do was go past the house my Grandma had lived in when I was a kid. Not gonna lie...it wasn't in great shape then, and I was SHOCKED to see that it's not only still standing 26 years later, but also appears to still be inhabited. 

And then, you guys, we went to look for her grave. I haven't seen it since the day of her funeral, and there I was, out running around in the snow, looking for this stone. I called my Mom and she was able to mention a gazebo, which I found, and then I finally found the stone itself! Grandma was my buddy when I was a kid, and she never got to know Ryan. It just felt important to me to visit her grave together.

Found some cute things in stores:

You know it isn't a Shafferland vacation without a story, right? On our second day there, we got a text from a friend of mine who lives in the area (hey, Allison!!) who said, "Did you know the dog food factory down the road from your Airbnb is on fire?" 

UM, NO!!!!!!

We actually happened to be driving back to the Airbnb right at that moment, and when we arrived, indeed, we could not get down the block to our parking spot! The fire was about two blocks down, but they were using the hydrant on the corner, and the hose ran across the road, so no one was allowed to drive down there.

And THEN (oh no! I'm not done!) my friend Allison texted back and said, "OH! And by the way, did you know the US Marshals were in town today to pick up a fugitive??"

STOP IT!! WHAT?!?!!?!? She sent me the link and indeed, they had been in Richmond to pick up a guy who barricaded himself in an attic. Nothing a little tear gas couldn't handle, apparently.

Anyway...back to stories. Let's see what else I haven't shown you yet...

Well, speaking of Allison, she and her husband own a company in Wayne County, and she said I should come by their office building to see the mural there. This building is just down the street from the Levi Coffin house I told you about yesterday, and in related news, Levi used to own this building, too. So the mural pays homage to the Underground Railroad. It was actually one of my favorite murals we saw:

Allison showed us that if you look closely, you'll see faces in the tree...all the symbolism. Do you see them? (In the branches.)

And then...it was time to go home. Always sad.

Thanks for tagging along - a hundred days long - to our trip. We hope you enjoyed a virtual vacation! 

The Levi and Catharine Coffin House

 Welcome back to another anniversary trip post! Could I break up this trip any more than I already have?

I wanted to tell you about one of our final stops on our trip (and of course, by "one of," I actually mean the final stop). As I've said here before on the blog, I've learned that as I get older, I care more about history than I did as a kid. Touring a historic site would not have been on my radar years ago, but I was excited to plan this stop, and Ryan was excited about it too!

In case you don't know, several locations in Indiana were busy hubs on the Underground Railroad back in the day. We learned some about it during our trip to Madison a couple of years ago. Madison is a town right on the Ohio River, and that was a major stop. From there, they would travel north, up the east side of the state, and head into Michigan and over into Canada.

The Levi and Catharine Coffin House, located in Fountain City, Indiana (just outside of Richmond) was a stop on the Underground Railroad. We learned that Levi had first learned about slavery as a little boy when he lived in North Carolina. His family, along with many other peace-loving Quaker families, left North Carolina and settled in Indiana. Here, they were not only away from the slavery lifestyle, but they could help slaves find their way to freedom.

We learned that Levi was a business leader and local merchant and was fairly well-to-do. His position in the community and his wealth made it possible for him to assist many freedom-seekers (as they were called). 

Here is a picture of their home, which is BEAUTIFUL from all architectural standpoints. Levi and Catharine helped more than 1000 freedom-seekers on their way to Canada, and it is believed that all who passed through these walls did eventually reach freedom. In fact, this home became known as "The Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad."

Here are a few peeks at the inside, but if you're ever in the area, I can say that this is worth the admission price to tour in person! ($10 per person for adults.)

The photo above is a picture of the kitchen in the home, which is nice and big, but the tour guide pointed out that most of the freedom-seekers who came through arrived late at night. It would create suspicion to have lights on in the kitchen and the smell of food cooking at those hours, so one of the secrets of success was the "summer kitchen" the house has - located in the basement. She also told us that Fountain City got its name because of the water table levels. There is so much water that most homes don't (or at least didn't back then) have basements, because they would flood. Somehow, this house was able to have a basement and it stayed dry. They were able to prepare food in the basement without attracting attention!

Another key to success (and a rarity in that day) was an indoor well. Because they could retrieve water without going outside, no one knew how much water they went through when the house was full.

She told us one sign of the Coffins' obvious wealth was this double closet in the master bedroom - and each closet had two doors. She said back in those days, people were taxed on how many interior doors they had, so four extra doors in the bedroom was a big deal. (There was another closet like this one to the right of the fireplace.)

This little door led into a passageway where they could hide people if needed. (I did not go in there, though I could have peeked in. The roofline was slanted enough for me!

See what I mean about the roofline? Can you imagine waking up fast and slamming your head against that wall?

They also showed us the barn, where they parked wagons and buggies - and here is a picture of a wagon with a false bottom, used for transporting freedom-seekers.

It really was a fascinating house...and I'm so glad we went. (Also - I should put tour guide on my list of careers to explore someday. I really do think it would be a lot of fun. You know - once people can tour again.)

(Fun fact: we were the only people on our tour, so that worked out nicely!)

Decking the WillowBridge Halls

Yesterday I caught you up on the last of the decorations in our apartment, but we also had a community day in which we decorated the Community Room, entry, and outside of WillowBridge! I thought I'd give you a glimpse of the day.

I stayed up late the night before our decorating day, stringing several hundred lights on our tree. (I thought that would make decorating day go much faster.)

The next day we had a taco bar for lunch, which was a big hit with the tenants. (Who are we kidding? It was a hit with the team, too!)

While we waited for lunch to be ready, the WillowBridge babies had fun chasing each other around. 

Before we decorated the room, we decorated some ugly Christmas sweater cookies. I found these on an end cap in Wal-Mart and bought them on a whim for about eight bucks. They turned out to be everyone's favorite part of the day!

Ryan and I played with the babies so their parents could decorate.

We thought the cookies turned out pretty cute!

Then it was time to decorate the tree, the room, and the entry. Here are a few of the pictures we took that day!

Did a few group pictures...

And when it was all done the place looked so pretty!