Starting Out in Slow Motion

 

The clothes are tumbling in the dryer, my hair is still in a fat braid from the last day of hiking, and I’m once again on my beloved couch, which I haven’t seen in four days. Such is the push and pull of returning home from vacation. There is great sadness, because no matter how long it goes, vacation is never long enough. There is great joy, because no matter how short it’s been, nothing beats your own couch and the view out your living room window.

                Ryan and I just wrapped up our thirteenth annual birthday trip. In those thirteen years, we’ve visited…Kentucky, Michigan, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Indiana, the Caribbean, Ohio, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, North Carolina, and West Virginia. Some of those states we’ve visited more than once. But we’ve never returned to the same destination twice, until this year.

                You see, five years ago, we scheduled a birthday trip to Hocking Hills (Ohio) and had no idea until we arrived and unpacked that the entire state park was closed for the pandemic. There we sat, in the cutest tiny cabin we’d ever seen, and though the mantra of the pandemic was “go outside!” – we apparently couldn’t go to that outside. We were so fortunate to find hiking trails outside the park we intended to visit, so we had a fun trip and made memories, but the one memory we didn’t get to make was seeing Hocking Hills State Park. This year – we went back. And oh, my goodness, it did not disappoint!

                The hardest part about vacation this year was getting to it. The entire last week before we left felt like slogging through mud. Every single thing in our personal and professional lives seemed to be a trap, and we weren’t sure we were going to leave home at all.

                We didn’t go to bed until 1:00 in the morning the night before we left, because we hadn’t even had a chance to think about packing until almost 11 p.m. That has never ever happened before. And then we were up early the day we left trying to get everything fit in. The stories we could tell you about that morning alone would blow your mind. But we’re going to skip over those to get to the fun stuff.

                Another thing that has never ever happened before? Leaving late. We left almost three hours past the time we planned to go, and I don’t know that I fully relaxed or recovered from that until we arrived back home. We had a whole lot to pack into a short amount of time, so while missing out on three hours might not seem like much, it actually made a huge difference, and not in a good way.

                Because we were so late getting started, our first order of business was to find some lunch, and I had zero plans that fit the area we were in when lunchtime rolled around. We ended up stopping by the Warm Glow Candle Company in Centerville, Indiana, to eat in their café. (We went to this store back on our 9^th anniversary trip, when we did the Wayne County Chocolate Trail. It was a stop on the trail, and we received free chocolate-scented candles there!)

                Even though we were there right at lunch time, it was pretty empty, so we enjoyed a nice, private date! Ryan got a brisket sandwich and said it was the best one he’d ever had. I had a Mediterranean wrap, and it was delish!

                The actual plan I had for that area was to stop at Auntie Em’s pie and coffee for a pie date. (Ryan’s favorite!) We still went, and I got the Cold Brew pie, which I’d never even heard of before. It was on a chocolate crumb crust and tasted like mocha. It was so good. Ryan had peanut butter pie and gave it two thumbs up. The store itself has no indoor seating, and while there is a table outside the restaurant, on the sidewalk, it’s at a pretty busy intersection, so we took our pie and coffee to a park down the road and enjoyed part two of our date!

                After lunch, we drove on over to Ohio, and we had pretty easy travels. The weather was nice, the traffic was light, we didn’t encounter any construction, accidents, detours, or delays!

                We slid into the State Park about 45 minutes before the Visitor’s Center closed. We went in to get maps, only to find out they no longer distribute paper maps. We could take a screenshot of the online map and use it…because there is zero cell service throughout the park. We did that, but we didn’t find them easy to use while we hiked. We mostly relied on maps scattered throughout the park, and trail markings.

                I had read on a blog that the best times to visit any of the sections of this park are earlier in the day and late in the day. We found that to be 100% true during our visit. Showing up at the end of business? Perfection for a pretty empty trail! We headed down a relatively short trail to Old Man’s Cave, and it was so pretty.

                According to the Hocking Hills website, this trail is the most popular of all the hikes in the park. Here are some of the pictures from our hike.

                It was so humid so my hair was excessively large by the end of the hike. We thought about doing a second trail, but we decided to head to our hotel instead. We checked in, ordered pizza, and headed to pick it up. We discovered a festival underway, so we walked around that area until our pizza was ready, and then we ate back at the hotel!

                We may have started out a bit behind (we had three hikes planned for the first day) but it was still a lot of fun, and it was just so good to be together and away from the norm!

Signing Waivers

 Prior to marrying Ryan, about the most adventurous thing I did was drive the grocery cart on the wrong side of the aisle at the store. That was really living on the edge.

                After marrying Ryan, I started signing waivers. It actually started with A waiver and then I just kept signing them. He surely must know how much I love him because I keep signing these things and quoting Scripture and singing hymns in new places. 😊

                Technically, it started on our honeymoon, when I had to sign a waiver to ride in a tandem kayak with him. For me, back then, that was really scary. Who knew I’d one day own a kayak?

                But that day, as a brand new bride, less than a week into being a Shaffer, I was brave, signing a waiver to crawl into a kayak to sail out into the “open waters” with my groom.

                And then, a few months later, it was my idea to sign up to go ziplining. It was the one and only time of life that I instigated bravery. Silly me. I thought it would be no big deal.

                I didn’t love it. I don’t want to do it again. I didn’t find a hobby in it. It was terrifying, though I was highly grateful that all but one of the lines started by running down a hill until the hill ran out – and ended up discovering a hill appearing again as if by magic. Had I been required to jump off a box in a tree for all of them…well, I might have failed. The best part of the whole adventure was getting this picture that remains the favorite of our marriage.

                And then, still before our first anniversary, I signed a waiver AGAIN, this time to ride a Segway in the Caribbean. I think if I could ride one of these more often, I’d get pretty good at it. On this day, I was mostly just terrified I’d fall off the side of the road, which did actually happen to someone in our group. I was not that person. Ryan still won’t let me live down the fact that I drove my Segway so slowly that I didn’t hear any of the tour, because I was out of range to pick it up on the radio. I’m okay with that. You know why? I didn’t fall off the road.

                A little time went by, and I think I thought we were waivered out. We were not. Because…you remember the waterfalls, right? Another cruise, another excursion. My only saving grace was that it was the dry season and we didn’t get to do half the tour because there wasn’t enough water for the upper falls to be running. The promised trail around some of the falls was a lie. I had to jump some of them. I had to be “water taxi” carried from jump to jump. And we didn’t buy the pictures, which remains the single regret for Ryan from our entire marriage.

                Last summer I did not agree to whitewater rafting. I agreed to a less invasive tubing adventure. Must have been dry season again. Nancy from the rafting company called to say there wasn’t enough water to do that adventure. But for free, she’d upgrade us to whitewater rafting. Ryan cheered. I cried. And we bought the picture package.

(For the record, Ryan did tell me even when we were at the whitewater rafting place that I did not have to go if I didn't want to or didn't think I could do it. I absolutely had an out. But I was determined!)

                This weekend, I signed another waiver. This time? A UTV tour. I hadn’t even heard of a UTV before. I asked if it’s anything like a UTI. Apparently not. 😉 Ryan was so kind to me and didn’t drive this thing with nearly the gusto he would have chosen. He graciously agreed to last place in line and didn’t pelt me with water from mud puddles. He didn’t tip the thing over. And he didn’t drive as fast as he wanted. I am forever grateful.

                Our UTV heard loads of Scripture, prayer, and even a hymn. And I lived to smile at the end of it.

                SO many stories coming your way this week, friends! Stay tuned! 

Sunday Snapshots: Memorable Moments from the Week

 

This week has been full of a little bit of everything! We certainly weren’t bored, and we made some great memories along the way. Want to see a sampling?

We finally got the boat in the water last Sunday afternoon. Ryan and a neighbor took it to the launch, and Lexi and I waited at home to see it come around the bend. I felt like Kathleen Kelly waiting in the park to see NY152 come around the corner. 😉 Lexi was teakettling at the top of her lungs when she finally saw him sailing our way. Let summer begin!

We celebrated 150 months of marriage this week, and my favorite moments from the day were the ones spent with Ryan, including an impromptu lunch on the patio at his work. The week was fraught with schedule changes, many of which threw me for a loop, but that schedule change was sweet, because it gave me an unexpected lunch with him!

 It was a pleasure to get to host the Swiss Village residents for boat rides one afternoon this week! They seemed to have the best time, and I was grateful we had the best weather to host them. Ryan was captain of the boat, and I served cookies on the patio. (That sounds way fancier than it really was!)

I went to have breakfast with the seniors (not high school) from church this week and there ended up only being three ladies (including me) there. We had the BEST TIME talking, and I just loved hearing how they met their husbands!

To add a little bit of culture into our week, we took in some theater! Ryan and I went to see the Crandall family in Freaky Friday: The Musical. Yep, the entire family was in it, and we had fun cheering them on!

This week also brought us some much-needed R&R, and we do not take it for granted. The chance to get away together was a complete gift.

While we were gone, we enjoyed some hiking, and it was so much fun. We were grateful for good weather and the chance to see some new-to-us sights! Stories forthcoming! 😊

Saturday Suggestions

 

This week has been filled (dare I say marred?) with plot twists and schedule changes that left both of us spinning and, at times, a little annoyed. Ryan and I are both strict schedulers, because it’s how our home runs most efficiently. But for both of us, work and personal life were filled with change after change after change this week, and we honestly had to stop and pray through our attitudes at times. We are looking forward to this weekend and a chance (hopefully) to catch our breath a bit.

                While we do that, check out some varied, but hopefully interesting, ideas I found for you amid all the schedule changes!

This little post is short and simple, but oh-so to a very important point. Perhaps you need to be reminded that God actually hears you, and if so, here you go! (BONUS: This longer post also has a very important point, and if you fear you are wasting the time you’ve been given with your life, it might help you refocus!)

I love following the Facebook account “For the Love of Old Houses” and enjoy seeing the different homes across the USA (and world) they feature. This one in Texas has so much character and charm, and I just love so many of the details. It reminds me a lot of our style (minus the blue we have come to adore) with the industrial touches we have around our house! I think the kitchen and the back patio were my most favorite spots. (BONUS: Check out this REALLY old and restored home in Kentucky. I do love a good restoration.)

I know we are a week into June already, but if you need help filling out your calendar of fun things to do this month, check out Yvonne’s ideas here. From hobbies to holidays, she’s got you covered for June! And as a nod to her list, can I just say that summer = sun tea for me when I was growing up and was first out on my own. Maybe I should bring that back! Anyone else?

I’ve been following Becca for a while now on Instagram, and I appreciate her approach to hosting people in your home – without stressing about all the things we stress about when we host in our home. This week, for the first time, I checked out her website, and she has some fun stuff on there! From recipes to freebies to practical guides, she can give you inspiration for welcoming people into your space this summer!

I love a good patio inspiration, but that’s not why I’m sharing this post of Lory’s. I’m sharing it because she talks about the slow process of making and changing her patio space. Thanks to Pinterest, social media, and TV, we all think we have to hurry with any given space and finish it all in one moment. It’s not true. It can take time. It can go through several versions. It’s okay for growth to be slow. I hope you can feel more confident in that from Lory’s words!

Look at this adorable beachy rental! I think it is just cute as a (literal) little button! (BONUS: And another adorable find? This silo-turned-house! I think this would be an adventure!)