Lies for Surprise

Ryan's mom is about to turn the big 6-0, and last summer, her kiddos got together to plan a surprise birthday party for her. They wanted it to reflect the things and people she loved, and they wanted her to be completely shocked. Those were the two goals. Of course, no one really stopped to think about the four-year-old roaming around the room while we did all this planning...and suddenly the whole surprise element felt a bit shaky.

From July to December, we were a whole crowd of Sneaky McSneakersons. We ferreted addresses from her friends, I scoured her Facebook page and stole pictures to print out, and her other daughter-in-law "helped herself" to random bits of decor every time she went over.

The party was scheduled for a Sunday afternoon and the decor-thief told Nita that she needed her to come to their church at 2:00 p.m. to take some family pictures by the church tree. {Lie.} She also told her there was a last-minute wedding shower taking place at the church that afternoon for someone who had just gotten engaged and was getting married soon. {Lie.}

Ryan and I invited Allen and Nita out for lunch and told them TWO HOURS of prattling stories to try to kill time. We embellished and talked over each other and "Hey did you tell them about THIS?" - all the while keeping one eye on the clock to make sure she got to the church promptly at 2. At 20 til 2, I jumped and pulled my phone out of my pocket.

"Sorry...I have to take this," I said about the fake phone call I was actually not receiving at that moment. I bolted into the lobby of the restaurant, paced around, made some faces, and rushed back in. Ryan asked if everything was okay. "It's mom," I lied. "She got that new coffee pot yesterday for that party where everyone from church is coming over. They're all about to arrive and something isn't working right on the coffee pot. It's too fancy and she can't figure it out - and heaven forbid she read the instructions." {New coffee pot = true. Church party = happened the day before. Everything else = lie.}

I fished my coat out from behind Ryan and said, "I have to go right now. She's freaking out." {Lie.} He joined right in. "It's okay. I'll just ride to the church with Mom and Allen and you can come back and pick me up when you're done." {Married to a liar.}

With that, I shot out of the restaurant and hid my car among the "wedding shower" cars at the church, and perched in position to get Nita's expression when she arrived at the church.

 BAZINGA, BABY!!!!! I think we got her!! {She said she really had no clue. Of course, given that she's birthed a bunch of liars who married a bunch of liars, who knows if that's really true!!! Just kidding!!!}

It was an open house, so people came and went the entire time, but it was a JOY to see her so full of happiness at the crowd that happened to be gathered right when she got there.

Nita IS the family photographer - and you know she's good. She has taken all our pictures, from engagement to a good portion of our wedding day, to all our Christmas card photos. I was so nervous to fill her shoes for the day, but here are just a FEW of the pictures I got of her party. {And she said she liked them...whew!}

My sister-in-law, Megan, made all the cakes for the day. They were SO GOOD. 

 The table of items stolen from her home. Funniest part? She didn't know any of them were gone! HA!!

 The "guest book" - a set of cards for people to write wishes and memories...and then a little tree to hang them on.

 The wall of pictures - a representation of people and things she loves!

Ryan is not the only ham in his family. This is his cousin, Danny, who is HILARIOUS. And also - eager to be in my photo. HA!

 More decorations...this one cracked me up! The picture is of Nita with her brother, John, who is so funny. Always makes me laugh! Come to think of it - is there ANYONE in this family who isn't a ham?

 Ryan has SO MANY RELATIVES. Took me forever to learn all their names. Uncle Jay on the left and Uncle David on the right. Two sweet guys who have adopted me right in as a niece. I appreciate them both!

 Ryan's grandpa. Love this man. I've known him since I was a kid, and he and my dad have been really good friends for years. He's spunky, he's kind, he's funny, he's a prayer warrior, and in this season of life in which I no longer have living grandparents on my side of the family, I love having him for a grandpa! And Ryan loves him so much. They're a hoot together.

 Nita and Ryan's cousin, Kevin, looking at the wall of photos. {I think she liked them. Not a lie.}

 This lovely photo of Nita and her sister, Aunt Ruthie Woo Hoo...and then...who might that be??? {Side note...her real name is just Aunt Ruthie. Ryan and I added the Woo Hoo. If you've not heard that story...back when Ryan and I were dating, Nita posted a picture of Ryan on Facebook. He was at the lake and shirtless - and HOT - and Aunt Ruthie commented "WOO HOO, Ryan!!" I didn't know who she was yet, so I sent him this text that said, "WHO is this Ruthie person, and why is she woo hooing your picture??" He CRACKED up and I eventually confessed that story to Aunt Ruthie, who loved it to death. And she has forever become our Aunt Ruthie Woo Hoo.}

 I love this picture of Nita and her dad. He told me he was going to charge me ten bucks to take that picture and I couldn't post it "on that Facebook thing." Well, he never mentioned the blog. HA!!! And I told him no deal on the ten bucks OR the absent from Facebook thing.

 Sneaking out from behind the camera for one picture.

 My parents came, too!!

 Nita and Ryan's sister, Bre. She spearheaded this event and did a great job!

Nita and Allen at the end of a very successful party.

So I'm pretty sure most of us are STILL repenting from the lies we told {and the things we stole} but my GOODNESS was the surprise ever a success!

Happy birthday, Nita! We love you! {Enough to lie to you. On Sunday. In a church.}

Gaither Christmas Concert

A week ago Saturday, Ryan and I worked the Gaither Christmas concert in Fort Wayne. LAST year, we attended the concert in Indianapolis as part of our anniversary weekend...and this year we worked it in Fort Wayne!

I worked with Scott and Phil...and they kept me on my toes the entire evening!

I learned two days before the concert that I was scheduled to be one of the emcees for the event - along with Phil. Ummmmm did I mention this was at the COLISEUM in Fort Wayne? That is a LOT OF PEOPLE!! I was grateful that it was early enough in the evening that it wasn't full yet. But still. LOTS of people. I was so nervous!!

My view from backstage:

But we did it!!!!

I had been SO NERVOUS about the emcee thing that I couldn't eat much all day. But man, once THAT was over, I was ready to eat!! Ryan found us some good concession food, and we stood at a counter and ate our dinner!

I was excited to see some people I knew at the concert...my friends Andy and Lisa, Andy and Amy, and these two - Greg and Angi! 

As always, SO grateful that Ryan attends these events with me. It is a joy to have him beside me, and our listeners love seeing him!! {Some are still congratulating him on the great job he did on the proposal!!}

 The concert was so good. These artists are all SO good!! Here are some of my photos from the evening:

Kevin Williams - the talented and HILARIOUS guitar player. Interesting side note...when I put this picture on Facebook, it tried to tag my brother-in-law. I congratulated him on his apparent new career with the Gaithers. 

 The Martins: One of my favorite groups. RIDICULOUS harmony. No one can sing like they can.

 Another great blend of family harmony: the Isaacs.

 Mark Lowry did a bit I'd not heard before - about why old men should get pedicures. I was crying laughing, and I thought the usher in front of me was going to die laughing. So funny! And is it just me, or does he look like Carl from Up here???

 Of course, he sang Mary, Did You Know? and the Martins backed him up.

 David Phelps was sick that night, but of course, he sounded a billion times better than I sound fully well.

 First time I'd heard the new Vocal Band...with their new baritone, Todd Suttles. He is GOOD.

 The second half of the concert was all Christmas music. So good.

 Becky Isaacs, Wes Hampton, and Charlotte Ritchie...

We ended up leaving just a little bit before the concert ended, because I was driving the station van, and I wanted to head out before the traffic got bad. I missed David singing O Holy Night, but I loved the night anyway!!!!

Tree Shopping

The year Ryan and I got married, our Christmas decorating was very haphazard. This happens when you don't get home from your honeymoon until December 8th and haven't done one blessed thing to deck the halls. Just a couple of weeks before Christmas, we made our way to Dull's Tree Farm, which I'd learned about through Twitter, actually, and found this scrawny little leftover tree.We named him Chuck, and we decorated him with random leftovers from the tubs we lugged out of the attic.

Last year, on our way home from our anniversary trip {which was to Indianapolis}, we found a tree farm near Noblesville {Stony Creek Farm}, and stopped on the way home. We got to ride in a hay wagon and pick out a little tree - and we named her Ariel. This time, we decorated her with the ornaments we'd been collecting throughout our relationship.

So this year, we decided to continue the tradition! Before we left Chicago to come home from our anniversary trip, I scouted out a tree farm that would be on our way home. Kingma Tree Farm is kind of out in the middle of nowhere - but it's near DeMotte, Indiana. We thought this tree farm had the best selection {as in variety of sizes} of any of the farms we'd been to, and the prices were REALLY good.

They had a couple different fields, so we drove out to the one we wanted...and there were just trees EVERYWHERE!!!

We wanted a smaller tree - because again, this year, we wanted to use this tree for our own collection of ornaments, and it's not very big yet. We wandered around just a bit...and then we saw her!

She was perfect.

We named her Penelope even before we cut her down!!

She's all ours! They told us to leave our tree at the edge of the road and they'd pick her up, shake her, tie her up and we could be on our way! Sweet!!

When we got home, we set her up in our room:

She holds our ornaments again this year...our growing collection of memories from our travels and from major life events:

Braeya supervised the assembly...

I was there too. :)

This is one of my favorite traditions we've started. Every time we buy an ornament, I take a picture of it, and then I print them. I write the story of the ornament on the back of the picture, and then when we decorate the tree, I read the story of each ornament as we place it on the tree. I love this!!!

Ryan added our glittery, sparkly S for Shaffer...

And she's done!! Our Penelope!

We love our Penelope...and our tradition!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, we helped pull off the surprise of the year...a birthday party for my mother-in-law! She turns 60 this year {that's been plastered all over Facebook, courtesy of the party pictures, so I'm guessing it's not a secret!!} and her kids banded together to plan a really nice surprise party for her. I'll write about it soon, but let's just say there was a LOT of lying involved on the part of your two Shaffer friends. I'm still repenting. But the best part was...she WAS surprised and she LOVED her day!

* Monday, I had my first big, significant follow-up appointment at the dentist after the Great Dental Event of 2014. I'd had a quick checkup a while back, but this one was lengthier and more in-depth. They are still pleased with my progress, although one particular area is not healing at all. Unfortunately it's in the front! That could be bad! She wasn't worried...yet. She gave me a 30 day antibiotic and said she would see if that helped clear up the infection. I was so happy that Ryan was able to come with me {just calms me}, and also happy that I was up for a free drink at Starbucks, so I was generously rewarded for my time in the chair. :)

* Tuesday was SUPPOSED to be our closing date for the house, and it fell through, which was a million kinds of devastating for everyone. I tried to hang onto promises I kept encountering on Facebook and Twitter...love the way God shows up with those at the perfect time. We spent the night at home, being sad, though entertained by our four-legged child. AND I did the final prep for my speaking engagement on Wednesday!

* Wednesday night, I stayed in Fort Wayne and spoke at the women's Christmas dinner at First Assembly church. The ladies were all gracious and warm and welcoming, and I loved spending the evening there. I had the opportunity to speak and share my heart, AND hear a really wonderful harpist! Can't wait to tell you more about it. And whilst I was gone, Ryan sold the living room furntiture...so little IKEA couch?? We're coming for you!!

* Thursday was the big day OF THE YEAR...we closed, at long, long last on the Greentown house! It was almost a 2 hour drive for me to get to work to the closing, and it was possibly the longest two hours of my life. We had drama clear up until the bitter end, but we closed and we were THRILLED! Celebrated with dinner at B-Dubs and after we got home - some serious prayer time!!

* Friday, Lynne and I took some time away for a working lunch and afternoon - we can't believe this year is almost wrapped UP! We went to McAlister's for lunch - and they were actually OUT OF TABLES! We lucked out by getting there right when someone left. After work I squeezed in some Christmas shopping for my handsome husband, and then said husband and I curled up and were ASLEEP by 7 p.m. If you can't tell, this has been a very long and big week! 

* We both had the day off work yesterday, so we started the day by sleeping IN!!! We finished all our Christmas cards and got those in the mail, wrapped all our gifts, did our grocery shopping, and ended our day by walking the entire Walkway of Lights in Marion. This is the 3rd year in a row we've visited it, but the first two times, it was so cold, we drove it. This year, the night was warm {well, for December} - so we walked it. It was SO much fun! I think our favorite part was walking past all the cars that were driving it and hearing families singing Christmas carols together!!

The Saturday Six

One.

LOVE this post on singleness at the holidays...which can be SUCH a hard time. Oh my goodness. I have not forgotten that joy-mixed-with-pain feeling that just settles over at the holidays. {And frankly, all days sometimes.} Annie Downs penned this one. Masterful.

Two.

Source

You also know my unending heart-cry and passion for people who experience the loss of a child. This article is impossible to read without tears. But it's worth the read. Praying extra today for those who are facing the first Christmas without a child they thought would be there...and those experiencing these losses right now.

Three.

I don't HATE winter. I only hate DRIVING in it. But I confess a few of these {namely the one about walking on icy patches} are completely me - and some of the others are just funny, even if they're not me.

Four.

Source

AMAZING article on loving a friend through grief. It's written by Shelly Buck, who was a guest on Mid-Morning, along with her husband, Josh, back when Lynne was on vacation. Josh and Shelly have experienced the death of a child and a paralyzing accident for Josh - as well as infidelity in their marriage, and her words are those she knows firsthand from many angles. Take a read....

Five.

Source

Excited that this week, I had a chance to interview Alli March from the Scattered Squirrel blog. I'm ALSO really excited that because of the interview, she's started a new blog series about how to create the perfect DIY planner. I can't wait to read the whole series!! And her printables are CUTE and FREE!! 

Six.

Source

Also had a chance, this week, to interview Kay Holseberg, who has started a company called Molly & Me Pecans. She creates all different flavors of sweet and savory pecans, and she said during the interview, that in the coming year, she wants to really focus on doing more wedding events and having pecan buffets for favors. I think that's a really cool idea!!!

It's a PRAISE PARTY!!!!

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! 

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.

{Psalm 27:13-14} 

I marked those verses in my Bible on July 20th, 2014, three days before we signed an offer on the house in Greentown...the one Ryan owned when we got married.

And it is with deep joy that both Ryan and I are excited to share this news with you today:  

One hundred and forty-one days after Ryan accepted an offer on the house, he signed the final paperwork, and we turned this home over to its new owners...a family we have been praying over for many weeks now.

Our hearts faltered many times {mine more than his...my faith is so weak sometimes}, and we faced way more than our share of disappointments and delays in this journey. We wondered, at times, if this day would EVER come. I dreamed about this post...about sharing this news with you...and today, my eyes are filled with tears because I get to shout praises to the Lord and see His goodness in this answer to thousands of prayers.

I am trying to figure out how to best organize the information I want to tell you, and I think for today, I'm going to resort to good ole bullet points.

* This house is more than a house. This is a home. This is where Ryan began his journey of adulthood and homeownership. He has a million memories made in this place and all of them made him the man he is today, and those walls forever hold the memories. This was his home. He labored over it and in it. He made it better. He grew and changed and became even more of God's man within this place. Even though he and I never lived together here, we have some great and pivotal memories of life in this place. It is a home, and we are excited beyond words for the family taking possession. We have prayed that their memories here will be sweet and long-lasting.

* We actually started the journey to sell this house right after we got married...so almost two years ago. We put it up for sale ourselves, immediately found a family who wanted to buy it, did everything we could to make that possible for them, but that didn't work out. They moved out a year later, leaving a lot of necessary repairs behind...along with the two of us, feeling confused, frustrated, disappointed, and betrayed. This was when my faith started to falter big time. I was angry that Ryan had been so giving and so kind...and was left with even more work, more bills, and more heartache.

* This past spring, we listed the house again, this time with a realtor, and we waited...and waited...and waited. The house saw a lot of traffic, but no offers. And finally, in July, an offer. We were elated. SURE that the answer was just around the corner. And then....

* ...delay after delay after delay. If I told you the full story of everything that happened, I would be scraping your jaw off the floor in no time. Things that NEVER happen to anyone...happened to us, and sometimes more than once. Our poor buyers had to work harder than anyone ever should to fulfill demands. And even after everything was done, they had to start completely OVER and resubmit everything again from the beginning. We were devastated. And I'm sure they were too. We were promised a closing many times, and every single time...delayed.

* Yesterday, we were scared to hope. Scared to believe "the day" was really here. I had cried SO many tears. I had wrestled for the life of my faith on more than one occasion. Ryan had wrestled in his own way, yet I cannot tell you how thankful I am that he found a way to constantly lead us steadily before the Lord on this tumultuous path.

* He circled the house {literally} in prayer. We both made trips there to pray within its walls. We had come-to-Jesus prayer meetings at our own house. We made trips to the campus prayer chapel. We prayed while we worked out. We begged for prayer from others on the days when we were not enough on our own.

The road was long and hard, and this close to the answer, I can honestly tell you I have no idea why it took so long. Why the delays. Why the obstacles. Why the maddening ridiculousness. Makes NO sense to me. But I do know - and I knew all along, though it was hard to keep it in front of me at times - that this timing has been in God's hands, and He hasa reason.

Today we REJOICE that God has lifted this burden. We REJOICE in the freedom this answer has brought us. We REJOICE for the family who has worked so hard for this home and now calls it theirs.

And, our dear bloggy friends...we cannot thank you enough for your prayers, your love, your encouraging words, throughout this entire journey. You lifted us and carried us in the times when we were weak. You loved us and though you may have been annoyed and weary...you hung in there and walked the road. This victory is one we share with you, because you were in the thick of it with us.

Thank you...and please praise the Lord with us today!