The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday afternoon, we popped in and out of a birthday party for Ryan's Aunt Debbie.  It was her big 6-0 and we couldn't miss that! When we got home, Ryan had a couple of friends over to watch football. It was so much fun to host them; he's never had guys over for a football party before! Worst part of the whole thing? Sitting next to pizza and nachos and cookies and not being able to have any!

* Monday was the first day of my week off between rounds of the 21 Day Fix, and it was also the first day of a 5 Day Crock Pot challenge, so I got up early and got our dinner ready to cook! Kind of nice to have that out of the way early! I guess Braeya was excited about dinner, because when we sat down to eat, she stood right beside Ryan and begged from him!! He spent his evening working hard on his speech he has to give in a few weeks - he's so cute when he's writing! {But I have missed him - being a writing widow is weird!}

* Tuesday was chore day at home, which included portioning out all the pork from that giant pork loin Ryan brought home last week. Is it bad that organizing food makes me happy? I participated in a webinar that afternoon and apparently Braeya did not want me to take notes, because she plopped right down on my papers and gave me the stink eye. That night, we ended up spending some time in the ER with some friends. It was PACKED in there. Was it a full moon? {Everyone is fine, and we are thankful.}

* I knocked out reading an entire novel on Wednesday. I love reading days. :) It's work, but it's fun! I got the house all ready for small group - and I had a fun surprise when a friend dropped off a belated Christmas gift! Never too late for fun presents, is it? Braeya agrees. She claimed it. {Have you noticed a trend in how she dominates this house?}

* While this is not a new thing, I finally decided to document it. THIS SCREEN is so maddening. Last week it happened seconds after I saved the podcast. Ahhhh, first world problems. I moved on to non-computer activities, like making granola! :) And then we sat down to watch a little TV, but Ryan got kind of sleepy! No worries. I still got to hold his hand!

* Friday, one of my friends stopped by to visit and we had the best time drinking coffee and enjoying each other's company. That night, Ryan and I went out for a date - my first burger and fries in a month. So worth waiting for! Ryan, bless his precious heart, is completely exhausted, and he actually fell asleep at the table after dinner. I love him so much for being up for date night when he was so exhausted.

 * Did a little shopping at Hobby Lobby yesterday. Can I just tell you how much I loved seeing SPRING product on the shelves? YAY!!!!! I took down our January decorations to make way for the Valentine's Day stuff, and I think SOMEONE was not quite ready to let go of the snowman! But we were! It was 55 degrees, and we went for an outdoor run! Our first 5K of 2016!

The Saturday Six

One.

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I've seen versions of this floating around Pinterest, but I like this one because it comes in a version completely ready to print! A map that you can use to overlay pictures from your travels to each state! How cool is this??


Two.

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I've been reading more about writing a verse or two each day to begin implementing new ways to hide the Word in your heart. Melanie posted this list for the month of February - and all the verses talk about love. If you've not done a Scripture-writing challenge before and would like to try, here's a list to get you started!

Three.

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I am excited to share this post with you today for two reasons: one, it is just full of truth you can relate to, and two, the author is my real life friend. Emily was one of those spiritual encouragements placed in my path all the way back in high school. She encouraged me to bring my Bible to study hall and we'd get in trouble passing notes back and forth as we tried to be iron sharpening iron. And we studied a couple of the New Testament books on our own time outside of school. She was encouraging me as a teenager, and she's still encouraging me now. Hopefully now I can spread that to you, too!

Four.

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Not much makes me want to break out into an old fashioned "I declare!" more than the drama that seems to encompass Facebook lately. The place I once loved to share for the sake of sharing and giggles and encouraging seems to have become a junior high cesspool of grownups who use everything for mudslinging against each other and it completely exhausts me. It makes me sad, too, because I think this internet space is such a fabulous tool for lifting one another up and drawing each other closer to Jesus. And because of it, I offer you this internet-breath-of-fresh-air post from the delightful Kristen Strong.  

Five. 

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I'm such an overgrown kid. {You knew this.} I get as excited about giving Valentines to people now as I did in elementary school when you had to write one out for every kid in your class, so you could drop them in their little hand decorated lunch sacks. So when I found this on Rachel Wojo's site - free printables with Bible verses - I started getting ideas swirling already! Cute!

Six.

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My love of small town stories {of course!!}, home renovation shows on TV, and a good little bit of mystery all converged to pique my interest on a new novel called Where She Belongs by Johnnie Alexander. This is actually the first book in a new series called The Misty Willow Series.

The story is that of Shelby Kincaid, a young widow and mother of two little girls, who wants to leave behind her big city life to return to the only place she ever felt like she belonged: Misty Willow. The family homestead is in severe disrepair after being neglected for years by AJ Sullivan, the young man who inherited it from his grandfather. He didn't want the property in the first place and did absolutely nothing to maintain it, a neglect that breaks Shelby's heart.

As she moves back home and tries to create a new life for her broken and grieving little family, she finds that AJ is both maddening and alluring, and the push and pull of her feelings toward him keep her wrestling with her own emotions. She also discovers that the whole transition of the homestead out of her family and into AJ's family is laced with much mystery. Love triangles, love lost, love gained...odd that so much love could seemingly lead to so much destruction.

As is typical for me with small town stories, I wasted no time in falling in love with Misty Willow and with all the people of the surrounding community. The family dynamics were the same kind of frustrating in the book that they are in real life for many people, and while the story was not void of conflict, it was also not void of love and faith. I appreciated the important life lessons Johnnie wove in without allowing them to be overly preachy.

While I wouldn't call the book suspenseful in a heart-stopping sort of way, it does have a good bit of mystery that keeps you reading. The love stories are tender, and there are plenty of unanswered questions to leave room for the next book in the series, due out this fall!

Thanks, Revell, for sending a copy of this book my way in exchange for an honest review!

Eternal Dividends

A couple of days ago, I scrolled through Facebook and saw a picture of a friend {acquaintance, really} who held a check in her hands - the first money she earned from selling an article. My heartbeat quickened for her, excited that she had the opportunity to write for pay, and just as suddenly, the quickening reflected jealousy instead of excitement. For half a second, I wondered why she had the double blessing of working a full time job for pay and being paid to write on the side. Writing is my job now, and it's still usually a volunteer effort.

I shook it off, reminding myself that I write because writing is IN me, and I can't help it. Money isn't my motivation - truly. She deserved her blessing, and I would be happy for her, I concluded. But then the next morning, I awakened to an email {so graciously written} from an organization I'd contacted about freelance work. They told me they only work with writers they know, wished me well, and said goodbye.

That little jealousy pang welled up again and I mumbled something to the Lord about why I can't know the "right" people.

Ryan and I sat down to do our devotions just moments later. We've been reading Beth Moore's book 90 Days with Jesus the One and Only, and among the words for that day, these:

"Every hour you do your job as working for the Lord gets punched on a time clock in Heaven. You get paid by God Himself for the hours you work as unto the Lord...Our future inheritance is real, and it far exceeds minimum wage. As you partner with Christ  at your job, you will be more efficient. No matter whether your new efficiency increases your earthly dividends or not, it most certainly will increase your eternal dividends, where moth and rust cannot destroy or thieves break in and steal."

I think you can understand why and how I was appropriately disciplined.


It's true. Every word Beth said is true. If we are working for the Lord - in whatever kind of work we do - what we do matters, and it pays off in ways we cannot see. {And by that, I mean it doesn't involve a dollar sign.} Even if we ARE getting paid richly in money for the work we do, the most important payment is the part we can't see - the eternal part.

We work on this fairness system we've concocted for ourselves, and we get understandably frustrated when other people "cut" in line ahead of what we're due. How much better to retrain our minds to remember that the eternal perspective is the most important.

It's a hard lesson to learn, and I'm not sure I arrived at it with any particular grace this week, but I am grateful God was quick with the right words. {As usual.} And lest you think otherwise by my potentially bumbling attempt to express myself today, I want you to know how profoundly grateful I am to have the opportunity to write. God is good. I'm thankful.

Throwback Thursday

I thought it was time for some good old fashioned fun here on the blog!

Ryan hauled some old yearbooks out of the attic this week, and I thought you might like to see the Shaffers of the mid-90's.

You might notice there are more pictures of Ryan on this page than there are of me - because, well, I was invisible. LOL! Ryan has never been invisible. He did, however, have hair once upon a time.

Yours truly: the official junior year photo. Were it not for the split on the bottom row, that would have been a perfect bangs day. My hair STILL splits right there.

Same year: Ryan's sophomore photo. If you cover up his hair, he still pretty much looks the same, doesn't he? More distinguished now, of course.

Can you find him in the picture???

Apparently the only way to get your picture in the yearbook is to loiter in the halls when you should be studying in the library. No one ever came to the library to get pictures. This I know. ;)

I'm sure you recognize the nose. This was in the era of my first {and only} perm.

Senior year photo. {They actually took these at the end of our junior year, so that's why the perm is missing.} I hadn't discovered eyebrow waxing yet. Or eyeliner.

Same year - Ryan's junior photo. Isn't he cute? {Hey look! His hair splits too! I think shaving it entirely was sort of a drastic fix....} Just kiddin'!

This one is a little harder to see - but can you find him? Last chance!

Spring musical. I was in the audience. Ryan was on the stage. Raise your hand if you're surprised!

So many things about this picture. First of all - adorable. Secondly - we are still friends with this whole group. {Helpful since one of them is Ryan's cousin.} PETER!!!! You've grown up so much!!! This is from the variety show, and they went on to compete at the state fair. We have that on video.

{INSERT COMMENTARY FROM RYAN REGARDING THE ABOVE PHOTO: "We were robbed!! To this day, I still believe we should have come home from the State Fair with the ultimate crown, as we were the most popular group there, and yet were snubbed by the judges. I'm not bitter or anything. I'm just sayin'. Okay, maybe a little bitter, but just sayin'. It's the truth." End rant.} 

Still friends with this crew too - more spring musical fun.

Ryan's senior picture. I was in college by this time, looking absolutely NO less awkward than I did in high school. I didn't come into my own until pretty much my thirties. Or wait. Have I yet?? :)

Ryan's senior year - goofing off with friends. The same year? I was buried in the college library trying to figure out how to not lose my academic scholarship.


Ahhhhh a fun trip down memory lane. A couple of crazy kids who ended up finding each other many years later!

I Love You And I Like You

I know I normally only tell you about books on Saturdays, so please do not think that today is Saturday and you can stay home for fun! Or that you need to go to church tomorrow! :)

I did some shopping online a couple of weeks ago - looking for gifts for upcoming birthdays and such - and I stumbled across a book written by Steve and Annie Chapman, called I Love You and I Like You.

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Let me just tell you about my deep appreciation for Steve and Annie Chapman. Many years ago - I'm sure at least ten or more - they came to the church I attended and did a one-day marriage seminar on a Saturday. I was single, money was tight for me, but there was something that nagged at my soul, telling me I needed to be in that seminar, whether or not I could afford it, and whether or not I had a husband. So I sacrificed the money, registered, and went. I sat by myself in a pew, surrounded by couples and quite frankly feeling pretty much like an idiot.

I cannot imagine how my half of our marriage would look today if I had not spent that Saturday in that pew. If I had not forked over money I didn't have to learn from these two passionate champions of marriage.

I'm not saying I would be a failure as a wife. I probably wouldn't. But I'm saying my transition into marriage and certainly my attitude toward it shifted dramatically after spending the day under the instruction of this duo.

Before I left that day, I spent more money I didn't have purchasing a considerable handful of their books, hoping I could take even more wisdom home. And that turned out to be another wise investment.

So I was surprised to see this book online because I thought I owned about everything they'd written. {Later, I learned it's a re-release of a book they previously published, but they gave it a new title. I have the original, but this one has updates in it that I'd not read before.} I snatched it up quickly - and I bought a second copy for some friends of ours. Ryan asked me if I should have maybe read it first before buying it for others. I assured him that I knew based on the character of the authors that the book was worth sharing even if I hadn't read it.

And even though I later learned I'd read an earlier version of this, I still hold to what I told Ryan. If the Chapmans wrote it, that's all I need to know. I'll read it. 

Here's what I love about Steve and Annie Chapman. They've been doing this marriage thing for about four decades, and they're transparent about their successes and failures. They don't claim to be experts or to have all the answers. But they'll let you look right in on the good and bad of their journey. They'll suggest what worked for them in case it might work for you, too. They're funny, they're passionate, and they're real people. And when you are done reading any book they've written, you walk away with the hope that this can work for you too, even if you have to tweak the details a bit to fit your situation.

They're committed to teaching you to be a servant spouse and a good friend spouse. They get it: life is hard. Schedules are busy, money is tight, kids are needy, people get tired. They've lived all that. Sickness and dashed dreams and failed attempts at perfection - they've been there. But they've allowed those mountains and valleys to push them to be great communicators, to reach for intimacy {which is different than sex}, to protect their vulnerabilities, to have fun, to be a team, to serve, and to study one another to learn how to do all of that better. Still. Forty years later.

Ryan and I are a great team, I believe. We are best friends, we have a blast together, and I think for still being newbies at this marriage thing, we're doing a good job. But we still want to learn. We still want input and teaching from those who are a bit farther down the road. People like Steve and Annie.

I Love You and I Like You offers their insights on how to be married {and therefore "required" to love} and still be friends {who like each other and genuinely WANT to be together}.  The stories they tell still resonate, even if some of them are stories from years ago.

The book is easy to read, full of stories, sprinkled with humor, and stitched together with truly practical advice that you can implement in your marriage - or save for your someday marriage. I adore this book. I can't wait to study it in a group with some friends of ours, so we can all learn how to have even better marriages. Not textbook better. Daily life better. I can't wait to buy more copies to share with engaged couples and newlyweds and those starting to falter in the "I like you" category.

Steve and Annie Chapman, thank you for being a constant in your own marriage for forty-plus years, and thank you for the sacrifices of time and vulnerability you've made to teach others of us. Our marriage is richer because of you. Thanks for writing this book so many years ago and for updating it to make it available to me now. It's a keeper.

So. About This Fix.

Today on the podcast, we offer some of our funny stories and our hard lessons from the last week. Hope you enjoy!

Click here to listen.

Yesterday I told you about the eating and exercise adventure we've been on with the 21 Day Fix. If you're curious about it, I thought I would spend today telling you things you might need to know for further consideration. {FYI, I am not a coach, nor do I get any sort of anything if you decide to sign up. I'm just telling you the ups and downs of my journey in case you're reaching the same breaking point I did and are curious about how it works. But if you ARE in need of someone to help you, I can send you in the direction of Sarah, who has helped me so much!}

But first, the results: Yesterday was my weigh-in after the second round of the fix. In truth, I was not surprised, yet a little disappointed with the results, because they were not as fantastic as the first time. I wasn't surprised because I had noticed a significant increase in muscle in my arms and legs and abs that did not appear in the first round. I figured an increase in muscle would mean a decrease in pounds lost, and I was right. Overall I lost three pounds in the second round. I wanted ten {dream, big, right?} but definitely hoped for five. Three was lackluster to me. I also lost 2.5 inches this time - and I was definitely hoping for more there. It was 12 inches on the first round.

Having said that, I am now down 11. 6 pounds from November 30th, so I'm trying to focus on THAT number instead and not on this round's results. {PS - this is also why I prefer not to get weighed in general, because I get WAY too fixated on numbers.} Ryan is still proud of me, and I'm working on being proud of me. I still know the system works, and I still know I will continue with it, even though this round was not what I'd hoped for. I will say I do feel better about myself - considerably better - than I did at the end of round one, despite the dramatic increase in pounds lost that time.

Now...back to things you might need to know: 

* I signed up for this program really quickly. I normally like some time to think about decisions like this, plan ahead, get my mind acclimated, etc. It just didn't work out that way this time, and because of that, my first week was heinous. I found an eating plan on Pinterest and picked it because it was there and looked like something I could comprehend. TRULY, that first week was the closest thing to feeling like I was "on a diet" that I experienced the entire time. I did feel deprived, and that wasn't a great start. In the weeks since, I've learned more about the concept of the nutrition portion of this plan, so I have been able to customize my own meal ideas and hunt for other plans on Pinterest that are more exciting and filling. So if you possibly can, take some time before you start to do your research, learn the program, and give yourself an advantage in understanding that this is is not a diet, but truly a doable, lasting lifestyle change. 

* The 21 Day Fix is made up of an exercise routine as well as a nutrition plan, and to achieve good results, it's really important that you commit to both parts of the program. Prior to starting this, our workouts had been sporadic at best. Beginning a routine of daily 30-minute workouts was a big adjustment, and for the first week, I truly {TRULY!} thought I might die. I could seriously barely move. Walking became limping. Climbing stairs required pulling myself up each step by double fisting the railing. We won't even go into the pain of getting up and down off chairs and {gasp} the toilet. If this happens, you will have a series of days when you think you will never get better, but you will - in about a week. And though you may scream in pain, don't stop working out during the days that hurt. You may have to modify every move you make, but keep going. It helps work out the kinks.

* Speaking of modification, in every workout video, there is one woman who modifies each move. She may become your new best friend. Even after two rounds of the Fix, there are still some moves I have to modify. It is better to modify than to do nothing. 

* If you have a sugar addiction like I did, you will also have a withdrawal period similar to what I imagine drug addicts face. {Sugar addiction is actually a real thing - and coming down from it is absolutely NO JOKE.} I had headaches, I was so mad about everything, and I hated life and everyone in it for about four days. And then it got better. {I actually wrote to Sarah, the one who helped me get into this, and asked her at what point I might stop hating people.}

* Apples, pineapple and other forms of fruit will come to feel like dessert, which is its own form of sad for dessert lovers everywhere. But true.

* We learned that for me, it was important to have a couple of cheats a week. Not a couple of cheat DAYS, but a couple of cheats. {That could be a Starbucks drink, a cupcake at a party, something along those lines.} Because this is NOT a diet and it IS a lifestyle change, I was committed from the beginning to retraining my mind to understand that every food on the planet is not evil. On our anniversary, I had a cupcake. A big cupcake. The whole cupcake. And I savored every bite. On my mother-in-law's birthday, I had a little piece of cheesecake, and it was heavenly. On Bre's birthday, I had one small square of pizza and a little helping of cake and ice cream. I don't want to be "that girl" at every event who pushes away the treats and says "I can't have that." I enjoy food and I want to be able to enjoy food. So this was a permission I gave myself.

* The nutrition plan is not a calorie-counting plan or a fat-gram-counting plan. It's a learn-your-food-groups-and-learn-some-portion-control plan. You can have almost any kind of food on this plan. You just can't eat the whole casserole dish full of it. But one thing my rule-loving mind didn't comprehend until a couple of weeks in was that it was okay to break up the portions. I thought I had to eat a WHOLE serving of veggies or a WHOLE protein at a time - to make the measuring work out. Then I learned it was {gasp} permissible to have HALF a serving now and HALF a serving later. That helped me enjoy a variety of foods throughout the day.

* One reason I picked this program was that I did not want to be dependent on a shake or supplement for my entire life. Beachbody has a meal-replacement shake called Shakeology, and while I don't intend to consume it for the rest of my life {can't afford to, for one thing...it's not cheap!}, it became a lifesaver on this program because it felt like a frappe every day and that was something I mentally needed to succeed.

* If you're female and reading this, I want to be honest and tell you that in the first round, my PMS cravings almost killed me. Like seriously almost killed me. Sarah encouraged me to eat extra eggs or nuts to help with the urge to eat, you know, an entire cheesecake. While a cheesecake might have been more fun, the eggs and nuts actually did help the cravings.

* This may not be true for everyone, but for me, having a 2 week break between the first and second rounds was good for me. It allowed me the freedom to eat some treats I couldn't have on the Fix, but also gave me a chance to prove I could implement the portion and food group rules on my own. I gained a lot of self-confidence in that in-between stretch. {And I'm currently in a one-week break in between rounds 2 and 3.}

* Most Beachbody coaches offer a free, private Facebook accountability group to help. It's kind of scary to think about being accountable to perfect strangers, but my goodness - what a help it has been to me. Ryan is, of course, always encouraging and supportive to me in any endeavor I try, but being able to stay accountable to a group of girls struggling in ways similar to my struggles was such a blessing. And to be able to email Sarah with questions was a massive help. So don't be too proud to take advantage of these kinds of assistance.

* One of the hardest things for me at the beginning was making the menu plan. The first few times, it took about an hour and a half because I had to do all the counting and dividing and planning. It felt daunting, and this is the very sort of thing that keeps a lot of people from eating healthier foods. Ordering pizza and grilling hot dogs takes a lot less mental stamina. But as time went by, I got faster at it, I learned more of it naturally, and it wasn't as daunting. If you truly make this a lifestyle change, it is a process that you have to learn, and retraining your mind on anything will take some time. It's worth it, though!

* Ryan did the program with me hard core for the first week because he needed to lose weight for his insurance physical, but after that, he was hungrier than the allotted portions could fill. And he didn't need to lose any  more weight. So to make it easier, I fed him what I ate, but just more of it. I didn't follow the portion control as closely for him because it just wasn't enough to satisfy him. He enjoys all the foods I offer him from the program and says he feels content with them! He still does the workouts with me almost every day, though.

So that's been the summary of what I have learned doing this program. One last thought for you: I seriously considered waiting until the new year to start, but I think one of the best decisions I made in the last year was the choice to start on November 30th. Though the month of December was hard in ways I'd never known, being one month farther into the journey when New Year's resolutions rolled around was quite a mental boost. So if you're waiting for the perfect time to start, there isn't such a thing. Just jump in! That whole cliche of "a year from now, you'll wish you'd started a year ago" is actually true. Also true for a month from now.

My Little Adventure

I haven't talked about this too terribly much here on the blog or on the podcast, but I've been on a bit of an adventure for the last couple of months: a clean eating/intense exercise adventure.

Quick background: I've struggled with my weight all my life. While I've never been particularly obese, I've also never been thin, except for one time in my childhood when I spent a summer swimming at the neighbor's pool and one time in my adulthood after my boyfriend broke up with me.

I declared, after the breakup weight loss, that I would NOT gain it back. And truly, for several years, I held pretty steady. But then I started working at the radio station and the combination of two hours in the car every day, inconsistent workouts, and the stunning amount of snack foods circulating through the break room meant that slowly pounds reappeared.

And then I got married. And we liked to eat out and have dates and treats. And Ryan, of course, gained nothing. I, on the other hand, began getting quite fluffy.

So toward the end of last year, Ryan and I knew something had to change. He wasn't upset with me or repulsed by me or anything of the sort, but he did hate it that I had not only ZERO self-confidence, but actually NEGATIVE self-confidence. He was eager for me to try something - anything - that would help me get on a healthy track for not just my body, but my mental well-being.

One of my Facebook friends, who at that point was more of an acquaintance than a deep-friendship-level friend, had been posting for several weeks about her experience with the BeachBody program. Initially I hadn't paid much attention, because I figured the name alone disqualified me. LOL! But her posts were so sincere and I could tell that her journey to lose post-pregnancy weight was much more than just "getting skinny" for her. It was revolutionizing her mind, her heart, and even her family.

Sarah was actually a runner in the 5K that Ryan and I ran last October, and we talked for a bit at the race that day. And with much embarrassment, about a month later, I sent her a hem-hawing email, asking if we, you know, could maybe, I don't know, talk about this program.

I wanted to cry a little bit when she wrote back, because she was completely non-judgmental, entirely encouraging, and obviously eager to help me in any way she could. And one day later I signed up for this program called the 21 Day Fix.

Committing to this was something I had to just close my eyes and DO, because I knew if I thought about it too much, I would find a thousand reasons why it was a bad idea, an impossible feat, etc.

November 30th, 2015, TWO DAYS before our third anniversary, I stood in our dining room, mortified out of my HEAD as Ryan snapped my before pictures and took measurements of body parts I've never measured in my life. And then I covered my eyes and stepped on the bathroom scales we borrowed from my parents, and he wrote down that awful number. Not the heaviest I'd ever been in life - not by quite a few pounds, actually. But the heaviest I'd ever been in our marriage. Humbling doesn't begin to cover it.

And then he went to work and I sat with my dozen papers and portion control containers and stared at the workout DVDs and wondered what in the world I'd just gotten myself into.

For three weeks I counted out food groups and stumbled through workouts and longed for Blizzards and chocolate cake. I timidly took sweaty selfies and posted them to the online accountability group and bravely checked in with how I'd done in workouts and nutrition that day. I emailed Sarah to ask her exactly how one survives PMS without unlimited reserves of chocolate. I took my own food to family dinners and passed up delicious treats at parties. And sometimes I flat out passed up the parties entirely, because I knew sitting in close proximity to chocolate just wasn't safe.

{If you didn't catch it, my 21 days fell in the first twenty days OF DECEMBER. The heart of Christmas season. What. Did. I. DO????}

At the end of 21 days, I climbed on the re-borrowed scales and covered my eyes again. What if I hadn't lost? What if I had {gasp} GAINED??

At the end of 21 days, which included our anniversary, a birthday party, the first family Christmas and three weeks of straight up holidays, I had lost seven pounds. Seven pounds! I was thrilled!

I immediately committed to a second round of the Fix, but it wouldn't start until January 4. The two weeks in between carried a host of Christmas celebrations, New Year's Eve, meetings with friends...whew! Determined not to undo what I had done, I continued the daily workouts and stayed as close to the eating plan as I could while still allowing myself to enjoy a measure of Christmas.

When January 4th rolled around, I covered my eyes again, and Ryan looked at the number on the scales. Down 1.6 more pounds. {I told him that really equaled five, because we all know everybody gains at least three pounds over Christmas, and if I not only DIDN'T gain, but in fact, LOST, it was like pound credit! He didn't understand that, but if you're a girl,  I bet you will!!}

Today I weigh in for the end of my second round, so tomorrow I'll tell you how I fared. To be honest, I'm scared!! I told Ryan I can tell I've built a lot more muscle during this second round, so I'm freaked out that the scales will not show a loss because of that.

I tell you all of this not for back-patting, but to tell you that this for me {for us} is not a diet. It's a lifestyle change. It's about being consistent with workouts and watching portion control and not having dessert portions {multiple times a day} that exceed my real food portions.

While it's about much more than pounds lost, I have more pounds to lose, and will do more rounds of this program until I reach a good and healthy weight for me. After that, sure I can have a few treats and such. But I am also learning to retrain my mind to crave things that are better for me. Healthier for me. And I can tell it's working. I'm starting to see tone and muscle in places I never have before, and I won't lie - it's exciting!

I also won't lie that I still regularly crave Blizzards and burgers and pizza. But the intensity to which I believe I must have them or I will DIE is lessening. Little victories, people. Little victories. {Case in point: last night, Ryan had some friends over to watch football, and this was what I sat next to the entire night - and I did not cheat. That's more than a little victory, my friends.}

That girl who loved herself and didn't hate what she saw in the mirror is coming back, and Ryan is seeing her for the first time. I love that most of all.

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday was the kind of leisurely we like. Coffee date in the cafe at church, really convicting service, two hour nap, much scrapbooking and reading and football. I am so grateful God thought to stick a day of rest in each week and I'm so grateful we've become accustomed to taking it as such.

* Monday began my last week in the second round of my clean eating/exercise, and I added one more workout to each day just to shock my body. {It is certainly shocked.} So while I worked out and tried to cook veggie-loaded meals, Ryan was turning the Bekah-mobile over to 200,000. Big day for us!

* I spent much of Tuesday preparing for our small group meeting - trying to get everything pulled together and organized. When Ryan came home, he was carrying a big box full of stuff, so I asked if he still had a job. {He does.} Ryan's doing some speaking in a few weeks, so he spent much of Tuesday night hiding in the office working on his talk. It's odd to check on HIM while HE writes. Isn't it usually the other way around in this household?

 * Wednesday was a pretty snow day here in Indiana {not the kind of snow day most of you are dealing with out east right now}. I went down to campus to take pictures in the snow, which was so pretty! {Had to get to it before the students played in it!} That night we held our small group meeting, and Braeya considered leading it - until people showed up and she freaked out and hid.

* Thursday, I trekked to Fort Wayne for my next follow-up dentist appointment. I was thankful for blue skies and clear roads for my trip! I had to run some errands when I came home, and I was so excited to see PLANTS and FERTILIZER and HOSES out in the store. Spring is coming!!! By the time I got settled in at home again, Braeya had missed me and only wanted to snuggle up and make sure I didn't leave again!

* I've been reading a book about faith in my devos this month, and of course Friday seemed to be test day! I had a rough heart day as I wrestled through some stuff with God: thankful for the freedom to have time to do that and for big boxes of tissues and cups of coffee! When Ryan came home {with a pork loin that he had strapped into the car like a child} we rested and then had date night: Starbucks and grocery shopping! We are THE coolest. 

* Yesterday Ryan went to a ministry meeting, so while he was gone, I did chores and read about half a book. :) And I got presents in the mail, which made for a pretty wonderful day. I'll take presents over bills any day of the week. Last night, we went to visit some different friends who have been sick/recovering from surgery, and then we went to Subway for dinner. Ran into Ryan's brother, so we talked to him for a while. A full day, but a good day!

The Saturday Six

One.

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One of my friends sent me the link to this blog post, which pretty much just nails the feelings of singleness. Not all the time, of course, but when it's really hard and you're struggling to put words to why it's hard, this post gives you the words. {And if you're not single, but you have single friends, read it anyway. It will help you understand their hearts.}

Two.

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I know it FEELS like Valentine's Day is a long way off, but it's under a month away. Whether or not you have a Valentine in the significant-other sense, this is a great day to tell the people in your life that you are grateful for them! I have been pilfering through my Valnetine's Day Pinterest board for some inspiration, and I thought I'd share it with you in case you need some too! {Some ideas I've already done, and on those, I left comments for reference of how I liked them or didn't!}

Three.

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I really appreciate this post by Kristen Welch, because I think everyone can identify in some way. We all need reminders that God sees the big picture and reminders to look in this very moment for ways He's present and working.

Four.

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Sometimes I just like a good instrumental hymn to calm my soul. My friend Brent Vernon shared one this week that will give you a moment of heart-respite. You can hear it here.

Five.

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Waiting is hard, and there are four million things you could read {and find helpful!} about surviving a season of waiting. But yesterday this post spoke to me particularly loudly, because it gave me specific prayers to pray in the waiting. If you're waiting for ANYTHING or discouraged by delays and continual no answers when you ache for a yes, check out this post.

Six.

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Last Sunday, I picked up Irene Hannon's latest novel, Thin Ice, to begin a leisurely week of reading. A few hours later, at one in the morning, I was frantically turning the last pages. I could not sleep until I knew how it ended. And she kept me guessing until the end!

I first read Irene Hannon last year with her small-town, feel-good novel Hope Harbor. I am now freshly aware of her talent as an author, because Thin Ice is the opposite of Hope Harbor! This book is the second in the Men of Valor series, and I asked to read it for two completely unrelated reasons: I love figure skating, and I love FBI/crime shows on TV. Those two worlds collide in Thin Ice, making it a good choice for me.

Christy Reed is a former world-class figure skater, who could have medaled in the Olympics, had she not been injured right before they took place. And that was just the beginning of her life filled with too much heartache. In the span of six months, she lost both her parents in a car accident and her sister to a house fire. She'd been working through her grief well until an envelope arrives addressed to her in her sister's handwriting - the sister who died in the house fire.

Convinced something is beyond not right, Christy contacts the FBI and brand new Special Agent Lance McGregor takes her case. His investigation reveals an equal amount of new questions and dead ends where he hoped to find answers. Convinced that Christy's life is on the line, and forced to divide his time among multiple cases and his own family's needs, Lance hopes he can find answers before it's the ultimate kind of too late.

This book is suspenseful from the beginning; the kind of heart-stopping suspense that really would encourage you NOT to read this at one in the morning before trying to sleep, though I did just that {and would do it again}! While Christy is a believer, and there are strong mentions of faith and the Gospel woven throughout, the story is not void of extreme {and sometimes disturbing} violence. Unfortunately, the type of crimes investigated in this book are too common in real life, but if you are jumpy about violence, I wanted to warn you that this book holds a lot of it. Having said that, if you normally watch TV dramas that include this kind of content, this book gives you that without unnecessary side stories.

I appreciated being able to read a story like this without the interruption of foul language, and while there is definitely a strong love-story line woven throughout, there is no inappropriate sexual content either. {Desire, yes. Sex, no.}

Irene tackles hard scenarios and portrays them well. Her characters are well-developed and I didn't find her storyline predictable, which made the suspense {obviously} all the better! I completely forgot to breathe as I read, which in my world, is the mark of a great book.

Thanks, Irene, for a compelling suspense novel, and thanks Revell, for sending a copy my way in exchange for an honest review!