Redoing the Office We JUST Redid...

Well, people, I think it MAY be entirely possible that we have inhaled too many paint fumes. We cracked our own selves up far too often on this week's podcast, but we had a blast and we hope you enjoy the stories...and the voice I can't quit doing...and Ryan's southern accent, which sounds just like Gomer Pyle.

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And now...for the office.

You may remember our big office reveal back in May. I think that room tied with the kitchen for the room I was most excited to see done! Truly. I was so ready for it. I wanted to sit and think and create, and I will say that over the past couple of months, even in all our crazy busyness, and amid all our projects, I have been entirely creative. So it must be working!

But you know what wasn't working? The cat pee smell.

Womp, womp, womp.

As you may have heard/will hear in today's podcast, when we moved in, we elected to put Braeya's litter box in the closet of the office. Litter boxes are so unsightly, and we thought having it in a closet, out of the way, in a room that only we use, would be the best choice. And then we smelled it. And then we caught her doing it. Marking her territory in a way she has NEVER DONE BEFORE.

We weren't sure what caused it. We didn't know if she was just mad about the move, or if she smelled the dog that used to live here, or what happened. But regardless of the cause, we had a mess on our hands that we could not clean up, no matter what we tried.

At long last, and with much resignation, we determined the only solution was to replace the flooring. It's disheartening, when you've just moved into a room and made it your own, to think about dismantling the whole thing and starting over, but we knew it was the best course of action. And even though we are not hardwood people {this we learned after the broken coffee cup at our last house}, we thought a wood laminate in this room might be a good choice, since it is an office. It would look more office-y, and our chairs would roll around better. We thought it was a good decision.

So we chose a wood laminate that was kind of a gray-brown, and last week, I unloaded half the office so Ryan could rip up the carpet and lay down the new flooring.

Braeya was immediately unhappy about the removal of her "project."

 We became "those people" - cutting wood scraps long into the evening. Our apologies, neighbors!!

Once he got the first half of the room done, we had to unload the OTHER half of the room, which made an even bigger mess in our room.

But Ryan worked hard and finished the floor that evening...and we were able to load EVERYTHING back in its rightful place:

And now...the before and after AGAIN:


The first side:

And the second side:

We love it! And we are calling it done, done, DONE!!!

43rd Monthiversary

Happy Fourth of July to those of you here in the States! Hope you're able to enjoy a nice long weekend!

Ryan and I hit another marital milestone over the weekend: 43 months of wedded bliss! The past couple of weeks have made me so weary, as we are powering through some unexpected home projects, and I won't lie: I am so over the home projects. I'm in writing and speaking mode and it's really hard to stay in that mode all day every day while surrounded by projects! I wanted to be a supportive and helpful wife, but I fear I did not always accomplish that objective. But even when I was stressed and tired and beating myself up for wife failure, Ryan was so good to encourage me and make me laugh. These are the things that make me grateful for this life we share!

Ryan worked most of Saturday, which was our monthiversary, and when he got home, we went on our standard monthiversary date: Starbucks and Lowe's. LOL! I am afraid to tell you just how many of our monthiversaries have included that very combo!

And then...we had an extra special treat!

You see pictures on here a lot of our fun times with Ryan's family, but my family is scattered all over {and there are not that many of us - quite the opposite from Ryan's family-for-days crowd!}, so we rarely see each other!

But one of my cousins recently graduated from high school {she lives out of state} and her parents threw a party for her at my aunt's house, here in Indiana, so the family could celebrate together. I was so excited because some of my cousins had never even MET Ryan. That's how rarely we see each other.

And I have to tell you that these cousins are ALL ABOUT hospitality. I knew it would be a fun night with good food!

The party was out on the lawn, with a little tent for the food and chairs covered in quilts that the guest of honor had made herself. Summer projects, they told us. I couldn't have made ONE of them if I worked on it every day for the rest of my life. Her talent is incredible!!

They had pictures and scrapbooks and all kinds of things to honor her, and then there was the FOOD. Homemade breaded tenderloins, fried pickles, pretzel breadsticks with cheese sauce, Caesar salad, macaroni and cheese, carrot cake, and a couple of pies. Not much on the clean eating list, but it was a delicious treat meal! OH! And the pop! They had these throwback bottled sodas in all kinds of flavors. I had root beer, and Ryan had a black cherry and some Shirley Temple drink. I'm sure it all looked questionable form a distance, but I promise it was all strictly POP! {Soda - whatever you call it.}

My parents were there, so of course we had to get pictures of them, too, and our official 43rd monthiversary photo!

We stayed until dark so we could watch the fireworks {because you know...I LOVE FIREWORKS} and it was the perfect end to the day! It was a shockingly cold day, so we were all wrapped up in the quilts, but it was still fun!

Oh! And the sunset was STUNNING!

 It was a good little fireworks show!

So that's not a bad way to celebrate another month of marriage, is it?

Thanks, family, for throwing such a great party and for including us! It was so good to see you!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday afternoon, Ryan and I went to an open house of a house in our neighborhood. NO, we're not moving, but they're just fun to go to! Fun to go get decorating ideas, right? And take shower selfies? Embarrassing but true fact. A pretty decent rainstorm came through Sunday night, of course right when we were trying to grill our dinner. 1000 points to Ryan for standing in the rain and cooking our food! And it turned out quite tasty...not soggy!

* Monday afternoon, Ryan got off work a little early and he and Braeya hung out with me in the office while I worked on some writing. Then it was BACK to Lowe's to look at carpet {again}. Our projects, people. They literally never end. More info on all these adventures coming soon. Meanwhile, enjoy Ryan riding the cart out into the parking lot. :)

* Tuesday...more writing! This was a heavy writing week for me, and I loved every minute of it. That night, we painted our garage floor with an epoxy paint treatment. More info on that coming soon too, but suffice it to say that it was the EASIEST part of the process. Prep work was way harder than actual painting.

* Wednesday, I gave myself a patriotic manicure, which was much fun to have, and then Ryan and I ripped apart the office: yes, the office we JUST put together a few weeks ago. THAT office. Here's the short version. As an act of rebellion against moving, Braeya peed in the closet in our office. Just a couple of times, and we worked to clean the carpet, but no matter what we did, it didn't get better and actually, in some ways, got worse. We realized we had no choice but to rip out the carpet and we decided to replace it with wood laminate. So we had to unload the entire office and Ryan began the super long task of laying the new flooring.

* Thursday, I went to visit Ryan at work for his lunch time, which was a free lunch for the employees. {He filled right up on hot dogs and nachos!} He ended up being able to take the whole afternoon off work - totally unexpectedly - and worked some more on the office. And slept. But we won't talk about that. He absolutely deserved that nap.

* Friday we had to unload the last part of the room that hadn't been done yet, and at that point, I had reached my saturation point on moving stuff. I didn't have a very sparkly attitude about it. Because my office was displaced, I had to work on the living room floor, which turned out to be perilous. LOL!! BUT Ryan got it all done - the flooring, that is - and we moved everything right back in where it belonged!

* Yesterday was our 43rd monthiversary, and we spent the evening at a graduation open house for my cousin! She has lived her whole life several states away, so I've not been able to watch her grow up right before my eyes, but her parents threw a FUN open house party for the family at my aunt's house. Homemade tenderloins, fried pickles, classic sodas in bottles, and even fireworks at the end of the night! It was a great party and a fun way to celebrate 43 months!

The Saturday Six

One.

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For those of you who love to read, the Christy awards were this past week, and this list shows the winners and finalists. This particular award is for Christian fiction, and a few on the list were books I've read and featured on previous editions of the Saturday Six. But there are many more I haven't read, so if you're looking for good reads, this might help you! And also - a special shout-out to my real-life friend and fiction author/winner Jody Hedlund for her win in the historical romance category!

Two.

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I really enjoyed this article written by a Christian photographer about how she lives out her faith in her small business ownership. It's a great story {even if you don't own your own business}, but it also holds solid truths about how to blend the two and not feel the need to keep them separate!

Three.

I love this brief article written by a woman who happened upon a 100 year old grave in a cemetery: a baby's grave. She paused to recognize the life of a baby we know nothing about, and it made my soul warm to read about it. I remember when Ryan and I were driving through Cade's Cove in the Smoky Mountains, and we wandered through an old cemetery. I took pictures of several stones on infants' graves, because I didn't want to forget that their lives mattered, even though we know nothing of them. {The photo above is one I took, not the one from the article.}

Four.

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Did you see this? Beth Moore has a new study coming out soon! It's called Entrusted, and I think it looks delightfully challenging. You can check out the details and a trailer here!

Five.

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Hey! Monday is the fourth of July, you know! I found this cute little recipe that I plan on twisting just a bit and serving with our breakfast! Cute and...you know...FRUIT!!

Six.

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Last week I told you I read the first of three books written by Jennifer Sands. {A reminder in case you forgot or are new here...Jennifer was the keynote speaker at the women's conference I spoke at earlier this year. Her husband worked in the World Trade Center and was killed in the 9/11 attacks.} I heard her say when she spoke that it's important to read all three books in her faith trilogy, and after reading book two, I absolutely see why.

The second book, which I read this week, is called A Teachable Faith. While I really enjoyed reading the first book, and even mentioned in my review last Saturday that the last chapter {which contained a smattering of her journal entries from that first year after 9/11} that it was inspiring to watch her faith grow through each entry, there was still something that settled funny with me at the end of that book. I hadn't found the moment when her faith became genuine and her heart truly born again. It nagged at me a bit.

And this is why it's important to read book two! Jennifer addresses immediately that her first book was published just a couple of years after 9/11 and her faith was incredibly immature. Growing, but quite immature. She had not, even at the time of publishing a book on faith, truly committed her life to Christ. But shortly after the book was published, Jennifer began receiving invitations to speak about her story. She'd never been a public speaker and found it intimidating. Her sister invited her to come to church with her to hear their pastor because he was an accomplished speaker. So she went...and she never paid one bit of attention to his style, because she became completely enamored by his message. The message of Christ.

So this second book chronicles her faith journey after she fully devoted her heart and soul to Jesus. After she let Him transform her from the inside out. Each chapter chronicles the lessons she learns along the path and it is quite obvious with each turn of the page, that she truly found Jesus as her Savior and her teachable faith matured.

It's a beautiful story of growth without being academic and preachy. It's a great refresher for those of us who have been believers for a long time and a great teaching tool for those new to the faith.

In the last chapter, Jennifer once again lets her readers peek into her journal, and this time it's to travel alongside her to the Holy Land. She had the opportunity to be part of a group with her church, and she writes candidly about standing in the very places where Christ stood. It's quite soul-stirring to read.

I have one more book to read in this trilogy, and I'm looking forward to visiting Jennifer's life again and learning more from her about growing in vibrant faith!

So. We Need to Talk.

What a cheery intro line for a Friday, huh? :)

First of all, happy Friday, happy long weekend to those of you who get the fourth off, and happy brand new month! It's a lot for one little day to hold, isn't it?

So today I will thank you in advance for being my good little listeners, because I just have to talk this one through out loud!

First up...the disclaimers.

I know that I am over the top when it comes to pictures. It's part of my charm and why you love me, right? I could do a whole series of posts {but I'll spare you} on WHY I am so over the top when it comes to pictures, and I feel my reasons are quite valid.

I also know that there's no right way to do pictures. Everyone has a system that works for them and even though {breathe, breathe, breathe} it may not match my system, it's still {breathe, breathe, breathe} a good one.

So just know that I know these things, okay?

Yesterday I was reading an email my dear Lynne Ford had written about her recent trip to Israel. She said she took over 900 pictures on that trip, and I stood to applaud. {900 is like a Monday for me, but for her to do 900 on a trip is HUGE and I am crazy proud of her for it. WELL DONE, LYNNE!!!}

She said the guide urged people, when they happened upon a new sight to behold, to not take a picture, but to stop and absorb first and then to take a picture.

And that was when I felt my heart constrict and my breath stop entirely. These words: not take a picture. What does that mean?

I kept reading and she said they were told they could not take a picture for the first 15 minutes of their boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. That's when my hand literally {and do not think I'm kidding} went straight to my throat and I gasped for air that would not come.

Yeah, it's possible I have a picture problem.

But fifteen minutes of being forbidden to photograph? I can go fifteen minutes without taking a picture. {No, really! I can!!} But if you tell me I can't, well I might break out in hives.

So I understand, truly, the point of not just living life peering through a camera lens, but actually taking time to stop and absorb. I get it. I do. And I'm a memory maker and writer, so I want full absorption.

But I'm backwards, apparently, and I didn't even know it. I have to take the picture first, so I know it's captured, safe on the card, and that task is out of the way...and then I can stop and absorb. I want time to spend making the memory without worrying that at the end I have to rush back and take all the pictures.

Most of the pictures I take are of first sights. The moment something comes into view, I capture it, and then I sit and savor it. And when I look at my pictures, I know that what I'm seeing is that first moment all over again. And I love that.

Even though I take pictures of everything, I am not always taking pictures. {No! Really!} I do my share of living the moment. And when the moment is SO huge, I make sure I've arranged for someone else to capture it for me, so I can live fully in the moment.


For example, my best friend took this in 2010, the very moment I saw the ocean for the first time.

I soaked in {not literally} everything about those first views, while she snapped picture after picture.

And sometimes I'm that person. The designated memory-grabber. When my friend Kari's son was a senior, she "kept me on retainer" to photograph some of his senior events, including his graduation and open house, so she could be free to be a mom and not have to mess with taking any pictures. I thought it was brilliant. I was honored that she asked and happy to serve as her camera lens so she could make her memories. I've hidden in corners at births, parties, open houses, and more, just grabbing candid moments of memories in the making.

I write about our life in the moment when I blog and journal about it. But my best life-writing comes months later, when I've marinated and observed more of the big picture. And in those moments, when I go to write, I write with my journal open on one side and my photos open on the other side. Those two tools take me back to the moment itself and I relive it as vividly as I lived it to begin with.

So that's how I photograph. Pictures first, then full absorbing. How do you do it? Do you take pictures at all? Do you live first and photograph later? Photograph first and live later? Do both at once? Hire it done?

And thanks for letting me talk through this and get it off my chest. I feel MUCH better now. And hopefully you still love me. And my camera. Because we are sometimes one and the same.

What I Learned in June

Well, my friends, June's a wrap! Can you believe it?!? Memorial Day feels like a thousand years ago, and I'm sure in a month, I'll be saying the same thing about the fourth of July! It's been a busy month of learning for my little brain. Some tidbits you may or may not need to know include...

1. You can have a new key made for a lawn mower.

In the great key misplacing of 2016 {featured on a podcast story earlier this month} I had a mild major panic attack, because one of the misplaced keys was to our lawn mower. We just bought it {used} off a friend, and he didn't give us a spare. And I don't even know that he had a spare to give us, because it was used when he got it as well. So in my mind, here we were with a "new" mower that had only been ours for about a month, and we were going to have to buy and maintain a goat, because we lost the mower key. About two hours into the panic attack, Ryan casually mentioned mowers can be re-keyed. WHAT?! I did not know this!


2. Mangoes? Not my favorite.

I have learned throughout the course of this health-finding journey that I enjoy a great many foods I did not know I liked. Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes top that list. So when mangoes were on sale at the store earlier this month, Ryan suggested we get a couple and try them. I was eager to try, because I was on a new-food-loving roll! But it turns out I really don't care for them. I feel like a bit of a fruit failure, but I like most of the rest of the fruit family, so I will try not to mourn the dismissal of the mango. {Or maybe it wasn't the best mango and I should try again?}

3. You should water your flowers in the morning or evening, not in the heat of the day.

You all probably knew this already. But I'm so NOT a green thumb and it's a wonder anything plantish has ever survived under my care. I can't remember what I was reading this month that told me this little tidbit, but it was news to me. I figure the flowers that live here are lucky IF I remember to water them. And IF I remember at two in the afternoon, I better get up right then and do it or I might not remember again come evening! But I've been doing my best to water at the appropriate time of day. {Why it's appropriate? No idea. I can only absorb so much information at once.}

4. Moms are even more amazing than I knew.

I'm not a mom and have always acknowledged that being a mom is hard work. But earlier this month, I watched our two nephews and one niece for a whole day, and by 5:00, I had developed a brand new sort of appreciation for the work moms do. These three kiddos are great kids. They are well-mannered and fun and in no way make me crazy. But when Ryan got home from work and I gleefully reported that I had managed to UNLOAD THE DISHWASHER that day - and realized that was actually all I accomplished - I realized just what a huge job parenting is. The kids were dressed, the babies were in clean diapers, everyone had eaten something at some point and some had napped twice. No one was crying {including me!} and an impressive gaggle of photos represented the day. But the house was a disaster and the only work I accomplished was unloading the dishwasher. Moms? You rock.

5. Smoke alarms can expire.

Ryan and I were painting in our garage last week when the smoke alarm went off. Actually, to be fair, EVERY smoke alarm in our entire house went off. There are six. Do you know how shrill six smoke alarms sound in unison? For the record, there was absolutely no fire {thank you, Jesus!} and we called Ryan's cousin, who is a firefighter, to get insight on why this might be happening and HOW TO MAKE IT STOP! He suspected one of the six had gone bad and if we could find the one, we could eliminate the deafening screams. Ryan did just that and upon removing the offending alarm, he said, "Oh! This needed to be replaced five years ago." I had no idea those things could expire! So keep an eye on milk AND smoke alarms! 

 6. My first year off work was 100% not what I expected...and I had no expectations!

June 26 marked one full year since I left the full time work force to become a stay at home wife and writer/speaker. I had no idea what to expect with this career change. I was simply following what I felt God urging me to do and leaving the rest up to Him. What unfolded was not at all what I expected, but it has been one beautiful year. I recapped it here last week, in case you missed that post, but I walk away from June grateful for a good first full year off work and amazed at the beauty of the wildly unexpected.  

7. I am a fan of parchment paper.

I bought my first roll of parchment paper years ago, because a recipe I made said I needed it. I owned that roll for years, wondering why I wasted money on one little recipe. But I have noticed a number of clean-eating recipes recommend using parchment paper when you bake, so I started using it more, and then I started using it for EVERYTHING I bake on a cookie sheet, because cleanup goes so much faster. I hate, hate, hate scrubbing dishes. {Truth? Ryan does 95% of the dishes that have to be washed by hand. He doesn't mind it and knows I hate it with all my being.} Parchment speeds that process up so much. It's my new cooking best friend.  

So that is what I've learned in June! Emily Freeman is hosting a link-up with many other very wise bloggers, so if you want to learn even more, check it out!

 

Sweet Potato Chips

A few of you asked me for this recipe, so I made it a few nights ago so I could share it with you!

Let me start by saying that until this clean eating adventure, I did not know I liked sweet potatoes. Correction: I knew I did not like sweet potatoes. The only way I had ever eaten them was on Thanksgiving, drowned in marshmallows, butter, and pecans. Now doesn't that sound just like something I would adore? Vegetables masked with sugar and more sugar? It does, and I still don't know why I didn't like it, but I didn't. I tried them every few years, just to see if my tastes had changed, but they had not.

But I learned when I started clean eating, that sweet potatoes were one of the vegetables I was allowed to have, so I was determined to learn to like them.

I started making this as a substitute for fries, serving them alongside turkey burgers, and I found out...I really like them!

They are pretty quick to put together, don't take long to bake, and while they aren't the same as greasy French fries, I do find them delicious and a much healthier alternative! And perhaps, with time, I will learn to like sweet potatoes fixed other ways, too!

Sweet Potato Chips

* 1 medium sweet potato
* 1 egg white
* 1 Tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
* 1/3 teaspoon seasoned salt
* 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

 Wash and dry the sweet potato and cut it in the shape of chips or fries as desired. Spray a cookie sheet with olive oil and arrange fries/chips on sheet. Brush with half the egg white. Mix together the parmesan, seasoned salt, and garlic powder and sprinkle half of it over the chips/fries. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes, remove from the oven, flip them over, brush with the other half of the egg white and sprinkle on the other half of the cheese mixture. Return to the oven and bake for 10 more minutes. Serve warm!

 A Few Tips:

* If you hate the skin of a potato, you can peel the sweet potato, but the skin is actually very good for you, and I'm also too lazy to peel potatoes, so I just leave the skin on. I wash and dry it really well before I slice it.


* I always cut mine like chips so they bake faster and are a bit crispier. If you prefer, you can cut them like fries. Totally a personal preference thing!

* I use a silicone brush to brush half the egg white on the pan. Spoiler alert: If you drip some egg white on the pan by accident, it will bake up like a fried egg! Not that I know this from experience....

* Also, I've learned to put parchment paper on my baking sheet for easier cleanup. I hate scrubbing dishes. 

* These do bake faster, and are in my opinion, crispier in the oven, but you can also grill them if you prefer. Just keep an eye on them to know when you need to flip them and have them be done. I think Ryan probably had them out there on the grill somewhere between a half hour and forty minutes. Part of that will depend on the strength of your grill, of course.

* If you want, you can add other spices: oregano or chili powder would work well! The more you add, the less you'll notice the sweet taste, so if you prefer that it tastes more savory, just add a bit more of those spices on to put that taste back at the front.

* If you warm these over in the microwave, they will be softer, so either warm them up in the oven to crisp them back up, or be prepared for softer chips/fries. They still taste great. Just not as crispy.