The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday was supposed to be Phoebe's last day with us. Her people had been traveling overseas, and her dad was supposed to be home on Sunday. I soaked up the whole afternoon with her because I knew she was leaving that night. But while I was fixing our homemade pizza rolls for dinner, he texted and asked if she could spend one more night. He was back on US soil, but he was too tired to drive the rest of the way home yet that day. So we happily kept her one more night. More bonding time with Ryan is never a bad thing, Phoebe decided, and I agree!

* Monday morning, Phoebe's dad showed up before he went to work and they shared the sweetest reunion. He was worried she might have forgotten him, but SO NOT THE CASE!!!! Since her mom wasn't back yet (she stayed overseas an extra week), Phoebe spent the work hours with me throughout this week too. Since Monday was September 11th, she curled up and watched documentaries with me all day. When the end of the afternoon came, I packed up all her stuff and she went home with her dad for the night. Braeya stepped outside our bedroom (very cautiously) for the first time in a month.

* Pheebs was back on Tuesday, snuggling with me while I worked on my computer. We held our first small group meeting that night, so I spent the afternoon baking cookies and assembling the house for our meeting. I know I already blogged about that, but we thought it went really well, and we were grateful.

* Pheebs was extra snuggly on Wednesday. She did not want me to put her down THE WHOLE DAY. I think she was feeling the weirdness of shuffling back and forth between two homes! Despite dog cuddling duty, I did manage to make a new recipe that was delicious. Philly sloppy joes!

* I worked at my volunteer job on Thursday and finished assembling the newsletter for the week. (That's one of my jobs at the school.) I have gotten really great feedback on the newsletters from different people, which is really encouraging. Came home to more kisses from Pheebs, and then that night, Ryan and I ran some errands, which included road rage at the gas station. Apparently we took a guy's pump. Whoopsie!

* We had SO MUCH FUN on Friday night, and I can't wait to tell you more about it. We met up with our friends Jon and Julie. Dinner (AND STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES) at Ivanhoe's! We had a great evening and were grateful for that double date!

* Ryan had a much-deserved day off yesterday. He made me breakfast in bed, and then spent his day off working in the yard, which pretty much made his entire day. I scrapbooked. We were both in our happy places. Then last night, we went out for our date inspired by the letter S. It was FUN!

The Saturday Six

One.

A Beauty and the Beast themed wedding? I think it's probably good for Ryan that I didn't see this idea before OUR wedding!

Two.

Did you see this article from the New York Times? The couple named Harvey and Irma? What are the chances! (Also: relationship goals!!)

Three.

Pretty fascinating piece! Places featured on postcards in the 1960's, photographed again today and compared.

Four.

If you need a flipped house reveal to brighten your day, check out this one! I am impressed!

Five.

Oh my heart! You know we love AGT, and this article about the death of Evie Clair's father just made me so sad. Evie Clair is one of my favorites. So much poise! (Any of you watch AGT and have a favorite in the finals?)

Six.

Need a new snack/appetizer to share at fall gatherings? This candy corn dip is just stinkin' cute.  

God's Not Hiring a Personal Assistant

I have to remind myself of this now and then. (And of course, by now and then, I mean regularly.) God isn't hiring a personal assistant, so I can turn in my resume all I want, but it's entirely in vain.

This week was our inaugural meeting for our new small group. We're hosting it through our church, and since we're new to the church itself, we don't really know anyone. When we received our roster of people who had either asked to be in our group or been arbitrarily assigned to join us, we knew exactly two names: Ryan's boss and his wife. (And they don't even go to our church. They just wanted to be part of the group.)

Though we didn't set out to have a couple-focused group, we ended up with a list of couples, and we looked them all up in the church directory to try to guess ages and learn names.

The day of the study, I ran Rosie (that's our iLife vacuum), dusted the house, cleaned the bathrooms, put away all the Frank-and-Marie-Barone blankets that had been covering our furniture during Phoebe's visit, and baked a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies.

I arranged the napkins, turned on the Keurig, pulled out the creamer and coffee syrups. I arranged extra chairs from other rooms, and wrote a welcome message on our chalkboard.

Then I stewed for a bit.

I stewed because I worried that these couples wouldn't gel. My guess was that we had about an equal number of younger and older couples, and even though I dearly love a good mixed group, I wondered if those in attendance shared my love of a mixed group. What if the older crowd didn't care for impulsive whippersnappers? What if the younger crowd didn't care for the careful ways of their elders?

From there, the what-ifs just got out of hand. What if someone was allergic to Braeya? What if no one liked coffee? What if the house smelled like a dog and cat had been fighting for chief resident for a month? What if the house smelled like anything from the diffuser that someone was sensitive to? There are so many things to worry about these days!

The first car pulled into the driveway and as soon as that couple walked into the house (with all other members following shortly thereafter) all the worries went away. They took off their shoes and made themselves at home. They stirred up coffee concoctions and took seconds on cookies.

We engaged in obligatory ice-breaker conversations, where they opened right up and shared without judgment. They laughed together and sympathized over the hard stuff. And when the study officially concluded, they stayed. For over a half hour, they sat in their seats, continuing to get to know each other, blending easily over the decades that separated them, asking great questions (without the help of icebreakers) and eating more cookies.

All those prayers I'd paced through, telling God I just wasn't sure He'd assembled the right group seemed a bit ridiculous to me by the time we closed the door for the last time that night. I'm not sure a group of matched souls could have done much better than this group did on a first time meeting. It was comforting and encouraging, and I was both thankful and convicted.

God's not hiring a personal assistant. He doesn't need me to create His rosters or direct the conversation. He just needs me to sit back and appreciate the work He's doing.

It's a truth I knew, but clearly I needed a reminder. Maybe you do too, today. Withdraw your resume. He's got this, my friend!

Sharing here today!

Random Questions for Your Thursday

As you know, Phoebe went home to her own house this past Monday, but for the remainder of this week, she's spending the daytime hours here with me, and for some reason, yesterday she needed all the hugs all day long. It was a writing day for me, and at one point, I was in my office, balancing on my ball chair, holding her in my lap, while peering around her to write on the papers spread over the desk. I tried to get her to sit in Ryan's chair beside me, but she'd have none of it. She wanted to be on my lap, with her head resting on my shoulder. Oh! And if I could rock her gently, that would be great.

I still worked hard, and by the time Ryan came home from work and Phoebe went back to her house, I was mentally exhausted. (You know it's bad when your husband says, "Are you okay? You look really tired." There are some things even eyeliner can't fix.)

SO! I recuperated with some of my favorite go-to mental vacations, and I began to wonder if any of these are just weird Bekah practices. Do any of you do any of these things? (I'll go with my most frequent forms of therapy.)

Read one star reviews on Amazon for pure entertainment. When I write book reviews, I avoid reading any Amazon reviews until I have written mine, but then I look up the book and read all the best and worst reviews to see how mine fared against other opinions. But when I need a brain break, I'll look up something (not necessarily a book) and read all the one star reviews, because those can be awfully entertaining. When people are that disgusted, they tend to skip all filters.

Last night I looked up a children's book (which shall remain nameless, in case you love it) and read all the one star reviews. My favorites were: "Haven't received the book yet." (That's a review?!?!??) and "Adored this book." (Maybe that reviewer thought one star meant first place?)


Read Facebook threads for pure entertainment. I'll admit that this one often falls under looking for grammatical entertainment. But anytime I see a Facebook update that has anywhere from dozens to hundreds of comments, there are sure to be some real gems hidden among them. Ryan knows he better just set aside some time if I pipe up with "LISTEN TO THIS!"


Create secret Pinterest boards for dreams that are unlikely to ever take shape. It's like the grown-up version of a dollhouse. You can design the house you would build, the trip you would take, or the restaurant you would open, all for free, right there on Pinterest. I won't tell you how many mindless, secret boards I've created over the years, but they all make me very happy.



Watch sitcom episodes I've seen a thousand times and quote every line. I'm convinced I could have memorized my multiplication tables a lot faster in elementary school if they had been worked into television scripts. Think of all the recesses I could have actually enjoyed! Alas, I stayed inside and tried to memorize the test itself so I could pass it. (True confessions of your Bekah-girl.) Anyway. the whole sitcom recitation thing is a good mindless activity. Yesterday the line was PIVOT!!! PIVOT!!! PIVOT!!!!!!

Watch a show I know good and well will make me cry just to have a good cleansing. I did NOT do this one yesterday but if my head feels full, I'll do it in a heartbeat. My latest cure-all? Long Lost Family. Do you watch that show? Tears for DAYS. Every time. (Phoebe had to sit with me through this show a few times while she stayed with us. I'm pretty sure she thought I'd lost my mind.)

Anyone else do any of these? No? Just me? (Maybe you have a new one I should try?)

Linking up with Tamar!

Siesta Key on My Heart

Five years ago, this December, we said our vows on the sands of Siesta Key Beach.

As you know, I'm quite the planner-girl (perhaps over-planning at times) with no less than three backup plans. When I look back on that wedding day and realize I had put all my eggs (and even a few borrowed ones) in the single basket of a beach wedding with absolutely NO backup plan in the event of inclement weather, I barely recognize myself.

The girl who spent her entire life vehemently declaring she would NEVER, I repeat never get married outside because it was just too risky, got married outside with no backup plan.

And we could not have asked for a more perfect day. December 2 gave us 82 degrees, full sun, and the most perfect slight breeze that kept the full sun from being overwhelming without messing up an expensive hairdo.

I read over the weekend that they evacuated Siesta Key Island as Irma made her way toward Florida. So we waited to hear how our beach fared, and Monday, the resort where we stayed did a couple of live Facebook videos, showing the property and this very stretch of beach where we stood to say our vows.

The beach was a bit messy, and some of the sidewalks hid beneath a couple inches of water, but the resort suffered no extensive damage. Power outages, a downed tree, debris (of course), but nothing that can't be cleaned up with time.

I saw our beloved gazebo where we first saw each other on our wedding day.

And I saw the walkway (beneath the couple inches of water) where this photo was taken at the end of our wedding day:

We know there are so many people and places facing extensive damage/repair/rebuilding, and of course, we never want to minimize that. But for us, this was a special place where our life together began, and we were happy to see it is still standing.

We haven't yet heard from all our Florida friends, but the ones who have reported in are all doing well. We continue to pray for those who have a long recovery road ahead. We may never be able to live there, but Siesta Key is on our hearts always, and especially now!

The End of Another Era

Eras are ending left and right around here, aren't they?

Before we talk about it, we have some new podcast stories for you. We were a bit slaphappy this week, but I think it made us even better. Enjoy some laughs!

Listen here!

So back to the eras...

Yesterday I told you about Mid-Morning ending here in the next few weeks. The end of a long and Spirit-saturated era.

In a much shorter (and while we won't eliminate the presence of the Spirit, He might not want as much credit and/or blame for it) era, our dear Pheebs went back home to her people last night.

They had been traveling extensively, so we ended up having Phoebe for just shy of four weeks. We'd gotten pretty comfortable with the sweet little thing and had developed our very own routine with her. She was (thankfully) quite a creature of routine, so she fit in very well here in Shafferland.

She ate, slept, played, and use the bathroom like clockwork. (Right down to the very yards-of-choice for her bathroom activities.)

And she was the most perfect writer's dog. She spent many hours at a time camped out under the desk while I worked on my writing, only stirring to switch sides or follow me into the kitchen for a warm-up on coffee.

She was a great cuddler, and hugs and kisses were never at a shortage when she was in the room.

But all good things must come to an end, right? So yesterday I packed up all her stuff and sent her home with her people.We spent the evening washing sheets and blankets (we'd been living like Frank and Marie Barone when it came to covering living room furniture), taking down the barricade between our room and the rest of the house, and not taking an evening walk. (I foresee my step count going down tragically.)

It was such fun to have Miss Phoebe, but I think our dear Braeya is ready for a return to the run of the house. Here's to hoping she lets us sleep sometime in the coming week. We may be paying for our hospitality for a while!

End of an Era

* First of all, I spent most of yesterday glued to news of Irma's landfall. Continuing to pray for all of you affected directly and indirectly by her arrival. I saw on Saturday that the entire Siesta Key Island (where we were married) had been evacuated. Anxious to see how our beloved wedding sanctuary fared.

* Secondly, September 11th is one of those days that always gets me in the gut. I usually spend the day watching ALL the documentaries, even though they're the same ones I saw last year and the year before that. Though I didn't personally know anyone who died that day, my heart is always tender toward the thousands who experienced loss from those events, and today is no different.

And now...on to today's blog!

Some of you already know this news (from Facebook) but this past Friday, my dear Lynne Ford announced her retirement (taking effect at the end of this month) and the subsequent end of Mid-Morning.

If you're new to the blog, you might have no idea what I'm talking about, but most of you probably do. After all, Mid-Morning was how I met many of you! For those of you who don't know, I spent four years working at a Christian radio station in Fort Wayne, and I was the producer for Mid-Morning, which was their locally produced daily talk show. Lynne was the host, and the two of us formed a strong friendship during those four years!


I loved working at WBCL, I loved Mid-Morning, and of course, it's dear to Ryan and me especially, because that was where he proposed to me! Live on the air, right there in the 10 a.m. hour.

So today, I wanted to pay tribute to Lynne and the time we shared together on Mid-Morning. And of course, I feel the best way to do that is through pictures. Enjoy:

The friendship began this day, when a shy little self-published author from Marion trekked to Fort Wayne for a ten-minute radio interview about her book. Best choice ever.

Because eight months later, that little author became a staff member. And she gained a new, everyday friend in Lynne.

(This photo was from our station photo shoot about a week into the job. We barely knew each other, and yet this is our favorite picture from the day, because it shows how easily that friendship came to us.)

And from there? It was just fun. (Please note that not all events, hair colors, cuts and weight extremes are featured in order.)

Sharing air time with Ken Church during Share. (See what I did there?)

Lynne and I always shared an office. And by that, I mean, we shared an office with a lot of books. Lynne will forever be my hero for the number of books she can read (and comprehend) in the shortest amount of time. Seriously. Until you see it, you just don't get it.

Lynne went to great lengths to draw me out of my shy little shell. It's too bad it didn't work.

Another thing I appreciate about Lynne is her dedication to being a prayer warrior. She has prayed over me (in person and apart from me) MANY times, which is why this photo is so valuable to me. This was my WBCL bridal shower, and she prayed for me that evening. So glad my mother-in-law peeked during prayer to capture this!

In which we try on children's bike helmets. Because why not?

We were parade buddies on more than one occasion. The first year I walked in the Three Rivers Festival parade, I shared the banner carrying duties with Larry Bower. He's over six feet tall. I had to carry my end practically under my chin. (And that is one LONG parade.) Lynne and I were better banner equals. :)

I remember working this event with Lynne! It was a women's expo, and at the end of the day, when things slowed down, she basically dared me to accept the invitation of the nearby vendor to try the "amazing" lipstick. Yeah. It's more like lip STAIN and it never leaves. EVER. Neon orange lips for DAYS. And she laughed.

Lynne is known for her beloved big floppy hat. So I got one too, just so I could be cool like Lynne. Somehow I just look like the copycat version. Lynne wins!

Our road trip to Granville, Ohio, where we stayed in the most darling hotel and got to witness the "SUPERCALM" bride with her entourage at breakfast. Know what that bride most certainly was NOT? Any kind of calm.

Oh how I loved our BLT show. Lynne saw potential in me to have broadcasting abilities beyond what I knew I could offer. This was my favorite part of my Mid-Morning years. We had something special in this show!

Working concerts together was always a treat. We didn't often get to do that, but when we did, we made the most of it.

Even backstage, when I'm sure we were supposed to be paying RAPT attention. (To the stage.)

If ever there would have been a fling ring contest, she would have won. I'm so sorry to everyone who was EVER in my throwing path. I stunk.

Share (the annual fundraiser, if you don't know) was always a long and exhausting week. Lynne was AMAZING at her on-air work during Share. The last year I was there, she missed Share because of her dad's death, and they allowed me to try my hand at what she did. I didn't have anywhere close to her skill, but I certainly had learned from her. And I was one scared/grateful girl that week.

Road tripping through the back roads of Michigan to speak at a church!

That was a fun night. BLT live on the road!

And our fun extenced to the whole staff. Not just the two of us. These were VERY fun ladies!

My last event was bittersweet. Daddy Daughter Date Night, 2015. On decorating day, I wanted pictures with all the ladies. Couldn't believe my own time there was coming to an end and had no idea hers would be soon to follow!

Ha! Right after a photo of the end of our era, here's one from near the beginning. Cooking adventures at Lynne. This was actually a selfie. And obviously I had not considered that a side profile wasn't doing either of us any favors. (I'm not being mean to Lynne there...if you ever heard us on air, you heard our big nose stories!)

Almost twinsies!

Working Waynestock. This was right before my oral surgery, and I just wanted to get through the days and get that thing DONE. Lynne was so good at keeping me distracted.

Road tripping again! I think this was to the Jennifer Rothschild event in Ohio.

Dedication of the Habitat for Humanity house. I was two weeks post-gallbladder here!

The adventures were many, but one of my most favorite memories was the day of Ryan's proposal. Lynne told a few (ahem) white lies to pull that off. And I appreciate every one of them/ 

Lynne, we both love you, and we are excited for your new chapter. (Perhaps you won't have to read quite so many chapters IN this chapter!) Thank you for all you taught me, and thank you for being such a champion of Shafferland. I am grateful to have had the chance to work with you, but I'm also grateful for the opportunity to have been part of Mid-Morning's legacy. What an honor!

Thank you for all you have done for me, for us, and for the MILLIONS who have listened to you over the years and learned from your grace and wisdom.

Many blessings!

Ryan and Bekah