How Do YOU Plan a Vacation?

Vacations.

Remember those?

It's been fun to see vacation pictures starting to pop up again on my social media feeds, as people are beginning to venture forth. 

You know I love planning trips, but as I was working on one today, it occurred to me that everyone plans trips just a little bit differently. It made me curious how you plan yours!

Do you fly or drive? Do you pick a destination and add things to it from there? Do you start with the activities or the lodging? Do your vacations always end up looking like you imagine, or do you end up with a final product that looks nothing like the first vision? Do you plan every detail or wing it? 

***

We almost always drive. We do that partly because I hate flying. I get massive, massive anxiety, and it ruins all of that travel day for me. I think we've only flown twice in our marriage, and both times it was to get to Florida for a cruise. 

So it's a good thing we're road trip people. We love the scenery of this country and the chance to stop along the way at little coffee shops or other attractions. And we love having our car with us when we arrive wherever we're going, rather than renting one. (And now we'll have Miss Abby the RV to enjoy on our trips!) 

***

When we're planning a long trip, we usually pick a destination and then add on things along the way that we'd like to see. (Short, weekend trips are different. I'll come back to that.) Unfortunately, our version of "along the way" is up for interpretation.

Remember the time we drove to Virginia Beach to visit Mark and Lynnette, and "on the way home" we went to Niagara Falls? But oh, what a fun trip that was. We saw Virginia Beach and then "on the way" to our "on the way home" stop of Niagara Falls, we visited a coffee roaster in the Furnace Hills of Maryland and hiked Letchworth State Park in New York. That is still one of our favorite trips. 

Or our Friendtastic Fifth Anniversary...where we drove to Siesta Key, and "on the way home," we stopped in South Carolina to see our friends Gary and Jill, North Carolina to see the Holloway Fam, and then we threw in a stop in Mt. Airy and the Biltmore, too! We saw just about every climate in that eleven day trip. 

We try to come home a different way than we go so we can see more things and make the most of our time!

***

Shorter, weekend trips are usually built around the actual destination. If we stay in Indiana, we try to knock out a county (or two or three) while we're gone. If we go out of state, we try to pick a place with plenty to do in a weekend's time. We have had some great trips over the short term, too!

Chicago...running all over the city (literally) in the dead of winter.

The Creation Museum...with a side trip of ziplining. You remember the ziplining.

Our fall getaway a few years ago where we did all three lake-touching counties in northwest Indiana. Hiked the dunes, played on the beach, went to an orchard and corn maze...so much fun.

***

We usually start with the activities and tack on the lodging. The one exception to that was last December when we did a weekend getaway for our anniversary and found that adorable Airbnb above a coffee shop. I never would have picked Richmond, Indiana as a vacation destination, but that Airbnb sold us both. And we ended up having a full and fantastically fun weekend in Richmond, with plenty of time left over to enjoy that gorgeous loft Airbnb. 

But the rest of the time, we choose the lodging later. We've had some GREAT lodging mishaps - like the hotel in Holland, Michigan, that we literally fled from because it was so gross. Or the one in Madison, Indiana, that I cried over, because it smelled so bad. Or the Airbnb in Michigan where Ryan thought the homeowner was a painter hired to do some work - who also answered the door. Oh, I loved that story. 

We've also had some amazing lodging winners, like the loft in Richmond or that gorgeous tiny apartment overlooking the Indianapolis canal. OR the tiny cabin in the Hocking Hills of Ohio. 

I gotta tell you. Airbnb changed the lodging game for us big time. We've had so much more fun with our stays since then.

And now we get to learn the world of campgrounds! We're excited about it. 

***

Our trips usually end up looking like we imagine...once the final itinerary is printed. But they often look quite different from the first vision of it in our heads. (Mostly because we add on so many things along the way.)

We've been told we're basically exhausting when it comes to trips. We aren't the kind of people who just rent a place, drive there, sit for a week, and come home. We do something different every single day. We go someplace different every time we travel. (Nothing wrong with people who love renting the same beach cottage for the same week every year. It's just not our style.)

The only two times I can think of our trips looking different from the original plan were:

...the time we drove home from the Friendtastic Fifth Anniversary and got caught in ice on our very last night out, just a couple of hours from home. The conditions of the road where we were (near Cincinnati) and texts coming in from home indicated we should find a place and stay put for an extra night - so we did. 

...last spring when we went to Hocking Hills to hike, only to find they had closed the entire park. So we hiked other parks instead!

***

We plan every single detail of our trips. I've joked that if I could plan out every single gas station stop along the way, I would. In truth, I think the ONLY trip we've ever taken that wasn't planned in full ahead of time was our honeymoon. It was all we could do to plan the destination wedding. We had rented a room for the week and decided each day when we woke up what we wanted to do that day. I also think that's the only time we've stayed in one place that long!

Vacation planning, for me, includes full color-coded itineraries, reservations made ahead of time, and checklists galore. It makes me SO HAPPY to make my lists!!

***

So that's vacation planning here in Shafferland. Whether or not you have an actual trip in the works, I hope you're at least doing some vacation dreaming! 

We Should Probably Talk About Hair

 First of all, thanks so much for the birthday wishes for Miss Braeya Jo yesterday. She had the best kitty day. She napped. She drank a lot of water (a hobby for her), and she watched the birds. 

Next up, in important topics of conversation, can we talk about hair? 

If you've been reading here for a while, you probably know a few things about my hair. Namely, I have a lot of it and it's very attitudinal. 

I mentioned to Ryan the other day that I am actually not NEARLY as adventuresome with my hair as I used to be. When I was first out of college, I had about a hundred hair cuts and colors. I would try just about anything. You remember the orange mishap, right???

But it's been longish and blondish for a while now. And you know how it goes with me. When it's anything for too long, I start itchin' for a change.

I've been trying to grow out my bangs, which is also an adventure that comes and goes with time. Right now it's smack in the middle of ultra maddening. Bobby pins are my besties right now. 

And I finally learned how to curl my hair with a flat iron, and then one day last week, these four random sections of hair went on strike. They just won't curl. I have no idea why. They're just done, I guess.

I'm presuming humidity is ramping up again because the hair is also starting to grow (not in length, but in volume) and lose its curl by the end of the day. 

So last night I spent a small chunk of time on Pinterest trying to figure out if I wanted to try a new cut or a new color this summer. While I've definitely decided AGAINST the above cut and color, I am not sure what I'm aiming for. 

Do any of you have favorite "hair people?" One of mine is Nicole Huntsman. (Here are some examples of her haircuts and colors.) Though I don't want to explore anything as super short as some of hers, I feel like her general hair thickness and volume is somewhat similar to mine, and I like the ways she has cut and styled it.

So I shall ponder this for the next month or so, but if you have anything to send my way, please do!! (I would consider changing colors to anything that is considered a natural color. Because of my job, I can't go non-natural, so no blues or greens or pinks. Or orange, Bekah.) 

Happy Birthday, Braeya Jo!

We have a birthday in the house!!! (We have one outside the house too, today. Happy birthday to my sister, Lori!) 

Miss Braeya Jo is fifteen years old today. Can you even believe it? How? How is this girl fifteen?

I so, so, so remember the day she came to live with me. There's no way it almost fifteen years ago:

She was so tiny. So very, very tiny. 

She's still not super big, but she's all grown up and living a grand life. Here are some peeks from her 15th year...

She loved that sun porch at our Kokomo house. We all did, and we sure miss it. Every time the sliding glass door was open, she'd make her way out there to hang out on the porch furniture! 

And then sometimes she'd just stop to nap wherever she found a spot. Middle of the living room floor looks good!

I took this when we still lived in Kokomo - but she still sits like this. One paw out, one tucked under. 

She helped with the packing, once we knew we were moving. ;) 

And she took more naps. So did her mama.

Watched some TV...

And took more naps.

She helped write blogs...

She took naps on our suitcases during our move. (She adores our suitcases. If they ever come out of the closet, she claims one and sleeps on it the entire time it's out.)

We moved, and she took to her new home like a champ. She oversaw all the unpacking, naturally. 

She may not have a sun porch now, but she has a perch by the window, and she LOVES IT. We have a tree just outside the window, so she has birds galore to watch, and they make her entire day. She spends hours up here supervising birds. 

She found out she can hang out with Ryan even MORE now that we have a new job. Day made. 

Devos still make her sleepy, though. 

Sometimes the couch needs a hug. She's there for it. 

Her new favorite spot to nap is on our bed. She loves it. She always used to destroy our bed in Kokomo - so she could sleep under the covers. Since we moved, she prefers to sleep on top of the blankets and right by the pillows. 

She knows she's not allowed to have people food. It doesn't stop her from trying. I think the face says it all. ;) 

Hide and seek is a fun game. :) 

She's an ever present laundry assistant...

Christmas tree assembly assistant...

...and Thanksgiving dinner thief (unsuccessful). 

She's still Ryan's girl through and through, but she does still snuggle with me now and then.

And she's such a helper with the presents!

She joins us in at-home dates.

She's always dreaming up new ideas.

She's fond of playing games, too. 

So it's been a big and full year for our girl, but she's thriving, having fun, and well-rested. ;) Happy birthday, Braeya Jo! We love you, sweet girl! 

101 Months

Yesterday marked 101 months of marriage for us! 

A month ago, we were out exploring parks in Fort Wayne and celebrating the move to triple digits. Yesterday was a little less glamorous, but we still ended up having a bunch of fun.

We started out by going to church, and of course I have to stop right here to tell a story. We had gotten up early to spend some time in prayer and Bible study, and I'd been sitting on the couch in my black dress. As we walked out the door with one of our tenants, I looked down to see cat hair ALL OVER my dress. I scurried back in to get the lint roller but of course, the papers were stuck together, and I was in too big a hurry to mess with it. So after having been dressed for TWO HOURS, I hurried to change clothes.

I put on the same dress in pink, but of course I had to change my shoes, because the the black shoes didn't work anymore. Somewhere in the chaos, I lost my sunglasses, so I had to get my spares. I went running back outside and hurried to catch up with the crowd. When our tenant turned around she said, "How many colors do you own that dress in?" LOL!!! Just two.

My hair was such a mess. Lots of walks in windy weather over the past couple of days took it to its breaking point. But for better or worse, here we are at 101 months!

Church was great. (Convicting, educational, and so, so good.) 

After church, we had some leftovers for lunch and then we had a meeting with one of our tenants. And after that...it was time for our date!

Last summer, after we moved here, we visited The Frozen Spoon, which is a local ice cream shop. It's in Leo, which is the next town over from where we live. We've been saying ever since that we need to go back...but walk there, this time. 

Yesterday was our day. We strapped on our walking shoes and set out to get some ice cream! There is this amazing wide sidewalk that runs between Grabill and Leo. It's wide enough for a small buggy...which we know because we've seen it! Lots of people use it every day. People take their dogs on walks, people run and walk for exercise out there...it's a well loved sidewalk. And it was our first time to use it!

Turns out The Frozen Spoon was a little farther than I thought. I had it in my head that it was just under 2 miles one way, but it was actually 2.5 miles one way. So we got FIVE MILES out of this trip! Steps for the day = DONE!

It was the perfect day to walk, though. We said hi to all the horses (from mini ponies to Clydesdales) in their pastures. We talked all the way there and back, which was much needed as we go through this season of transition. 

We do love The Frozen Spoon. And yesterday, we tried something new! I was having trouble picking a flavor, so they suggested I try a flight of ice cream. We decided to split a seven flavor flight!

The Frozen Spoon doesn't have indoor seating, but they have a great outdoor seating area with tons of picnic tables. We found ourselves a table and took our sweet time. (See what I did there?)

This man, right here, you guys. I love him so much. I love how hard he works at this ministry that has been entrusted to us. I love how he makes time for me in the middle of the busiest day. I love how he does his best to understand me, even when I know I'm probably impossible to understand. I love conversations with him. I love laughing with him. I love 101 months with him.

It was the best date. It really was. I'm so grateful it fell on a Sunday so things were a bit quieter around WillowBridge and we were able to take some time with and for each other. We needed it!

Happy 101, Ryan!

Sunday Sentiments

Day one.

We made it through our first day of working on our own. In some ways, it's not a strange feeling. After all, when Tim and Justine worked with us, they had days off just like we do, so there have been many days in the last ten months when we've worked by ourselves. It's not uncharted territory.

What is uncharted for us is the unknown of how long this will last. There's a whole different feel to the building when you know the decisions rest solely on your shoulders, and your teammates won't be back in a few days to work through it with you.

Lest I misrepresent, we are not alone. We have Rob, and we have two other co-workers who are so unselfishly stepping in to help us so we can have some days off this month and talk through things that we need to process beyond ourselves. We are so grateful for them and their help. I honestly don't know how we could face solo advocate life without them. 

But it's still different. 

It's still new. 

Today marks 101 months of marriage for us. One month ago (which feels like 101 years ago, in some ways) we were out enjoying a gorgeous day and celebrating triple digits. Today we're on duty and though we plan to take a break to do something special for a bit, it isn't quite the day of freedom we enjoyed last month. 

And yet I'm even more thankful for Ryan today than I was a month ago. This season is strengthening and growing us in ways we've never experienced before. We're learning to talk even more openly about what's hard, what's confusing, what's exciting. We're learning to yoke together in new-to-us way.

So yesterday was Day 01 and today is Month 101. 

The new and the familiar. The unknown and the deeply-known. 

Naturally, we don't want this to last forever, but we do want to learn the things God has for us to learn while we're living in this time. We're clinging to our Bibles, spending extra time in prayer, and trusting that He won't let us miss a lesson.

Thanks for traveling along with us as we enter this next chapter of life. We really are excited to see what story God is busily writing behind the scenes. We await His revealing of the details in His time!

The Saturday Six

 

One.

Ryan and I haven't figured out our flower planting strategy yet for this year. For the last several years, we had a rhythm down of certain flowers in certain spots around our house. Now that we're in a new space, we have to figure out what works here! But if you're looking for some new hints and ideas for good flowers to choose and how to arrange them and keep them alive, check out this post. (I normally won't share sponsored posts, but this one had a lot of good non-sponsored information in it, so I'm sharing it anyway.)

Two.

Okay, if I've ever shared something like this on the Saturday Six before, I don't remember it. Forgive me if I did. But this DIY brown paper flooring idea is FASCINATING to me. If we ever are homeowners again...

Three.

Mother's Day is in just a couple of weeks...are you feelin' crafty? Here are some paper flower ideas that are pretty cute! If you start now, you even still have time to mess up and try again! :) 

Four.

Looking for a new hobby? This list has some pretty creative ideas: from composting (which I didn't realize was an actual hobby) to calligraphy and more! I am not sure I have time for new hobbies, but a few of them on here did pique my interest! (Not the composting. Not yet, anyway.)

Five.

I love strawberries and am so happy the season is nearly upon us. I also love the strawberry pretzel dessert. I found this post about making it in cute little jars for parfait servings. I am of the belief that all food is cuter when served parfait style, so this absolutely caught my eye. And now I want some...

Six.

Check out this funfetti inspired dessert board! (I love funfetti, so I kind of want to do this...except then I'd eat it all myself!) 

The Little Things

Yesterday I wrote about some of my favorite memories of serving in church from my teen years forward. It occurred to me today that at most of the churches I've attended, I've also been a greeter, and I love greeting. 

That, in turn, made me think about all the "little" unofficial ways of serving, whether in church or in life, that may not come with a fancy title, but they are so very important. 

Greeting was one of those jobs for me. I tried to imagine every single person coming through the door was walking in for the first time. I wanted them to know someone saw them, I wanted them to get a free smile right from the start, and I wanted to be approachable enough that if they had any questions, they would feel free to ask. After all, I've been a visitor in a church before, and it's always awkward to feel like you've walked into someone else's club and you aren't sure you belong. 

Ryan and I always tried to be an unofficial greeter in Sunday School, too, anytime we noticed someone new in the room. (Ryan was always very good about inviting people to Sunday School, too, because it can be hard to walk into a classroom alone.) 

Those "little" church jobs matter so much. The person who will go up to the altar to pray with someone who is praying alone. The person who remembers a name and sends a card or social media message to follow up. The person who offers a seat in a row when someone looks lost. 

Churches tend to do a great job of recognizing their valued volunteers. They do awards and recognition for those organized positions where people commit to serve. But I fear some of the unnamed jobs go unnoticed as well as unnamed. That's a shame, because they are SO important.

I've been made freshly aware of this where we work, even. WillowBridge is in a separate location from the rest of Gateway Woods, so we don't see everyone every day. Or even every week. (I'm still learning some names and faces, even!) God has convicted me that I need to pay more conscious attention to what's going on. Send some emails. Write notes. Pray the prayers. Be involved - even from down the road.

The little things matter. They matter at church, at work, and in life. It's okay if what you feel led to do doesn't fit neatly into a committee. Just reach out. Be present however you're able. It matters so much. 

Serving

We have just two days left with Tim and Justine before they move on to their next chapter, so this has been a busy week of having conversations with them - both what we need to know for work and just fun friend stuff - and preparing for this major change! We have staff changes in the mix, tenant changes in the mix, and I'm trying to make sure I don't miss any major moments or meetings. 

I say all of that to say...I might be borrowing some blog ideas in the next few days. Well. And yesterday. And today. :) 

I found this blog idea yesterday and the memories it conjured up made me smile so much that I looked like a perfect idiot just sitting there grinning at my computer. I figured that meant I should write about it. You might learn a thing or two about me that you didn't know before! 

The idea was to think about all the places you've served within a church setting and share a favorite or two. 

My very first official role of serving within the church took place when I was in high school and I landed a spot on the nursery worker rotation. Our church had gone through some really painful splits and by the time I was a teenager, I was the youth group. There was another teen who usually showed up on Sunday mornings, but on Sunday nights and midweek services especially, it was just me. Do you know how hard it is to get a youth pastor excited about a church with ONE teen? So instead of having a thriving youth group to be part of in those years, I just launched into serving the babies. 

Back then, of course, we lived in a different sort of world and you didn't have to take classes or do background checks or have super strict policies for checking little ones in and out of child care. I worked every second Sunday morning with my friend Betty and every fifth Sunday morning with my friend Bonnie. (Why do I remember that??) And I also often got to fill in for anyone who had to miss church on another Sunday. I loved crawling around on the floor, playing with the babies, and I was pretty good at getting them to calm down when their moms tip-toed out the door. 

Shortly after that, I also started teaching some elementary-age kids during the midweek service, too. I found old curriculum books in the church library and pieced together lessons, snacks, and crafts for them. I loved my Thursday night teaching! (When one of those moms picked up her boys one evening, she shared with me that what I did was a gift and it was something she couldn't do. That was the first time I ever remember an adult outside my family identifying gifts in me, and I appreciated it!)

In my twenties I spent a few years serving on the church board as the secretary. I took minutes of the meetings and provided snacks. I enjoyed my years on the board, actually. (That's saying something for the girl who hates meetings.) The pastor made the meetings fun, and even though I was the teasing target (as the much-youngest member) for most of the board, we all had a great time together. 

I was also in my twenties when I started leading women's Bible study. It was another role I really loved. It surprised me that I loved it so much. To that point in my life, I'd only worked with babies and small children, but I found I really enjoyed working with other women who wanted to dig into the Word deeply. I can't remember now how many years I led that group, but it was one of my favorite times of ministry and service. 

I went through a few years when (mostly because of living in a different town from the church I attended) it was difficult to serve on a consistent basis. I still found ways to plug in, though. A week of VBS, filling in for Sunday School and midweek service teachers, and other such little jobs gave me a way to be involved even on a short term basis. 

And then at our last church, I served together with Ryan as a small group leader and LOVED IT. As you might remember, I was working to coordinate small groups when we moved, and I really enjoyed that role, too. I think I would have loved exploring it for a much longer time! And I was involved in women's ministry there, too - first as a team member and then as a team leader.

I feel like all those ministry roles were important training ground for me in the work I do now. I love it that God uses each little thing to prepare us, shape us, and mold us. We know that the work we do and the lifestyle-nature of it will probably make it more difficult for us to serve in the local church to the same extent we've done before, but this is also a whole different kind of serving! 

Grocery Top Three

Oh, Natasha...you have saved the blog today. 

We devoted our day yesterday to throwing a surprise party for one of our tenants. It was fun, but between prep, party, and cleanup, it was a full day! And then I sat down with zero brain cells left and zero idea of what to blog about for today. As I read posts from yesterday, I found Natasha's idea and decided to borrow it. She's right...it is fun to see how people feed their families and what they love to buy/cook/eat most!

Favorite Food Stores
(Natasha interpreted this as stores she would love to shop at, rather than where she actually would. I'm going to go with where we actually shop.

1. Aldi. We get everything at this store that we possibly can, which sometimes changes from week to week.

2. Wal-Mart. At this stop, we get the things Aldi didn't have.

3. Sam's. There are a handful of things that we like to purchase in bulk, so we get those at Sam's. 

Least Favorite Food Stores

1. Wal-Mart. Ironic, isn't it? We go here because it's more convenient, but I'm still not a fan.

2. Save-A-Lot. To be fair, this isn't really a least favorite store. It's the tiny grocery store in Grabill, and we only go there when we run out of something between shopping trips and need to grab it in a hurry. We don't actually find their prices to be a significant savings, so we don't make this a regular stop. 

3. I don't think I have another least favorite! 

Always on My List

(There are actually several things that fit this category! I'll pick three at random.)

1. Coffee creamer. Of course.

2. Honeycrisp apples. My nighttime snack.

3. Chicken tenders. We cook with a lot of chicken.

Rare Purchases

1. Bread. We usually have a loaf of bread in the cabinet - mostly for Ryan, but we go through it very slowly, so it's not often on the list. 

2. Sparkling grape juice. Only on special occasions. I'd drink it all myself.

3. Ice cream. We used to buy it all the time, but it's a rarity now. 

Never on my Grocery Store List

I asked Ryan to help me think of things that might be staples on a lot of people's lists, but we never buy them. 

1. Frozen dinners. I borrowed that from Natasha's list. But it's true! We never ever buy a premade frozen dinner.

2. Snack cakes. For our own home, we never buy any kind of prepackaged snack cake. We have gotten them for WillowBridge, but never for our house. 

3. Ramen. Not since college. 

Cereal

We actually gave up purchasing cereal entirely last fall. We used to eat it every single night for our snack, but when we did our 5 day sugar fast, we stopped eating it and never picked it back up. But...

1. Great Grains. When we did eat cereal every night, we ate Great Grains - usually the cranberry or pecan kind. 

2. Fruity Pebbles. This would be Ryan's pick if he could pick any cereal at all. 

3. Captain Crunch Berries. This is what I lived on in college. Well, that and Mountain Dew. And if you saw my college pictures, it showed. ;) 

Crackers

1. Veggie Rounds. I think that's what they're called. It's the Aldi brand of Ritz crackers that has a bit of a seasoning on it. I may have one or two, but Ryan is the main consumer of them - during chili season.

2. Cheese Its Extra Toasty. One of Ryan's favorites. We used to get them every week, but he finally decided he was tired of paying the high price for them, so we just get them on occasion now. He likes how burned they taste.

3. Graham Crackers. S'mores, baby! 

Spices

1. Seasoned Salt. I make my own, and I use it to season almost everything.

2. Garlic Powder. One of my most often used spices.

3. Cinnamon. Love it! Not with garlic powder, though. 

Fruit

1. Grapes. We love to snack on them throughout the day.

2. Bananas. We put them in our smoothies every afternoon.

3. Strawberries. One of three things we put in our homemade smoothie packs. 

Condiments

1. Organic ketchup. I cook with it almost as often as I use it for a condiment.

2. Chipotle sauce. Ryan loves the bottled Taco Bell brand sauce and uses it for chip dip sometimes. I also put a tiny bit of it inside our ham and cheese quesadillas when I make those. 

3. Avocado salsa. Ryan just discovered this at Sam's Club and is IN LOVE with it. Delicious. 

Frozen Vegetables

1. Onion and pepper mix. It has been a game changer for me to find this when I want fajitas in a hurry!

2. Sweet potatoes. I get frozen cubed sweet potatoes at Aldi. No more peeling and chopping!

3. California blend. We steam this for a quick side when we're in a hurry. 

Frozen Fruit

We don't buy it - because it's so expensive! We do make our own frozen smoothie packs using fresh strawberries and blueberries, plus canned pineapple. 

Do we have any common food loves???

Self Care

If ever there was a post I'm probably NOT qualified to write, it's this one. (But watch me do it anyway!)

Probably the number one question we get from people is "What exactly do you do?" That is followed by the comment, "I will never understand your job." 

It's fair. We're just now coming to the place where we are understanding it ourselves, and we've done it every day for almost 10 months. We don't expect everyone to get it. And we don't mind explaining it repeatedly. 

But another popular question we get centers around what we do in our down time or how we practice self-care so we don't burn out. 

We're still learning how to do that well, and we certainly don't have it mastered yet. We're working on it. We've been told every couple has to figure it out for themselves and it takes time. 

Our job, as you know, is not an 8-5 thing. We don't clock in and out. We work throughout the day and we also take breaks throughout the day. We have some days that are work-heavy and some days that are lighter, so we fit in our personal time accordingly. It's been a stretch for a couple of Type A scheduled people!

But here are some of the things we currently do to rest our minds and bodies in the middle of a very busy schedule!

* Naps. Sometimes our days start early. Sometimes they wind up going late into the night. Sometimes they're just mentally draining from difficult conversations. If we have a few minutes of quiet, we dearly love to catch a quick nap. Even twenty minutes can make all the difference in a day. 

* Walks. Oh how we missed being able to do this every single day over the winter. But seriously, every single day that the weather is remotely decent enough to be outside (even if it's a bit cold or windy or whatever) we go on a long walk. We try to be gone an hour or so, and we use that time to talk through everything on our minds and hearts. 

* Coffee break. There are some days we just need to get away from the building for a change of scenery. It's really important since our work and home are in the same space. If we need to get out, we'll take some time and just go get coffee. Sit. Stare. Talk. Whatever we need.

* Word Crush. We usually play a half dozen rounds of Word Crush every night to unwind. It's really fun, it stretches our brain in a different direction, and we like to think it keeps us sharp. Bonus? Now and then, we learn new words!

* "Our" shows. We have always had a show or two we love to watch, but they've almost always been TV dramas. We really don't have a full hour to devote to that anymore, so "our shows" are more in the half hour range now, but we really love putting one on to escape mentally for a little bit. We're working our way through the seasons of Mad About You while we eat lunch every day. One episode is about perfect for a mealtime, so we usually watch that while we eat. And then at dinner, we usually watch an episode of People Puzzler or America Says. We are pretty good at both of them and serve as an honorary team member for whoever is on that day.

* Random planning. I like to take Pinterest breaks or work on planning a trip. I really enjoy it, so sometimes I'll just sit and do that for a while. Or I scrapbook. I've kept up on those really well since we moved. Ryan likes hunting online for things we might still need for Abby or watching YouTube videos about RV maintenance life. Though these are things we do separately, we usually do them at the same time and will tell each other about what we're finding.

* Listening to hymns. Sometimes we just turn on Natalie Raynes' YouTube channel and just listen to hours of hymns while we do other things. It soothes our souls. 

Things we're looking forward to doing for down-time include...

* Kayaking, biking, and hiking, now that the weather is warming up again.

* Returning to a regular workout routine. It simply hasn't been possible in this first year of work. We are looking forward to making that change in the month of May.

* Reading. This is just me...not Ryan. I haven't had time to read for pleasure, and I miss it. I'd like to reintroduce that to my routine!

So that's where we are right now! Until we have new co-workers, our own time will be even harder to come by, but we appreciate other co-workers pitching in to help us out some! 

What is your favorite way to spend your down time?