Fall in Shafferland

 

The “ber” months have arrived, so even though the weather clings to warmth, it was time to decorate the house for fall. I’ve simplified our fall décor over the years, and it feels (finally) representative of our style! Plus, so many of these pieces hold stories of significance, and that matters to me.

                When we pulled the fading summer flowers out of the planters to make room for mums, I saved a few of the funky green sprigs for these bottles on the dining room table. Free decorations!

                Our new fireplace received a fall makeover. (Found that pumpkin at a garage sale a few years ago.)

                This pumpkin was a gift from a women’s retreat group. It was their craft project, and they gifted me the sample. I think of them every year when I decorate. I loved their retreat. Ryan and I had a little cottage all to ourselves, the retreat center was on a lake, and I ate the best cinnamon roll of my life at one of their breakfasts.

                This sign in our main bathroom is one of my best thrift store impulse buys. I love it.

                Some flowers in Lexi’s room. Over time I’d love to tone down the color of my fall flowers. But a little brightness never hurt, right?

                Some flowers in our room, paired with our photos from last fall. We’re about a month out from fall photos rolling around again, and I’m excited to see what they look like this year!

                This little vignette is new this year. I thrifted this stand this summer, and I found these little pumpkins at the flower stand last weekend. The jars were Dollar General finds, and I filled them with tiny snacks: pumpkin seeds and peanuts. I should add some ribbon around the jars for some color!

                 A little fall on the shelf above the stairway:

                A couple of pieces downstairs:

                This is new this year! My sister gifted it to me this summer. Her sister-in-law made it for her Etsy shop and Lori gave it to us as a thank you for hosting them when they stayed here. I love it!

                I’ve had this little sign for years and put it in my bathroom to remind me how to begin my days!

                I just added a couple little pieces to our living room, and now it feels complete!

                The leaves have already started falling and blowing into our yard, we planted mums in the planters in front of the garage, and we put this cute little pillow on our glider.

                Welcome, fall!

Choosing Simple

 

Last week I read a post from Erin at Simply Purposeful Living, and it has rooted deeply in my mind. I want to share it with you today.

                She said, “More and more influencers are moving to the country for a slower pace of life, and between me and you – it made me realize something. We all crave nostalgia. Quiet. Simplicity. Some people even sell everything and move in search of it. But here’s what I’ve learned: busy will find you anywhere.

“I live in a small ‘quiet’ town and my own fire pit was more idea than experience. Our front porch went unused. We had the ‘stuff’ of leisure but not the practice of it. Slowing down takes work, right? No one ever tells you that. It’s not passive – it’s a choice that you make over and over again.

“But here’s why it matters: Those intentional moments are the ones that always make it into my gratitude journal. I never write ‘scroll social media.’ Not once. But when I choose to go on a bike ride, or sit by the fire, or go to dinner with friends – I write it down every time. And maybe that’s the secret.

“My gratitude journal doesn’t just record what fills me with joy – it shows me the map. It reminds me where my joy actually lives so I can choose it again on purpose.”

                I have thought about that quote every single day since I read it. (And it’s a long quote to consider!)

                To have “the stuff of leisure but not the practice of it…” presses on my heart. How many of us spend hours upon hours creating a haven for ourselves, but then we never practice enjoying that haven?

                Ryan and I worked intentionally this summer to make time to enjoy our little corner of the lake. We made time for boat rides and sunset strolls and bike rides and picnics and pretty flowers. It’s been one of my favorite summers for that very reason, and I hope that practice continues into fall. After all, it should be more palatable to sit outside in the cooler weather!

                I want to choose…again and again…simplicity. Books instead of scrolling. Sitting instead of stressing. Talks instead of TV. Busy really will find me anywhere. It’ll find me everywhere. The choice for my time is mine.  

Bronner's Christmas Wonderland

 

One of the things we learned a few vacations ago was to try to plan something fun to enjoy on the way home. It makes the goodbye to the main part of vacation slightly less painful.

Our very last day of vacation was stunning. All the rain from the day before was gone, and we had a beautiful day to travel!

We always do a sad face picture before we come home. And also, for the record, we are not usually souvenir shirt people, but that is how much we loved Mackinac! We sure did buy shirts and wore them proudly!

On our way out of St. Ignace we stopped at one more coffee shop for some road fuel. It was so cute, and we were so sad we had missed the chance to go there and hang out earlier in the trip. (They closed at 2 p.m. each day and we needed them in the evening!

One last trip over the bridge…

…and in about three hours, we had arrived at our day-destination! I have wanted to take Ryan to Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland for our entire marriage. I went there about 20 years ago (with Mark and Lynnette, actually) and have this photo to show for it.

If you are not familiar, Bronner’s (in Frankenmuth, Michigan), is the world’s largest Christmas store. The building, per the website, is the size of 5 ½ football fields. (Now, this is my kind of football!!)

They have all the stuff, not just for Christmas, but for other holidays as well! Ryan and I have several ornaments (gifted to us) that came from here, and it was fun to add some of our own choices to that collection              

First, though, we started with lunch in their little café. We topped it off with Christmas cookies, because it seemed wrong, somehow, to shop at the world’s largest Christmas store without getting a Christmas treat!

Then we started shopping. It was SO FUN! I think I enjoyed it more than Ryan did, but he was a great sport about it.

After we shopped, we walked across the parking lot to the Silent Night Chapel. This is a replica of the chapel in Austria that stands in honor of where the Christmas hymn was first sung. It was a beautiful little chapel.

At last, we had to head for home…for real. We stopped on the way for some coffee, and we also stopped for dinner, which was an abysmal experience. Wendy’s really let us down on this trip. (We are big fans, but not this time.)

We paused for an official back-home-again-in-Indiana photo and then powered through the last little bit to arrive home. Our lake view was so pretty that night. Significantly smaller than Huron, but still lovely.

I’m so glad we did this trip. It was refreshing and so full of great memories!