Our First Valentine's Day

My friend Joel put out a plea on Facebook on Valentine's Day...for couples to hold back on excessive "public schmoopiness" - out of respect for the singles in the world.

I so get that. I was a public schmoopiness hater for many years. Scenes of someone else who got flowers when I got...nothing except maybe a wet nose rub from my cat...was just too much to take. Especially in such high doses.

So for those of you who avoided schmoopiness this week...if you can't read this post because it's too much, I totally get it. But I'm kind of hoping you'll stick around and get some hope that schmoopiness could yet come your way.

I was SO looking forward to this day this year because it was my first ever Valentine's Day to have a Valentine love! And he made it a beautiful day!

When I got out of the shower that morning, I discovered a new note on our message board in our bedroom - wishing me a happy day, and draped around it was this amazingly beautiful scarf he'd picked out for me! {No, he didn't knit it himself. That he admitted anyway.}

I didn't know he was lurking in the doorway behind me when I first saw it and he got to hear my EEEEEEEEE!!! squeal. I loved that.

I pack his lunch several times a week and his lunch bag is just TOO SMALL. At least for the big ole leftover dishes we like to use. Many days he had to carry a grocery store plastic sack on the side just to get everything transported. I hated that so I got him a new lunch bag! {Not totally romantic but he loved it.} Honeybadger is his nickname - NOT from me, but from some YouTube video of days gone by. He has a honeybadger travel mug and everything. So it only seemed appropriate to get that put on the lunch bag. And I made him a card on Shutterfly, which he also loved.

I went to work and waited to see if maybe...just maybe...some flowers would come my way. I'd never gotten flowers at work from a boy before!! :) And he did NOT disappoint!!!! As I was covering Diane's break in the afternoon...look what showed up just for me!

One dozen beautiful roses that this girl {with unfortunate hair, it seems} DEARLY loved. Made my whole day! Seriously. If he'd done nothing else the entire day, this made my holiday whole and perfect!

I was all Glowy McGlowerson after that. Joel would have found it very schmoopy.

After work, I came home to find THIS waiting by the coffee pot...a card "to my wife" - which still causes me a double take to realize it belongs to ME...and some sea salt turtles. He knows how I adore sea salt and chocolate together. HEAVEN.

Schmoopy alert!! We decided to stay home and avoid the crowds...and cook our own dinner! So I hauled the flowers home for our table and we added some candles and he picked up some sparkling grape juice for our little dinner for two. Oh this was so perfect. I adored it, y'all. ADORED it.

We were so stinkin' hungry that we barely paused long enough for this picture. Unfortunately my hair got worse instead of better. And we have no gross lovey pictures...but we have this one. {Wore my new scarf!!!}

Ryan cooked the whole dinner...grilled steak, cheesy bacon potatoes, and bacon wrapped shrimp on skewers. Sigh of joy.

I was in charge of dessert. Buckeye brownies. OH MY WORD.

I had another little gift for him - "Shafferland Chutes and Ladders." Found it on Pinterest...you basically just get a Chutes and Ladders game and add some extra "fun" to the blank squares - stirs things up a bit! :)

And then just because I could...took some rose petals I had leftover from a speaking gig I did a few years ago...and left him a little message on our bed!

I loved every single thing about my first Valentine's Day with Ryan!!! Let's do a million more of these, baby!

SSMT Verse 4

Lent is underway...and as usual, the beginning of it was upon me and I didn't know {still} what to give up.

Please don't judge me for saying I really didn't want to do dessert this year since the day after Lent was Valentine's Day and later in the 40 day adventure, we have our wedding reception. I realize those are shallow reasons to cling to sugar, but I still did it.

And then Jamie forwarded me an email about her own 40 day adventure...a negativity fast. Several years ago when I met a new boss who had come to work for us, he sat down with me for his "get to know Bekah" meeting and the only thing I remember from that half hour session was that he scribbled notes, much as a therapist would, and after I was done presenting myself in my best bubbly manner, he said to me, "Boy you're an awfully negative person, aren't you?"

You know those random phrases that stick and scar for life? That was one of them.

So the invitation to take another step toward putting away that piece of myself was so appealing.

But you know how it goes whenever you give up something....commit to separating yourself from it.

Hello, Satan.

Why does he always take those things as a personally scripted invitation to show up and meddle?

So as I've tried to put away the negative thoughts about...myself...my body...my abilities as a wife...as a human being...I've found a major need:

Help from my Beloved.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. 

~ Hebrews 4:16 ~

Help.

Help me to draw near. Help me to be confident in knowing that You disperse grace and mercy much more liberally than my mind wants me to think You do. Help me to recognize my need.

Help me to trust you completely as we take active steps to sell Ryan's home. Help me to trust you for the presence of a job for him...one that will fit him perfectly. Help me to extend grace to myself as I continue to adjust to a brand new life. Help me to understand that You'll give me mercy to overcome this mark of negativity that settles over me.

Help.

Just 100 Yards Away

I was the girl who sent myself a Valentine in the Penny Post Office when I was in 5th grade. The Student Council {or whatever it was called} fundraiser made possibly an entire NICKEL off of me because I think I flew right past sending myself a leftover store bought Valentine from the stash of years gone by and sent myself an actual GIFT, which, logically, cost more.

And so it was that while I sat in Mr. Moloch's science class {a class I passed, I'm positive, on pity alone} the student council officer cracked open the door and delivered the treasures of the Penny Post Office that day. I peered from my seat in the back row, waiting for my name to be called.

I'm not sure who I signed the gift from...nor who I thought I'd explain to my friends {who knew every student in the upper class region of that school} sent this gift to me, but in typical fashion, no one even noticed I received mail...let alone a coveted package...so I was left to stare at whatever I'd concocted to myself...and feel incredibly stupid.

And hopeless.

Hopeless that the Penny Post, the US Post or any other Post would bring me a token of love on Valentine's Day...ever.

{Funny that probably 100 yards away in a portable classroom sat a 4th grader with killer dimples and a contagious smile who would one day...}

So I went to high school and watched the main office littered with balloons and flowers and stuffed animals every year.

And one year one of them came to me. From one of my girlfriends who sent it as a joke from a guy and I spent the rest of the year being terrified he would find out she'd done it.

And then college...where the school post office {though slightly more pricey than a penny} filled up with gifts galore and skinny students paraded around campus gripping onto the arms of their loves so tightly...I'm sure circulation ceased.

And then I began working and every now and then the door to the office would open and a dazed looking delivery person would spin slowly around gripping a gorgeous bouquet, and I'd wonder.... Did I maybe somewhere have some secret admirer and those could be for...

"Do you know where the Business Office is?"

I'd swallow hard and point next door and watch the flowers disappear...

...And every year I'd cling to the things that made the day bearable. Gifts for my girlfriends or the kiddos that call me aunt or a little get together with some other single pals or sometimes even just a heart-shaped pizza and a movie while sitting home alone. And yet that ache settled deep to just...belong. To belong without sending myself a gift. Without being the subject of a funny joke's-on-you prank. Without being a direction-giver.

Ryan Shaffer, I don't care a single thing about what I get or don't get today. Today I belong. And that is the greatest possible gift you could give me.

To wake up and see your eyes looking into mine even in the Keurig-lit blue darkness of our room is a gift. To hear you ask, as you always do, for me to please drive carefully because I'm carrying precious cargo, is a gift. To know that at some point during the day, I'll get a text that says "Sure miss you today," is a gift. To know that I get to come home to a bright smile and a hand that holds mine while we pray over dinner, is a gift.

You are the Valentine I never knew existed in real life. You are the sparkle in my day. You bring me so much joy.

And to think...the whole time...you were 100 yards away.

A Little Valentine's Day Countdown

Would you believe it if I told you I've NEVER had a boyfriend on Valentine's Day? It's true. And Ryan has told me...it's still true. I skipped straight to having a husband - and no complaints there!

I've been so looking forward to this first Valentine's Day together....so I did a whole countdown for him - starting back on February 1. Some of these ideas came from Pinterest {gasp} and others I just came up with on my own. But I thought I'd show you what I did for him!!

{If I had this to do over, I'd have purchased ALL the gifts ahead of time and spent time making nice cutesy little printed signs for them. Alas, SHARE was right before this and then I was sick - and I was just proud of myself for having something FOR each day ON each day!}

1. You are my cutie. Not the most manly message in the world, but it was a good start! And um...have you SEEN HIM?? So handsome!!! How could I not give him some love for that???

 2. I love you to "pieces." Reese's pieces, that is!!

 3. We are a great "combo." At this point, he asked if I was trying to fatten him up!

 4. You're just "write" for me. Because he is! In a million different ways.

 5. Baby, I'm NUTS about you. Because it's true! I am!

 6. I heart you....I know, a little sickening...but so true.

 7. I like the way you roll. Especially when he ended up sharing this one with me!

 8. I love you more than chocolate. I was going to just write that on the note with a plain chocolate bar, and then I found this one that had it printed right on the wrapper! SWEET CORN!

 9. I love your kisses! Oh yes I do!

 10. You blow me away with all the wonderful things...because he does. Every single day.

 11. There are a billion "riesens" why I love you. I wanted to list them all, but...

12. You are my Kit. This one won't work for y'all, but we loved it. One day I texted him to tell him he was my joy, and my autocorrect changed it to "you are my kit." We had a good laugh about that one

 13. I "chews" you for always. Pinterest suggested gum for this one but I loathe gum, so I was happy to find this alternative!!!

He LOVED getting these every day and I loved spoiling him with just a little tiny thing for all these many days! Can't wait for tomorrow and our celebration!!

The Comedy We Called Dinner

I mentioned in my Shafferland Shuffle on Sunday that we did a l'il bit of entertaining on Saturday night. We are two relatively smart and organized people. We thought this would be an easy adventure.

We. Thought. Wrong.

Take a look.

* We planned a menu of grilled chicken and pork chops, a cheesy hash brown casserole, and broccoli salad, with dirt pudding for dessert. Friday night, we looked up all the recipes, wrote down the ingredients we'd need and headed to the store.

* Saturday morning, Ryan worked, so I got up to cook and clean {at least get said activities started} while he worked.

* I started by frying the bacon for the broccoli salad. Smoked up the entire house with the first three strips. Opened the kitchen windows to let out the smoke while running around with wet hair. BRILLIANT while recovering from the crud.

* Put the cream cheese on the counter to soften. Discovered the chicken in the freezer {that we intended to take out the night before} - put it on the counter to thaw. Looked for the hash browns so I could get those out to thaw as well.

* No hash browns. Pawed through the entire freezer AND fridge. No luck. Looked in cabinets. {Hey, we were tired when we put groceries away. It could have happened.} Texted Ryan. "Any idea where the hash browns are?" His only suggestion was to check the car, which I did. Not there.

* Texted Ryan again. "Remember the Miracle Whip you said we had? It expired 2 years ago. Maybe we should get more of that when we go back to the store for hash browns."

* Tried to straighten my hair. It sat atop my head at twice its normal size.

* Cried. {The big hair, the coughing, and the missing hash browns got the best of me.}

* Decided to try to chop the broccoli in the food processor. Have never actually USED the thing, since Ryan is our resident chopper. It. Would. Not. Work. Called Ryan {still in tears} to ask HOW this stupid Choppy McChopperson worked. He tried to guess over the phone what was going wrong. Turns out I didn't have it locked in place. Got it locked. FINALLY got something underway.

* Ryan got home, found the receipt from the night before so he could go back to the store to claim our apparently forgotten hash browns. Said purchase NOT on the receipt. {He remembers scanning them and I remember bagging them, so we have no idea how this happened.} He went to the store for the hash browns and current day Miracle Whip. And Kleenex. I'd polished off the end of 2 boxes in the four hours he'd worked.}

* I finished assembling the broccoli salad, except the sunflower seeds and bacon, which you add at the last minute.

* Ryan got ready to prepare the dirt pudding, using the finely ground Oreo crumbs I'd produced with the help of my new BFF, Choppy McChopperson. I asked if he needed ANYTHING else before I headed out for vases to give the mamas with their flowers. He said, "Nope. Just going to put the Cool Whip in with the cream cheese and finish off this dessert." I paused, pivoted and said, "Cool Whip? That wasn't on the list."

* Went to the store for some Cool Whip. Dropped it back off before resuming the vase shopping.

* We scurried to clean and straighten and set the table and yell at Braeya for even thinking...thinking, mind you... of jumping on the table.

* Her thinking proceeded to the next level the very moment our backs were turned.

* 28 minutes to dinner - I discovered I did not have sunflower seeds. The ENTIRE BAG I had must now be playing with the missing hash browns. Called my mom, who had been dying to bring SOMETHING to dinner. Dad answered. I said, "Does mom have sunflower seeds?" His response: "Do you want those for eating or planting?"

* Yes. Because I plant a lot of flowers on February 9th.

* I forgot to remind Ryan to pray specifically that no one would die from the cooking {something I ALWAYS do when I have company} - but amazingly dinner was done on time - and no one died.

* Including Braeya. She came the closest.

At.Ti.Tude.

So, the other night, Ryan and I were watching Alf.

Yes. Alf.

What, you don't watch the lovable alien from the 80's in all YOUR spare time?

Well, we do. :)

There was a scene in that particular episode where one of the extras was sporting some MAJORLY large glasses. They were about the same size as his head. Gotta love the 80's!!

That reminded me of a story I had to tell Ryan, so I figured it was only fair to share it with you, too.  The truth of the thing is that I've never worn glasses. Ever.

But when I was in 5th grade, my sister came home with a pair of attitude glasses. Do you remember attitude glasses? They were these MASSIVE frames with non-prescription lenses that people wore in the 80's as an accessory. And before I knew it...she'd bought a pair for me, too, and I felt like I'd arrived.

No longer would I be the 5th grade wallflower.

Check it out.

{I wasn't really a cheerleader. Halloween costume.}

I wore my glasses often and one day, in the 6th grade, the lady that came in to listen to our reading group told me they would ruin my eyes and I should take them off.

Because I was a compliant child, I did, but I marched straight home and told Mom and Dad that she had no right to boss me around that way. That if they let me wear the glasses, then that should be good enough. I hoped they would call the school and play the parent card and I would once again be allowed to wear my glasses.

They did not. And that was the end of my attitude glasses {though not the end of my attitude toward that woman}.

Until.

I graduated from college, got my job in Financial Aid, and found that every time I sat down with a family to explain to them their financial options, fathers would look rather disapprovingly over their own glasses and say to me, "How old are you?"

{Hint: if you are the parent of a near-college-age student, DO NOT ask this question to anyone who works at the prospective universities they visit. It will not be received with amusement.}

After weeks of being given the once-over and being grilled about my lack of satisfactory age....I did what any self-respecting girl does:

Oh yeah. The next century's version of attitude glasses.

Wanna know something? They stopped asking my age. Double vengeance. I suddenly looked mature and studious AND that woman wasn't there to tell me to take them off.

PS. No one asks my age now. Thank you, gray hair.

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday we went to church, but I was still feeling a little rough-ish. When we came home, I pretty much hit the couch/bed/floor for the rest of the day. We had been invited to a Super Bowl party but I just felt way too icky to leave home, so we made our own buffalo chicken and buffalo chicken mac n cheese...and watched at home. By the end of the game I was under a blanket in Ryan's lap, feeling really sick!! Nevertheless, I persevered to the end of the game. Wanted to be a good football wife!

* Monday I got up, got ready, and made it all the way to the other side of town before declaring I was too sick to last all day. I turned around, came home, and went back to the couch, where I proceeded to spend the day alternately sleeping, scrapbooking, and catching up on my DVR'd shows. And downing echinacea.

* Tuesday I got up, packed Ryan's lunch, and determined that activity to be as exhausting as level 2 of the 30 Day Shred - so I turned my little self right around and went back to bed. As the day went along, I started to feel better, so I got up and worked on some scrapbooking...and some details for our wedding reception. Much to do in a short amount of time!

* Wednesday I returned to the land of the living...and was so excited to add a new picture to my desk.  I realized the only photo of Ryan that existed on my desk was a profile of us kissing. And while his ear is 30 kinds of handsome...I thought perhaps it was time to add a photo in which you could see HIS FACE.

* Thursday I went to work solely because I wanted to do the BLT show with Lynne. After all, I had a present for her! My friend Faith found this Christmas ornament on clearance and got it for us. LOVE IT!!

As the day went on, I felt progressively worse, so I was quite glad to come home and rest the WHOLE night long.

* Friday I woke up feeling like a new woman (WOO HOOOOOOO!!!) and went to work where I shared the show with Lynne again - and we talked to the Dating Divas! Have you ever checked out their site? It's so cool! Tons of dating ideas...love it!! It inspires most of what I do for Ryan!

* Saturday evening, Ryan and I hosted a little dinner for my parents and his dad and step-mom. {We were sad his mom and step-dad weren't able to join us too!} We had dinner and showed them our wedding video...and it was so much fun! We really enjoyed having them over!

Pink Fleece Ball Gowns

We were running late yesterday morning...caused by the syndrome of too many encounters with the snooze button. We scurried through the house packing lunches...warming up vehicles...choosing clothes for the day...and consuming the ever-necessary morning coffee.

I turned on the radio to hear the road conditions for Fort Wayne so I could know what to expect on my commute, and Khristian Stanfill was in the middle of singing Your love never fails...never gives up...never runs out on me...

One of our favorite songs.

I cast a smile Ryan's direction and started to pass by him in our room, wearing my super-attractive hot pink fleece robe with giant pockets and a trailing belt. My bedhead poked unattractively from leftover bobby pins, and I clutched my coffee mug tightly in my hand.

As I passed by him, he slipped his arm around me and lured the coffee cup out of my hand. {Only someone I really really love can even touch the coffee at that hour and get away with it.}

And then he started to dance. Right there in the middle of a cramped morning, with a wife sporting yesterday's smeared eyeliner and semi-ratty hair, he invited me to dance.

The song was already half over but we moved slowly around the rug at the end of the bed while he whispered in my ear that he loved me.

Those moments - the ones when pink fleece robes become ball gowns - are the moments when I am so grateful this man chose me. That he saw past all those things that made me so invisible and saw someone to love.

I don't take it for granted.

Grown Up Road Trip Games {Part B}

Yesterday  I told you about the first half of the road trip games Ryan and I played while smashed into a car with a week's worth of luggage for two...and all our wedding supplies.

We saved the other half for our trip home....and here's that round of games!

9. Movie Trivia!

 You might remember that on the way down, we played some TV trivia, so on the way home, we kicked it off with some movie trivia. I picked two movies we'd both seen {a real feat since I haven't seen a lot of movies in my day} and asked Sheryl {again} if she'd print off some trivia from the web. He won - but I helped him. Just sayin'.

10. Wedding Travel Trip I Spy Game. 

 Just a quick game...for twenty minutes - could we find something to cover every letter of the alphabet? We didn't get them all, but we made some pretty good headway on the list. It was fun - and we got to work together - which meant I couldn't lose! Ha!

11. Jesus Calling From Our Most Memorable Days

 I love the devo Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, so I threw it in the activity bag, and when we came to this one...we called out dates that had been memorable in our relationship - the day we went on our first date...got engaged...first kiss...those kinds of things...and we read the devo for that day. Fun to see how God was present in words in each of those milestones in our relationship!

12. Love Puzzles

  This game had to be modified slightly from my original plan. I was looking for a blank puzzle that was also a card, and my plan was to get two, have us write one to each other, and then open them later. But alas, the only blank puzzle Hobby Lobby had was a regular board puzzle. So I got that, divided the pieces into two piles and while we ate lunch at a Popeye's Chicken on the way home, we wrote messages to each other on the pieces. When we got home, we put the puzzle together and read our notes. It was much fun!!!

13. License Plate Palooza

 Went back to this website and found a printable for a list of the US states...so we could check off the license plates we found. We played this one for an hour and really got quite a few considering we weren't in the middle of a heavily populated area! Another one we played together!

14. Car Karaoke

 We LOVE to sing in the car...so it only seemed natural to suggest we do a little car karaoke!!! I picked some of our favorite songs....like 500 Miles and 10,000 reasons, and we cranked it UP!

15. M and M Game

 I saw this idea online and now I wish I could remember where!! I bought a pack of M and M's and we had to guess {without feeling through the package to count} how many M and M's were in the bag to begin with. Then we had to further guess how many of each color were inside. Winner got to keep the bag. And of course - I WON this one, thankyouverymuch. I rarely lose when chocolate is involved. But I shared. Because I'm nice that way.

16. Twenty Questions Game

 I searched around online and found different versions of 20 questions...picked my favorites from the lists - added a few of my own - and compiled a list to spark some conversation. We had a great time answering these!

17. Coffee Break!

 One of our last games - a Starbucks date! We received several gift cards to Starbucks for our trip, so I tucked one inside an envelope and we stopped for a little break. It was such fun!! {Minus the fact that Ryan talked me into using the men's room because whoever was in the women's NEVER CAME OUT the whole time we were there!!}

18. Mad Libs
Last game and I totally forgot to take a picture! I printed out some Mad Libs online since I couldn't find a book to save my life - and our last game involved rewriting the lyrics to some songs - via the Mad Lib method!! A twist on this game, that I learned from my friends Jon and Julie Crandall is to play Mad Libs by calling your friends to ask them to fill in the blanks. Lets you stay in touch with people while having fun!

So there you have it! Our grown up travel activities! If you road trip it this summer - hope you can use some to pass long hours in the car!!!

Grown Up Road Trip Games {Part A}

I've been hanging onto this post idea for such a time as this...for a week when not much is happening. Three days of being sick on the couch with the crud lends to very little blog material. {Though we did learn what happens when one spouse uses the oven as a storage spot and the other spouse is not aware of it and cooks lunch.}

When Ryan and I headed to Florida to get married, we had a 17 hour road trip in the car. One way. I don't care how good of a traveler you are...that'll tax ya! So before we went, I worked to create some games to keep us occupied while we drove. It's hard to find games that aren't just for kids, so I did a little modifying, and here's what I came up with. Thought I'd pass them along in case you have some road trips coming up with the overgrown kids in your life!

Before we left, I wrote up all the game instructions and put them in unmarked envelopes. Whenever we thought we needed a game, I'd pull out the stash and he'd pick one at random from the stack. We played in the order he chose!

1. Road Trip Bingo

I actually found some printables for Bingo on this website - and we did the roadside version. {We looked for things along the road vs. certain types of cars ON the road.} I printed out two sheets - one for each of us and held one out so Ryan could keep one eye on the road and one eye on the things he needed to look for. Our sheets were identical in what we were looking for...everything was just in a different spot on each sheet. So if one of us spotted something, we could both mark it off...and the lucky lineup person won. {I did his marking for him to make it safer.} Apparently driving did not hinder him. He still {so humbly} won.

2. The Vacation Bucket List

 We've had a regular bucket list for a while, but I'd noticed we often said things like "we should go there someday" or "let's make that a vacation spot." My memory is terrible, and I hated the thought of forgetting the ideal vacation spot, so our second activity was to make a vacation bucket list. I found a little notebook at home that wasn't being used for anything else, and I packed it in my travel bag. When this activity rolled around, we brainstormed all kinds of places we want to visit - anything from a little overnighter at a B&B to a big bad vacation that would take days and days and 12 suitcases {for me}. We'll hang onto this notebook and add to it throughout our marriage - and hopefully cross off many destinations as we make memories together!

3. Would You Rather?

 There's a game called Would You Rather? that we have at work. In fact, a few months back, I interviewed the creator of the game during one of our Mid-Morning shows. I borrowed the game we have in the office and pulled out a few questions {20, I think} and wrote them down. As we zipped down the highway, I posed the questions to Ryan and we each answered them and offered our reasoning behind the answers. Creates some pretty exciting conversation! {Sample question: Would you rather have an itch in the middle of your back all the time or an eyelash in your eye all the time?}

4. TV Trivia

 One thing we learned is that playing games after 11 p.m. when you've been on the road for half a day with no end in sight...is a bad idea. But we played on all in the name of staying awake. I had some help with this game. Ryan loves the TV show Everybody Loves Raymond and I love Friends. So my friend Sheryl chose some trivia questions over each show from the internet and wrote them out for us. I quizzed us both and guess who won? {Hint: He was driving.}

5. A Little Fill in the Blank Fun

 This is one of the first games we played in the wee hours of the morning after our itty bitty nap at the rest stop. A little fill in the blank fun! I hopped around to different blogs that had link ups to short answer something or other on Friday and I took some of the best questions and we spent a good chunk of time talking about them. It really made for some fantastic bonding...which is hard to come by at 5 in the morning!

6. Snack Break!!

 I wanted something that was more of an activity and less of a fill in the blank thing. So one of the envelopes had directions to pull something yummy out of the snack bag and have a little treat to help you stay awake!! When you're driving through the night - this is especially important. Sheryl had packed us the nicest little treat bag - INCLUDING my favorite apples: honeycrisps! So we ate those at some ridiculously early hour as our snack break!

7. Back Rub Break!
I don't think we ever actually finished this one, so there's no photo, but I thought there might be a possibility that we'd be so eager to reach our destination that we wouldn't stop and take care of ourselves. So....we were supposed to pull over at the next convenient location and give each other back rubs. Alas, we never did it. Think I can still collect on this one?

8. Smackaroo break!!!!!!
Another one designed to give us something to do while resting. We decided to skip ahead to this one while we were stuck in the 3 hour traffic jam. Because there really was NOTHING TO DO on that stretch of road other than sleep and cry and wish you had a bathroom!!!

So those were the games we played on the way down....we had more on the way back! Stay tuned!