Valentine's Day

We had such a fun Valentine's Day...always easier to celebrate a holiday when you have the day off, right?

Ryan started the day out right by treating me to breakfast! He made our favorite pancakes and some turkey bacon - and of course, coffee!!

And he treated me to a Valentine's Day gift: roses, Reese's peanut butter hearts, and a black and burlap "S" to put in our dining room. He knows me!!!!

You might remember that Ryan's wedding gift from me was a series of letters I wrote to him for years leading up to our marriage. {Before I even knew who he was!} He's still reading them and had noticed that the next one in line was one I'd written on a Valentine's Day back in 2007. So while we ate, he read that letter...my heart was filled with such hope on that day in 2007. I was so sure that marriage was just around the corner! This is the beauty of God not giving all the details up front!! Thankful for His faithfulness in that long season of waiting.

We exchanged our cards...{please excuse our bedhead. HA!! We were on vacation.}

And then I gave Ryan his gift. I'd been SO EXCITED about this present!!! I had a list of verses I used to pray over my future marriage...26 verses...one for every letter of the alphabet. So I made a scrapbook that featured every single verse I prayed, and a picture taken sometime since the start of our relationship that showed in some way how God had answered the prayer of that verse. He loved it.

It was a beautiful start to the morning!! After breakfast, we packed up the car and headed to Fort Wayne for our Valentine's Day outing: a dessert and coffee date at DeBrand Fine Chocolates. If you're not from around here...well, you're missing out. Fabulous chocolate. And such a fun atmosphere!! They were a bit packed that day {learned that lots of people wait UNTIL Valentine's Day to buy the goodies} but they were well-staffed and ridiculously efficient, and we didn't have to wait long!

We ordered the Ultimate Float and some coffee. Oh my word. People. PEOPLE!!!!!!!

 I cannot even put into words the goodness of this float.

We had the best time just savoring our dessert...enjoying each other's company. So good.

We drove around Fort Wayne a bit and then...checked into our hotel for the beginning of the marriage retreat!

{Yes, I brought my roses with me.}

It was a great day!! Thanks, Ryan, for treating me to such fun!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, Ryan and took breakfast to Sunday School for our class...and they loved it so much we hardly had leftovers! {boo!!!} After church, we made our way to Indianapolis to make good on Ryan's Christmas present...tickets to the Pentatonix concert! After standing in the almost zero temperatures for an hour and a half, we got into the standing-room-only concert hall and watched a great show! And on the way home...an IHOP date!

* Monday was...the first official day of our staycation!! That's right, baby! The Shaffers took a staycation this week!! We slept in...and began our day of a Back to the Future movie marathon! If you can believe it...I'd never seen any of the movies and they're among Ryan's favorites, so we watched them all...in one day! We did a little bit of work at home, too, and watched the Olympics while we ate some oatmeal chocolate chip bars! And then Monday night, we had a slumber party in the living room right by the fire!

* Tuesday we picked up where we left off with the movies on Monday - and watched one of my favorites that Ryan had never seen: Flightplan! When we finally got up and moving, we spent a few hours cleaning out the attic...purging, reorganizing, and taking some walks down memory lane. Ryan found some clothes from when he was a baby, and I found all sorts of letters and cards I'd saved from years ago. {AND we found the boxes of sheets, Valentine's Day decor and wreaths we have been missing for MONTHS.} And then a rare treat...Braeya sat on my lap for a while! She DOES still love me!

* Wednesday was cold, but GORGEOUS outside, so we took advantage of the pretty day and headed out for our second county tour. Adams County was our destination...and we saw the sights of a covered bridge, a replica clock tower, and our favorite part of the day: COFFEE SHOP LOVE!!! We tried out the Shaka Shack in Monroe and man was that some good coffee!! A leisurely, successful day to visit the sights of Indiana!

* Thursday was...not as much fun as Wednesday. We had a plumber come to visit that morning to investigate some issues we've had with frozen pipes and leaks this winter. The verdict? Total plumbing replacement. YIPPEEE!!!!!!! We tried to be thankful for the fact that we have plumbing...but you know how easy that can be when problems abound. We took some time that afternoon to go visit Ryan's grandma, who is recovering from surgery...wanted to take her a little gift to brighten her day. LOVED the blue sky sunset, despite the gray day...and that night...we hunkered down to watch Indiana boy Nick Goepper compete in the Olympics!

 * Friday was Valentine's Day, and I can't wait to tell you all about that in more detail. We started out with a homemade breakfast and gift exchange at home...followed by the most YUMMY dessert stop at DeBrand Fine Chocolates in Fort Wayne...and the first day of our marriage retreat weekend! That was fun, because we got to meet up with some of our friends we've not seen in a long while!

* Yesterday we wrapped up our marriage retreat with such a fun day! The speaker this year was John Townsend, and we really enjoyed listening to him! We got to have a late lunch/early dinner with our friends, which was great! We had fun at the evening entertainment...and then a little bit of Wii bowling to top off the night. Great way to end the retreat!

The Saturday Six

One.

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We've all seen them before, but if you're having a bad day, not much can make you laugh faster than a trip through the Awkward Family Photos site. Thanks, Kristin, for reminding me about those!!!

Two.

And speaking of family photos...we did a little attic cleaning this week, and discovered along the way an old sweater of Ryan's from days gone by. Ain't he cute? Those DIMPLES! I just die.

Three.

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AND speaking of days gone by...Sarah reminded me this week about Amelia Bedelia. Did anyone else read those books growing up?? I LOVED AMELIA BEDELIA!!!!! I confess that some days I think I may actually BE Amelia.

Four.

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CUTE idea for taking hot chocolate on the go. Maybe I should start carrying this as a life staple in the sub-zero temperatures we've been living in these many weeks now. 

Five.

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 In honor of Valentine's Day yesterday, I offer these well-written thoughts by the always-well-spoken Caroline Rothschild.

Six.

Our friend Sara has a birthday this month, and we actually got to see her this week, so we delivered an early birthday gift: a party in a basket! Bet you'll never guess her favorite color!!! {Basket includes a party hat, flowers, a mug, a towel, a bottle of nail polish, bath scrubbie, flowers, silly string, balloons, confetti, clappers and a sign.}

Love...is Resourceful

Happy Valentine's Day to you, my friends.

I stared at a blinking cursor for a while before beginning to type to you today, knowing some of you just need to get through this day. It's a hard one. I remember it well. I remember wearing black and eating blizzards and cringing every single time one of the ladies I worked with received a flower delivery.

If you're there today...then know that you are receiving extra prayers from this girl today. And know that you're loved here. {Even though that doesn't begin to make up for the ache you feel.}

I sat down to write Ryan's card for this year and I thought back to last Valentine's Day, when I sported questionable hair and ran rather blindly through the day, trying to soak up every moment of my first Valentine's Day to "have someone"...ever.

Per my Facebook feed recently, it seems like a lot of the married friends I have are about as excited for this holiday as I was as a single person. They don't want to buy cards or gifts...they don't want to go out to eat. They don't care.

I do care. We care. We are excited about this day and about the chance to spend it together. That's a gift in and of itself for people who don't get to spend a lot of time together during the week.

That's what it's about for us. We stopped in the jewelry store yesterday to have my wedding ring cleaned, and I glanced at the cases with sparkling jewelry and just shrugged as I sat down. The only sparkle I needed was being cleaned in the next room, and it couldn't come back fast enough for me. I don't need more jewelry. I just need time with Ryan.

Because sometimes love is resourceful. It's not about big purchases. It's not about extravagant getaways. It's just about being together and making the best of what you have, when you have it.

Our Februrary mantel reminds me of this every time I look at it. I lost all my February decorations. Seriously lost them. That box of decor, along with a tub of sheets for our bed and a box of wreaths for all seasons just...vanished. Ryan and I are two of the most organized people I know...losing three boxes of our stuff was simply not acceptable. But yet...it happened.

We looked...and hunted...and looked again...and nothing. And finally, earlier this week, I said to Ryan, "I don't care if everything is missing. I need a February mantel. I'm going to scrounge one up."

And so I did. I left the silver and gold sprigs from January and tucked in the wildly glittery red sprigs I bought after Christmas for about 90% off. I rummaged through the kitchen and found our Mr. and Mrs. mugs and combined them with the "S" that sits in the dining room. I shopped the walls and brought the "Every Love Story is Beautiful" framed gift from our wedding in to the living room, doing my best to ignore the gaping hole it left where it was.

I left the white lantern in place and added the obnoxiously large red, white and silver "mistletoe" ball I bought on clearance after Christmas.

We cleaned the attic this week and found it all. The sheets...the wreaths...the Valentine's box. I unpacked the box of red decor and added one picture frame to the mantel. But I didn't change anything else. I wanted to be reminded that sometimes life and love are all about moments of resourcefulness. Moments when things don't go as planned...moments when it seems annoying, even, but it works. And it's perfect because it's ours.

Love to you today, my blog family. Much, much love.

Indiana County Tour: Adams County

You might remember that last month, we started a new project...one that will lead us to eventually visit every county in Indiana. We decided that this week would be a great time to hit county #2 in the lineup!

So last month we went to Blackford County, and this week we checked out Adams County.

So the quick facts...before the fun stuff. Adams County was named for the 6th President of the United States: John Quincy Adams. And the east side of Adams County borders Ohio! {No, we didn't go over to Ohio.} If you're a reader...especially of authors from days gone by, you might recognize the name Gene Stratton-Porter. Gene is actually a woman, and she wrote a dozen novels and some other literary pieces. Her home is in Adams County, but we didn't tour it on this visit.

We started by visiting the Ceylon Covered Bridge. Anyone else love a covered bridge??

Bridges in general scare me {fear of their floorboard failure, of course} but there's something so fascinating about a covered bridge. Probably the story-lover in me wonders who all has passed through it...and where they might have been going.

The bridge used to go over the Wabash river, but as the river's flow has shifted, it now goes over a channel. It's the only one of 23 covered bridges that used to cover the Wabash...to still stand. {The Wabash was a bit frozen and snow covered for our visit.} It's not used for traffic anymore - but is sturdy enough to walk through.

The bridge is 126 feet long and so strikingly beautiful - especially against the snow and blue sky!

We were the only ones out there {which was good, since the entrance hadn't been plowed and no one else could have gotten in after us} and had a blast with our photo shoot!!

 After we left the bridge, we traveled on to Berne, Indiana, which is a Swiss community with quite a heritage. One of their biggest attractions is their clock tower - which is a replica of the Zytglogge in Bern, Switzerland. We couldn't get too close to it because the sidewalks weren't cleared {winter is obviously NOT the best time to tour Indiana!} but it was massive and beautiful!

We drove around town for a while - this town has a HUGE furniture industry. There were furniture stores everywhere! Not surprising, though, since this is also a heavily populated Amish/Mennonite community, and they're known for making great furniture!

Speaking of the Mennonites...we stopped by to take a picture of the Mennonite Church, which is a beautiful piece of architecture!! Every year, they perform The Messiah at Christmas time, and I remember going there with my parents to hear it when I was just a little kid.

After we did our little tour of Berne, we headed up to Monroe!! Monroe is the tiniest little place, but oh, my dear people, what a treasure it holds. Let me introduce you to the place that I sorely wish resided ON MY BLOCK:

You might remember that one of the main goals of each county visit is to find a local coffee shop that is, in a word, amazing. FOUND IT in Adams County!

The Shaka Shack Coffee Shop has all kinds of Hawaiian flavor to it and is just flat out fun. Check out the inside:

 We met the owner, Matt, who is the kind of guy you want to have in your favorite coffee shop. He has a heart and passion for teens...and we saw a whole bunch of them pass through this place while we sat there. You could tell they knew it was a place where they'd be loved and accepted...starting with Matt.

THIS was one of my favorite parts. There is a Wall of Fame...and we asked what you had to do to get your name up there. We thought maybe it was a Man vs. Food kind of thing where you had to drink 80 ounces of coffee in 10 minutes or something. Turns out???? Ask for a Sharpie and you can put your name on the wall.  Um...OKAY!!! We'll do that!!! So we climbed up on chairs and added our mark to the Shaka Wall of Fame. HOW FUN!!!!

Ahhhh but the true test of a coffee shop is...the coffee. And y'all, it was fantastic. Mine had dark chocolate, caramel and hazelnut in it...and I was in love. Ryan had a white chocolate/macadamia nut coffee that was also very good. And Matt took good care of us while we were in there...he let us try a couple of samples of iced coffees {my first coffee love} that were so, so scrumptious.

This whole coffee shop experience was so much fun. SO glad we chose this one. Matt, thanks for making our visit so wonderful!! We'll be back!! :) OR if you want to open a branch...say...in our kitchen...we're good with that too!!

Thanks, Adams County, for a fun visit!!

2 Counties Down, 90 To Go!