Small World, Big Influence: Ellen

For the last several weeks, I've been telling you about some people in my life - from upwards of twenty years ago - who were pivotal in shaping me into the person I am today. All of them are people who aren't known on a national level. They're just ordinary people living an ordinary life, and a piece of their ordinary crossed a piece of mine, and I'm forever impacted because of something they said or did.

As I've shared these stories, I've relied on my original words from writing I did over a decade ago, but today I'm going to start from scratch on my story, because I feel like leaving it in its original form would be confusing and incomplete. My message remains the same, but my words are new.

Today I want you to meet Ellen. She doesn't know me at all. And truth be told, this one Sunday night at church was the only encounter with her I ever had. I have no idea where she's moved in life or what's happening with her in the present day, but I can tell you that a speaking invitation she accepted at a little church many years ago left a big impact on me.

I nearly didn't go to church that night. I knew we were having a special speaker, and I knew she represented the Crisis Pregnancy Center. While I respected and appreciated the work of the CPC, I really wanted to go to church for Bible study, not for fundraising speeches. I argued with myself for a while, but in the end, I ended up in my pew for Sunday evening service.

When Ellen stood to speak, she completely surprised me. She did talk about her work at the Center, but she spoke about much more than that. She didn't just rattle off a list of shocking statistics and count the numerous needs to keep the place running from month to month: she talked about the need behind the CPC. She didn't just talk about pregnant teenagers. Her heart broke for the reasons that landed them inside the walls of her office.

It was the first time anyone in my life had ever dared to publicly talk about why people ended up in a crisis pregnancy. Real, deep wounds and losses in life that caused them to turn to sex for comfort. And not just sex...but impurity in general. Girls who felt so unloved by people who didn't take time to invest in them that they wanted a baby to have someone to love.

Ellen had a bunch of her own kids, and at that season, most of them were teens, so her heart for this age group was huge. Her mission at the CPC wasn't just to lower the county statistics. It was to teach young women how to find real answers to their questions. Real food for their hunger. Real change that would last.

It wasn't Ellen's work with the CPC that caught my attention that night. It was not even her passion for kids and teens. It was her passion for life. She didn't care what age any person was - her passion for people burned fiercely because they were alive. The value she saw in an unborn child that drove her at her job was the same value she saw in a four year old, an eighteen year old, a fifty year old, and a seventy eight year old. Age didn't matter to Ellen. Heartbeats did.

That night, I found myself with a deep desire to be passionate for people. All people of all ages. Life is valuable, no matter how young or how old. How collected or how broken. Ellen saw potential in all people. She saw importance in every single life.

If I ran into Ellen today {and managed to recognize her} I would thank her for taking time from her platform that night to share more than a need for money. I would thank her for sharing her heart and passion with a whole church - and especially with the one defensive girl in a back pew.

Shredded Pork Loin

One of the hardest things about meshing the love of cooking with the commuting lifestyle is...timing. We come home from work pretty hungry, and if we happen to go to the gym that night...well...you can only imagine how hungry we are after that! I actually border on hangry at that point. And nobody needs that. :)

This is why I adore slow cooker meals so very much. We can put the food in to cook before we leave in the morning and it's ready when we come home. And this is one of my favorites. It's possibly the fastest prep in the world, and it is crazy tasty. And an even bigger bonus...it can be easily adjusted to make more or less without complicating a ton of ingredients.

Shredded Pork Loin

* 4 pounds pork loin
* 2 ounces Soy Sauce
* 2 ounces Liquid Smoke
* Seasoned Salt to taste

Place all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours. When it's fully cooked, shred with two forks and serve!

{Yes! It really is that easy!!}

A Few Tips: 

* Liquid smoke can be a bit of an acquired taste if you're not used to it. {We love it, but admit it can be strong!} If you find that it's overpowering, just back off a little bit of that in comparison to the Soy Sauce.

* For a bigger pork loin, just increase the amount of Soy Sauce and liquid smoke...by increasing them equally.

* If you don't have seasoned salt, you can use salt and pepper to taste. We are just HUGE seasoned salt fans.

* If you like BBQ sauce, you can add the sauce of your choice to the meat. I happen to love it plain. It's rich in flavor just like that.

* You can eat this in a sandwich or just plain. It works well with all kinds of sides - from salads to macaroni and cheese and more!

* This does freeze well, so if you find yourself with more than you meant to have, you can freeze the rest to use later.

* We are also huge fans of the slow cooker liners, because then when you're done, you can pull that out and toss it. Cleanup is much easier!

* Another nice thing about cooking this in a slow cooker is if you're having a party, you can keep it warm while your guests serve themselves!

Assembling Mo

Last Saturday was our big day...Mo's assembly day! Since we hadn't gotten to bed until almost 1 in the morning, we slept in until about 9, and then it was time to get up and busy...because we needed to put together Mr. Mo!!

He was packed into four boxes with a 36 page manual and a bag of hardware you would not believe. Ryan is undaunted by things like this.

Time to begin!

Did I mention the 36 page manual?

And the bag of hardware?

But there was no need to fear because helper girl number one was ON THE JOB!!!

No. Not me.

THIS one.

He actually got it together in fairly short order {compared to the week it would have taken me...}

Oh! PS! I did more than take pictures. :)

At long last, we had it assembled. It wasn't just putting together the couch that took some time. We also had to rearrange the furniture in a couple of rooms AND Ryan had to crawl under the house to reroute some cables and wires. {Let the record show I was the helper girl from the main level.} So with all those things factored in, it took longer than we really wanted, but we were thankful for a day at home to get it all done.

SO!!!!

Are you ready for the big reveal? {Please ignore the walls behind and beside him...I haven't rearranged the wall decor yet.

Here's our Mo...

And as you might remember....the best thing about him...is that he becomes a bed!!

With our Mo!!!!

Did we mention it turns into a bed? Revolutionized our football afternoons. Too bad those are over for another year.

We were having so much fun...we had a sleepover the very first night! {These words were supposed to be above that photo, but Blogger is rebelling on me tonight.}



And at our sleepover...a guest.

We also captured our journey on video and had the most fun making one...wanna see???


Hope you love our Mo as much as we do! And if you ever come to visit, you can enjoy him in person!!

Going for Mo

You might remember that back in December, when we took our anniversary trip up toward Chicago, we went to IKEA for the very first time in our lives. We had a great day there...a great day made better when we encountered what we believe to be the perfect couch for Shafferland.

We loved that thing so much, we canceled buying Christmas presents for one another and came home to list our own living room furniture {the part Ryan had before we got married} online to sell it. We pooled Christmas money, saved money, and sold furniture money so we could return to IKEA and bring home Mo. Yes. We named him. The couch model is called the Moheda, so we shortened it to Mo..and Mo he is!

We discovered the IKEA in Cincinnati is actually closer to us than the one in Schaumburg, where we went originally, so Friday night, we both got off work an hour early and scurried home to get on the road. Well. I TRIED to scurry. Right before I got on the interstate, I found out it was closed halfway home because of a car fire. So I had to take the back way, which takes longer. So guess who held up the departure? THE GIRL WHO SAID, "I DON'T CARE IF ANYONE ELSE MAKES US LATE, BUT I GUARANTEE YOU I WILL NOT BE LATE." Famous last words.

Ryan's mom had never been to IKEA and wanted to check it out, so she came over and brought Allen's big pickup truck, which is bigger and sturdier than ours, and the three of us packed ourselves in that little cab and set out on a three hour tour.

It was get-to-know-ya time in that truck! I rode in the middle, which meant I could not move my feet AT ALL. Nita and I had our suitcase purses on the floor on her side, and there was some sort of gear thing on the floor between my feet and Ryan's, plus if I bumped my knee up, I could knock us into reverse!

So there I sat!!! Allllll the way to Ohio.

This IKEA was a little older and not quite as big as the one in Schaumburg. But we didn't care. Cause you know why? MO WAS INSIDE!!

So happy to be out of the truck with my legs moving!

And Ryan was so happy for his mom to meet IKEA!

We scurried upstairs and ran to the living room section. Some other people were {mistakenly, I'm sure} sitting on Mo when we arrived, but they left, and oh, baby! Reunited and it feels so GOOD!

We were pretty hungry, because it was almost 8:00 by this time, so we found our way to the little restaurant and got some dinner!

And then...time to buy Mo!! We made our way to checkout with our trusty little paper, so we could make him officially OURS.

*Ahem* might have also purchased some coffee beans.

After we paid for him, Ryan had to take a slip to furniture pickup so they could go get the monstrosity that was Mo and bring him to us.

We sat in the waiting room while they went to fetch him:

And then...he was there!

OUR BOY!!!!! Our little Mo. He's really not very little, is he?

Then to get it in the truck...oh sweet goodness.

They were supposed to have helper guys outside but they were nowhere to be found, so Ryan tried to wrestle it into the truck while I sat in the cab {making sure the doors didn't lock us out in the cold and also getting the GPS set up to get us back home} and Nita bought cinnamon rolls inside.

Thankfully a really nice couple happened to exit with their own purchases and kindly stopped to lend a hand. BLESS YOU, sweet strangers!!

Before we headed home...it's possible we were just MOMENTS from a Sonic.

Be still my beating heart.

Ryan and Nita had their first cream slushes. All is right with the world.

And then it was back to Indiana. This picture looks a little like we felt by the time we got there:

We arrived home about 12:30 in the morning and had to bust through the plastic wrap holding the four boxes of Mo together. Ryan and I hauled it in one box at a time, and Nita held the door for us. She went home and we collapsed into sleep!!! What a great date night!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, we started a new series at church, and we're really looking forward to that. After church, we met up with Ryan's family at Hacienda for a lunch to celebrate his sister Bre's birthday. I think the entire county was there eating lunch...so full!! Fun lunch, though. Lots of laughter. While we were in there, the first of the next wave of weather began...sleet! Before heading home, we went to a viewing in town and then made it home safely before the weather turned even worse. I napped and Ryan watched the Colts! GO COLTS!!!!

* Guess what? MORE WINTER WEATHER kept me home from work on Monday. It wasn't snow this time. It was ice. Ryan picked his way to work and said even when he came home that the main highway from there to here was awful with patches that were still solid ice. Boo. It's always interesting to live in a part of the state that is getting different weather than the part of the state where you work! After working at home, I shoveled our sidewalk and put down ice melter stuff, made dinner, baked some cookies, and hunkered down for a long winter's talk with Ryan. And prayed for spring. :)

* Tuesday was considerably better weather-wise, so I went back to work and was very busy catching up. I also started filming for a video we need for our Share fundraiser coming up in a couple of weeks. I got to play with bright colors for that, so it made me pretty happy! :) That night, Ryan and I went to meet the sweet new little baby girl born to some friends of ours. I've wanted to go for a while, but I didn't want to give her my cold. She is SO PRECIOUS!! We took them some sticky rolls and a present and had a great time meeting this sweet thing!

* Wednesday we woke up to the most gorgeous frozen fog. I was so sad that I couldn't be home to get great pictures of it. This little drive-by picture from my commute was the best I could do. It was so stunning to drive in, though. More filming at work...it was fun to work with everyone and capture the shots! And in the world of things Ryan does throughout the day to make me giggle...he texted me a photo of himself with his halo. GET IT?? LOL!!!

* Thursday was a gorgeous day that felt like a heat wave after the frigid temps of the week. It actually made it above zero! HA!!! Lynne and I had fun on BLT and I got so much work knocked out at my desk that day. Ryan was busy at work too {he's got a student working with him right now which is really exciting for him} - and when we came home, we had another great night of rest. We are taking our simplified life seriously right at the moment! We napped and I journaled for a while. Lovely night!!

 * Friday was a BIG day in Shafferland!! Ryan and I got off work an hour early, scurried home, and met up with Ryan's mom, who came over with Allen's big pickup truck, and we all crammed in the cab and headed to Cincinnati, Ohio! TIME TO PICK UP MO, OUR NEW COUCH!!!! It took us about 3 hours to get there...and we packed him in the old truckaroonie and then drove back home! Much more to be told about this adventure next week - but here's the photo summary:

* We didn't get home from IKEA until after midnight Friday, so our first order of business on Saturday was to sleep in! We enjoyed cinnamon rolls Ryan's mom bought at IKEA and shared with us, and then we got busy with assembly! We had to put the couch together from the four huge boxes...and we had to rearrange a couple of rooms! We still have some finishing touches to put on it, but it's great to have things mostly settled. YAY for a day off for two Shaffers!!

The Saturday Six

One.

For those of you who are not the photo addicts that I am, this week's simplify and organize challenge will hopefully hit you with something you DO have. A bathroom cabinet! Last week when the plumbers came to work on our backed up pipes, they had to unload everything from the cabinet under the sink into a laundry basket so they could work. So.........

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I'm inspired to challenge you to gather the fam and clean out the bathroom cabinets this week. Under the sink and in the medicine cabinet. Do you have expired meds? Dispose of them {safely and properly is best! Here's a link with info on that.} Expired beauty products? Out. And make a list of what you might need to buy to replace. Stuff you haven't used in over six months? Out. A billion duplicates? Out. Weed out and sanitize and replace what you need to replace! If your kids have their own bathrooms, have them do this too. Clean bathroom cabinets all around!

Two.

Lynne gifted me with this nifty little thing {cat not included}! It's called a Frost Guard, and you hook it over the mirrors on your car so it keeps snow and ice from sticking to the windshield if you park outside. Even if you have a garage at home, you probably run into some snow and ice while at work - or church - or grocery shopping - so in the dead of winter, this can save you some scraping woes! Only caution is to be careful if it gets covered with ice...don't let the elastic snap and break!

Three.

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Anyone else out there a vow renewal ceremony junkie? I know. I know. I've only been married 2 years and now I'm all thinking about vow renewals? I just think they're a lovely way to bring you back to the promises you made! I adore these pics from KariAnne Wood's vow renewal ceremony that she posted. ADORE.  

Four.

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An inventor I am not...but I'm excited to know someone who DOES have that gift! {And he was in my class in high school. AND he sat behind me in study hall and autographed all the newspaper clippings of his basketball games just in case he ever got famous. So looks like I could be cashing in on that soon!!} Anyway, his name is Zac, and he's doing a KickStarter for this cool toy he designed. He's already raised the majority of what he needs but is trying to get over the last hurdle for it! And as a big-kid-at-heart, I think it's probably as much fun for adults to play with as kids! {Watch the second video...see what I mean!}

Five.

Earlier this week, a friend of mine emailed to ask for any tips I had to offer for cruising. She and her husband are about to take an anniversary trip, and it'll be her first time. I sent her a much longer email than I'm sure she was anticipating receiving...but I also remembered I'd written this post after our cruise a couple of summers ago, with my best tips for newbies! In case any of you are planning summer vacations, here are the Shafferland suggestions. This is also just a funny read because Ryan co-wrote it. He always makes me giggle.

Six.

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You guys know how much I love the Dashing Dish website and how Katie Farrell's recipes are so amazing to me, because they actually taste like real food that I enjoy eating - except they're healthy! First time I've ever encountered that! So this week she put together this post that links you to her top 25 pinned recipes. If you're overwhelmed by the number of recipes on the site, this might be a great place to start!