A Week Ago Today...

Now that I'm all done saying in-print goodbyes {I think} to our first home together, and I've told you all about our Great Dane adventures, I am going to back up and catch up on other fun house news!

If you heard the podcast this week, you already know this story, but I like to have a print version of things as well as an audio version, and I thought you might like to see some pictures of the day, too!!

I'm also going to throw in some really fun only-God details, because I think you'll like them. {I know I do.}

A week ago yesterday, our house was shown in the evening. {Our current house that we're trying to sell. I know, "our house" can be such a confusing term these days. We get it. When we say "let's go home," we have to stop and think about where we mean!} We left for a couple of hours so the showing could take place, got some coffee, did some shopping, and then we came back. And the showing was still happening. WHOOPSIE!!!

So we went down the street to wait.

And then when we saw them leave, we went home.

I just had a different feeling this time. I had prayed so hard all day before the showing, and I even felt like I battled some spiritual warfare over it, and then when Ryan and I were in Lowe's, I just felt this peace settle over me that I can't explain. {Miracle in Lowe's?}

Friday afternoon, Ryan got home about a half hour early, which was wonderful and kind of uncommon. He had just walked in when our Realtor called. She said she doesn't normally make calls like this, but she just HAD to tell us that an offer would be coming our way.

WHAT?!?!!?!?!?!?

I had to smile and cry all at once:

We waited all evening to see if the official email came in, but it didn't. The next day, Saturday, was Ryan's first Saturday at home since December 21. We were sitting on the couch catching up on DVR'd shows when it came in.

Scared to open the email to see the offer:

Speaking of scared...can we pause to talk about the bedhead????

And then we opened it.

You guys, it was a fair offer, and we were THRILLED. It was possibly one of the best days of our entire year so far. We signed the offer and returned it and immediately resumed packing.

I shared a bit of this in the podcast, and I don't want to say too much on here because it's not my story to tell, but I will add that in the days since, we've learned a bit more about the buyer and we are thrilled to our core that the history and legacy of this home will be continued. I could not have hand-picked a better person to pass the baton to, and I sincerely mean this. Leaving this home will still be a version of hard, and I know it. But so much easier knowing the house will be in great hands. Caring hands.

Like we said on the podcast, it's not a completely done deal yet. We know the financing still has to go through, and we await that. But my goodness. We celebrate God's goodness and continue to tremble at the amazing story He's writing in this time of transition.

I can't wait to start telling you stories of life at Shafferland 2.0, which is now officially underway!

Sitting for Spencer

If you listened to the podcast on Tuesday, you know that we had a little adventure this week. And by little, I mean BIG.

We just finished dog-sitting for our friends' Great Dane. I've been trying to convince Ryan for a while now that we need a dog in our lives. Of course Braeya would kill us if we actually followed through with this plan, but I still think we need a dog. Ryan likes dogs, but he has valid points about the amount of care that they need. It's hard to be pick-up-and-go people when you have a dog. Much easier with a self-sufficient cat.

But our friends needed a temporary home for Spencer, so we agreed to take him in. I'm guessing that if you're going to see how you fare with a dog, you should probably start with something smaller than a Great Dane. Just a guess.

Spencer's dad brought him over Sunday afternoon after church. He was pretty excited to have Ryan play fetch with him!

And then that just wears a body out!

Just to give you a point of reference on his exceptional size {he is two years old}:

He took naps by the fire...

...looked for his parents...

...and offered all kinds of love.

He took us on walks:

...and learned to pose for group selfies.

He played with his little toy {which I called his paci}...

 ...and helped me edit our podcast.

He applied to be my sous chef!

Somehow he folded himself into my little car for a trip to see Ryan and the new house!

I think he was voted most popular by Ryan's work crowd!! 

{They really are there. Just not pictured.}

Group car ride!!!

Originally we were supposed to keep him through yesterday, but after our first visit to the new house, we learned that it probably wasn't going to work to have him AND construction/painting/crazy messes. {Originally we were not aware we would have access to our new house this soon, so we didn't think having him would overlap with those responsibilities!} But because life really does take a village, our friend Jenna offered to keep him for me the last half of the time so I could focus on things at the new house. I was so grateful she stepped in to allow me that freedom! Even so, what fun we had with him for those couple of days!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Slow Goodbyes: Our Pirogi

Well thank you for being so gracious about EVERYTHING as I've bid farewell to our house. {We aren't gone from it yet, to clarify, but I'm in that awkward in-between stage, saying goodbye and hello, so this is part of the goodbye. 

I figured it might border on tacky to bid farewell to the bathrooms in the house. Trust me. You don't want all the stories from those rooms. HA! {Although we could always revisit the orange hair debacle...}

But I did want to conclude my slow goodbyes by bidding a proper farewell to our beloved outdoor living space. Our "pirogi" as we call it. I know some of you are new here and are {rightfully} confused at this point in time.

When Ryan and I got married, we wanted to do something with a cement slab behind our garage, and I suggested putting up a pergola of some sort. In one of our conversations, Ryan got a wee bit confused on the word and started calling it a pirogi. And pirogi it is TO THIS DAY.

Ours is not actually a pirogi at all, but a metal gazebo with vinyl curtains that make the most lovely shade on hot summer days. We purchased it right after we got married and used it to shelter our too-good-to-be-true hammock for two and our little table for two. We parked our fire pit right outside and we spent many lovely evenings on that slab of patio, feeling the breeze in our hair {well I guess that part was just me} and enjoying the serenity of the pirogi.

We put flowers and ferns around to dress up the living space, and I have to say, it turned out far better than I ever would have dreamed. {I wrote about our adventures here if you want to read it.} Pretty much any evening that was nice enough, we'd carry our plates outside and eat there, even if our schedule was so tight that we only had ten minutes to eat. We took naps in the hammock and drank coffee by the fire and invited friends over to share the space with us whenever possible.

We even did last year's Christmas card photo shoot in that pirogi!! What a special place.

People have asked us if we're taking it with us, and the answer is no, and here's why: the new house comes with one of its own!! It will be more like an ACTUAL pirogi {pergola} and we are so excited to position our little bits of furniture under it and enjoy a same-but-different summer.

In truth, I'll miss our backyard. In the last 16 years, it has become a private little sanctuary here in the middle of town. I'll miss Grandma's lilac bushes that smell so divine in the spring. I'll miss the smattering of tulips that pop up here and there, and I have no idea who planted them. I'll miss the breeze in the big tree and the memories of summer picnics with Grandma and Grandpa and the whole family.

It's pretty bare now: our pirogi stands as a naked metal frame, awaiting its spring canopy. And a patch of dark cement is all that's left to show where the fire pit and plant stands were. The grass is just starting to green up for the year, and the first tulips are about to pop through. I'm hoping I can smell the lilacs one last time before we go...they should be popping out in just a few days. Our last spring in this home...bittersweet.

But I am so excited to carry our fire pit into our new yard and begin a new chapter of memories in a new space. {And when I say I am excited to carry the fire pit, I mean I am excited to take pictures of Ryan carrying the fire pit...}

The space will look very different, but the chance for amazing memories is exactly the same. And I'm excited for that.

Slow Goodbyes: The Office

We hope you enjoy today's podcast! We have some big news tucked inside!!!

 Click here to listen.

I've almost made my way through our entire house, slowly saying goodbye to each room and what it has meant to me. Today I bid a fond farewell to another room that means so much to me, and that's my beloved home office.

Back when Grandma and Grandpa lived here, this was a spare bedroom, and not just a spare bedroom, but my spare bedroom. This was where I slept when I spent the night! {Once I got old enough that I didn't need to sleep on the "davenport" surrounded by dining room chairs.} I would tuck into the tall bed that seemed to swallow me up compared to my little twin at home, and I'd sleep until the morning sun crept into the room around the edges of the rolled blinds.

This was the room where I was sleeping the night my Grandpa died, actually. I'd spent the night with Grandma, and I remember waking up to her turning on the light and telling me to get up and get dressed...we had to go to the hospital. I was in one of those groggy-post-sleep-what's-my-name states and put on my clothes {shirt inside out, actually} and stumbled to the driveway where my aunt picked us up to drive us to the hospital.

When I shared this house with roommates, it felt appropriate to me that this room should be mine. The room where I'd slept as a visitor would now be mine as an adult. So I moved my measly twin bed inside and relished life in my own grown up bedroom. I would sleep until noon in that room, waking up to turn on the old thirteen inch TV perched on an old baker's rack at the end of my bed. I'd stretch out with a couple of cats and a pile of Bibles and journals and do my devotions or study for Sunday School in that room.

Like all other bedrooms in this house, that one served a hodge-podge of purposes throughout the years, and for the last six or seven, it's been my home office.

My dad graciously built shelves for me - floor to ceiling, wall to wall simple shelves that held my menagerie of books, and now they just sit, waiting for Ryan to disassemble them and move them to our new house. I wrote my most recent book manuscript in this room, poring over every single page and laboring, doing spiritual warfare as I wrote each word.

While Ryan is not a writer {actually he's a very good writer, but he hates doing it}, we've spent many hours in that room together, faced off at our shared desk, each of us doing our own version of work, sipping coffee and enjoying each other's company.

I am so excited for our office at our new house. I can envision it and yet I can't. I can see where the shelves will fit, and yet I can't quite imagine it until we're there. But I'm excited. I'm excited for a brand new view out the window, excited for all the words that will pour out of me in that room, excited for a new office chapter.

And I am so grateful for all the beautiful memories in this room - from the years it was my bedroom to the years it was my office, it was always a good room. One filled with much prayer. May the new office carry the same legacy!

Slow Goodbyes: The Master

If you're running behind on blog posts, you might not know that the last three days of last week, I started "saying goodbye" to our house by reminiscing about the memories of each room. I process in words and tears, and since it's not time for tears yet, I'm going ahead with the words. I want to someday look back on this season and know that I fully appreciated this home and all that it represents. I want no regrets. And for me to have no regrets, there must be words.

Today I focus my goodbye on one of my favorite rooms in this house: our master bedroom. It was the last room we overhauled, and it still feels like a retreat every time I walk in. {Goal: reproduce this feeling in a new house.}

Back when my grandparents lived in this house, our master bedroom was sometimes the room they used as a master and sometimes it was just a spare bedroom. My mom could probably fill me in on all the purposes it served when she was young and lived in these walls. But since I moved in back in 2000, this room has served several functions. {Have you noticed I tend to repurpose entire ROOMS at alarming rates??}

For the four years I shared this home with a roommate {two different roommates, actually, in that span of time}, this room was our combined office space. It was the biggest bedroom in the house and therefore easily lent itself to shared space. This is where I wrote the FIRST book I "published" - not the Advent book, but one I wrote as a Christmas gift for my family and friends the year I had no money to buy gifts. I spent hours bent over my desk in a rather uncomfortable folding chair, pounding out words on a keyboard.

After I had the place to myself, the room rotated between office and guest room and craft room. And then I got the idea to make it my master bedroom. I felt I deserved a proper master with a big girl bed and, well, my secret dream: all things purple.

I knew most guys hated purple, so I figured if I one day got married, my husband wouldn't be wild about a purple room. But since he had not yet arrived on the scene, I could decide to have a purple paradise, and did I ever have a purple paradise. Three shades of purple covered every square inch of that massive room. My dad put up a chair rail and my boss's wife came over to teach me how to measure out and paint thick two-toned stripes on the lower half. I got a king-size bed and made that place my purple sanctuary. Loved that room so much.

I prayed a lot of prayers for Mr. Missing from that bed. I pulled an all-nighter the night of the Kansas tornado, hugging the blankets and watching The Weather Channel report live, trying to catch views of what was left of the town from the piercing camera lights. I read books and journaled, stayed in bed until noon, and sobbed bitter, ugly tears in the desert days. I paced around the bed, got on my face to intercede, and begged God to teach me what I needed to learn.

Then I met and married Ryan, and it became our room. We squeezed in an extra dresser and hung more clothes in the closet, and it became ours. Our little haven. The place where I could wake up every morning and see the face I'd prayed for right next to me.

And as I imagined, he was not wild about the purple. But bless his heart, he put up with it for two and a half years before we finally overhauled it last year into a beach paradise. Goodbye purple. Goodbye stripes. Hello blue and tan. Hello shells and sand. Hello white curtains.

It really does feel like paradise, and I really do have plans to recreate it as best I can in our new place.

It's pretty bare right now, just sporting our lamps and furniture. All our pictures have been packed away, and all the clothes we absolutely do not need in this season have been boxed up. It feels strange to walk into its emptiness, but I am so glad we followed through with recreating this room last year. It was the right decision!

I will miss this room and all the memories made here, but I am looking forward to our new master - one with an even bigger closet and a bathroom attached to it. Beach paradise 2.0 coming soon!!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday was, as you might remember, the start of EVIL Daylight Savings. We were so exhausted we went straight to bed after church and were complete bums the rest of the day. We worked on our podcast that night, and Ryan had to rig up this whole extension system for his mic, since we no longer have any tables to sit at!

 * Monday was kind of a big deal. You know, WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!!! I know I already told you all about it, but that was the day we officially signed for our new house, and we cannot WAIT to get inside!

* Tuesday began rough for this girl. I blame Daylight Savings. I was so grumpy!!!! But I rallied to work on packing that day, because you know, WE BOUGHT A HOUSE! :) And I finished up in time to make chicken quesadillas for dinner! They were delish.

* Wednesday we had some really strong winds and rain, and when I went out to meet a friend for coffee, I found all the tree buds stuck firmly to my car. Signs of spring!! Coffee was good {and I was still grumpy so I needed extra} and I came home to resume packing while Braeya worked on her tan. HA!

* Thursday was St. Patrick's Day, and Ryan was quite festive at work. :) I did a special load of laundry so his green shirt would be clean and he wouldn't be pinched! :) My sister and I did a long distance Duggar watching party...which is the next best thing to watching TV together in person. And that night, Ryan and I went on a Starbucks date; ours just had an overhaul and they now have a fancy new mural!!!

 * Friday {shockingly} I worked on packing, and I also made a batch of clean eating cookies that I will not lie...are so good. We had friends come over for dinner - quite possibly our last hurrah at this house! Of course we no longer have a dining room table, and dinner was takeout Thai, but we sat on the floor and ate from the ottoman and had a great time together anyway. THAT'S what matters.

 * Yesterday was Ryan's first Saturday at home since December 21st, and it was GLORIOUS. I have missed him SO MUCH on the weekends and was so glad to have him all to myself for a whole day!! He helped me clean and pack, and we made a whole bunch of headway! We squeezed in a little shopping that afternoon and even caught up on some of our TV shows. YAY!

The Saturday Six

One.

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In honor of, you know, BUYING A HOUSE!!!! this week, I thought I'd share this post I loved, because it got me itching like crazy to be able to set up my new office in our new house! I have so many ideas, but I know that this room, more than any other, will probably look far different {and here's to hoping far better} than I can even imagine in my head! But Anne's office is so cute and has me eager to dig in!

Two.

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Anyone else struggle with wanting to be liked by everyone? All the time? While this post is geared toward writers, it has wise, wise words for all of us on WHO really holds our worth.

Three.

We wanted to get a little gift for the people who owned the home we just bought, but that's always an awkward quest, because we don't know them very well. While perusing through Etsy looking for something else, I stumbled upon this shop, and I decided a Christmas ornament might be a winner. It represents a little piece of who we are, since we love ornaments that tell a story and also passes along our gratitude to this couple who tended the home for the past several years. {Covered the homeowners' names to protect their privacy. It really doesn't come with tissue like that!}

Four.

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Obviously we don't have kids, but if you do, and you're looking for some ideas for their Easter basket {HELLO!!! EASTER IS ONE WEEK AWAY!!!}, this post has some great suggestions for things that open up conversation to the actual reason for Easter. I think the resurrection party is a pretty great idea, myself. {But then I love a party....}

Five.

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In the four years I worked at WBCL, there are a handful of guests that I loved so much, I wanted to be real-life friends with them. They were just contagious with joy and Jesus, and I am so glad I got to "know" them through their interviews and our interactions, however brief. One such guest was Dr. Michelle Watson, who writes and speaks about relationships between fathers and daughters. She's fun, she's spunky, she's wise, she's passionate, and I won't lie - I'd give a whole lot for a batch of the cookies she posts pictures of semi-regularly! This week she wrote a post about what she's observed about fatherhood by watching Chip Gaines on Fixer Upper. Obviously you know of my love for Fixer Upper, and I agree with her in this post. Chip does seem to be the real deal as a dad and husband, and I love that more than the show itself. 

Six.

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Any Anne of Green Gables fans out there? I do love Anne, and Prince Edward Island is on my traveling bucket list, so when I saw a new series released called "Prince Edward Island Dreams" - I think I was pretty much already hooked. Book one in this series by Liz Johnson is called The Red Door Inn. Now what do I love nearly as much as the thought of traveling to PEI? The thought of anything relating to a bed and breakfast. The book, I imagined, could be the perfect happy place to spend reading time, so I did just that this week!

Marie Carrington is in her late twenties and by most standards, she's deemed a lovely young woman with a strong foundation and a bright future. But we meet her as she sits on a ferry dock, counting her literal pennies and unsuccessfully trying to ward off a panic attack. Her unspoken plight captures the attention of Jack Sloane, an older gentleman with a dream in his soul. His late wife, Rose, had longed to open a bed and breakfast on Prince Edward Island, but when cancer claimed her life before the dream had a chance to come true, Jack determined he would honor her memory by creating such a haven.

Both broke and broken in spirit, Marie needs a safe place to turn, and clueless about the finer points of hospitality, Jack needs a good eye and soft touch over his newly acquired property. Jack offers Marie a ferry ticket to the island in exchange for her expertise in preparing the Inn to open. She agrees, but questions that decision when she arrives and finds a young man working to restore the Inn who seems consumed by bitterness and skepticism toward life and the human race . The young man, Seth, is Jack's nephew and it becomes clear that while both Seth and Marie are wounded and wary, they need to call a truce toward each other to complete the task at hand and make Rose's dream come true. Of course letting down a guard, even temporarily, means taking a risk that unbidden feelings could rise - and take over. And then when secrets bubble forth, rising higher than the feelings, everything seems in danger of being lost, including the Inn.

One thing I love about Liz's writing style is the way she blended storyline suspense with the gentleness of the Island. Prince Edward Island is a place people go to breathe. Many are drawn there hoping for the same haven that Anne found at Green Gables, and there is a quietness and calmness to the place that is evident on each page of the book. But that calm doesn't squelch the urgency of the story or the desire to find out what is happening in the hearts of all the characters. Liz's writing is a beautiful weaving. The characters are lovable, and the description is well-crafted. I've never been to the Island in person but I had no trouble imagining each place, each aroma, and possibly even the taste of each treat in the bakery. {Perils of reading while hungry.}

I appreciated the faith message throughout the book and the tactful manner of addressing hard topics and family dynamics. I am giddy that this will be a series and can't wait to read the next book, releasing this fall.

* Thanks, Revell, for sending a copy of this book my way in exchange for an honest review! *