I probably love them more than I should, actually, but I blame all my single years on that. For some reason, I had it in my head that the best date ever was a July 4th date to see the fireworks. And the first year Ryan and I were married was the first time we were together for that day, and I could not WAIT to go see fireworks with him. {That day each year is still one of my most favorite dates with him.}
Last Saturday, Ryan had to work, and it was an extraordinarily long work day. {A million kudos, props, and thanks to the two extra people who came in on their weekend off to help so he didn't have to stay literally the ENTIRE day.} I had gone to visit his work at lunchtime, and one of his coworkers made some comment about the two of us coming to a little nearby town to see fireworks that night.
"HA!" I said. "This guy has his heart set on painting the garage tonight, so the ONLY way we are seeing fireworks is if I figure out how to pry the paintbrush out of his hand."
You guys? I had no idea that he had already secretly planned to quit painting early to take me to the fireworks.
You should know what a HUGE deal this is. This garage project {which has taken on an entire LIFE of its own - another blog post for another day - has worn us both down to our core, and I knew he just wanted to get. the. thing. done. I wouldn't have dreamed for even one second of asking him to give up precious work time at home - work time cut short by a long work DAY - to do anything extra. I wanted him to be able to work on his project because I knew it would make him so happy to get it done.
And yet...he wanted me to be so happy to go see fireworks! Best husband ever.
So we did work all afternoon, and then we sprayed on the bug spray, grabbed the camera, the loveseat lawn chair, and hopped in the car to drive to the fireworks show!
We learned that this little town hosts fireworks every year to celebrate the end of their Little League championships. The show is sponsored by the Little League, and there were tons of people camped out on the hillside behind an old elementary school {on a PERFECT night for such things, by the way} ready to enjoy a fun display!
We met up with Ryan's coworker and some of her friends and talked with them while we waited for the fireworks to begin...and we enjoyed this stunning sunset, too!
I know you've all seen pictures of fireworks and don't need to see a layout of them to know what they look like, but I'll still share some of my favorites.
{Check out the smoke underneath the fireworks in the picture above. This was toward the end, and they set off so many so quickly that the smoke just rolled!}
A great {FREE!} and unexpected date that I thoroughly appreciated. That Ryan Shaffer: he's a keeper!
If you heard the podcast yesterday, you already heard Ryan's attempts to say the phrase "astonishingly joyful" - and you know how that went. If you did not hear it, it's worth waiting for just that very part. I'm still cracking up.
Today I want you to meet the woman of astonishing joy behind that particular segment. {And one who I am quite confident would have thoroughly enjoyed hearing the aforementioned attempts.}
Her name is Crystal Blake, and not so many days ago, she received the ultimate astonishing joy of meeting Jesus face to Face.
I met Crystal in 1996 when we shared a writing class {and a set of books}. She was about to graduate from college. I was brand new to college. And somehow, in a trail of pre-social-media correspondence, we never lost touch.
That writing class we took together was the most intimidating writing class I ever took. I was mixed in with a handful of newbies like me and a handful of college veterans who were confident in themselves and ready to take on the world. Crystal was a consistent smiling face in class, quiet in her writing offerings, but sure of her words.
I specifically remember the day our professor held a poetry reading after we did a section on poetry. You should know that I am terrible at poetry. I can't even do Roses are Red poems. To have to craft such writing and then read it out loud in a public setting probably set off the first of the gallbladder attacks that plagued me for the next couple of decades. I slunk to the front of the room, read my words, all crimson-faced, and scurried back to my seat as soon as I could. Crystal walked to the front, stood in front of her classmates and her husband and read a poem she had written about him. She beamed. He beamed. And I wondered what it would be like to be loved so fiercely that you could read a poem right out loud in front of your husband without mortification.
I think that's when I knew I wanted to be Crystal's friend and could hardly believe it when I actually managed to keep her as a friend through email.
She was a true friend. And by that, I mean she wasn't afraid to challenge me with hard-to-read words if she knew my soul needed that challenge. I still have an email she wrote me probably close to fifteen years ago, when she honestly answered my questions about some problem areas in my life. She had the courage to say words to me that my other friends glossed right over, citing reasons of not wanting to stir the pot.
I think that's when I knew Crystal was the right kind of friend: she would challenge me even if it wasn't comfortable for either of us.
Crystal and Matt left for the mission field and along the way, I started leading a Bible study at my church. I mentioned it in an email and she mentioned back that she sorely missed such opportunities where she lived. Nothing existed like that in her area unless she were to lead it, and she missed being able to learn and be encouraged in faith by other Christian women.
I saw no reason why she couldn't be part of our study. I mean she was only overseas, and we were only stateside. What could stand in the way? So every week, after I taught the Bible study, I would write out notes, add the prayer requests, and email them to her. She would send along her thoughts on that week's lesson, prayer requests of her own, and I would deliver them to the group. Week after week, month after month, she "came to Bible study" via email. One Christmas, we even gathered around a good old fashioned VHS video camera to record a special greeting to her and mailed a big box of presents to her.
And then, six and a half years ago, when she was thirty-five, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had never known a woman in her thirties who found out she had cancer. {I knew it happened. I just hadn't known any myself.}
She fought. And that glorious word...remission.
It was in that season that I saw Crystal for the last time. She was back on US soil and had sent a message to let me know she'd be at the church near my house, along with Matt, sharing about their work. {It's the church we now attend, but this was before there even was a "we" in my life, and before I attended there.} I went to the church, listened to them talk, and after the service ended, I got a nice long hug and stood around chatting...and chatting...and chatting.
I don't know which of us suggested it, but somehow we decided we were going to go out for dessert and more talking. I drove us to Steak n Shake and we ate and talked for a long while.
I think that's when I knew everyone should have an impromptu dessert/coffee friend like Crystal. Someone you can not see for a long time and pick up like you talked yesterday.
Matt thanked me, when I dropped her off at the house where they were staying, for taking time to do girl-talk with her. He said she thrived on that and it blessed him to see her get to enjoy it.
And from then on, our messages were ferried back and forth on Facebook, sharing and praying and encouraging. We exchanged Christmas cards every year, and on May 16th this year, she sent me a message to let me know she'd received our change of address card, but she had a change of address I missed, and she wanted me to have the new information.
She congratulated me on the new home and I sent a quick reply about the multiple answers to prayer we had enjoyed in the transition of our homes. Her final words to me were "Those ARE multiple answers to prayer!"
And in less than one month, she would have her ultimate answer to prayer. Yet on that day, when she probably felt far worse than I could ever know, she smiled and celebrated with me that we got a new house.
That was Crystal. Always filled with quiet, astonishing joy. That's how someone described her after her death. I think her life deserves to be chronicled in a book - and somewhere in the title, those words should appear: "astonishing joy."
Was I her closest friend? I was not. So many people were honored to be close personal friends, and with my words today, I in no way want to imply that I was the best and the closest. But I am honored that I had the privilege of being her friend, of experiencing her astonishing joy firsthand, and learning more about the deep love between Jesus and one of his daughters by watching it lived out in real time in the life, smile, and quiet confidence of Crystal Blake.
If you didn't know her, I wish you could have. A treasure of a woman. A beautiful believer whose faith has been made sight.
Before I tell you about our hometown date, I will tell you that we were pretty slap happy on this week's podcast. Stay to the end...right in the middle of being spiritually deep, Ryan found a phrase he cannot pronounce, even after a dozen tries. And I left them alllllllllllllll in there for you. :) You're welcome.
Two Saturdays ago, Ryan had the whole day off work and we didn't have any commitments to be anywhere. That never happens. So he declared it a day of fun, and I happily accepted.
It was about 95 degrees that day, so we decided to check out Kokomo Beach, which, for the record, has no beach. {Ryan said it used to be called the Sea Shore and it doesn't have one of those either!}
Kokomo Beach has a pool, a lazy river, a splash pad, some slides, and probably other things I never even found, and I will say for a city of this size, it is a very nice offering for the community, and on a 95 degree Saturday, the community responded well. We arrived shortly after it opened at 11 and waited quite a while even to enter. They were great to have some employees outside helping newbies like us know the drill of what to expect and some of the rules we'd need to obey.
{A sign that cracked us up because we are overgrown tweenagers.}
Ahhhh the maximum bather load.
By the time we got inside, all the chairs had been claimed, but we did manage to get a locker, which was really helpful for my peace of mind {didn't have to leave our phones and FitBits out in plain sight when we went into the water} and actually, we enjoyed our little perch on the grass under a tree!
{The view from our perch.}
It was pretty calm {comparatively speaking} in the morning, but by the afternoon, it was packed with lines everywhere. There were lines to even get INTO lines or to get tubes for the slides and lazy river.
But in the morning? No lines. So Ryan took advantage and did a couple of trips down the slides. I stood with the moms and took pictures because slides are just beyond me. {Yes, I really am that boring at a water park!}
We did the lazy river too, where I sustained a skinned knee upon my exit. I am nothing if not graceful. {Eyeroll.}
And then we just rested and watched people for a bit!
They do have a food court there at the beach, but we figured it didn't have a clean eating section, so we got our hands stamped and went to Subway. {You can come and go for one price throughout the day, so they just stamp your hand when you leave, and you show your hand when you return!}
By the time we got back, the parking lots were full, so we parked forever away, walked through a park, where we paused to eat our food, and then walked the rest of the way back to the beach.
We did hit the pool for a bit in the afternoon, but it was pretty well packed with families, so we didn't stay in long before we returned to people watching {me} and napping {Ryan}.
By mid-afternoon, we were ready to go, so we came home and took a nap, and then we went back out that night for the second hometown fun of the day: Ribfest! Ribs are pretty much Ryan's food love language, so an entire festival of them appealed to him! I always like to check out a festival, so I was up for it! Local restaurants set up tents and cooked ribs in huge smokers at the edge of the park, and there were all the other sorts of food vendors you might expect to find, too: elephant ears, kettle corn, lemon shake-ups...all of it.
They had some bouncy houses for kids, bands for the adults, and it was a good little evening of fun! {And it's a good thing we did the clean eating at lunch, because I think we majorly fell off that wagon at Ribfest!}
We got chicken kabobs {after all that with the rib loving!!} and they were good!
They had standing tables around the park, so Ryan dragged one over beside some weeds so we could eat with a measure of privacy. And then he left to find corn on the cob. Came back with this:
{Yeah that's an elephant ear.}
Eventually he settled on more meat and a sweet tea, and I got a strawberry smoothie.
And that was our night! People watching from park benches, enjoying some treats, and having a great time in our very own hometown!
Well, a couple of weeks ago, we had our Fake Father's Day with Ryan's side of the family, and yesterday we celebrated Father's Day with my dad!
My dad is somewhat on the impossible side to give gifts to, and I'm sure I am not the only daughter in that predicament. ANYONE with me on that? Anyone??? Anyone?????????????
I used to REFUSE to get him gift cards, because I was always determined to find some tangible gift to give, but in my old age, I have decided to just get him the gift cards because he really does enjoy using them.
So after he opened his card yesterday, I asked him to hold up the gift card. Be careful what you ask for. Some folks take it literally.
Auditioning for the Statue of Liberty, perhaps? I'm not sure.
Anyway. Mom fixed a delicious lunch and I was a good girl and ate all my green beans!
And then it was time for dessert. It appears the guys were pretty happy about that.
So Mom and I ate more green beans. {KIDDING. They shared their dessert.}
Dad was busy when family pictures started, so the first one was of these two, but I think it's an especially good one:
THEN we all got together for a photo shoot:
Is it bad that Ryan and I simultaneously act out at the end of EVERY SHOOT????
So this is what happens when you ask Ryan to take a picture. He doesn't always wait until you're ready.
He said it looked like a still frame from a movie. LOL.
And now for the real photo:
Happy Father's Day, Dad! One more celebration to go, and we'll have celebrated all our dads!
I'll start out today with a giant Happy Father's Day to my dad, Ryan's Dad and Allen...and to all of you dads out there!! Enjoy your special day!!
* Last Sunday, Ryan and I had the honor of attending my friend Faith's baptism. She asked if I would come and take pictures, and of course I said YES! She also invited us to go to the celebration lunch with her family after church, so we did that. Delicious lunch {although when you're a party of nine, you wait a bit for a table!} and then straight home for a nap!
* I think I briefly mentioned our latest house project, which is finishing off our garage so it can be used as an additional gathering space. Last Monday, the drywall guys came to finish the drywall {it was half done when we bought the house}, and I couldn't believe how different it looked when they finished! And they left their equipment since they were coming back to work the next day and SOMEONE thought he should try out the stilt thingies. Shaking head. As for me? I had a rather rotten day, so I polished off the smallest possible bowl of consolation frozen yogurt.
* Tuesday I developed a new respect for moms EVERYWHERE. I kept all of Ryan's brother's kids for the day, and they were a DELIGHT, but I was a bit pooped when the day was done! Three kids, three ages, three levels of need, and we spent the whole day just having fun and trying to make sure everyone was happy! Movies, books, naps, making our own pizza, playing ball, drawing with sidewalk chalk, visiting Ryan at work...WHEW!
* I think, when Wednesday rolled around, Braeya was glad to have her nice quiet house back. {She is pretty anti-kids or anything else that makes noise.} I had to drive to Marion for a meeting that evening, so Ryan worked on house projects while I was gone, and when I got back, it was so pretty out, we went for a walk!
* Thursday, a couple of my WBCL friends happened to be in Marion for a sticker stop, so I drove over to see them for a while and I ended up just having lunch with them! I miss them! The drywall guys had finished up their work on Tuesday, which included finishing the ceiling so that it matched the interior of the house, so Ryan and I spent that night PAINTING the ceiling. Drippy work!
* Friday I bought my first lemonade from a kid's lemonade stand in our neighborhood. This seems like a rite of passage somehow, and it was fun! I was so excited when my FOUR scrapbooks arrived a day EARLY and I couldn't look through those enough as the day went on! And that night, Ryan and I went to Phoebe's house for dinner! {Her humans invited us. She did not cook.} I think she missed us!
* Yesterday I went to a first birthday party for the daughter of some of our friends. {Ryan had to work so he missed the party. Great sadness.} When we both got home, we got busy painting the garage! That is one large room to paint! And then - a surprise late-night date to see fireworks!!! Ten million points to Ryan for walking away from a half-done paint job to take me to see fireworks!
You might have seen this on Facebook, because it's been everywhere, but if you've missed it, I wanted to show you! The silo minion! This is located not far from us, in Ossian, Indiana. {And this is a county we have already toured, or you can KNOW we would put it on the list of things to stop and see while we're in the area!}
I am typically not a fan of letter art {unless the letters spell something} but when I read this post by KariAnne and saw the very end, I got all mushy inside. The reminder that the letters can be formed into words, which are then formed into the stories of our lives got me right in the soul. I imagine it is only a matter of time before I want to make my own one of these...
Three.
It's been a while since I had a current favorite song, but Breathe by Jonny Diaz holds that title right now. Good message, catchy tune, and flat out TRUTH. If you haven't heard it, check it out!
Some of you may have already seen this, but for those of you who haven't, you should read this post by Rory Feek. A friend of his has taken footage Rory shot of Joey throughout her last couple of years and is turning it into a film version of the story of her life. The story-lover in me loves this.
With travel season in full swing, I really appreciated this post by a blogger who has started a clean eating journey as well. She shares some of her tips for eating well while traveling!
I have been waiting for this book since I closed the first book in the series. {And not waiting very patiently, either, I might add.} This book is a celebratory marker for its author, Irene Hannon, because it is her fiftieth novel. WOW! Congratulations, Irene!
I fell in love with the fictitious little town of Hope Harbor {on the Pacific Northwest Coast} in the first book, titled Hope Harbor {my review of that book found here}, and have wondered if maybe someone could actually build the town so we could move there. It's one of those charming little towns where everyone knows everyone else's business, but in the kind of way that makes good neighbors, not in the kind of way that makes you want to go into seclusion.
From food trucks to cranberry bogs to local plays, Hope Harbor is a delight, and in book number two, Sea Rose Lane, Eric Nash heads back to this little town where he grew up to regroup after losing his job. A good attorney with a rising career, Eric has fallen victim to a company restructure, and when he arrives back in town {with a bit of a literal bump after crashing his BMW into a pickup truck owned by BJ Stevens}, he finds that his dad is smack in the middle of transforming their big family home into a BandB.
Furthermore, BJ is the contractor overseeing the job, and her presence causes more than a few distractions for an already unsettled Eric. With a suddenly-free schedule, Eric begins helping out here and there, and every path seems to push him closer and closer to the lovely BJ. Having just come out of a disastrous relationship herself, BJ is not interested in looking for romance, but after a few run-ins with Eric {the one involving their vehicles excluded, of course}, she is surprised to learn she isn't interested in letting this one get too far away.
The book includes glimpses of friends from book one but a host of new friends to love, too! I loved returning to Hope Harbor and am THRILLED to see that next spring I can go back AGAIN!!!!
Thank you, Irene, for a delightful return trip to see my book-friends in Hope Harbor and thank you, Revell, for providing a copy of the book in exchange for review!
