Faith-iversaries.

One of the families I used to babysit for back in high school and college had a practice of celebrating their kids' spiritual birthdays. They treated them like actual birthdays with cakes and everything. I thought it was a great idea, probably mostly because I had no idea when my own spiritual birthday was. I know how old I was and where I was, but not until I get to Heaven and check out God's book will I know the actual date.

As you can imagine, being the lover of all the versaries that I am, this is disconcerting to me, but it's okay, because I remember a handful of other dates on the calendar that were spiritually pivotal for me.

Last Saturday was one of them. July 23.

I've talked about it here before on the blog, but it's been many years, so I wanted to talk about it again today. Especially since this year's July 23 marked twenty years since that pivotal day.

I was brand new in the grown up work-world, ridiculously shy and completely insecure in any skills that deviated from diaper changing and boo-boo kissing. It was my first job, and I was assigned the task of filing and opening mail, sorting through paperwork and occasionally answering the phone. I hated that part, because it required speaking. {As in speaking to another adult human. Terror of all terrors. My how times have changed.}

Craig was the assistant manager in the loan office/education-in-a-hurry where I worked. He was charming, something I could tell on my own, apart from the many young ladies who dropped by his desk to say hi. He found me intriguing, for some reason, and he spent his days trying to pull me out of my stare-at-the-floor shell. If he wanted my attention, he'd throw a jawbreaker across the room and wait for me to jump when it hit the corner of my desk. Then he'd ask whatever question, and we would talk for a bit.

I found out he had a son he was crazy proud of, and he was flabbergasted that I'd never before used a fax machine. Two random facts I remember from our conversations, only one of which means anything. Mostly I remember that he took time to notice me when I wanted to disappear into the wall and be invisible.

Just two weeks after I started working there, Craig took a week of vacation. I wasn't sure how I was going to survive a whole week of work without him, since he was really my only friend in the walls of the office.

I had no idea he would never come back. At the start of the vacation, he was in a motorcycle accident and despite my desperate pleas to the Lord to spare his life, he died.

On July 23rd.

That was the moment my faith became my own. That was the day I stopped flying along on the fringe of my parents' beliefs and decided for myself that I would follow the Lord even though I didn't understand His ways in that moment. That was the day I stopped fighting and started trusting in Him for myself.

Twenty years ago, now.

These twenty years have not been void of more days like that: days of question and doubt and wrestling. But those twenty years have been filled with deep trust even in seasons of deep hurt.

I still miss Craig, and I always will. But how grateful I am that he was part of my journey. I'm grateful I met him and that through his life and death, God did a settling and sustaining work in my soul.

A faith-iversary I treasure deeply.

 And appropriately...

The Shafferland Shuffle

* Last Sunday, I spoke at a church for their Sunday morning worship service, which was a wonderful blessing in a variety of ways. Ryan felt so sick that day, so as soon as we got home from church, he laid down and slept the rest of the day. We had Miss Phoebe for a few hours that evening and she and I hung out together while Ryan continued to sleep!

* Monday, Ryan went to work, even though I thought he should stay home. When he got home that evening, we had to empty out the living room and guest room so our new carpet could be installed, so once again, our house turned into a disaster {empty disaster in some places} so we could get it all arranged. In other news, I had a really great {for me} run time that day!

* Tuesday was my 10 year blog anniversary, and rather than getting one of the delicious cupcakes I really wanted, I was a good girl and made my own healthy ones at home. {Ignore my hair. I elected not to do it that day.} That night, we ripped up all the carpet and padding and cleaned out the rooms so the carpet could be installed the next day!

* On Wednesday, the carpet layers installed the carpet in the living room, guest room, and hallway, while I sat in the kitchen, working and remaining amused at all the chatter that I couldn't understand. After they left, I started emptying out the master bedroom, since that was the next room to be carpeted, and that's when I found the dead toad heard around the block. Ryan took over from there and prepped the room!!

* Thursday I worked from my "coffee shop" {kitchen} again while the carpet layers installed carpet in the master bedroom. When they left, the last of the projects were deemed officially COMPLETE, and we were so happy!! Nothing thrilled my soul more than putting everything back in its place. FOR GOOD.

* Friday night, we did a progressive shopping trip for our date night {more on this later}, and we went out for dinner to celebrate the official end of home renovation. I have to say, it was a really fun date night, and coming home to a fully assembled house was a JOY!

* Yesterday was another h.o.t. day here in central Indiana, so I stayed inside most of the day with my good friend air conditioning. Ryan caught up on house chores and last night we had a special treat! Ryan's company had reserved Kokomo Beach for its employees, so we got to hang out there for a night swim and playing with friends!

The Saturday Six

One.

Source

THIS. This, this, this. I think it is so important to pull over for a funeral procession, and this post shows why, better than anything I've ever read before.

Two.

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Dreamy seaside cottage indeed. I'll take it! {If you love home tours, LOOK AT THIS ONE!!} 

Three.

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Even if you're not a writer, this article is a great reminder of remembering to keep your focus on WHY you do what you do. You're ultimately working for the Lord! Thanks, Jamie, for sending this link my way. Perfectly timed for me this week!

Four.

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I'm not a mom, but one of my mom-of-four friends so highly recommended this product this week that I have to pause to pass it along to you. One of her kids is allergic to ev.ry.thing in the food world, so they have to make all her food at home to keep her well. She found these reusable pouches for juice/yogurt/etc. and loved them. I think it's a pretty great idea if you don't want to spend money on the pricey pre-made pouches! 

Five.

Source

This planner made me swoon just a little. Are you a lover of planners? Swoon with me? 
 

Six.

Source

In a few weeks, I'm speaking at a women's retreat {SO excited about that!} and the planning committee from the church is studying a book in preparation for the retreat. They were kind enough to gift a copy to me, so I could read it too, and I just finished it this week. {I chose to read it nice and slow so I could absorb it well.} Oh my goodness. I think many exhausted women need the message of this book!


It's called Rest Assured: A Recovery Plan for Weary Souls and is written by Vicki Courtney. Any weary souls out there? Vicki admits in the introduction to the book that she had actually forgotten how to be still. It's how we live, isn't it? We're so busy that we legitimately forget how to be still, and our lives suddenly become void of rest and saturated with exhaustion and anxiety.

The message of her book encourages women to relearn {or maybe learn for the first time!} what it means to be still and to rest. We're busy because that's all our world seems to find acceptable. And sometimes we're busy doing really good things, but they still sap us of everything we have and are and leave us vulnerable and cranky. {And if we're honest, not all that productive, because we're too tired to truly be productive.}

We fill our souls with stuff and things and activities, because we think those things will make us happy and fulfilled {and maybe even accepted?} but they just deplete us even more. We are enslaved to technology and work, taking it with us everywhere we go. And even though we have no time for anything or anyone, we make time to help God do HIS job, assuming responsibilities that are only His to hold.

Vicki's book helps the exhausted busy bees not only diagnose the reasons for their busyness, but actually make practical changes to find rest. To make time with the Lord a priority. To learn to say no. To create space in every day so there's actually room for rest and to embrace the unexpected. She offers permission to go against what everyone around us seems to demand so we can actually enjoy our lives and our God.

The book is convicting without being burdensome. Vicki doesn't beat around the bush {and she shouldn't}, but she offers hope and compassion in each chapter. And while you can easily read this book on your own, like I did, and get much good out of it, it's also formatted to be studied together with a group. There are questions and optional exercises at the end of each chapter, which you can work through on your own or with others!

If you're feeling the burn of busyness and aren't sure where to start in understanding what's wrong or how to fix it, I heartily suggest reading this book and applying Vicki's suggestions to your life! I offer my thanks to the planning team for so kindly sharing the book with me! It was helpful, not just in planning the retreat, but in helping me evaluate my own life and time management!

Toad You So

Earlier this week, when I celebrated 10 years of blogging, many of you told me what you love about this little corner of the web is that we cover it all. Recipes, dates, craft ideas, stories, and more. Well if the shift in storytelling from yesterday's post to today's doesn't convince you that truly anything goes here, I'm not sure what will.

Yesterday I was sweet and endearing {and truthful!} in my thoughts on our new home and all the work we have put into it.

Yeah. Let's tell a new story today, shall we?

So as you know, we had new carpet installed this week. We didn't make any changes to the flooring in the foyer, kitchen, or bathrooms, because they were fine. Ryan worked a few weeks ago to rip out the carpet in the bedroom-turned-office and replace it with a wood laminate flooring. Everything else was replaced this week.

So on Monday evening, after Ryan worked a full day when he should have been home in bed recovering from whatever bug sidelined him all of Sunday, the two of us along with Ryan's boss and his son worked to empty the living room and guest room. Couches and beds and dressers and all the heavy stuff had to be hauled into the garage and the master bedroom so the carpet guys could do their thing.

Tuesday evening, Ryan ripped out all the carpet and the pad and cleaned up the floor so it was completely ready for the carpet guys. He took doors off hinges and I took pictures. {He knew this going into the marriage. I might not be helpful, but I'll make good notes of YOUR helpfulness!}

Wednesday I sat like a fugitive at our kitchen table while two guys hauled in rolls of carpet and installed them quite well in the main spaces of the house. They left the rest of the carpet in the garage with a plan for someone to return on Thursday to finish the master bedroom and closet.

While Ryan worked Wednesday afternoon, I racked up hundreds of steps on the old FitBit, hauling out of the bedroom everything I could carry so when his boss came over again after work, they could get right to the heavy stuff. I was proud of myself for how hard I was working, mentally imagining Ryan's look of surprise to discover the ONLY things left in the master were the actual heavy pieces of furniture.

Pride. Goes. Before. A. Big. Fat. Fall.

We have, in our closet, a three bag laundry sorter on wheels. I wheeled it out into the other room and when I came back in to get a shelf of shoes, I happened to notice this on the floor.

It was underneath the spot vacated by the laundry sorter, so it was odd to see anything there at all.

I squinted, while keeping my distance, and then I sent the picture to Ryan with the following question:

IS THIS A TOAD????

He responded {because he was working, which in his mind, was apparently more important than his wife being trapped in a house with a dead toad}, "Not sure. I'll have to look closer."

You do that, my love. You get as close as you want. Meanwhile I'm locking the house and coming TO WORK to sit with you until you are ready to come home. And if that IS a toad, it's probably good that we have new carpet, because we're putting the house on the market IMMEDIATELY.

{So much for lovingly clearing out the ENTIRE room for him. Like I said: pride really does go before a fall!}

I went to work and sat until he was ready to come home, hoping that if this was, in fact, a toad, it really was dead and not hopped to a new location upon our return. Ryan leisurely closed up shop and we headed home. I stayed in the kitchen, and I think it should be noted that I did not climb atop a kitchen chair as I waited for the verdict.

He hollered out "Well what do you know!?! It IS a toad!"

Well what do you know, indeed.

Where's the For Sale sign?

Oh but I'm not done.

Ryan {hero of my life} got the dustpan {the one I'm never again touching with my bare hands}, scooped up the little dead guy and strolled toward the front door. The doorbell rang, so he paused to let in his boss, and the two of them stare at the dead toad, talking about how very strange that was...you know, that a toad would be IN OUR CLOSET.

{Interjection: I know it's a dreadfully small toad. One that could be easily mistaken for a rock. I know it's no reason to panic. But it was still a dead hoppy animal IN MY CLOSET. And I don't do hoppy animals, dead or alive, even outside. And this one was inside.}

And instead of heading out the front door and down the road to dig a hole and bury the toad, Ryan walks TO THE KITCHEN TRASH CAN AND OPENS IT.

Now normally I try to be calm and good especially in front of company. Especially in front of his BOSS. But I don't know if you heard the part where the dead toad was about to go in my kitchen trash can!?!?!?!?!?!!?

"RYAN!!!!! YOU CAN'T PUT IT IN THE TRASH CAN!"

And you know what he said??

Why not??

So I have decided that after four years of marriage, there are now TWO things that should have been in our premarital counseling. You might not remember the first one, because it was a while ago...but it was the matter of food storage location. {We melted two 9x13 lids back to back because Ryan was in the habit of storing desserts in the oven and I was in the habit of preheating without checking the oven.} Second one? Toad disposal.

I'm not kidding, people. This is the stuff no one talks about. And it matters. Don't believe me? Come back after it happens to you. I'll say "Toad you so."

And I'm feeling like I SHOULD have chosen today's theme verse about the plague of frogs...but try this one instead: 

Seeing What Can Be

 

My mom has pointed out that for purchasing a move-in ready house, we sure have done a lot of work on it.

I can't argue.

Mostly because I'm too tired from all the work we've done. {smirky smile}

Yesterday I set up office-camp at the kitchen table, my view into the living room obstructed by a line of potted plants and unplugged lamps while two guys hauled in heavy rolls of carpet and fitted them to our floors.

It's the last of the projects. For now. Ryan promises.

So while I sat at the table, toggling from tab to tab reading tweets and posts and pins, scribbling notes and taking breaks to underline meaningful words in this week's book, I thought about our beautiful move-in ready house that we have entirely overhauled so that it looks nothing like it did when we bought it.

We'll blame it partially on Ryan being a project junkie, but I think there's a deeper, truer reason behind all the changes.

When we walked into this house for the first time on January 28th, we walked in for fun. We weren't here to make a commitment. We weren't here to make memories, and my lack of photos documenting the day are proof of that. We were here to enjoy looking at a house, imagine ourselves in a space other than the one we'd always known together, and dream about a future day when something like this could be ours.

We had no idea that less than two months later, this very house WOULD be ours. The house, we declared when we saw it, was perfect. Wouldn't have to do a thing. Totally inhabitable just as it was. Nothing garish. Nothing broken.

But when we walked in on March 21, we saw the bare bones of potential. With all the things removed that made it the home of those who lived here before, we saw a canvas of a home.

We added and removed to better fit together as home and owners. We created a space that looked like us, and that took work. And along the way, we learned that some of the things that looked fine when dressed up for the ones who lived here before, actually needed some tender care before being redressed for our home.

So we did that, too. The carpet was one of those things. We hadn't planned to replace it. The carpet here before was not that old and a good brand that advertised resistance to staining. But in our every day, it didn't do that. No matter how much we cleaned or what we used, it showed dirt and resurrected old dirt. It tarnished the whole house, so we did more work to pull out everything we just moved in and have the carpet replaced with something fresh and decidedly more us.

It reminded me of how we see each other in this marriage we live every day. How we came together in good shape {well, I was not in literal good shape, but you get my point} and we loved each other for the people that we were and there really wasn't a need to change anything.


And then we married and we began to see how additions here and subtractions there and changes to this or that could make us fit better together as a couple. So we worked at it, changing and trying until we found what worked for us. And along that process, we uncovered things about ourselves we thought were okay until we realized they really weren't. And we didn't want them to tarnish the whole marriage, so we did the work to pull out everything that didn't work about those parts of life and replace it all with something to push us closer to being healthier, holier people.

We loved who we were, but we also saw the potential for more and we pushed toward that potential.

That's a healthy life, I think. The life that can see good in what is, but can see better in what can be.

Road Trip Travel Bag

Well first of all, the BIGGEST gift of my day yesterday was reading through all your comments and smiling HUGE smiles at your stories of how you stumbled upon this humble little blog and what you like to read. Seriously. Better than a cupcake. {Whoa. That's a bold statement. Let me pause for a moment.} Thank you for being so kind as to let me know you're there! I think I met some of you for the first time, and I dearly loved it.

Today's post is kind of different, but maybe you'll find something inspirational in it that can fit into your world no matter your life station!

A few weeks ago, Ryan's brother and his family went on a mission trip. We weren't able to attend the fundraiser dinner their church had several weeks before that, and I felt really bad about it. I wanted to do something to encourage and support them, so I decided to put together a little travel gift. I found some coloring books and little games for the kids, a bag of iced animal cookies {do those thrill anyone else's soul like they do mine??} and a selfie stick, just for fun. I put them all in a bag and gave them to my sister-in-law.

You know what I loved? Halfway through the lonnnnnnnnnnnnng day of travel they had, she sent me some pictures, taken using the selfie stick, that showed the whole carload of them having fun with the games and coloring books.

I thought about that this week when I ran across a pin on Pinterest that had some ideas on keeping your kids occupied in the car, and I have to say, this is something my mom did very well when I was little. By the time I hit my teen years, all I needed was a pack of batteries for my Walkman {WOW, I'm old!} and a stack of novels. But when I was little, road trips were just long days in a small space. This was, of course, before electronic games and portable DVD players. This was back when imagination was required.

The trip I remember specifically was our family vacation to Washington D.C. I was between my second and third grade years of school, and the Freelan-mobile at that time was a snazzy station wagon. This was before the rules of car seats, and I was blissfully able to curl up in the way-back of the station wagon with my pillow and blankets and watch the world go by through the hatchback window of the car. And I did just that all the way to Washington D.C. and back.

{BONUS! My mom pulled out the photo album from this trip and took some pictures of pictures. Please excuse the 80's camera quality and 80's hair, but enjoy a peek at our trip!}

Indiana to Washington D.C. isn't horrible, but when you're eight, it's not the quickest. Mom planned ahead and purchased little games and gifts, wrapped them, and assigned each gift a time slot. When the time slot arrived, she'd pass the gift to my sister in the back seat who passed it to me in the way-back, and I'd open it and enjoy something new and different for the next couple of hours before a new gift time arrived.

I still remember that, 30 years later. And now I do it for the Shafferland road trips. Hey, you don't have to have kids to need games on the road! You can BE an overgrown kid who needs games on the road. So anytime we take a trip, I print out some new and fun things we can do while we roll across the miles.

So all of this led to the next portion of my thought process {boy, I bet you're glad you don't live in my brain, huh?}..which is the point of the post.

I am always on the lookout for gift ideas that are budget-friendly, easy to make, and a bit on the different side from what everyone else is doing. This is especially important now that we're on a more limited income than we were!

Enter the newest gift idea in my brain: a travel bag or travel binder. I started a Pinterest board {of course!} to keep track of my ideas, and I'll put it below for you, but I think this is such a fun and different idea, whether for your own kids, for grandkids, for nieces and nephews, or just for people you love who have kids and like to travel.

The ideas I found had already-designed printables that you can just print out at home.. You could also laminate them or put them in plastic sleeves if you want them to be usable with dry-erase markers so they can have a longer life span.

There are also ideas for little games that use supplies you can find inexpensively at a dollar store or maybe even garage sale/thrift store {with good cleaning, of course}.

This is a great time of year to stock up on supplies like dry-erase markers, crayons, and other similar supplies, since back-to-school stuff is on sale.

Even if the kids in your life don't travel a ton {travel is expensive, and I know sometimes families can't afford huge trips...been there!!!}, a travel bag or travel binder could make even an hour or two in the car a bit more pleasant. And it's a great break from electronics, too. {My sister-in-law...the same one from the mission trip...was telling me the other day about some article she read that talked about some of the negative effects already seen in small kids who spend a lot of time on electronic devices, and she said it really made her think about her own kids' time on such things. So even if this idea may seem strange at first to the recipient, I really think it's something they'll appreciate as they see it really IS possible to be entertained apart from a handheld device!}

I'm excited to make one for a gift and thought I'd share it with you in case you want to do the same! And of course, Pinterest has way more ideas than I've pinned on my board. This is just a starting point. Happy hunting and creating!

It's a Big Day in Blogland

PODCAST TUESDAY!!! We're celebrating our big day in blogland on the podcast as well as in the post below! Enjoy!

 Click here to listen.

Well, you would think with a day this momentous, that I would be having a MUCH bigger party than this meager offering. But alas, the occasion crept up on me, and I refuse to feel too guilty about a tiny party.

So what's the occasion, you might ask?

Today marks ten years since my first blog post went live on this little blogaroo. A whole decade in blogland! WOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

For those of you who don't know the story, ten years ago, I was petrified of blogging. I read blogs. But no way was I about to do it. I had watched way too many crime shows of people who were cyber-stalked and I refused to submit my life to the world wide web for its consideration and my own potential endangerment.

In those days, to pacify my mother {who, to be fair, worked long past the age she probably wanted to just to put me through college}, I wrote an email column once a week and sent it off to those who wanted to receive it. Also to be fair, my subscribers were mostly her friends. It was a good exercise for me to write something weekly, knowing it would be read by someone other than God.

One of my co-workers, Jim, also subscribed, and one day he suggested I should start a blog. He told me it was basically the same as what I did, but it would allow me to reach more people. {Clearly he didn't watch the crime shows like I did.} I waved him off, and a short time later, he walked into my office, put a piece of paper on my desk, and said, "This is your blog address and password. Go blog."

And then I met you.

Through the tentative offering of my first post {which was a copy/paste effort from that most recent email and has the most unimaginative title...} my presence here began, and the ten years that have followed have provided the most beautiful and unexpected friendships and opportunities.

Without question, my blog hasn't "taken off" like some do, with thousands of followers and companies knocking on my door to partner with me. I'm not even sure I have a particular niche like so many bloggers do, but all of that is okay. This outlet, like any ministry of mine, is the Lord's to use like He wants to, and He can bring as many or few people as He wants to each day. I'll trust Him to make sure they're the right ones. The ones who need to read the message found here on any given day.

But to celebrate, I will tell you that in the last ten years...

* My picture offering has improved. I had 48 posts published before I finally caved in and {gasp!} posted a photo. And it was mediocre at best:

{That's a lake, in case you can't tell. It really is an unfortunate photo.}

* It was a whole different hair and weight decade for me. {And the season of my first ever plane ride in my entire life.}

* I've made some great new friends specifically through blogging. I'm not sure if she still reads anymore, but SkyePuppy was the first friend I met because of the blog and then got together with in real life. {If you still read, Skye, HI!!!!} In those early blogging days, my little team of consistent readers and commenters was made up of Phats {no longer a blogger, but still my real life friend and has been since story hour!}, Malott, Delta, and Christina. I still treasure each of them and the encouragement they gave me as I waded into these scary internet waters.

* My most-read post of all time was this one that I wrote in 2013 about an organization still very dear to my heart: Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. The organization exists to provide a hospital photo session to parents who lose a child. After my nephew's stillbirth in 1988, I am still grateful for the hospital staff who encouraged us {as a family} to take pictures of Kirk, because now, they're all we have to remember him by! I always want to encourage other families who may be in the same situation to capture memories while they can.

* My most-read recipe of all time is the Cheesy Tortellini recipe, which is a little embarrassing, since my photography and staging were...um...lacking. But the recipe is indeed delicious!

 * I've posted a lot of room tours and makeover posts, and while some of the newer ones may end up proving to be more well-read in the long run, this one remains the most-read. Maybe it's because I named it "My Coffee (Butler's) Kitchen" and people thought I actually had a butler's kitchen. Well I did...but it was my ONLY kitchen!

* In 2011, I started blogging every day, and I've continued to do it since then. And though blogging experts will tell you not to reinvent yourself excessively and to repost old material upon occasion, all my 3200-some posts from the last ten years have been original. No repeats.

* I mentioned I don't have a niche, and it's true! I'll blog about our daily life, lessons I'm learning from the Lord, projects {ohhhhhhhhhhhhh the projects} we're taking on around here, recipes, capsule wardrobes, and little mini-series story posts. I like to switch it up. Keeps it interesting.

* If you're new and haven't seen it, check out the list of posts about our love story. One of my favorite seasons on this blog. I think I scared all of you when that story began on here, because it had been happening in real life longer than I'd been talking about it on the blog. I think Ryan proposed about 4 days after I started telling you he even existed, and that freaked EVERYBODY out. I think you all thought I was marrying some random stranger I just met four days earlier!

* Incidentally, here's the post I wrote that introduced Ryan to you. Do you remember this one?

* If you have listened to the podcast, you know that I had NO recollection of the blog post Ryan declared his favorite. But I unearthed it, and here it is!

* You've walked all the roads with me. The desert, the beautiful relationship, the wedding, all our trips and monthiversaries, our projects and big move, my years in radio and my transition to being what I am now: wife, writer, and speaker. How grateful I am for this decade with you and all it has brought! Thanks for finding me along the way...wherever you did...and coming back all the time to check in on life in Shafferland!

* I'm excited to see what the next decade holds. I've been working on some new things for my own journey in writing and speaking, but I have no plans to let go of the old blogaroo. I have every intention of keeping it going just as it is, a space for stories of everything under the sun and a chance to interact with you for ten more years and counting!

* JUST FOR FUN: I'm not one to ask for comments, but today I think it would be fun to hear from you so I'm not all alone at my party! I'd love to hear how you came to find this corner of the world wide web and either what you've liked best about your time spent here or what you'd like to read more about in the time to come!

Thanks for celebrating with me! HAPPY TEN YEAR BLOGIVERSARY TO ALL OF US!!!

A Different Kind of Sunday

As you know, I've been doing a bit more speaking lately, and I enjoy it so much. Usually I speak to women's groups, but not always. And a couple of weeks ago, I got a call from a church to see if I could fill in for their Sunday morning worship service! {And that took place yesterday.}

I loved the chance to do this because it was close to home, and Ryan could come with me! Always love to take him along!

This little church has been dear to my family my entire life. My dad used to sing and preach sometimes at this church, but I hadn't been there in probably 25 years. It was great to get back and see people I remembered from all those many years ago!

Poor Ryan...the night before I spoke, he started feeling sick, and we both thought maybe he just ate too much. But he woke up feeling even worse on Sunday morning! I told him he could stay home, but husband of the year that he is, he didn't want to miss the chance to hear me, so he went. He was pretty quiet and kept to himself, but he was there, and I loved having his support!

The church was entirely welcoming:

And I loved the chance to share with them.

We came home so Ryan could go right to bed, and he did. Slept the entire day. Well. Until our visitor came! LOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PHOEBE!!!!!!

She came to visit for the evening! I was so happy. Ryan would have been too if he'd been awake.

Oh, be still my little heart!

Since Ryan was down for the count, Pheebs and I went on a walk together.

And then we came home to cheer Ryan up and rest.

She's such a little sweetheart. I'm so glad she came over to play!

A good day, even if Ryan was sick. Here's to hoping he feels better today. He's never sick!

The Shafferland Shuffle

* No surprise to anyone, I'm sure, last Sunday was a lazy day of rest. I love not even feeling guilty about saying the words "lazy day" when speaking of a Sunday! Much rest, a lovely sunset walk, and discovering that the HUGE bush in our yard finally sprouted the first of what promises to be hundreds of purple flowers! YAY!

* Monday was a writing day for me, and apparently a busier one than my writing days usually are, because I actually did something I NEVER do and hit 20,000 steps by the end of the day. WHAT!?!? Ryan and Braeya did some bonding, and Ryan was so excited about his dinner salad that he requested a photo of it specifically. {I won't lie: it was a good salad.}

* Tuesday morning was extra beautiful, so we had breakfast on our porch, and it was just flat out lovely. After work, we went to the Howard County Fair, where Ryan got his lemon shake-up, and I got my ice cream. {And we shared mushrooms.} We had fun hanging out with my friend Amber and ended our night at the brand new Hydration Station that just opened last week!

* Wednesday was the day I spent most of my daytime hours in the hog barn at the fair - a phrase I was sure I would never say - waiting for our niece to show her hog in Mini 4-H. Ryan had to miss it {work, you know} and when she asked where he was and I said he was at work, she said, "Well next time I see him, I'm going to STEP ON HIS TOES!" For the record, she saw him on Friday and ran right toward him and gave him a giant bear hug. No toe stepping. LOL!

* On Thursday, I listened to a very helpful teleseminar, and Braeya was utterly bored by the whole thing. Slept right through it. I made our turkey burgers for dinner and we went for another walk with another stunning sunset. On the days it didn't rain this week, the sunsets were magnificent.

* Friday night, we went back to the fair when Ryan got home from work and had fun walking around looking at all the sights and sharing an elephant ear. We had planned to have more treats, but we were so full from the elephant ear {couldn't even finish it, actually!} that we didn't have more than coffee.

* Yesterday, Ryan worked, but he actually got out at noon, and we had fun running errands, which included a stop at a produce stand for some fresh sweet corn. First of the year for us! Ryan spent a good chunk of the afternoon washing the car, and when he was done, he put that mitt out on the sidewalk to dry. When I walked out later, I saw it out of the corner of my eye and absolutely thought it was a dead animal. WHEW!!!