The Date Inspired by the Letter X

Last night I was busy putting together this post for you when I said to Ryan, "I FORGOT TO FINISH THE PODCAST!!" We knew this would be a crazy weekend, so we recorded it a little early and then I forgot to finish it!  But never fear! I completed it and it's ready for your listening pleasure. Our favorite memories from 2017 captured right here!

Listen here

Meanwhile, I only took about 378,327 pictures yesterday and clearly they are not all edited at this time. So today I thought I'd tell you about our fun alphabetical date last week. Our next to the last alphabetical date. Can you believe it?

This one was Ryan's idea! He had never seen the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and they came to Indianapolis last week, so he got us tickets! I actually had seen them before, seven years ago, when I went with my best friend and her husband. (They go every single year.) But I really looked forward to seeing them with Ryan!

In case you're wondering how this fits as an X date, it works like this: X-tra loud music with xylophones. 

We were grateful for a decent weather day here in the middle of December. It was not really warm, but it wasn't nearly as cold as it's about to be here in our fine state, and since we did a LOT of walking that night, that was helpful! And we didn't have any precipitation, which was also helpful for the same aforementioned reasons!

Ryan took a half day off work, and when we got to Indianapolis mid-afternoon, we went straight to Panera for a coffee fix. We walked around Circle Center mall for a while, and that was fun too!

Then we went to visit the tree on Monument Circle. (Ahhh memories from our first anniversary trip!)

We had dinner at Scotty's Brewhouse, where we narrowly beat the dinner rush!

It was getting dark when we left dinner, so we went back to the circle for some night photos with the tree.

 They look similar, don't they?

And this is where it got interesting. We walked to the arena and took our selfie:

And when we got up to the door, we saw a sign that the band doesn't allow cameras with detachable lenses. Whoopsie. That's all I carry. And of course I had a regular and zoom lens in my purse. We had parked so far away that we decided to just go in and see what they said. So we went in and they told us we would have to either check in the zoom lens and pick it up after the concert or we would have to take it back to the car.

Well obviously there was no way on God's green earth I was handing my lens to a complete stranger, so Ryan RAN all the blocks back to our car while I stood inside the arena and had an utter panic attack that he would be shot running through the streets of downtown Indy. (I'm not kidding. I got lightheaded and realized I had stopped breathing entirely.)

He made it back in one piece, thankfully. And also thankfully, they did let me take my camera in, as long as I kept the small lens on it. Technically, according to the wording on the sign, I shouldn't have been able to have it at all, but I just shut my mouth, nodded, and took it in.

That would be the part of the night where I needed a Xanax and didn't have one.

We went in, found our seats, and took our inside selfie:

We sat for probably a half hour, and then a very nice man and his daughter arrived and informed us we were in their seats. Ryan kindly pulled out his ticket to demonstrate how we were right were we should be and found out we were, in fact, in the wrong seats.

Xtra embarrassing. My face matched my shirt for quite some time. We were one section over from our correct seat, and moved quickly. Our correct seats were actually a little better - straight on to the stage - but I was still mortified.

Also, I want to know how we had to take a zoom lens back to the car, but the guy two rows in front of us got to Facebook Live THE ENTIRE CONCERT. Eyeroll.

The show was really great. (We talk about it more at length in the podcast, but here are some pictures to go with it!) Lots of hair slinging, lots of pyro, lots of loud, and lots of fun!

The stage pieces went up and down. I'd have gotten dizzy and fallen right off. (Possibly part of the reason I've not been invited to join the band. Also, I have no talent.)

 Beautiful stage for the storytelling portion.

 More moving stage pieces...

 And more!

 Pyro! We could feel the heat from our seats.

 This guy is an incredible musician. (They all are, but this one fascinates me.)

 Lots of lights!

So that was our night with TSO. A very fun date that I'm grateful Ryan planned for us! One more to go and we'll have completed all 26 letters!!

Merry Christmas from Shafferland!

Well it is indeed a white Christmas here in the Midwest, which is news that feels far less delightful as an adult with places to travel than it did as a child without a care in the world. But for all you who wished/possibly prayed for a white Christmas, congratulations! :)

I know everyone is busy with things far more important than blogs today, so I won't keep you long, but I wanted to show you some Christmas fun Ryan and I had last night! (Disclaimer: I am currently in a season of hating my hair, so I like about NONE of the photos that have been taken so far this Christmas, including all the ones you're about to see.)

ANYWAY. We had never done a gingerbread house before, and I guess technically we still haven't. We found this gingerbread camper at the store the other day and it was pretty cheap, so we thought it might be fun to do!

Unfortunately we did not read the instructions until we sat down to do this thing on Christmas Eve at 10 p.m. so we didn't know you're supposed to do the actual assembly part 3-4 hours ahead of decorating. Whoopsie.

We also thought it might be terribly inconvenient to decorate a standing piece, especially for a couple of rookies with no talent, so we decided to each decorate a side like a plain cookie and call it a day.

Rebels.

We worked very hard...one of us following the box directions exactly and the other getting a little wild and creative.

 Annnnnnd our finished products!

So we learned we should probably not quit our day jobs, but we sure had a blast making our little gingerbread camper pieces!!

So merry Christmas from a rather amateurishly decorated Shafferland. We hope you have a wonderful Christmas day! :)

The Shafferland Shuffle

Merry Christmas Eve! Happy birthday to my niece! Clearly, lots to celebrate today. :) Hope you are having a happy (and safe, if you're in a snowy place!) Christmas weekend.

Here's a peek at our week leading up to Christmas...

* Last Sunday we visited our home away from home: the hospital. Ryan's mom was in for a few days and we stopped to see her for a while. When we got home, we pretty much didn't leave Mo for the rest of the day. Phoebe came to spend a few hours with her, and I don't think she was overly brokenhearted that it was lay-on-the-couch-and-be-lazy day.

* Monday I got a fun surprise in the mail! There's a new magazine that I've signed up to contribute to, and my first issue came! Fun seeing my name in print, even if I haven't officially been published with them yet. That night, we took Ryan's student out for dinner (he's had a clinical student for the past few weeks) and then I came home to knock out some writing before I went on my own version of Christmas break.

* On Tuesday, I went to the staff Christmas party for the school where I've volunteered this fall. It was a fun party - and an unexpected present for me! On the way home, I stopped to get Ryan a latte as an apology for my stressed-out-over-Christmas demeanor the night before. And then I got back on track and wrapped more gifts so I didn't have to stress anymore!

* Wednesday night was our date inspired by the letter X, which included a trip to Indianapolis for shopping, dinner, and aa Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. We had great weather and had a wonderful time seeing TSO together for the first time. (Obviously more on this later.)

* I spent most of Thursday assembling Christmas gifts for Ryan's siblings, and when I was done, they were kind of a sight to behold. (I'll tell you more about them sometime. A year's worth of family dates in binders! I had to do a little baking and thought for a minute my oven was on fire, but then I remembered the oven just steams while it's on. I am still not used to that! Other than that, it was a curl-up-with-Braeya night.

* Friday night was Ryan's mom's birthday party, and on our way to the restaurant, we made the mistake of getting groceries with the rest of the county. ;) The party was fun. Dinner with the fam, and Ryan's sister had also invited our good friend Shawn and his kids, so when dinner was over, we joined up with them for a trip to DQ for Blizzards. FUN!

* Yesterday was our first family Christmas for the season. Christmas with Ryan's mom, step-dad, and siblings. Christmas at the cabin! As always, it looked lovely, the food was delicious, and it was fun watching the kiddos be all excited about their gifts! :)

The Saturday Six

One.

Whether you're hosting a big group or just getting together with a couple of friends this New Year's Eve, this is a quick free printable you can throw into the mix for a great conversation-starter. Easy, non-threatening questions you can answer together and maybe even learn something new about your friends!

Two.

This article is very uncharacteristic for me to share, but I am, because I think there are a lot of truths in it. It's actually written by a friend of ours, but that's beside the point. I want to be clear that in sharing this, I'm not bashing college, but I absolutely agree that it is not the best option for everyone and for those who would excel in trade work rather than something of a traditional education nature, I think they should be encouraged to pursue it, not shamed for it. One of the main reasons I prayed to get out of my higher ed job years ago was because I could not (in good conscience) continue to suggest the insane amounts of debt I had to push in order to help students pay their bills. And one other note that fits in with this topic: a friend of mine is married to a man who runs a heating and cooling business. He cannot find help, because no one wants to work that kind of labor job. She told me he has even offered to pay for schooling for someone who might want to work there, and still - no takers. As a fan of both heating and cooling in my home, I would love for someone with that natural inclination to want to do that kind of work. I'd happily pay them well to provide services to heat and cool our home! 

Three.

I have not tried this personally, but it looks fun! Audrey at Putting Me Together is starting a challenge to help you figure out your style. You can read about how it works here and registration is open here. If you need a jump-start with your closet for next year, it might be worth the registration fee! (And if you need a last minute gift idea for someone who loves clothes, this could be the ticket!)

Four.

One of my Facebook friends shared this video from Riley Children's Hospital. Last year around this time, one of the high school students at Eastern (where Ryan and I went to school) was battling cancer and wrote lyrics for "The Twelve Days of Chemo." He was part of the school's show choir (which Ryan was also part of back in the day) and they actually went to Riley and sang it with him there. This year the choir went back to sing at Riley again and Austin, the patient, is now declared cancer-free. It's a sweet video, even if you don't know anything about Austin's story!

Five.

Lovely Christmas article...hope it helps put God's gift into perspective for you and reminds you to receive the gift He gave!

Six.

Source

Well this was certainly not the review I thought I would be leaving on the book I read this week. In fact, I didn't even finish the book. (GASP.) That never happens.

Because I'm trying to grow a library of children's books for when kiddos come to visit, I asked to review 365 Classic Bedtime Bible Stories inspired by Jesse Lyman Harlbut's Story of the Bible. I chose this because one of my absolute fondest memories of my own childhood is the bedtime Bible stories my dad told me every night. Yes, you read that right. He told me the stories. He didn't read them from any book. He told them from his memory and made them full, rich, and memorable.

One issue I have with many Bible story books for kids is that they all tell the same main stories and skip some of the "lesser known" parts of the Bible. Dad never skipped. He told all the stories, and I think that was so wise of him. I think kids should grow up with a more complete understanding of the Bible. (This is all very important background for what I'm about to say.)

I launched into reading this book with great expectations, and at least where illustrations are concerned, it immediately impressed me. The cartoonish illustrations are cute and tastefully done, which is important when the book is geared to ages 3 and up. The stories are very short, which is also very important when you're dealing with 3 year olds and bedtime, right?

Now, I will say that one good thing about this book is that it left very few stones unturned on Bible stories. That was exactly what I was looking for, right? Wouldn't that make my day? Well, normally, yes. But the execution of the stories appalled me.

And yes. I chose the word execution on purpose. I have never seen a children's Bible storybook more fixated on all the deaths in the Bible than this one. And not just mentioning them, but describing them. And then after chronicling such a death, the story ends abruptly and apparently you are supposed to say a bright "Good night!" to your child and put him or her to bed.

Abrupt is actually another word that describes these stories very well. They aren't embellished at all. They are clipped and void of any kind of emotion or exciting description. And sometimes the words chosen are way above a three year old's vocabulary.

Let me give you a couple of examples:

There is a chapter about Israel's Cities of Refuge, and in part, the story says, "People sometimes kill others by accident. If this happened in Israel, they could be safe in these cities. This was a law of God that had been given by Moses. Before that, if someone killed another by accident, they too were killed. The dead man's relatives would kill them. It didn't matter that it was an accident." (The story goes on, but I think you get the point.) While all those things are true, this would not be what I would want to fill a kid's mind with right before bed.

Not long after that chapter is the one about Sisera the Canaanite general who fell asleep and "Jael drove a tent peg into Sisera's head and killed him."

I read half the book before realizing this just isn't one I want to add to my library. I appreciate the illustrations. I appreciate the inclusion of forgotten stories. I appreciate the full Scripture reference listed at the top of each chapter so parents can read the full story themselves if they want. But I think the storytelling lacks excitement, and I think the intense use of murder stories in a bedtime book is misplaced, especially for kids as young as three.

I think if parents wanted to tell these stories and encase them in words that offer the truth without offering fear, it would be better. Parents know their kids, know what they can handle, and could hedge the information age-appropriately. Then, as the kids grow, they can offer more detailed bits of the stories.

I like the idea of this book, but I just couldn't feel at peace with the presentation. I'm sad about that, but it's the truth.

* Barbour sent a copy of this book to me at no charge. All opinions are my own. * 

The Date Inspired by the Letter Y.

I know it seems like this trip is never going to end, but I promise we are ALMOST done!

This particular stop on the trip was a very last minute addition and ended up becoming an alphabetical date, too! We had originally planned to do Mayberry on Friday, spend as much time there as we wanted, start driving home, and see how far we got. At the very latest, we planned to be home by midday on Saturday. But then one of Ryan's co-workers told us about this chocolate shop in Asheville we just had to visit, and while we were there, we should just see the Biltmore, because it's beautiful at Christmas.

So we did some research and ended up adding Asheville as a stop! I had been to the Biltmore the summer before Ryan and I got married, but he had never been, and we both thought seeing it at Christmas sounded fantastic. We had no idea we would also get the rare privilege of seeing it in the snow!

All this made for the perfect YULETIDE date. Thank you, date inspired by the letter Y!

We cut our Mayberry visit short so we could get to the Biltmore before dark and be able to see the outside of it in the daylight first. When you go during the regular part of the year, you can just go on inside whenever you want. But the crowds are so huge at Christmas that the candlelight tours are timed to regulate the number of people in the house at one time. So we couldn't actually go inside until 7:15.

We arrived midafternoon and took some photos with the gorgeous mansion in the snow! So pretty.

(Shout out to the stranger who kindly took our photo so we didn't have to selfie EVERYTHING.)

 I mean...can you even imagine?

 Winter wonderland!

 As you can see, the state may have been panicking, but tourists were still flocking to the place by the busload!

 Snow on the ledge. They said the next day they got 4.5 inches of snow, but by what we saw piled on cars, it had to be at LEAST six inches. Maybe even between 6-8.

We had some major time to kill, so we went over to the shops area to get our Christmas ornament, warm up with some coffee, and share a yummy scone! We were so grateful that in the little outdoor café, the overhang had a heater, so at least we were warm while we sat outside!

The Biltmore has beautiful gardens, but they were buried in snow, not lit, and we were afraid we would get lost if we tried to explore, so we didn't spend long in that area.

As it started to get darker, we went back out to the photo opp point to get some buildings of the place in dark. Stunning!

 Look how little the people are beside the tree!

We finally killed enough time to be able to go inside! Last time I went, photos were prohibited inside the building, but they're allowed now. Obviously I took a billion, but I'll just share a handful with you. You're probably already tired! And I apologize in advance for how grainy our selfies are. We don't have great reverse cameras on our phones.

Also, the snow, while beautiful, was 100% huge and wet, so by this time, my hair had basically had an additional shower. I was so glad I hadn't bothered to curl it. I was SO SOGGY!!!

 Because what dining room doesn't have three fireplaces?

 Be still, my heart.

 The library. It absolutely took my breath away.

 You know...just checking out the indoor pool.

 And the indoor bowling alley...

It was such a grand tour. We loved it, and it was worth the extra time, for sure.

Now. The bus ride back to our car? Questionable at best. There was an old (and I do mean OLD) guy behind us in line that needed to sit down and write a hundred sentences. I have never heard such foul language from a distinguished looking gentlemen out for a Christmas gathering with his wife and friends. He was literally pushing people out of the way to get his own seat on the bus, and his language was incredibly colorful. Our thoughts:

Despite that guy, we had a GREAT time. A great YULETIDE date to almost round out our alphabetical dates!!