Tuesday Tales: Plan B Weekend

 

                I had today’s blog all planned for you. I was going to tell you all about the things I learned at the Grief conference last Friday, but alas, the weekend took a whole turn, and I never made it to the conference. So today I’ll tell you about my Plan B weekend.

                According to my phone, I took this at 9:20 Wednesday night. Lexi and I were happily snuggled on the couch watching TV with Ryan.

                Twelve hours later…whew. The worst was behind me, but I felt rough. I could barely keep my eyes open all day. I pushed them open long enough to cancel my Bible study via text, and then I slept almost the entire day.

                Friday, while Ryan was here:

                I was here:

                When we both planned to be gone, we had arranged for Lexi to go to the sitter, and we honored that arrangement, even though I was home. I was glad she did have plans, honestly, because the wind was outrageous all day (70+ miles an hour around here) and I know I wouldn’t have had a moment’s rest the entire day, trying to calm her down.

                Ryan said the conference was so good, and I will always be sad that our work-date was ruined. He was a gem and did all our grocery shopping while he was out, and then he picked up dinner at Pizza King. (We were supposed to have our first date in a month, but that was foiled too.) We ate at home, and I had crazy bedhead.

                Saturday morning, Ryan encouraged me to stay home while he volunteered at the Boutique, so Lexi and I hung out in bed.

                I worked so hard throughout the afternoon to take a shower, start over with my hair, put on real clothes and makeup, and be ready for our small group outing to see Grease at the local high school. How did I do?

                It was a good show, and it was fun to support all our friends from church who were part of the production!

                Not the weekend we planned – by a long shot – but we made the best of it.

Menu Monday: Nourishing Body and Soul

 

This week I relied on a premade meal plan from Life in theLofthouse to help me decide my meals, and then I tweaked the recipes to make them align with our ingredient choices (as needed…some already did). And then of course I got off track immediately. See below. 😊

Monday: Sloppy Joes and Steamed Broccoli

What I Loved: This was not the plan for this day, but yet another change in my schedule meant I didn’t get to be home to prepare the intended meal. For me, sloppy joes have become one of the easiest sub-in meals to pull together. As long as I have ground turkey on hand, I always have the full scope of ingredients to make this on the fly. I paired it with a slice of homemade bread and some steamed broccoli, and it was a great meal with leftovers for lunch the next day!

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Taco Soup

What I Loved: I had a church meeting at night, so I chose a slow cooker meal for this day so it could be hot and ready when Ryan and each needed to eat – at different times and in different places. It had good flavor and other than browning the meat ahead of assembly, it was a very fast meal to put together.

What I Changed: I used ground turkey instead of beef (cost) and Great Northern beans instead of black beans, because I discovered my only black bean can had a dent in it. Boo. (I normally keep several cans on hand because we use a lot of black beans in our dishes, but we were in sore need of a grocery haul, so I didn’t have a supply). I also used my own, homemade taco seasoning, rather than buying a packet. I also added a spoonful of Greek Yogurt to my bowl for creaminess and protein!

Wednesday: Pasta Primavera and Lemon Bars

What I Changed About the Pasta: I used angel hair palmini noodles instead of standard pasta and almond milk instead of heavy cream. It didn’t get as creamy as it might have, but I still thought it had good flavor. I used canned carrots and frozen broccoli for speed/ease, and I added cubed ham because I realized there wasn’t any meat!

What I Loved: I made this ahead of church and we ate it after. Ryan said he really liked it, so that’s a win for me. It was colorful and filling!

What I Didn’t Love About the Lemon Bars: All of it. I had never made lemon bars before, and I made them for Ryan to take to GriefShare. They were a disaster. They didn’t set up right. I am normally a good cook and have no idea what I did wrong. Anyone have a winner lemon bar recipe??

Thursday: Leftover Pasta Primavera

What I Loved: What I loved most of all was that I didn’t have anything to do with this meal. Ha! I was so sick and told Ryan all the leftovers in the fridge were his, because after the flu, I had no desire to see any of those meals ever again. He kindly ate upstairs so I didn’t have to smell any food.

Friday: Pizza King Date Night

What I Loved: Ryan and I had such grand plans of a long date day out in Fort Wayne – for a conference, for shopping, and for dinner out. And then…flu. I was feeling better by Friday night, so Ryan picked up Pizza King. If you’re not from around here and don’t know about Pizza King, it tends to be a less greasy pizza, and it’s cut in little squares, so I was able to eat just a tiny bit. We ate at home and I looked terrible, but it was a date night!

Saturday: BBQ Pulled Pork and Salad – with Razzleberry Pie for Pi Day!

What I Loved: We had small group before the high school musical, and we all pitched in together on food. We had BBQ pulled pork and tossed salad – and we celebrated Pi Day with some Razzleberry pie! I had tiny helpings of each and felt full – but good – after them! (Note: We took the salad and didn't know what we were taking until about 4 hours before the event, so it was buy-a-bagged-salad-and-add-some-avocado for the win. It doesn't always have to be super homemade!)

Sunday: Chicken Pot Pie Soup

What I Loved: While I was sick, Ryan brought me some cans of chicken pot pie soup to eat without meal prep stress. I had one can left, so I had it for dinner. It has really good flavor, and I think I will miss soup days when I get back to meal prepping.

Thank you for attending the weirdest week of meals ever.

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments from the Week

 

This week was definitely not what we anticipated, but it was memorable – in good and bad ways! Here’s a peek at some of the moments!

                I already told you that last Sunday was our annual Welcome Lunch at church. It was a lot of work to plan and prepare, but it was well worth it. This was my second time to host this lunch, so I learned much from last year’s adventures and put them into play this year. I think, in time, this will get easier and easier from a logistics standpoint!

                Monday was a mess. Lots of things that aren’t my story to tell, but suffice it to say it was a challenging day all the way around. I ended up missing some intended work hours, so when I came home, I sat down with an online class to do some more work. I loved it. That is so life-giving to me.

                My church office is pretty small, which is great accountability for keeping it organized. I had a big pile of supplies from the Welcome Lunch that I want to keep for future lunches, and I also had a box of supplies leftover from the Deacon Appreciation Lunch in January. I bought tubs, organized them, and made pretty labels so I can store these for a future adventure. This made my heart much happier than it should have, I’m sure!

                Indiana had tornadoes Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, and I knew there was a good chance some could come through during the night. Therefore, it became slumber party night at the Shaffers! Couch sleeping for all! When I woke up super early on Wednesday, this was my view. Those two. They are the cutest.

                And then…oy. The flu hit me at 1:00 in the morning and led to one wicked and relentless night of misery. By the time Ryan got up on Thursday morning, I was sacked out on the couch having MUCH less fun than slumber party night. I never left the couch all day, except for bathroom breaks. I did not want to eat (WHAT?!?!), I barely drank, and I felt so gross. It was an awful day, but my little sidekick kept me company.

                Ryan and I had plans to attend a conference on Friday, but there was no way I could stay awake for an entire day, so I stayed home on the couch. Again. He went to the conference and did our grocery shopping, and Lexi went to the sitter we had lined up for the day. I missed her, but the WIND was relentless in ways I’d never seen, so I was kind of glad she was gone. I think she would have been so anxious with all the thuds slamming around outside. (We even lost a light pole!)

                By Saturday I was feeling much better, but I got tired SO quickly! So I would do one thing at a time and then sit down. Do another thing…sit down. By evening I had accomplished getting FULLY ready for the first time. Hair, makeup, and the whole bit. I had been symptom free for over 48 hours, so we went to see the high school musical – Grease!

Saturday Suggestions: Inspirations for Your Weekend

 

                Good morning! I am slowly crawling back into the land of the living. I did NOT see that flu bug coming. Ryan had a different strain of the flu last week, and after a full week had gone by, it did not even occur to me that my turn was still coming. That was one brutal 1 a.m. wakeup call and night to follow, let me tell you. I don’t know where it found me, but I would have been okay NOT being picked. 😊

                Sorry about yesterday’s lackluster post. I tried to squeak it out with one eye half open, while sprawled on the couch after not eating or drinking much all day. I’m pretty sure it showed. But I’m back and hopefully more put together today. Ready for some fun finds?

You know I love to thrift, and although I always have a running mental list of what I’d love to find, I ty to go in with a really open mind. You never know what you will (or won’t) encounter in the store! Andrea’s guide to thrifting is so helpful if you feel overwhelmed when you enter the thrift store! Not every trip will be a winner, but every now and then…wow! You’ll come home with some amazing finds.   

Can you handle one more Olympic story? If you didn’t see this tale of the ice rink cameraman, you should check it out! Impressive how he can skate backwards while holding a camera and not crash into the wall – or trip the skaters!

Brendt wrote this beautiful guide on a cozy home reset. This is always the time of year I start itching to reset everything in the house: clean out the heavy of winter and bring in the freshness of spring! If you’re in a bring-on-spring mode too, take a look at her suggestions! Cozy at home isn’t just for fall and winter!

Allison’s words in this piece point to the importance of journaling, and of course I support that, but what I hope you will see even more than that? He words about God’s sovereignty in hard places. If you are walking though a hard season of life right now and are trying to rewrite the script to be more pleasing…pay special attention to what she has to say. Beautifully articulated!

Who doesn’t love a good (or bad!) wedding dress!? This post features 100 wedding dresses from movies. Some movies are set long ago and others in present day, so the styles of dresses are quite varied. I certainly haven’t seen all the movies represented here, and I also don’t love all the dresses. But I did find it fascinating to scroll through, and there were some really pretty ones featured!

This idea won’t be on my list for this year, because, well, time, but I want to hang onto it for the future. A tutorial laid right out in full for the best mix of flowers to grow for an at-home cutting garden. I love (as you know) going to Steele Farms to cut flowers for fresh bouquets, and I don’t plan on stopping that adventure, but I do love the idea of having a mini version of their pretty offerings right here at home! I’ve never known what I should plant, but this tells me!

Friday Fun: Our Welcome Lunch

 

Good morning and happy Friday!! This day is not what I thought it would be: the flu found me! So as we cancel plans we’d looked forward to, I am just hoping to make it though the day.

                Meanwhile, I wanted to tell you about the Welcome Lunch we had at church last Sunday. We do this every year – to welcome those new since the last lunch. Our deacons prepare all the food and the staff members share things about the ministries of the church!

                We have the newcomers sit with the deacons who tend to them so they can begin to foster relationships, and after lunch is over, we give everyone a welcome packet and a tour of the church so they can know where to find rooms!

                It was fun to take them around the building and let them see the ministries in action! In the past we’ve just told them about what we do, but this year they got to SEE it.

                We had a great attendance, and I hope everyone felt loved and included by the time they left!

Throwback Thursday: Reception Memories

 

                Life was so busy this year that we didn’t even have/take time to pause and give it a proper reflection, but this week marked the anniversary of our wedding reception day. If you’re new here, you might not know that Ryan and I were married on a beach in Florida about three weeks before Christmas, and then three months later, we had a big reception at home to celebrate with all our friends and family who hadn’t been able to attend the wedding.

                It’s true that the reception was far more stressful than the wedding, even though we had more time to plan for it. It was a bigger-scale operation, and even though we didn’t serve a meal, there was so much work to put together an ice cream and coffee bar to share!

                I looked back over the scrapbook this week and smiled as I remembered the ice-cream dipping party that Mom and Nita helped us accomplish.

                And then there was the photo shoot in the prayer chapel where I prayed for my someday-husband for years. What a gift to be in that space with him!

                But what struck me most of all was all the change life has brought to those who spent that day with us – thirteen years ago now. Some of the people in the pictures have passed away since that day, and we miss them. The children have grown up. Some friends have moved away. Some friendships have changed with the passing of time and geography. I know that happens, but it doesn’t make it easy, does it?

                These two little sweeties are all grown up – one is in college and the other is about to graduate from high school! And though Faith and I are still friends, we live far enough apart that we don’t get to see each other all that often. We catch up on social media – which was a whole different place 13 years ago!

                I love this picture of Ryan’s mom and her sister. Nita struggled with her health all the time I was in the family, but when I look back on this picture, I remember how healthy she was at this point!

                Our wedding party! We now live far away from all of them, and though we get to see Mark and Lynnette a few times each year, we hardly ever get to see Adam and Sara. We miss them! And my niece is now married and a mama, and her whole life is different from 13 years ago! And there in front (to the right) are our friends Harold and June, who were so sweet to us when we attended church together. Both are in Heaven now. We are thankful they were part of our story.

                This sweet girl, who was one of the four babies I was privileged to see being born, is now a mama herself!

                Ronda and I used to see each other every single day, and now she’s a busy grandma and I hardly ever see her, but when we do get to catch up, it’s like we never missed a beat. I love it.

                Tom and Olivia drove from New York to be part of our reception, and a few days later, she texted to say she was sorry she hadn’t RSVPd for three – and that was how I found out she was pregnant! She’s now expecting baby #7, I believe, and is a fantastic mom!

                I think you might recognize these two. Who ever would have known that 13 years later, we would live in the same county and work together in ministry!?

                And these nieces are all grown up – high school, college, motherhood – all a mix.

                Who knew? This bride sure didn’t. So much change. So many differences. But in all the losses and changes, God has been faithful, God has been good, and I am thankful for this day of celebration!