Suzanne Schaffer

While I was being a good wife this morning, completing the one task my husband asked of me (using the squeegee thing to push melting snow and ice out of the garage after he left for work), I had time to think about life and all of it's stuff. I haven't had time to think or write much over the past year due to life, but I have a few moments now....so let's think.  We live.  We die.  We go to heaven or hell. That's the cycle for each of us. But it's our choice. We decide in advance where we will spend eternity. I am woefully tired of the  They are partying in heaven together posts each time a celebrity dies.  Because they probably aren't. As Christians, we trust the Bible is true. If we read it and believe then we know, by their fruit, if someone has a relationship with the Lord. Not by how funny they were or how loved they were or even by how kind they seemed to be. Their influence doesn't matter. Their popularity doesn't matter. In the end, all that mat...

  I know, it's been a while. I have things going on. So many things.   I did want to do a favorite things blog this year so you don't think I've disappeared. The links provided are not affiliate links, I make no money by sharing the little things I've found throughout the year.  Teeccino. I have been decaffeinated for a couple years now (and not nearly as fun and happy as I used to be), earlier this year I had to drastically change my diet to eliminate all gluten, soy, corn, dairy, sugar, chocolate, and seed oils. I started hunting for coffee alternatives. Not that I ever drank coffee, but it was easier than trying to find tea alternatives. Enter  Teeccino . So many flavors. Not all are GF though so you have to seek those out. So far, the dandelion caramel nut is my favorite. And they are good for you.  This  essential oil stone . Okay, I may be new to this and you all might already be using these, but this thing is great. I don't like diffusing oils - it a...

  If you've been around me any length of time, you'll know I love having a front row seat when possible. Church. Concerts. Comedy shows. Auctions. I want to be front and center, where the action is, so I don't get distracted and miss something. I want to be part of the event and front is where it's at.  Lately I've had a front row seat to some things that I wish I could unsee. My mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis and the last year and a half of watching her slow and steady decline into a world of unknowns has taken a toll.  I tend to hold every emotion inside. Always have. I've learned -these past fifteen months or so- that this is bad for my health. Stress levels are impacting how I feel. Palpitations, and a diagnosis of "harmless" PACs, have left me trying to manage this stress. It's gotten easier but, I'll admit, I still have things shoved down inside. And then along came CDH. A diagnosis I'd not heard of before it was given to...

I missed last year but have compiled a list that is for 2021-2022.  Most of these things are edible ha ha.  Magnesium is something that most of us are lacking. This Calm Creme by Lemongrass Spa (Yes, I am still a consultant but I don't do parties anymore) is an excellent way to get magnesium. I was making my own magnesium lotion until they came out tight this. It is available in the lavender/vanilla scent or peppermint. Use on feet, legs or anywhere with sore muscles or cramps.  I actually found this stuff in 2021 and have since forgotten about it. Milk Street coffee sugars. They have several different varieties but we liked this one best. Really good in tea (or coffee, if you're into that....) Savannah Bee Honey. Whipped Cinnamon. I have tried other brands of whipped cinnamon honey (trying to save some money because this stuff is $18 a bottle) but they cannot compare. These people know what they are doing and this stuff is amazing.  Uh yeah....

Years ago I spent some time disguised as the church secretary.  I know, you're trying to picture it. Trust me, it was rough. While my husband may be my dream man he was definitely not my dream boss . Nor was I a dream secretary. Being self-employed is what I was created for. Well, that and the ability to make really good apple cake. On one of these days the church door was left unlocked and I was alone in the building (which takes on a creepy edge when you're alone there, just saying) and in wandered a sobbing woman. Being the one to see who entered (read: since I was alone) I met her in the entryway and she fell into my arms.  I sensed she needed to talk. We sat in the sanctuary and she poured her heart out. She'd just found out her husband was cheating on her. She was devastated. She cried and talked for a long time and I encouraged her as best I could. I prayed with her and thought that was the end, but she started regularly attending the church and...

  Over the course of my nearly twenty-nine year marriage I've moved to different houses fourteen times. At the onset of nearly all of those moves I thought about how the new home would make everything better. That being in different walls would solve all of my angst. It wasn't until the past couple moves (the last one being nine years ago) that I realized the only thing that was going to change was my address because I'm a human with issues and I take those issues with me everywhere I go. Life is a little like that though. We observe others and compare our lives to theirs.  "If my house was bigger I could _____ just like they do."  "If we had more room we would get along better."      "If our house was newer it would look better." The truth is that rarely does changing our surrounding change anything else. We are still the same messy person we were before. We still have the same marriage issues we had before. We still struggle with our diets. W...

2020 has been the craziest year. I decided to release my favorite things list a little early, not that it's important to anyone but me ha ha. These are things that impacted me over the past year -- in a positive way. I could easily do a least favorite things list for this year, as I'm sure could you. It was hard to find positivity in 2020 but there is always something to be thankful for. The sun still rises and the tides still sweep across the shores. We are still free -for now- in the USA. Read on to see what I enjoyed this year.  Silk pillowcases are on my list of new favorite things. For the past ten years or so I've found it hard to sleep on a rough pillowcase. They almost feel like they burn my skin, some can be very abrasive. I've taken to using the old pillowcases, the ones a few washes from the trash can, the old cotton tends to soften. Until silk pillowcases came my way. *Cue organ music* So luxurious . Apparently there are legit reasons to use these (n...

 Zoey - August 10, 2020 When we found her I didn't realize I needed her. Sure, she needed us, she was living in woods, alone, surviving on whatever she could find. She was nine months old, the vet later told me when I took her in for a check-up, still unsure I wanted to keep this undernourished mutt. We'd been on vacation in southwest Missouri, near the Arkansas border, in the middle of the woods. I was on the porch when I saw her trotting down the dirt road. A little brown dog. I whistled and she stopped to look at me from across the lawn. Then she continued on her way. Later that night, the family was watching a movie we'd brought (no cable service out there!) and suddenly this furry face popped up in the window, scaring my husband out of his seat. We fed her some people food and went to bed.  She was still there in the morning. We asked around and no one knew where she came from. We fed her some more and she stayed. The next day we went and bought some dog food, f...

As a young child I went through the dreaded allergy testing where they pricked my arms and back with different known allergens and waited for a reaction. My biggest reaction was to citrus foods, which crushed my mother as she'd always nursed every cold or sniffle with orange juice. I was okay knowing this was bad since I didn't like orange juice anyway.  So life went on. I could walk right by Orange Julius in the mall without any sorrow since orange wasn't my fave. But along came summer. And fresh-squeezed lemonade, served in big sizes at the county fair. I looked forward to that lemonade every summer and that one large cup never seemed to bother me. Hmmmm. Maybe I'm not allergic anymore , I thought, as I got older. I'd have a lemonade or two every summer, without reaction. Then I got brave and started making my own at home. I perfected it and a few years ago started buying lemons every year, late August, when I just ached for lemonade. I'd use one lemon a day a...

In looking for something clean to watch on television, Wayne and I stumbled upon Bringing Up Bates . Raising nineteen children to love the Lord and to be productive members of society is a pretty big task, but this family does it well. We've binged the entire show and are now caught up. We love this family and can name them all.  We've watched the older children fall in love and get married and have children of their own. We've been in their homes (virtually). We've gone to parks with them (virtually). We've laughed with them and cried with them. We've even been in the delivery room when they are birthing.  Along with thousands of other people. I follow them on Instagram and Facebook. I sometimes catch them broadcasting live. I've browsed the Bates Sisters Boutique .  It's like I know them.  However, if I show up on their porch during a family party and expect to be welcomed I'll likely be banished. Perhaps even escorted off the...

My mind wandered down paths I try to avoid, reaching into memories pushed aside. Assaulting me with reasons and questions and motives. I'm embarrassed to admit I spent more time on these paths than I normally do and the guilt and shame started creeping in.  I'm pretty good at shaking off the thoughts that try to hit me. I almost physically reach into my head and pull them out, throwing them to the ground and saying, "I will not think about that," deciding to think on other, better things.  But once in a while... Perhaps it's the forced time alone with the 2020 Corona Quarantine. Honesty had me admitting to friends this week that Corona has fear creeping at my doorstep. He's knocking and I'm trying to ignore him. Pretty sure he's circling my house, looking for a hole to slip into. He's a hard one to chase away. I turn off the news and avoid news websites. I focus on creating interesting meals and reading encouraging books. I pray. I fin...

A friend loaned a book to me months ago, "I think you'll like this," she said, handing it to me. I put it on my bookshelf, not really interested in reading it, and let it sit there until I'd read through the books I'd deemed more important. I picked it up whilst in the middle of a social media fast and, on a quiet evening alone, began to read. It was entrancing. The words blended together like a symphony, producing the most beautiful mind images. Then I noticed that my friend had tucked a handwritten note inside. The note gave some background information on the author who (honestly I'd not even looked at who the author was) she said was a strong Christian woman and glorified God in all she said and did. Intrigued, I decided to read more on this woman and her family. A quick online search revealed that both she and her husband engaged in extramarital affairs, with him fathering children to two sisters. My brow furrowed when I read that they'd both ...