Meet the Shaneyfelts

blogtember challenge

The Blog-tember Challenge: Day 8

Today’s prompt for The Blog-tember Challenge is a fun one!  But haven’t they all been fun so far?  I had fun writing this one!

Day 8: Tell us about your favorite season.  Why is it your favorite and what does it say about you?

My answer to this one might be different from everyone else’s.  My favorite season is the last day of school – December 25th.  I love summer through Christmas!  I actually thought about putting October as my favorite season because it’s my birthday month (and we all know birthdays are a holiday) but then I was afraid of what that might say about me haha!  Let me explain why I picked such a wide range of the year…
Summer

As a teacher, summer is my favorite because of a “break” from school.  I say break loosely because if you have a teacher in your family, then you know there’s never really a break at all.  There’s required workshops over the summer, workshops that aren’t required but you’ve been asked to go to, lesson planning, and working in your classroom before school starts.  But when I’m not busy with any of that, I’m enjoying the beautiful weather!  I love the freedom summer brings to my daily schedule–the freedom to wake up early or sleep in, the freedom to choose if I want to be a homebody that day, the freedom to eat somewhere other than the school cafeteria, and the freedom to stay up later.  I love summer!

Here we are just a couple of weeks before we got married about to enjoy a day out on the river!  Ol Shaneyfelt was pointing to my new monogram because he was excited about that becoming official!


Fall

 I love this quote–not because it’s written by Fitzgerald–but because it’s so true.  There’s something about the crispness in the air that feels renewing.  I love fall colors.  I love that college football season starts in the fall.  I love fall foods and baking fall goodies.  I love fall decorations–pumpkins and gourds.  I love fall clothes.  And I love that I have a fall birthday because the weather is always perfect.
 This was the very first Anthropologie fashion show I did and I loved this fall outfit!

 Learning to bake my grandma’s fudge in my mom’s kitchen.  Baking is love 🙂


Christmas

I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT CHRISTMAS!!!  I can’t be more excited when I say that!!  I love that Christmas is the time of year when we remember our Savior’s birth and the faithfulness of God to provide a Savior for us.  But on the secular side, I love how Christmas is a joyful time of year where everyone is happy.  I love Christmas music, movies, smells, decorations–you name it, I love it.
Dustin knows how much I love Christmas lights so he surprised me one day after school with a date to my favorite Mexican restaurant and then to the botanical gardens to see the Christmas lights!!!  I was beyond thrilled!

And then later in the season he took me to the Grand Ole Opry to see The Radio City Rockettes.  And of course, after we walked over to the hotel to tour the lights.  I’m already begging him to take me again this year to see the new Christmas show!

The Blog-tember Challenge: Day 7

Happy Labor Day, y’all!  I am so happy to have a day off from school 🙂  I’ve been participating in the Blog-tember Challenge as much as I can and it’s been fun.  Today’s question is…
Day 8: Tell us about your blog name.  Where did it come from?

I started blogging in October of 2014.  I had been reading blogs since college and enjoyed keeping up with some of the same blogs for years.  I know that sounds weird, but it’s like you really get to know the bloggers if you’ve read their blog for a few years.

Anyway, I had just gotten married and felt like it was time for me to try out blogging. I looked at lots of blogs to check out their names, and I even made notes in my phone of different names I had thought of.  I ended up going with Meet the Shaneyfelts because I was still obsessed with thinking about our wedding, and it was our hashtag.  
#MeetTheShaneyfelts  (check it out on Instagram!)

Another reason why I chose Meet the Shaneyfelts is because when I started this blog, I planned on blogging more about our family.  Now almost a year later, I’m starting to rethink a few things about this blog and the direction I”m going in.  Am I really blogging about family or more about myself?  That’s something I’ve got to think about.  I’ve been planning on updating this blog in October in honor of my one year blog-iversary (I love celebrating!), so we’ll see what changes I make in October!
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The Blog-tember Challenge: Day 4

Day 4: What are you passionate about?

I linked up Wednesday with my days 1 and 2 combined post and loved participating in this challenge!  It’s really a great idea and I’ve loved being able to connect with new bloggers that I’ve never read before.  And I love today’s prompt.  When I find something that I love and am passionate about, I give my all.  It’s in my nature.  Sometimes I over-extend myself because I love so many things, and right now I feel like I’m in a season where I’ve over-extended myself.  And I’m working on finding the balance.  I know this is just a season in my life, but it’s hard to see past the stress.  Okay, rant over and now onto the things I’m passionate about!

1. The Lord--I became a Christian when I was 13 and my relationship with God really grew during my college years.  I can thank my college church, Baptist Campus Ministry, and my BFF/roommate Janie for the constant accountability.  My quiet time deepened this summer after reading Don Whitney’s Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life.  I’m constantly humbled each time I learn something new about The Lord and His extreme love for me.  Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  This is a verse I try to constantly remind myself of, and I strive to glorify God in every single thing that I do.

2. My family–Now that Dustin and I are our own little family, I’m so passionate about us glorifying God in our marriage.  I know we fail at that a lot, but God shows us so much grace that we strive to show each other that same grace and mercy.

3. Making our house a home–We just built our first home and I’m having the best time decorating it!  I plan on decorating it for fall this weekend–it’s September, so it’s practically fall to me haha!

4. Reading–I LOVE reading so much!  It’s such a huge passion of mine that I’m getting my master’s degree in library media.  Unfortunately, because I’m in grad school right now, I have very little time to read for fun.  And if I do pick up a book to read leisurely, it takes me so long to finish….think a month per book which is so not like me.

5. the Abide Women’s Ministry at my church–We are in year 2 of our women’s ministry at church and I’ve been so encourage by what God is doing in the hearts of the ladies at my church.  I pray that these ladies will be transformed by the Gospel and will hunger to know Him more.  I also pray this for myself.

6. My friends–I feel like this is such a given, but I had to put it!  Now that I’m an adult, some of my friends don’t live close to me anymore.  We really have to schedule our time together and don’t get to see each other as much as we’d like.

7. Baking–Yes!!!  I love baking.  Literally, if I’m stressed out or had a bad day, I will bake something.  It’s not the eating part that eases my stress, it’s the baking.

8. Blogging–Next month will be my one year anniversary of blogging and I didn’t know I would love it as much as I do.  It’s such an uplifting and encouraging community and I’ve made some great friends!  I can’t wait to re-do my blog next month in honor of my one year blog-iversary 🙂

To see my Day 1 and 2, click here.