Meet the Shaneyfelts

Friday Favorites!

Happy Friday!!!  

Today is going to be a great day!!  Why?  Because…..
SNOW!!!!!
 Excuse the poor picture quality, but I took this of the news yesterday afternoon to send to my partner teacher letting her know that the news pretty much agreed with us that we needed to close school for today.

And it probably wasn’t 15 minutes later when we got the email that school was closed for Friday since the governor had declared a state of emergency for the entire state.  So…..I’m writing today’s Friday Favorites post from my house this morning πŸ˜ƒπŸ˜ƒ



 I finally got my new Erin Condren planner in yesterday!  I waited until Christmas Eve to order my 2017 planner…whoops.  So I’ve gone the beginning of 2017 without a planner and I’ve definitely felt out of sorts ha!  Having a planner really helps me to stay organized and keep up with everything, so today I’ll be getting it set up and getting everything written down.  Erin Condren planners are my favorite–even though they make my purse a little heavy.


THIS VIDEO πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚
I watched this before going back to school this week and died laughing.



I sent this to my friends last night since we’re in a group text encouraging each other to eat healthy.  Pretty much how everyone feels in January, right?


This article for ideas on fruit-infused water.



Linking up with Erika, Heather, and Amanda

The Best Chili Ever!

My step-dad makes really great chili.  I always use his recipe every time I make chili because it’s easy and always a hit.  One night we had people coming over for dinner, and being the last minute person that I sometimes am, I needed my step-dad’s recipe immediately and he wasn’t able to give it to me.  So I defaulted to the chili recipe in Chrissy Teigen’s book that I keep raving about and altered it to fit my taste.

Dustin loved it so much that when I told him I was making it again a week later, he got really excited…..over chili.  So you know it’s good ha!

1 lb lean ground meat (I’ve used both deer and turkey)
half of large red onion, chopped
2 TBS Lawry’s seasoning salt
3 TBS chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 TBS minced garlic
2 cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 small cans tomato sauce
2-3 TBS Splenda brown sugar
1.5 cups water


1. In a large soup pot over medium heat, add your ground meat, onion, seasoning salt, chili powder, and cayenne pepper.  Cook until the meat is browned.
2. Add the garlic and cook 2-3 minutes or until fragrant.
3. Add water, tomato sauce, kidney beans, and Splenda brown sugar and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat and let simmer for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally.  

This chili tastes better the longer you let it simmer because reduces some of the liquid and lets the flavors really mesh together.  Now go make this chili!


Linking up with Jenn

2017: New Year, New Goals

Looking back at my goals post for 2016, I wrote about how goals fit my personality more than resolutions.  And they do!  I am optimistic and like to see the good in each situation, and goals are something positive that you strive for and work toward = my personality to a T!  You always hear the negative side of making resolutions–that most people don’t make it past the first few weeks before they quit.  That’s not me.

My #1 goal for last year (besides graduating with my masters…which I did!!!) was to know the Lord more.  I intentionally pursued God last year and grew in my relationship with Him more than ever because He was gracious to me and made Himself known.  There are so many things that I can sit and reflect back upon and see how God was working through me and orchestrating everything to fit together perfectly.  I read a quote by John Piper yesterday that said, “God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.”  Can you imagine?!  πŸ™‚


Memorize Scripture each week.
Scripture memorization is so important for Believers, and it’s something that’s gotten harder for me the older I’ve gotten.  Probably because I find myself busier the older I get.  I received Scripture memory cards on the attributes and character of God from my mom for Christmas.  There are 52 cards, so one card per week.  Why is Scripture memory so important?  It’s available in your mind for the Holy Spirit to bring to your attention when you need it most; it strengthens your faith; it prepares you to witness or counsel to others (so much better than saying, “Well somewhere in the New Testament it says something like…”); it helps you to focus on the Word constantly.


Exercise 3-4 times a week.
Before grad school, I exercised every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  Now that I’m done with grad school and back in the gym, I want to get back to my old schedule give or take a day.  


Be more intentional about what I eat.
Eating healthy also took a backseat during grad school, and ever since I graduated in May 2016, I never got back on track (because who wants to give up eating sweets and pizza all the time?!).  I’m in an accountability group with two friends and this has already made a difference.  Of course, losing a couple of extra pounds would be ideal, but my main goal is just to be healthier since heart disease runs in my family.


Monthly date nights with Dustin.
While it’s still just the two of us, I want to focus on quality time with one another.  I’m not going to count a quick run to Subway as a date (cough, cough Dustin) πŸ˜‰  Even date nights to the movies are on my list since I married a crazy person who doesn’t like the movies.


Quality family time.
Spend quality time (aka not on social media while with them) with my family!


Say Yes to what matters and No to the rest.
I’ve done pretty good with this in 2016, but I really need to start saying Yes only to the things that matter.  I’m a Yes person because I feel bad turning people down when they ask me to do something.  But if I over-extend myself, then I’m left with less time to spend with Dustin or my family and friends.


This year I’m going to continue to focus on finding my joy in Christ and not in everything else.  That kind of joy is the only everlasting joy I could ever have because everything else will eventually let me down.  So my prayer for myself and for you is to be able to find joy only in Christ.


What are some of your goals for 2017?