OMG! I am caught up!!!

This is it people!! I am caught up on my blog posting!! I don't know about you, but I am proud of myself! I haven't been this dedicated to blog posting since my time in London 4 years ago! And then it was mainly for my mom... ha! This is for me...

As I embark upon this new adventure of marriage it is all too apparent to my how much I need to document my life and the first few years of marriage for my husband and I and for my kids. I love looking through old pictures of my mom and dad when they were newly married. As one of their kids it is hard for me to imagine what life was like before my brothers and I came along, so it is like looking at completely different people... I would hate to deny my kids the opportunity to view Aaron and I that way.

Granted they will probably not scroll through my blog, so this brings me to the next reason for my blogging... to more easily translate into photo albums! I am wanting to get back into photo album printing and so this is like creating a photo album! I will eventually take the pictures and these blog posts (OK, maybe not this one) and simply copy and paste my memories in to printable albums. It is what I did for England and I am ready to do it for this new season of life :)


So to truly bring you up to speed on life with in the Mertz family since our Australian friends left...

- we got home and settled back into life just the two of us

- I quickly realized I had raging insomnia... after trying many different things, I finally started taking Melatonin every night before bed and it has helped a lot

- We have truly started our post wedding hermit lifestyle! While most people go from a wedding to a honeymoon and then a good couple of months of doing absolutely nothing and just getting use to living with each other... not us. We got married, had a little honeymoon and then went into full holiday mode! We didn't even have time to move me in until 2 months later and that was quickly followed by house guests... so when Phoebe and Liam went home, it was the first time that Aaron and I had nothing on our plate!

- Granted it took some getting use to for me to not schedule every night of the week with some activity - from Worship practice and family dinners with both the Thompsons and the Mertz' and a lot of evening drinks and dinners to catch up with friends I hadn't seen since before the wedding. So Aaron and I had to learn to not commit to more than 2 things a week in the evenings... it has been so great for us.

- We have the best of friends!!! We have so many amazing people in our lives that we get to share this journey of marriage with. Friends who have gone before us and have been married for decades, other friends who have only been married a few years but have immense wisdom and perspective. We also have awesome single friends who pour into our hearts better than most. We are blessed people!

- With nothing on our plate, we have enjoyed dreaming of future plans (way several month into the future plans though)... we have several more Disneyland trips in mind before our annual passes expire in November. We have been 3 times since we started dating a year and a half ago and we have already booked our 4th trip... at the rate we are going we are hoping for at least 2, maybe 3 more trips before November! We also have plans for a trip to the east coast to visit Washington DC and New York! I have never been to DC and Aaron lived there for 6 months in college... Aaron has never been to New York and I was there 5 years ago, but it was on a tour with a high school group as a chaperone and so it was not a true New York experience. 

- Also along with our new hermit lifestyle we had started truly observing and learning how the other person lives... for example, I am messy, Aaron is clean, I like alone time, I don't like cooking or folding laundry, I have lots of home decorating projects in my head, we have a hard time committing to watching only one TV show at a time... we are currently part of the way through as many as 5 different TV shows and we need to learn to finish a series before we start another. ha!

- Communication, communication, communication... Aaron and I are learning a lot about communication. We communicate differently in a lot of ways and at different timetables. This has been very interesting and fun for us to learn... there have been tears and moments of silence... it will be a journey we will be on for the rest of our marriage, so we are learning to do it better each day.

- I have also learned that being married... even on the hard days... is still more rewarding and fun and exciting than when I was single... I wouldn't trade one second for the world!

In future posts I will probably elaborate on some of these wonderful moments and lessons in marriage.

Since you may remember my hatred of blog posts with no pictures, here are some images from the last few months of marriage...

Moving Day!! It was quite a process to settle my stuff into the house... it continues to be a process :) I am enjoying it however and love being able to sit and organize in complete focus for a while. Aaron was surprised at how organized I am and commented that our linen closet looks like a magazine! ha

 Fruits of home decorating and organization! The orange chair has won and will stay in the living room :) Aaron did not always love the chair, but after it sat in our living room for a couple months and everyone who walked into our house loved it, he has finally come around and appreciates its beauty!

Aaron and I eat out a lot! We keep telling ourselves that this won't always be this way, so we want to take advantage of the double income and enjoy the fun culinary experiences Phoenix has to offer.

Fuego Bistro in Phoenix!

Now that we are hermits, we have taken to watching a lot of movies and TV shows on Netflix! Our back room has become a movie room of sorts and we cuddle up on Aaron's old couch with blankets and low lights and it is like we are in a movie theater.

This is what love looks like... haha

In my pursuit of domesticity, I have realized my hatred for folding laundry... true hatred.

This was our Valentine's Day feast! We decided instead of spending a ton of money at Postino's, we would create our own cheese and meat board. We sat out on our back patio and brank wine and Apple Brandy (his gift from me) and enjoyed the beautiful weather. I don't know how exactly it happened, but I ended up reading to Aaron from some of my high school journals about my unrequited love for him. We laughed so hard we cried! It was awesome!

As the weather gets more beautiful in Phoenix, Aaron and I took advantage and rode our bikes from our house to downtown Phoenix (about 15 minutes) and had lunch. It was glorious! We even rode around one of the super nice neighborhoods near Encanto Park and dreamed of one day living in those beautiful homes... not gonna happen haha.

While Aaron and I are in no hurry to have kiddos of our own quite yet, I must say we have thoroughly enjoyed taking my nieces out on dates or having them spend the night with us! Elsie got a picnic in the park and she is quite smitten with Uncle Aaron now! Elsie is just so funny and talkative and silly and sweet! I absolutely adore her!

For Emolyn's 5th Birthday we had her over for a special sleepover! Her and I made cookies and pretended to have a cooking show. At some point in the "show" I told the "audience" that we would be having a special guest on our show when he got home from work - Aaron! She giggled and turned to me and asked, "Aunt Miranda, can I tell them the secret?" I was a bit confused, but said yes. She turned out to the "audience" and said "Aaron is actually UNCLE Aaron and he is Aunt Miranda's husband. They got married and it was beautiful and I was the flower girl!" My heart melted and I had to hold in so much laughter cause she was so serious! I love that little girl my heart could burst!

One of the perks of marriage is that Aaron is a great cook and enjoys it way more than I do! After a long week of crazy insomnia and stress at work, Aaron made me breakfast one saturday in our new Waffle maker complete with fresh blueberry syrup and fresh squeezed orange juice... yep! He's a keeper :)

And there you have it... a picture of my married life so far :)

Prayer Shower...

The Sunday before my wedding was the last of my bridal showers before the big day. My mom had asked right after I got engaged if she could throw me a prayer shower. It would be entirely focused on encouragement and prayer for me and my marriage and Aaron and the wedding prep. When we started throwing around dates, we were planning on having it much earlier, but then we got the dates for when my friend Carla was getting into town for the wedding and decided to plan it so she could come. It ended up coming at a PERFECT time. I was so excited to start the week of my wedding covered in prayer by women who have known me and loved me for most of my life.
What a sweet time! I can't remember all the words that each woman shared about me and for me, so I am thankful they wrote it down. A lot of the women were older and had known me since I was very small. My mom created the most wonderful environment for me to be affirmed and loved so beautifully!

The table set up

This picture is a little blury, but it is a sweet picture of my mom and I

Aaron's mom Laurie gave me a "prayer request box"

My mom wanted the party to focus more on the affirmation and prayer time than any gift opening, so while some people gave me some awesome gifts here and there, most people put in money to get me a Kitchen Aid!! I registered for the pistachio color and it is so pretty sitting in my kitchen now!

Opening my KitchenAid

The rest of the evening was spent praying! I was so honored and touched by each of these women's influence in my life and to have them surrounding me with prayer and encouragement was so priceless! I loved that I started my wedding week this way.

Darkroom...

I want a dark room really bad now...

Saw a movie last night where the girl was a film photographer and she would develop her pictures and had all these different types of cameras and only shot in film. I loved it!!! I have a film camera that I love and wish I had more opportunity to take pictures with. I need to carry it arround with me more.
Anyway, I wish I had a dark room so I could develop my own film. That would be so much fun! I took a photography class in high school where I got to develop my own film. It was so great. My favorite was when I had to work during lunch or after school and had the dark room all to myself. It was so peaceful, such a methodical and flowing process. I miss it.

So what do I need to make my own dark room???... aside from money...

- Photo enlarger
- Photo paper
- Red light
- Chemicals
- A physical dark room... I could use my bathroom since it doesn't have a window, but I would need to set up and tear down all the time, which is too much work.

The smell of springtime...

I smelled it today!
As I was walking out of work today on my lunch break, I smelled the distinct smell that tells me it is spring time...
It is not the smell of flowers or a crisp breeze, but it is the smell of... ladybugs.

When I was little my family lived right around the corner from my elementary school. There was a girl in my neighborhood who lived a few streets down and was older than me. She actually babysat for us a bunch of times... but I first met her as she was walking by my house. She was carrying a gerbil cage filled with grass... and LADYBUGS!!! She told me that she would walk over to the elementary school, search around the grassy fields, and find as many lady bugs as she could and put them in her cage for safe keeping. As a 6 year old little girl... I was HOOKED!
The nicest thing ever is that she found me a gerbil cage also and we would walk down to the school together and crawl around in the grass and find hundreds and hundreds of ladybugs.

Now every time I smell that particular combination of dirt and grass and spring time, I think of ladybugs and remember a very magical adventure I had into the insect world.

Tea Time...

One thing I would like to have in the new kitchen when I move is a tea station... well actually I would be content to just have a tea pot and cool mugs to drink tea out of... none of them have to match, I just want the perfect mugs.

I have a night off tonight :) No homework, no errands, nothing. I honored my free night with a cup of tea! Nicole made me this amazing tea syrup that I am still using in my tea. It is seriously delicious! The whole ritual of the evening was quite lovely! Drinking tea in my room with some girl scout cookies, starting the packing process and watching TV on my computer.

The packing process is coming along quite well, in that it is hardly coming along at all. I basically got out already packed boxes, went through them and added some more stuff to each one. It doesn't really look like much of a difference yet, but it is a process.

I'm moving!!

Very excited to announce that I will be moving to Gilbert, Arizona at the end of this month! My dear friend Elisabeth has bought and house and Me, her, and her sister, Nina will be living there together! I am so excited for this new season.
One thing I am looking forward to, aside from living with two AMAZING women, is nesting and decorating! I really want this house to feel like a home, and so I am taking the time to dream about decorations and things that will make is comfy and inviting. Elisabeth and I spend all day at work emailing back and forth about ideas.

One thing I am planning on is buying a new bed! I have had the same bed since I was 2 years old, and side from 2009 (when I lived in Europe and my parents guest room) I have slept in that bed. It was my Aunt Patty's bed until she passed away at 18 years old and when I came around years later, I was given her bedroom furniture. But as I move into a new house, I think it is time to store is and preserve it for when my daughter can sleep in it one day.
I want an iron bed frame and headboard. I'll just share some of my photo inspirations for my new room :)

LOVE the maps on the wall! I'll just have one on mine

This picture makes me thing of travel

I REALLY want a branch hanging above my bed

I want to do something like this above my bed

I also am very excited to be able to get some of my old home stuff out of storage in my parents' backyard shed and use it again! My couch, kitchen stuff, framed pictures, book shelves, etc.

Film Photography...

I am so excited about a new little hobby I have picked up! I am dabbling in the world of photography... but don't worry, I admit I have no natural eye and minimal talent. This is entirely for my own enjoyment and I don't expect anyone to enjoy it as much as me.

In 1981 my parents bought their first camera as a married couple - a Canon AE-1 Program. It is a really great camera with manual settings where you can adjust the apeture and shutter speeds.

When I was in high school I took a photography class and learned all about how to work my parents' camera, but have since lost the complete knowledge. It has been fun playing around and refreshing myself.

These picture were on the first rolls of film I used up in the learning process. Note the film is probably about 10 years old, so that might be why they aren't great... but its also because I didn't really know what I'm doing yet.

romantic lighting

The texture of the wood is pretty cool!

This one is overly exposed... I just really like this building

messing around with the focus

again... over exposed

 

lightrail

Anya with a jumping cactus!

Lense flare