Mind Reader

As I continue my housewife life, there are few things that I feel come as blog-worthy.

I could comment on my unemployed state of being and the annoyances of applying to jobs day after day. I could rant about the amazing weather and how much I'm enjoying 70 degrees right now. I could go on and on about how much I love Jeremy... and Rosa. I could talk about my "outings" of going to Lucky (grocery store) or our mini-gym...

But today, I will share a personal anecdote coming from a somewhere-between-midnight-and-4-am happening. Both Jeremy and I are active sleepers, and our former roommates have many stories of our weirdness. And Jeremy shared this one with me:

In the middle of the night he woke up to me over him, touching my forehead to his.

Now, this may sound simple and underwhelming, but I want you to picture being woken up to have someone leaned over you with their forehead touching yours, like they're stealing your mind!

Moments after the mind-stealing began, I conked down on my pillow and resumed my sleeping state. Guess I got what I came for! Mission accomplished.

In other news, we got back from a wonderful wedding-celebrated weekend in Sacramento with our amazing family! We had lots of laughs and I enjoyed seeing everyone so much and visiting with our lovely church family at the b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l party my mom threw for us!

One of my favorite parts was Jeremy being referred to as Uncle Jeremy by the kids... well, Evie. :)

With love and true happiness from sunny El Centro,

Paige

Housewife Life Musings

Since I've been a housewife, you know, for a week, I've had a lot of little tidbits I've picked up.

Although I've lived "on my own" for four years, college seems to be a little different. Especially when you have the CLEANEST roommates of all time! Becca and Corinne put Martha Stewart to shame on how clean they keep a home. Although I contributed, they were always one step ahead of me.

Now, Jeremy is a clean person. Actually, clutter and dust seem to bother him more than it does me. (Little thing I learned this week). But since I've assumed the housewife life (I like the rhyme) I have been bestowed the Crown of Cleanliness.

Things I have learned:

• Pigeon Feathers are a beast to pick up. They're small and fluffy and roll at the speed of light when the wind blows. (When we open our door they come in with us). Note to self: sweep the pigeon feathers outside.
• 
• Having a fly in the house is worse than driving behind a bad driver. It's in the shower. Hovering while you're eating. It disturbs the zen of my life. Thank you to Gma Viki for our swatter. Note to self: buy a venus fly trap.
• 
• Spaghetti sauce stains Tupperware. Our nice, sparkling, new, clear Tupperware (thanks Cronin fam!) is orange :( Note to self: buy crappy Tupperware for sauce storage. Bleach stained Tupperware.
• The second you get married, everyone thinks you're having a baby. Especially in El Centro where it seems to be the norm! Babies abound here! I think El Centro produces the CUTEST babies in this world, by the way. Note to self: have a baby in El Centro. Wait...
• 
• Naming appliances makes using them much more fun. Example: "Rosa and I are going to make some cookies." Note to self: Name the blender and toaster. And make cookies with Rosa.
• Self-motivation is key. Nothing gets done on it's own! Note to self: get self-motivation.

Well, folks, that's it for this week's musings on the Housewife Life.

With love from El Centro,

Paige... and Rosa;)

Married Woman

Well friends, it's happened! Jeremy and I are married :) Woo hoo! I can't begin to tell you how happy we are!

The Wedding

In a nutshell, we had the GREATEST time our wedding week and day! We are surrounded by the most supporting and loving families and friends EVER! We honestly could not have asked for a better time.

* Bill and Mary did an amazing job on the rehearsal dinner, and we felt like that could have been our wedding! It was fun to have the family in town meet each other and our wedding party.. and eat an amazing amount of delicious Mexican food!

* The day between the rehearsal and wedding was awesome, as I got to see so much of our family and go on a FUN bachelorette party planned mostly by my new sisters!

* The wedding day went really smooth. All the vendors did what they were supposed to do (yey!) and everyone was on time to everything! I really felt relaxed and able to cherish the day. I can't wait to get the photos from the photographers! We saw a few and looooved them :)

The Honeymoon: Grand Velas resort in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Ahhhh.... sipping Pina Coladas in the pool... sleeping until whatever time then calling room service for food... jet ski rides along side dolphins... massages by the ocean.... let me just say: it was AMAZING! We took advantage of every opportunity we had to relax and it was SO worth it! We loved not having any cell/internet service so we couldn't be distracted from pure relaxation and time with each other. :)

The El Centro Life

We came home to a little bit of job stress in him catching up, and our house was a disaster for a few days... but the overwhelming amount of peace that I have is the kind that is only from the Lord! As the piles disappear and the job stuff gets conquered, I continue to praise God and thank him for the grace he's showing us! Here are a few highlights/stories for you:

1) We've made some fun meals! Something we love to do together is cook, and he has much more natural talent/risk taking abilities than I do, so we seem to make a good pair (I'll start cooking and he'll come in & spice it up!). Our first meal with had spaghetti and our second we tried out our new wok and gave homemade stir fry a try! It was delicious, and now we definitely know the order to cook things in for next time! :) Last night we grilled teriyaki chicken and I attempted (and almost conquered) Mom's baked potatoes in the oven recipe!

2) I did all my name change/legal work in under THREE hours. Yes folks, I went to the DMV, the Social Security office, and the County Recorder's office, filled out all the paperwork, stood in line, and waited all under THREE hours! In Pasadena, that literally was the time I waited for my number to be called at the DMV! It was such a pleasant experience!

3) Ok... so we don't have any tea. I was holding off buying some because we brought home the tea from our hotel room, and I feel like tea should be free so I refuse to buy it until necessary. Well, I decided to make a cup of my hotel room tea. I got to cup, put the water and tea bag in, and put it in the microwave for 1.20. I walk away and when I look at the microwave there's a FIRE! I say a few choice words, run over to the microwave and pull out my tea bag that has become a candle. (Jeremy was in the shower this whole time) Our house smelled burnt, so I opened up all the windows and doors (that's 3 total) and went to check on the microwave (which was fine). I forgot that at this time, El Centro has a.... particular smell that has developed from the fertilization of the farms. It resembles that of Bakersfield, Turlock, or a porta potty. Well our burnt smelling home then has a burnt POOP smell in it, which I laughed about all day as I went around lighting scented candles.

4) It's 85 degrees here today. I'll take the poop smell, this is awesome.

5) A Lucky grocery store stocker struck up a conversation with me, found out I was new and was SO nice (and not pervy nice, like actually nice!). He literally wanted me to have the best Lucky experience I could have (and told me that). After our conversation where he told me to let him know if there's something I don't see in the store and he'll order it for me, he found me as I was perusing the aisles and had gotten me an add and explained how the weekly sales work. Love it.

All pics are on Facebook, so check them out if you'd like to see the pictures that correlate to the stories (minus the sleepwalking ones... I didn't photograph that :))

I'm so thankful the Lord has given me such a peace and faith about what will happen in our lives and the roads he'll take us down. I can't tell you how nice it is to not be in school and to eliminate the millions of tasks that gave me to do. I truly couldn't be more joyful. :)

With love from El Centro,

Paige Aaron

P.S. I have updated a few of my contact info:

Skype: paigeaaron21

Email: paigeaaron21@gmail.com

:)

El Centro & Finals.

Of course I should be studying, but I am not. I'll leave that for late nights and early mornings...

At this moment, I will update you on my life. :)

This last weekend my wonderful South African sister Katie and I went to El Centro to visit Jeremy!! It was SO much fun! Katie is hilarious and wonderful to be around, and we did a lot of Psych watching (a TV show), food eating, and hanging out.

We also got our BEDROOM FURNITURE!!!!!!!! :) :) :) fslfjsda;fjdsklfjdsk;fjsa;f!!!!! We love it! We don't have our bedding yet or decorations yet, which I'm excited about getting. Katie documented the making of our room:

Seeing if it fits...

It does!

Soooo many boxes!!! Made our place a mess!

Assembly!

Not clear directions...

I'm not gunna lie, I gave a "thoughtful" pose here :)

Completo!

With love from chapel programs (for the last time!),

Paige

[an addition a few hours later]

I have to add this, because I'm mean like that. But I just got back from laying out in my backyard working on finals. Yes folks, I just said that! It's 80 degrees of sunshinefantasticness here on December 13th and I'm getting my pre-wedding tan on NATURALLY! :) WOoooooOoOoOOOoooo HooooOoooOOooOOOoOOOoo!!!!!!

With love from los sungelous,

Paige

Random Monday Rants

1 month and 2 daaaaays until Jeremy and I are married!!

2 weeks until I graduate!!

...so why does it feel like 2 years?

This semester has been wonderful but boy oh boy am I ready to be done!! And I will be soon... I tell myself. A LOT has to happen in these next two weeks... finals, moving out, packing for Sacramento/Arizona, finish the wedding details. But there's not too much of any one thing and I'm confident it will all happen and I'll sleep :) Plus I'm getting a lot of help, and I don't feel alone in all of this craziness!

This weekend was full of fun! Mary and I did some wedding favor shopping on Saturday and it was so nice to get those finalized! I had a Thrifty Nifty Winter Formal at my home (The Well) hosted by the 6 of us roommates and it was a blast! We all got ridiculous thrift store outfits and danced/ate food/made snowflakes and hung out with our friends. Here's the roommates and I:

Me, Corinne, Holly, Tiffany, Natalie, Bre (bottom)

My South Africa friends:

The wonderful Megan Goeman who won best dressed of the ladies:

On another note, many of you have asked how my holistic living is going. Remember that whole phase I had about 13 weeks ago?? Well, it's been... well, I mean I've... to summarize generically...

Let's be real.

WHO lives perfectly?! They aren't real. Or they have a personal chef and a lot of self-motivation.

Well, I have neither.

Let's explore this more in depth:

• Physical- How many of you run 4 times a week? Ok, I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to the other 98% of this world that goes in spurts of physical activity. HOLLA! There's only so much a girl can do, right? And why deny myself sweets?? My body craves sweets! It must be natural. Why deny myself something natural?? (I can hear my mother tell me this is how people end up prego... )

• Emotional- So I'm basically a roller coaster. That's ok. I was MADE to cry! I have tear ducts! Justification: upcoming transitions. I'm preparing now for them.

• Intellectual- I'm in college. This part of me must be in use... right?

• Spiritual- The Lord and I have been connecting in my dreams a lot lately. I wish he would explain the falling ones though...

• Interpersonal/Social- I am GOOD in this area! Thriving. As if I was made to talk and hang out. You should be proud of me :)

• Environmental- What was my goal in this? To recycle? Humm...

The synopsis: I've met well under 50% of my goals. Which means I get an F.

But I'm ok with that :) Although I have not achieved some sate of perfection, (guess Scientology is out of question...) I am really happy. I think sometimes when we take the rules away and just live life healthy and balanced it's so much more fulfilling then following a workout schedule or a checklist to perfection.

So join with me and throw them out. Snuggle up and drink hot chocolate late at night, knowing all of those calories are going straight to your hips. And smile :)

Well, those are my random Monday rants! Thank you for tuning in.

Until next time...

With love from chapel programs,

Paige

Oh the weather outside is... delightful!

Hello friends and family!

Jeremy and I spent a wonderful Thanksgiving break with my family in Sacramento! It was a great time to be with them all and get geared up for Christmas!! So thankful for times at home :) :) Life is going by real quick! Do you agree? I can't believe in 3 weeks I'll be a college grad, 6 weeks Jeremy and I will be getting married and transitioning to our new life in El Centro! Yey!

My prayer is that in these next three weeks I can cherish every moment. Never again will I be in classes and work at APU, surrounded by the friends I am with on a daily basis. I feel sentimental as I think about my time at APU and how I am different because of it. I have l.o.v.e.d. these last 3 1/2 years and am so, so, sooo extremely thankful.

Something I'm also so thankful for is the peace from the Lord I have about getting married/moving/getting a new job/etc. Usually I'd be stressed about something, worried about another, and preparing like a mad woman. And I'm not. At all. I have literally not one worry in my bones. I am so assured that the Lord has this under control. I'm just moving one foot in front of the other, getting ready and looking forward to what he will bring!

Already the things I have prayed for urgently have been covered. I prayed for a church and a friend. I'm not even in El Centro yet and a man from my home church has a son who lives in El Centro and invited Jeremy and I to his young marrieds group. Who knows if we'll end up attending regularly, but the things I've even been wondering about I'm not even spending time thinking about. It will be good. I'm sure of it.

Life has been hard, really hard, for so many people I'm around. Totaled cars, job losses, court dates, overdue fees, unhappiness, crappy family situations, debt, depression, anxiety, fear... just to name a few.

I pray that we can keep a kingdom perspective throughout all of this... aka remember who God is and our role in this life. The Lord recognizes or struggles, sympathizes with our weaknesses, but often does not take them away. As we try to walk through the muddy, sticky path of life, let's remind each other of our real purpose: to further the kingdom of God, all the time, in any way possible. It will take courage, trust, optimism, faith... but it's really the only way we will find fulfillment or purpose in living life in the midst of unfortunate circumstances, I think.

:)

Some upcoming, exciting events:

December 18- Graduation! Then home to Sac.

Dec 25- Duh! Christmas!

Dec 31- Kalie's wedding

January 8- Our Wedding

January 9-15- Puert0 Vallarta!

January 15- Move to El Centro

To be continued... :)

With love from "The Well" (aka my home),

Paige

Blues and Woos

The blues: goodbyes never get easier. They actually get harder the more you grow to love someone.

The woos: This weekend I had an ammmmazing bridal shower! I am so, so blessed to have gotten pampered by Melinda Delahooke, Jacquie Aufhammer and Mindy Robinson, dear friends of the Aarons. The lunch was to die for (and handmade!).


Every detail was thought of:


Grilled chicken panini with roasted red bell peppers, cheese and pesto, a butternut squash soup with hot chili oil, and delicious Gorgonzola cheese and some sort of seed salad. Delightful. :)

It was so fun to have such a variety of people I know in one place! I rarely get the Aaron family & friends and my college friends & mom in one spot. It was really nice to be able to have everyone meet an mingle! Not to mention open fabulous and thoughtful gifts!!

My momma:

Aaron women:

Gifts:

It was SO great for my mom to be able to be down here this weekend!! We both stayed at the Aaron's house and spent time with Bill, Mary, Liz & Jeremy, and others hanging out, eating great food, and finishing INVITATIONS!!! I looove them and am so happy with the way they turned out!!! My gracious friend Abby McLellan designed, printed and cut them for Jeremy and I. She has been SUCH a life saver & so generous of her precious time and resources! They will be in the mail soon. Makes the wedding a reality that it's quickly approaching!! :)

8 weeks and 4 days you were curious ;)

This week is filled with the normal work load, life, a few added tests, and wedding preparations.

Today I began getting my resume ready for El Centro! Soon starting to apply for bid kid jobs. :) Favorite part: the idea. Least favorite part: the work it takes to scrutinize a resume! Good thing I have Jeremy!

Trying to stay focused on the things that are really important in life and letting go those that are not. Focusing on advancing the Lord's kingdom in whatever that means. Learning to be faithful. Devout. Giving God my best, not my leftovers. Giving him time.

Also a HUGE wonderful and amazing thing: my Freshman roommate and wonderful friend and bridesmaid Becca got into Teach For America! It is highly competitive and she ROCKED her interviews and got placed in Mississippi Delta teaching secondary mathematics!! I'm so proud of her and can't wait to visit her in the south!!!


With love from the coffee shop at APU (where Jer and I met. Ahhh!),
Paige