Moving & Maui!

Well, I've got some updates for you, blog reader!

After interviews, flights, contemplation and prayers, Jeremy and I have decided to make a little change! He is going to work for Ethicon, Inc. in their Women's Health & Urology medical device sales position as a Territory Assistant (TA)!

We are stoked for this exciting time ahead. As a TA we can go help the needs in any of the territories west of the Mississippi River. For example, if someone goes on maternity leave in Denver, we could go there for the 3 months to fill the position. This way, Jeremy can get some great sales experience before he gets his own account. The locations we can go will be a major market, so most likely we will be city hopping. That's right, I get to go along too! :)

I am so excited I get to accompany him and we get to have a little adventure together!! We won't know until late June where our first location is, so I'll update you when we know where we are going first.

So, what that looks like for us:

• April 13th (Wed) my mom comes down from Sacramento and helps us pack our stuff!
• April 16th (Sat) we move out and put our stuff into a storage unit in Pasadena
• April 17th (Sun) we drive up to Sacramento to spend some time with Fam before....
• April 19-29th we venture over to Maui to visit my friends Tiffany & Jon and vacation!!!

Me and Tiff! Married women!

• April 27-May 4 Sacramento time with fam!
• May 7 We would NOT miss APU's May Graduation!!!!
• May 16 Jeremy starts his training for the new job in New Jersey. I'll spend May in LA.
• I will spend June in Sacramento!
• End of June/early July we go to the first location.
• July 17th in Minnesota for Bo & Abby's wedding!

I'm thinking we will pack our clothes and backpacks, bring along our espresso maker and the sewing machine I'm looking to buy, and hit the road to wherever it is we will be going! We will most likely be staying in a furnished apartment or long-term hotels with the kitchens, etc. so we won't need to bring a lot of stuff.

That's our news! So so excited for this new change :)

This is to possibly living in Texas (hopefully Austin so we could be by Aunt Donna!):

With love from El Centro,

Paige

[Update 3pm]

I forgot to mention what I'd do for my work. I will be ending my marketing & PR job here in El Centro next week and as we stay in different cities I'm looking to do volunteer work. I don't have a clear direction as to what that looks like yet since I don't know where we will be, but I'll keep you all updated when I do :)

The Other Side

Sooo I'm on Facebook a little too much. A lot too much. I guess I am... considering I started calling it "checking my email" to justify why I'm there. Sometimes that's true. Not often. And I start a lot of books and don't finish them. I am not that great at working alone- I lack that inner drive to rise to the top (considering there's no one to beat), unless it's an easy road and then consider me there! I could be a stay-at-home-person always. I don't get bored and love starting little projects. I'm pretty proud. And by saying "pretty" proud I'm defending my pride. So I should just say "I'm proud." I love to eavesdrop and snoop and be in the inside of a situation. I could eat cookies, brownies, ice cream and frappucinos for every meal if it wouldn't make me amazingly sick. I am addicted to shows like The Bachelor and if my Netflix wasn't publicly shared with some other people I would probably be watching "16 & Pregnant" too. I only workout to be thin, and not to be healthy. I don't really love hiking or running or dirt, although I really, really want to and sometimes enjoy when I do. Sometimes I wonder if I have a relationship with Jesus or my subconscious because I talk all day to myself, but can I call that prayer? I do not collect much clutter but my Achilles heal is: pencils, tissue paper, ribbon, craft paper. I cannot throw them away. I could probably listen to the same 5 songs for the rest of my life and be just fine. I love to move, to pack, to organize, to unpack, to nest. I wonder if one place will ever feel like "the" home or if I'll feel like every place was a little bit of home. When I was little I'd sneak spoon fulls of sugar, powdered sugar, and brown sugar (not spoon fulls of brown sugar, I'd just look in the carton for the chunks and eat those). I'd like to say I'm different since I'm older, but now I just eat too many desserts or "test" whatever I'm making. I could sleep 10 hours each night, and sometimes do. And if I wouldn't feel guilty, I would also take a nap along side that. And when a friend told me everyone is racist, I've avoided thinking about that certain comment because it's easier to pretend I'm not. And that makes me really, really ashamed and sad and very, very small and embarrassed in the eyes of our Creator.

Having a blog is an interesting thing. Similar to Facebook, you portray the version of yourself you want to. I called this entry "The Other Side" to attempt to normal me out. Now I don't think you, the reader, thinks of me as some sort of heroine. But I only post the comment-worthy things on here. Not the boring things like my generic brand of nail polish remover and how often I clean out the food in my fridge.

So here's to normal. To boring. To regular. To life.

And here's to facing the tough reality that the road to achieve perfect is frustrating and incomplete. We're all a little wacked out and that's all right.

And lastly, here's to mending those wacked out things about ourselves that need some good thought and attention. To those things that we push into the corners of our mind so we're not inconvenienced by their truths.

With love from El Centro,

Paige

Our Wedding Slideshow!!

Hello dearest blog readers,

I am THRILLED to share with you the link to our photographers, Liz Wang Photography's website of our WEDDING SLIDESHOW!!!!!

Also, here is the link to their website, where they will be posting a new blog of more of their pictures in the coming days!

Enjoy!

With love and smiles from El Centro,

Paige

Bakerilla

I don't know if I'm blending "Godzilla" and "Bake" or "Cinderella" and "Bake," but I hope it's the latter.

I am loving finally having the time to try new recipes and bake!

I secretly want to be one of those famous mini dessert bloggers who comes up with the cutest things! Well, if I'm going to get there by 50 I've got to start now.

Here are my latest creations:

Dessert for Two

So with cooking for two, I've found baking to be a little overwhelming- we want cookies and suddenly we have 24 cookies for one dessert! And we're not at college to be able to constantly give them away!

So, with our latest cookies I've been making the dough then putting them in cookie shapes and freezing them, with wax paper in between. Then I can pull them out of the freezer and cook however many we want for the night!

And, wa la!

This also helps portion control for me as it takes some work eat, they're not just in a baggie ready to go!

I may or may not be eating the frozen dough though...

... still working on that one.

Whole Wheat Bread

Well Rosa (the kitchen aid mixer, my love) and I have been going to town. Yesterday I attempted a basic whole wheat bread recipe. I remember going over to the Bogear's house and Jerolyn slicing us delicious bread the butter would melt on! Yummmmm...

Well, this wasn't as delicious. I think it tasted a little too "healthy" if you know what I mean. But I still am enjoying the process of learning!

Letting them sit to rise:

So happy with the few dishes/clean up required for this!! Not bad at all.

Couldn't think of anything else to get in the picture. Jeremy was working late so my rolling pin was my friend :) Don't mind my stray hair, it's been a new look I'm trying out...

And the final product! I do have to say, it paired very well with my tuna sandwich today :)

I'm most excited for making:

• my own frosting... all different kinds!
• a 19 layer cake. Yes. Nine. Teen. LAYERS! Each layer is a little thicker than a crape crapes- don't worry. It looked soooo delicious!
• cake pops (as seen at our wedding for those who are confused- balls of cake with icing)
• pies. will someone please eat my pie? they're not jeremy's favorite. and i don't want to be huge.
• bread that doesn't taste so "healthy"
• and about a million other things :)

Rosa

Some of you may notice that Rosa had a race change. We decided the silver would pair well with our accessories and did a switch-er-oo :) Sometimes we call her M.J. now, for obvious reasons, but she's still Rosa in our hearts.

With love from the kitchen in El Centro,

Paige

Thud = Love

So do you remember my post about how the old man who lives above me is suddenly active and jazzercising?

(If not, scroll 2 posts down).

Well I found the answer. And I'm delighted to share:

I was walking to my car the other day and as I rounded the corner, Mr. Old Man Above Me is with a Mrs. Old Woman!!! They both carried their groceries right into his place.

We exchanged the friendly hello and they must have thought I was an idiot as I stared at them with the biggest smile because do you know what I realized?

There is now a Mr. and Mrs. Old COUPLE Above Me!

Ahhhhhhh :)

I keep thinking up how their story goes. If it was like mine and Jeremy's and he was waiting for her to join him, or if they met somewhere, maybe Burgers & Beer and feel in love.

Maybe they're both vacationing in El Centro to escape the winter cold in their hometown and met while golfing.

Orrrr maybe they are old high school friends who reunited as they came back to their home town...

So I delight in the sudden increase of thump thump thump as Mr. Old Man Above Me gets in shape to impress Mrs. Old Woman Above Me. :)

I hope he's doing Sweating To The Oldies with Richard Simmons.

With love from El Centro,

Paige

That ugly plant in the corner.

Today I woke up especially happy. Which, if you know me well, isn't the case.

Unless it's a holiday or I'm around guests, where I wake up energized and ready to go, most days I grumble at my alarm, hit snooze a few too many times, do my zombie walk straight from bed into the kitchen for a bowl of cereal and soy, and de-anger as I take bite after bite. Poor Jeremy, as he is leaving for work I try to stay as pleasant as possible, sometimes without success.

Anywho, today I woke up chipper. It probably helped I had lots of dreams about babies. And then one scary one about a shark... but anyways, I was happy. And as I went to the gym, got ready, and ate I was keenly aware of all of the little things in our home that bring me joy every day.

I really love most of the objects in our home. We have Rosa, or now M.J. (name change- long story) the Kitchen Aid Mixer, and Essie the espresso maker, the bedroom set which I love, etc. which make me really happy to have and use. But there is something about the little things, the ones bought at Marshalls or made by a friend, that go beyond happiness and give me a little bit of joy every time I pass them.

These things have a story.

First, is a cluster found in our bedroom. The purple roses make me me smile. And the frames (found in Marshalls) filled with 10 cent pictures remind me while I'm getting ready for the day of the man I'm so, so in love with.

This picture was taken on Halloween 2008 when Jeremy and I had been dating for 3 weeks. We had a hilarious time with his family and Bowman, a friend. Once again, a 10 cent picture in a 5 dollar frame.

I don't know what it is specifically about this concoction of decor in our bathroom that I love so much... but I do. Maybe it helps because these candles are scented? Who knows. I love them.

On the shelf of our key hook/mirror thingy is this tiny vase with tiny flowers. I was going to buy something to put on here and Jeremy thought we could use something we already had. Together we made this little piece, and every time I look at it I think of my Momma who would love it. And then I smile :)

I made "Jeremy's Man Mug" right when we started dating, because his roommates and him always tried to get the biggest mug in their kitchen. It's ginormous and front and center in our kitchen. And yes, he had the biggest mug in his house.

A picture Evie sent me on our fridge. She's my pen pall :) And can I say- she's THREE and already writing! Genius.

Corinne occupies a shelf in our home, displaying one of the most thoughtful gifts I've ever received. She not only sneakily organized a photoshoot for us, but scrapbooked our friendship throughout the years. And she doesn't do anything half-heartedly. This must have taken hours of love.

Another extremely thoughtful gift is the Miller Family Cookbook Mary ordered for us, with family recipes up the wazoo! We use it at least three times a week!! It's always on our counter.

And this last item in our house makes me laugh. This ugly plant I have a fancy for, that Jeremy doesn't love, is proudly displayed. It's gotten a little bent throughout my moves and probably costs me $5, but he puts up with it because he knows I love it. And that makes me smile. :)

So today as you meander through life and wherever you live, instead of thinking of what you'd change, think about those little things that bring you joy. You know, the ones you bought at Marshalls or those 10 cent pictures in a discount frame.

It will make you happy- the joyful kind of happy. :)

With love from Starbucks in El Centro,

Paige

Palm Trees & Pause

Currently the old guy in the apartment above me is doing jumping jacks. I swear he rose from the dead. We don't hear him for 7 weeks and then bam! He's literally doing jumping jacks. Hammering. Running?

I'd have to say in most cases I'd be a little annoyed by the thud thud thud above me but I'm just happy he's alive.

In other news, I'm thinking of making myself a smoothie. Strawberry banana to be exact. Throw in some yogurt and orange juice and we're golden.

I feel like these are the facts I have to share recently. In college my life was on fast forward. My head was spinning with lists and deadlines and wedding planning and meeting up with friends and work and and and and and and....

Now, the days are a little longer. Choices of things to fill them. I work. I do laundry and dishes. I daydream and dream and pray. I look at my to-do list with literally 5 things on it and wonder how long I'm going to stretch it out. I read only a chapter or two of a book because I don't want it to pass too quickly. I play frisbee in the park with Jeremy.

I used to be scared of this. Scared of slow and boring. But actually, I'm a huge fan. Because instead of slow and boring, I have found peace and tranquility. I have had long, rambling conversations with friends. I have slept. Taken showers. Worked out.

I know life won't be like this for long. It's almost the calm before the storm. Before living in a lively city. Before babies. Before a stressful job.

But for now I'm going to enjoy the sound of the wind in the palm trees behind me and the thud thud thud of an old man above me. It's the little things in life that fast forward misses. And I don't mind being on pause for a while.

With love from sunny El Centro,

Paige