13

the beginning of this month, we celebrated 13 years of marriage.

I am still in a bit of shock..  thirteen?!

in some ways it just doesn’t seem like it’s been that long, but then, it is like I have always known merrill, I just can’t seem to remember life without him.

ac digitals released project life “wedding edition” today.

(it’s on sale at 20% off!!)

so what’s a girl to do?

scrap her 13th anniversary with it, that’s what!

the cards all come from project life “wedding edition”, the paper is from liv.edesigns, stitching from anna aspnes, metal letters and numbers are from sahlin studio, and the straight pin in the picture is from kitschy digitals (with a hue/saturation adjustment added, it was red).

and life goes on!

we are enjoying spring in utah, and if you know what that really means, it means that we are anxious to get out in the yard, to work and play, but the weather isn’t cooperating.

more fun stuff, I was interviewed for tiffany tillman’s website, simply tiffany studios, for my style in journaling.  it was pretty fun!  (and completely awesome.)  you can check it out here.

add one more to the tally.

12.

it has been 12 years now that I have been married to this guy.

our 12th anniversary didn’t start out in any particularly exciting way.

it was a little before 6 in the am, I woke up because my neck hurt (again), and my hand was asleep (again).  my best 4 year old bed buddy was crowding me (again).

as I lay there, trying to get comfortable, and trying to find sleep, I heard the “vvvvvvvtt, vvvvvvvtt” of a phone vibrating.

I blamed it on merrill, he is the one who normally gets texts and phone calls at obscene hours of the day.  well, except for that one time, when I won a wal-mart gift card.  (scam.)

that time, and this time.

it was my phone.

and my dad.

he is new to the world of cell phones and texting and I think it is rather cute.

as was our conversation:

dad- happy anniversary!!  twelve years or thirteen?

me- twelve thank you!

dad- that is what I thought but at my age a memory can’t always be trusted.

dad- by the way, what are you doing up sooo early?

me- I don’t know.  I think my phone started making noises or something. no, really peyton came and climbed into bed with me.

dad- it could be a lot worse.  you could have a st. bernard dog that does the same thing!

me- would it suck it’s fingers noisly?

dad- depending on whether it is a male or a female dog, it might make a lot of noise licking other body parts.

dad- go back to sleep!!

me- I am trying.

at some point during our early morning text-a-thon, merrill asked from the other side of our dark bed, “is someone dead?..  is someone dying??”

to be honest, I was quite thankful to still have my dad and that my dad was so sweet, to be the first to wish me a happy anniversary.

at 6 am.

forget sleep!

the rest of the day we spent together as a family.

we took our darling girls to this is the place for the first day of baby animal season.

we naively thought that it would be a pretty quiet day there.

not.

those were the biggest crowds we have ever seen there.

lynn was the only child brave enough to cuddle the baby animals, I guess ashley and peyton have issues with strange people watching them hold baby animals?

they did run around and have a pretty good time.

peyton thought she was “word girl”.  the cape went everywhere with us.

since most of our favorite activities still being closed, it was a fairly short visit.

we did get our treats (small selection) at the zcmi store, and rode on the train.

we saw an amazing antique quilt display at the old deseret hospital, and that got me excited to finish a quilt that is still going, so I can start more.

we visited the new city creek center after.  that was amazing.  didn’t buy a thing!  but seriously, shopping for that kind of stuff is not on my mind lately.

I am dreaming about my bedroom…

we enjoyed a quiet dinner, just the two of us, and called it a night going home to torture merrill by taking a few pictures.

really, it wasn’t bad.  he didn’t complain and even manned the remote, taking pictures at the most awkward moments, like when I was right in front of the camera adjusting the tripod (snap boobs), and more than a few as I was walking back toward him (snap bum).

then we wasted an hour, more than an hour, watching “incredibly loud and extremely close”.  I wish I could get that time back.  it wasn’t as good as people said it was.  there were good parts, but those were few and too far between.

I love reflecting back on these last 12 years, so many good memories, and so many blessings!

sure, we are older, a little grayer (and now I am adding to that count…), but wiser, closer, and comfortable with our little life.

just have to say how much I love you merrill.  thanks for continually putting up with me and my shenanigans.

(Insert sappy title here.)

Another year has rolled around in the timeline of the Merrill and Mindy Pitcher franchise.

We celebrated 11 years of marriage yesterday.

What I love about our relationship, like, love a lot, is that we don’t necessarily have to do anything really big for our anniversary.  I wouldn’t complain if we did, but I like that we just sit back and enjoy it.

Most years, Merrill has been too busy with work to really do anything anyway, but with the girls being bigger, we like to involve them now too.

Some of the highlights from our day yesterday:

- Papa John’s for dinner.

- Listening to music, playing and some dancing.

- Lots of reminiscing.

- Making treats.

- U-Gluing our rug to the floor.  (Nail-biting excitement I tell you.)

- Bribing Merrill to take a few pictures with me.  (For some reason he wasn’t as willing or happy about it as he was 11 years ago..)

- Getting the kids to bed a watching “Deadliest Catch”.

- Ending the day with some sparkling cider.

While it wasn’t anything terribly big or fancy, it was time together.  That is just what I love, being with him, no matter what we do…  and I loved every minute of it!

A very happy anniversary.

Yesterday, Merrill and I celebrated 10 years of marriage.

It has been pretty awesome!

I know that neither of us are perfect, we have had our struggles and stresses, and we will have more.  We have learned, and continue to learn about one another and from one another, and we only grow stronger together.

I pray that we can be the example our girls need for what too look for in a mate, how to be a good wife, and that they know what love is.

I spent the day finishing his gift.

He spent it working, and waiting for me to get my gift.

We both looked forward to the end of the day, when we could just be together, and share the evening as a family.

Thank you Merrill for the life we have together..  I love you!

10 Years Ago..

Happy Anniversary Merrill.

This very second..

They are getting everything prepped to put in a new door and surrounding glass..

The company hasn't been the easiest to work with, there have been many things said, not all of them true, mostly when it comes to when they would be here to get the job done.. well, they were supposed to be here the 14th. I got a call a few days before saying that they couldn't, the door wouldn't be in, and I understood. They rescheduled for the 18th. The morning of the 18th, I get a call from them:

"Hi.. how are you doing?"

"Great.."

"Did anyone talk to you about when this will be scheduled? I have been out of town.."

"Um.. you are supposed to be here TODAY."

"Oh, really? I don't know who would have told you that."

I went off.

It benefited me in the end.

They had told me they could be here by next Wednesday, that was when the door would be in. I told them we might not go with them.

"But we have your stuff on order, and you have already put half down?"

"Yes, and you can pay me back."

Surprise, surprise.. they are here today.

It already has the makings for a crazy busy day with Family Fun Fair and Back to School night, both tonight.. three kidlets in tow.. fun, mounds.

As the Olsen Twins would say, "Put it on the pizza.."

What will come next?

As we were getting PTA stuff done late last night, it hit me..

Yesterday was the 11th anniversary of our first kiss. I tried to celebrate by kissing him on the cheek, while he was sleeping, sometime after midnight when I came in.

It wasn't as magical as the first time, but that time we were both wide awake..

I guess the rides on the zip line before I went home made up for it.

Happy anniversary-ish..

We celebrated our anniversary (which was in April) yesterday.

The catalyst was my mom, taking ALL of her grandchildren (5 girls and 4 boys) for a sleepover at her house.

She is insane, I know.

We decided to take that opportunity to celebrate.

The day started-out messed-up.. the start of day meaning midnight. Merrill had hired a new girl to take the 12-8 shift in preparation for their trip this September, needing to have someone trained. She never showed.

So Merrill got to work it. That's just what happens, I know.

He had sales meetings all week with Best Western reps. and his last day of those meetings was yesterday. He had someone ready to cover him at noon, and after all his meetings were done, we would take off. Well, being there from midnight on, kinda threw a wrench in those plans. No more meetings. Once someone has been up for 36 hours straight, there's really no point. Clint was luckily able to come in and help out Merrill. He came home an caught a little napperoo. We took the kids to mom's, and went to the mall. We looked around for some things he wanted for his upcoming trip. He was even okay going shopping for me..

I got a new bra.

Yup.

SOOOO happy. I don't feel like a crazy woman anymore!!

I guess I had to learn that I am past the point of cute push-up bras, and where I need support.

It's a Body By Victoria. It doesn't flip up, it doesn't give me little empty pockets, it fits!!

It also happens to be a 32 C. In my other bra, I would have sworn I was a 32 A (on the right) and a 32 B (on the left). Now can you get a glimpse of why I was despondent at times?

He was so good to sit there and watch me try on bra after bra, discovering the science of boobs and the things that contain them.

We came home, where he dozed some more, and then went to dinner.

I was really hankering for some crab legs, but accepted Olive Garden. They do have soup, bread sticks, and Black Tie Mousse Cake. :)

We snuggled up and watched a movie after dinner, enjoyed without interruptions.

I could hardly believe I got a whole, full night's sleep, without any middle of the night wake-up calls!!

It was weird waking up without them here though.. I am more than ready to see them!

Let's hope mom recovers.

9 years..

Merrill put this together for me right after we had Ash... I love it! It never fails to bring me to tears..
He put one of "our songs" in the beginning and then one that he turned into another of "our songs"..

Just a sample of the lyrics (and this is Merrill's gift, to find the perfect song..):
"You're the brightest shining star I've ever seen.. Oh how blessed we are, to share in everything.. Life before was cold, cold and empty.. every time I see your face I'm reminded of what it means to be alive.."

I love you so much Merrill!!!

Happy anniversary!

happy anniversary mer!

want a story? here's a great one...
mer and i have been together for 10 years now, 8 of them married.... it all began when we were 15... well, really before that, when joe (my brother) and jaclyn (mer's sister), began dating. we started checking each other out then, always asking about each other. then, in 1996 j&j got married... what a day... i have filmed evidence of merrill checking out my butt! each of us still asking about the other one...
fast-forward 2 years...
the end of our senior year, i am engaged but don't want to be... merrill is asking joe if he thinks mer can break-up the engagement... yup... i find out now that nobody really wanted me to marry the goof...
i don't want to marry him.
jacks invites me to lake powell to help cook and take care of little sisters (then little... what happened katie-buddie and kitty-cat?!?) and clear my head, figure out how i'm gonna do this...
needless to say, i left my engagement ring at home... i didn't want to lose it ;)...
magic happens on boats at lake powell!
i came home and broke it off.
october of the next year, we were engaged...
we were married april 5th 2000 in the salt lake temple... it was an awesome day!
and here we are, still a-goin'!
he was and still is the answer to my prayers...
some pics wouldn't load in my slide show (you're not the only one jacks...)at j&j's house, right after lake powell...
me and mer at aunt peg's... grandpa thought we looked so cute... this was right before we got engaged, that's what we were talking about...ken and ______ wedding... (it's best if we not talk about _____...) engaged! october 15, 1999... g&g wallace's house...
and this last one is when we blessed lynn...

Flashback Friday...

This weekend marks 8 years since Mer and I went through the temple for the first time.
What an experience! I was quite emotional (see red nose and blood-shot eyes...), for many reasons, but to have everything that I had been taught my whole life, fit together and make sense, it was awesome! The things we learn there give so much more clarity to Heavenly Father's plan for us. There is peace there. What a blessing it is, to have such a sacred and holy place to go to feel the Spirit. To learn...
Covenants that we made, promises that are given to us if we keep those covenants, testify that He loves us.
All that we learned that day was just a preparation for our marriage that took place within the week. Everything we learned, made our sealing make so much more sense.
To have our families there with us, was so neat. It didn't feel complete though. We still had younger siblings that weren't there. We had parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, brothers-in-law, and sisters-in-law.... (do Joe and Jaclyn count for two on that?) So many more there in spirit, I'm sure...
What an awesome memory!
What's even cooler, I learn more every time I go back...