Weekend Getaway

In my last blog I talked about how Mike and I have become such big homebodies. It got me to thinking that maybe we should spend some time outdoors, so I got online and started searching for a great hiking spot that wasn’t too far from home. We packed few essentials and, since he had to be back for work that night, we set out for our little “Daycation” in Payson, Arizona. We really weren’t planning to stay for more than a few hours, but at 3:00 when it was time to leave, leaving was the last thing we wanted to do. You can see why!

The first thing we saw after we hiked down from the road (it took about 15 minutes and was pretty steep) We thought it was beautiful, but we had no idea what waited for us a little further down!

In case you've never been to Disneyland and seen the backside of water

Swimming in what we have now claimed to be "our pool"

King of the mountain

We had such a blast that we decided to grab some friends and return for a weekend camping trip.

The car is loaded!

Mike on the ukulele

This time we did some more research and found out about a waterfall/swimming area that was a little further in than we had previously hiked. The water was cold, but not as cold as you might think. The sun was out, and the weather was beautiful.

This was the best picture I could get without getting my camera wet, but there are no pictures, or words for that matter, that could fully describe the beauty of this place. If you look closely there is a waterfall behind the stepping log that is one of the prettiest I have ever seen.

Gettin some sun

I heavily hesitated before posting this pic for the world to see. I don't normally like people seeing me in my bathing suit (so please no comments about my, erm, physique). However, I felt it important to prove that I did actually climb up and then jump off of this log. In doing so I conquered two of my biggest fears: Heights (it's higher than it looks), and creepy crawly things (which there were a few of in the water).

Quinn found this little guy swimming in the water. He does not fall into my category of creepy crawly things.

Mike or Rambo?

We had so much fun just hanging out and being away from “it all.” We were sad when we had to leave, but we are already planning another trip where we can bring more people and stay longer. I think we have found our little slice of paradise!

Mike and I haven’t been seeing much of each other lately, so last weekend we decided to have our first *official* date night. We were going to get dinner at In-N-Out and then go to a double feature at the drive-in movie. Everything started out pretty smoothly, Mike got home from work around 6 and it was just like he was picking me up for a date, which was really fun. We got our burgers and headed to the drive-in. Unfortunately, we were greeted with a big fat CLOSED sign.

I haven’t been to a drive-in movie since before my family moved to Seattle, and Mike had never been, so we were both pretty excited to finally get to go. According to their website, the theater should be opening back up in the next few weeks, so hopefully we will get another chance.

Fortunately, the night was far from ruined. We drove back home and found a wedding gift from a good friend waiting for us. (Let me just say, if I would have known how many awesome wedding gifts I was going to get, I would have gotten married a lot sooner) While I enjoyed giving myself a “spa day” with my new paraffin wax dip, Mike chatted with me and played his video games. We had a great time just hanging out like best friends do.

So our date night turned out to be pretty similar to every other night around here, meaning of course that it was FANTASTIC. We have certainly become quite the homebodies, but we are thoroughly enjoying it.

Vacation in California

Life moves so quickly.

It feels like things have been crazy here the last few weeks but then, I seem to be saying that a lot lately. My sister-in-law had a baby a few weeks ago and last Tuesday my mom and sister came down to visit for a few days and to see the baby. Before they left, we decided to make a quick trip over to California to go to Disneyland and play at the beach. I hope you’re ready for a lot of pictures!

Driving to California - We got to the beach in about 6.5 hours. Awesome!

Walking down to the water - we lazed around and played in the water for about 3 hours. It. Was. Fantastic.

We spotted this heron looking for food and just kind of splashing in the water near us. It's turning into a fun little game, spotting herons. This one was beautiful.

Santa Monica Pier

Waiting in line for Disneyland, Mike is pouting because I took away his glasses for the picture. You can tell they are missing an arm and give him crazy eyes!
Waiting in line for our first ride

So excited for the new Star Tours!

Totally cliche newlywed mouse ears.

Last day - Knotts Berry Farm

We had SUCH a blast in California, it was a bummer to have to come back to reality. The good news is I feel like we are pretty much settled in. The boxes are unpacked, the walls are decorated, and both of our jobs are going really well. I guess this is what it feels like to be a grown-up. It’s a little bit strange sometimes, but also totally awesome.

New Jobs and Blue Herons

Well I started a new job last week. It’s a fantastic job that I never in a million years thought I would be lucky enough to get but then, my luck has been treating me pretty well the last few months!

For a while there it was looking like this was going to be the shortest-lived blog in internet history because even though my job is fantastic, it is also time consuming as jobs tend to be. But, I am determined to keep anyone who is interested updated on the fabulous lives of Mike and Danielle, so I will do my best to continue writing.

I have spent most of my free time the last week or two unpacking the last of our boxes. I’m hoping to be completely rid of every box before my mom and sister come to visit on Tuesday. I have also been doing a little bit of decorating around the house and I want to share one of my favorite decorations and the story behind it.

You may remember this crystal statue of a blue heron from our wedding reception. Admittedly, this is a rather odd place to put a crystal heron and if you saw it, you may have wondered what it meant…

The day Mike proposed to me, we had gone on a hike along a river in Bend, Oregon. After we had walked for a few miles to a waterfall, Mike popped the question and I, of course, said yes.

This is the view from where I was sitting when we got engaged!

As we were hiking back out of the forest, we saw a blue heron in the river next to us. As we continued walking, the heron followed us down the river, which we thought was pretty cool.

Some Native American tribes believe that the blue heron is a good omen. For example, seeing one before a hunt was a sign that the hunt would be a good one. Now for the incredibly cheesy part…Mike and I like to think that the heron that followed us that day was a sign that our marriage would be a happy and harmonious one and I have to say, so far so good! (Spoken with some sarcasm, of course. We’ve only been married for seven weeks!)

But things are going very well for us. Mike has been working hard at Costco and now that I am working we are pretty much on opposite schedules: I work from 7-4 and he typically works from 1:30-10 so we won’t be spending a whole lot of time together but it hasn’t been so bad. When we do find some free time we usually spend it watching movies or going to dinner with friends. I especially love living so close to my old high school, getting caught up with old friends has been a blast. But mostly, I’m just loving being married and getting to hang out with my best friend every day. We really are so blessed!

Road trip, Seattle to Phoenix.

By now you know that the title of our blog is “Newlyweds in the desert.” (If you didn't know that, look up. See? Newlyweds in the Desert) Well, this is the story of how we got here.

When Mike and I were trying to decide where we wanted to live after we got married there was a lot of discussion but to put it simply and bluntly, we decided that we couldn’t afford to live in Seattle and we didn’t want to live in Spokane (where his parents live). I lived in Phoenix for 5 years when I was younger and always loved it so I made the suggestion, not really thinking anything would come of it, but I think it just felt like the right thing for both of us.

Although we have both been excited about this move for a long time, and even though a big deciding factor was our proximity to ASU, (where Mike hopes to attend law school in the next few years) as I sit here at my desk and look out at my beautiful, palm-tree filled view, I am once again reminded how lucky I am to have a husband who would move 2,000 miles from the place he lived his entire life, just to make me happy.

We got back from our Honeymoon on a Sunday evening and Monday morning we were on our way to Spokane, where all of our stuff had been in storage since we left WSU, to spend the night with Mike's parents and get things ready to go. While we were there we said goodbye to Mike’s college roommate, Justin. I am not a fan of goodbyes and Justin has been like a brother to Mike and I, so I’m not surprised to be getting a little teary eyed even just thinking about it now.

One of my favorite pictures. I stood there awkwardly not taking it for a few minutes just so that I could revel it it's cuteness.

We love you, Justin. Hope to see you again soon!

So Tuesday morning we set out, and we made it about 15 hours with mike driving all but about 100 miles of it. (I think this was 50% because he is a great guy and 50% because he doesn’t like my driving). We spent the night with my Grandma in Richfield and then decided that we weren’t going to make the rest of the 9 hour drive in one day because we got a sweet deal on a room at Circus Circus in Las Vegas and Mike had never been. There’s so much to do in Vegas that there’s no way to cram everything into one night, but we tried anyway.

The next morning we finished the drive, and arrived at our new home in Mesa.

It was beautiful the whole way. I think living among so much greenery for so long has really made me appreciate the beauty of the desert.

They gave us the wrong code for the lock box and we had some trouble getting in, which I found terribly amusing for some reason.

This is our (empty) home. We have been working on painting and unpacking but I don’t think I will consider us completely moved in until the last box is unpacked.

Living/dining/kitchen area

Master bedroom/bathroom

Aforementioned beautiful view

Finally, a side note to anyone who got us a wedding present, THANK YOU. We got so much really great stuff and are so excited to use all of it. Also a big thanks to my parents, who made the same road trip about a week after us, but with a moving truck and a Smart Car in tow. Mike and I are truly blessed to have such wonderful and supportive friends and family.