browneyedmurmur

Now, just a couple of things to note before you read this novel I call a profile:

1) The “North” in my address has to be spelled out in its entirety, as it is the name of the road, NOT a direction. If you write “N.” instead of spelling it out, there is a good chance that the mail will not make it to me.

2) If you don’t receive a swap from me in a timely manner, PLEASE contact me! I keep my receipts from the post office and will happily check the whereabouts of your mail if it was sent with tracking. If it didn’t have a tracking number, I will resend your mail ASAP and send you a message letting you that know I have done so. In fact, if a considerable amount of time has passed, and you haven’t rated my swap, I will more than likely contact you to see if you’ve received it, and if you’d like me to resend, if only to ease my own mind. I’m SO not cool with the idea of leaving you swapless!

Now that we have that out the way...

Hello!

My name is Miranda, and I am a 45-year-old housewife and Etsy shop owner from Indiana. I have lived in the Hoosier state all of my life, mostly in small, rural towns (except for my time in Bloomington, when I attended Indiana University). I have been married to my high school sweetheart for twenty-four years. We have no children (two miscarriages early in our marriage), and currently have no pets. We had two big yellow tom cats that blessed us with their presence (the namesakes of my Etsy shop), but they passed away a couple of years back. Harvey and Beau will be hard acts to follow, as they were practically purr-fect in every way, but I do hope to adopt again in the future.

I enjoy nature and all of the peace, beauty, and creativity it holds.

I tend to read nonfiction, mostly biographies, self-help, or books relating to the Christian faith, but I am also fascinated by Scandinavian minimalism and hygge (IKEA is my happy place).

I’m also the eldest of two, a Christian, a turbulent ESFP, and 4w3 on the enneagram, if that’s helpful - lol!

Favorite Colors

My favorite colors are browns, tan, lime, olive, emerald, golden yellow, mustard, cream, and white. However, don’t limit yourself to those by any means! I craft with ALL colors, and find all colors beautiful.

Favorite Flowers

Strangely, I love the dandelion. It has nostalgic and melancholic symbolism for me. First, it is bright and cheerful, and reminds me of childhood bouquets when life was carefree and innocent. When the flower ages, it loses its vibrancy, and becomes more fragile, similar to how we, as humans, age. I also love that, even in its death, the same children that harvest the yellow flowers in the spring find joy in making wishes on its delicate seeds. Kind of a full circle thing, ya’ know? I also like marigolds, mums, zinnias, and dahlias.

Favorite Scents

I love perfumes, and have a collection of out-of-commission favorites dating back to my days in high school. I love Wildberry’s pear vanilla incense - sweet and smoky!

I’ve seen a number of ABCs, and thought it was an easy way to scan favorite things, so here goes!

A: autumn, Alice In Wonderland (NOT Disney), American traditional tattoos, alternative rock

B: botanicals, birds, bees, butterflies, beetles, bugs

C: Christianity, coffee, cocoa, chai, cats, crochet, cross stitch, collage

D: doilies, die cut words, dandelions, daisies, dahlias

E: emo music, embroidery, ephemera, enneagram 4 related items/themes

F: fall, ffolk music, fussy cuts, forest creatures

G: green

H: handcrafted items, hygge

I: insects, incense

J:

K: knitting, kittens, Klimt

L: lace

M: mythology, mums, marigolds

N: nature, nu metal music

O:

P: playlists, photography, photo realism, pressed flowers

Q:

R: ribbon, random combinations of things

S: stationery sets, stickers, scrapbook paper, seasonal (NOT holidays), song lists, Shel Silverstein’s children’s poetry books, Sweetarts candy

T: tea (anything but jasmine)

U:

V:

W: The Wizard Of Oz (L. Frank Baum’s books, NOT the movie and most definitely NOT “Wicked”), Where The Wild Things Are (the book, NOT the movie), wilderness, wax seals

X:

Y: yellow

Z: zinnias

Christmas items of any kind. Our first miscarriage began just after opening gifts on Christmas Eve, and continued throughout Christmas Day. While I’ll always be mindful of and thankful for Jesus’ birth, I find the holiday’s festivities to be a sorrowful reminder of what might have been.

Politics of any kind. I do this for fun, to escape from all of that gobbledegook. I don’t want it ruining my happy place!

Pornographic material/sexually suggestive stuff

Holiday specific items (unless it’s the swap’s stated theme, in which case I knew what I was signing up for, so GAME ON!)

Disney, Hello Kitty, or other popular cartoon characters

Kawaii, Sanrio, manga, or anime

Rap & country music

Girl power/feminist themes

Romantic comedies or romance novels

Stickers for teachers, students, or moms; daily planner stickers

Tarot cards, ouija boards, or occult items

“Breaking Bad”

“The Sopranos”

“Sons Of Anarchy”

“The Killing”

“Bates Motel”

“Stranger Things”

“The Goes Wrong Show”

“The Masked Singer”

“Derry Girls”

“Downton Abbey”

Brand New

The Smiths

Morrissey

Vampire Weekend

Straylight Run

Dashboard Confessional

Lord Huron

Chris Isaak

The Killers

David Bowie

Weezer

Twenty One Pilots

90s alt rock, 00s emo, nu metal, folk, stuff that I hear on television shows that almost always ends up being European, rockabilly, surf music, sad/depressing songs

“Moulin Rouge”

“Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet”

“Fight Club”

“Goodfellas”

“Pulp Fiction”

“Kill Bill”

“Best In Show”

“Zoolander”

“The Shawshank Redemption”

“The Breakfast Club”

“The Princess Bride”

“Labyrinth”

“The Dark Crystal”

“Legend”

“Clue”

“500 Days Of Summer”

“Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time” and “Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut” by Rob Sheffield

“Till We Have Faces” by C.S. Lewis

“Anthem” by Ayn Rand

“Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury

“Animal Farm” by George Orwell

“How Starbucks Saved My Life” by Michael Gates Gill

“Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland” and “Through The Looking Glass” by Lewis Carroll

The “Oz” series by L. Frank Baum

“Where The Sidewalk Ends” and “A Light In The Attic” by Shel Silverstein

“Where The Wild Things Are” and “Pierre” by Maurice Sendak

“Harold And The Purple Crayon” by Crockett Johnson

“The Little Book Of Hygge” by Meik Wiking

“The Road Back To You” by Ian Morgan Cron

“Sacred Pathways: Discover Your Soul's Path to God” by Gary Thomas