a preview...

alas, an update!

I know, I know. I have been major slacking. I've been known to do that in my day :)


In continuation of my last post: I have only worked out once. Yes, once. I did a little run/walk combo and I am just now able to sit down without saying hateful words about working out. I did however, wear my spandex shorts and I felt very athletic. **mission accomplished** Grade: E for effort!


Our lives have gotten so ridiculously busy, I can't hardly believe it! JR's job is going wonderful, I switched to a new office...well it's down the hall but I am in my very own corner office with huge windows! It's lovely and highly professional (looking)! I will need to take some pics to post! Jen, you would be very proud! The wedding stuff is moving along at lightening speed thanks to my parents who have set up a weekly meeting with JR and I to make sure we are on top of everything :) I am very "girly", but I have found that in wedding planning I display rather manish qualities. The color picking, flowers, music, la, la, la, etc....overwhelms me, and would do me no harm to just show up the day of and get to marry JR!!! haha!

Really, the only big things we have left to do are: pick out the invitations, choose our registries, and finish our wedding website!! I've slacked on that as well :) As for what we do besides wedding planning, last weekend we took my cousin Fernando, to the North TX State Fair. and what a fair it was!?!




and now, what's a fair without a redneck window?? It was a rodeo/fair/carnival mix. It did turn out to be pretty fun, b/c Sammy Kershaw played and he was awesome live. He is a little before my time, country-music wise, but I found that I knew alot of the songs! JR was very in his element :)We didn't get to watch much of the bull riding, b/c we were late but Fernando did win a hat thrown by the Miller girls! I think he was pleased with his catch, haha!

Fer and I are such cool cousins that we even wear our sunglasses at night! Superstars!! It almost says Pettijohn!

Trying to win me something!!

time to get skinny

With my impending wedding only T-minus 9 months away, I have felt the sudden urge to get physical. Like that song..."lets get physical, physical", although I think that song may have a different connotation. whatever.

I found this fabulous website to help motivate me with my daily lack of fitness motivation. It offers awesome tips about working out, healthy recipes, and just overall health wellness. It's blog-style, which makes me like it even more! The link is http://www.fitsugar.com/ for those interested in jumping on the wellness bandwagon! I want to look perfect for my husband :)

Okay, none of that is why I posted: ofcourse! The reason why are these:

And here is the excerpt attached: These So Low Cropped Pants ($62.00) are cute enough to wear in and out of the gym. The fold over waistband lets you make them as low or high as you want and the flared leg is flattering for most body types. They come in black, heather, charcoal and navy. I'll be investing in the charcoal and black. Buy them from Shopbop.com.

You see, I get my motivation with cute clothes. Laugh, laugh, but atleast I'm getting it somewhere. I recently purchased my first pair of Adidas "spandex" running shorts. I do realize that no one is ever fully capable nor should be allowed to wear spandex, but it is my way of making myself feel fat enough in something to get my lazy butt outside and walk or run (grr). JR doesn't love the idea of me being in spandex running around Dallas either...I think it's a combination of "hey-don't-look-at-my-fiance-in-spandex" and a splash of embarrassment that he has a fiance that does so. I'm okay with it.

So, I thought I'd share my daily find! They excited me! Perhaps they will get me outside today!!

Today is our 2 year!!!

It is our two year anniversary today!! We cannot believe it has been two years since we got together! Last year we celebrated the day out in Fort Worth, and with a dinner at the Antares! We may do something a little more low-key this year, with dinner at home and enjoy the fact that in 9 months we will be husband and wife!



We both feel so fortunate to have each other, and our love only grows stronger every day. I have found the most loving, sweet, and handsome man around! I know how lucky I am, and there is not a day with him that I don't stop and am thankful to have him in my life as my future husband. He lives life to the fullest :) but knows how to take it all in and value most those that are important in his life. We have made an incredible life for ourselves with thanks to our families and friends, and every year together just keeps getting better and better! We still can't take it all in! Everyday I look forward to coming home to him, every-single-day!



There was a day a few years back, that I missed him and I knew I never wanted to spend a day without him! Now I don't have to! Babe, I love you more than I ever knew I could love someone. You have made all of dreams come true. I am forever grateful you and the love you give me. I cannot wait to be your wife! Happy Anniversary baby!! I love you.

my farm birthday!!

Our favorite weekends at the Farm, are the ones when we're all there! The Victery's made it down and we made it up for a nice, relaxing wknd there. We drove up Friday night, while Kourtney and Joe went to Dry Beaver for dinner! for some sweet steak :) Saturday morning NaNa and PaPa came over and we got some good chat time with them! On these kind of weekends, the only excuse to leave the house is to fish! Ofcourse, JR and Joe did just that...some Saturday afternoon fishing...in a monsoon. For most people slamming rain would obviously deter you from sitting out in the middle of the pond trying to weasel a fish onto your lure. Nope, not them. They came home soaking wet, but super excited at the 35 fish they caught in 2 hours!! Big ones too!

That evening was my birthday party!! The babies always need a party when it's someone's birthday! Nancy made my favorite meal, country-style ribs, corn, fried potatoes, and Texas Toast. Oh my, it was so good. After dinner it was present time! I got the most wonderful gifts from everyone, especially my homemade necklace and bracelet from Emma. I will need to post pics later of all my gifts! I got some awesome presents from our trip to New Mexico, which ofcourse turned out to be the best trip of my life!!!

For dessert we had homemade apple pie, with apples that Ronnie had picked, dough Emma made, and a Mississippi Mud Pie by Kourtney and alot of rain!! Oklahoma got drenched that night with a tropical storm?! Weird!! Monsoon style rains, and crazy winds!

The next morning we had some cleaning up to do! We had a pork chop lunch, after some yard work, and swimming with the kids! It was an awesome family weekend, and we're always sad to leave everyone :( We'll be back up though in two weeks, because we chose to do our engagement pictures up there with Amy from The Brownstone...so we'll see you guys soon!!

Thanks again to everyone for my wonderful birthday party!! I love you so much!

Please be patient with the wedding website, as it takes forever to work on!! I should have the bridal party complete within the next week or so!! We do a little each day! Happy Friday!

our wedding website!!!!! check it out!!

Finally! I found a wedding website that I liked! I've started to make several, but thanks to JR's friend at work...I found this one from Wedding Announcer! It's obviously in the very beginning stages, but we will use this website to post helpful info about our wedding and some fun stuff, every step of the way! Let me know what you think!! YAY!!

http://jrandnatalie.weddingannouncer.com

the duck and the devil

I think this went from Joe to JR, and finally to me. I read so many of these "forwards", but this one I really liked and wanted to share with you! Hope you all have a blessed day!

There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He
was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the
woods; but he could never hit the target. Getting a little discouraged,
he headed back for dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma's
pet duck.

Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in
the head and killed it. He was shocked and grieved!

In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile; only to see his
sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.



After lunch the next day Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the dishes."
But Sally said, "Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the
kitchen." Then she whispered to him, "Remember the duck?" So
Johnny did the dishes.


Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and
Grandma said, "I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make supper."

Sally just smiled and said, "Well that's all right because Johnny told
me he wanted to help." She whispered again, "Remember the duck?" So
Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help.

After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's; he
finally couldn't stand it any longer.

He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck.

Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug and said, "Sweetheart, I know. You
see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because
I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would
let Sally make a slave of you."
Thought for the day and every day thereafter?

Whatever is in your past, whatever you have done... and the devil keeps
throwing it up in your face (lying, cheating, debt, fear, bad habits,
hatred, anger, bitterness, etc.)...whatever it is...You need to know
that God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing. He
has seen your whole life. He wants you to know that He loves you and that
you are forgiven.

He's just wondering how long you will let the devil make a slave of you.
The great thing about God is that when you ask for forgiveness; He not
only forgives you, but He forgets. It is by God's grace and mercy that we are saved.

Go ahead and make the difference in someone's life today. Share this
with a friend and always remember:

God is at the window!?

the search...

We are on the search for the perfect honeymoon spot! There are SO many places to choose from! ah!

la familia, the most wonderful wknd!

It's a rare thing to have us all together, mom, dad, alex, me and JR! With Alex in California and Stillwater, we don't get to have him home as often as we would like...my parents the globetrotters, and us the Oklahoma go-ers! So, finally one entire weekend all together, with another guest! Rachel, Alex's girlfriend!!

Friday night we took family portraits with Jenny Martell, the photographer we chose to do our wedding! We had so much fun doing it too! We did some at the house and a few outside, for as long as we could stand it, with the 100-degree weather. I looked at some of her pics and I think they turned out awesome!! We haven't had family pictures done in 10 years atleast!

After pictures we went to dinner at Luna de Noche at Northpark and then to see the Bourne Ultimatum! The movie was packed!! We all thought it was an excellent movie, except for maybe mom who fell asleep the first 20 or so minutes of the movie. Action isn't so much her style, haha!

Saturday morning I woke up and headed down to the pool at around 10:30...JR couldn't get up because he'd taken some Nyquil the night before, but he made his way down around 11:30 and we ate fresh watermelon and enjoyed a summer day at the pool together! sooo relaxing!

We had lunch and went home and took a nap to prepare ourselves for the feast to follow at Texas de Brazil, my favorite favorite favorite. We went out to celebrate our engagement and my birthday now that we had Alex in town.





I got even more presents! My birthday has lasted weeks! I love it!





Alex got me two sets of wine glasses from Crate and Barrel!! WOW! JR and I were both so excited!! We already set them out in our hutch!



Dinner was fabulous!! We stayed and talked long after we'd payed! oops!



My boo...I loooove you!


Wait, wait! Hold the door!


Look at my handsome man!! He's going to be my husband :)


Happy Monday! Hope it's a great week for everyone!!

phone home...

JR wasn't feeling well yesterday, so I went and rented 300 for him to make him feel better! I really really wasn't thrilled about watching it but I did it for him! Very gory and violent and manly, but ofcourse he liked it! haha! Oh yeah! point of my post was that it was our first movie to watch on our new tv!! It was amazing! We called Time Warner today and they are coming out on Tuesday to hook up our HD digital cable in there! We figure, to have that nice of a tv, we have to have the very best cable :)

We are also considering getting a home phone...I wasn't thrilled about the idea b/c that's just another phone to answer and it officially makes us old. yikes! JR said, "Well, I mean...we are getting married. I guess we do need a house phone now!" hahaha! It's funny, the different things you get or go through that make you start to feel officially old, like a house phone.

Tonight!!!

We are all rushing home from work today, well those of us that do work (ugh)...because we are doing family pictures tonight!! Jenny Martell, the photographer we chose for our wedding is going to be doing them. We haven't had pictures done in several years so this is monumental! and now our family is a little bit bigger!!

Speaking of which, we woke up today and realized it is only 9 MONTHS UNTIL THE WEDDING!! yay yay yay! We were saying this morning how excited we are to be husband and wife in just a few months! We can't hardly wait! So, now all the working out begins! I want to look fabulous for my future husband! soooooooooooo excited!!

mi hermano

Alex came in town for a few days with his girlfriend Rachel! They're staying thru Saturday! Wednesday night we walked down to West Village and got some delicious ice cream at Paciugo and walked around all the stores and I got a few pics! They said they felt like they had papparazzi around with all my picture taking...welcome to JR's everyday life :)

We brought them by the house to see all of our new stuff!

Right next to the driving range!

We had a dinner with my parents earlier in the evening at Little Katana, and before we left mom asked me to make sure I take lots of pictures of Alex. He is a rather elusive creature when it comes to taking pictures...but he does it for his sissy!


We had an awesome time with them! It's so relaxing to go for an evening walk, especially with an ice cream in hand!! Just how I like it!

more wedding updates!!

Two more things accomplished today!!

1) We booked our band, The Project! YAY! We have only heard wonderful things about them and are one of the most highly recommended bands in Texas!! Thanks mom and dad!!!

2) The measurements for my dress were done today, and the dress should be completed by December and shipped back around December 10. I'm SOOOOO excited!



My parents have been so amazing throughout this whole process and it's a joy to be working together on something so special for all of us! We love you!

Also, my brother is back!! From his internship in California ! We get to see him today, and he brought his new "lady friend"...we're excited to finally meet her!

Happy Wednesday!

Everything's BIG in TEXAS

We just bought a BIG tv! Just wanted to share our excitement!! We'll get it tonight! Pics to follow shortly! So excited!!

Hope you all had a fabulous wknd!

My dearest Laura! Thank you!!

I came home for lunch today and checked the mail and got a surprise!! one from San Diego, CA from my dearest friend Laura!! Look at what I got!! ahhhhhh!!!

The most beautiful MISSONI scarf! With Laura you can't go wrong, it's designer or bust :) My card was especially sweet and made me miss you that much more...

Laura, I am so excited about my amazing scarf!! It is going to be so perfect for our New Year's trip to Uruguay with my new white bikini! I already tried it on :)



Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I can't wait for you to get back from California! Come back to Texas!! to me!!

i LOVE you, and CANNOT wait to see you my dearest!

xoxo
nat

colors, colors, colors

YAY! Davinci Bridal out of Houston is sending me color swatches of certain colors I've requestd so that I can come up with the dresses that I want for my beautiful bridesmaid's! I needed something to play around with, so that I can get a better idea of what I'm working with. The dresses are so important, because along with the flowers, they will guide the color of the wedding! My girls will look SO beautiful! I should get the samples within the next week or so...

CONGRATS to the CHASE'S!

We just wanted to send a huge *congratulations* to Jay and Beka Chase! Jay is officially hired at Healdton to be a coach and to teach!! and it looks like Beka may do the same! We know how much they wanted this change, and are so happy to see prayers being answered!! Congratulations guys! Now you'll live way closer!! YAY! We send you both a big hug!



xoxo
JR and Natalie

ThAnK yOu Shae and Jen!!!!!!!!

I went to lunch with Shae today, we like to meet halfway b/c she works at the Galleria and I work near downtown so Cheddars is always our meeting point, ha! Super class :)



Shae, Jen and I have been friends for several years now. College friends actually, and we went to lunch today with Jen in mind ofcourse! For birthday's since Jen is far far away in Carolina Land, we coordinate bday gifts via phone! For Shae's in May, May 10 actually, which will be the day of our wedding...Jen and I got her a mani/pedi at The Nail Bar in Uptown! So for my birthday they got me this!!!!!!!!!!!



A day at Salon Pompeo!!! It is where they are filming the new TLC show, Sheer Dallas, haha! Shae said when she went in, the camera crew was actually there! I'm so dang excited!! A massage from JR at The Riviera Spa and now more at Salon Pompeo! I may do a facial, that sounds fresh and relaxing! Gotta get pretty for my husband-to-be! Uhhhhh, best birthday ever!!!

Thank you both so much for my amazing gift!! Shae may even go with me that day and pamper herself!!Yay for being a girl!! hahaha! I promise I will enjoy it thoroughly! Jen, I send you a big TEXAS hug!! I love you, wish you were here!! Thank you thank you thank you! I don't think you'd like Cheddars though, not your style :) princess Jen...

Not fair!

Mom and dad left for Miami last night! We wish them a fun and relaxing trip!! although I thought I'd throw in a little pout since we aren't there :( This is the first year we haven't gone to Miami since we got together! sadness looms...

we should be right here----->

~Special moments with my momma~

Planning the wedding is hectic and fun and all-around nuts!! Mom and I, though, have been able to have some sweet moments together that I thought I'd share!


Thank you mom for all of your help!! I couldn't do it without you! and Dad too, he's been a huge help!! I just don't have the pics, ha!