amigos del alma

Tonight is Lauren & Ricardo night...it's become a verb of sorts. We will look at something fun, and say that's a Lauren & Ricardo night! Last week, when Nancy and Ronnie were down we wanted to go see the lights in HP, but they had a sign up saying that the lighting of the trees would be the first Thursday in December (today), so ofcourse we said it's an L & R night!

Lauren and Ricardo have been friends of mine for over 10 years now! Lauren for much longer, but them together, 10 years! They are much more family then friends. I care for them as I do my own Heffesse's :) Ricardo always asked if he could be adopted in, they both have been! They are honorary Heffesse's! Even their wedding is special to us! After I left Oklahoma in January of 2006, JR was still unsure about moving down to Dallas. Two weeks after moving was Lauren and Ricardo's wedding! JR came down for it, and after enjoying their wedding with me we all just made a neat bond, the 4 of us, and it was the Sunday after their wedding that JR decided to move down here. I have always felt that their wedding was a huge moment for JR and I.

We've been to Oklahoma with them, Miami, Ranger games, off-roading, Meers, you name it we've done it or will do it! They are always up for a good time and we are beyond grateful to have them in our life! They truly are wonderful people, amazing friends, and one of the best parts of our family!

They have a strong faith, and solid foundation as husband and wife and it is so encouraging to be around them and see after 10 years together they're still if not more so in love today then ever before. As soon-to-be newlyweds we value their guidance and care they are always willing to share with us.

So, tonight is a Lauren & Ricardo night and now you all know why these nights are important to us. There is a "saying", which I will likely butcher...but it says something in the realm of--you are what you eat, you are the books you read, and the friends you surround yourself with. Fruits and veggies are our latest conquest, I have some great books I'd like to share, and the friends we have now are our friends for life. Our family. We are blessed with some of the most amazing friends both in TX and OK, and as we step into the next chapter of our life together we sometimes cannot believe how fortunate we are with the support and friendship around us! We truly have the best friends in the world!

pizza night

I love having themed nights :) I'm a dork. I know! Soooo, tonight at The future Pettijohn Palace it is Mediterranean Pizza Night! ha! We are having mom and dad over for this wondrous evening of pizza from Campania (our very favorite pizza in Dallas), salad from Eatzi's, and our new Mediterranean Nights CD! hahaha! We got this CD the other day that reminds me of music I heard in the piazzas in Italy!! It is a beautiful CD with awesome music and it is actually what inspired our themed affair! Thought I'd share our plans for tonight :) Hope you all have a great Wednesday!

thank you

This was sent to me today by one of my best friends, Ryan! I thought it was an awesome idea, and an easy way for us to send a quick thank you to all of those serving our country! Especially at Christmas time!

If you go to this web site, you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq . You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to some member of the armed services.

Please send a card. It is FREE and it only takes a second.Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our guys and gals over there need to know we are behind them ...

Here's the link: www.LetsSayThanks.com

nesting

It's happening. I'm turning into a wife. Two years ago, I didn't know how to do laundry, make a good grilled cheese, or keep a check registry! (roll your eyes) I know...it's different now! I am still no master chef, but can make a decent dinner for my fiance and some fierce chocolate chip cookies! My laundry skills have improved tremendously with lesser shrunken clothes (lesser not absent) and whites stay white! yay!

My improvement has always been voluntary ofcourse, as I want to provide a beautiful and comfortable home for my family, but it all used to require a significant amount of effort on my part. My laziness proved to be quite a challenge.

What is so strange about the past few weeks, is that I have been Housewife Extraoridinaire! Keeping up with the house, cooking, baking, cleaning, decorating! and I've done it without forced effort! JR noticed it the other day, and asked if I was okay :) haha! He has been pleasantly surprised and told me he would have let me put up the Christmas decorations in July had he known the domestic skills they bring out in me!!

I find it so strange how life prepares you for what's next. It's as if the last two years my domestic ways have been brewing, and poof! just in time for our wedding I feel the need to nest and be "wifey" and sweet, although I am and always was real sweet :) wait til JR reads that!! ha! He may have an opposing comment for that last bit! fair enough...

So I simply wanted to share this whole new world I'm living in, and I must say I am rather proud of myself. It's fun! I have always been the nurturing one, but only had my animals to provide for. (That's why I've had 3,457 pets) Next will be my husband :) Looks like I'm getting started!!

fancy

This is JR's new building!It is 46 floors I think, and he's on the 43rd! He says his views are amazing up there! Thought you guys would like to see this cool pic we took of it! He works in downtown only 5 minutes from the house!

it's december!

I can't believe it's the end of the year already!! Nancy and Ronnie came down for the wknd, just in time for the holidays, and just in time to see our Christmas decorations :) I'll have to post some pics later of the rest of our house! It's very cozy and Christmas-y!



Nancy and Ronnie got here Friday night so we ran down and drove around Highland Park to see some lights, but the only ones really up were the ones at Highland Park Village, which are so beautiful! The actual Christmas lights of the neighborhood and trees will be lit on Thursday so JR and I are going to make a date out of it! any excuse for a date night!!



It was a wedding work wknd! We got up early Saturday morning, had breakfast and went out to try on some tuxedo's for JR!!!! We think we found the one! I can't post pics because he is so handsome, it will have to be a surprise!! Lunch was at Houston's, then off to run some more errands! We fit in a little shopping, but had to be home in time for the Big XII Championship game!! We all got in our comfy pj's, watched football, and finished decorating our beautiful tree! Boooooomer Soooooooner!!! Oklahoma beat the number one team in the nation!!!! To celebrate the occasion I made homemade chocolate chip cookies! JR's favorite...I must say, they turned out rather well!





Sunday was even a work day! We all went to brunch with my parents and then went on to Bed Bath & Beyond to work a little more on our registry! I will be finally posting our registry on our wedding website today or tomorrow!!! yay! www.jrandnatalie.com!



It was a great wknd! and we got so much done! In wedding planning, anything you can cross off the checklist is exciting! Hope you all had a good one!

in-laws

I feel very fortunate to have the in-laws that I do!! I know not all can say that, but JR and I both feel extremely blessed with our other sets of parents :)We have the best parents in the world!

My in-laws are coming in tonight! Nancy and Ronnie will be here this evening, for a weekend of wedding planning, shopping, eating, and maybe even Christmas-light-looking-at....yay!


We love having our family and friends in, so we've been preparing our house all week for their arrival! I love having guests! I picked up a few more ornaments for the tree today, and will do some last minute grocery shopping and then it's on to a family packed weekend! I even think we have more guests next wknd...I'll make that announcement next week, ha!

Happy Friday, hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

ever so patient

It's good "they" say when couples balance (i.e. one has a personality trait that other one doesn't) each other out. Last night was the perfect example, and I must praise my fiance for his unwavering patience with me and my never-ending beautification...hair, face, massage, etc....I love being a girl.

Being a girl though, is hard work! and time consuming! I decided yesterday that I needed a drastic change to my hair so I found this (whilst I was online shopping):



I am that blonde now. It took three different color processes, and three hours!!! No lie! and JR came with me! oops! I didn't realize how long it would take and he will sometimes come with me and get a haircut while I let my color sit and such. No, 3 hrs!! Insane! Even I was getting restless, and even after he let us grab some dinner at the restaurant I picked out! So, I must say thank you to my ever so patient fiance, because I was skipped in the "patience" line. I have none. zero. patience tank empty.

Babe, thank you for being so sweet about my 3 hr hair appt! Today we get to finish our wedding registry :) This is probably his favorite week ever! ask him about it :) haha!

we elf'd

Lauren, I couldn't control myself watching you and your family! sooo, I decided to elf mine! Shhh, nobody tell JR! hahaha!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9634676655

the best time of year

We love Christmas, but I LOVE Christmas. For us, decorating the house and putting up the tree is so special to do together...thus we started a tradition last year (I'm a tradition-starter) to play our Christmas CD's and make homemade chocolate chip cookies (those will be tonight) and put up our tree and ornaments.


I love the sentiment of things, JR even moreso so we like to find little ways to make things more personal to us and one of the other things we do for Christmas is buy each other an ornament for that year! It's a small gift but when we were getting them out last night it made us smile :) They end up being somewhat reflective of that year...it will be fun to see what some of our future years will bring us in ornaments!!!



JR bought me and surprised me with this huge tree last year, and it was the best gift I got!! We had been on the hunt for the perfect tree, and ofcourse he found it! We had the same tree my whole life, so I think it would be neat for our children one day to love this tree as much as we do! JR thinks we will upgrade one day, we'll see! haha! I told him if that's the case, I'm going for the 13 footer! That's my compromise :)



This is our second Christmas together in our home and with our boys. However, the boys think Christmas is a time to be super naughty!! I don't get it! They are perfect little kitties all year, but when they see that tree go up they turn into a crazy mess! They dart into the room, barrel around the tree, then ball up under it because they think we can't find them! so naughty!! We're waiting for they day we come home and the tree is horizontal...they'll have an angry mommy and daddy! for sure! It's like having children!! We've had to anchor all of our stuff down and into walls because they'll break all of our stuff! Then they act real sweet, after they've been caught chewing on the tree and batting the ornaments, sneaky kitties!

We still have a quite a bit of work to do to our beautiful tree, but here is what we got accomplished last night! Hope you all are enjoying your Christmas decorating!!

art for the day

-Vincent Van Gogh

THE dress

MY DRESS IS HERE!!! ahhhhhhh! I'm so excited! Christian called me from Patsy's Bridal yesterday and told me I could come "visit" my dress! When they do custom gowns, they make them to your exact body measurements, but leave the length long so that when you get your shoes they alter the length according to the length of your veil and heighth of the shoes. Long process, but now we can start the final details of the dress!!!!! I can't believe it's finally here! I ordered it back in July, so it's been 5 months...She arrived here safely :)

I'm waiting for my parents to get back from NYC to go try it on! They get back tonight! We have an appointment to try on a couple of tuxedos for JR this wknd!! He's excited too! We're only 5 months away! We are so ready to be married to each other :)

the holiday's are upon us

We wanted to share this video of the music we came upon when we walked up to Pier 17! It was a high school band playing Christmas music! Christmas everywhere! It was magical!

amazing

We truly had the best Thanksgiving trip to NYC!! Everyday was spectacular, really! Our night we got in pretty late, so we settled into the hotel and we all ordered room service, got in our comfy robes and enjoyed our first night in New York!

The next morning we made it up in time for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!! It was so awesome to watch something your whole life on tv, then finally get to see it in real life! When it got to the end and Santa came around the corner, everyone was yelling and hugging! So neat! That afternoon was Thanksgiving dinner, so we all fancied up and ate at "The Room with a View" overlooking Central Park!

Friday morning was Black Friday, we didn't last two hours! It was pure insanity. If I can't make it shopping, no one can. Trust me. So we made a better day out of it, and played tourist. We got a metrocard, and took the subway to the southern tip of Manhattan and went all around the city exploring! Everywhere you go, you see people laughing, hugging their kids, kissing, eating...so much life there! Christmas music playing everywhere, everyone bundled up and running to catch a cab! Street performers, and musicians, all in this melting pot of a city! Even with the enormous buildings, the buzz of city life, and the millions of people, New York has this warmth to it, and a serenity when you walk around. I've been around the world, and there is no place like NYC.

It was both of our second times there, but our first to spend together, and we could not have enjoyed our trip anymore than we did! We did the subway, NY pizza, shopping, Central Park, room service, hotel, parade, limo ride around NYC, you name it...we did it!! We ended our trip with a visit alone to the top of the Empire State Building! One of the most romantic things in the world, to look over the entire city (minus the fact that it was -156 degrees up there, and it felt like my extremities were going to freeze and break off)...JR said I fit right in! short temper, aggressive driver, and food on every corner! haha! He may be right! NYC doesn't help calm my aggressive ways :) Maybe that's why I got put in TX and OK!!



p.s. I think if you double-click the on the slideshow it will take you to a bigger window! fyi!

day of thanks

Wishing you all a safe, happy, and blessed Thanksgiving with your family and friends! We will be traveling to New York in less than 24 hours!!! Safe travels everyone!

going to the chapel

and we're----- gonna get maa-aa-aaried!!! I have made a few small changes to our wedding website, the most important being that I've added the accomodations information for the two hotels we have rooms blocked with. Next will be the registry information!

www.jrandnatalie.com

feliz cumpleanos

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Holly! who is celebrating her first birthday as a MOMMY! We wish you a wonderful birthday and many many more wonderful birthdays ahead!!

Love,
JR and Nat

you know you're old when...

you get excited about your appliances. Our dryer has been broken for a couple of weeks now, and it has put a kink in our domestic ways and hindered my proof to JR that I will be the next Mrs. Housewife USA.

I finally allowed for us to fix it, because I refused to pay hundreds of dollars to fix the small part that went out. I'd rather go prarie-style and hang our clothes out to dry, but JR would have no part of that. Sooo, I caved and finally let the guy come fix the dryer, $142.64 later. grr

I'm okay with it though, and I must admit that we are very excited to announce that we have our dryer back.

new york, new york

Only 6 more days until we leave for our trip to NYC!!! We are SO excited to be spending Thanksgiving in The Big Apple!! It adds to our travel log of Miami, Red River, and now NYC together! Hopefully, we'll just keep adding to it! Just wanted to share our excitement and anticipation!! Happy Thursday!



and, as an added plus! Our family will be staying at The Helmsley Park Lane! right on Central Park! ahhhhhh! so exciting!!



The only problem I have with NYC, is that when I want to buy those fake Louis, Fendi, and Prada the NYPD come in and chase those guys away and I end up walking/shuffling chasing them down 5th Ave. until they find a discreet spot to set up shop again :) I'm a very determined tourist, haha! I must look crazy, oops!

6 days.........

parents make everything better

Monday was a bad day...a horrible day for me, but my parents are one of a kind, and the best anyone could ever ask for. They always have made everything better for me, even at the age of 24 :)

Mom also sent me some beautiful flowers from Miami, and it made my day!! I am forever grateful for my mom and dad! They are so wonderful!