{ winter wonderland }

Truthfully, I hate the snow. I'm a California girl! I thrive in the sun. I could live year-round in sundresses, shorts, tank tops and flip-flops. I don't know how to live in the snow. I can't walk in it or drive in it! I totaled my car just 2 months after moving here from California and ever since, I get a little anxiety every time I have to drive when it's snowing. My family lives two hours from beautiful Lake Tahoe. So, anytime we wanted to go have a snow day, we could drive up and come home. Now, living in Utah, I have to learn how to deal with it. I've gotten a little better at handling my car in the snow, but I still would rather have Cole drive. The snow is so beautiful to look at, though. Cole and I took advantage of the fact that we live so close to the canyons and went for a snowy drive. It had snowed the night before and the roads weren't too bad. We went up to Sundance resort, really close to where he proposed, actually. The mountains were blanketed with snow and the trees were all frosty and glistening. It was so incredibly gorgeous. I'm feeling grateful to live somewhere that I can experience such beauty. It reminds me of the hymn, For the Beauty of the Earth. I love that hymn. It reminds me who created this beautiful world we live in and to be grateful for the blessings I have. Here are some photos I took from our drive. Just on my phone, too bad I don't have a good camera. They don't do it justice at all. But, I hope you enjoy them! 


XOXO, Natalie 

{ 1.26 }

Today is our one year anniversary. So let me reminisce a lil bit. This time last year, Cole and I had been dating for just a couple weeks. I remember I had gone home to California for a weekend and I remember that I called him during my long drive there and we talked for hours. The drive didnt seem as horrible as it usually did. Ten hours in the car and a long stretch through the wastelands of Nevada usually made me hate my life. 

I missed him so much while I was gone. We text and face-timed the whole trip. I drove back into town, and went straight to his house. Absence made the heart grow fonder for both of us because that night, Cole asked me to be his girlfriend. I have been head over heels since day one, really.  

The last year of my life has been a wonderful blur. It feels like we have been together a lot longer than a year. I never thought I'd feel so safe and completely loved. Cole loves with his whole heart. He gives so much of himself. He is the most selfless person ever. I scold him sometimes because he needs to think of himself more. He's patient with me and all my sassy "princess" moments, as he calls them. (I've always been a lil bit high maintenance, as hard as I've tried not to be.) He can read me so well, like Im an open book. He loves me for exactly who I am and always encourages and supports me. He takes care of me in a way no one ever has and he's mended broken pieces of my heart that I thought would never heal. It all comes so naturally to him. He is going to be such an amazing husband and father. I feel so lucky that he's chosen me to spend forever with. I'm so happy that Ive found a true partner to do life with. 

We celebrated our anniversary a few nights early since we both had to work tonight. Cole took me to Toscano, a cute local Italian place with this gorgeous covered garden patio. I made him get all dressed up with me. He HATES wearing a tie but he did it for me. He looks so great in a tie, I dont know why he hates them so much. We had a great night. I know this is only the beginning for us. The beginning of our forever. April 30 cant come soon enough! 

XOXO, Natalie 

Wedding Website and Online Address Book

In case anyone hasnt seen it yet, here's the link to our wedding website. It has info about our registry, our story with pictures, and more details about the wedding. We will be sending out invitations the first week of March, or so. If your address hasnt already been added, please click the address book link below and fill out the address form. We'd love to see you at our reception here in Utah on April 30 or in California on May 21.
Only 95 days to go! 

 { Our wedding website }

{ address book }

 XOXO, Natalie

{ Packages, Boxes and Bags }

So the past few weeks have been a blur. Our semester at UVU is winding down and Cole and I have been studying non-stop, writing papers, trying to plan the wedding and fit in time together. Some days, I feel like I only see him for like a half hour in between our hectic schedules. Thankfully, it's almost over and we have the holiday break to look forward to! 

So here's the latest wedding update! I got the best deal on Shutterfly during black friday/cyber monday weekend! Our guestbook was like 40% off and I LOVE how it turned out! Take a peak! 

Oh! and Cole's wedding band arrived! It feels like Christmas came early with all these fun packages arriving this week. But, I won't post pictures of his ring because Im trying to keep it a surprise from my boy who hates surprises. hahaha. 

I think it turned out great, if I do say so myself. I had a lot of fun designing it. Shutterfly made it really easy to do. 

In other wedding news, I have sadly made the decision to go with a different wedding dress. As much as I LOVE my Sottero and Midgley gown, I had been second guessing it since I brought it home. Mainly because it took up a big chunk of our budget, and I was feeling guilty about having spent so much on it. My mama taught me to be frugal and this definitely was a big purchase. 


After going back and forth about it, I found another dress that is equally as gorgeous. It also arrived this week! There has been a package, or box at our doorstep like every day this week haha. I am absolutely in love with this new dress. It has all these beautiful details and was less than my original gown, which means we have more money to put towards our honeymoon fund. Am I the only bride who questioned her choice in gown after purchasing it? I bet not. Am I the only bride who has bought TWO wedding dresses? Maybe. haha. 


It was seriously such a crazy hard decision and I felt like I lost quite a few nights of sleep over it. But, I'm feeling relieved now. I have my first dress listed on several sites, including Tradesy, preownedweddingdresses.com, oncewed.com and ruffled blog. I'm praying it sells quickly with all that exposure. 

Well, that's all for now friends. 

XXO, 

Natalie 

{ I can hear the wedding bells...}

EVERYONE has been asking about how the wedding planning is coming along. Here's what we've figured out so far....

We booked our venue in the first week we were engaged. I already had my heart set on a place here in Lindon, Ut called Wadley Farms. It's a beautiful historic farm with acres of gorgeous gardens and vineyards. We will have our ceremony in the gardens, and a reception there later that night. Here's the link if anyone wants to check it out. Wadley Farms 

We decided on wedding colors. All neutrals with a touch of gold accents. So, my bridesmaids will be in all neutral colors- champagne, beige, nude, gold, etc. Im letting them pick their dress with my approval, of course. I found this on Pinterest, of course, and this has been the inspiration. 

We booked our photographer. Most of you have seen our engagements we did with Aubrey Taiese. She was great and I cant wait to do our bridal session.

My dress came in! It's hanging in Cole's old bedroom at his dad's house so, that he's not tempted to look at it! I'm so paranoid he's already looked at the pictures I have of it on my phone. It's gotta be a huge reveal when he finally does see me in it.

 Im still working on my shoes and jewelry but, I did buy the Allure bridals belt that I tried on at The Brides' Shop. It's to die for. So gorgeous.

          

We've got our bridal party selected. Cole has one Best Man and six dudes and I have one Matron of Honor and six bridesmaids. Big party, I know! I wanted to do something cute to ask my gfs to be in the bridal party and I found THE cutest cards that I sent out to all my girls asking them to be next to me on our big day. Seriously, how cute are these? They were a total hit with my girls. Here's the link to the Etsy store I ordered from. They were shipped fast and great quality. I'd definitely recommend them. They had other cute cards too, like Thank you cards, etc.  

I think I have my hair and makeup artist selected but haven't booked her yet. 

We also booked our videographer. I am probably most excited about this. I really really want to do a "First Look" video where you have someone film the bride and groom before the ceremony and the reaction to seeing the wedding dress. So we are going to do that, as well as, film our ceremony and our reception. 

                                  I love the look of this bouquet

We have our florist, who is a friend of mine. Megan Warner. She and I worked together at Center for Change and she has a great eye for the art. I HAVE to have peonies in my bouquet because they are my favorite. On our one month anniversary back in February, Cole paid a crazy amount for a bouquet of them and had them shipped here all the way from California to surprise me. Peonies only bloom in the spring so, it was the cutest gesture.  

We are waiting to get Cole's suit because he works out so much, that I just want to wait til the wedding is closer. If we bought one now and had it fitted, he may gain more muscle and get bigger and then, we'd have to get it altered again. So we are just gonna wait. But, he's going to be in charcoal grey suit and his dudes will be in the same color suit pants, but not full suits. It's more of a casual groomsman look. 

SOOOO many details! We are having a rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding. Possibly at Thanksgiving Point but, still deciding. I have a pretty good idea of what I want our centerpieces to look like but, I'll be working on that with Megan, our florist. We have a bakery in mind for our cake, but not booked yet. We are doing a dessert buffet for the reception. We are still working on honeymoon plans, as well. 

Well, hope everyone is doing well. I love you all! 

Xoxo, 

Natalie 

{ looking back }

For as long as I can remember, I've been dreaming about the day I get married. As a little girl, I used to sit and cut out wedding dresses out of bridal magazines and kept them in a box under my bed. I'm a girly-girl to the MAX, always playing dress-up, changing my outifit 5 times a day and spending hours playing with my hair and makeup. I've always been a hopeless romantic, who believed in fairytales and true love. The girl who wore her heart on her sleeve, who fell hard and fast. As I've gotten older, and had my heart broken a few times, I've been more cautious about dating and even at times, closed off my heart because the idea of having it not work out again, was just too painful. 

When I met Cole, I was in this place of not really even wanting to date because I just felt exhausted from putting myself out there and not finding what I was looking for. But, after Cole and I went on our first date, I knew there was something different about him. We had this instant connection that I wanted to explore. I was so scared that I'd have my heart broken again but, I knew that I'd regret not giving this a shot. It's hard for me to admit but I fell for him quicker than I think I even realized. It was so refreshing to be with someone who was looking for the same things I was. We both wanted to be in a relationship that was meaningful and fun and fulfilling. I wanted someone who wanted to be committed to JUST me, (most the boys I had dated in Utah had one eye open for the next best thing!). Someone who valued me, someone who was willing to be there when things got tough and didnt run off at the first sign of trouble. Someone I just couldnt get enough of. Someone who would love me for me and that I didnt have to put on a show for. Cole was all of these things and more. He was sweet, kind and thoughtful and constantly, going out of his way to show me he wanted this to work between us. (he still does the cutest little things for me all the time). Cole helped allow my heart to be open again and I felt safe with him. I didnt feel like I needed to prove my worth to him. He made it easy to fall in love with him.

Anyway, Im totally rambling, but its November! The month of gratitude and giving thanks for all the blessings in our lives. Ive just been thinking about how grateful I am for the way things have worked out in my life. Our choices determine the course our lives take. Ive thought about this a lot. I know if Cole and I had made just a few different decisions in our lives, we may have never met. But, I couldn't be happier right now, planning the wedding I've been daydreaming about since I was a little girl. But, more importantly, that I found a man who is everything Ive ever wanted. The man I'd been searching for since I heard my first fairytale, my prince, my true love.

XOXO, 
Natalie 

{ Our Love Story }

As I've been planning our wedding, I found the cutest idea on Pinterest. I'm obsessed, btw. I've gotten SO many great wedding planning ideas on Pinterest. Here's the link to my boards if you want to follow me for more wedding ideas.  

 How cute is this?! A sign displayed at your reception with a timeline of your relationship. 

PC: http://www.buzzfeed.com/alexlovesny/30-swoon-worthy-engagement-party-ideas-ioyl#.tb1lzpGJG 

With this idea in mind, I wanted to share our love story. Here's the backstory first. I moved to Provo from Salt Lake to go to Utah Valley University in the fall of last year. I was so not looking forward to leaving my friends, my nanny job that I loved and the city. But, I knew it was a smart choice to go back to school and finish my degree. I was fortunate to have a job lined up before I moved and found housing quickly.

I had a gym membership in Salt Lake and was considering just canceling it when I moved and trying out a new gym in Provo. But, I decided I should, at least, go to the local branch in Orem and check it out before canceling my membership. And boy, am I glad I did. 

After going to the gym several times, I noticed the cute trainer at the gym. He was so good-looking. Tall, muscular, piercing blue eyes, the cutest dimples and a great bod! There was something about him that intrigued me. I found myself going to the gym more and more, and found myself scanning the gym for him every time I was there. 

After several months of just watching him from across the gym, sounds like I was a bit of a stalker doesnt it? haha. Anyway, after several months of crushing on him from afar, my gf scolded me for not being more bold and just going over to talk to him. Normally, I'd have no problem doing that. But, there was something about him that made me so nervous and intimidated. Little did I know, Cole was doing the same thing. He was crushing on me as long as I had been crushing on him. We'd often catch eyes as I was leaving and we bumped into each other several times but had never really talked. Cole told me later that he was sure I was taken, so he didn't approach me. 

January 6, 2015-I finally gathered up the courage to talk to him. We sat and talked fitness stuff for awhile. I remember that I could barely get my words out, I was so nervous. I was just drowning in his icy blue eyes. I was smitten, for sure. It was pretty much love at first sight for me. 

January 8-Cole came up to me while I was doing my cardio. He was off his shift and asked if I wanted to work out with him. We spent about two hours working out, and we just clicked right away. It felt like a first date. We talked about everything from our childhoods, our families, our jobs and friends, etc. After our workout, he told me that he sometimes texts his clients workouts if they cant come in while he's on shift and handed me his number. Smooth, right? 

January 12- Our first DATE. After another workout together, Cole asked if I wanted to go grab food. We went out to my car to put my gym bag away and I locked my keys in my car. Classic Natalie thing to do. So, we sat in his car to keep warm and he called a cop friend of his to have him come open my car. After an hour or so, we got the keys out and then, grabbed Cafe Rio and took it back to my condo to eat. We stayed up really late talking and I remember Cole saying something along the lines of him wanting me to give him a chance  because of our big age gap. Im so glad I did because he's changed my life for the better in so many ways. We've been inseparable since our first date.  

January 13- Our first KISS. It was perfect. 

January 26- OFFICIAL- after I went on weekend trip home to Ca, Cole asked me to be his gf. Absence DOES make the heart grow fonder! 

Feb - August - LOVE- a blur of fun, planned and spontaneous dates, working out more than I ever have, a cruise to Mexico, late night talks about everything and anything, netflix marathons, eating our weight in oreos and snowcones, trips to Ca to meet my family..... we fell in love like you fall asleep, slowly and then, all at once.

August 1, 2015 -he asked me to spend forever with him 

April 30, 2016 -Our Forever Begins!