NEW BLOG ADDRESS!

Well, after I failed miserably in updating the last 2 months of my engagement....Keith and I now have a "family" blog....please update your blogrolls/follow lists :) We want to keep up with all of you!!!!!!

http://keithandnatalie.blogspot.com

Oh, Blog.

I just don't know where to begin. Let's just say....i'm behind. About 7 showers behind. I promise I'll update, but let's 'save the date' (pun intended) for next week, when i'll be sitting, bored proctoring an exam or two before school is out.

Deal?

thought so!

Just know we've had so many nice showers, lots of fun parties, and have generally been having a blast. Hope that's true for you too!

pictures of the lovely flowers

from my OBC shower :)

NASA

Natalie, Abigail, Sara, Allison- NASA

No, nothing space related. We were just pretty juvenile at acronyms.

Yes, when we were in 6th grade, we thought it would be a good idea to form a club. This club didn't really do anything, sometimes we met and talked about boys, wrote down things about what people wore, and there was a time where I collected dues that I kept in a blue jean purse in my closet (sorry, no refunds). We were great friends- living with in 5 houses of each other. I am so thankful for the time we had together growing up, and the memories we've shared. the NASA reunion at my monogram shower was magnificent...thanks for being there, ladies :)

What's a girl to do

wedding planning.

working full time at a junior high/high school

graduate school

what in the world was I thinking?????????????????????????????


oh, yeah.

It's all about getting to marry the love of my life. Phew. 

I think the hardest thing about being engaged is learning how to enjoy just being engaged! Anyone with me?

Engagement pictures

This is one of my favorite engagement shots! There are several I will be sharing soon, so keep your eyes peeled. Thanks to www.tdarleyphotography.com for the stellar pictures-- hooray!

OBC Shower

My family have been members of Ozark Baptist Church for over 50 years. I grew up spending a lot of time in those hallways and rooms- my Mom taught preschool there when I was younger, my Dad sang in the church choir for years, and my Mom was the church Pianist for a few years, as well. I am grateful for parents and grandparents who put going to church and knowing Christ as a priority in their lives- it truly influenced mine!

I was so happy to hear that Keith and I were to have a miscellaneous shower @ OBC. Here are some highlights!

Here we have my lovely Aunt Lori, my wedding director and family friend, Connie DeLoney and my Grammy chatting before the shower begins. 

Keith's sister and Mom were able to make the trip down, too. I loved the brown and green table decorations--my colors look good in that fellowship hall :)

 This is what I got to spend my morning doing--we were very blessed by the outpouring of gifts and love! And I'm sure Lorilyn felt blessed to write all the names and gifts down for us, too.

We were being silly, but I was really excited about that soap pump!

The gift table, punch table and sweet ladies and friends before the shower started

Here's a very awkward picture of me greetig some of the hostesses when I first arrived. I hate that I don't have a picture of the large flower arrangement behind Mrs. Q's head- the florals for this shower were amazing.

Mom and Lori in the thick of things

After the OBC shower, we had all the family over to our house for lunch. I love this picture, minus the plates and such. My Dad, my Aunt Lynn, Mimi and Keith's Mom Donna

This was the haul after we got the gifts back to Birmingham. From crystal to carpet cleaners, we really were thankful for the generosity and time with friends and family :)

Monogram Shower

    

My very first shower was amazing :) I have always been known in my group of friends as "the one without a middle name", so getting married meant finally getting that elusive third initial! Following this theme, several of my high school friends threw a Monogram shower for me on April 3. This shower was like a mini high school reunion.....and I loved every minute of it :)

Especially this gourmet cake made by my talented friend, Rebecca! Of course, there was lots of great food- it's a shower after all!

                             

Candid Camera!

My sweet flower girl, Emmi was there- and I was so happy to see her. Notice the beautiful arrangement behind me that her momma (and my friend!) Windy made :)

 My sweet Mother and Grammy came, too :)

Keith's mom Donna and his sister Amy vistited Ozark for the shower- It's not a short trip so I was really glad that they were able to be there!

Mom, Grammy, Me and Lorilyn

 Miranda and Lorilyn after the "make a toilet paper bridal gown" game :) Miranda won!

The AMAZING spread! I have wonderful friends!

Two of my favorite people- Marissa and Amy!

 The purse game is always fun! Windy did a great job with this game!

Sometimes candid pictures are the best. These girls are my oldest and truest friends! It was so fun to transport out of everyday for a while and visit....

All us Ozark Girls (minus Sameka, who left before we took the picture :( ) it's like a class of 2001 Bonanza! It was a beautiful shower- and I couldn't ask for anything more. Thanks again, Ladies- you are all so special to me!

I'm in love

With a Bride's Book

        If loving this is wrong, I don't want to be right.

After almost 6 weeks of waiting, my Brides Book finally came in yesterday!!! It was the one thing I desperately wanted to have--it has pages for all my shower and wedding guests, as well as keepsake pages for the invites, info about our relationship, etc. It's handstitched and gorgeous. Like I said, I'm in complete love, thanks to the folks at Weddings, Etc in Homewood!

Also in the news.......

Me and Keith's newest obsession:

A little hinderance to the ol' diet, at times.

Which makes me feel:

Happy Friday :)

Spring Break ?

pring Break has come and gone, folks- but that's okay by me. I enjoyed my time in Oz with the family, getting lots of wedding related issues handled, and taking our engagement pics with Mrs. Darley (i'll post some when I have them!) in Downtown Dothan. It was a really fast week, but isn't that how it always goes.

So pretty- downtown Dothan near where K and I had our engagement pics taken.

Lorilyn was home for most of the break, too. On Tuesday we met up with Grammy to help her shop for a grandmother of the bride dress....

The sweet lady with my gorgeous grandmother is the owner of  a "ladies shop", Leon's Ladies Fashions, in  downtown Enterprise. She and my mom were best friends in college at Montevallo, and Mrs. Linda helps Grammy pick the best outfits for every occasion. (Just fyi, Grammy is not sporting anything from Leon's in this picture....they actually do match their clothing!) It is truly a personal shopping experience for Gram when she goes to Leon's....Linda had a dressing room waiting with outfits all picked out for her to try.  Lorilyn and I even found some cute things from jewelry and accessories to tops. It was a fun afternoon by the boll weevil :)

I am on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster with the wedding stuff.....ups, downs, laughs, tears- I experience them all, every day! God knew what He was doing matching me with Keith- he is so patient!! He came down Thursday night for our pics Friday...we had such a good time hanging out together in the Wiregrass. Ozark makes me very sleepy, but it's all good.

 On Sunday after church, we met up with my cousin, Eric. He is a freshman at Troy, so we met up at Sister's.....which is not very diet friendly, but I tried! HA! Here's a little group picture (maybe one day I will learn to sit up straight....) Mom, Keith, Me, Lorilyn and Eric (Dad behind camera)

Sorry about the blink, Dad. (Dad, Eric and Lo...with some ridiculous sunglasses.)

I have 8 more weeks left of work until I'm done for the year. It has been a super fast year....I don't really know why, but it has been a good one. Can't believe I will start my 5th year of teaching in the fall, and my 4th year at Briarwood. Wow. Grad school has been frustrating this semester...one professor who makes his class much harder than necessary and one professor who is so flighty I don't think she even knows any of our names. And there are only 10 of us. I am tired of giving my Monday and Tuesday nights to Montevallo :( It will be worth it when my paycheck increases, though!

For the first time since I was 18, I will be moving home at the end of May. Yes, home to Ozark. Thankfully for everyone involved, it will just be until June 12th!! All my "stuff" will already be at Keith's, so it'll basically be like i'm on an extended vacation....in Oz. HA!

My first shower is coming up next weekend- I'm ecstatic. I can't wait to see everyone and let people know how much I appreciate their love and support for Keith and I. It's finally becoming.....real!

y'all, seriously.

I am the quintessential example of a sad, sad, southerner who knows not what a real wintry snow is like. Every time the weatherman here gets the "S" word in his vocabulary, I get giddy. I follow the most accurate (in my opinion) forecasters tweets and blog, searching for a glimpse of hope during the winter months. This comes from 27 years of life lived with very little substantial snowfall. What people in Birmingham refer to as "The Blizzard of '93" was only the "ice storm" to those of us near the Florida panhandle. On my 6th birthday, as my Mom was pregnant with my baby sister and Christmas was 3 days away, enough snow fell to play with during the morning, but then melted by dinner. That's my previous experience with the stuff. Living in Birmingham the past 4 years, I have thankfully not ALWAYS been disappointed, as I was during my youth in South Alabama. It has at least dusted the ground once a winter since i've been in the area.

For the past 6 days I have been hearing, "maybe snow Tuesday.....". I checked my phone compulsively for the alert from my employer telling me to stay home safe in my bed from the moment school was released last night, so you can imagine my disdain when I peeked out of my blinds in the wee, small, teacher hours of the morning and saw only drizzly, cold rain.

Oh, the injustice of it all.

Now that my whining is over, let's see how the wedding checklist is coming along....

• I have a teacher-friend here at school who owns a stationary business and has agreed to print and design my wedding programs...it will be great to work on these with someone I can see everyday....she does awesome design and printing work- check Holly out at http://www.papercutsdesign.com/
• This alleviates my run around with Michael's craft store. I have purchased a "print yourself" set (try 5 sets of 40) of programs which then ended up being not big enough for all I want to include...and then I remembered I threw the reciept away. Word to the wise, when returning $150 worth of anything to Michael's without a reciept, they will gladly accept the return......and take 20% off of the total that you originally spent with them. Sad day.
• I am very blessed and proud to have several bridal showers scheduled...in fact, each weekend of April is booked and even a couple in May...Now, the real question is what in the world am I going to wear? I am on the lookout for sale stuff as we speak.
• I have thrououghly enjoyed buying flower girl and ring bearer gifts. I got dumb stuff like a locket when I was a flower girl, so I'm trying to think of the children. Really, I am.
• I'm wondering about a little spray tannage for the wedding. Please note the picture below:

I am the ghost/ghoblin hovering in the background. No, I am not a vampire, I do not shimmer in the sunlight but would perhaps use this picture as motivation look a bit more lifelike at my own wedding. Sorry Lily. Also, I plan to wear heels that I actually keep on my feet. Long story. Tall Heels. Oh, look- students. Time to cut this short....

Quick Non-Bridal Post :)

I must seem soooo old to my students. Being around teenagers all day, it makes me FEEL old, but today a student was telling a story about a sub they'd had in another class. I stopped her and asked if she was a young sub or an older sub (trying to see if I knew the substitute she was mentioning), and my student said, "She's younger than you- she graduated from high school like 10 years ago...". I told my student Tristen that just for her information, I graduated from HS 9 years ago, thank you very much! It is days like today that 27 feels REALLY OLD! Keith and I are chaperoning the Sadie Hawkins dance tomorrow night, so I'm sure i'll have some stories to tell from that! I am off to hunt at ROSS for a dress....I love that place, by the way!

Also, during lunch I was shuffling my iTunes and rediscovered my RENT soundtrack. I listened to this non-stop when I first moved to Birmingham after college, and it reminds me of all that new independence, new job, new everything! If you aren't familiar with that musical I suggest that you aquaint yourself with the songs.
Maybe I can write something more substantial later :) Happy Friday!

108 days.....

I cannot believe we are almost at the 100 day mark........WOW!

Lots to say! Keith and I had a fun trip to Ozark this weekend: Tasted some cakes, met with our FABULOUS photographer (Shoutout to http://www.tdarleyphotography.com/) and took a side trip to see my sweet grandmother in Andalusia. She was the last family member to have not seen my ring in person, so we made the 120 or so mile round trip Saturday night with Mom and Dad. SO fun! We have our engagement photos over my Spring Break...I am so pumped for that!

We both got a horrific stomach bug upon our return Sunday night, and missed a couple of days of work this week. I am feeling much more steady today, thankfully- though I still don't really want much along the lines of solid food. Guess tonight at Weight Watchers will be a good one! (silver linings....right?)

Keith and I have a place to LIVE! He moves in as of March 2nd, and i'll follow after the big day :) It's in Hayesbury in Pelham (Yes, Kelly!), 2 br, 2 ba, cute little backyard, garage, washer/dryer...you get the picture. Perfect for what we need, and improving our commutes to work by ALOT. Commutes to anywhere, really (I will never live in Helena again.) I have been really bad about taking pictures, but as I help move him in next week, I'll try and document. We bought our first little batch of furniture this past week (Sofa, Barstools, new TV Cabinet) so it's going to be great to have somewhere to PUT it after us both living in other people's homes for the past 3 years (props to some great 'landlords', though!)

Lunch break is over, but I will be updating a little sooner next time...hopefully with pictures :)

OH! and congrats to my cousin Emily and her NEW fiance, Billy!!! They were engaged on Valentines day, and will be married July 31st in Huntsville. My grandfather would be SUPER proud to know that 2 of his 3 granddaughters are getting married in the same summer :)

Update!

I can't believe it's been almost 4 weeks since my last post! Where has the time gone? For me, it's been a whirlwind- I have a feeling that June 12 will be here much faster than I originally anticipated...which is MOSTLY a good thing :) Here are somethings we've gotten done in the last month or so:

• HONEYMOON IS BOOKED! We will be spending 5 days and 4 nights at the Royal Cancun resort on the Mexican Riviera! I am super excited about spending a whole "week" doing absolutely nothing :) I am now on the hunt for a swimsuit...GULP!
• Save the Dates are addressed and mailed...just putting the address/return address labels on those babies took Keith and I the better part of a whole evening. 
• Wedding Dress purchased :) No details, sorry- but trust me when I say, I knew it was the one when I saw it!
• Rooms reserved for our out of town family
• Appointments set for meetings with the photographer, cake artist and florist over President's Day weekend to finalize plans 
• Master Thompson/Owens invite list finalized...that was a huge task! Kudos to my mom (Lisa) and Keith's mom (Donna) for their hard work :)
• Caterer booked for the reception
• Invitations ordered
• Napkins (embossed) ordered for the reception
• there is probably much more but I am frankly pretty tired at this point!

Awkward wedding moment: Keith and I used whitepages.com to help supplement our address lists when we couldn't put our finger on a specific address for a save the date. Our friend Robert lives in Trussville, and when we plugged in his name and T'ville into whitepages, one address popped up, so we figured it had to be his. We sent the save the date without another thought.

Fast forward about 10 days; my mom calls and tells me that a mysterious envelope has surfaced through the mail, addressed to me, but with a return address in Trusville. She opens and reads it to me over the phone- and my heart broke in a million pieces...it turns out our friend Robert has the same name (first and last) as another gentlemen....who has been dead since 1988. His poor, sweet wife had written a short note saying that she'd received the save the date, but "My husband Robert's been gone for years...and I miss him so." She wished us well in our marriage but I could have literally crawled in a hole and died. How horrible I felt! AWKWARD! Anyway, moral of the story: whitepages is not fool proof!!

And now, on to another day at school and work. No rest for the weary!

Registry Recap!

One of the coolest things Keith and I have gotten to do during these first few weeks of engagement has been to set up our registries! Technology is a great thing, and I know Keith, especially, has enjoyed the stores that provide you with a scanning "gun". Here's a little recap of our experiences:

Macy's- Keith and I went to Macy's at Brookwood Mall. We had a great registry "helper" who made picking china and flatware a pleasant and non-stressful event. We cross referenced our fine china and everyday at Dillards, since my family and hometown friends have access to Macy's online via online.

Bed Bath and Beyond- We probably picked a bad time to register here- the Saturday before Christmas. The BBB in Alabaster was SOOOO busy, and lots of stuff was out of stock. We ended up going back and editing/revising stuff online because the store was absolutely crazy! We registered for all of our bedding, linens and casual serveware here.

Target: This was by far the easiest experience we had. Walk in, get scanner, scan, return scanner and leave. I know alot of people don't register here because of their return policy (you HAVE to have a gift reciept for returns or exchanges), but I just like Target. It is aesthetically pleasing to me :) We went on a Thursday night after work and it was the first place we registered. We ended up registering for all of our Kitchen appliances and gadgetry and a few home decor items here. Keith thought it was hilarious that he scanned some random items like 20 oz diet cokes and a $1500 big screen TV when I wasn't looking. I definitely edited those right off when we got home :)

Home Depot: This was the most disappointing part of our registry tour. They do not use a scanner system, so I had to follow Keith around with a pen and paper, writing down SKU's and model numbers. NO FUN. We didn't know this until we finished, but there is no online registry link for Home Depot- and this seemed a little weird to us. We were able to register for some basic tool/lawn/garden needs and Keith had a great time regardless of the weirdness regarding the lack of online linkage.

We start our churches Marriage Prep Sunday School class tomorrow morning! I have been waiting for this day forever it seems :) When we were dating, I used to point out to Keith whenever we saw this signs around church or whenever it was in the bulletin. He would just wink and laugh- and tell me it would come in time. Well, it's time! WHOO HOO! Just one of those things that makes it even MORE real!