update on Fall ...

It has been too long since I've updated our blog... since my last post was before we were married and now we have been married almost two months! Eekkk!!! Time for some major catching up!!!

September was filled with getting all the last details sorted out for the wedding. Many RSVP cards rolled in, causing a bit of a panic because our venue could only hold about half the amount of people who were planning to come. However we knew it would work out somehow- and it did! 

I also had two very fun bridal showers during this month, big thank yous to Terilyn, and Melody and Andria.

October, the month we have been waiting several months for!!! So exciting!! And so happy!! My Maid of Honor Andria threw a wonderful bachelorette party for my 8 bridesmaids and I! She rent two rooms for the ultimate sleepover in the Hayes Mansion!!! It was a beautiful place and was seriously such a fun party!!! October 14th was a busy day!! That included getting my nails done thanks to Kathy, picking up my dress, managing a bunch of other things, getting things over to the reception hall, etc. Also that evening we had a lovely dinner at Trattoria my favorite restaurant (part of the Florentine's chain), hosted by Nathans parents. It was so much fun as we all took a turn to stand up and say something about Nathan or I. Dad got teary-eyed and so did I, typical of us!!! For dinner I had a scrumptious bruschetta and salad.

October 15th, aka THE BIG DAY!!! And it really was a big day!!! I woke up at 5 something something in the morning and things did not quit till after midnight that evening! Words cannot describe how wonderful and great the day was! It was beautiful, special, amazing, memorable.... just to say a few!!! It was so special how many people, especially from out of town, came out for this. Seeing my cousin Caroline at the Temple was so exciting and emotional, she was my only cousin who could make it and being a busy mom of a little one it was really special to me that she could come.  Nathan and I were really blessed to have most of our immediate family members there and we appreciate the sacrifices they had to make to attend our special day.

Hawaii....need I say more? Our first plane trip together, and first class!! So much fun!!! I remember sitting on the plane thinking, I am married! This is my husband!, and just not believing my own thoughts!!!! Okay, have to admit, I still sometimes think those exact words still! 

 We went to Kauai and it was such a beautiful island! Some highlights in a nutshell: we stayed part of the time at the St.Regis - amazing!!!!!!!!!! They gave us a free room upgrade and wow, what a luxurious place! I went snorkling for the first time! We saw beautiful sites, went on a 5 hour boat trip, saw dolphins and sea turtles, went kayaking, hiking, etc! Well planned hubby!

Reality.... we got back late on 10/22 with 3 pineapples- a major score because Nathan really wanted to bring them back but we were pressed for time but found them in the airport!!!

 

A lot has happened since October. In November we put up Christmas lights on the house, they are sooooo pretty!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

The big event was our first major road trip as a married couple to Utah for Thanksgiving! We left the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and drove to St.George, Utah! On our way we stopped by the Joshua Trees that I have always wanted to see up close. In St. George we had a fun time visiting with Nathan's family, playing games, nature walk with 2 of Nate's sisters, Shopping the sales, and Thanksgiving dinner of course! I also got to meet my new Grandpa!!!!!!!!! He is a dear man and I am so glad I got to meet him and his wife, my new grandma!

Friday evening we took off to Salt Lake City, Utah were we went to my brothers new house! The fun continued there as it was snowing, so we sled in their backyard and attempted at making a snowman! We also played games, took my nephews to see the new Harry Potter, went to church and heard my nephew speak as well as a U.S. Senator. It was really special for me to be back in Utah after not being there for seven years. We left Monday morning after an unsure departure due to the crazy snowfall! Our trip was much too quick, so we both know that we will have to go back again soon!

After coming home from our trip and getting back settled into reality, we bought our first Christmas tree!!! It is awesome!!!!!!!! It is my favorite, a noble fir, and it looks and smells wonderful. I feel so extra blessed lately and every time I look at the tree I think- WOW! It is my first Christmas with my husband!  

Nathan and I are so happy and immensely blessed! We have wonderful parents and siblings, great friends, a beautiful home and so much love and happiness!! 

We are living our dreams!

I'll try to post more soon with the other things going on, such as changes with the house, fun activities and projects we have been doing (Nathan set up the dartboard last night!), my new sewing ideas, etc!!!!

Life is GOOD!

How did we go from this nice picture above in July, to this crazy September bridal shower picture below? Two months has gone by, that's how!! We went from calm, happy couple slowing planning a wonderful wedding to a busy, crazy, partying couple with 2 bridal showers and 1 bridesmaids bachelorette party, a million-in-one appointments.... but although slightly less calm (since wedding day is only 17 days away!!!!!!!!!!), we are still a very happy couple!

 

Can I just say I picked the most amazing man to marry? He is consistently amazing to me!!! Together we are busy but we have fun. Our life is so blessed by our wonderful families and close friends. Every day I am busy with the 100s of tasks to be done, but so blessed to see my almost husband at the end of every day. Together we make dinner, we clean, we go for walks, we do errands, we work on the house, we are busy... but we never forget to love and honor each other. What a great way to start this next step we are entering....

I'm slightly sad that soon the 4 months I have been working  towards for our amazing wedding day will soon be over, but it is for the best reason possible, getting married and sealed in the Temple to someone so wonderful as Nathan.  

Although there is a rush of things going on around me constantly, I am enjoying every day to its fullest. 

Every day we are becoming even closer best friends... and that in itself is a great and special blessing.

Something a bit more fun!

My first post thing was more informative and serious, so here is something that is probably not so much that! Nathan and I are so stoked that our wedding is only.... 46 days away, wow! That is exciting but also scary when I think of everything we need to get done. But then I realize, we already got so much done thanks to Kathy and my mom! Yay! 
During our engagement days, I like to call them, we have been super lucky to have done some really fun things... in late June/early July we had both of our families come into town! We had such a blast...Nathan was able to take some days off of work and our adventures included sailing and seeing Wicked!

August rocked also because we went to DISNEYLAND! This made me VERY happy. We lucked out and stayed with my awesome cuz Caroline and we put in an almost 16 hr day at the park. 
My birthday is this weekend and I am SO excited! Although I already got my present (Nathan), I just can't wait to do fun things and spend time with the ones I love. 

A little history of US :D

Nathan and Julia were both born in 1981 six weeks apart at the same hospital. However, it wasn't until 2007 that they met each other. We were acquaintances for a long time but somehow started to become friends. We had our first date in February 2010 and by June we were engaged. 

One of the best things about being together is knowing that we are best friends. We are learning what companionship, commitment, and true love are all about.... we couldn't do it without each other and we wouldn't want to. We love getting to know each other more & more every day and starting our lives together.

We both feel blessed and lucky to have found each other. It was definitely a journey to get here, but now that we are together we know it was completely worth it. We know our lives won't be free of challenges or heartaches, but we feel blessed to have each other, our families, our friends and our faith to help us through it all. We are so excited to start our family by being married and sealed in the Oakland Temple in October 2010.