Catching Up: Anniversary through New Years Eve

Well we have fallen quite behind in blogging so I'm going to try and do a quick catch up starting with Reed and my anniversary on October 24th...

Anniversary

We were both really busy this year for our anniversary but Reed still found time to do something really sweet. When I woke up in the morning there was this string tied in like a maze around our room and throughout the house and there were these little slips of paper taped to the string with portions of a poem on them that Reed wrote. He had already written me a poem about our first date so he started after the first date and wrote the rest of our dating story stopping just before we got engaged. I think (I hope) he plans to continue with our story in later poems :-). So I made my way along all the string reading bits and pieces of the poem and finally ended up following the string outside where it reached up into the sky into oblivion. I was so confused haha. Turns out Reed had the string tied to a bunch of balloons but it was a cloudy day so I couldn't see that until I had read my way through enough poems that the balloons got pulled closer. The last part of the poem was at the balloons.

 It was all very cute and clever. Reed is so creative. Then later that night we got dressed up nice and went to Fleming's (courtesy of a very generous Christmas gift last year from my sister, Dana) and had a fabulous steak dinner (pic below is me before the dinner next to the pretty roses Reed got me).

It was the perfect anniversary. I am so lucky to have been married to this great guy for the past 3 years. He is such a treasure to me and has made these past 3 years the best of my life. Here is the awesome poem he wrote (note that there are some inside jokes in it you probably won't understand but I wanted to share it anyways):

The first date with Natali went really great
But I had a problem called Thanksgiving break.
We wouldn’t see each other for a whole week
I was hoping she wouldn’t forget about me. 

 I had a plan to get another chance
To fuel the flame of this new romance.
We picked up our mugs from Color Me Mine
And drank hot chocolate until well past nine. 

Every day of the break we talked on the phone.
My family complained that my mind wasn’t at home.
We talked for hours about nothing at all
And I knew that I was starting to fall.

I arrived back in Provo late one night
But I still called Nat to make sure she was all right.
She was stuck in her bed feeling sick
So I thought herbal tea would do the trick.

We started to hang out every single day
I just really liked her, what else can I say.
She didn’t play games and I liked that a lot.
Getting a kiss was the next thing I sought.

One day at my house she didn’t feel well
She was tired and hungry, I could tell.
I told her to lie down and I would be back
I brought her a burger from the burger shack.

Natali then wanted to play matchmaker
With two of her friends, one named Baker.
So we watched a movie down in her basement
Should I hold her hand, is this the moment?

I thought I’d be funny and tease her a bit
I guess I just don’t know when I should quit.
I put my hand over on her side of the chair,
Wiggled my fingers and watched her just stare.

I tried and tried but to no avail,
Getting her hand in mine was like the Holy Grail.
That was not my lucky night
But I wouldn’t give up without a good fight.

She couldn’t resist my looks and my charm
And eventually she felt safe being held in my arms.
But I had a problem and he was in France
I didn’t know if I really had a chance.

Getting to know each other might have been the best part.
We could talk for hours from the very start.
She called me an elf not because of my ears
But she thought it funny how I spent my younger years.

Then the moment came that should have been bliss
The night that we had our very first kiss.
The first time should have been the best
But it was almost our end, and I do not jest.

She called her mom and didn’t know what to do
She felt confused and I did too.
Where were the sparks, the lights, the magic?
We both felt like this would be very tragic.

We talked it over and we tried again.
I don’t think what I told her counts as a sin.
This time I used all of my sweet skills
And she couldn’t resist after she got the chills.

Christmas was coming and we thought it would be
A good idea to meet each other’s family.
So I went to St. George before Christmas day
I had so much fun that I wanted to stay.

Then at the small airport in Springerville
I waited for her dad to touch down the wheels.
He flew her to Eagar and stayed for the sights
Like Booga Reds and the one stoplight.

We had some fun but then almost died
On the way down from our horseback ride.
We went to Molly’s and had some good food
I never wanted that trip to conclude.

We drove back to Provo and I told some jokes
She laughed so hard that she nearly choked.
We arrived in Provo then went to the game.
Natali thinks that all sports are pretty lame.

The time flew by and we hung out a lot.
I couldn’t believe I was dating a girl that was so hot.
We always had fun no matter what we did
Thursdays were my favorite, I’m not gonna kid.

Valentine’s Day was coming, Nat couldn’t wait
But it turned out to be a bitter sweet day.
I did everything I could to remind her of France
From Coke to movies to having our own dance.

What happened next is a part I will skip.
I’ll just say that our bond took a dip.
But we sorted it out and things turned around
And before we knew it we were Disneyland bound!

On the way to the happiest place on earth
I saw just how much she was worth.
I finally said those three little words
That I had never before whispered.

We had a great time and fell more in love.
Natali and I just fit like a glove.
We were savages and saw the “ducks”
I don’t know how I could have such great luck.

But there was a question in both of our minds
“Would our relationship stand the test of time?”
I decided to go away for a while
So she could decide if I was really her style.

She visited me while in Michigan
The geese there were meaner than grumpy old men.
We laughed and joked and relished the time
Having to say goodbye should count as a crime.

I tried to distract myself from the thought,
And thinking of her made me distraught.
I hoped and prayed that I’d be the one she would choose

Because she was the one thing I just couldn’t lose.
She called one day and said I was the one
She wanted me come rain, snow, or sun.
So after that it was kind of a blur
I wouldn’t be happy unless I married her. 

So we started talking and looking at dates.
She looked at rings while I looked at loan rates.
My joy was bursting at the seams
Because I was marrying the girl of my dreams. 

Halloween

On Halloween Reed and I were really busy and actually weren't planning on doing anything. And I thought I was okay with that...But I wasn't. I'm really a holiday person and I like to do a little something on every holiday. So I called Reed all at like 6pm distraught and in a panic because I was so sad that we weren't planning on doing anything for Halloween. So Reed, being the angel he is, ran to the store and bought himself a little ironman heart thing and drew a beard and mustache on his face haha. Then he made these little quesadillas that he attempted to make look like candy corns, bought us some Halloween candy and rented my favorite Halloween movie: Hocus Pocus. So we had our own little last-minute Halloween party (I also dressed up like Pepper to go along with ironman but the pictures of that didn't turn out well). Anyways...I would say our Halloween was a success :-).

 















Oh and sometime around Halloween my crew performed at BYU's Best Dance Crew. I think we did a pretty awesome job and we had a blast :-). Below is a photo and an excerpt of the performance... Also sometime around Halloween my family came up to watch a football game and the boys all got matching hoodies so I'm including a couple pictures of that below as well.

Dear Thanksgiving, sorry I never take pictures of you because I'm locked up in a room studying. But just so you know, we celebrated you at the Crosby's home and from what I saw when I surfaced from my cave for food...everyone had a pretty good time ~Sincerely, Natali

Christmas

The highlight of our Christmas vacation at my family's home (our beautiful new home...see last post for details on that :-)) was the gingerbread house competition. Let's just say everyone seriously brought their A-game haha. I'm not sure we will be able to out-do ourselves next time. Reed and I did a model of the Once-ler's house from the lorax, which required us to even bake our own gingerbread haha. We had a blast building it and it actually stayed standing thanks to Reed's engineering expertise! We are so proud of how it turned out. My sister Dana and Jason put together an entire beach house scene depicting our upcoming trip to Costa Rica, complete with sharkfilled water, sand castles and a hammock. It looked pretty incredible. My sister Jaimee and her husband Joey made an ice castle out of sugar cubes that was pretty awesome and the un-married siblings (Tracie, Jayden and Sam) did Spongebob's pineapple under-the-sea house! If I hadn't seen Sam blow drying the pineapple skin himself so that it wouldn't soak the gingerbread I wouldn't have believed it haha. Seriously...how awesome are these gingerbread houses?!!

Upper left is the Costa Rica home by Dana and Jason, Right is the Sponge-bob home by Tracie, Jayden and Sam, lower left is the ice castle by Jaimee and Joey and below are two photos of Reed and my Once-ler home :-). On our Once-ler house I hope you take note of the "unless" rock and the once-ler's green arms sticking out the window :-). Just a few details I am proud of that people tend to miss haha.

Another one of my favorite Christmas traditions is getting our yearly Christmas pictures taken by my little sister Tracie. I think they turned out pretty great :-). Here are my favorites:

New Years Eve

To celebrate the ending of another fabulous year, my parents joined us for a delicious fondue meal at our home in Orem. We did cheese fondue and chocolate fondue, shrimp cocktail, a white bean dip (similar to like a hummus), and sweet & sour meatballs. I think it was a success, just like the rest of our year!