Lions and tigers and bears, Oh MY!!

Nathan is in Europe right now for a study abroad trip, so I find myself being quite bored. Was I use to all this boredom before I met Nathan or what did I do to fill up all of my ample amounts of free time? Maybe I haven't really had free time in so long because I met Nathan right after I moved back from Hawaii and in Hawaii I was always busy with friends, church and my little Lou Lou. Before that I was at BYU-Idaho and school and friends took all of my time. Wow, I have forgotten how to entertain myself! I miss Nathan, but I have done a few things since he has left. Last Saturday I finished planting our garden, weeded it and took a long nap. Then on Tuesday I went out with Nathan's mom, Linda to dinner at Chili's and then we met up with Jared and Kristy for bowling and then went to Yvonne's house and then got ice cream. That was a lot of fun and kept me busy most of the night! On thursday i went to Baylee's dance recital and watched her and my brother, Scott do their daddy daughter dance. It was so cute and my brother has got some moves!! Then on Friday I got my hair done! I went a little more drastic with the color, but I really like it!! Afterwards I hung out with Stacey. I love hanging out with her. We talk about all sorts of fun things and have a good time remembering how silly we were growing up!
Today I woke up early, no thanks to my nieces, put Abbey and Chloe in the car, picked up Nathan's little brother Austin and went to the Zoo!!

Austin and Abbey in front of one of the dinosaurs

Chloe in front of the baby triceratops

Austin and the monkey

Austin, Abbey and Chloe

Chloe, Abbey, Austin and the bald eagle!

Chloe and Austin on the carousel

it was stinky in this house

so smelly

a bunch of monkeys

riding on the dinosaur

aaah he's eating my head!

Abbey and My mom on the train ride

Chloe, me and Austin on the train ride

I had a blast this week, thanks to other people helping me come up with things to do with all this time on my hands! I have been lucky and I've been able to talk to Nathan every day via video chat. One more week to find things to do until he returns! I think I will survive!

Happy Birthday to me!

Today is my 28th birthday!! Yep, I'm an old woman!! Today I woke up, read my scriptures, was inspired by my grandpa's "ponderings", got ready for work and went to work!  Around 11 in the morning I got a call from my hunk of a boyfriend telling me to come outside for a minute.   I got outside and he gave me a kiss and told me that he wanted to say happy birthday and  give me something. This is what I got:

I opened it and this is what was on the inside:

He told me to have fun, gave me another kiss and went to work. So, I had all day long to sit wondering what on earth I was going to find when I got home (I had a pretty good idea that balloons would be involved). Work was good, and I started working on new things so time went by pretty fast. I went home as quick as I could opened the door to my bedroom and found this:

My first thought was "HOLY CRAP!" then wow, he spent a lot of time on this and "Oh boy do I love him!" The balloons hanging from the cieling and some of them on the floor were filled with confetti and a piece to a letter puzzle! So I had to pop each balloon and confetti went everywhere! It was fun! And when I discovered the "puzzle" I told myself that Nathan can NEVER say he is not creative again! Once I got all the balloons popped, this is what the puzzle said:

"Oh Natalie, my girlfriend. Wow you're old. I love that you are mine and wish you happiness and joy. Always keep smiling and Know that its true You're my true love Happy Birthday to you!"

I also found in the midst of all the latex and construction paper 3 presents, uniquely wrapped in homemade wrappings:

Inside were 3 things I wanted: 

And to top it all off, he folded and put away my laundry!! I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful man in my life! I love you Nathan!!

After my room safari, I went out with my mom, and some of my family to the Blue Lemon!! It started out as just me and my mom going, but my brother called to see what we were doing and decided to come and I invited my sister-in-law because I live with her. So it was fun!  If you've never been to the Blue Lemon, I would  highly highly recommend it!! Everything there is absolutely delicious!!

I love my nerd

For Valentine's Day, Nathan got creative. The Friday before, I called him on my lunch break, as I sometimes do and we talked on the phone for a few minutes. He asked how my day was going and just normal stuff. Then he asked if I had watched the news lately. I said no, and he said that there is a huge story going on about these cars all around the state that have been getting vandelized.  These people go around to cars and do stuff do the outside of them and drive off.  I thought it was weird but didn't think too much of it. Then he said I think you better go make sure your car is okay. That's when I knew something was up. I just figured he was there bringing me some lunch or chocolate, as he sometimes does. So I took my time wandering downstairs to "check on my car".  When I walked out this is what I saw:

I was on the phone with him and I told him he was a nerd and that I loved him. He then said, what, is something wrong with your car?! You better call the police!  We then played marco polo as he honked his horn and I tried to find where he was in the parking lot.  I sure love my nerd!!  I mean, look at this face... It just screams, I'm hot and you love me!

He bought me a bunch of ballons, a dozen roses, and chocolate! He really knows how to make me happy!

Day 19- A Hobby

Well, I have a lot of hobbies, and it seems like I haven't taken the time to do them lately. Maybe because it's cold outside, or I'm just busy. But all of my hobbies pretty much center around one word: CRAFTS
This past year I picked up on a new hobby.. they refinishing furniture hobby. I was doing quite a bit of it and even created a blog called Rustic Creativity In the past year I have refinished 2 desks, a nightstand, a curio cabinet, a dresser and an entertainment center.  If I had my own place I would probably be a refinishing queen and my whole house would be furnished with old things that became new. I love it! It's so much fun and it just makes me happy!! Here is a photo of a couple of my favorites I've done so far:

Other hobbies I have are: painting, drawing, creating fine art, doing crafts, playing with my cricut, reading and writing funny poems.

Day 18 -Something you miss

I've been putting this post off because it's been hard to write about. But, when I saw this on the list I decided that I would force myself to do it. Something I miss most is more of someone. This man:

My Grandpa White, or Gramps as I liked to call him is this greatest man I have ever known.  He passed away last August, and I have missed him very much.  Gramps has been like a father to me and I feel so blessed to have had him in my life! He was always there to give me advice, to give me blessings, to support me, to make me laugh, to teach me and to give me hugs. He had such a great sense of humor! The picture above proves that point! I remember him coming to our family Halloween party dressed as a bumble bee and "accidentally" putting the stinger on backwards. I remember one year at Christmas when he insisted on putting a fully decorated Christmas tree on the roof of the house so everyone could see it. Even in death his sense of humor shone through. A few weeks before he passed away, a good friend of our family, Henk Dorenbosch, came to visit and he talked to him about going out with a bang. And that became my grandpa's motto. He said I'm going out with a bang several times. The day he died was nice, sunny and blue skies. But as he took his last breath a clap of thunder rolled through the sky, and everyone started to laugh. He went out just like he said he would, with a bang!
He was always the perfect example of a husband, father, and grandpa! I loved seeing him and my Grandma together. You could tell how much they love each other just by seeing them look at each other.

He had such a big heart and loved everyone. I would often find him in his office typing away on the keyboard at 3 am. He wrote all kinds of things. funny things, spiritual things, thoughts, dreams. I could always count on my Gramps for spiritual uplifting. He was so knowledgeable about the gospel, about the spirit, about how the Lord works. My cousin said that when you were with him you were in the presence of greatness, and I couldn't agree more!

I miss his big laugh, his huge feet, his funny shoes, his jokes, his pink sweats, his warm hugs, and his cheesy smile. My grandpa made a difference in so many people's lives and I don't know if he ever really realized the impact he had on mine. I miss him a lot! and I will forever be grateful for the time that I was blessed to have him in my life! I love you Gramps!!

Day 17-Pet Peeves

This is a hard one for me... I don't have very many.  I guess one of my pet peeves are when people don't take responsibility for their actions... but who would like that?  Let me think... I don't like clutter. My room is a bit cluttery at the moment because I'm fitting a lot of stuff in a little space, but it's organized. After living with lots of people over the past 10 years. I have found that having a messy kitchen drives me crazy! I guess I get that one from my mother.

Day 16-Something you're looking forward to

THIS:

 AND THIS:

OOOH  I CAN'T WAIT!!