First Date | October 14, 2013

It has been quite awhile and my apologies. I am going to work on doing better at documenting us and my thoughts. 

This last week, I have been thinking about a year ago when my life completely changed for the better. Last year on Sunday, October 13, I returned home from a trip with my family from Vegas. Colton told me he needed to fill me in on the meeting that I had missed that morning. I was immediately excited to have a reason to go see him. We still had not been on a date, I was dying to get to know him more, and I would make any excuse I could to "accidentally" run into him. That night we discussed what happened in the meeting- with some flirting here and there. It took about 10 minutes and I did not want to leave. I started asking him some more personal questions regarding his past and future. After about an hour of talking, he explained to me that he needed to get some homework done. I was devastated. I could have talked to him all night long. I was totally intrigued. He hooked me, by asking if I wanted to finish our conversation over his favorite dessert on Monday night. WOOT WOOT! A date- FINALLY! Keep in mind, this was after quite a few weeks of flirting.  He wouldn't tell me where we were going, but I was excited for our "first date" to finally happen.

He picked me up on Monday and my roommates were already suspicious- they could definitely tell that I was into him. We were told by my roommates and friends at the apartment, that we needed to be home by midnight and we both obliged. 

In the car, he made me try to guess where we were going. After a few failed attempts, I got it! We were off to Chili's to get his favorite dessert-Chocolate Molten Lava Cake. 

We sat and shared this dessert talking about our lives, future plans for school and work, and even some random questions. We did not even realize what time it was, until one of the Chili's waiters had to come and tell us it was time to close up. I couldn't even believe how fast time had flown and we barely even knew each other. We got in the car and wanted to keep talking. We drove down to Utah Lake and talked for hours. It was so fun to hear about his family, his mission, his favorite vacations, crazy police stories, and so much more. 

Neither of us even realized what time it was, but it was definitely after the curfew we obliged to. Man was it a good night. We could have talked all night long if we didn't have curfew or school and work the next day. When he hugged me goodnight he apologized for keeping me out so late (such a gentleman thing to do), and told me we would have to do it again soon. 

Little did I know at that point- that I just went on my last first date and it was more than I could have ever imagined. The impact that he has had on my life is miraculous. I am so lucky to have met him and been able to start our memories together with such a fun, relaxed, first date.

Ask Colton now, and he will say that he rarely, if ever, did he take a girl on a first date and have it last longer than 3 hours. He knew when our date went for almost 6 hours, that there something was different.

Now it's amazing to see where we have come! I love my life and love that he asked me on that first date to get his favorite dessert.

Tell me your first date story with your spouse, fiancé, or boyfriend.

xoxo
Natalie

Best Day of Our Lives | June 27, 2014

Our wedding day was everything we could have imagined and more. We had so many family and friends that were there to show their love and support for us and we can't thank them enough. We couldn't have been blessed with better weather. It wasn't too hot, and only rained when we were inside for our luncheon! We were definitely being watched out for. My favorite part of the day was getting to be with my sweetheart and finally being able to call him my HUSBAND. It isn't weird anymore when I say that! I love my husband!
We had a great photography and videography company called TaylorYourMedia doing everything for us! We love them and we are so excited to have our pictures back. Here are a few of our favorites from the day! But once again thanks for all of your love and support!

These were just as we were coming out of the temple! What a surreal moment walking out as Mr. & Mrs. and everyone cheering for us! 

This was all of our family and friends that were there for the sealing and to celebrate with us outside the temple.

This is the amazing family that I married into! I definitely lucked out in the in-law category. Austin and Jennifer are awesome and I am so excited for their new adventures with a baby and China! David and Lori are the best parents and I love the man that they have raised my husband into. I hope one day Colton will be as good of a dad as David. Lori is a champ. She is a role-model that I look up to so much and I hope to look as good as her one day. 

We are his two favorite women though! And I hope it will always stay that way! 

This is my wonderful family! I am so blessed to be apart of this family that is so full of life. Anyone that knows my mom knows that she is the most kind, loving woman. One day I hope to be half as good of a teacher as she is! My dad has been my rock. I have always been a daddy's girl and I'm grateful for his example. When I met Colton, I saw so many qualities that I see in my dad. Kandace and Chad are such good examples to me. I have seen there love grow tremendously as they have moved away from family and started their own life in Minneapolis. It is amazing how much they have grown together and I am so excited to see our relationship grow over time and experiences as well. Nathan.. Well.. He is Nathan. My big, younger brother that is one of my best friends and worst nightmares. For so long, I was able to beat him up and finally he is at a point where he could have me pinned in seconds. I don't understand how he can get so big, so fast! He is such an example as he has stood up to friends to always do what is right. He has such a strong testimony and I can't wait until he is old enough to get a mission call and to see where he will be serving the lord and sharing his testimony. I love my family!

I can't help but thank our loving grandparents. Grandma and Grandpa Pope and Grandma and Grandpa Poulsen are pictured here and I know that Grandma and Grandpa Taylor as well as Grandma and Grandpa Clegg were there with us in spirit. We love them so much and hope to do as many great things as they have done in their lives. We have both had grandparents serve missions and one day we hope to do the same!

Our wonderful bridal party that was there all day long helping us with different set up, celebration, and most of all to have fun! We love that they were willing to spend all day to make our wedding day as easy and as special as possible!

Here is just a few of my favorite pictures from the temple. There were about 700 pictures to choose from and these were a few favorites.

Our shoes and socks were a hit! :)

Here is a really cool picture of our rings.

Here were a couple pictures of some of the events that happened at the reception! And last but not least, my favorite part of all was getting everyone to Wobble.

Even our parents and grandparents were getting into it! What a fun evening to remember!

We loved our wedding day and are so excited to have so many pictures to remember it by! We love all of you that came out to celebrate! Thanks for all your love and support! We are loving married life and are so excited to see where life will take us in the next few years!

Bachelorette Party | June 25, 2014

I'm going to be doing a throwback every Thursday, and today I want to talk about the wonderful bachelorette party that my roommates and sister threw for me. It was so cute, fun, and hilarious! The night started with dinner at my favorite place, The Cheesecake Factory. We all piled into one car and jammed the whole way to any good lady songs such as Spice Girls. At dinner it was fun to catch up with everyone because I had been living alone in our married apartment. After dinner, we went back to good ole' Devonshire 5 for Cheesecake and fun! We drank sparkling cider in mini martini glasses, opened presents, and did some fun socializing about married life. It was so fun to be with these girls for the evening!

I love that my sis could be here for a few weeks before the wedding to help plan and to help celebrate! She did so much to help at the wedding, thanks Kands for being the best older sister any girl could ask for! She is the one that I will always go to for advice, love, or help in any aspect of life. 

This is my cute friend Mariah that I love dearly. We have so many memories together from high school until now! Remember running into each other in the outfield.

Miss Lo Fo. Who I hope will be next to celebrate with. :) We have grown up with each other since I was in fourth grade and we have been friends ever since! We have served on student council together, played basketball together, and been to more girls camps than we should have been at together! I love you Lo! 

Haylz, my legitimate other half. We didn't get to know each other until this last year when we moved in together in September. We immediately hit it off and people couldn't believe that we fit together like bread and butter. She is my twin just Polynesian. I love you Haylz. 

K-Dawg! My favorite blonde roommate. We have known each other since freshman year and she has always been my go to girl. She has helped me so many times when I have even just needed a hug. I know we will be best friends for many years to come! I love you Kait! 

Miss Lacey, Where to even begin. We were placed together randomly freshman year as roommates. The Lord definitely had a hand in putting us together. We are more similar than people even realize. We have shared some of the best times of life, some of the hardest times of life, and some of the most rewarding times of life. She is that girl that I know will always be there for me no matter what. She is the most genuine person I know. I love you Lace! 

This is my beautiful new sister! Jen is such a good example of such a hard worker. I will never forget the night we went to Zupas together and our husbands were wondering how we could possibly spend over 3 hours there! She is someone I will always look up to for advice. I also can't wait to share that she will be bringing me a Niece in December! Colton and I are excited to be her favorite Aunt and Uncle. 

I love you girls!! Thanks for the memories and a wonderful bachelorette party!!

Cheers Snitches!

xoxox

Honeymooners | June 28- July 3, 2014

We just recently returned from our honeymoon in the beautiful Costa Rica. It was an absolute blast and I was hoping to share some fun pictures and videos. I would recommend to anyone looking to travel somewhere to go to Costa Rica. It was absolutely wonderful! We got to zip-line, ATV, sail on a huge catamaran, eat as much as our little hearts desired, and spend some much needed relaxing time. The wildlife was incredible and the scenery was breath taking!!

 

 

Zip-lining was a blast! We got to do the zipline, a 65 foot free fall, and an 85 foot Tarzan swing. Enjoy these hilarious videos!

The wildlife is incredible! These howler monkeys are absolutely insane and make a noise that I have never even thought about. There were also huge iguanas walking around the resort. 

The beach is magical! They have black sand and white sand beaches -something very different than I have ever seen before. 

The swim up bar was definitely one of our favorite parts of the resort. And just spending time in the pool relaxing. 

On one of the days we were there, Costa Rica played Greece in the World Cup. The resort was filled with Costa Rica jerseys and wonderful people supporting the country. It was awesome to be there and take part in supporting a country that I have fallen in love with! 

We went on an ATV ride and got to see some seriously gorgeous views!

We got to snorkel a couple times while we were there and we loved it. We even set a goal to both get scuba certified because we loved snorkeling so much.

I think in total we figured out that we drank over 35 speciality drinks while we were there. It definitely was a highlight to be able to order one whenever I wanted.

Colton thinks this picture sums up our whole vacation!

Our last evening was spent on a catamaran. It was wonderful to see dolphins, different rock formations, and have my hair blowing in the wind. Let alone the sunset was amazing.  I couldn't believe the bright colors as the sun went down.

And that summed up our first trip as Mr. & Mrs. Taylor. And as for Costa Rica, we will be back in a few years ... I hope!

xoxox
Natalie