CASEYandNATALIE

Long time no see

2011-07-29T10:41:00.001-07:00

Casey and I are doing really well. We have a new baby kitty who is our absolute true love and he is such a darling.

He is very naughty which is a characteristic i ADORE. I love how sneaky and mischevious he is. He gets into trouble pretty much every chance he gets and I wouldn't change that about him for a second.

He is also very loving and tender and sweet. Once when I was sick with a fever and shivvers, he slept on my belly to keep me warm. He loves to sleep on my face and he loves to be around us. He is such a funny little guy.

He loves to eat and is always hungry. Eating is his favorite thing to do, so much so that he sticks his paws in our dinner so he can have a little taste of what we're enjoying (which I have to admit is a little gross. I for one don't LOVE having litter box paws in my meal). He loves spinach, ice cream, soup and cereal. We made him popsicles out of wet catfood and he loves those too :). Last night we had to take his food away at 10:00 PM in order to prepare him for his vet visit this morning. He was very angry and told Casey so. And this morning he woke up and ran out to see if his food was back and I heard screams coming from the bathroom when he realized it wasn't! He LOVES his food. I can't wait to spoil him with delicious cat food. :)

Our baby boy loves to be playful. He goes crazy for his feathers on a stick and any other toy that simulates a flying bug or bird. He also is fond of hide and seek and tag, which is how I ended up with this

Which was awful and all, but then it turned into this! ......

Can you believe it? a black eye! That second photo is it covered with makeup too. I had gotten up at 5:00 with Casey to make him his lunch and was just crawling back to bed and under the covers. I felt Pumpkin crawling slowly up my body but I thought he was just snuggling in until WHAP, his claw got stuck in my vein! My poor baby boy is so apologetic. He ran into the bathroom and sat in the corner with his eyes down FOR 20 MINUTES until I came and got him and told him it was okay and he was forgiven. I got so many sweet kisses from him that morning!

I love how smart he is. He has such a mind of his own and he is so cute to watch playing by himself. He loves to play with hair ties and he spends hours playing with the little plastic divers in our bath tub. He loves to be with us no matter where we are and he is so curious. While Casey is in the shower he jumps up to the bathroom door knob and tries to twist it to get in to see what Casey is doing in there.

Our kitty is such a sweet baby. We love him so much and we are so blessed to have him! I am thinking about him a lot today because he is at the vet getting neutered. I feel so horrible for my baby. A lot of people have been saying it's good payback for giving me a black eye but that isn't how I feel! I feel like I have deliberately made plans to make today the worst day of my baby boys life. I have planned for him to be terrified at the vet and wake up dazed and wearing the cone of shame. I feel so deceitful! My poor little one. I cant wait to have him back home with me. Only 3 and a half hours to go until I can rescue him! :)

I love my boys and I love my life. My husband and my kitty are such wonderful things to come home to each night and I just love and appreciate them both. I hope they both know that!

New Year

2011-01-24T10:48:00.000-08:00

I am so excited for this new year! Casey and I have so many many wonderful plans of all the things were going to do together this year. We have plans for vacations, things to build, things to buy, things to make, things to eat! I love plans, even if we never actually accomplish what we're planning, it's so fun to be on the same page with someone about your goals for the future.

Being married is way better than not being married. I didn't think it would feel that different - Casey and I have been together for almost 6 years and it seemed like we knew each other REALLY WELL. I am learning new things about him every day!!

Here are some hints about our plans. See if you can guess! :)

We got married :)

2010-11-22T20:40:00.000-08:00

And if you're a friend in real life, you can see photos on facebook.
We love being married. We love our little apartment and we love each other and we really really love Jesus. Life is good.

Lately I have been into couponing. I've been trying to save more than I spend at the Grocery store.
Last week at Ralphs, I spend about $13 on about $100 of food! The bug bit me.

This week I spent $45.96 on $244.85!
They are doubling coupons up to $1 off until 11/25, and a lot of things are on sale for $1.99, so it is pretty easy to get lotsa stuff for free! I got

1 Maruchan Yakisoba
5 Smart Ones
4 Uncle Ben Long Grain Rice
4 Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa
8 Green Giant Boxed Frozen Veggies
2 Cheerios
1 Apple Cheerios
1 Cinnamon Toast Crunch
3 Bisquick
3 Cake Mix
3 Frosting
1 Chex Mix
2 Fat Free Pringles
1 Refrigerated Buitoni Noodles
1 Box Butter
3 Popcorn
2 Pillsbury Grands
2 Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
2 Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls
2 Tropicana 50 Orange Juice
2 Tropicana 50 Blueberry Pomegranate Juice
2 Reddi Whip
2 Knudsen Sour Cream
2 Caramel Apple Dippers
1 Silk Soymilk
1 Olay Bodywash
1 Secret Deodorant
2 Scope Mouthwash
1 Colgate Total Toothpaste
1 Crest Toothpaste
2 Always Pads

And my receipt is about three miles long. It's crazy to me that some people pay $250 for all that and that I used to be one of them!! Never again! We believe our money is a gift- no more careless spending! :)

progress

2010-04-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

It's been a nice long time since I last said anything, and I have no idea if I have even accomplished much else. Lets see...

I'm going to wear this necklace:

With a pair of vintage diamond earrings from my aunt.

I kind of want to wear these shoes:

And I am thinking of something like this for the rehearsal dinner (I already have the gray shoes)

Rehearsal Dinner? by nootlebot featuring Minnetonka shoes

We're honeymooning in Hawaii! We've both never been there. We're excited! and we're going to a luau and I just might eat the apple piggy because it will be my only chance to try one in a very long time.

Casey and I are having a big huge garage sale this Friday and Saturday at my house in Orange. Email me if you want the address (natalie.rich@csu.fullerton.edu)! I would love to see you and all proceeds are going to pay for our wedding!!

things

2009-09-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

We met with out minister yesterday. We talked about everything that could possibly be included in a ceremony and which things we could have or not have and there are many decisions that we need to make about those types of things. but not yet.

We now have wineglasses from craigslist to go with our champagne glasses. We had a wonderful save the date making party with most of the wedding party, and we've almost booked a photographer.

PHOTOGRAPHY IS SO EXPENSIVE. but we found one that will fit our budget! Her photos are lovely and she seems very sweet. Hopefully we'll get to meet her soon! If you're in southern CA, you should check out voirvenir.com!

We bought our guest books. They're vintage scrapbooks from the mid 19th century. We're having two - one at the ceremony and one at the dinner reception. The ceremony one is for most of the people we're inviting, but the reception one is for just our family (because they're the only one's invited to the dinner reception). At the dinner reception, we are going to have an instant camera and glue and pens set up so that each couple, person, group, or whatever, can decorate their own page of the guest book, put a picture of them from that night in their spot, and give us a wonderful memory!

Casey and i are so sick of college. But we graduate this semester! I am trying so hard not to be a negative nancy about going to school but it's very hard.

And we've been engaged for almost FIVE MONTHS. isn't that crazy!? It doesn't feel like it has been that long.

We've been collecting vintage unused stamps to put on our invitation envelopes. Hopefully we'll get enough soon enough! We obviously don't want to pay anything higher than face value for them but if you're lucky on ebay and at yardsales, you can get them for less than face value and save money on postage AND have cool looking stamps! win-win situation if you ask me.

flower change!

2009-08-06T09:11:00.000-07:00

We went to meet with our florist yesterday (well, she's not OURS quite yet, we still need to book her). She was very sweet (I love that all of our vendors have been just lovely people!) and gave an amazing deal on the flowers.
For [averysmallamount], we're getting
- 1 brides boquet
- 7 bridesmaid boquets
- 2 mothers corsages
- 1 grooms bout
- 7 groomsmen bouts
- 2 fathers bouts

yay!
Here are some inspiration pictures. I am looking for some nice pictures of flowers over/around a white arbor. I have a couple but I'm not so sure about them. Anyway, on to pictures!

I like this one, they used the flowers as centerpieces at the head table during the reception (just swiped them right off the arbor and stuck them in vases).

Boy bout inspiration

flower girl.. if we decide to have one. If we do, we'll probably make this ourselves.

MY BOQUET! isn't it so so pretty?! It will be modified to include cream daisies.

yikes, i would be so afraid of being crushed by flowers.

this one is okay.

I like this idea but it wouldn't work for us.

I like how simple this one is.

girls bouquets, except without that big ugly white gerbera daisy or that other flower. they will mostly be green, tied with a coral ribbon. They might have some yellow/ other colors in my bouquet, and the groomsmen's bouts will match.
YAY!

peeks!

2009-07-10T17:42:00.000-07:00

Ready for some pictures of things we're considering?
i think i love all of these things, but i dont think they'll all work for us.

This is kind of a random assortment of images, and i have no idea where they're all from. sorry!

a cake that scares me.

2009-06-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

This cake is so huge and sprawling that it is hard for me to comprehend. There is so much going on and i am overwhelmed by a CAKE. insane.
anyway,
We've been looking into cakes. I cannot believe that people actually pay $600-$700 for a CAKE. A cake?! Cake is like, three ingredients and so easy to make! who pays that much for a CAKE!
sooo...
we might be making our own. Casey has been researching things like fondant and tiers. Seriously, if we made our cake ourselves I bet we could do the whole thing for like, $50 max. especially since we want funfetti cake and each box is only a dollar! and funfetti cake is guaranteed to be delicious, by the way, so we don't have to worry about making a recipe wrong or anything.
Everyone says not to do things yourself because you'll have too much to do. But Casey is more of a teammate than other grooms, and I think making our cake would give us something else to freak out about in the days preceding our wedding. Like, instead of worrying about something that we can't control (spilled beverage on dress, wilted flowers, late arrivals, whatever), we can worry about the cake together, be a team, and cross something off the checklist. And save at least $500.

Another thing we were thinking of doing is having a baker make a smaller wedding cake that is like, maybe $100 and then making our own grooms cake. Unfortunately though, most bakers don't offer box funfetti as an option, and they try to make it all fancy and gourmet when what we really want is the $1 box. so who knows.

Food Presentation

2009-06-24T17:23:00.000-07:00

While probably none of these would work for my own wedding, i really love the way the food was presented at these weddings and I hope I will be able to make ours look as wonderful!

I've also been looking at place settings. I found some sort of examples of things I like, but we'll have to see how it all works with the budget (and the wooden cutlery which was already purchased, as well as my centerpiece idea).

images from oncewed.com

i cannot stop looking for wedding photos! it's insane.

Toppers

2009-06-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

Probably six months or so before we got engaged, Casey and I decided on our cake toppers. I found them while browsing etsy one day and fell completely in love with them! They're designed by Jennifer Murphy, and she put out this great little tutorial so that people can diy them, which is what we plan to do. I can't wait to get started, and I will post a picture of our little guys when they're all done!

images from oncewed.com via Jennifer Murphy

and here's a picture of the exact ones we want to make. so cute!!!

pompoms

2009-06-23T17:21:00.001-07:00

i love pompoms on everything. I think they're so lovely.

and i love this idea, instead of rice or birdseed!

Of course, the colors would be different, and they'd likely be handmade, but aren't they wonderful?!

image from oncewed.com

Teacup Engagement Shower

2009-06-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official! We had our first party! Actually, Casey wasn't invited, but it was a party celebrating us!
Casey's family got together to throw me my very own teacup shower. Each girl brings a wrapped teacup without a name on it, and I guess who brought each one. They pick the teacups based on their own personal taste, not on what they think I'd like. It was really fun and I thought it looked beautiful!
Here are some pictures:

Maid of Honor, Me, Mommy

My little sister and I

Maid of honor/sister, bridesmaid/casey's cousin, me, bridesmaid/casey's sister

Carissa, Me, Aunt Lynette

Me with the women behind the whole party, Casey's Grandma and Aunt!

Casey's family and I

Yum!

It looked really pretty :)

Grandma Shaw (Casey's Dad's Kindergarten Teacher) and I

Me and 2/3 of my grandmothers!

Casey's Mom and sister enjoying their tea :)

I love all of the teacups that I received. They are all so beautiful and different from each other and I like the way they look all together. Some of them were really easy to guess and some were really hard! I had a really fun time at tea with all the girls. :)

The French Estate

2009-06-20T10:31:00.001-07:00

Casey and I booked our venue yesterday and we couldn't be more thrilled with it. We had had our hearts set on the beautiful outdoor chapels at Kindred Church in Anaheim Hills, but they wouldn't allow us to have a cake and punch reception on site, and it seemed silly to leave and go to another site for only an hour or two.
On a whim, I searched for something like 'cheap beautiful wedding venues' online, and found The French Estate!

The French Estate is actually a little more expensive than Kindred was, but it is just about eighty billion times better as well!

It is owned by a woman named Sarah (she lives there), and she is just wonderful to work with. She is very sweet, accommodating and honest, and she offers to do all these extra things all the time that weren't agreed on when she gave us the quote. And then she leaves the quote the same!
Ceremony Location:
It looks like a lot of people choose to use the backyard for the reception, but we decided to use it for the ceremony instead. The front half of the yard will be in shade, so we figured it will be better for people who want to stand and talk after the ceremony. The backyard is also farther away from the street, so we wont be competing with cars who don't know they're intruding on a wedding.

Cake and Punch Reception Location:
Here's the front yard, all dolled up for weddings and not receptions. Just imagine what it will be like, I guess! The two yards are connected by a wide side yard. There is no pesky fence separating the two, which means that we can just mosey wherever we want to mosey.

Interior (for photos, etc.):
We love how period-accurate the entire home is. It's beautiful!

When I first called Sarah, she asked me what I wanted in a ceremony location. I told her I only needed two hours max.. that I wanted the ceremony and the cake and punch reception outside and that's it.

The two hours has turned into four or five hours, she's offered to let us use all her chairs and tables, she has cake cutting utensils, she is making the punch, she is letting us use the interior, she is including a wedding coordinator, she is including offsite parking and a shuttle bus... the list goes on.
All for the same price. I have not seen this kind of kindness and generosity in a vendor yet! She seems so willing to help us make our day perfect, instead of wanting to make money. It's like she wants to take special care of us as though we were her own family members getting married, not some random people who called in, irritated because their last place fell through. The French Estate is a really wonderful location and both Casey and I are so glad that we decided not to use Kindred - we like The French Estate so much more!

It took me a long time to find all of these photos online and I couldn't find credits with them. If you are the photographer and would like credit given, a link to your website or for me to remove the photos entirely, just let me know.

INVITATIONS

2009-06-19T17:20:00.000-07:00

And just for fun:

he only pictures that I can find of our invitations are very small. But these are the invitations we bought! We also got matching thank you's, and for 100 of the invitations, response cards and thank yous, we paid $100 at Target. The Target website does not show these invitations, but they're in the stores!
They are a brand called letterimpress. We get all the glam of having letterpressed invitations (trust me, there's a lot of glam included.) without the yucky expense!

In other news, we booked our venue today!!!
We are thrilled with it. And on top of all the other things that Sarah has offered to do for us to help our day be perfect, today she even offered to make punch too! :) She is very sweet and both Casey and I love working with her. Turns out that not being able to use Kindred Church was a blessing in disguise! More photos/information on the venue to come... stay tuned!

hair

2009-06-19T00:39:00.001-07:00

which hair do you like? any of them? i dont know what to do.

Gonna Get Married!

2009-06-18T23:16:00.001-07:00

Sometimes (all the time) I can't even figure out how I got to this point in my life. I am so glad that I found Casey so young, and I can't wait to get married to him.
We just finished a 23 week class on marriage and it has already changed our relationship so much. Right after we finished, we started week one of the marriage prep books that Casey's parents gave to us when we got engaged. It was fun to already know a lot of the answers after finishing E E.
I love learning about the woman I am supposed to be and about the role God has designed for me. I love the role I have been given. I can't wait to carry out God's plans for me and to be the Godly wife that He has taught me to be. I love thinking about our sweet little home, making dinner, cleaning the bathroom, and welcoming Casey when he comes home.
Gosh, I am so so blessed.

Table numbers, place cards, Save the Dates

2009-06-17T00:11:00.000-07:00

TEN DOLLARS for all!! :)
Apparently BIGLOTS bought out the Martha Stewart wedding collection or something. I'm not a particularly huge fan of martha stewart craftycrafty things, but $2 for 40 cards and envelopes (times 3) and $2 for 40 table place cards (times 2) is nooot bad!
We only need 100 Save the Dates (bought 120 for $6), so the extras are going to be used to make Table numbers (we only need seven of those) so the extra extras can be used as backup thank yous/shower invites/something.
hooray!

They also had:
-just married sign for car
-flower girl basket
-ring bearer pillow
-invitations (imagine getting all your invitations for $4! if casey and I weren't particular about the invitations we wanted, we'd totally go for it!)

I'm so excited to be finding things for so cheap! :)

my dress

2009-06-16T12:17:00.000-07:00

i found my dress. and i bought it.
on eBay, for $330. (!)
brand new with tags, exactly my size and the color I wanted, just PERFECT.
and it came with a free crinoline!

Original Price (without crinoline or bra or shoes or accessories): $699

hooray!
I cant show pictures because I am afraid of Casey seeing it.
Well... I can do this:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v260/Nootable/wedding%20dress/
password: wedding.

Casey you better not peek!!!

I need off-site storage.

2009-06-15T22:00:00.000-07:00

Today Casey and I drove to Mission Viejo to buy our Champagne Glasses. We got 83 glasses for $80, which is the best deal you will find anywhere. We could have rented them for .70 each, costing us $58.10, but we decided that it would be better to buy them for a couple of reasons.
1. If they break, we don't have to pay the $20 fee per glass for the company to replace them.
2. We can resell them after the wedding! Then they cost us nothing!

We found them through craigslist, and bought them from a lady who had spend $90 buying them from someone else on craigslist before her own wedding.

Does it matter if wine glasses/water goblets don't quite match the champagne glasses? Not to me.

But ahhh what do I do with all this stuff for a whole year! My bedroom is cramped enough as it is, and living with my parents means that I only have my bedroom as a storage option. :/

I had heard this before, but I've now found it to be absolutely true: add the word 'wedding' to anything and it becomes about a billion times more expensive.

photobooth

2009-06-13T10:18:00.000-07:00

i want a photobooth at our wedding. so badly. but of course, when money gets tight it is the first thing to go! and by the looks of it, money is going to get tight. I would much rather have all of my friends and family there though, than have a freaky old photobooth...
unless i can have both!
i dont know where a lot of these photos came from, because i have been saving them up for a while. I think MAYbe we can do this though!
most of the following pictures are just a piece of upholstery fabric tacked to the ceiling and a digital camera. i don't think we could actually MAKE a booth like one of the pictures is (someone's husband made them tat for christmas i think!) but we can sort of get the feel of booth.
and if we could find cheap enough film, we could use polaroids instead and have people paste them into the guestbook next to their advice/well wishes. right?

im not sure how i feel about all of the glasses and mustaches though. is it too much??

Save The Dates

2009-06-13T09:44:00.001-07:00

Save the Date inspiration:

I think this is such a cool idea! I am not really sure if we're going to do it, but if we did we would basically do what the picture shows and on the back write any information we know so far (like, the date.)
and mail it out like a postcard.
we'll seeeee.

Purchases

2009-06-08T20:39:00.000-07:00

Wooden Cutlery

Wooden Cutlery, purchased 6/8/09. $5/100 pieces - $15 total.
Found Here

Manzanita Branches for Centerpieces

Manzanita Branches, purchased 6/8/09. $3.63 per 10 to 14" branch - $36.30 total.
Found Here

CAKEinspiration

2009-06-08T20:34:00.000-07:00

FLOWERinspiration

2009-06-08T20:33:00.001-07:00

COLORinspiration

2009-06-08T20:29:00.001-07:00