Hello handsome Jesus! I am so excited that our 7 year dating anniversary is coming up this week! We were hoping to go away overnight for the first time since Johanna was born to celebrate, but it looks like your parents will be in Mexico and this week, Johanna has been waking up in the middle of the night to nurse every night... so I don't think it will happen yet :( We will have to come up with something special. I am giving you a pair of boxers and a bag of ghost pepper chips that I think you will love ;) It feels so crazy that we have been dating for 7 years... saying it out loud, it doesn't sound like very long. However, that is almost a 3rd of our lives... we really have been together since we were just babies ;) We were so young at 18 when we started dating and I am so thankful that you are the only man I have ever dated! What a blessing our relationship and marriage is to me! You teach me patience, selflessness, joy... you stretch me beyond my own limitations, inspire and encourage me, and gently lead me in my relationship with our Lord. You are my very favorite person in the world! I am so happy to get to live life with you by my side. Through all the change we have been through lately, you have been such a steady rock for me to lean on. You are always happy, always seeing the best in life, and always quick to serve. My love for you continues to grow everyday! We are about to start trying to get pregnant again, and as we enter this new stage in our lives, I am working hard to put you second (behind God). I think last time around, I was so busy feeling nervous and trying to research everything and trying to soak it all in, that I left you behind a little bit... this time, I want to be focused on you through it all. putting you first is the very best thing I can do for our babies <3 I love you so much and am so excited to continue to go through life together! xoxoxo
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Changes
Hello handsome! Wow- I can hardly believe it has been 4 months since I have written a love note to you... so sorry! I will work harder to post every few weeks. Right now, you are driving home from a 4 day trip to Bandon Dunes. You had so much fun, but we missed you a lot here at home! It was our first time spending more than 1 night away from each other and our first time in years that we have gone more than 24 hours without seeing each other... I am sitting here on the computer writing a love note to you while on hold with a company for a homeowner's insurance quote. Johanna is napping- we went to church this morning and then to Gymboree class, so she is pooped! We are in the process of buying our first home!! We are hoping to close by the end of this month (2 weeks...) so that is pretty crazy! We have been staying busy with Johanna, work, church, small group, and house hunting. I am deciding between trying to start my own business that I can run from home long term or working just one or two more summers for your family. We have been doing so much business, but haven't really done any playing... we need a vacation!!
Well, new day, same post! Johanna woke up just minutes into my blogging... but here I am again 3 days later ;) You had Monday and Tuesday off this week and we did a lot of relaxing! We went out to Ihop to redeem a freebie, we went to Red Robin, we relaxed, we watched a lot of tv, we played outside when it was sunny (Cece and an exercise ball...)! It was so fun and so wonderful to have you home! We are in the process of finishing paperwork for our new house- so exciting! We have made a LOT of HUGE, life-changing decisions in the past few days. Your sister had been looking at houses, but had been for quite a long time and we didn't think she was going to move very quickly... but all within the past few days, she put in an offer and it was accepted! Last month, we had been racking out brains trying to figure out if we could somehow move in with your parents- make the garage into a 2 bedroom studio? 1 bedroom upstairs and 1 in the basement? and it just wan't making sense for us. but all of a sudden, there will be plenty of room for us- and at the absolutely perfect timing. It is such a God thing, it is crazy! I had been SO stressed out and God showed up and worked everything out at just the right time. We went from thinking we would move into our new townhouse and that I might even get a full time job at Yahoo! to make ends meet to moving in with your parents, renting out our townhouse and me working for your family while getting to stay home with Johanna. Amazing! There is still a lot to figure out and we have a lot of feelings to process, but I am pretty excited about how well we (ok, mostly me!) handled all the rapid, huge changes. Lucky little baby has no idea any of this is going on hahaha. I wonder how she will handle moving... i think she will be homesick :( but she will adjust and so will we :)
You just left for work a bit ago (working a closing shift) and Johanna just went down for her first nap! Today, we are planning on going to a Gymboree class at 2:30-3:15 and then getting groceries. Somewhere in there make dinner and hopefully the house won't be too much of a disaster when you get home... but at this point, any time I clean 1 room, Johanna is destroying another ;)
We are getting kind of excited talking about when to have our next baby.. Right now, we are planning to start trying sometime in April- making the next baby a February baby, so just over a year from now! We will see how all that goes ;) I am starting to feel really ready to get pregnant again... which is kind of odd- I thought it would take me longer to stop feeling overwhelmed, but Johanna is easy at this point and I feel ready to add to our family! I have only 2 lbs left to lose to meet my goal- back to high school weight (9 lbs. under pre-pregnancy weight) so I am working out consistently and eating less and still breastfeeding, so hopefully I will get there by Johanna's 1st birthday! and then I will REALLY feel ready!
SO SO much going on in our lives. and big changes. moving. thinking about adding to our family. only 7 weeks until we celebrate our baby's 1st birthday! it is all exciting, but overwhelming and I am so thankful that you are my rock. you are my steady and stable. my comfort. Thank you for all that you are- adaptable, maximizer, positive- that is such a complement to me. You can always help me see the best in any situation. and you are always there- in the scary times, in the happy times, in the sad times. I know I can count on you!
Now, let's get moved! and then let's go on a vacation for goodness sake!! maybe we can take our first overnight trip without the baby soon... it will be so easy once we live at your parents' house! If only she would stop waking up once a night to eat...
I love you so much, Jesus. You are my knight in shining armor. You are my rock. I am SO thankful to have you at the head of our family- protecting us, leading us, and helping us to love life. You are my favorite person in the world and I am so lucky to do life with you!
Well, new day, same post! Johanna woke up just minutes into my blogging... but here I am again 3 days later ;) You had Monday and Tuesday off this week and we did a lot of relaxing! We went out to Ihop to redeem a freebie, we went to Red Robin, we relaxed, we watched a lot of tv, we played outside when it was sunny (Cece and an exercise ball...)! It was so fun and so wonderful to have you home! We are in the process of finishing paperwork for our new house- so exciting! We have made a LOT of HUGE, life-changing decisions in the past few days. Your sister had been looking at houses, but had been for quite a long time and we didn't think she was going to move very quickly... but all within the past few days, she put in an offer and it was accepted! Last month, we had been racking out brains trying to figure out if we could somehow move in with your parents- make the garage into a 2 bedroom studio? 1 bedroom upstairs and 1 in the basement? and it just wan't making sense for us. but all of a sudden, there will be plenty of room for us- and at the absolutely perfect timing. It is such a God thing, it is crazy! I had been SO stressed out and God showed up and worked everything out at just the right time. We went from thinking we would move into our new townhouse and that I might even get a full time job at Yahoo! to make ends meet to moving in with your parents, renting out our townhouse and me working for your family while getting to stay home with Johanna. Amazing! There is still a lot to figure out and we have a lot of feelings to process, but I am pretty excited about how well we (ok, mostly me!) handled all the rapid, huge changes. Lucky little baby has no idea any of this is going on hahaha. I wonder how she will handle moving... i think she will be homesick :( but she will adjust and so will we :)
You just left for work a bit ago (working a closing shift) and Johanna just went down for her first nap! Today, we are planning on going to a Gymboree class at 2:30-3:15 and then getting groceries. Somewhere in there make dinner and hopefully the house won't be too much of a disaster when you get home... but at this point, any time I clean 1 room, Johanna is destroying another ;)
We are getting kind of excited talking about when to have our next baby.. Right now, we are planning to start trying sometime in April- making the next baby a February baby, so just over a year from now! We will see how all that goes ;) I am starting to feel really ready to get pregnant again... which is kind of odd- I thought it would take me longer to stop feeling overwhelmed, but Johanna is easy at this point and I feel ready to add to our family! I have only 2 lbs left to lose to meet my goal- back to high school weight (9 lbs. under pre-pregnancy weight) so I am working out consistently and eating less and still breastfeeding, so hopefully I will get there by Johanna's 1st birthday! and then I will REALLY feel ready!
SO SO much going on in our lives. and big changes. moving. thinking about adding to our family. only 7 weeks until we celebrate our baby's 1st birthday! it is all exciting, but overwhelming and I am so thankful that you are my rock. you are my steady and stable. my comfort. Thank you for all that you are- adaptable, maximizer, positive- that is such a complement to me. You can always help me see the best in any situation. and you are always there- in the scary times, in the happy times, in the sad times. I know I can count on you!
Now, let's get moved! and then let's go on a vacation for goodness sake!! maybe we can take our first overnight trip without the baby soon... it will be so easy once we live at your parents' house! If only she would stop waking up once a night to eat...
I love you so much, Jesus. You are my knight in shining armor. You are my rock. I am SO thankful to have you at the head of our family- protecting us, leading us, and helping us to love life. You are my favorite person in the world and I am so lucky to do life with you!
Friday, September 19, 2014
Best friend!
Thank you for being my best friend, Jesus. Thank you for laughing with me at all the silly parts of life and supporting me through all the rough parts. Thank you for loving me no matter what- no matter how cranky or hormonal or whatever. Thank you for allowing me to live out my dream of being a stay at home mommy. Thank you for working so hard to support our family. You are such a wonderful man. You are hard working and honorable. You have become such an amazing leader for our family. I love your leadership and respect you so much. Thank you for learning how to lead us and becoming such an incredible father and husband. I love you more all the time and consider it an honor to walk through life with you! te amo munch munch munch ;)
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Almost through the summer!
I have been having so much fun dating you lately! We got to go out on THREE dates during our trip to Cali. and we got to go on another date last night! We went out to Red Robin for your birthday lunch, we went to In'n'Out (we are sooo healthy!) for a lunch date, and we walked to the hot tub and went swimming one night....granted you did step on a bee... but we had so much fun! Last night, we went to ComedySportz! They give out free tickets for birthdays, so we invited the Naefs to join us and your sister came over to babysit. We are so lucky to have people in our lives who can help babysit so we can go enjoy each other! We laughed so hard- I am really glad you enjoyed it :) This summer has been hard on our marriage. We have been so busy! Our house (especially the outside) has been a disaster, we haven't found a time to go to church, we are feeling disconnected from our friends, I have been leaving a few evenings a week to go work once you get home and baby goes to sleep, I had been using your day off to go to work, you were working a ton, we had a demanding infant.... the list could keep going. It has been a challenge to prioritize each other and enjoy our time together knowing how much is needing to get done around our house, etc. Now that the season is winding down and Johanna is getting more independent, we can finally breathe again. I am so lucky to have you by my side during those hard seasons. You are my rock! You have really helped me become a person who enjoys life...I don't know that i really took pleasure in life before I met you. I was always accomplishing things, but I never slowed down enough to have fun. We are such a perfect balance! You really do balance me out and make me a better person. I thank God for you and for our marriage! Thank you for being my biggest supporter, my best friend, my comforter... you are so good to me! I hope that I can be as good to you as you are to me. I strive to serve you, but I know I fall short in so many ways. I am so lucky to get to grow in selflessness with you and learn together how to serve each other and continually put each other first. Thank you for learning along with me. and thank you for choosing every day to love me and serve me and grow our marriage. Jesus, I love you! I don't even have words right now to express my love for you, I just want you to know that I am incredibly thankful for you and I treasure the time that we have together.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
2 years!
Hello dear husband of mine!
We celebrated our 2 year anniversary a few days ago! We didn't really have the freedom to celebrate how we wanted to- what with a 3 month old, your family working like crazy on the farm, and I think my dad was traveling and my mom was volunteering at PRC. So, we just spent the day together- working on your car, doing things around the house, tending to the baby... but we ordered Pac Thai for lunch and that was delicious! and we exchanged presents and that was fun! you got me Moonstruck hot chocolate mix (which i LOVE) and a really sexy pair of underwear! and then later that day, you had flowers and chocolates delivered! You really spoiled me! I got you a stein, some local beer, "Date your wife" and a Snickers bar. My present is nowhere near as extravagant as yours... you always were extravagant with gifts! I remember my 18th birthday, you got me a facial, a pair of running shorts, a pair of flip flops, and I think a few more little things.. and we barely knew each other! and i remember being blown away by your generosity! :)
we also got a massage table as our joint gift...and it has been really fun using it so far ;) it is crazy to me how quickly 2 years has gone... while I can believe it has been that long (pregnancy and baby took up a whole year of it!), it has been fast! and it scares me and excites me for how quickly the next 20 years will go...and we will look up and be old together! thank you for doing life with me! thank you for enjoying the good times and sticking by my side during the hectic times. and i know when we do go through hard times, you will be there holding my hand the whole way. this marriage is a marathon and we are still just warming up- getting to know each other! and i could not be more excited to go through the miles with you. we will feel great for times and we will really struggle and feel exhausted during times and it will be an adventure. and i cannot think of anyone else i would want to do it with.
i love you!
Natalie
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We celebrated our 2 year anniversary a few days ago! We didn't really have the freedom to celebrate how we wanted to- what with a 3 month old, your family working like crazy on the farm, and I think my dad was traveling and my mom was volunteering at PRC. So, we just spent the day together- working on your car, doing things around the house, tending to the baby... but we ordered Pac Thai for lunch and that was delicious! and we exchanged presents and that was fun! you got me Moonstruck hot chocolate mix (which i LOVE) and a really sexy pair of underwear! and then later that day, you had flowers and chocolates delivered! You really spoiled me! I got you a stein, some local beer, "Date your wife" and a Snickers bar. My present is nowhere near as extravagant as yours... you always were extravagant with gifts! I remember my 18th birthday, you got me a facial, a pair of running shorts, a pair of flip flops, and I think a few more little things.. and we barely knew each other! and i remember being blown away by your generosity! :)
we also got a massage table as our joint gift...and it has been really fun using it so far ;) it is crazy to me how quickly 2 years has gone... while I can believe it has been that long (pregnancy and baby took up a whole year of it!), it has been fast! and it scares me and excites me for how quickly the next 20 years will go...and we will look up and be old together! thank you for doing life with me! thank you for enjoying the good times and sticking by my side during the hectic times. and i know when we do go through hard times, you will be there holding my hand the whole way. this marriage is a marathon and we are still just warming up- getting to know each other! and i could not be more excited to go through the miles with you. we will feel great for times and we will really struggle and feel exhausted during times and it will be an adventure. and i cannot think of anyone else i would want to do it with.
i love you!
Natalie
Monday, June 2, 2014
I am proud of you
I am so proud of you, Jesus! You have been working so hard! You have been working full time at the golf course and giving lots of lessons on the side. And you are still finding time for your family! You are such a good daddy- you make our baby girl smile so much and you even got her to giggle for us for the first time last night! You are so precious with her. It makes my heart melt watching you two together. And our dog is sooo jealous. She wants attention from you when you get home from work- it is really pretty pathetic. We really need to make sure she gets more exercise....yikes! And you have been such an incredible husband. You are attentive and sweet and are making time to pursue me and make me feel heard and loved. And I have really really been enjoying our extracurricular activities lately...! Tonight, you really want to watch the Timbers game, so you asked me if I wanted a massage hahaha you are going to massage me while you watch your game... you are such a problem solver- getting to watch your game and making your wife feel valued. Last night, a car missed the turn in front of our house and plowed through our berry field. You were so quick to jump to action and run to see if everyone was ok. i was so proud of you! it was a crazy night and i loved hearing you talk about all of it! You are such a man- you love adventure and you are wild at heart. you are so quick to protect your family. you are an amazing man, Jesus Gonzalez. And I am so lucky to be your wife. Thank you for loving me, protecting me, and pursuing me. I am really excited for your day off tomorrow- can't wait to spend the whole day with you! I love you <3
Sunday, April 13, 2014
daddy!
Hello daddy ;)
Our sweet baby girl will be 1 month old tomorrow. You are such an incredible father and I have loved watching you love our baby. It makes me love you more than ever before! You have been sewing her cloth wipes and working on cloth diapers and covers. I think that since she is too little to really play with, you feel more connected with her by doing something physical, like making her stuff. You took 4 weeks off of work to stay home with us and it was so wonderful having you home to love on me, help out with the baby, and just enjoy some down time before the crazy summer! Thank you for all you did for me the past month and for being so supportive! Thank you for giving me our beautiful daughter and allowing me to be a stay at home mommy- I could not love my life any more! and thank you for loving our daughter- I know you are going to be a great daddy!
Our sweet baby girl will be 1 month old tomorrow. You are such an incredible father and I have loved watching you love our baby. It makes me love you more than ever before! You have been sewing her cloth wipes and working on cloth diapers and covers. I think that since she is too little to really play with, you feel more connected with her by doing something physical, like making her stuff. You took 4 weeks off of work to stay home with us and it was so wonderful having you home to love on me, help out with the baby, and just enjoy some down time before the crazy summer! Thank you for all you did for me the past month and for being so supportive! Thank you for giving me our beautiful daughter and allowing me to be a stay at home mommy- I could not love my life any more! and thank you for loving our daughter- I know you are going to be a great daddy!
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