You better watch out, you better not cry.

Wow, it takes me an average of 3 months to update this thing now. I really don't have much time. Plus, my dial-up is sooooooo slow, so I'm over using the computer 5 minutes after I get on.

There isn't anything special to update. Everything is going well. Marcelo and I are enjoying our house and the little time that we have together between work and school and church and all our responsibilities. We're on winter break right now, which is nice cuz we get to see each other everyday after work, and don't have to stress out about classes. Friday is my last day at my job at the law office. I'm so happy I'm done with this place. (I'm at work right now. All alone. So I just called Sweni long distance. hehe) I liked being a part of a law firm, just not THIS law firm. Mr. M is the worst, most unprofessional lawyer I have ever met. But it's over now, so that's fantastic. I'll be taking 6 classes next semester, which leaves little time for a job. That doesn't mean I'm not going to have one....it's just going to be hard to work my schedule.

Our orange tree has oranges again! They are soooooo delicious. Marcelo made me fresh squeezed juice this morning. Yum. So it's Christmas Eve, right? And I'm so incredibly sad. But I'm ignoring the sadness because I don't want to cry...yet. I know tonight I'll bawl like a baby, but I'm trying to hold out as long as possible. I miss my brother so much. I wish I could see him today. Christmas will definitely not be the same without him. It will be the first Christmas EVER without him. And the thing that sucks is that I have to go through this again next Christmas. I feel horrible because I waited too long to send his package, and now it won't get there until after Christmas. So he has nothing to open tomorrow. I feel so bad. I hope he doesn't have a really crappy day. I hope he's happy. Ok, no more of this because I'll cry. You can't understand what it's like unless you know him. He is the life of everything. He makes everything fun. And now that he's halfway across the planet, he has left a huge hole in our lives. It sucks. But I know he's doing the right thing, and I'm proud of him. And I know he's loving Spain.

Ok, time to go home!!!! Yay.

Married Life

Married life is going wonderfully. Being newlyweds is great. Today is Saturday. This means Marcelo is working until noon, and I should be cleaning the house. But I'm being bad and playing a little. I'll clean later. I haven't updated my journal in forever, so I thought I would.

The latest news:

My brother and his wife had a baby boy. Nunzio. He's a month and a half old. He's sooooooo cute. There are pictures on my brother's website. In other news, David left on his mission to Barcelona. It was the saddest saddest time of my life. Saying goodbye was quite possibly the hardest thing I've EVER had to do, for real. Including the time when my grandma was dying. It ripped me apart to have to say bye to my baby brother for 2 years. He's only been gone for a week and a half and I have already written him 4 letters. I miss him already, and I'm gonna miss him for the entire time he's gone. I know he's gonna love it and he wrote to me so I already know he's happy. But still. He's leaving a big hole in my heart. I love that stupid kid.

What else? My uncle Andrés got married. I love my new aunt. She's sweet. We never thought my uncle would get married. But he did and he's very happy. In his words, "Married life is excellent. I highly recommend it." They live 3 hours away.

In other wedding news, my cousin Andrea married Marcelo's cousin Irv. It's going to be cool to have my cousin at all of Marcelo's family functions.

And last but not least in the area of news, Marcelo and I are having a baby. Just kidding. We're not. Not for two years, hopefully. But we're having an awesome time. I mean, we're crazy busy with work and school, but life is still swell. I've never been soooooo happy for so long in my life. It's not just a saying...marriage really is bliss. We never fight, we're super lovey dovey all the time, and everything is seriously great. I think it helps that we're both struggling with work and school because we understand exactly what each other needs...and that is to be able to come home to each other and lose all our worries. So that's what we do. Sometimes we have horrible horrible days at work or are feeling super crappy cuz we failed a test or something, and it's soooo crappy, that when we come home, we almost laugh about it because we just hug each other and think, man this stupid life is so dumb. THIS, right here right now, in our humble home, is REAL life. Having his support and doing my best to support him, I think, is what really helps to keep things wonderful. I love Marcelo soooooooo much. Ok, I must clean before the owner of the house comes home. hehe.

I'M MARRIED

I'M MARRIED I'M MARRIED I'M MARRIED.

I am a Mrs. I have a new last name. I live with a boy. It's fan-tastic.

Ok so the wedding was gorgeous. My mom did a beautiful job. The room looked soooo beautiful. My dress turned out great. I felt like a princess. My cousin's little boy danced with me....he's 2...and then told his mom, "I danced with the princess!" My dress was a little long, so people stepped on it all night, but it was okay. We got married in the Temple in the morning. Very few family and friends could be there because you have to be Mormon to see the ceremony. Gardner R, a man that I have a lot of respect for and someone who has known me since I was little, performed the ceremony. When he said, Nathaly, do you take Marcelo to be your husband for time and all eternity?" I broke down. I just cried and whispered yes, because I was sooooooooo overwhelmingly happy. I was like, this is it??? I'm really marrying Marcelo, literally the love of my life? It's really happening like I dreamed it would when I was 15 years old???? It was a dream come true and I lost a little control of my emotions at that point. But I made it through and it was fine. When we were supposed to kiss, it was a little awkward because we have never ever kissed in front of anyone. Plus we were in such a sacred place and we just felt weird. So he gave me this tense peck and everyone laughed. So when we got out of there I was like, "You're kissing me tonight. You're allowed. We're married." So at the ceremony at the reception where we did the whole walking down the aisle and exchanging rings and all that, he gave me a real kiss. The whole day felt so weird. It was like, one second we were not married, and then the next second we were. For me it didn't sink in until two days ago, when we got back from our honeymoon. More about that later. Anyway, at the reception I sang to Marcelo. It was a big surprise and no one knew i was gonna do it except my family and my brother. I was terrified because I have never sung alone in front of a big group of people. So to start out in front on 175 people was a very big jump for me. I just made myself be calm because I thought, if I'm nervous and my voice shakes and I screw this up, it will be embarrassing and horrible, so I tried very hard to stay calm. My older brother video taped it and I watched it during the honeymoon. I felt okay after I watched it because I did a lot better job than it was in my head. And Marcelo was really surprised. So it was nice. Valerie and Sweni were sooooo great. They helped me with everything. They were the best friends ever. They took care of things for me so I wouldn't be stressed out. I was SOOOO beyond stressed the day before the wedding. I had a break down. I got in my car and bawled when I was leaving work because I felt like there was soooo much to do and no time to do it. But my aunts from out of state were here and they helped my mom and everything worked out beautifully. We got sooo many gifts. Our house is filled. We bought a 3 bedroom 2 bath house! It has a huge orange tree in the backyard. I'm sooo excited to move in. For three weeks we're living in Marcelo's older brother's house. He also just bought a house and hasn't moved in yet, so he's letting us stay there until we close on our house.

Ok back to wedding stuff. The night went by soooo fast. But it turned out to be a great party. At the end of the night, we went to this beautiful cottage. The room was gorgeous. I couldn't have asked for more. Well, Valerie and Sweni decorated it with rose petals and candles, but by the time we got there, the owner had cleaned it all up because he said the rose petals ruin the linens and the candles are dangerous. But it didn't matter because the room was still gorgeous. I filmed it so I can remember it forever. When we walked in, our song was playing on the CD player...courtesy of Valerie and Sweni. There was sparkling cider and candles around the hot tub, where they were actually allowed. We had a great night, and in the morning we went to my house to open all our gifts. We got soooooo much stuff. That night, we stayed at Mikey's house (Marcelo's brother). And Sunday we left bright and early for the drive down to the airport. My mom, Tachita, Tia Marta, Conchi, Dianita, and Juli took us down. The car ride was so much fun because my aunts are all crazy and sooo funny. Then we got on the plane to the Dominican Republic. It was soooooooo gorgeous. The honeymoon was soooooooooo great. We were at an all-inclusive resort in Punta Cana, so we got all the piña coladas and food that we wanted. Our room was right on the ocean, so we went to sleep to the sound of the waves and just walked downstairs and onto the beach during the day. It was seriously paradise. I didn't want to leave. The pool was beautiful, the beach was beautiful and everyone was so friendly. We had an amazing time. I'll have to find a way to post pictures.

Alright, well, I'm at my parent's house picking up some things, and my husband will be here soon, so this is the end. Today is David's birthday so we're going out for sushi. yay!

Life is beautiful.