Our wedding photos are up!

Check this link: www.capture1000words.com/reynoldswed

Back from the Honeymoon...

Married life is incredibly sweet.

For those of you anxious to see wedding photos, they will be posted on our photographer's website. There are already some reception photos up, so take a look if you are interested: www.capture1000words.com/reynolds.htm

Here are a few of our favorite pictures from Bora Bora & Rangiroa. We highly recommend a Tahitian vacation. =)

This is the hotel pool...seriously.

Our feet in the sand in Bora Bora.


This is my smokin' hot husband.

A view from the sailboat tour of Bora Bora.

Hypothetically speaking, if we were ever in a plane that crashed in the South Pacific it could totally crash on this island. I'm pretty sure the view, the sand, the water and the coconuts would keep us company until the rescuers arrived...Not that I'm signing up for a plane crash or anything. I'm just saying this place doesn't look all that bad from the plane window.

The Blue Lagoon on Rangiroa.

The Bora Bora Airport is the most scenic I've ever seen.

This is my husband swimming in the water where the sharks are being fed. He's the first one next to the guy throwing raw fish guts into the water for the sharks to eat. I'm the one INSIDE the boat taking the photos of my husband and all the other people willing to swim in shark infested waters. Jason was so excited to jump in the water with the sharks! When the tour guide suggested everyone should get in the water to watch the shark feeding, Jason's face lit up with excitement. I was truly in awe of his adventurous spirit and relieved he didn't expect me to come too. We are a team in most everything, but I drew the line at the shark infested waters. I was very happy when he climbed back in the boat after feeding time was over!

These are my feet and a view of the Blue Lagoon.

Here's a picture of my handsome to-be husband and I at Red Rocks in Denver. We went to Denver at Labor Day so we could see some friends., finish up pre-marital counseling (thanks, Dudley & Laura!), and tour one of Jason's favorite cities. He did his residency in Denver so it was fun to see where he lived and hear more about that part of his life. Denver is fabulous. Hopefully we will get to visit often...

Only 43 days till the wedding!

Hope this doesn’t spoil the suspense for those of you who will receive wedding mail (meaning, the invitation) next week. The wedding is October 13 in Albany, Texas. We are looking forward to a small hometown wedding followed by a honeymoon in Bora Bora.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself because I’m so overwhelmed with the fact that God’s plan for me to marry Jason has unfolded in less than a year. Last August, Jason and I had never met. We will be married before we reach the one year anniversary of our first date. How fun! We are grateful for God’s goodness in providing us with each other. Many, many things to rejoice over in these days. Attending wedding showers, opening gifts, planning a life together, preparing for the wedding, and enjoying this last month are all things we plan to take full advantage of in the coming weeks...

Fun Fiesta Shower

This past weekend some friends hosted Jason and I a wedding shower Fiesta. We loved it! We are so blessed to have such fabulous friends who love to party. And, really, who could turn down a party with chips, salsa, and sangria...? What a great time spent with family and friends.

Paul Saxon is now in the arms of Jesus. God surely chose a precious, brave, and cherished little boy to take home today.

Please continue to pray for Leigh, Terrill, Jack & Whit in Waco. May they continue to place their hope in Christ and trust Him for all that they need in this time of sadness.

If you'd like to read about Paul's journey with cancer and how to pray for the Saxon family, click on the link that says "The Saxon Report" on the right.

Engagement Photos.My fabulous photographer friend, Rebecca, took our engagement photos last week. There were lots of shots worth publishing, but these are some of my favorites. Engagement is a real blast.

The Engagement Story.

You all have been waiting so patiently for the story of my engagement nearly two weeks ago. It’s been a complete whirlwind of surprises, wedding planning, and sharing in the new “engaged” status with Jason. It’s fun to be at this unique stage of almost one – but not yet.

On the Friday before Jason asked me to marry him on Wednesday, he began sending me emails and little cards with very sweet reminders of things he appreciated about our relationship. Each day had a new theme – music we both like, pre-in-person-meeting emails, our shared love of exercise, etc. – and a new gift to go along with it. Every day I was reminded of his thoughtfulness and in the back of my mind I thought this was probably moving towards his proposal…but at the rate he was choosing topics, I thought it would take weeks.

On Wednesday morning, I got a card with a bike on it and it said “we make quite a team” on the inside. I was so excited because just the week before, we had looked at matching bikes. We decided to wait to purchase them. But, on this day, I was convinced I was getting a new bike later in the day! I was excited about the bike and even told the girls I work with that I was probably getting a new bike that day. Now that I look back on it, it sort of makes me laugh.

Jason had asked me to meet him at a local church at 4:00 p.m. When we got there, we looked around a bit and he walked me to the front of the room. There was a table there with a book on it. The book was tied with ribbon and he told me this was a gift for me. The book has scripture on the front and a short introduction:
“Today I want to remember the central aspect of our relationship. This is Christ and following God’s plan for our lives. It was God who brought us together and it is through Christ that we will continue to walk together the rest of the days of our lives”.

Followed by this picture…(as seen in a previous post)
The rest of the book contained a few more passages of scripture and a printed oath from Jason, taken from a traditional Christian ceremony, which was used for centuries as couples entered into engagement.

When I turned, he was already on his knee. I remember thinking I couldn’t wait to say yes!

We sat together for an hour or so while he told me about his quest for the perfect ring and timing. We didn’t call anyone. We didn’t talk about the wedding. We just enjoyed the several minutes of peace – shared with just us - and took a few self-portraits...

Jason had then arranged several plans for the remainder of the evening. He invited my mom (flew her in from Abilene), dad, and grandparents to join us at Bonnell’s – my favorite Fort Worth restaurant. Next he had arranged for our Life Group from church to surprise me with an impromptu engagement party with friends. It was perfect – such a nice balance of being able to share the day with Jason, my family, and our church community here in Fort Worth.

We are so excited about the life God has for us together! The overwhelming feeling I have each day is gratitude. I am so grateful for God’s faithfulness. I am so grateful for His timing, and I am so grateful for the tremendous gift I have in Jason…

p.s. Check out the ring!

It's Official!

Jason asked me to marry him yesterday and I said YES!

Pictures and other info to follow...but for now I am trying to pretend I'm busy at work...all the while rejoicing in the idea of forever with the love of my life.

More to come. I promise.

No One Else I'd Rather Kiss.

This past weekend I took Jason to Amarillo for my brother's wedding reception. We had a great time hanging out with my family and two of my best friends from college.

By far, this is my favorite photo from the weekend.

Finally a photo for those of you who have been bombarding my comments with requests to see Jason. Here's a picture of Jason, his nephew Kaden, and I this past weekend in Houston.

He's about a foot taller than me. See?

Andrew David, my new nephew. He was born just a little over 24 hours ago.

My niece and nephews are so proud of their new brother!

On his way to get a bath...

This is my new nephew's very first picture. He's only about 45 minutes old...and already knows to have his eyes open for photos!

Jason.

So, evidently many of you have read my blog closely and picked up on my hints about someone who has become a very important part of my life.

Jason and I were introduced by our families. His sister and my mom work together in Abilene, Texas and for literally months they were nudging us on either side. I totally thought he was too good to be true. I knew he had just moved back from Australia, was a pediatrician, a world traveler, and from Abilene, Texas. At the very least, he sounded interesting – a West Texas guy who had grown up and had some fascinating global experiences.

I gave in to my mom’s nudging only once. I told her, “I will email him ONCE. And that’s it.” Basically I was hoping to sort of pacify her and satisfy the building curiosity about a man I knew virtually nothing about. I was willing to go out on a limb just to learn a little more about this man my mom (and his sister) seemed convinced would be a good match for me.

From his very first email response, I was impressed. He shared a bit why he had chosen medicine, his desire to be a part of global work in the future, and his willingness to entertain the idea of him and I emailing to get to know each other “just to see how it goes”.

Over the course of several weeks, we discovered that we did indeed have LOTS in common. He is driven by a desire to love and serve Christ in life, be actively engaged in global work, and welcome any opportunities to grow and learn along the way. These are the qualities that shine most brilliantly in who he is. He also likes to laugh, is a great communicator, and radiates generosity – all qualities to love in a person. We even figured out that we had the most random things in common: we have both spent time in Kathmandu (Nepal), grew up 30 minutes from each other, went to the same high school hang-outs, and were even in Berlin this past summer within days of each other.

We met in person in early October (the original email was at the end of August) and hit it off. Our first date consisted of him taking me to eat Lebanese food and both of us getting to know the person behind all the emails. Since then we’ve seen each other as much as possible and spent time with friends in Fort Worth and in Houston. All of the friends seem to agree that he and I are very well-matched. That has, perhaps, been one of the best things about this journey…to have friends who are close to me affirm that he and this relationship are something really special. A real gift from God… one that has been a tremendous reminder to us both that a Christ-like relationship is truly worth waiting for.

I’m also now a little bit less skeptical that family and friends really ARE capable of arranging some pretty good dating match-ups.

For now, he’s in Houston. But by July 1st, he’ll be in Fort Worth. I can hardly wait to start hanging out with him in person a lot. He and I both agree that we’d like to hang out in a together sort of way for a long, long, long time.

Absent Blogger.

So I have been a terribly absent blogger lately. Life has just been too busy to take a few minutes and update. So, here's a short one (update) and a few photos to keep the faithful Notice:Nicole readers pacified...

It looks like Spring in Texas! I am very much looking forward to wildflowers on the Texas Highways, exciting family happenings (sister's having a baby and brother is getting married, in that order), and a very special man in my life is moving to Fort Worth soon. So many exciting things to share...

But for now, I'll post a few pictures of recent (meaning last couple of months) events. Enjoy. More later...especially for those of you who read carefully and just picked up on the fact that I have a really special man in my life. More about him very soon.

It also snowed a bit this winter in Fort Worth.

Running in February.

In February, I ran the Cowtown Half Marathon with my roommate. It was a fabulous race - I shaved a whole 10 minutes off of last year's half marathon time.

Since then I've been eating a lot of chocolate cake and donuts.

Just kidding.

To all of you who think of doing something like training for and running a half marathon - just do it!

Also in January, my foursome of friends Callie, Amy, Rebecca, and I celebrated the pending arrival of little Caroline Olivia. Caroline is already here, but here's a cute picture of how she looked in Rebecca's tummy prior to her debut...

In January, I went to Purgatory, Colorado to ski with my grandmother for four days. She's so cool, isn't she? All I can say is that when I am 79, I hope I look half as good as she does on the slopes! She has promised to take me next year too just so she can say she skiied down the mountain at 80 years old. I am SO there.

( This pic from Google Images reminds us that there are definitely appropriate times to ignore calls...)

Fellow cell phone users:
Let’s resolve to always use good manners when dealing with cell phones in the year 2007…

Now that I’m in a very fast-paced and sometimes demanding job downtown, I often use my lunch hour to disconnect and run various errands I’d rather not save for the evening when I’m busy doing important stuff (like hanging out with friends, running, watching TV, etc.).

Today was one of those days when I used the lunch hour to do some important shopping I don’t have time to do later. It was a perfect plan to be very productive and enjoy a short shopping experience…until I landed in line behind a very rude female cell phone user. After spending time chatting loudly on the phone during her entire store experience, she received another call while she was standing in front of the cashier – just in line in front of me. The girl behind the counter had already rung up the items and bagged them nicely when another very important call came.

After listening to a couple of minutes of discussion about which movie the woman was to see this afternoon with her friend, the cashier kindly asked the woman if she should take the next guest in line. The cell phone lady ignored the cashier, putting her hand up as if to say, “I’m busy talking right now. You can wait and so can she (glancing my way)” Even after the woman hung up the call and was digging for her wallet – she had yet to pay – she was dialing again. She spent a total of 6 minutes in front of the cash register dealing with her phone calls and trying to pay for her items. It seemed like an eternity as I watched her failure to give either task proper attention and waste the time of virtually everyone involved…

Fellow cell phone users, let’s resolve to NEVER have a not-so-urgent personal discussion when standing in line in front of other customers at a store. Matter of fact, let’s resolve to choose to not to answer or make cell phone calls while interacting with someone else face-to-face. Nothing could be more inconsiderate, rude, and as we say in West Texas, downright tacky.

Promise to be a polite cell phone user in 2007? Good - me too!
Hooray for 2007 and resolutions.

For other cell phone rants, you should check my friend Malita’s blog. Her 2006 rants on the subject are hilarious…and will make you think twice about your cell phone etiquette.

http://curlsz.blogspot.com/2006/06/get-off-your-freakin-phone.html
http://curlsz.blogspot.com/2006_08_01_archive.html (check the Cell Phone Rant #2 in August 2006)