New Year

So it's been several months, but this time..really...I am hoping to keep up on this blog. There were many great things that happened over the holidays:
*Justin and I celebrated our 1st Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years as a married couple. We started new traditions which we are excited to keep going throughout our years together and as we start a family. Justin quit smoking in November, by way of E-Cigarette and I just received mine yesterday so I am now attempting to quit! YAY! I will definately keep everyone updated on the progress!
This years resolutions include:
*Say sorry when I am in the wrong
*Begin a healthier lifestyle in many different facets (may copy my super mom of a cousin Lori and try new recipes and blog about them :-) )
*Attend Church more often, make faith more of a priority in my life
*Look for the good in others, speak only words of kindness, and walk with the confidence to know I am never alone
I have always been a "learner" just like my mother, so I am sure I will find new and interesting things about myself this year that will intrigue me and I will post about them :-)
I love you all.....talk to you soon

Up to Speed...literally

Ok, so i'm giving an update on my blog about my crazy month. Besides the usual going to work, come home to clean and make dinner and sleep, we've thrown a few curve balls in. So Justin and I lost at our attempt to prove our innocence in the "Disturbing the Peace" violation. If we would have just plead guilty (to something we didn't do mind you) the fine would have been $150 and go on our records, but since we decided to put our faith into Nebraska's legal system and plead not guilty, we were found GUILTY and gave us $425 fine each and still, it goes on our record.
UHHHH???????
Yea so, even though there hopefully will not be another FREAK incident next time, we now know to just plead guilty to whatever the fine is. (yea....)
GOOD NEWS? MY BABY SISTER HAD A BABY!!! (Aug 30th 2:29 am)
Caitlin and I drove down the following weekend to visit the beautiful pair, and while approaching the border of Missouri, I am pulled over for speeding. MY 1ST SPEEDING TICKET! AHH. That one was completely deserved......enough said.
Good thing I discovered a beautiful thing called STOP CLASS. I will have to pay a fine, less than my ticket and take a 1 day class and it does NOT go on my driving record.

If anyone is wondering......YES, I AM RACKING UP LEGAL CHARGES IN SEVERAL NEBRASKA COUNTIES....so if you have any ideas which one I should hit up next.......shoot me an email! :-)
The next post will be a positive one, I PROMISE!

Justin's a Quarter Century

Nicole: "What do you want for your birthday babe?"

Justin: "Ahh..nothing...maybe shoes. Want to go to Wal-Mart?"

And that's how Justin is on his birthday so I never know what to get him. He's an essentials kind-a-guy. So what did I do? Cologne, Husker Hat since game days are right around the corner, A "My Husband, My Friend" type of birthday card and made him a cajun dinner WITH dessert. Gosh....I feel old. But here's how it turned out.....

July Time-Warp!

My sincerest apologies for the delay in posts. I have been quite busy since the last word was typed. So here is an overview of July:

1. Our wedding reception
2. Our new house
3. Lovin' my job

lets begin...



1. The wedding reception was a blast! Justin and I both had our families and friends there, with great music, food, cries and laughs! First, Julia gave a wonderful heart-felt toast to Justin and I that meant so much to us! Next was Judson, who offered laughs and good memories from the teenage years. Krysti decided to make not only me, but herself and everyone else in attendance cry with her toast; it was beautiful to say the least. Finally, leave it to my father to offer the most honest speech of them all! He was not shy about making it clear that he didn't care for Justin when we first started dating, but closed with congratulating us and making it clear he really does like Justin now! HA!


Most memorable moment of the night: Recognizing my grandparents (Justin and I married on their 48th year anniversary), and being able to dance with my new husband along side the greatest love i've seen between 2 people. I will never forget it.

2.Our new house! I love it! It's in a newer development on the west (outside of town by a couple miles) side of town. Brytnee is loving her big fenced in backyard and she has made friends with the neighbors dog by running up and down the side of the privacy fence barking her head off. We have been grilling out every weekend on the patio and we are loving it! Justin and I are still in the process of decorating, we have ideas of what we want for each room and have most of the stuff, it's just the execution that seems to be on hold for the moment. Justin's brother and girlfriend are staying with us for the next week while she is visiting, so we will finish when they are gone. My roomate from college just bought a house 1 house down from us and we spend a lot of time together talking about house preparations. I also know another couple who I worked with who bought a house one street over, and know several others in the area....we're planning a block party! :-) I will post pictures when the house is decorated!

3. Lovin' my job! I am a family advocate for Lincoln Action Program in the Early Head Start Program and it is so much fun! Who else gets to play with kids all day and get paid for it? So sounds like a glorified babysitter, but I also help low income families with community resources and work with them on the development of their children ages 0-3. My co-workers are wonderful, and my supervisor is great. Things really seem to be falling into place.

Road Trip to Iowa

The weekend was great......Justin and I and a couple of friends headed to Shenandoah, IA to visit my cousin Jim and his girlfriend Valerie. It was a great time, with great people and a POOL! Although the clean up the next morning was a little.....rough....it was a great time and a great place to go when wanting to get out of Lincoln.

Since my desk looked like this............

This was the perfect solution to the end of the day..........

Spring Cleaning, Better Late Than Never

I know I'm a few months late on the whole idea of spring cleaning....but it definately needs to be done, so for my own benefit i'll call it Sprummer (spring-summer) cleaning.

My goal is to start cleaning (after I blog of course) and before Justin comes home, so when he arrives I will be working my tail off and he will feel guilty that i'm doing it by myself therefore making him feel obligated to help. Nice huh? Married a month and i'm already plotting.

We had a small ceremony in Las Vegas and are planning a reception here for friends and family in roughly 2 weeks, my house is ridiculous and is screaming to be deep cleaned. This means family who I haven't seen in a long time will be seeing my home for the first time....yikes! I found a couple websites that are good for seasonal cleaning and i'm hoping I can stay motivated enought to finish the checklists before they arrive!

Website1: http://unclutterer.com/2009/06/21/a-year-ago-on-unclutterer-43/

Website2: http://www.rightathome.com/view.aspx?pid=539

If anyone has any good ideas on how to keep motivated, how to stay organized or how to get a hubby to help, feel free to leave some comments! Hey... I'm new at this!

Wish me luck!