Lots of stuff

I have been posting like crazy lately. (remember-no job!) So I just want to make sure people see all my hard work. lol. SO keep scrolling until you find something you have already seen. I posted 3 new things between yesterday and today. And PLEASE leave comments...i live for them. ;)

Give the people what they want (partially)

So I know it has taken me WAY longer than I thought and I know you have all be dying to see (drum roll please)....My painted/decorated house!! yay! The only catch is right now all that is clean is my living room and 1 bathroom and the entry way. (i just got back from vacation people!) So that's all you get for now. I set up my fall decor today (first day of fall!) which I LOVE! So enjoy!There are still some elements missing, the bathroom needs some finally touches etc. But, for now, tell me what you think. And i am too lazy to do before and after pictures...either look at my previous post or just picture empty, white rooms.

The entry way.
Our Purple Bathroom! It is a little more darker plum than it looks in these pics.
There was a spider in there so I was a little hesitant to actually go in there. I need to put something else on that wall. The brown towels are on the left.
My Living room. I really liked the way it turned out. What do you think?



When you first walk in this is what you see on your right. (above)
And this is what you see on your left.
Our front door. Isn't it cute? I am not sure about that flag...but Erik loves it so...for now it stays.

Stay tuned for the other half of the house. :)

Prego Party!

Have I mentioned besides missing my family like crazy I LOVE being back in Virginia!!!!?? Our ward is great. Our neighborhood is amazing. We feel like we have already made so many friends here that we will be sad to leave in 4 years. Here are some of the lovely ladies I already love.We went to noodles and things to celebrate Sara's baby girl coming to the world. (which actually-Sara had Hannah last night...yay!) Look at the cute cake!! After dinner we went shopping. It was so fun! Can't wait to have many more nights like this one!

Beach Trip

We had a fantastic time at the Beach last week. We rented a Trailer at an RV park in Sandbridge on Virginia Beach. I know it sounds trashy...but it turned out great. It was small but perfect for just the 2 of us. It took a little getting used to since it was right on the water and there were a lot of bugs. I will admit the first day I felt like I was camping. But you couldn't beat the view of the back bay and the 3 min. walk to the beach. Here are some highlights from the trip:Erik was so happy that he got to eat some crabs. We cooked all our meals at the trailer, they had a BBQ. But Erik really wanted crab. So i sat and watched. (it took forever!)
The 3rd day was pretty windy and a little chilly. So we just played on the beach a bit. I had Erik take this lovely action shots.

I know cheesy...but you gotta!!
SO we went and bought this 3$ kite. The wind was perfect for it. But our kite was not up for it. First of all those things need to come with better instructions on how to get the string attached to it. We messed with it for about 30 min. Finally resorting to just tying it in random spots, ripping some of the plastic. lol. We got it up for a few min. Until it crashed...then we whipped out some band-aids to tape it together...didnt work too well. But it was fun trying!

Our view from our trailers patio. We spent many hours in that hammock. I read a whole book that week. We didn't take any pictures but we played on the resorts tennis courts everyday. It was so fun. I love tennis and I am actually getting pretty good!
Our one pic. together on the beach. The first day was SO nice!!! Erik loved the waves...i usually do but these were so big, i took one big wipeout and I was done! Thanks to the Tracey's for the buggy boards and the skim board!!
Erik really got the skim board down after a few hours. He really enjoyed it.
We made the rookie mistake of building our sandcastle too close to the water. The waves got it before we could even finish! Erik has a sad face on...you cant tell. I dont know what the spot it on my camera. wups. So we then moved on to Freesbie and pictionary in the sand- song lyrics style! I love spending time with my hubby. We really had a great time just relaxing and piggin out!!!

Summe Niiiiights!!

Here they are!!! The Boys themselves! On Thursday night Erik took me to the Rascal Flatts Concert in Virginia Beach. Unfortunately it was raining and cold and windy, but somehow we managed to still have an awesome time! Darius Rucker (the old Hootie and the blowfish guy-gone country) opened for them. He was really good. He even played some hootie classics-which Erik loved! :) We had lawn seats...which meant on a night like this-we stood. We tried sitting on 2 blankets folded like 8 times...but it still soaked threw and got our butts all wet! lol. But right when Rascal Flatts came out it stopped raining. It was perfect!
I am not a huge concert fan. I have always felt they were a waste of money. You buy cheap seats so they look like ants, they don't sing as well and you only know 3 of there songs. Might as well just stay home and listen to the radio right? BUT...Rascal Flatts has always been my exception and my dream concert. And they sure did not disappoint! They are SOO good! They sound just like there c-ds. They are great entertainers/performers. And they have so many great songs. I love it when you can just sing and dance to all the songs. I knew every single one.

In between Darius Rocker and Rascal Flatts they played some oldies music and we were just jamming out under our umbrella. It was soo fun. I love it when my husband gets in these crazy moods! They played "Don't stop Believing" by Journey. I loved how when it started Erik goes..."aww this is mine and Nates song!!!" WHAT?!?! Hello!?! Not sure when that became my brother and my husbands song? I LOVE that song? w/e. lol Like I said...it was windy!
Then we played the game..shout out an emotion and take a picture. I am sure everyone around us thought we were drunk! Fun game...you should try it. I will spare you all 66 pictures. I pretty much just posted smiling/cute pics. I don't want you guys to think we are too crazy!
Below is my "platysma smile" sometimes in pictures if I am smiling really big my platysma shows like crazy. I didn't know what that was until I married Erik but it's all those "rib" like things in my neck. Erik always makes fun of me. But, don't I have a good one?!?

ROCK ON!!!!

We had such a good time. Thank you sweetie!!! Now I can die a happy woman. This next week Erik has a "fall break" (starting today) YAY! We are heading to Virginia Beach for a few days. We are so excited. I would recommend Dental School to anyone...It's a breeze! lol. (I'm sure Erik would tell you a different story) I just love having my husband around so much...for now. And I am still waiting to hear back from a job. They dont seem in a big hurry to hire a nanny...which is great cuz I am in no hurry either! lol. It would be nice to know though. :) Watch for my beach posts next week!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Today is my Mom's Birthday. The older i get the more I realize what a truly amazing mother I have. My mom does it all, i have no idea how she does it. She is so kind, keeps an emaculate house, is very selfless, generous, a peacemaker, and is willing (most of the time) to join in our crazy fun ideas. I have so many good family memories because of my mom and the trips she planned or the activities she drug all of us kids too. She is the constant and the glue that keeps my family together. She is simply amazing. I love her so much and hope I can be a wife and mother like her someday. She really is my hero and has become to be my best friend. I miss her so much and wish I could be there with her on her special day. Happy Birthday Mom!

I wish i had a better picture of me with my mom. bummer. Note to self-take more pictures with my mom.

Tidbits

Sexy in Scrubs:

Erik finally got his scrubs the other week. Doesn't he look so cute in them? We scored with a good color-blue. Each year has a different color.

Anniversary Delight:

I cant remember if I already mentioned we celebrated our 3 year anniversary a month ago. It was really casual but we enjoyed spending time together. Erik grilled us some steaks on our new grill. Yummy. I made these mini cupcakes each with a letter on them. Erik had to unscramble them to spell out a secret code. lol. I got Erik an American flag for us to hang by our front door. (he really wanted this..he is so funny about it!) And he surprised me with Rascal Flatts tickets. Holy Cow I was so excited! We actually go tonight. There coming to VA beach. I have always wanted to see them, i cant wait.


I Guess it's Official:

We just got Erik's Diploma in the mail today. Kind of bad but I hadn't even thought about it. I am glad I had forgotten that we hadn't gotten it yet so I didn't have to worry about it. But i guess it's here. Yay.
Beer Rebates:

I don't know if everyone knows about these already but I thought I would share. These are the best things in the world. Basically free groceries from beer companies. In states such as UT and VA you don't have to buy the required Beer, So you just get the food and get money back. They aer great. They are usually near the beer isle in your grocery or drug stores. Pick them up when you see them! This month we have already got $60 in free groceries from them. Awesome!
Lack of a Green Thumb:

I always thought it wasn't hard to grow plants. Boy was I wrong. Our Palm is dying I think. That is the problem, i can never tell until it is too late. I water these things practically every day. Then I get nervous that I am over watering them and that is what is killing them. I don't know. We will see how long our large "love fern" can survive. In a few weeks I also plan on planting some bulbs in our front flower bed..so hopefully that goes over smoothly and we will see some flowers next spring. Also below is our hanging mum, which is dead for sure. (that might have been because I didn't hook it on correctly and it fell to the ground the first day!)

My Mama Would Be So Ashamed:

(I love Carrie Underwood btw) Okay So Clorox Wipes are my one true love. They are amazing. They are so easy. I practically mopped my whole kitchen floor with them the other day. (using about 30.) My mom would seriously be so disappointed. Not only is it laziness but these things are not cheap either. I would always try to cut corners every Saturday when I had to clean my bathroom at home. Some things never change. Lets just hope they are at least as strong and clean as spray cleaners. And lets be grateful for Costco.

AVALANCHE!!!!:

Okay, Seriously..HELP!! This is my freezer. It is tiny and not functional at all. I wish there was at least shelves or levels in there so i could get at something. Any ideas? Suggestions? This is such a mess. And yes those are Eggo's...i have rediscovered them and ohh they are soo good!As for the cheese balls (not pictured, I'm just sayin) wow not as good as i remember. I bought that huge barrel of Utz cheese balls, i swear it made these sores on the roof of my mouth. They are pretty gross. Sometimes childhood favorites should be left in the past.
Rediscovering Drug Stores:

So if you wish you were a coupon er or could get good deals but it's overwhelming and complicated and you don't know where to start. Start here: with Rite Aid rebates,and Walgreen's/CVS's store money programs. They are way easy and fun to do. Pair them with some coupons and you can even make some money. I got everything below and made a profit of $2.00. sweet. See your local ads or go drop by the stores it is so easy. (i just realized what a cheesy ad all that sounded like) All I am saying is its FREE people!?! I am just getting back into the swing of things after moving out here. I gotta say though, I sure miss our trips together Jen and Linds!

Kids these days...

I just got off the phone with my little brother Isaac. (he is 5 1/2) He told me all about his first day at kindergarten, complaining that the teacher just talked a lot and recess was last. Then I know he is obsessed with "America's got Talent"the t.v. show, which I know nothing about, but I am always looking for something to talk to him about so i can listen to his adorable voice. So i asked him about it.

He preceded to tell me something about this group on there he liked (i forgot there name) he said: "Yeah last night the "whoever's" were so cool they were jumping threw fire and stuff, it was awesome!"He went on, "I was so mad because they got sent home. I wanted them to win, because they were so good!" So i asked him if the judges did not like them? He said "no the judges did, but America votes and they voted them off." So i said..why didn't you vote for them Isaac, maybe then they would have won? He said: "America votes Nikki, not me, I'm not America!" haha.

First of all he is so cute. Second of all why does that conversation above sound like me talking with girlfriends about someone getting voted off American idol or something. What 5 year old watches these shows and is actually invested in contestants. haha. So hilarious. I mean really...kids these days.

p.s. then I asked if I could talk to Gracie and she told Isaac she couldnt because she is sick and she would get the phone sick. lol

Has anyone else heard about this?

I just signed up for this Swagbucks thing. What do you think? Below is the description and then below that is the link to sign up. Might as well try it huh? It has worked pretty well for me so far. Although I havent "bought" anything yet.

what is swagbucks?swagbucks is a search engine that rewards you for your searches. why not use it and get paid to do searches you need to do anyway?

you create an account and when you do a search through them, you randomly win "swagbucks," then you can redeem the swagbucks for prizes.

it seems the average person wins 1 or 2 swagbucks a day by doing a few searches. occasionally, a code will be released that earns you additional swagbucks as well.

you can also accumulate swagbucks by referring someone - whenever they win swagbucks through a search the swagbucks get credited to your account too! so you know i appreciate all of yousigning up through me! ;)

most of us swagbuckers agree the best prize available is the $5 amazon.com credit for 45 swagbucks. (you can add them to your amazon account as you earn them and redeem whenever you make a purchase.)

another prize i like is the $10 swagbucks prepaid mastercard for 135 swagbucks. it costs more per dollar than the amazon credit, but you may find it worth it for the convenience of being able to use it just about anywhere.

another option is to redeem 70 swagbucks for a $5 credit to your paypal account

Go here to give it a try: http://swagbucks.com/refer/Nicolata3

you can also get "points" by refering people and adding the Swagbucks seach toolbar.

We will see how this goes?!

p.s. I am pretty sure i got my info on this from a reliable source. So dont worry..too much. ;)

Look at these cute kids!!!

This weekend was a bit of a crazy one. We had some change of plans but overall it was still a good weekend. On friday I went up north to go to D.C. with Brett and his family. It was good to be back in the city. I haven't seen in so long. It rained a bit, but that just made it more fun!

Saturday Erik also came up and we hung out with Brett's family again as well as Grandma Fox who was out here to visit. We went swimming and had a yummy bbq.

Monday Grandma Fox, Dad Fox, Jennifer, and her boys came down to Richmond to see us. We had tons of fun. We took them to the Childrens Museum, toured the dental school, and made a visit to Cary Town for some delicious mexican food. It was great to be with family this weekend.