We've moved!

Well, kind of! To see what we're been up to, please visit the new and improved nothingbutnelson.com!

Special thanks to my sister-in-law, Danielle, for the new blog design. To learn more about her and her business, please visit lifeunconstrained.com

Birthday Celebration

Yesterday, I had the chance to spend ALL DAY celebrating my birthday. The celebration actually started on Tuesday night, when this packaged arrived at the door:

Graeter's ice cream! I received some of this ice cream as a gift at Christmas, and it is absolutely delicious.

Wednesday morning started at Shady Maple, where I had been bugging Brad to take me for the last three years. Shady Maple is an all you can eat buffet near Lancaster, with home-cooked comfort food. We went for breakfast, which was exactly what I wanted. You know that makes it even better? On your birthday, your meal is free!

We did some shopping in the gift shop, and in downtown Lititz (below is a picture of me a bear, which I promised Brad that I would post. I have an irrational fear of bears, so it thought this was hilarious) before heading to the Lancaster office.

Brad had an all-afternoon leadership team meeting, and I was lucky enough to spend the afternoon with this lady:

Lauren and I spent the afternoon catching up and doing some shopping in the Lancaster area. We had a great time, and she helped me pick out some fabulous new outfits for our upcoming trip--more on that later!

After a few solid hours of girl-time, Lauren headed back to the Harrisburg area, and Brad and I geared up for our final event of the day: a picnic with his friends and coworkers in the Lancaster office.

We had a great time hanging out and catching up. Brad even ordered a birthday cake and everyone sang happy birthday to me. It was very thoughtful, but incredibly embarrassing. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos, but hopefully some will be popping up soon!

I had an absolutely incredibly birthday. Thank you to all of those who called, sent text messages, or left Facebook messages. I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life!

Blessings,
-Nikki

Weekend Festivities

Brad and I are very fortunate to have a summer jam-packed with festive activities. On Friday, we met up with Nick and Kassondra for dinner. They were passing through town on their way back from a weekend in Vermont, and we had a wonderful time with them. They even shared their skydiving videos with us!  I didn't take any pictures, but here's a photo from one of our other visits with them:

On Saturday we headed to the Wilkes Barre/Scranton area for a picnic with my mom, aunt and uncle, and cousins. It was our first time meeting baby Miles, and we enjoyed spending time with family. Again, I didn't take any pictures, but you can trust that it was a good time. We had lots of great food and managed to stay pretty cool, even with the hot temperatures.

We made it back to the Lehigh Valley in time for a light dinner and fireworks. Luckily, the fireworks were being displayed close to our apartment, so we just had to walk to the end of the street to enjoy them.

Sunday included church, Fuse, and a Fuse Picnic. Again, I don't have any pictures, but we had a blast catching up with folks, meeting new friends, swimming, and eating.

Sunday evening way pretty low key as we geared up for the start of another week. It's going to be a fun one!

Blessings,
-Nikki 

Date Night: Ice Cream for dinner

Last night was our "official" date night for the week. After Brad was done with work, we headed over to the Bethlehem Steel Stacks to check out the farmers markets. We found what we needed, and some things that we didn't. Like ice cream. For dinner. Well, for me, anyway.

The farmer's market (with the old Bethlehem Steel factory in the background): 

 OwWowCow homemade organic mint chocolate chip ice cream. Incredible. Seriously, I ate this for dinner.

Brad mid-bite:

Apparently neither of us were very photogenic yesterday:

 There was even live music at the market:

After the farmer's market, we stopped at Horns so that Brad could get some real food (apparently ice cream for dinner doesn't quite do it for him). I enjoyed some french fries (what a nutritious dinner, right?). We ended the night by running a few errands.

Tonight we've got a double date on the agenda, followed by another weekend full of picnics. Yum!

See ya soon,
Nikki

Friday Date Night + Weekend Picnics

On Friday afternoon, Brad and I headed to the Hershey area for the Dave Mathews Band concert! I had gotten tickets for Brad for his birthday, and we were very excited about the concert. After a quick drive and a lovely (hot!) outdoor dinner, we headed over to the stadium. The band that opened for them was called The Head and the Heart, and was fantastic. Apparently Dave Matthews discovered them at a show in Seattle and invited them on tour. How cool is that?

We had great seats in the stands, close to the top. Lucky for us, there was a bit of a breeze blowing since the temperatures were near ninety degrees.

The band ended with "Ants Marching" and we were able to make it back to the car just as the rain started. There was lightning flashing during the last third of the concert, but we made it back to the car just in time.

After sleeping in on Saturday (since we were out pretty late on Friday), we headed to Brad's mom's house for a picnic. Danielle and Meredith were in visiting from Buffalo, and we spent the afternoon eating, laughing, and lounging by the pool.

After church (and a workout) on Sunday, we spent the afternoon relaxing. We headed to Brad's grandfather's house in the early evening for another picnic. The food was absolutely delicious, and we spent part of the evening hanging out in the backyard. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of either of the picnics, but you'll just have to trust that we had a lot of fun.

Until next time,
-Nikki 

Sweeney Todd

Last night, Brad and I had the chance to double date with these fine folks:

 Say hello to Dave and Elissa!

We had tickets to a production of Sweeney Todd, which was part of the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival at DeSales University. The show featured the incredible Dee Roscioli, who we got to see perform last month, and really was outstanding. Before the show we enjoyed a picnic on the lawn, which is apparently a tradition with theater-goers of these productions. The show was great--and only runs until July 1 (so if you're in the Lehigh Valley, you should definitely check it)--and the company was even better. We had a great time and spent most of the night laughing. Thanks for a great night, Dave & Elissa.

Now, Brad and I are off to a concert. Catch you later this weekend!

Blessings,
-Nikki 

NYC with Momma

I was lucky enough to spend the day yesterday in NYC with my mom. Last year's birthday present from my mom and dad was a trip to NYC to see a show, and since my next birthday is coming up fairly soon, we thought that it was about time for the trip.

Mom arrived on Tuesday night and spent the night at the Nelson Bed and Breakfast (which she thought was just lovely!) and we took a Beiber bus to NYC on Wednesday morning.

We arrived in NYC around 11:00 a.m. and headed straight to the TKTS booth to get tickets for a show. There were a few that we talked about seeing, but ended up with tickets to Ghost The Musical.

After our tickets were secured, we headed to The Shake Shack to grab some lunch. We took our burgers, fries, and shakes to go and enjoyed them al fresco in Times Square.

The show was good--it was definitely entertaining--but not the best show that I've seen. We still had a great time, and it was nice to spend the day in the city with mom.

We've got another jam-packed weekend planned, I'll be back with updates.

Blessings,
-Nikki

Anniversary Date Night at Bolete

What a busy weekend! We returned from our trip to Mexico and hit the ground running. Thursday night was a baby shower for Keith, Megan, and Baby K (heeyyyy guys!), Friday night was a surprise party for one of our Fuse friends, Sam, and Saturday included a Zumba class, lunch with Brad's mom and step-dad, an afternoon nap, and a date night at Bolete.

Bolete is a great restaurant that uses local ingredients. It was actually named one of the top 105 hottest new restaurants internationally by Conde Nast Traveler Magazine. Brad had been dying to go there, and we were very lucky to receive a gift certificate as an anniversary present.

We started with some oysters (OK, Brad ate those), and I ordered some truffle fries (Chips & Dip according to the menu). Brad had a fried green tomato with lobster salad (I just ate some of the lobster) and some of the most delicious rolls that I've ever had.

Our entrees:

 I had the scallops with homemade gnocchi and non-mushy peas.

Brad had the prime rib with potatoes and greens.

Even though we were stuffed, we had heard great things about the desserts (thanks, Dave!) and decided to give it a try. 

Brad went with the butterscotch pudding--I had a bite, and it was delicious!

I chose the chocolate truffle cake with homemade caramel and caramel corn. It was unbelievable. 

We had a great time, and the food was absolutely incredible. Today was spent at church and Fuse, and Brad is just about to arrive home after an afternoon on the golf course.

Blessings,

-Nikki

Anniversary in Mexico

Brad and I were very fortunate to be able to spend our 1st anniversary in Mexico. We spent five days lounging on the beach, enjoying the sunshine, and eating delicious food.

 Our anniversary welcome

Brad being goofy

 A bit of the resort

 Love notes in the sand

 The banner across the door behind us says, "Happy Anniversary"

 Despite the smile, Brad was not excited that I made his pose for this photo

 This photo was taken on our actual anniversary, before our sushi dinner. This was the dress that I wore at our rehearsal dinner, and was pleasantly surprised that it still fits! We have gone out for ice cream quite a few times in the past year. ;)

Our last day, waiting for our ride to the airport. 

I can't think of a better way to have spent our first anniversary. Here's to the next 70+ years!

Blessings,

-Nikki

One Year of Wedded Bliss

Can you believe that we've been married for an entire year! What a great year it's been! We've had so much fun together and are looking forward to many more years together.

Happy anniversary to the love of my life.

Happy Father's Day

 Happy Father's Day to the best dad in the world. 

 Brad and I are so blessed to have such a great family. Thanks for everything, Dad!

Vacation

Catch you in a few days!

A Day With Friends

Earlier this week, I was able to spend an entire day with some folks who are absolutely incredible. Kathy and Lydia are up from Nashville for a few weeks, and Lauren made the trip to the Lehigh Valley so that we could all spend some quality time together.

 Strike a pose!

We spent the day laughing, catching up, playing, and eating. What a blessing!

Date Night + A Double Date

It's crazy how life can get so busy so quickly! This was another one of those weeks that just flew by! Luckily, Brad and I were still able to spend some quality time together. Brad was out of town on Tuesday night, and I was able to have dinner prepped and ready to go when he got home on Wednesday evening. After a delicious salmon and quinoa dinner, we took a quick walk around the neighborhood and then went to check out YoFresh, a new self-serve frozen yogurt bar in the area.

Our verdict: delicious! Just watch out, those bowls are huge (and easy to overfill!).

On Thursday evening we were lucky enough to have a belated birthday celebration for Brad at the Savory Grille with the Guinans. Dinner was fabulous, and the company was even better. 

Pre-dinner photos

Just for the record, one of the only "rules" of date night is that no cell phones are allowed. Last night we did have to make an exception so that Brad could guide our dinner guests to the restaurant. 

For dinner, I had the scallops:

 And Brad went with the pork:

Everyone was in agreement that their meals were delicious. My favorite may have been the homemade mint ice cream (with mint fresh from their garden), which had swirls of caramel and chunks of pineapple. It's a combination I never would have put together, but was surprisingly delicious.

We've got more fun planned for the weekend, so there will be lots to catch up on. See ya later!

-Nikki