Weekend Review

We had another great (but not long enough weekend) here in the Nelson household. After a home-cooked dinner and some cutthroat Jeopardy on Friday, we started our Saturday morning nice and early. I was filling in for a Zumba class, and Brad spend his time at the gym doing another crazy leg workout (I'm not sorry that I missed that!).

We didn't waste any time getting ready, and headed to King of Prussia to meet these lovely folks for lunch.

(This is a recycled photos from our last trip to Philadelphia.)

Matt and Shannon met us for lunch, showed me around the King of Prussia office of Brad's company (quite impressive), and showed us the new townhouse they'll be living in after their October wedding. It was a great afternoon with great friends. 

Brad can't seem to take a trip to the Philly area without stopping at the Nordstrom Rack, and I (tried) to patiently wait for him to shop. I was pretty excited though, because guess where our next stop was? 

Oh yes, it had been way to long since we had taken a trip to Trader Joe's. Now we're fully stocked and ready to go!

Sunday included church, Fuse, an afternoon run (followed by a nap), a visit with the Grizz, and a going away party for some good friends. We're going to miss the Wheeler's, but we're very excited for them to begin their new adventure!

Until next time,

-Nikki

No-Workout Wednesday

Yesterday was workout Wednesday again...except that it wasn't There WAS workout Friday, workout Saturday, workout Sunday, and 1/2 of a workout on Tuesday (we got through about half of the exercises before a massive headache got the best of me and I couldn't take it any more--no worries, I'm all better now).

Wednesday was scheduled to be a long day for both Brad and myself. I was at an event all day for work, and Brad had a late meeting scheduled. I was planning to teach a private Zumba class and we agreed to meet at home later.

By some divine intervention, my class didn't happen and Brad's meeting got canceled. Instead of workout Wednesday, we decided to make it an impromptu date night and head to Horns in Bethlehem for dinner. We've been there a few other times, and I really think that it just keeps getting better.

 Brad described his chicken club sandwich as "life-changing."

These are seriously the best fries that I have ever had. Fries with truffle oil, sea salt, and chives. 

A closer look at Brad's sandwich. 

Tonight we're off to dinner with some friends. I tried a new dessert recipe to take along, and if it gets good reviews, I'll gladly share. See ya soon!

Blessings!

-Nikki

Just a thought...

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Week in Review

Remember when Brad went to California and Nothing But Nelson wasn't updated for a while? Well, that's kind of what happened again. Brad was able to spend most of last week at a conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, enjoying views like this:

I didn't do too much while he was gone, so there wasn't much to report on. Luckily, my work schedule was much busier than usual, so the days the Brad was away went by quickly. I did have the opportunity to teach a private Zumba class, which ended up being a lot of fun. I went to growth group on Tuesday, and Wednesday I worked late after taking an afternoon trip to Jim Thorpe. Brad came home on Thursday, and we enjoyed dinner at home and caught up on Castle.

Friday was our "date night" which turned out to be a typical Friday night: a trip to the gym, dinner at Paese-Mio, and ice cream at Premise Maid. We attempted to watch an episode of Psych when we got home, but ended up falling asleep and waking up when it was over. What a wild Friday night!

Actually, McGee was the only one getting crazy around here!

This morning included a run outside--we're starting to get ready for the race in Milwaukee. Here's to hoping it goes better than last year.

Enjoy your weekend!
-Nikki

Day-long Date

Man, this week has been busy! Brad and I were lucky to have something going on almost every night last week, which didn't leave much time for anything else. We were able to enjoy dinner with friends from church on two separate nights, and had meal with Brad's coworkers at a local restaurant. We managed to squeeze in a couple of trips to the gym, but date night was pretty low-key. We had good intentions of going out for dinner on Wednesday, but with everything going on we decided to grab dinner from Wegman's and enjoy a quiet dinner at home.

We didn't have anything in particular planned for Saturday, and we were able to spend the entire day together. We started our day at the gym, completing this crazy leg workout.

Saturday ended up being a beautiful day, so we headed to the park across the street before a quick walk before heading back to the house.

We decided to head to Bethlehem for lunch, which we enjoyed at Horns. (You can read about our first trip to Horns here). Brad had a pork-belly sandwich, and I enjoyed a meatball sub. We also shared a side of fries with truffle oil, parsley, and sea salt. They were seriously some of the best fries I've ever had!

After lunch we made a few quick stops (including a trip to DSW) before heading home for a quick nap. We enjoyed a light dinner of leftovers before heading out for our second adventure: The Hunger Games.

I recently read the first book of The Hunger Games series and was interested to see what the movie would be like. We both found the movie to be rather entertaining and were glad that we had the chance to spend the evening together.

Sunday included the usual: Church, Fuse, and a trip to the gym. Now it's time for dinner, and later, an episode of Cupcake Wars. I hope you enjoyed your weekend!

Blessings,
-Nikki

Easter Weekend

Brad and I had a busy Easter weekend. Here are some highlights from our adventures:

Dying Easter Eggs! This was take two of our date night adventure. Take one didn't go so well (FYI: there is no TCBY in Bethlehem, and EuroYogurt is NOTHING like Menchie's)

 Post-Easter Egg coloring adventure AND workout Saturday

 Before heading to Brad's Grandfather's house for an Easter meal

 Saturday also included a trip to Sweet & Sassy with this cutie

 The spa area, just for little girls

 Before her haircut

 Picking out the nail polish color

 The manicure

 After her haircut!

Dressed for Church on Easter Sunday

...and a picture of sweet little Lydia that Kathy and Jeff sent, just because I'm a proud aunt. :)

Until next time,

-Nikki

Happy Easter!

"Nobody knows what we're for only what we're against when we judge the wounded
What if we put down our signs crossed over the lines and love like You did
Oh Jesus friend of sinners
Open our eyes to the world at the end of our pointing fingers
Let our hearts be led by mercy
Help us reach with open hearts and open doors
Oh Jesus friend of sinners break our hearts for what breaks yours"

- Jesus Friend of Sinners, By Casting Crowns

We hope that you spend today celebrating with friends and family. Happy Easter!

-Brad & Nikki

Meet McGee

Just in case you didn't think that Brad and I are strange enough (you can read about our obsession with Jeopardy here), let me introduce you to McGee.

First, here's a little bit of the back story. When we were in Key West, I mentioned to Brad that I would love to see a manatee. We didn't see one while we were there, but while Brad was in Orlando, he brought a stuffed manatee home for me. Isn't that cute?

Somewhere along the way, Brad started to call me "Slow Poke McGee," since I tend to move a little bit slower than he does and take a much longer time to make decisions. And, since manatees tend to move slowly, somehow I became associated with a manatee. So when the manatee joined our little family, it seemed fitting that we name him McGee.

The funny thing about McGee is that he somehow seems to end up in some interesting places. At first I would find him in my closet, or hiding in some clothes. On Sunday, Brad and volunteered at a local 5K in the morning, but were heading to our Sunday School class after the race. We had a few minutes, so we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a couple of things. We were waiting in line when I opened my purse to get my wallet, and guess who was inside? McGee!

 Here he is "driving" home from the grocery store.

 And just look where I found McGee when I got home from work today...

I think I have sufficiently embarrassed us for today.

Blessings,
-Nikki

Weekend Shenanigans

We were lucky to be able to start our weekend a little bit early and head to Hershey early on Friday afternoon. After a (not) quick (enough) trip to the outlets (Brad's idea), we met up with the wonderful Tony and Lauren at Fenicci's of Hershey for a delicious dinner. We were able to spend some time relaxing and catching up before heading over to the Giant Center for a wonderful concert.

We saw Lindsay McCaul, Royal Taylor, Matthew West, and Casting Crowns! It was a great event, and we certainly enjoyed the company. 

We debated staying overnight in the Hershey area so that we could catch up with some other friends on Saturday (heyyy Jessica and Nate!), but it didn't work out quite like we had hoped. We ended up driving back to the Lehigh Valley after the concert. It made for a late night, but we didn't have too much planned for Saturday, so it worked out pretty nicely.

After a morning trip to the gym, a trip to the Emmaus Bakery (seriously--if you've never been there, go. Now.), a stop at the Lehigh Valley Homebuilder's Show (hi, Jake!), and a short trip to Allentown Farmer's market, we planted ourselves on the couch for the rest of the evening. We played some Wii Jeopardy and enjoyed a lazy evening at home.

Sunday morning we were up bright and early to volunteer at a local 5K. We had a great time with some nice folks before heading to church for our weekly Sunday School Class. After class we made a quick trip home to unload some groceries, and were able to spend a bit of time in the afternoon celebrating a friend's birthday. We were able to squeeze in a trip to the gym (seriously, walking lunges will be the death of me!) before making a delicious dinner of salmon, quinoa, and Brussels sprouts. Another round of Jeopardy and an episode of Cupcake Wars rounded out our weekend.

Any guesses as to what is going on here? I'll fill you in this week!