It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

We were able to get our Christmas decorations up just in the nick of time! The last bit of garland was placed on Monday night--less than 24 hours before the Blizzard of 2009 started!

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures taken before the storm, and some of my decorations are now covered by snow. I have big plans to finish un-burying them in the coming days.

I nixed my plan to put lighted garland around all of the columns, because it was looking to be a bit "much"...however, now that some of my decorations are covered, I'm thinking that it might be a good addition!

My only mishap came while putting up the snowflakes on the garage door. I squished my fingers in between two of the doors, and have a lovely black fingernail to show for it...but the outcome of the snowflakes was great! :)

Thanks to my mom for lending us her homemade elves! They are the perfect addition! We didn't have time to make anything of our own, this year, but have big plans for next year.

Please notice the lightbulbs sticking out of the ground infront of the house...

And here is what was left of those lightbulbs after the snow!

Our Candy canes seem to have lost their "Cane" status!

Halloween at our House

This was our first Halloween in our new house! We were so excited to decorate and to hand out candy to all of the kids in the neighborhood!

Trick or Treat!

Some pictures of our house all decorated!

Jeremy with 1/2 of our 2009 Pumpkin Family! We went a little overboard with the candy this year... ...but the kids didn't seem to mind!!! Here is a pictures of my Mom's house this year... someday I hope that our house will look just as cool! Hope that you all had a Hauntingly Happy Halloween!!!

Another new Addition!

On September 11, our good friends Erin and Kevin welcomed their new daughter, Raegan, to the world! Erin is one of my wonderful college roommates, and we are so excited for their family! On October 25, we were finally able to make it to Arlington Heights to meet Reagan. She is quite adorable, and we look forward to watching and sharing in the excitment as she grows up!

Congratulations Kevin and Erin!!!

Fall Foliage? Trip 2009

This year's Annual Fall Foliage Drive was a little different than year's past...mainly, it was missing the "Fall Foliage" part! We went on our drive on Saturday, October 17. We drove up to Steven's Point, WI, before heading West and then back down to Madison. We saw some small pockets of color, but unfortunately, most of Wisconsin didn't change colors until the following week. We still managed to make the best of the drive, though. Here we are at a pretty lake we found on our drive!

We also came across a corn maze and pumpkin patch that we visited last year. While we had picked a bunch of pumpkins in Sun Prairie the weekend earlier, we still managed to find a few more to add to our pumpkin family this year.

Here is Jeremy by a scarecrow. He actually didn't know that this was what a scarecrow was until this autumn! I actually had to explain to a 34-year-old how the "scarecrow" came about!

Our Blog-cation

You may have noticed we've taken a bit of a hiatus from the blog....we've been busy with life and trying to settle into our new home. We hope to better keep up with the blog as we continue to navigate all of the ins and outs of being homeowners!

Moving on Up...

...to the Eastside! You may have noticed the lack of updates lately from the Nichols blog. It's been quite the spring for us! After months of searching, multiple submitted offers, and a lot of waiting, we are finally closing on a house on June 29! The countdown has begun! I just 1 week, Jeremy and I are going to join the much coveted "Homeowners" club! While we've enjoyed our time as Westsiders, we are looking forward to our move to Sun Prairie on the eastside. We'll be cleaning and painting in the coming weeks, with the big move happening on July 18. We hope that all of our friends and family will be able to come and visit in the coming months and help to fill our new home with happiness!

Our growing circle of friends!

Yesterday, on April 21 two of my dear friends, Kim and Adam, welcomed their little girl to the world!

Welcome Paige Felicity Howard!

Congratulations!!!! We are so excited to meet Paige this summer--which can't come soon enough!

Paper Anniversary

An anniversary is a time to celebrate the joys of today, the memories of yesterday, and the hopes of tomorrow. ~Author Unknown

It's been quite a year since our wedding! We have seen so many changes both in our lives and all of yours! We certainly have enjoyed celebrating of the joys of today and the memories of yesterday and are especially are excited about the hopes of tomorrow.

What a wonderful memory our wedding is, and will always be. We had such a wonderful day, due in much part to the wonderful family and friends who were there to share in our joy. We can't wait to continue sharing all of our future important events with you all!

Thank you to all who have been thinking of us, and wishing us well this weekend and the whole year through.

Birthday Celebration

On Sunday, Feb. 22, my Nephew Ian turned 4 years old!

He had a big party on Saturday to celebrate. The theme was Star Wars: Clone Wars and no detail was spared!

The card from Jeremy and me contained a Whopee Cushion...which Ian had never seen before...

When someone blew it up for Ian and he sat on it, his reaction was priceless:

Connor nabbed one of Ian's gifts--a Star Wars Light Saber!

Fun was had by all...especially the birthday boy! There was so much excitement that Connor needed to take a break with Grandpa! My sister made 3 really impressive Star Wars cakes!

Happy 4th Birthday Ian!

Bobin' our Heads...on a Saturday night!

On February 7th, we went to see Rascal Flatts (and Jessica Simpson) at the Kohl Center. Our friend Angie hooked us up with some free tickets and seats that were fantastic! Here are some pics from the show.

The concert was just a couple of days after the infamous "Jessica Simpson in fat jeans" picture came out...while we were that close, I didn't think she looked fat at all!

The stage for Rascal Flatts was the COOLEST stage I've ever seen at a concert...Here is the band's entrance from a raise platform that dropped from the sky!

The stage wrapped around the perimeter of the lower level of the Kohl Center...and all three of the guys made use of it, so there really wasn't a bad seat in the place.

Here are some close-ups when the guys were closer to us.

At the end, there was a huge balloon and ball drop...reminiscent of 80's videos...super cool!