Baked Macaroni N' Cheese

Today, I decided to be productive. Just a regular ol' housewife in training ;) I woke up at a decent hour and threw some laundry in downstairs. From there, Rob and I went grocery shopping and we finally got a mop! I swept and mopped all the floors and then made some baked macaroni and cheese. I found the recipe here and added about an extra half recipe. I just love macaroni and cheese THAT much.

What you'll need:

• 12 oz (1 1/2 cups) elbow macaroni, cooked
• 2 1/2 cups milk (I used 1%)
• 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 4 tbsp butter or margarine
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp bread crumbs (I used Panko)
• 1 tsp salt

I'm not posting the directions on here as they're pretty straight forward on the website where I got the recipe. I didn't run in to any problems, except that it took a lot longer than 2 minutes to make the butter and flour bubble in the beginning.

It's super delicious! Let me know if you try it out :)

xo. Nicole

Pinterest Sunday

So apparently the new layout doesn't look good on bigger monitors. I'm hoping to have it fixed soon, but in the meantime, it looks how it should on most of my friend's and family's monitors. I'm in no big rush to fix it.

Most recently, I've been thinking about whether or not I should have a cocktail dress to dance in during the reception. My dress was very expensive, so it would probably be a huge waste if I only wore it for the ceremony and the pictures. The back of my dress pins up so that it won't be stepped on, so maybe I won't need a reception dress. In the meantime, I'm enjoying looking at all the cute white cocktail dresses that have been floating around Pinterest.

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I wonder if I could also wear one of these beautiful dresses for my bachelorette party? Also, I'm trying to figure out the proper dimensions for each photo so they look a little blurry right now.

Follow me on Pinterest for Pinterest Sunday all week long! :)

xo. Nicole

New Layout!

Rob and I finished the new layout for A Broke Bride! It took about a day to complete, as I had to edit every post that had been on my blog, to fit the new dimensions of the columns. It was frustrating, but I think it was worth it. I have a few more things to add, but this is how it will generally look :) This is also my first time dabbling in Photoshop!

There are a few things that we can't figure out how to fix. My blog layout would be that much more amazing if we could get some help!

1. On the bottom of every post, there's a little gray box that surrounds "0 comments". We just can't figure out how to get rid of that or just change the width.

2. The column on the right side that has the sponsors, I can't get it to go further right (so it looks less cluttered) without moving the printing from the middle column. 

Would you be willing to help me out?

There's a free LARGE sponsor spot available if you're willing! It includes a feature post!

xo. Nicole

An InLinkz Link-up

Sponsor - and A Revamp

Sponsor A Broke Bride in August?

I just signed up for Passionfruit Ads and I am sooo excited! This is going to make it a lot easier for my sponsors and for myself to keep track of everything.

You can find my new sponsor page here.

I'm going to have 5 small spots (200x100) available for an AD SWAP! An ad swap is when I will put your button on my blog and you'll put my button on yours. It says it's $2 for a small spot, but if you enter the code "SWAP", it's free!

There are 7 spots left for medium (200x150) for the month of August. Every medium sponsor gets a guest post that may include a giveaway or a tutorial. 

Anyone can e-mail me at any time at: nicole.franson1@gmail.com.

Since I will be adding pages (I just learned how - D'oh!) to A Broke Bride, I will be giving the layout a little bit of a revamp pretty soon. I'm going to be working with Rob on it, so it's going to be a couple days or about a week. I'm super excited!

xo. Nicole

ps. Bare with me as I learn how to use Passionfruit Ads.

Tuesday Things

So our proposal story is coming soon! I've been working on it for a day or so, but it's not quite done! I've got so many appointments and things to do that I'm surprised I even have time to make this post. I do not want to slack on A Broke Bride though, so I'll do my best to keep posting during the next few busy weeks.

Guess what?! I got hired where I did my practicum! They emailed me last Tuesday with a job offer and all the handbooks that I need. I'm going to be working with a youth who has low functioning Autism! For that job, I need to get them a criminal record check, a Tuberculosis test, a physical, a class 4 driver's license, a driver's abstract, tax forms, and also I need to sign the job offer forms and hand it in to them. I printed out one of the handbooks and organized it very well :)

It's always better for me to have a handbook that I can leaf through, instead of scrolling through on my laptop. It's easier for me this way.

My interview that was supposed to be last Friday was rescheduled for yesterday. It was for a position as a part time residential care worker for adults with special needs! I was done my oral interview with two lovely ladies, and almost done my written and computer portions of the interview, when one of the ladies walked in and said "We would like to offer you the position!" I was thrilled! 2 jobs in my field of study only a month after graduation! For this job, they have everything they need from me. I just need to book a physical, give them my Tuberculosis results (which come on Friday) and e-mail them my driver's abstract. They also want me to get my class 4 driver's license, but that is going to take some time. On my way home from the interview (I was there for 2 hours!) my windshield wiper broke. I was on the highway when I heard a loud crack and my wiper was not where it was supposed to be!

Oh well!

I'm going to start juggling 3 jobs very soon, so I'm going to need one big calendar! I've been browsing Pinterest and some craft blogs for ideas, but I'm still not sure how to begin making an easy calendar that can be cleaned and reused every month. Do you know of any blogs that have made a reusable calendar?

While sitting at home and browsing Pinterest to help me relax, I came across a bunch of fitness pins. I'm tired of my excuses for not running and I'm tired of how little my self esteem has been lately. I had to buy a new outfit for my graduation ceremony because I was too big for the dress that I wore on New Year's Eve. I cried after I tried on all the dresses in my closet. Tomorrow, I am running no matter what. I have a Tuberculosis test at 11:30am, but that gives me plenty of time to run before then. I still need motivation.

How do you motivate yourself to get/stay in shape?

xo. Nicole

Wedding

Yesterday Rob and I hitched a ride with his Mom to Chilliwack and Hope for his Uncle's wedding. The ceremony was so nice (except for the abundance of mosquitoes) and then it was a pleasant drive up to Hope for the reception. We were 2 hours early for the reception, so we check in to our Motel. It had two queen size beds and it was really quite a comfortable environment. The owner was so funny and nice. We'll definitely go back there if we have to stay in Hope again :)

The ceremony took place at Minter Gardens in Chilliwack and the reception took place at the Hope Golf Course.

Their wedding party was very small and intimate. It consisted of the bride's sister as her Maid of Honor and the groom's best friend of 8 years as his Best Man. The wedding party also included the groom's niece and nephew as the flower girl and the ring bearer.

Rob was just sooo excited while we waited for dinner.

Amber's dress was gorgeous!

Their cake was beautiful! The delivery woman dropped it, though. You can't tell from this picture and it tasted just the same, but they're still getting a full refund.

The groom in the middle of the dance circle, haha :)

Overall, it was a really good wedding! It was also very intimate, as there were only 35 or so guests. We really enjoyed ourselves and are both currently eating our favors which were those coca cola jawbreaker balls. Amber and Aaron seem like a perfect match for each other. They married young as well, as they're both 21 I believe, but have done pretty good for themselves. I wish them all the best!

xo. Nicole

Pinterest Sunday

I was at a wedding last night and I saw their lovely gift table! They had a little wicker basket for cards on the gift table and my mind started racing about what sort of things we could use for a card holder at ours. Since being home I've done laundry, bought cat food, organized my new employee handbook, browsed my favourite blogs, and browsed through Pinterest. As my internet keeps cutting in and out every 30 seconds, I think it's best that I keep this short and sweet.

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So before I smash my laptop out of pure and utter frustration, I wanted to say my favourite of this group is the mailbox that says "PS. I LOVE YOU" on the side. Definitely something I am considering. 

xo. Nicole

Graduation

Last night was my college graduation ceremony! It was so wonderful to see some of my classmates all dolled up and to have my mom, sister, and Rob there. I spent the afternoon with my mom while she curled my hair. I was borrowing her Jimmy so I decided it was best to wash it before giving it back to her. I also got to see my dogs :)

Nutmeg is the brown one and Ewok is the one going "If it ain't food, don't botha me?"

Rob showed up later than all of us, and for a good reason. He walked in with a bouquet of flowers and a graduation present for me! Guess what I got? A KINDLE!!

 He NEVER gets me flowers. First time and last time I got flowers was when he proposed! (Oh yeah, I should post about that story for you guys...)

Here it is in all it's glory!! Maybe now that I have easier access to books that I've wanted to read, I could do a weekly post like Liz's? Well, I don't usually read a book in a week but last week, I read 2! I'm not sure how I'll do it...

It was a great day :) Today, my interview has been rescheduled for Monday so I'm just waiting for my great Aunt to come over and then tomorrow is Rob's relative's wedding!

ps. I promise I will have the proposal story up here soon!

xo. Nicole

Thing's I'm Lovin'

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•  It's gorgeous outside!
•  I get to spend time with my mom today
•  I receive my college diploma this evening
•  I get to wear a brand new outfit that was purchased for under $50 (shoes included!)
•  I have 4 more days off of work after today
•  My kitchen is clean
•  I got a job offer yesterday and I have a job interview tomorrow
•  I woke up early and was productive (read a bunch of manuals for my new job)
•  My nails are painted light pink (a color I'm thinking of for my wedding)
•  And this post that I found on Kaelah's 'Things I Love Thursday' post.

What are you lovin' today? Link me to your posts!

xo. Nicole