new address.

So by new, I don't mean we have moved again, but I wanted to make sure everyone has our newest address so holiday cards aren't lost in the mail!

Rick and Erin Rice
3504 Corum Dr. #917
Henrico, VA 23294

Can't wait to see everyone's new family pictures!

Love,
us.

Ps. If you have moved since last Christmas and I haven't contacted you about your new address... please email it to me at 1erinrice@gmail.com THANKS!!

holiday card assembly line?!

I am making all of our holiday cards this year! Here is a preview of the rice santa and friends line!

Love, us.

new years in orlando??

Keep your fingers crossed that LSU gets an invitation to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Florida so that Delaney can meet Minnie Mouse and Cinderella! We will know for sure on December 6th! But the outlook is GOOOOD!!

Love,

your desperate-to-go-to-orlando richmond rices.

turkey-ed out for sure!

Let's see... the turkey for me started on Wednesday. My bosses bought turkey and dressing and all the teachers brought in a side dish. Then, on Thursday we went to Nanny's house in Ashland for more turkey, yams with ooey gooey marshmellows (yumm) broccoli casserole (yumm, yumm) and lots of yummy desserts like a pumpkin bread roll that had an ooey, gooey cream cheese mixture inside! After Nanny's we went to Dave and Rita's (family friends) where they deep fried a turkey and had homemade desserts like yummy apple pie. We had a great time! It was a great thankgiving day, but on Friday morning we were turkey-ed out!

It's hard to think about turkey right now...So yesterday when we drove to Deltaville, we were both really hoping there wouldn't be aaannyy turkey. And just as I predicted there was none, instead we had pork bbq, cole slaw, crab soup, seasoned shrimp, etc. All the food you should have at a thanksgiving in Deltaville. We spent the day there and had a great time.

Rick pulled a muscle in his back so he has been pretty miserable today, hopefully some icey hot, a hot bath and a bottle of advil will get him back to feeling better.

LSU beat Arkansas yesterday in overtime! So we may have a shot at going to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando once again... Maybe the Cotton Bowl in Dallas but we shall have to see.

I apologize for the lack of pictures but we are going to the Great Wolf Lodge next weekend with the Bostons and my parents so I should have lots of pictures next weekend! :)

Hope this finds everyone happy, healthy and still in a thankful glow.

Love,
your turkey-ed-out richmond rices.

Oh, turkey day how I love thee!

I am thankful for...
...a loving husband who lets me sleep in and might not always do the right thing but tries pretty damn hard to.
...an amazing familyx2. Aunts that say things like you are an ooey-gooey girl and uncles that say things like "Yeah, people in my church are killing people in mafia wars, it's confusing... it's like opposite day!" Sisters that text me to let me know about circut sales, sisters that remember the marshmellows on the yams and sisters that skype to talk about skyping boots AND mothers that tell me I am a smart cookie and bake apple pies and mashed potatoes to take home... just to name a few!
...amazing friends that invite us over to experience new ways to eat yams, introduce new learning tools like african dwarf frogs and text from 1500 miles to say they are thinking of us!
...a new church family that is both honest and welcoming and makes me feel like I am a part of something bigger than myself (which is often easy to forget!)

Each and every day no matter where we are or what we are doing something or someone is there to remind us how blessed we are. We hope everyone in our life realizes how thankful we are to have this life and every single person in it.

Have a happy and blessed thanksgiving! We hope this finds everyone as stuffed and sleepy as we are!

Love,
your oh-so-very-thankful richmond rices.

from the rice cache...

Rick and his coho salmon he caught when we went salmon fishing in Seattle. Less than 5 hours later we grilled this and 4 others with some corn on the cob and asparagus at our hotel... It was warm and beautiful out, perfect day for a shelton-boston-rice family picnic.

You can't plan memories like this!

Love,

us.

a place to call our own...

...like house would be great. I have the house-itch like I have never had it before. I am so ready to settle in somewhere, to paint, decorate and invest in furniture to carry us through a family. I want to do home improvement projects on the weekends that I learn about on HGTV and plant a garden in the backyard where Fletch has plenty of space to run, a craft room with space to scrapbook and house the cricut when I have it (my mil and I share one!!) and a place to set up a sewing machine (when I actually buy one). A room or 2 for some family growth since the next big step will be babies...but until then, our apartment will have to do. We have talked about maybe renting a house... but I am just soooo tired of moving. I want my next move to be into a house I will start my family in!

Anyway, so since we don't have a place to call our own as in a house... we have found a church! Rick and I went to pick out a pumpkin a few weeks ago at a place he had seen while driving around... there was a pumpkin patch at a place called Good Shepard United Methodist Church. When we got out of the car, Rick realized he knew a guy that went there. So we decided we should try it. After about 12 or 13 churches this is the first place we left after a service agreeing to go back. Rick had noticed they needed a guitar player in their worship band so he met up for a practice last week and is now playing with them on Sunday mornings. We met the Pastor last night for coffee and realized that we have a lot more in common (with him and the church) than we ever imagined. We are so very happy to have found some place (even if not a house) to call our own! Who knows if this is going to be the place for us forever, but right now all the signs say it is for us, at least for now!

So see why I have the house itch? I think everyone who knows me has always known my obsession with doing things in the proper order. I know that it isn't up to me, to make sure things happen the way I think they should, but so far they have sooo I feel like the house is supposed to be next, I am so ready!!

I guess in the meantime, I will keep myself busy with my usual things and now getting involved in a church community can be a house-itch distraction as well.

And when all is said and done, the important thing is that I have a warm place to sleep each night.

Hope this finds everyone happy, healthy and getting into the holiday spirit!

Love,
your blessed-to-be-sheltered richmond rices.

I have no excuse...

As to why I have turned into such a slacker. I used to love this blog. I would be out doing something fun and think to myself, "Oh, gotta get the camera out because I am going to want to write about this!"

Somehow, our blog got put on the back burner and has not climbed the priority list yet. Maybe with the holidays coming up, I will have more to report. I guess now is as good a time as any... I really have no idea where to begin... I guess the best thing is to start with what is happening now. BUT first... a recap of our summer...

Rick and I took Delaney on her first trip to Kings Dominion. We were both really nervous initially because we were responsible for her safety as well as her enjoyment... But it turned out she was so very excited about the rides. So much that she would cry when she had to get off. So Rick and I worked out a strategy... the person in charge of the stroller would wheel it over to get in line while the other one got Laney off the ride in order to decrease her wait time, which equaled less crying. It was truly an experience! We had a blast and Laney slept the whole ride home. :)

The next group of pictures is from our trip to Atlantic City. Neither us had every been there but we had more fun than expected! My parents, Rick and I drove to Atlantic City and stayed at the Trump Plaze Hotel. Rick's sister, Jenny (from Long Island) and her boyfriend Chris met us there. We had tickets to the Jimmy Buffett show in Boardwalk Hall. We got to do a little gambling, eat amazing steak/seafood dinners, play in the ocean and see an amazing concert all the while having tons of fun laughing, drinking and eating together. It was such a great weekend!

It will be close to impossible to recap our trip to Seattle, but I will try my best. We stayed for 10 days and my sister (plus the boston crew) and my brother came for half of the week. We went on a seaplane to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada... we went to Mt. Rainier and did a little hiking and sightseeing... we went to a mariners game at Safeco Field (vs. the LA Angels, how fitting since Bryan was with us)... we went to the Space Needle for lunch... the boys went to a preseason Seahawks game... we went salmon fishing and cooked it on the gas grills at the hotel for lunch... We went to the LSU vs. Washington Huskies game... and we went to Pike's Market... See why it is impossible to really recap! It was so fun, more fun than any family should ever have together!! :)

Fletch was in some sort of accident while we were visiting Rick's dad at the river. We aren't sure what happened because we didn't see it, but Fletch somehow got a hole ripped in his side. He had to get 6 staples and wear this silly cone (which lasted a total of maybe an hour!) But he has healed nicely. There is still a dark spot where the hair hasn't grown in all the way and the scar is showing. He once again didn't seem affected by the whole thing... all of it was harder on me (just like when he sliced is paw open) but you know that will probably never change!

Also over the summer, we saw Billy Joel and Elton John at the Nationals Stadium in DC. We celebrated our one year anniversary with a fancy dinner at the Hardshell (our favorite restaurant!) And we saw our favorite local band Boneanchor a few times at various bars in Richmond.

We moved out of the fan at the end of July. We are now living in the West End of Richmond, Henrico actually. We live in a 1-bedroom apartment in a pretty nice complex, with a fitness room, a pool and a dog park. Fletch took some time getting used to it but so far seems to have adjusted nicely. I think he definitely misses having a yard but the dog park has been good for his exercise. The move has been hard on me too. I can't believe I dont live in the fan. One day I will again, but until then I try to look at the positive things... like how much we are saving in gas, rent, utilities, etc.

Rick started college this semester. He is going to J. Sargent Reynolds and beginning a 2 year program in international business which he will then transfer to VCU to finish his BS. So far, he loves it. He is taking 3 classes this semester and plans to take a little more next semester as he eases himself back into being a student.

I switched jobs. This probably seems like a bit of a shock because no one really knew how unhappy I was (including my former bosses). It is a long story, not really important in the long run... But I love my new school! I am teaching a preK class of young 4 year olds and they are great. The school is more like a 10-minute drive instead of the 5-minute drive to my old school but the extra time has just given me time to finish my coffee! :) I work 4-ten hour days and get every Monday off! (3-day weekends are awesome!). Great benefits, life insurance, 401K and 1 week paid vacation after 6 months and another week after a year! Life is good.

We are staying busy as usual. With football season, staying connected to family and friends as well as the many obligations that come with melding families including weddings, birthdays and other celebrations.

Two girls from my sorority got married the last two weekends. The first being one of my first roommates and the other being my sorority big sister. They both had absolutely amazing weddings and looked absolutely stunning.

These were Rick and I's first weddings as a married couple and I have found it has made me a lot more emotional about weddings. Both times I teared up watching the bride walk down the aisle, which I have never done at any other wedding before... It not only brought back memories of me walking down the aisle, the excitement, nervousness and utter joy but more importantly memories of the promises Rick and I made to each other. I am very excited about the life we have begun building together and sooo very excited about what our future holds!

I hope this catches everyone up to where we are in our lives. I really am going to make more of an honest effort to keep up with this because I have learned a lot of people keep up with us this way. (Although now that everyone is on facebook it seems that is just as easy!)

We hope this finds everyone as happy and healthy as us. We love you all.

Love,

your not-so-newlywed richmond rices.