Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Ruggeri!!!

My brother got married on November 7th in Fort Worth!! Nathan and I had such a blast at the wedding, spending time with family and friends. As you can probably tell from my previous posts, I have always looked up to my big brother. He has been such an incredible influence and inspiration in my life and I was so thrilled to get to be a part of such an important and monumental weekend in his life. It was an absolutely beautiful wedding and I could not be happier for my big brother and my new sister!! They truly are a perfect match! I have never seen my brother as happy as he was all weekend. I think my new favorite moment in our lives is watching Tony as Ashley emerged through the double doors at the church. His smile was so sweet and so genuine that I tear up just thinking about it! In the words of my brother, "Ashley is just a good person." I cannot think of any better way to describe her. She also has an incredible family and it was very exciting to finally join the Ruggeri and Rihani clans. We can't wait to spend much more time with her parents, sister, and brothers in the future. We all felt that the weekend went by way too fast. Luckily we'll be doing it again in 3 short months!!!

Nathan and I at the reception

My big brother and I!

Nathan's New Look

Nathan's coworkers decided to have an office competition to see who could grow the best beard. They were all supposed to grow it for 3 weeks and then determine the winners. The losers would then be required to shave all but the mustache for a week. Nathan, of course, jumped at the opportunity to avoid shaving. Unfortunately, he couldn't see the competition to its conclusion due to my brother's wedding next weekend and the scratchiness of his new facial hair. However, like all good competitors, he tipped his hat to his opponents. Due to his good sportsmanship, he is left with this...



This picture was included in the weekly newsletter that went out to his entire department. I am so proud!

Big News!!!

Nathan has started a new job! This is wonderful since he was less than happy where he was. It was definitely a wonderful time for a change! Here is Nathan's explanation of his new job:

I am working at GMAC as a loan modification specialist. I will be servicing loans that have gone into default and trying to qualify them for President Obama's Home Affordable Modification Program. This allows the homeowner to stay current on their loan and the investor will not lose the loan to foreclosure.

Anyway, I have a few more weeks of training, but so far so good! I really like everyone I am working with and I have learned more about mortgages this week than I have my whole life.

My New Obsession

Whenever I went to New Jersey to visit my family as a kid, I would inevitably end up making multiple trips to the grocery store with my grandmother. My grandma ALWAYS used coupons and would get so excited during double/triple coupon time at Safeway! Recently, Nathan and I have been trying to save money here and there because I haven't been able to work since May due to classes and student teaching. I started using coupons at grocery stores at the beginning of the summer, and we would save between $5-$10 every trip. Not too bad! Although, this summer I discovered where the major savings occur and that is at CVS!! CVS offers what are called 'Extra Care Bucks' to loyalty club members with certain purchases. These work just like cash at CVS stores and lead to some pretty incredible savings! Thanks to the help of www.survivingthestores.com I have discovered how to utilize my coupons and sales to actually MAKE MONEY on my purchases! Here are a few examples:

CVS Trip - August 18

Bought:
4 bottles of Sobe Life Water
2 BIC Roller Ball Pens
CVS Brand Aspirin (35 count)
L'Oreal Revitalift Eye Cream
L'Oreal Revitalift Mousterizing Cloths
CVS Brand tampons (10 count)

Cost Before Coupons: $34.53
Cost After Coupons: $5.83
Extra Care Bucks Earned: $11.98

What this means is that I paid $5.83 out of pocket and had $11.98 in Extra Care Bucks to spend on my next trip. Therefore, it is as though they paid me $6.15!!

CVS Trip - August 30

Bought:
Tide Stain Release Laundry Detergent
CVS Antibacterial Hand Soap
Venus Embrace Razor
Glade Reed Diffuser Air Freshener
Glade Candle
Sensodyne Toothpaste
Aquafresh Toothpaste
2 jars of Welch's Jelly

Cost Before Coupons: $43.67
Cost After Coupons: $4.34
Extra Care Bucks Earned: $18.99

It is a lot of fun to watch the total go down as they scan coupons! The other perk is that CVS gives you coupons based on how much you use your Extra Care Card. In these two transactions, I used coupons for free aspirin and hand soap that CVS had given me on previous visits. I can usually use most of what I buy, but if I really don't see myself using something I'll just donate it to the St. Vincent De Paul organization that my dad runs at our church! If you are into saving money, then I would head to the Surviving the Stores website and look at the 'Surviving CVS' link. It takes a couple trips to really get it down, but once you do, it is very much worth it!! Happy couponing!

Solidly Together!

As I mentioned previously, Nathan and I are going through the Pre-Cana process, the marriage preparation required to get married in the Catholic Church. As part of that preparation, we had to take a test called FOCCUS. It is intended to cover the major aspects of married life and deals with issues from money to children to family and friends. It was over 200 questions and took a very long time to take! However, we are happy to report that the results are finally in! According to the test, Nathan and I are "solidly together" in our relationship! Of course, we already knew we were meant to be together, but it's still nice to know that we are very much on the same page in terms of important issues we might face during our marriage! Apparently this means we'll never have an argument, EVER :)

On another note, I have officially passed my certification exams and I am now a certified teacher!! I will begin my student teaching on August 24th at a school in Plano ISD! I am so anxious and excited to be in the classroom on a daily basis!

Adventures in Bella-Sitting!!

Bella LOVES her grandparents! In fact, she goes nuts whenever she enters the Ruggeri or Nelson households. It's an absolute riot, so we decided to videotape her reaction. Enjoy!

Maui!!!

We came back from Boston late Sunday night and left for Maui around noon on Monday! It was a whirlwind, but totally worth it! My parents have a place in Maui and spend 3 months out of the year there. We tagged along for this trip and had a lot of fun spending time with them! We were lucky enough to go last year as well. Last year we did a lot of the "touristy" things, so this trip we spent a lot of time relaxing on the beach! We also went hiking, surfing, and played a lot of tennis! It was a quick trip, but tons of fun! We can't wait to go back again :)

On our 2 1/2 hour, 7 mile hike! Wasn't quite sure what I was getting myself into when I agreed to it, but we had a good time!

Nathan was a natural!

Me? Not so much!

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