Hixson Wedding

Last Saturday we went to a wedding! It was at a cute restaurant called Hugo's in Brownsville. The wedding was for the daughter of our neighbor. As you can see, fountains and stairs are still very popular for cakes here in PA! There were a lot of kids attending, so they had a teddy bear toss prior to the bouquet/garter toss. It was so cute! Their dollar dance
started out normal- and then the crowd turned it in to a Polish Bridal Dance and started surrounding the bride with hankies in hand! In typical Bridal Dance fashion, you were given a shot at the end (they were doing this even prior to it becoming a Polish Bridal Dance, which was a new concept for me!). Having known Jan-Michael his whole life, they talked him in to more dancing performances of "Billie Jean" and "Bye Bye Bye" which he reluctantly complied. This was our first wedding attendance since both of our wedding receptions. Ya whoo for sitting back and enjoying the show! Congratulations Jennifer & Richard!

Picasa Web Wedding Album

Thanks to smarty pants Becky who shared the joy of free pictures at Picasa, I've been able to upload the majority of our PA reception pictures and a few AZ wedding pictures for everyone's downloadable enjoyment! No more Kodak Gallery, Cost Co Photo, etc etc etc that make you pay for the pictures you want. Everyone's happy now! Hooray! Click

Carnegie History and Art

A week ago, we went with Jan-Michael's cousin, Tiffany and her husband Ron to the Carnegie Museum of History in Pittsburgh. Thanks to marrying the man I love, I know have a wonderful new cousin =) We had a lot of fun! I was a bit disappointed about my good pal, George Washington, not being at the museum... but we found an amazing exhibit of architecture. Admission allows you to visit both the history and art sides. Who knew we'd run into Monet's famous Water Lilies painting? Thanks Tiffany and Ru for a great Saturday!

It's Spring!

In celebration of Earth Day, take a look at just how beautiful the Earth is.............

This past Saturday I woke up to find that little yellow and purple flowers had sprung up overnight!! It was the most miraculous thing I had experienced since snow. Overnight people, overnight! They are now covering everyone's yards. I guess it's officially spring!

Go To Summer's Garage Sale!

Summer and Brian are moving to Australia- help them raise money and get great stuff for yourself while you're at it!!....
Garage Sale
When: Saturday, April 19th
Time: 5 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Where: 5345 S Mill Ave Tempe, AZ 85283 (in Kiwanis Park)

THEN on Sunday, watch the new ABC princess movie =) Happy weekend!

I'm a PA Girl, Ya Ya Ya!

As everyone knows, when you get married, there are a lot of changes- especially if you're the new Mrs. and have a new last name! Oh wait, AND moved to a new state! If millions of other newly married women can do it, than so can I! And I did.........







PA is different than AZ when it comes to licenses and vehicle registration. In other words, you can just do it all at one place! You get your license at the Dept. of Transportation and your vehicle registered by a notary who happens to carry PA plates (thanks Larry!). Luckily, unlike CA, I did NOT have to take another driving test to get my license =)






A few of my different licenses thus far....



















Finally, a little changed that has been noticed..... I got to chop my hair =) No more need for long locks in order to get that perfect bride up-do. So I went back to my favorite chucky layers- but this time they got a little crazy with the razor too... so I have quite a bit less hair. I'm loving it though! Hooray for changes!

Pennsylvania Wedding Reception

Finally! Here are a few pictures from our second wedding reception..... Yes, that's right- we had TWO! We're thinking about doing a world tour now, hitting all the states! Ok, not really. Obviously Jan-Michael and I were married in my home state of AZ. Being so close to Christmas and all, none of his family and friends could make it, besides his immediate family and groomsman Matt. We knew this was going to happen and decided to plan 2 receptions. I had seen it a lot on TLC's "A Wedding Story", so it was quite alright! haha What we didn't know is that we would end up having the 2nd reception almost 4 months later! The AZ girl thought it would be appropriate to throw a party in the middle of winter. Apparently that doesn't go well here! haha Don't worry, I've learned my lesson. So on March 29th, at the Uniontown Fire Hall, we got dressed up again and partied the night away with over 220 guests! I experienced new things, like Polish wedding food, the infamous Bridal Dance, and passing around my shoes! Yes, they took my shoes off my feet to collect money (it's for the first born baby, YAY!). It was so much fun and I'm so thankful to Jan-Michael's parents for hosting this celebration, HUNKY style!


If you want to know, the second time around was a bit MORE stressful than the first. That's because we did everything- and I mean EVERYTHING! We made the invitations, decorated the hall, had to take everything down, made all the favors, made the card collector, made more centerpieces, etc. etc. etc. Plus, Jan-Michael DJ'd his own wedding! Well, with the help of Leonard ;) It was also funny because we all at one point or another, acted as photographer! So many times, I walked around with our camera and took pictures of everyone. Bride and photographer! I must also mention how disgustingly dirty my dress is now. Yes, these dresses apparently are only meant to be worn once... not even an hour into the reception, my layers came undone and my bustle no longer worked. White satin and tulle dragged on the dirty dirty floor for the rest of the night.... you can guess what color it is now!
But it was all worth it because I got to dress up like a princess and dance with my prince "So Close" one more time..... AMEN!

My Enchanted 25th Birthday!

This year, since I was turning the big 2-5, I decided to have a kid's birthday party to help me feel younger. Wait, who am I kidding- I have a kid's themed birthday party every year!! Anyway, obviously this year my favorite thing has been Enchanted. Love it! So we bought all the Enchanted birthday supplies and had an Enchanted coffee party =) I made three different types of coffee and even had to buy another coffee maker (which will come in useful for more coffee parties.) My husband made an Enchanted cake for me- it was chocolate cherry (let me know if you want the recipe!) All the girls who came wore tiaras. It was great! We played a video game called Buzz- which is a lot like a TV game show. So fun! Thank you to Whitney, Matt, Maggie, Aidan, Emily, David, Jessica, Dan, Wesley, Twillet, Rich and my hubby for all your gifts and celebration! Another thank you to Summer, Mom, Charlie, C.J., Christy, Kyle, Ken, Steven, Claire, Ellen, Vanessa, Grandma Thomas, Grandma Knapky, Aunt Carrie and Uncle Bill for your gifts and cards! And Dad for our NY trip and spending $! I am a spoiled princess =) It was hard this year being so far away from my best of friends and my wonderful family. But thanks to my husband and new friends, I was able to have a good time. Still missing you all though!

Busy Busy and New York Birthday!

We're back and almost recovered from our whirlwind weekend! It started with My brother-in-law, Wes, flying in Thursday. My Dad and sister followed on Friday. We made them work hard as we all decorated for the reception. Up late and little sleep lead us in to Saturday and the wedding festivities began! Well, minus the church part ;p I met 200+ new people that night as we partied in our wedding attire. I got to experience Polish (HUNKY) food and Polish Bridal Dance (sort of like our version of the dollar dance, but with way more dancing and craziness). I got my husband back and smashed cake in his face ;p My dress is officially worn out and dirty as can be. It was great! Pictures coming soon!!
The next day after very little sleep again, my Dad, sister, hubby and I jumped in the car for 7 hours to New York! My sister and I have never been, so it was our birthday treat. It was a freezing cold night, but we continued on until 2am! New York's many sounds didn't let us sleep once we got back to the hotel either. Monday we pressed on in rainy foggy weather using only our feet or the subway. I was so excited to experience the subway- it was great! It was a lot cleaner than I expected too. I also was surprised with how friendly those New Yorkers are- much nicer than LA people. They were so helpful in helping us find our way around! After a full day of sight seeing, we met up with my high school friend, Bekah, who I haven't seen in 7 years! She lives in NY and was nice enough to meet us for dinner and make reservations. It was the best pizza ever!! We love you Bekah! We left the next morning at 5am and crashed all day yesterday. What a trip! Here is the link to our Facebook to view more photos:NY Thank you to my Dad for taking us!



Tomorrow is my big 25 birthday. I'm an old lady now ;p