Trash the Dress!

Recently, Jan-Michael and I finally had a trash the dress photo session!
If  you do not know what "trash the dress" is, it's basically a new way of getting rid of your dress and

wearing it one more time. It's a new style of wedding photography that's daring and fun. Originally I wanted to sell my dress after the wedding. I had no intention of keeping it and preserving it. But, as you may know, we had two wedding receptions. The second reception in Pennsylvania really ruined my dress. I would have had to pay quite a bit to get it clean enough to sell it. So it wasn't worth it. I wasn't sure what to do with it after that. But then I came across the trash the dress photo sessions and knew that was what I wanted to do! My dress stayed in a trash bag until we finally got it to California. I knew I wanted to have the photo session at the beach since that was where we had taken our wedding portrait for the guest book. Finding the right photographer that didn't cost an arm and a leg was the next step. Luckily, Domonique's wedding photographer was coming to CA on vacation and offered to take the time to do it!
A few of the pictures were ideas we got on Pinterest.... making a heart in the sand, using a frame, dragging Jan's leg..... But the cake idea stemmed from our cake cutting at our receptions. I wanted to bring it back and be more fun. At our wedding, Jan made the mistake of putting cake on my nose during our ceremonial cake cutting. Then in Pennsylvania, I got him back and smashed cake in his face! So of course, we wanted to smear lots of cake on eachother for the trash the dress session. I ordered the most colorful cake I could possibly get and I think they did a great job!
Our photographer, Kacy Hughes, was fantastic! I love all the pictures and all the edits she did! If you live AZ, you should definitely look her up! She is so sweet and so patient. http://photosbykacy.com/
Finally, here is a photobook I made of our pictures on Shutterfly! Enjoy!
FYI- for those of you who can't believe I would trash my wedding dress instead of keeping it for my future daughter, don't worry, I kept a piece of it to make in to jewelry for her to wear =)

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly offers exclusive layouts and designs so you can make your book just the way you want.

Boring or Bad?

I don't even recognize this new format of posting..... so that means I have not posted in a long, long time.
I am either very BORING or a very BAD blogger.
We will say it's a little of both.
I don't have adorable kids to post about. My job drains my brain. We are addicted to Netflix and TV seasons. I use Facebook and Instagram to post pictures.
Unfortunately, the lack of writing meant the lack of visiting which meant the lack of reading other blogs. Sorry friends! I guess I saw all your pictures on Facebook/Instagram!

Here's a quick catch up! Since my last post......
Weddings: My former roomie, Domonique got married! High school friend Greg and Mona also tied the knot!

Babies: New California friends, Mele & Siaki welcomed their first, a baby boy! Old California friends, Danielle & Justin also welcomed their first, a baby boy as well! My coworker, Heather, welcomed her second, a little princess. AZ friends Terri & Erik had a second, another princess! And my beautiful roomie Domonique had a princess as well! SO there are definitely babies around us now. Hopefully this helps my husband "get the itch" LOL! (I'm not going to post pictures of these adorable babies, sorry, they're not mine to post!)

Changes: My best friend Janelle and her sister Justine are now working for the Disney Cruise Line! My mail is full of amazing postcards from them! Bestie Summer is living in SWEDEN with her handsome husband! Got check out her pictures and be super jealous with me!

Family: My brother, CJ is officially an adult, celebrated his 18th birthday this month. Where does the time go? My Dad retired and actually STOPPED working- although he still volunteers on the base haha! My brother-in-law Wes, took a job in China with the Olympics! Everyone else is happy and healthy =)

Jan-Michael and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary December 1st, 2012. We took a short trip to Solvang, CA. And we just celebrated 8 years dating this month =p

We actually went on VACATION! First time since our honeymooon! We joined our PA friends, Ellen and Stacey, in Florida and went to all the Disney World parks and Universal Studios: Island of Adventures. It was one of the best trips of my life! If I would have remembered I had this blog, I would have a lot to say about that trip.

Biggest news for me - I turned 30!!!!!! Yep, my twenties are gone. I mourned the loss of my youth for my 30th birthday, complete with a tombstone cake. It wasn't all bad though because I got a Premier Pass! That's Disney lingo for a Coast to Coast Annual Pass. I got it just before our trip, so I didn't have to buy separate tickets for Disney World =)

Hopefully I got everything in.........