The pitchfork was Jonathon's idea... Brilliant!!!

One of the best nights of my life! We had such a wonderful time! To quote lizzy from the film "Pride and Prejudice," I was "incandescently happy" becuase I married a man whom I adore!

The Beginning of the Rest of Our Lives

September 24, 2011    I became Mrs. Grace Elizabeth Jackson.

Birthday Shananigans

All I can say is "Why is your Aunt Debbie pulling in the driveway?" lol.

Jonathon did a really good job of concealing his plans of a surprise birthday party for me and making a cake for me while I was gone. I turned 24 (hard to believe!) on Friday, March 4th. I made Caramel cheesecake for myself, yum!, and brought it to church Friday night to see the movie Fireproof. The movie was really good, btw! Soo, Jonathon had the excuse of working on homework while I was at church but secretly he started making the cake. Apparently, he finished it on Saturday while I was at a baby shower. BUT, he needed more icing and had to run to the store.. so he tried to stall me by asking me to pick up ravioli and pickles at the store. lol. I was a little peeved that I had to go to the store because it was packed with people! Too funny.    And the cake turned out AMAZING! I really wish I had his skills. I mean, he has no experience in cake decorating whatsoever. It's obvious why his career of choice is Architecture. Don't you think?

Saturday afternoon, Jonathon tells me that his cousin Shawn is coming over, so I decide that I should probably clean up a little. ya know, sweep the floor and such. And Jonathon really goes to town cleaning. Mainly cleaning the birds room which does get messy pretty quickly considering she throws her food on the floor. So, I'm like "wow, he must really want to impress Shawn." Later, I learn that he thinks it's hilarious that I'm cleaning for my own birthday party. lol. Anywho, his Aunt Debbie pulls in later and comes in with a gift and icecream. I didn't get it till she pulled out the icecream...and everyone else started arriving. Oh yeah and he hid the cake in his car! Genius. All in all it was a pretty fun night!

The Long Winter

I survived the Winter! Granted there were a couple of close calls and moments when I questioned my decision to move.lol. I have to give Michiganders credit. They are brave people. I don't enjoy risking my life so many times in the span of a few months. I've learned that snow on the ground isn't so bad because it's better than ice. And mud from all of the snow melting is almost as slick as the ice. And a clean car in Michigan is next to impossible.

 Our last snow day was March 10th and there's still a little bit of snow on the driveway where it was piled up. How is it possible that it got up to 60 Friday, for the first time this year, and there's still snow on the ground? weird. But everyone has Spring fever just itching to get outside and work in the flower beds and listen to the birds chirping.

N.Y. continued

Later in the day we visited an art museum, the Guggenheim. Jonathon was very excited to see it because it was designed by an architect he learned about in class. Then we had to book it back so we could get a spot for the long awaited ball dropping for New Years Eve. We managed to get a decent spot where we could see the ball but none of the main commotion in the main square except via a large screen. It took us a long time to get there because of security checking everyone meticulously. They didn't let anyone bring any bookbags in so ours is somewhere in New York still. Probably in the hands of someone homeless. I had to drop it on the ground right there. Luckily it only had food, drinks, hand warmers, and a map.

I could have used the feet warmers! It was very cold. To keep my feet warm, I danced a little to the music they played in between the hourly count down. I can't wait till next year when I can watch it from a warm living room in a cozy blanket. lol.

New York City - The place that never sleeps

So, ... it's been a little while since I've posted anything. Okay 3 months. That's a long time. My apologies!
It's been hard finding time to use the internet since Jonathon has all online classes and when I do use the internet it's been for wedding planning. Oh the overrated joy of planning a wedding! lol. It'll all be worth it if everyone, including myself, has a grand time. We have some fun things planned for our guests, so don't miss out!! 

Maybe I can try to catch you up on what we have been up to starting with the trip to N.Y.
The second day there, December 31st, we just did a lot of sightseeing. It's crazy how much there is to look at.

 We were able to go up to the top of the empire state building after waiting an hour or so. Considering we already had tickets which meant we could skip the extra long line to buy them, that's still a long wait. It seemed like everyone and their brother was there and most spoke another language.

We had a hard time squeezing in for pictures because it was so crowded but the view was really amazing. It seemed like New York went on forever... building after building after building.

The Big Moment!!

 This is the moment I've been waiting forever for! What a night. After getting stuck for 2 hours in rush hour traffic on the way to New York City and missing our dinner reservations, we each grabbed a slice of pizza for a grand total of $2.00. lol. Then we rushed off to the Majestic theater to see "The Phantom of the Opera." It was wonderful!

   After buying a map, we walked quite a ways to the Empire State Building where Jonathon  intended to ask me to marry him.... and they were closed! 2 hours early! because it was too full. He had to improvisse obviously.... So we ended up riding through central park in a horse drawn carriage.

When our driver was waiting to take a picture of us, Jonathon brought out the ring!

Even though I had picked out the antique syle with filigree, I was still surprised at how breathtaking they both were! the main diamond is from Jonathon's mother's ring and one of the side diamonds if from my great grandmother's ring, given to me from my great grandfather on my 16th birthday.

Shawn and Lauren Poupards wedding

 At the wedding Reception, resting from all of the crazy dancing we did!!
I really liked their idea to rent a photo booth, like the ones you see in the mall.
As the night wore on, the pictures in the photo booth got a little more crazy.
Each person or group got to keep a copy of their picture and the other copy
 went in a book that you sign. Good idea!

  



                                          The reception dinner.... I was squeezed between my cousin Jeremy and Jonathon who were constantly leaning over me to talk to eachother. lol. We had a lot of fun teasing eachother up until Jonathon's cousin Shawn, the groom to be, gave a speech that left all of us with tears in our eyes. He made a point to say how every single person there had affected his life and made him who he was and why he appreciated them. Even all of the men were crying! It was very touching.