Jay & Chele

November 27, 2007 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 2 Comments 

Wow! Sorry it’s been so long since the last post, life has just been really busy lately. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with their families. For me, this Thanksgiving was a blast! My parents came up from Florida and my sister and brother-in-law came down from PA. I had a lot of fun over the holiday with them. It truly was good quality family time. While Jason and Michele were down here I got the opportunity to have a photoshoot with them. They have never been in a “professional” photoshoot together so I took the opportunity to give them one. It was a lot of fun and both of them were full of expression. Hope you enjoy Jay and Chele!



You Tube Balloon Landing Video

November 6, 2007 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 3 Comments 

Our pilot for the engagement balloon ride just sent me an email with a link in it to youtube.com. Some kids took a video of our crash landing in there neighborhood. I thought it was pretty neat. Enjoy!



The Story

November 5, 2007 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 4 Comments 

So here is the story, I will tell it to you in stages.
The Surprise
It all started on Friday morning about 9:30 am. I arrived to meet my beautiful fiancee Cristina Lee Baker and her sister Rebekah to drive up to Cincinnati for fall break. We stopped at a lot of places that were our “first” places in our relationship (first date, first meeting place, first time I said “I love you” etc… all of which got Cristina more and more aggravated because she just wanted to go home. (Girls just never seem to want to cooperate with surprises.) We finally got to Cincinnati, and that’s when I kicked into high gear to get everything going. She was quite confused and once again more aggravated.
The Arrival
She really had no clue about what was going on until she saw the Gentle Breeze Balloon Launch Area sign. It has always been a childhood dream of Cristina’s to ride in a hot air balloon. We arrived in time to be greeted by Jim, our pilot, of Cloud Rides Hot Air Balloon Company. We got to set up the balloon by dragging it out, cold inflating, and then filling the balloon with propane hot air. By this time Cristina had in her mind that this was not just another “date”.
The Flight
We could not have picked a better day to fly, it was absolutely beautiful weather. We took off with four other balloons, and I got lots of great pictures of all of them. There is no wind chill in a hot air balloon because you are flying with the wind so it was once again a great time. I made casual conversation with our pilot because I was getting more nervous by the minute. I asked him,”So how long have you been doing this?” He answered with a hearty, “Oh, about two weeks!” Of course he was joking, but Jim definitely added to the whole experience!
The Proposal
So there I am about 1500 feet off of mother earth flying high in the atmosphere right above the Lebanon County Correctional Institution when I feel a stomp on my shoe; it was from our pilot Jim giving me the nod that now would be a good time. A thousand thoughts flooded my mind as I dropped to one knee in a very cramped hot air balloon basket. I struggled to get the words out, but they finally came. “Well here is the really reason why I really brought you here, Sweets. I love you with all of my heart, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Would you marry me?” I looked into her eyes as they are tearing up when she says,”Yes!” Immediately our pilot gets on the radio and says, “That’s a yes on the big rock” All the surrounding balloon pilots and passengers chime in with many “CONGRATULATIONS!” It was a lot of fun, and all Cristina kept screaming was “It’s HUGE!!!” Needless to say I think she liked the ring.
The Landing
We flew around a little longer exchanging hugs and excited glances at each other while she kept yelling to people on the ground, “I JUST GOT ENGAGED!!!” Jim decided to put the balloon down in a small neighborhood community. Many people started to come out of their houses, garages, and kids from their playgrounds to see the event. It was all in all an amazing experience, and we both loved every minute of it. The best part is I know I have fiancee
Future Plans
We had a great time on Saturday registering at Bed, Bath and Beyond. She is finishing up her last semester at Crown College. The date for the wedding is set for Friday, June 6, 2008. Thank you for staying posted. Enjoy the slideshow!!!
AP



Engagement Slideshow

November 4, 2007 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 8 Comments 

So here is the story, I will tell it to you in stages.
The Surprise
It all started on Friday morning about 9:30 am. I arrived to meet my beautiful fiancee Cristina Lee Baker and her sister Rebekah to drive up to Cincinnati for Fall Break. We stopped at a lot of places that were our “first” places in our relationship (First date, first meeting place, first time I said “I love you” ect…) All of which got Cristina more and more aggravated because she just wanted to go home. (Girls just never seem to want to cooperate with surprises) We finally got to Cincinnati and that’s when I kicked into high gear to get everything going. She was quite confused and once again more aggravated.
The Arrival
She really had no clue about what was going on until she saw the Gentle Breeze Balloon Launch Area sign. It has always been a childhood dream of Cristina’s to ride in a hot air balloon. We arrived in time to be greeted by Jim our pilot of Cloud Rides Hot Air Balloon Company. We got to set up the balloon by dragging it out, cold inflating, and then filling the balloon with propane hot air. By this time Cristina had in her mind that this was not just another “date”.
The Flight
We could not have picked a better day to fly, it was absolutely beautiful weather. We took off with four other balloons and I got lots of great pictures of all of them. There is no wind chill in a hot air balloon because you are flying with the wind so it was once again a great time. I made casual conversation with our pilot because I was getting more nervous by the minute. I ask him,”So how long have you been doing this?” he answered with a hearty, “Oh, about two weeks!” Of course he was joking, but Jim definitely added to the whole experience!
The Proposal
So there I am about 1500 feet off the mother earth flying high in the atmosphere right above the Lebanon County Correctional Institution when I feel a stomp on my shoe, it was from our pilot Jim giving me the nod that now would be a good time. A thousand thoughts flood my mind as a drop to my knee in a very cramped hot air balloon basket. I struggled to get the words out but they finally came, “Well here is the really reason why I really brought you here Sweets. I love you with all of my heart and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Would you marry me?” I look into her eyes as they are tearing up as she says,”Yes” Immediately our pilot gets on the radio and says, “That’s a big yes on the rock” All the surrounding balloon pilots and passengers chime in with many “CONGRATULATIONS!” It was a lot of fun and all Cristina kept screaming was “It’s HUGE!!!” Needless to say I think she liked the ring.
The Landing
We flew around a little longer exchanging hugs and excited glances at each other while she kept yelling to people on the ground, “I JUST GOT ENGAGED!!!” Jim, decided to put the balloon down in a small neighborhood community. Many people started to come out of their houses, garages, and kids from their playgrounds to see the event. It was all in all an amazing experience and we both loved every minute of it.
Future Plans
We had a great time on Saturday registering at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. She is finishing up her last semester at Crown College. The date for the wedding is set for June 6th 2008. Thank you for staying posted. Enjoy the slideshow!!!
AP



I’m Engaged!!!!

November 2, 2007 | Filed Under Uncategorized | 6 Comments 

That’s right folks me, Andrew Polanycia, am FINALLY engaged!!!! You might say it’s my fault for the whole finally part, but it has taken place. On November 2, 2007 at 5:36pm, I proposed to my beautiful girlfriend (now fiance’) Cristina Lee Baker! It was a ton of fun. I will post a slideshow of all the pictures as it took place, but for now all you need to know is this…it was a complete surprise and I proposed on a hot air balloon. It was great. Stay posted for the whole story and more pictures. I took 342 total!!!!

The favorite picture
The happy couple