It's the final countdown....!

T-minus one month!

Woke up this morning and thought to myself, "Ah yes, it's Wednesday. I've got my running group tonight." But then after breakfast I took a gander at our dry-erase-board calendar and saw something in bright yellow ink:

"One Month Till Our Big Day!"

Holy crap! How could I have forgotten?? 'Tis the 21st of July and we are just four weeks shy of our wedding day. Let me just say that once more so it really sinks in:

WE ARE JUST FOUR WEEKS AWAY FROM THE DAY IN WHICH WE SHALL BE MARRIED.

It's kinda surreal, really. Am I excited? Absolutely! But stopping to realize that I'll be ridding my title of "Miss Ashley" and moving to "Mrs. Fraser" is just craziness. Getting married is BIG DOINS! It's like nothing I have ever felt or experienced. So really, the best way to describe how I'm feeling is "surreal."

I wasn't your "typical" little girl who dreamed about her wedding, wrapped in white bed sheets with flowers in hand. The *ONLY* things I have been certain of all these years is a) having my dad walk me down the aisle b) dancing my father-daughter dance to a Jimmy Buffet song  c) no roses. I've always known I've wanted to be married, but despite my brief obsession with Jonathan Taylor Thomas ( J.T.T. had *much* nicer hair than this Justin Bieber kid....), there was no guy I could really picture myself marrying. Truth be told, I wasn't too sure I was "the marrying type." I began to believe I would never meet my ideal guy, and so I devised my after-college-graduation plan: Buy a VolkswagonVanagon with camper pop-top; buy a dog as a trusty co-pilot companion; drive around the United States, visiting and camping in all the National Parks and figuring out which of the 48 continental states I ought to move to.  (!)

Thankfully, Mr. Adam Fraser---former internet pen-pal and long-distance amigo of three years PRIOR to our romantic connection---turned into a most excellent significant other, and now future husband!!!! Sometimes I yearn for the VW and dog and the traveling....but at least I know now that I'll have a life-partner with whom to share those experiences with, and I couldn't be more thrilled, grateful, and filled with exorbitant amounts of glee!  :o) Thinking about our wedding day makes me smile, simple as that---it's gonna be fun, memorable, and not a happy ending but rather a happy BEGINNING.

SO! Just four weeks to go and so much to do:
Get all the D.I.Y. projects done (and there are many a'D.I.Y. project to be had).....
Pick up my altered dress.....
Pick up our rings.....
Write our vows....
Finalize our ceremony lay-out with "Reverend Jon Welch"....
Finish our first dance choreography...
Make our final song list(s)....
Pay deposits (with what money!?!?)....
Purchase our marriage license at the New Hampshire city clerk's office....
Pray to the sun gods for fabulous weather for the duration of our Wedding Weekend.....  ;o)
etc.....

On the upside:
*We've received all of our RSVP's and can start working on the seating arrangements----w00t!
*My dad is in town visiting and building our natural arbor and other fun goodies for the wedding
*Adam is a super-essited groom-to-be, and that makes me so proud and happy and giddy---tee hee!

There's a lot to be done in the next four weeks, there's no denying that....but I'm not stressed out like your typical bride-to-be. Sorry, no Bridezilla here---I'm too busy with directing / choreographing children's musical theater productions and job-hunting to be preoccupied with minute wedding details. The weeks are flying by, but I'd much rather be EXCITED for our big day o' nuptials instead of stressed beyond belief, because what good is it gonna do being a moody stressball? I may not be a religious individual, but I have faith that our wedding day will be most excellent...and I can't wait to be married to my friend, my Fiend, my confidante, my teammate, my partner, my love..... <3

Letter to the Bridal Party

Dearest man-friends,

I write you today because wind has broken of Ashley and I finding a site for our wedding. I just wanted to let all of you (who are going to be in the wedding!) know what the skinny is. First of all, we haven't officially reserved the site yet, but we do have a soft hold on it, and it's very likely that we will seal the deal within a week. If we do so, then here is the information.

The date: Saturday, August 21st, 2010
The venue: Brass Heart Inn, located in Chocorua, NH. http://www.thebrassheartinn.com

You won't be surprised to find that the place has a barn. :) We just visited yesterday and found that the photos on the website don't do the place enough justice. It's quaint and outdoorsy, the people are SUPER nice, and they are very flexible! Anyway, we know it's a bit of a drive, but we don't have many options at this point that are (a) in our price range (2) fit our aesthetic, and (d) within a reasonable distance. But hear me out cause this is the cool part -- we would have the place for the whole weekend! So... people could optionally rent rooms at the Inn (*) and crash there the night before and the night-of the wedding. The owners even said we could have a bonfire on the 20th (Friday night) in this clearing behind the cabins. It'll be like freakin' Woodstock! Okay, maybe not Woodstock, but think about how much fun it could be to turn a wedding into a weekend vacation with friends. After breakfast on Saturday morning, we can work to get things prepared for the wedding and punctuate it by tossing a frisbee around in the rolling fields. Then there's a short ceremony, and a long, booty-shakin' reception that we can stumble away from and it's just a few paces back to our cabins.

(*) Rooms at the Inn start at $80/night /2person room and increase to $240/night for a 6-person cabin, which is pretty rad. There is also other lodging available in the area that people can seek out if they're interested.

Ash and I personally toured ALL of the rooms and cabins, so we can have an idea of what would suit people. Personally, I thought the cabins were pretty rad since they had their own bathroom and little kitchen, but ultimately, it's just going to be a place to crash, and the most important thing is that we get to spend time with all of the people who come, which is why we like the idea of having everything in one place with the option of having many people stay with us the night before and the night after.

Alright, I'm going to stop rambling since I have to get to bed. Just wanted to update you all. Let me know if anyone has questions/concerns that we should be thinking about. Obviously this is our first time doing this and we can't think of everything.

-Adam