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

Shake yo' groove thang!

"May I have this dance?"
"Sure! But only if you're willing to pop and lock and shake what yo' mama gave ya..."

Joy of joys! Adam and I are on Day 3 of choreographing /  practicing our super-fly First Dance and already it's ridiculously fun and full of awesome (if 'awesome' was a noun).

I. am. so. PSYCHED! 

I cannot tell you how {thrilled} I am to be marrying someone who is so willing (and dare I say excited?) to bust a move. As a long-time performer and dance teacher, having a fun and upbeat First Dance has been at the top of my priority list. It would be a crime NOT to do something lively and untraditional, don't you agree??? This is why I feel so fortunate to have found Adam, my "perfect match" Not every guy out there is willing and able to appease his Dancing Queen wife-to-be in this arena. Thankfully, Adam is a guy who is comfortable in public and confident enough in himself to be okay with "acting a fool" every once in a while. Not only that, but he knows that to dance in front of people does not require professional training or being perfect (whatever "perfect" is)---it's all about having F U N. I have little to no shame and am alwayswilling to dance crazy-like in front of people, so it looks as though I was destined to meet Adam Fraser eh?? *hehe* ;o) Knowing that I'll soon be sharing the stage with my significant other is a very exciting thing for me---I just envision us doing our First Dance routine and a big fat smile spreads over my face! Never fails, every time our song comes on (admittedly, I've been listening to it on repeat on my drive to and from work this week--ha!), I feel the rush of happy hormones and get more and more excited over our dance-in-progress. :o) The reality of it all fills me with such glee that I can't help but feel giddy; I can't wait for the moment we are announced as Mr. and Mrs. Fraser and dance together for the first time as a married couple! 

The heat wave we've been experiencing in New England this past week has presented us with the challenge of keeping cool whilst dancing. [ Fun fact: we are cheapskates and don't choose to invest in A.C. ] Boy howdy, I kid you not when I say that our house is hot enough for a killer Bikram yoga sesh--it is just so damn HOT in here!! Luckily, the tile *finally* went down on the finished side of our basement just two weeks ago so it's a good 15 degrees cooler down there; makes for an ideal dance studio!  [EDIT (Adam): "Ideal" with one exception: head is a mere 4 inches from the ceiling which makes some moves kind of - dare I say - dangerous.] It's still hotter than Hades, but it's fun to be spending time together, dancing and sweating up a storm, and putting our creative minds and bodies to work. I'm wicked proud of Adam actually, not only for being open to learning some of my serious dance moves, but also for coming up with a few ideas of his own! Just today, in fact, he suggested something and it filled up an 8-count perfectly! *Good job, Fiend!!!*  I'm having a blast creating choreography that we can both do and have a good time with, and it seems like Adam is really having fun with it all---couldn't ask for anything better!

This whole First Dance topic makes me think about one of many reasons why I love Adam so much:

I love that he isn't afraid to be wild and zany with me; he's game to have fun and isn't scared to be in the spotlight every once in a while. He may not be a trained dancer like myself, but he accepts and respects our differences and is STILL able to have fun, and that scores him some major Brownie points. He compliments my high level of energy with his own unique energy, and together we make quite a team! Planning this wedding with him has truly been a joy because we both share the desire to have nothing short of an AWESOME time together with our family and friends. We want it to be memorable and beautiful, enjoyable and fun, all the while remaining true to ourselves. This, of course, includes lots and lots of dancing at the reception....CAN'T WAIT!!!

*Note: I'm sure you're dying to know what our First Dance song is.....and I'm sorry to break your heart but it's a secret---you're just gonna hafta' wait and find out when the day comes! I *will* tell you, however, that we're doing a fast n' funky dance, as well as the more traditional slow dance. Double-wammy! 

*Two Weeks In*

Ashley:
Well, Adam "popped the question" two weeks ago just this past Saturday....and yes, I can't stop staring at my bling! This shiny little token of love and affection is just so much prettier than I anticipated, and it's nice to have it there as a reminder that Adam and I are wholly committed to one another and on a wild and crazy adventure together: WE'RE GONNA GET MARRIED!

The proposal couldn't have been better, and wedding planning is in full swing now. We took a look at a few venues on Saturday, and while we fell in like with The Barn at Gibbet Hill, we're just not sure it's in our budget, so we need to explore other possibilities. We would absolutely love to be married on a farm or in an orchard, but there are so many facets involved in conducting a wedding ceremony and reception (ideally in the same place); it's proving to be harder than I thought it would be, not to mention time consuming and not just a little stressful!

Oh, so I already found my dress----yahoo!! One important thing down, many more to go....! The dress is not one I anticipated liking or wanting, but once I put it on, saw myself in the mirror, saw Jackie's reaction, and saw the price tag, I knew that was the one. It made me feel beautiful and bride'ish (and thin!) I had kind of been dreading the whole wedding dress shopping thing, for fear of feeling and looking like a moron, but I wound up having a pretty good time, just me and my Maid of Honor. I'm so pleased to have found and purchased my dress (and veil...and fabulously supportive strapless bra!) already....though now I find myself wanting to put it on and dance around the living room! Maybe I will...when Adam's not here.... ;o)

I'm anxiously awaiting the wrap-up of my Masters program with Lesley University---just 4 more weeks!!!---and THEN I can really dedicate myself to organizing / planning all this wedding whoopla. We still have a lot to discuss / investigate, but I feel like we're doing a pretty good job thus far----we have a tentative theme, some tentative dates picked, and plenty of connections to consider. Glee!!

From Fiends to Fiend'ancés

Adam:
It's been 4 days since I popped the question, and it still feels a little surreal. I feel like we've hit the ground running. We're looking through wedding magazines (not that Ash wasn't before), discussing potential dates, travel arrangements for friends and family, and even visiting a vineyard as a potential venue. The reality has only been amplified by having Ashley's parents here from California for a week.

To be honest, I'm surprised at how fast things are moving. I guess I expected a latent period while Ashley is finishing up her Masters. Still I couldn't be happier with how wrong I was. It turns out that thinking about our wedding is a really exciting and enlivening thing! Trying to manifest our love and uniqueness in one event is such an awesome task, that I'm only slightly terrified of the price tag associated with it. :)