Let it Rain...

What do you remember the most about the happiest day of your life?

I was listening to my iPod and the song "Let It Rain" by my mom came on (Simpli Lauri, her other stuff is available on iTunes and Amazon... which is just weird, incase you were wondering). Whenever I hear this song, I think of our wedding day. Why? Well for those of you at our wedding, you can probably imagine why. For one - my mom sang this song at the wedding during the meal. For two - it rained on our wedding day. I mean - RAINED. Right when the processional started the skies just opened up. This was kind of disappointing for us because a huge part of the reason we had the wedding where we did was because of the amazing outdoor ceremony spot they had. We were fortunate enough to also have an amazing back-up indoor location, but it was a small let down to have it be moved inside. There was a lot of natural light in the room we ended up having the ceremony in and it really was a beautiful wedding in spite of the rain.

I remember being so afraid of Steve being upset because of the rain. I was shaking and almost crying at one point. In hindsight, I realize how ridiculous that was. We can't control the weather, and we both realized it. Once I came around the corner with my dad and saw Steve standing with our bridal party and the pastor at the end of the aisle nothing else mattered. I was getting MARRIED. To STEVE. We were all smiles the whole day, disgustingly and sugary happy - a mood that no rain, sleet, or snow could take away from us. Steve kept looking at the DJ and saying "My WIFE!!!" with a big smile every time the DJ said "Steve, if I could just get you to stand over here with your wife for a minute". It was a happiness that I remember in our best and our worst moments because really - those are what it's all about.

There's one part of my mom's song that gets me every time. It's the last verse:

"Years went by and the two of us sat and watched our little girl
Promising her life and her love to a man in a brand new world.
The sun flinched back and its deep blue sky quickly turned to grey,
As the mist fell all around us, I heard my little girl say -
'Let it rain! The sun shines in my soul!
Let it rain! You said the stars were mine to hold.
Lift your face up to the clouds, let the rain fall all around...'"

They say that rain on your wedding day is good luck. While I still maintain that "they" only say that to make you feel better about lousy weather on the best day ever, I can say that the rain that day lent a lot of positivity to the event. God blessed us with the rain, the clouds that let just enough light through to let our pictures be amazing, the umbrella that made for some awesome photographs, a lesson in knowing you can't plan for the weather, and the chance to always start the story of our wedding day with the words "Man, it was really raining hard the day we got married, but it didn't even matter".

Le sigh.

Just Married

The wedding was - in a word - incredible.

There were a couple of hiccups. For one, I accidentally ordered 12 centerpieces instead of 13, but we were able to improvise with the chair bows, a vase, and a few of the flowers that fell out of my bouquet so that turned out to be not a big deal. The other "hiccup" was that it rained. We made the decision (with Mom and Josh as the intermediaries between Steve & I) to move the ceremony inside at 9:45. The ceremony was scheduled to start at 11:30, and the clouds started dripping at 11:25. Talk about great timing.

The ceremony was beautiful and it made me so thankful that we picked Atkinson as our location. Because we moved it inside, it was in a room that overlooked the golf course, was big and airy and had lots of natural light that came in. The arbor that they put out for it was very elegant and helped to make the ceremony beautiful. I will never forget coming around the edge of the guests and seeing Steve step into my view; it was at that point that the tears of joy started to come, and I had to breath deeply all the way down the aisle in order to hold it together. My voice was shaky throughout the vows and I was shaking so badly during Communion that I was afraid to sip the wine. But I made it through and didn't cry too hard, I promise. Jed, our pastor, did a great job as well and we got so many compliments about how he ran the ceremony. The music from Alla Breve was gorgeous as well, and they played "Amazing Grace" during Communion which would have touched my grandfather had he been able to make it (we'll be bringing him video as soon as we get it).

The receiving line is 90% a blur. I've never hugged so many people in such a short period of time in my entire life. People telling us how beautiful the ceremony was, how happy they were for us, and me repeatedly saying the words "Thank you so much for coming!!". Thank goodness we decided to do it though, because every time we tried to make it through to visit every table we got whisked away somewhere else. Having the receiving line gave us a chance to see everyone that came to the wedding because we certainly didn't see them all after that.

Pictures went faster than we thought, and the coconut shrimp were delicious (so were the other appetizers, but those ones were my favorite). Once pictures were over, it was time for the reception. Our bridal party was introduced, and then the music changed to a rousing version of "Hail to the Chief" for our grand entrance. We totally did that just to be a couple of hams, and it offered the amusement we were hoping for.

Then came time for the first dance. The opening piano sounds of "Bless the Broken Road" came over the speakers and we fell into each others arms and danced. For those 4 minutes, it was like no one else was in the room and there was just us. I saw people on the outskirts, but they were merely blurred outlines and there was only Steve with me in the room. One of our moms said that they lost it when we started singing to each other while we were dancing, very quietly so that only we could hear but our mouths were clearly moving. When the song was over, our wedding party joined us for a dance to "You've Got a Friend" by James Taylor which was nice (albeit a longer song than I remembered).

After that... the better part of the afternoon is a blur. I couldn't get down the tasty meal that was in front of me so I gave up on eating and didn't even SEE what my slice of cake looked like plated with the ice cream. Thank goodness our co-ordinator Sandra sent plates up to our room with slices of cake so that we could enjoy it later on that night.

Josh, the best man, made an awesome toast and I'm hoping to get a copy of it for our scrapbook (wink, wink - nudge, nudge). The game that the DJ did to give away the centerpieces was awesome and the people who participated looked like they had a lot of fun. We went outside for a bit to take some pictures when the rain cleared up, and I can't wait to see how they turned out. The cake cutting went well and none was dropped at all, which is great. I learned the joys of sweating in a wedding gown and the further joys of putting your petticoat over a fan when you're sweating in a wedding gown (thanks, Mike D!). I got some dancing in, albeit not as much as I may have liked, but that was a great time. Even Steve danced and Ros caught it on camera. So many more people stayed right until the end than I thought would, and that was also very touching to see. The only people who said that they would come who didn't make it were my aunt and uncle - and they just had a newborn baby on June 5th.

After the party was over I went up and took a shower to get rid of all the sweat and we went down for some appetizers and a drink with two of our groomsmen - Derek & Chip - and my brother Jim. That was a good way to wind down I think rather than ending everything abruptly. Then we went up to our complimentary suite that Atkinson gave us, complete with champagne and the aforementioned meals and cake. We opened up our gifts and cards, each took a turn in the jacuzzi tub to relax, watched "Shrek" on TBS and just enjoyed our wedding night.

Sunday was also great. We went to church in the morning, and then met our parents and siblings up at the Country Club again for brunch. Later on we went on a double date with my parents up at Hampton Beach and had a great time. We went to Brown's Lobster Pound for dinner and had some seafood, followed up by a quick jaunt on the strip and some pinball at Playland Arcade.

Overall, this was an amazing weekend from start to finish. Thanks to everyone who came to the wedding, who was in the bridal party, our families, and to Steve for asking me to marry him in the first place.

Married!!!!!!!!

I'll get into more detail later, but had to mention that WE GOT MARRIED ON SATURDAY!!!



Thanks to everyone who was able to make it to the wedding!

Don't read if you're tired of hearing about the wedding... :)

I have sooooooo much work do to and I can't focus on any of it to save my life.

I'm getting married in 3 days. Tomorrow - yes TOMORROW - is our rehearsal dinner. The whole thing seems so surreal right now, like at some point Steve is going to roll over and realize that I'm tossing and turning and wake me up from the awesome dream I'm having. We've been planning all of this for almost 2 years and now, in just 3 days, I'll be coming down the aisle in my purty white dress to get MARRIED. Steve will be standing there in his tux just patien... ok fine, anxiously waiting for me to come out the door while the strains of "Aria" by Bach echo through the gazebo (we're keeping a positive eye on the weather at this point).

I'm sure that you're all completely tired of hearing me talk about this, but tough titties because it's MY blog. I'm very excited. The anticipation is finally culminating into SOMETHING, which is just so cool. I feel like I could cry (tears of joy) at any minute because it's REALLY happening!

The thought that I'm going to have a husband as of about noontime this Saturday is something that to this point in my life has only been either a dream or some event far off in the distance that may or may not ever come. I'm going to be a wife, which is more than just a woman or a girlfriend or a fiancee. I'm going to be someone who is going to be looked to for strength, togetherness, and nurturing. At some point a wife transforms into a mother, and then there's a dual role of the utmost importance to contend with. Not just nurturing a relationship with your husband, but also engraining moral values and the ways of the world into impressionable lives.

So anyways... I should really get some work done since I'm leaving in 4 hours or so, but I can't focus. Every time I start to try to get some work done, I just keep thinking about the wedding.

Not Much Longer

So in 5 days I'm going to be Mrs. Danielle Athanas. How WEIRD is that??? A good weird though.

On Friday (or maybe it was Thursday), Steve looked at me and said "We're getting married NEXT WEEK. When the heck did that happen?"

I woke up this morning and started going over my week in my head like I do every Monday morning when I wake up. And I thought to myself... holy crap. I'm getting MARRIED this weekend.

During the week, people that I'll run into who won't know that may say something like "Hey, what are your weekend plans?"

And as if it's nothing more than a routine weekend, I'll say "Oh, not much. Hanging out with my girlfriends on Friday night, getting married on Saturday, brunch with the family on Sunday. My family and my husband's family."

Yeah. My HUSBAND's family. I said it.

Anyways... and when I say that, people will be like "Oh! Did you say you're getting Married! That's so exciting! Congratulations!" and gush all over me. And I'll LOVE IT.

It's so interesting, because I don't feel nervous at all - I feel rather excited about the whole thing - but everyone keeps asking me if I'm nervous.

Well... before you ask, no, I'm not nervous. Not about marrying Steve anyways. I'm nervous about things like spilling juice on my gown during Communion or tripping over my gown on my way up and down the aisle because I'm a big klutz. I'm nervous I'll get salad dressing on my dress during dinner or that I'll get grass stains during photographs. I'm nervous about all the stupid crap.

At any rate I'm getting married in 5 days. Hopefully the week will fly right by. :)
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Current Music: Eagles, "Life in the Fast Lane"

Happy Memorial Day!

Steve's in the shower, so I figured I'd do a little update.

Let's see... we've got a new guy at work to backfill my old position. With 7 or so working days until the wedding, we're trying to train him and I'm trying to not fall too far behind. The Six Sigma training didn't help that much either since I lost 2 working days for it, but it'll be beneficial in the long run. I'm hoping tonight when we get home I'll be able to put up a couple of PO's that I brought home. That'll help with some stuff too.

We're just about done with all of our wedding to do list. We're going to make programs for the ceremony which isn't required but it's something I want to do. We've got to finish with attendant gifts and figure out what to get our parents. The latter is actually harder than we thought, it's the only thing we're drawing a blank on. Anyone reading this... maybe if you told us what you got your parents if/when you got married, that would be helpful to jog our minds. But yeah, this has been a productive wedding weekend. We've gotten all the centerpieces and favors done for the rehearsal dinner. Yes, there are "favors" for the rehearsal dinner but that's mostly because we had more Hershey's Kisses than we've ever wanted to see in our lives and needed to get rid of them. The seating arrangements and place cards are all done, as are the table markers. We just need to pay Atkinson (they haven't told us our final balance yet...) and we'll be all set; all other deposits have been paid/mailed. Steve's wedding gift is mostly done/wrapped and safe in its hiding place at the Seeds'. Yeah... very productive weekend.

Last night I think it really started to hit us as we alphabetized and verified our place cards that we're really getting married very quickly. The stress that had been there up until about 6:00 PM yesterday seemed to disappear and we were able to smile and just be excited. It was an awesome feeling. I cannot wait for June 9th to finally get here so that we can be MARRIED. :)

Today's Memorial Day and we're heading to Sterling for Josh & Sarah's first Memorial Day Cookout in their new house!! Yay for that! :) It's also probably our last cookout as an unmarried couple. Double yay!
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Current Music: George Strait, "Run"

Turdsday

Sorry I've been slacking! We've been training the new guy, so that's where I've been. I know the 2 readers I have are disappointed. ;)

Anywho... things are good albeit crazy. I don't think Steve and I are getting many breaks until June 17th... but then we'll be in Jamaica so that's fine.

Hair trial was last night. I'd show a picture of how hot my hair's going to look, but since Steve wants to be surprised I'd better not. You'll have to just take my word for it. Our favors are all DONE! Place card template is SET! All that's left are table markers and finishing the attendent gifts. :)

Pretty much we're down to the wire and wrapping up the last minute details. I can't believe how close it is (please see ticker at the top of the page).

Getting excited...
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Current Music: KLF... yeah I don't know what this song is...

Bachelorette Party!!!

So Saturday was my Bachelorette Party!!! It was just an awesomely good time.

Kristin picked me up around 12:00 and we headed down to Braintree. Rendez-vous point number one was Chez Gleason for lunch - sandwiches, pasta salad, regular salad, chippies, and soda. After that we loaded up Kiki's Rav-4 and went over to the Macy's at the South Shore Mall. Clinique was doing free makeovers so Kiki, Kristin, Sarah & I all got makeovers. That was super fun and quite a treat because I don't usually wear makeup.

Next Rendez-Vous point was the Holiday Inn in Boston. There we met up with Ros, Krista, and Carrie. We all partook in a cosmo and got dolled up in our fancy headwear (my bride-to-be veil blinked!). Being in Boston gave us a variety of places to choose from for dinner but we hoofed it over to the Kinsale Pub for some tasty vittles. We shared in a pitcher of sangria and had yummy yummy eats. I had four-onion soup and filet with asparagus and mashed potatoes. Super yummy. An older gentleman who was dining by himself sent a drink over to me through our waitress as a congratulations so that was nice. After that we had some Coldstone Creamery for dessert *drool*. I had Sweet Cream ice cream mixed with peanut butter and peanut butter cup. It was great.

After that it was back to the hotel for just some hanging out and good times! In total - I got about 45 minutes of sleep during our big-girl slumber party. It was awesome getting to hang out with my girls though and I am so grateful for the night we had. It was seriously the best bachelorette party I could have asked for.

Thanks so much to my 'maids & girls for an awesome night!!!!

P.S. - Who sent me the pretty flowers????

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Current Music: Garth Brooks, "Shameless"

Have to share

OK, so I have to share this because I'm a giant nerdface.

Steve and I picked out the dress for me for our Rehearsal yesterday. We went to David's Bridal and both picked out a few for me to try on. I am really excited about the one that we picked, and so had to share it with you.

Today is my bachelorette party, and I can't wait to see what my girls planned. I'll let you all know how it went on Sunday or Monday.

Side note: Apparently there are a decent amount of readers who want to see "Wicked". We'll just have to all get tickets next year and have a field trip.
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Current Music: EM Inc., "Know Your Role"

OK... for those that don't know what that is... it's the theme/entrance music for The Rock back before he was a real actor.

1 Month, 6 days...

The clock is winding down folks, and I'm beginning to realize a few things about the process of getting married. They're things that people have said to me all along... but they've really started to come into fruition recently.

- What my MoH said to me when we first got engaged is so true: weddings bring out the selfishness in people. The kicker is that it seems to bring it out in these fringe family members that you never see and may never see again. We had some family drama this week that was very hard to work through, especially for Steve since it was his side of the family. I'm praying that it will work itself out, but further I'm praying that Steve's feelings can be restored. We're trying very hard not to let stupidity get in the way of our happiness, but sometimes things are harder than they seem. If anyone sees Steve and I in the next few days - just give him a hug and don't take it personally if he's/we're not cheery. It's not you - it's them. :)

- There is no such thing as a smooth ride and my good friend and bridesmaid Kristin has every right to laugh at me and say "I told you so" at this point. Every. Right. In fact, I fully expect her to leave a comment that says, "I told you so".

- The time leading up to the wedding once you hit the 60 day mark goes way too fast and you just hope that you're budgeting enough time to get everything done.

- Mental health days are so underrated it's not even funny.

- Some of the people you thought would be the most excited and happy for you aren't - at least outwardly anyways. And then some of the people you never would have dreamed would be so excited for you are so excited it hurts your face. :)

- It's funny the moments when it hits you that the name you introduce yourself with now will not be your name anymore in a matter of days. It's like you're about to undergo an identity change... but not really.

- You learn the value of spending one-on-one time with your other half in the weeks leading up to the big day. I guess until a few weeks ago I took the time at home for granted, but as things have gotten busier I find that we both really cherish those moments a little bit more.

- Taking a class when you're planning a wedding is a dumb idea at best.

- You've never looked forward to a vacation so much in your LIFE.

- It's super important to not lose focus on why you're planning this big event in the first place. It helps to reconcile in yourself all the selfishness of others, hiccups with vendors, stress of details, and worries of the weather. Once you put all those things aside you can focus on the fact that you're about to publicly make a commitment to someone for the rest of your life. To have and to hold, through good times and bad. In perspective, you invite who you invite because they mean something to you in some way. If they can't see that then it's their loss - because in the end you're the winner. You and your new husband (in my case) have declared your love and commitment to each other in front of true friends, close family, and God.

That's what it's all about.

1 Month... 6 days...
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Current Music: Pink, "Don't Let Me Get Me"

Of Course!!!

Just got a call from the New England Regional Manager at The Pros, which is the company we're using for our photography.

Apparently, the photographer we picked out over a year ago has been turning in just "mediocre" work this wedding season so far. As a result, the manager has decided to take him off the contracts he has with the company because "We are not about mediocre photography, and want to make sure you get the best you can".

Kudos that he called us early in the wedding season to let us know. Bummer for us that the photographer we picked isn't up to par.

Good news is that he wants to have the issue settled and pair us up with a new photographer no later than Friday. Hopefully he/she doesn't suck real bad. Photography ain't cheap!!!
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Current Music: A Taste of Honey, "Boogie Oogie Oogie" (This is what happens when you listen to Mike FM at work... you get everything...)

Some Numbers...

- 2 Months, 2 days until W-Day. :)
- 2 Months until Rehearsal Dinner.
- 2 Months, 1 day until Spa Day
- 2 Months, 9 days until Jamaica
- Replies to date: 17 attending, 4 unable to attend.

Yoga, Anyone??

I need to focus.

I'm stressing out about stupid crap that I'm not even going to list here because I can't articulate all of it. It's all centered around the wedding, and it's starting to consume my Monday thinking every week.

I need to sit down and write a checklist of what has to get done and cross it off as we get it done. Maybe, that will help me to calm the heck down.

I'm taking a class this semester that I HAVE to do well in. So far I have a 94 average and I get another test back tomorrow. If I keep stressing about all the wedding stuff that I don't need to stress over, I won't be able to focus on this class. I don't know how Sarah took doctoral courses while planning her wedding - I can barely focus on my ONE undergrad class.

This is ONE DAY!!! One important day that starts our forever, yes. But no matter how perfect we want it to be is it worth stressing out over some of the stupid crap I find myself stressing over??? Probably not... probably not. I'll probably look back on some of this crap in a year and say "WHY did I even care about that??" The hard part is done - finding someone that I want to spend the rest of my life with. That's done. Everything else is just details.

Guh. Deep breaths.

Here's something that's worth stressing about: doing some research into owning a hedgehog as a pet and convince Steve it's a good idea to get one after the wedding. There's something worth stressing over.



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Current Music: Prince, "Little Red Corvette"

Ohmygoodnesstimeisgoingtoofast...

So much for my wanting to get everything done so I don't stress out... I kind of lost track of time...

- My bridesmaids' dresses are in. Picking those up Saturday.
- My mom is stressed out about finding a dress.
- I need to get paint chips to send in with the cake deposit.
- Exclusively Weddings is 2-days behind schedule, so the last part of our invitations have not shipped yet. Expected ship Wednesday/Thursday. Should have next week.
- Postage for invitations. Set up time to put together invitations.
- Gave directions to the photographer, now need to sit down with Steve and figure out what shots we want taken.
- Emailed DJ for music form, need to print/go over list for ceremony music.
- Favors
- Toasting flutes
- Hair
- Tuxes
- Placecards/Table "Numbers"
- Set up spreadsheet for when people start to RSVP.
- Honeymoon preps (bathing suits, sunscreen... you know - important things)
- Meetings w/ Jed M. (our Pastor/Officiant)
- 60-day meeting on April 1 @ Atkinson
- Set up manicure/pedicure appointments.
- Dress fitting on April 22 after church... uhm, I need to find someone who can press the gown close to the wedding...
- Book Red Roof Inn for 6/8
- Attendant/Parent gifts
- Gift for my honey. :)
- Pick menu for Rehearsal Dinner
- Find nice outfit for rehearsal dinner.

Can anyone think of anything I'm missing....????

Besides breathing... :)
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Current Music: Tom Cochrane, "Life is a Highway"