When September Ends

personal

After becoming engaged, I had expected lots of time to spend with the new fiancé glowing and prancing through the blissful time of the newly-engaged stage.

I was mistaken. Don't get me wrong... We are blissfully happy and I cannot wait to be hitched to this guy. He's my best friend. But with the current time of year between school (for both of us), work, planning an engagement party, and miscellaneous commitments that continuously seem to pop up where they're least welcomed, we've had hardly a moment alone.

~ It's the tuition we pay for a successful future, I suppose; giving as much as we can as often as we can in the present. ~

But I have to tell you, wedding planning is just as fun as it is stressful. Travis and I chose a date and we couldn't be happier with the decision. Labor Day weekend 2017 at the beautiful Kingsley Pines, which just happens to be located directly across the lake from my own home.

A few photos from weddings past at Kingsley. To creep a bit more there are some beautiful photos by Becca Wood.

702 days remaining and so much planning to do. With the camp you get not just one day, but the entire weekend to celebrate with your friends and family who can all stay in cabins on-site. How wonderful? Thank goodness we have just a little bit of time (giggles)!

~ * ~

To add to a busy schedule, we threw in a weekend of work (the fun kind, mind you) at the Common Ground Fair here in Maine. Representing Taproot Magazine, I joined the team underneath an ivory canopy to spread the love for this little patch of literary heaven. Not your usual local fair with rickety rides and a strong scent of stale grease, but one that casually preaches wholesome and sustainable living and offers up borderline gourmet "fair food."

I arrived at the fair via a hitchhike ride with my cousin and her roommates who were kind enough to shuttle me up there. It was simply wonderful to find a moment to explore the fair alongside them. I met up with my lovely boss, Amanda, and jumped right in to the festivities.

However, shortly afterwards a twist of unfortunate events put a knot into the weekend. It began with a stomach bug plaguing Amanda's household, her littlest fighting a fever of 104. This would be the first fair the children had missed in their entire lives and I'm told they already have a countdown to next year. Lo and behold, they were my ride back towards home in order to make my Monday 8:30am class. But there was no fretting, as faith that a plan would work itself out prevailed.

The knot really came in when poor Amanda wound up sitting in the emergency room with an asthma attack unlike anything she had experienced in twenty years.

But roll with the punches we did and with the help of loving grandparents, a dedicated fiancé, and generous coworkers, I strung together some transportation and minimized Amanda's driving time as best I could.

An eventful weekend it was!

scholastic

Me in August: "Oh, I can't wait to go back to school! I miss having things to do and feeling accomplished.

"Me in September: "Ok, this isn't actually that fun, but notebooks.

"Me in October: "I'm dying."

That's just about where I am, guys. Yes, I'm an office supplies nut in a moderately weird way, but no love for organization and blank sheets of snowy paper can make enduring this worth it. Anyone who has gone to or is in college can empathize. With midterms upon us, I fear I'm going to lose my mind in a sea of accounting equations and human resources acronyms. Staying afloat, though, my friends!

artistic

Western Roundup approaches way too quickly. As of today, Tuesday, at 11:00 am, I have run my pas de deux once. Am I freaking out a little bit? You could say that. The show opens next weekend.

...But such is the life of a dancer. We are required to pick up choreography at the speed of lightning and retain it. Will I be ready to go on stage and perform that pas a week from tomorrow? Well, I don't really have a choice, do I? At the very least, I could fall asleep to the sound of this pas de deux... The Boston Pops playing Shenandoah is quite possibly the most beautiful thing to ever grace my ears.