Part 1 – Part 2

So finally, it was time to dine! Once everyone had gathered at their tables, grabbed a few bowls of soup and stew. This music was fairly simple in its needs – set a happy tone, be pleasant to listen to if one focuses, and be easy to keep in the background if one is busy chatting.

I began gathering music that makes me happy – easy standards, sweet indie riffs, and some tried and true romantic songs. What developed is dinner music that’s light on the ears and buoyant to the mood. What more could you ask for?

Tracklisting after the jump.
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Part 1 – Part 2
Music was an incredibly important part of our wedding day: it was the fabric that wove the hours together. My challenge and joy was to find melodies and lyrics that would guide us and our guests through the day (music, moreso than anything else, is one of our culture’s most recognized emotional and spiritual cues), that would also feel natural and at place for a wedding in the woods. These mixes are some of my favorite – they say so much about how I feel about life, about Andrew, and myself.

Our pre-ceremony mix was meant to provide a focus and a feel for the ceremony about to happen. As I’ve mentioned before, the party is wonderful but for Ace and I, the most important part of the day was the ceremony. We wanted to encourage our guests, with the mood set by the music as they arrived on site, to join us in our hopeful contemplation of this important step in our lives. The mix finishes out on a folkish note*, to ease into the performance of our fabulous live musicians, and ever talented friends, Joel Cathey and Faith Hefty.

I was standing up on the upper deck of our lodge when Faith and Joel began playing…I remember closing my eyes and listening to the ukulele strains of “Into the Mystic” floating up to my room as I paused and breathed for the first time that day. It was a deeply treasured moment when everything slowed down, for just a few seconds.

Unfortunately, the only recordings I have of their performance are these short videos shot by our Flippers. Have I mentioned them yet? I will soon!

*I included our songs for the seating of the grandparents and the processional at the end of this mix. They are both slightly edited down from their original songs (if you don’t have an editing software for music, get thyself a free one pronto! Goldwave saved my life in prepping the wedding music.)

After the introspective and contemplative songs that preceded our ceremony, it was time to celebrate! WE JUST GOT MARRIED, DIDJA KNOW?? Our post ceremony mix was full of songs that radiate joy and spark life, while still fitting in our easy-going feel of the day.

Tracklists are after the jump, in case indie singer/songwriters and old-school love songs are your jam.
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As the wedding documenting continues, here is one of my favorite parts: the vows we wrote and gave during our ceremony. Not much more to say, I’ll let the words speak for themselves.

Our Personal Vows

To Ash

I, Andrew, choose you, Ashley, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to be my partner, my companion, and my anchor through the adventures and seasons of life.
I vow to love you without reservation and above all others, to hold you in the highest esteem, to admire your character and beauty, to respect you as God’s creation, and to accept your love with a joyful heart.
I vow to provide for you in all the ways I am able. I vow to protect you, and to lead our household with courage and dignity. I vow to trust your intuition, and rely on your counsel so that wisdom, peace, and love prevail.
I vow to show you kindness and compassion, and to be generous in spirit.
I vow to support you and your passion for life. I will be a positive force for your tremendous spirit, encouraging you and your hopes.
I vow to cherish you as my wife, being thankful every day God let me choose you. I will search out new ways to show my love to you so that neither of us forget the love that has been the foundation for ours.
I vow to celebrate your joys and share your sorrows as long as we both shall live. From my hand to your heart, in the love of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, I thee wed.

To Ace

I, Ashley, choose you, Andrew, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to be my partner, my companion, and my iron through the adventures and plains of life.
I vow to love you without reservation, to honor you with all my mind and heart, to respect you as a spark of our Creator, and to accept your love with a joyful heart. I give you my trust as a provider, protector, and guide.
I vow to show you patience and grace; to turn to you and not on you in times of hardship; to remain tender and open to you through the difficulties of life.
I will work faithfully to inspire and challenge you to be the incredible person you are meant to be, and I commit to being an active force in your life: encouraging you to live generously and responsibly; praying for you and helping you to bear up under spiritual struggles; caring for your physical, mental, and emotional health; and positively reinforcing you and our family.
I will strive to entice you; to make passion and closeness a priority for all our days.
I vow to celebrate your joys and share your sorrows as long as we both shall live. From my hand to your heart, in the love of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, I thee wed.

Our Spiritual Vows

We vow to always keep you at the forefront of our lives — our greatest priority, the foundation of our love, our foremost goal. We will seek to honor and glorify you through our marriage – to stay tender to you and to one another, and open to your movements. We will work together to care for your children, both close to us and far. We promise to make the best use of the resources you’ve given us. We will strive to maintain humility — to deal with sin thoroughly in our lives, to value your edification over personal gain, and to trust you with obedience.

We take seriously the commission to be ministers of reconciliation. We promise to not give up on this marriage, to not take the easy way out: and to do all of this without the intentions of our personal glory, but rather to reflect your message of reconciliation with humanity. We vow to use our marriage and our bond to speak to the world of your boundless love, your forgiveness, and your constant movement towards mankind.

We carry the death of Christ within us, that his life would also be revealed through our bodies. We carry the love of the Father, the most powerful force that mankind can know. We carry the breath of the Spirit, that we may share true life with the world.

Our Communal Vows

Today, you have come here not simply to witness Andrew and Ashley’s union, but to take part in it. Your support has helped their relationship to flourish, and as their loved ones, you hold an important role in their marriage.

Will you surround this couple in love, strengthening their marriage and blessing this family created by their union? In times of conflict will you offer them the strength of your wisest counsel and the comfort of your thoughtful concern?
In times of joy, will you celebrate with them, nourishing their love for one another, for the world, and for God? Will you lift them up in prayer, and help them focus on a marriage that fulfills God’s intentions?

Please give your affirmation with, “We will.”

This time of the year is not welcome in the Atchley household. Winter after Christmas seems like an unnecessary trial. We hate the cold…hate having to get bundled up just to take the pups outside…hate having to wake up early to scrap ice off the cars…hate having the season’s perpetual cold or cough. Fortunately, since Christmas, the weather has been mild, more like spring than winter. But I don’t trust it to last until actual spring arrives, global warming or not.

To adapt to our hatred of the cold, we stay inside and take part in a sort of hibernation. I become quite lazy. Most of my time is spent watching movies, reading, baking and cooking, eating soup and drinking tea. It’s this time of year where I fall back on my old favorites…The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; The Robe; The Hobbit; Jane Eyre. Anything that will take me far away from bare trees and monotony.

Right now I’m re-reading The Robe. John’s reading The Hobbit. This weekend I watched the movie Jane Eyre, which my parents bought me for Christmas (love that movie so much). What are you doing to cope as winter settles in? Or are you one of those people who loves this time of year?

Roskoe's got the right idea.

John had the day off on New Year’s Day, so we decided to start our own little tradition. We woke up, fixed a breakfast of Lindy’s Delights scones (banana chocolate chip, thanks to a good friend’s Christmas gift) and Trader Joe’s coffee and sat down on the couch to watch all three extended editions of Lord of the Rings. Despite my love of all things Lord of the Rings (as evidence by the name of this blog), this was not my idea. All John’s! And I have to say it was a great lazy way to spend the first of the year. Roskoe was content to be my cuddle buddy throughout the movie. Lucy couldn’t take her eyes off the screen when Gandalf fought the balrog (it was her first time watching). I do have to admit though, about halfway through The Two Towers, which was about 2-3 p.m., we were starting to doze off. And despite the epicness of Return of the King, we both decided we think The Fellowship of the Ring is our favorite. All this traveling to Middle-Earth made us stoked for The Hobbit, which the first part comes out at the end of this year! I’m not sure I can wait after watching this trailer! The Hobbit

How did you kick off the new year?

I want to be more intentional in all things. That is my goal for 2012.

I want to be more intentional in my relationships — with my husband, friends (near and far), family, co-workers, strangers. I want you all to know that someone is here for you and wants to be a part of your life.

I want to be more intentional in my life — my job, my writing (including this blog), keeping my home, exercising, eating right. I learned in 2011 that all the things I say I want to do in my life won’t happen unless I make them happen. A house, a job, travels to Europe — none of that just falls into one’s lap (usually). I want to try to give my life my best everyday so one day I can look back and say, “I did good.”

I want to be more intentional with my pups. They deserve better from me. Don’t worry, they haven’t been neglected, but we could go on longer walks together and learn some more tricks instead of cuddling on the couch all the time. Then maybe I won’t need to be so intentional about exercising

2012 is going to be an over-achieving kind of year.

1. I got my first big girl job.

2. I moved with my husband to Kansas City and finally feel like I’ve found a place I can call home.

3. I’ve cried a lot: some times good, healthy tears, some times just angry ones.

4. I got front row seats to see my best friend get married on top of a mountain.

5. I found a church and can finally feel myself recovering from post-college religion angstiness.

6. I learned the secret to awesome sandwich-making.

7. I’ve changed the way I look at food toward a healthier diet. Yay meat, veggies and whole grains!

8. I started doing yoga and tried p90x. I recommend both.

9. Saw Mumford & Sons in concert with 10,000 of my closest friends, watched Jason Sudeikis perform with Second City and saw Demetri Martin, one of my top 3 stand up comics, live. Bought tickets to see No. 1, Jim Gaffigan, in March.

10. Said good-bye to Harry Potter with lots of good tears at a midnight show and smuggled-in butterbeer cupcakes.

11. Wrote two children’s books, one for each niece starring herself, and then self-published them with the help of Ash and her beautiful illustrating and designing skills. More to come on that in the new year.

12. Came to realize that I’m not as grown-up as I thought I was, don’t have it all figured out and still have a long way to grow in life. (duh, Char)

Wow, it’s been quiet around here. But I promise we have good reasons for that. On top of our normal work and Christmas craziness, Ash and I have been working diligently together on a Christmas project that I’m sure we’ll share with you as soon as Christmas is over and the gifts have all been opened. Until then, shhhh…you never know which special someone’s parents or grandparents are reading this thing.

Anywho, it’s not super comprehensive, but here’s my Christmas gift guide in case you’re still scrambling. These are my go-to gifts when it comes to Christmas or birthdays, but I think all four of these are especially suited to Christmas since they all have to do with baking, hot beverages or wintery activities like reading. So without further ado, follow the link for gift ideas!

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When I write, the thing that inspires me most is music. Listening to music that reminds me of the story I’m trying to write immerses me in that story and its emotions. In the NaNoWriMo situation, I need that kind of immersion constantly to be able to write 1500 words a day in a story.

The last time I did NaNoWriMo, in 2009, I finished a novel called Conversations Between Maggie and Bob, a story about a little girl who grows up being able to talk to God. The playlist I compiled to get me through all 50,000 words consisted of the following songs, a mix between songs that relate directly to the story or just generally put me in a thoughtful, writing mood.

“Eet” by Regina Spektor

“Laughing With” by Regina Spektor

“You Found Me” by The Fray

“Never Say Never” by The Fray

“Like Socrates Loved the Truth” by Bradley Hathaway

“Delicate” by Damien Rice

“I’m Not Alright” by Sanctus Real

“The Blues” by Switchfoot

“Happiness” by The Fray

This year, the playlist is still forming. I tried to go with a sibling rivalry story instead of a love story, but Glamour had a little one page article wondering why there aren’t more movies about average girls landing hot men but a plethora of comedies of average Joe’s winning over hot women. So I took that as a challenge and am applying it to my NaNoWriMo novel. And on top of that, my two main characters do the hate each other, then fall in love dance. Here’s what I have so far as far as a playlist goes for this story:

 ”Gonna Get a Long Without You Now” by She & Him

“You Don’t Know Me” by Ben Folds

“Gravity” by Sara Bareilles

“New Slang” by The Shins

“Breathe” by Anna Nalick

“Corner of Your Heart” by Ingrid Michaelson

Pretty much anything by Kat Nash and Lily Allen

What songs do you listen to when you need some inspiration?

This will be my third year participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). In case you aren’t familiar, November is NaNoWriMo, and every year, people challenge themselves to write an entire novel in one month. That’s 50,000 words in 30 days. The first time I tried my hand at NaNoWriMo was in 2008, and I failed miserably. I don’t even remember what that stupid book was about, but I didn’t last very long at all. In 2009, I had a good idea, and I was motivated! I was in graduate school, working part time and a TA at the same time, and somehow, I finished that book in record time. I think I had two hours to spare or something. Here’s an excerpt.

If you’ve never done NaNoWriMo before, you should! It’s so exhilarating and fun. There’s nothing like watching a word count climb higher and higher and then stagnate, which will eventually lead to you begging your computer to grant you some inspiration to generate a few hundred more words. And the accomplishment of finishing feels awesome! You have written a novel. Not only did you write a novel, but you wrote it in one month!

Going into this year’s NaNoWriMo, having finished once, I’m taking with me some lessons I learned from 2009 that I think helped me succeed:

• Tell everyone that you’re doing this: I think that made a huge difference between 2008 and 2009 for me. In 2008, I had just moved and hadn’t started graduate school, so my social network was not huge. I’m not sure I told anyone other than my husband that I was attempting NaNoWriMo, so there was no accountability, no one rooting me on. In 2009, my fellow grad students knew, my church friends knew, my family knew. My Facebook friends and Twitter followers had to put up with my insane word count updates every day, sometimes multiple times a day. But I had no complaints. Actually, people seemed to love being able to keep up with my progress online. It was a blast being able to include that many people in my quest.

• Outline you’re store before you start: Knowing the basic plot points you’re trying to get to will help you get through those lulls where you don’t know what to write. Knowing the timeline, the goal, helps you figure out what comes next.

• Your novel is going to suck: Don’t worry about quality, writing style, witty dialogue or plot holes. The point of NaNoWriMo is just to get the story out. Just write words. 50,000 of them in 30 days. You don’t have time to make sure every metaphor is perfect and every action fits with the character’s motivation. That’s what December is for. November is just about cranking out the words. Every time I feel myself start to delete and rewrite too many times, I make myself move on. Whether that means jumping settings and time to check on other characters, introducing new characters or killing one of them off (if you’ve never read my stuff, I have this slight obsession with killing off all my best characters), just do something to shake up the rut you’re in and move the plot forward.

• Immerse yourself in whatever inspires you: For me that’s music. During November, my earbuds become a part of my anatomy. When I write a story, I usually am seeing it playing out in my head like a movie, so music acts almost like a soundtrack, helping me to know what comes next.

• Have fun, duh: NaNoWriMo is just for fun. There are no real prizes other than tshirts, printable certificates and coupons. It’s all about celebrating writing and literacy. It’s a chance to try something completely new and crazy, just to see if you can. And if you don’t make it, relax. It’s not like there was anything at stake. It’s all just for fun and writing exercise. And you don’t have to be a writer to participate. Anyone can, and it can be fun for people who have never tried a hand at creative writing and people actually striving to get published. Again, it’s all for fun and trying something new and crazy. So just remember…relax. Make it a game.

Hope you join me! Follow me at NaNoWriMo as mae.lewis. If you’ve done NaNoWriMo before, what tips do you have for finishing?

Hey-oh tea readers! I’m popping in again just in time to drop off my annual Halloween music jam (mwahahaha).

I compiled most of this mix last year for our Halloween house party: it’s eighteen tracks to get the energy moving, but laced with dark and discordant undertones that befit the season. If you read The Fox is Black, you’ll recognize the genius Hellaween II mix by Punchy, which was largely the inspiration for this jam. Tracklist is after the jump, if you’d like to grab some of the tunes. (And fyi, there are some explicit tracks herein.)

Hope you enjoy it, and a very safe and happy Halloween weekend to you all!
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