First Stop on Wilder Road: Dancing

Most people who know us know that if it had not been for dance Daniel and I would have never met and the fact that we did meet dancing is truly wild in and of itself.  I am an athlete and outdoors girl by nature. If it involves a ball, bat, horses, a field an arena, a court or running than you can sign me up. However, under that rough and tough tomboy exterior has always been a classy lady who loves to dress up and dance around just like any girl does. Growing up in small town Mississippi I never had the opportunity to really get involved in a good dance studio and I had so many other things I was involved in that dancing never really was an option for me. However, I am not one to ever give up on my dreams so I knew, somewhere, somehow, someday I was going to dance.

            Now, on to Daniel, I have often ask him where his love for dance evolved and he says it comes from watching old movies with his mom and wanting to be like the men in those movies. I honestly think he just wanted to jump at any chance he could get to dance with a pretty girl (but that’s just my theory). Like I, he never really had the opportunity to start dancing until he was older. He did get a head start on me though and got involved with ballroom dancing in college. I have never really found out exactly how he got started dancing in college but I suspect it had something to do with another woman… tsk tsk..

            Anyway, as fate would have it, in September of 2009 I started researching dance studios in Knoxville. I wanted something new to try and decided that now was a good a time as any to start working on that dancing dream. I stumbled upon some advertisement for a really cheap private lesson and told two of my friends about it. Lucky for me my birthday was coming up and so they decided to surprise me with a lesson for my birthday. I was immediately hooked about 10 minutes into the lesson when I realized that dancing was hard and I wasn’t good at it (I love a challenge). Well, to make a long story short, out of every studio in Knoxville and out of every teacher in Knoxville Daniel and I found our way into a family business. My teacher was his teachers’ son. It took several months for Daniel and I to ever meet and once we did we were inseparable.

            I did not start dancing to make new friends and I sure did not start dancing to meet guys. What girl in her right mind would say, “Hey, I want to meet men, maybe I should start ballroom dancing,” anyway??? I sure as hell never in a million years thought that I would meet my husband at a dance studio. However, not only did I meet my husband there I also found a passion that I had to keep hidden and suppressed for so long. Dancing is the first adventure that Daniel and I experienced together and as I sit here thinking about it, someday, it may be one of our last. I can imagine that even when we can no longer climb mountains or travel the world together someday, that we will still be able to dance. It may not be as graceful or quick but it will still be us, together, swaying to Frank.

Officially a Wilder!

It is hard to believe Daniel and I are going to be married a month this weekend! Time has went by so quickly since the wedding and I have to be the first to say that I LOVE BEING MARRIED! First off, it saves a lot of gas. Daniel and I did not live together before we were married so we spent a lot of time driving to each other. Second, my bank account got substantially bigger. I am a social worker for a non profit organization, that is pretty much equal to being an aspiring actor in LA (we are all poor). Third, I have a house with a backyard! Apartment life was equal to torture for me. The next step is buying a farm soon and I cannot wait!
There are plenty of other benefits to married life but I won't bore you with the details.

Our Wedding was the most amazing day of my life. I can honestly say it was perfect. Okay, Daniel might have stumbled through his vows but I can't blame him for that. I mean I did look pretty amazing so I am sure he was distracted ;) If there is any advice I can give for anyone planning a wedding it is to not sweat the small stuff or the big stuff and your wedding day goes by faster than you can ever imagine so cherish every moment. I wish I had trusted this advice when it was given to me. To everyone who celebrated our day with us, Thank You!  I will post another blog soon about our incredibly awesome two week getaway to Europe soon. Stay tuned because now I can really start talking about adventures on the the "Wilder" side of life!